The all things Anime related thread.

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Wouldn't be surprised if we see Spice & Wolf 3 in 2011. Anyone want to take bets? :p

Watched the first two episodes of MM!. Funny stuff. and just a bit violent...in a funny way...
 
Demoniser said:
Wouldn't be surprised if we see Spice & Wolf 3 in 2011. Anyone want to take bets? :p

Watched the first two episodes of MM!. Funny stuff. and just a bit violent...in a funny way...
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It wouldn't surprise me if we saw something in 2011, at least a couple of OVAs if not a third series.

MM! ... quite amusing from what I've seen of it (I saw the first 2-3 episodes before relegating it to I'll watch it when it's finished instead of weekly)
 
Neil79 said:
This was shown in cinema's over the weekend , any reviews yet? :D

http://bleach.wikia.com/wiki/Bleach:_Hell_Chapter
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If you Google for ブリーチ 地獄編 then you'll probably find a few ... with the obvious issue that they are in Japanese. A bit early yet for anything in English (although I imagine there are people working on a dodgy camrip even as I type).

(the above is from the film section of the Bleach Japanese wikipedia page at http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/BLEACH (warning will have spoilers))
 
Demoniser said:
Wouldn't be surprised if we see Spice & Wolf 3 in 2011. Anyone want to take bets? :p
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Lol don't get my hopes up, but I really do hope so, the cliffhanger it was left at cries for one. Both my brother and mate who I showed the set to are also hoping for a continuation. It's quite a unique series that has a fanbase so it'd be a shame not to see it continue, especially in a time where Japan's economy needs successful titles.
 
Trouble is I'm sure that any of us here can think of multiple series that when they were airing ...

- had a good fanbase
- had plenty of source material
- left things open for continuation of the anime

... but then didn't get another series. Having those things doesn't guarantee another series however much one is wanted (by the Japanese fans of course as we are not the primary market so the demand from us for any more is not really taken into consideration).
 
Can't remember the figures quoted exactly, but one of the big wigs on ann's insider studio tours said something like 70-90% of stuff thats made into anime is adapted from existing manga/light novels/visual novels (i think it was Satelight, and going on about Basquash being an original project iirc, good visuals btw).

It does seem like theres been more 1 cour series lately, compared to longer series a a year or two ago (or it could just be me imagining things, which is a possibility :p).

I can think of a dozen culprits that have been left hanging and have maasssivvveee fanbases.

Tsubasa - two full seasons, a movie, then two sets of ova's, and they cut a massive arc out, and have still to finish it off, the plot has literally been left hanging at the start of the final battle. It's like getting to the final boss in a game and then turning the console off.

Ghost In The Shell - incredibly popular, and one of the few franchises thats instantly recognisable over here in the west as well as japan but we haven't seen a third season to SAC yet. Then again, it does look mighty expensive to make, and there was that list of Production I.G. projects that mentioned an established franchise returning in the near future :), so i could be wrong.

Haruhi - safe to say that was and is a national phenomenon, but it took them years before they made some new episodes, and the movie.

I could think of dozens more but i'd be here all night. Tbh Anime is allot like the movie industry in a way, sometimes it takes years between projects, even if the material is there, and sometimes it's just quick and relatively painless to churn stuff out.
 
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It's not _quite_ like the movie industry though, in that what Western series or movie franchise do the characters spend 1/3 of every episode having serious philosophical arguments, quoting Descartes and Baudelaire, and is still massively popular and has videogames and action figures made out of it? :p

EDIT: That was about GITS, of course :) It's the only series where I still prefer to watch fansubs even after I've bought the DVDs, simply because some of the more enthusiastic subbers put so many surtitles explaining all the references that it's like reading a university thesis! :D
 
Demoniser said:
Ore no Imuoto, funny as ever :p Glad theres some more episodes coming out on the dvd's although it will be a long wait itl june/july next year.
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Watched it earlier ... very amusing episode. It's been one of my favourite series this season.

Working through a re-watch of The Story of Saiunkoku at the moment (which is taking a while given that it's two series, each of three cours).
 
memyselfandi said:
Trouble is I'm sure that any of us here can think of multiple series that when they were airing ...

