Since I’m actually trying to leave the house this weekend (zomg! Hey, it’s for the Degas/Toulouse-Lautrec exhibit at the art museum and the Cinco de Mayo fair at the waterfront), I figure I’d better knock this sucker out so I don’t forget anything.

Anime:
- USA Today has finally picked up on that whole anime being made into movies thing. Now with 100% more Answerman! (ANN’s Zac Bertschy gets a quote in the article.)
- Speaking of ANN, they have word that CoLours, the “multicultural network,” isn’t running their FUNimation channel block anymore. They originally ran a four-hour block, then two hours, and then there was none.

Manga
- Hey, did you know that Naruto sells well? Yeah, so did I.
- The Yomiuri has a special on Astro Boy, specifically the expansion of his franchise with the “fat Astro Boy” designs of Lily Franky.
- Aaand over at Comics Worth Reading, we have a nice State of Josei Manga address from Johanna, who talks about what titles out in the US might fit the bill; commenters have a handful more.
- P.S. FREE MANGA! (And other comics.)

Movies/OVAs:
- Variety tells us about the visualsof Speed Racer, which, as we all know, are sexy. (The question is whether the other aspects of the flick will match up.) Oh, and IGN has three minutes of the film online.

Music:
- Hashihime updates us on the chart status of seiyuu/songstresses Maaya Sakamoto and Aya Hirano (known to me for their roles as two different Haruhis: Sakamoto is Host Club’s tomboyish Haruhi, and Hirano, of course, voices Suzumiya Haruhi herself). But Sakamoto wins out on the sales charts, taking the #3 spot while Hirano is at #20.

Cons:
- Viva l’Obata! Takeshi Obata is hitting up Paris’ Japan Expo, according to anime!anime!.

In Japan:
- Ooh, new category! But Gunota Headlines has word that the Bandai Hobby Center is having a public viewing on May 17-18th, with a Keroro Gunsou stage show and a Gundam 00 seiyuu talk show, among other events.

Misc:
- Given the popularity of 2ch, I can’t imagine how anyone would be surprised that Japanese people favor anonymity when commenting online, but here’s the poll to prove it, from WhatJapanThinks. There’s information on a number of other aspects of Internet use, especially with mobile phone surfing.

If you’re looking for a series with a bunch of attractive people (particularly guys) designed by a prominent yaoi mangaka and don’t want to watch Gundam 00*, good news! Anime on DVD reports that Media Blasters has licensed Night Head Genesis, which is about a pair of brothers with psychic powers and, uh…some other things.

…I can’t say I recommend the show. I watched the first five or six episodes and had no idea what was going on (in the bad way), and the two brothers just sat around (or ran around) and bitched a lot. They were very very pretty though. It’s actually a retelling of a live-action series called Night Head that I never saw. But yeah, I thought the show was impressively mediocre, personally.

But if you like supernatural mysteries and hot guys, well…maybe you’ll like it better than I did?

(* Yes, I know that most of Gundam 00 character designer Yun Kouga’s work isn’t officially “yaoi,” but she HAS done yaoi doujinshi and clearly aims for that market with many of her mainstream work, so nyah. The yaoi mangaka who designed the characters of Night Head Genesis is You Higuri, of Gakuen Heaven / Gorgeous Carat fame.)

I’m heading to California later today. I think I’ll put this video on repeat on the plane and piss off the passengers:

Original source: Tatsuko’s 2ch Summary
Secondary source: Had to find a YouTube copy. Silly NicoNico!

So I dunno if any of you noticed, but I did an article for Fanboy.com on ten manga and anime to watch for in the U.S. in ‘08. They’ve been posting one entry per day since the 16th, which means they’re already more than halfway done (eep). Here are the entries so far (and yes, this is a U.S.-focused article, so many of these have already aired in ‘07– but many are being released in the U.S. in ‘08, and/or have sequels coming).