- had a good fanbase
- had plenty of source material
- left things open for continuation of the anime

... but then didn't get another series. Having those things doesn't guarantee another series however much one is wanted (by the Japanese fans of course as we are not the primary market so the demand from us for any more is not really taken into consideration).
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Trust me I'm well aware, its one of the things I consider somewhat wierd about the industry, especially in a time where as I understand it, the economy is not that great there because of how many tier 3/high technological goods they produce.
 
Demoniser said:
Ore no Imuoto, funny as ever :p Glad theres some more episodes coming out on the dvd's although it will be a long wait itl june/july next year.
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Was reading translated extracts from an interview given by Atsuhiro Iwakami (Aniplex Producer) after the episode 10 aired on a site which I can't really link to here as it's NSFW.

Here follows an abridged translation of the interview, mainly aimed at getting across the most important nuggets of information as succinctly as possible:

Translation notes are in parentheses.
Interviewer: The announcement of the series’ 15-episode run was made at yesterday’s “Ore no Imouto Festival”, but could you summarize it for us again?

To put it simply, there will be two versions of episode 12.
During episode 12, there will be a divergence (in the story’s route).

One of those versions will be the “End” that will be the TV run’s final episode.

Then, there will be another episode 12 that will continue until episode 15 and will be a new final episode.

What was the reason for choosing such a way to end the series?

Originally, it started with the desire to have people who watched the full 1-cour (standard 3-month ‘season’) TV series until the very end to think “That was a really good final episode!”

Then, the plans for the TV ending began to take on the shape of an eroge-like route system (wherein the player has access to many multiple endings.)

This (eroge-like split ending) idea actually fits in very well with the spirit of the original work, and so we hope that viewers can

feel that this is very much “Ore no Imouto~”.

Regarding the distribution schedule of the new episodes 12-15, has the time and release date been set?

The specifics are entirely undecided.

However, as was announced at yesterday’s events, we are definitely thinking that we want to make for a free-watching period, during which anyone can watch them for free.

The dates are not set yet, but we we will try not to make for a long wait like what happened with Bakemongatari (referring to Bakemonogatari’s web-broadcast episodes, for which Iwakami also served as producer).

Well, the final episode of the TV run is finally drawing near, but can we please ask you for a message to the fans out there supporting the series? !

In the original light novels, Fushimi-sensei’s (author of the novels) feelings of “Funner! More interesting!” really flew out of the pages, didn’t they?

So as not to lose to that strong overeagerness-that’s a compliment!- all of us on the anime staff have tried to put the same gusto into our work.

Things like changing the OP every episode, that sort of stuff even gets me really worked up, and I’m the show’s producer.
Anyhow, there’s only really a small chunk of the series left.
If everyone watching can enjoy each and everyone of the remaining episodes, we really could not ask for anything more than that.
​
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Notably, Iwakami-san made no mention of what the contents of the new episodes 12-15 route might be, which naturally allows for much discussion on what sort of ending the alternate route could finish on.
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(I've made a slight edit in the above to remove a possible spoiler) The prediction is that there will probably be a "good" and a "bad" ending :) Given that there are 20 author sanctioned endings in the portable version of the game they have plenty to choose from!

I quite like this idea that if you are going to have additional, non-broadcast, episodes that you use them as an alternate ending ... means that you still have a proper ending at broadcast and don't have to wait around to see the outcome of a single ending at a later date.
 
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A couple of bits ended up turning up for me today (great timing as it's my day off!)


First ones obvious, although the second one is slightly more obscure. I'd imagine a few of you will know what it is straight away though. I'd been waiting to order this as its a series I'm very fond of. (Not to mention its a very good dub, so it was quite nice to see the 'best dub of 2007' award quote on the box)

As I bought whilst it was on offer, I got a freebie collectable coin too :)
(sorry my camera seems a bit allergic to small shiny objects!)



I actually prefer the newer cover to the old one, I think it feels more in tone with the series and books in the way its presented and laid out. The discs are identical and haven't been relabelled which is a little lazy, but I can't really complain :)


Here's a few comparison shots just so you can see the difference (I do like the end song image on the end of the case!)





In related terms, it seems the official release of S&W Vol3 has been put back to the 21st of December, Amazon are still listing the 7th but by sheer virtue of not despatching my preorder, I think we know where that stands! I was speaking with United Publications yesterday though in the morning, who said at the moment all they had was the 21st date, however they then came back to me yesterday afternoon saying the distributor had just contacted them to let them know Spice and Wolf Vol3 amongst a few other YP titles was on a shipment sent out on the second...so all going well I should have it in my hands by next week :D
 
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Alexrose1uk said:
...

I was speaking with United Publications yesterday though in the morning, who said at the moment all they had was the 21st date, however they then came back to me yesterday afternoon saying the distributor had just contacted them to let them know Spice and Wolf Vol3 amongst a few other YP titles was on a shipment sent out on the second...so all going well I should have it in my hands by next week :D
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Hopefully if there's some YP titles in the shipment then a few of the 6 titles from them that I have on order which are either due out this (or last) month or previously will be coming.

(can't see your pics at work to comment on)

edit: Of the two I think I prefer the design of the newer packaging over the older one.
 
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So this evening I finished another re-watch on my list of series I want to re-watch before Christmas (incidentally basic maths says I've failed on this plan as the amount of time I have left to watch stuff before Christmas is a lot less than the amount of stuff I have listed to watch!).

Tonight I have just finished re-watching The Story of Saiunkoku. The anime is set in the country of Saiunkoku which is kind of like a medieval China. It is about a young girl who wants to help people and figures the best way to do that is to become a court official. But women are not allowed to sit the exam in order to become this ... obviously she gets round this (or it would have been a very short anime). The story covers how she meets and gets to know the Emperor and follows the her career as she attempts to be taken seriously in her society and progress her career with help from her friends, family and colleagues.

I like this series, it's easily in my top 25 all time series. In some ways it reminds me of Spice & Wolf in that you have a semi-fantasy story without the formulaic quest type structures you normally find in genre. S&W does this by concentrating on commerce, Saiunkoku does it by concentrating on politics. That could make it sound dull ... but it isn't. Instead it is a good mix of drama, humour and romance with a little action thrown in here and there. You get swept up in the story and the characters are very easy to get to know and care about. There are frustrating parts when you want the two main characters to make a move but that's all part of the fun.

The art and animation quality is generally very good, (and unlike some other series they seem to be able to draw characters in profile!). The characters are well drawn although they could have done with a few more female ones, (it's looks like a bad yaoi series at times), but the ones that are there are normally cute. I quite like the OP and think it fits the series well.

It is a anime which is set up to allow for another series, (although I'd be surprised if one actually happened now). The ending whilst wrapping up several major plot points does leave other things open and unfinished which could be continued. But this isn't a couple of single cour series as it is ... what's released now consists of two series, each of three cours (i.e. 39 episodes per series) ... and whilst there are maybe 3 or 4 recap episodes there is very little filler and most of the episodes move the story along at a reasonably fast past. I started the re-watch on Friday evening so have marathoned it through quite quickly with only a couple of diversions :)

Geneon originally licensed the first series and put a nice (but expensive) release for it. This has been license rescued by Funimation and released as a boxset of 9 DVDs. The second series has not be licensed ;)

Personally I really like this series. It doesn't have fanservice or giant mecha ... it just has good characters and a good story.

------

edit: I see that Crunchyroll have now got KiddyGirl-and ... a pretty reasonable sci-fi series, although not quite as good, as it doesn't have the complexity of plot, as the original KiddyGrade.
 
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Alex, I'm going a little green looking at your S&W swag:)

I had a pleasant surprise this morning, my Rightstuf order arrived (posted on the 28th Nov), as did my Death Note Complete box that was posted on the 1st from a channel islands retailer (who had it for £18).
Given the weather I was expecting it to take a lot longer :)

Also for those who have yet to encompass the goodness and drama that is Maria watches over us, Rightstuff are currently doing a bundle with the full set for $85, $95 including shipping :)
 
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