More to come, of course, so keep an eye on Fanboy.com for the rest of the list. ♥

So back before the fall season started, it was announced that Gundam 00 would follow a vaguely Geass-esque pattern. Er, not in the sense that it would start out as only one season and then in the midst of its run get a second season announcement tacked on, but rather that what would air in fall would be season one, and then it would get a break before season two.

Now that we have context: Moon Phase reports that the second season will come a year after the first, in October of 2008. They also speculate that Geass’s second season will probably run in spring ‘08, April to September– thus preventing the two Sunrise shows from competing.

So we’re up to ~episode six in most series, which is the halfway point for the Fall season (though not necessarily the halfway point for each show). I figured I’d check in and talk about where I am with each show these days.

• Bamboo Blade: Miya-Miya owns the ass of every female character this season, hands down. Then again, it’s not like she’s up against a lot of competition. Status: Watching regularly.
• Blue Drop: The pacing is sooo slow, it took until episode three or four for anything to actually happen. But the promise of lesbians keeps me going. Status: Watching regularly.
• Clannad: I maintain that this show would be so much better if they would just ditch Nagisa entirely. Beyond that, I’m liking it better than I expected to. I do still wish that anyone looked somewhat close to how old they actually are / sound…but eh. Status: Watching regularly.
• Dragonaut: The Resonance: I can’t explain why I keep watching this show. I’m not really fond of the art style, the plot is pretty mediocre…and yet, I keep watching. I blame the boobies. Status: Watching regularly.
• Genshiken 2: Ogiue’s Sasahara x Madarama FTW. That is all. Status: Watching regularly.
• Goshuushou-sama Ninomiya-kun: GOOO REIKA! GO GO GO! Mayu’s cute, but boring. Status: Watching regularly.
• Jyuushin Enbu: Story-wise it’s gotten better, but the art and animation are still incredibly mediocre compared to FMA, and the characters aren’t as cool either. Status: Watching every so-often.
• Kaiji: I’m interested in seeing where this goes, but running out of space on my anime plate for watching it. Status: Dropped for watching later.
• Kidou Senshi Gundam 00: Major improvements in terms of developing characters, but I think I still like the ending theme better than anything else about the show. Status: Watching regularly.
• KimiKiss: I like this show, and I think it’s because it’s a dating sim but not one that focuses on one guy and a dozen girls, but rather a group of friends (male and female) and their love lives. Status: Watching regularly.
• Kodomo no Jikan: Epic yet uncomfortable win. But I’ve ranted about this show being undervalued as mere pedo fodder enough, so suffice to say Status: Watching regularly.
• Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro: I would totally be watching this show IF ANYONE WOULD FREAKIN’ SUB IT. I’ve actually already seen people cosplay from the manga, and yet no one will sub the anime? Am I missing something? Status: Watching…if it ever comes out.
• Minamike: I like the show a lot, but almost all the comedy comes from either crazy middle sister Kana, or crazy Kana-like characters (Chiaki and Haruka each have a classmate with a similar dynamic). And Kana is never given the opportunity to have any redeeming features. Hmph. Status: Watching regularly.
• Moyashimon: This one’s a little behind, but I like it…though the agriculture 101 bits can be a little dull, the rest of the batshit insane stuff makes up for it. Status: Watching regularly.
• Night Wizard: I’m getting a little tired of Eris being the sweet, cheerful, flock-of-birds attracting Mary Sue, and annoyed at Renji being the show’s whipping boy with, like Minamike’s Kana, no real opportunity to redeem himself. Status: Considering dropping.
• Prism Ark: …One episode was really enough. Status: Dropped.
• Rental Magika: It got so boring in episode three I just couldn’t continue. Status: Dropped.
• Shinrei Kari / Ghost Hound: I still have some issues with the art style, but the pacing has picked itself up nicely and I’m curious to see where it’s going. Status: Watching regularly.
• Shion no Oh: Mmm, delicious trap, must eat. Status: Watching regularly.
• Shugo Chara! Mmm, delicious magical girl, must eat. This is probably one of the more solid shows of the season, IMO, though it’s obvious not for everyone. Status: Watching regularly.
• Suteki Tantei Labyrinth: Looks cute, but pretty dull– I’m more interested in the dolls than in anything to do with the main character. Status: Dropped.

• Title: Gundam 00
• Studio: Sunrise
• Genre: Mech

Ratings (out of 5):

• Story: ♥♥♥

• Animation: ♥♥♥♥
• Character Design: ♥♥♥
• OP/ED Themes: ♥♥♥
• Overall: ♥♥♥ (You’re so pretty, I can’t help but want to give you another shot…or five.)

Thoughts:
For all the buzz and excitement– and even my own anticipation –I don’t have a lot to say. The first episode of Gundam 00 was solid: it introduced the characters but not too many too quick (though oddly, probably a similar number to Dragonaut, but the pacing was better on it). It introduced the basic plot point: the Gundam pilots (or “Meisters”) are fighting for a private army called Celestial Being, whose goal is to eliminate war by beating the snot out of the people who start wars. (The inherent oxymoron has already been noted by two characters, in case you worried that they’d just ignore it.) The animation is good, and the character designs are distinct and easy on the eyes.

But there was nothing really exciting, either, thus far. Only three characters show the slightest amount of energy: the AEU pilot Patrick, who gets beat up by main character Setsuna in the first five minutes; the girl in the cheongsam who doesn’t look quite as distressingly skinny as she did in certain previews, and a Celestial Being member whose name I didn’t quite catch who starts boozing on the job. All of these are secondary characters. There’s another secondary character at the AEU who acted kind of energetic but in a rather cliche way (a blonde. Forget his name, too.)

The leads are, thus far, fairly uninteresting to me, which I think is why the show doesn’t really excite me yet. Kind of like Final Fantasy XII, the leads– and almost everyone eles –are all so serious and stuffy in the first episode that it makes the whole show seem a bit dour. (Of course, I’m not big on mechs in and of themselves; someone who is might find it more exciting.)

But as with Dragonaut there’s a lot of potential here, so hopefully those leads will perk up a bit. I just can’t help wishing Duo was there, though…

No, not the Drew Barrymore flick. And not really 50, either, but I’ve got a nice pile of first episodes to watch, and I’m going to try to get through them all today. And ideally, I’ll write up all of my first date posts for them today too. I have Blue Drop, Myself;Yourself, Clannad, Da Capo II, Gundam 00, Night Wizard, and Kaiji. And I’m all in marathon mode too, thanks to a Heroes marathon yesterday.

So, time to get crackin’!

Okay, sure, Gundam 00 is going to feature 3 males and 1 slightly butch female when it comes to pilots. And sure, the characters are being designed by Yun Kouga, creator of girly-boy manga like Loveless and Earthian– but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t know how to make a hot chick, and it certainly doesn’t mean we won’t see some smexy figures from the show. Heisei Democracy links to the first-ever Gundam 00 heroine figures (models of the Gundams, of course, have been in the works for ages), made by Banpresto and due out February of 2008.

The figures are of the overly-skinny Wan Ryuumin and Sumeragi Ri Noriega.

Dengeki Online has photos from the upcoming Gundam 00 series, proving once and for all that Haro (the little ball-like mascot/robot) will be in the new show. (It wasn’t in Wing, I believe.)

We also get to see a bunch of heretofore unintroduced side characters. Unfortunately, in spite of the female pilot character it looks like the girls of the new Gundam aren’t likely to win any awards from the feminists. Consider this one:

Seriously. I have NOTHING against large breasts in my anime. In fact, I kinda like it. But c’mon, people, a girl can have large breasts AND a healthy waist without looking fat. See for yourself:

I did that in about ~5 minutes using the touchpad on my laptop. I’m sure it would look better if I’d used my tablet. But my point is, she looks healthy, and still perfectly attractive. REMEMBER THIS, SUNRISE.