:::Q Anime:::: 2009

Friday, December 11, 2009

Akihabara’s Top Ten Words of 2009

A list of the top words and phrases to be unleashed upon Akihabara in 2009 provides results unlikely to surprise anyone familiar with the year's top stories…

The ranking:

Overall winner:

Untan!♪ (Yui of K-ON!'s catchphrase)

Top ten other words and phrases of 2009:

1. Goran no arisama da yo! (A certain unfinished eroge's now notorious catchphrase)

2. Majikon (Flash cartridge action)

3. Rekijo (History loving women – referring to a modest boom around titles such as Sengoku Basara)

4. Odaiba Gundam (The giant Gundam statue)

5. Da-je! (The catchphrase (gobi) of Yuuki, of nopan anime Saki)

6. Endless Eight (Kadokawa's legendary marketing coup)

7. Judgement desu-no! (To Aru Kagaku no Catchphrase)

8. Madobe Nanami (Windows7-tan theme by Microsoft)

9. Isshoni Trainingu (Anime aerobics marketing gimmick)

10. Moe Moe Kyun (Akiyama Mio's moe catchphrase)

It would appear Akihabara spent 2009 firmly in the grip of the moe boom…

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60% of Japanese Women “Turning Into Men”

60% of Japanese women questioned in a recent survey report "turning into men," with 70% reporting "there are men more feminine than I am around me" and 94% "I'd like to become more womanly."

The survey, covering unmarried Japanese women aged 25-35, also found some other vaguely masculine traits, with 32% at times wanting "a wife or secretary" themselves, and 42% liking to drink alone.

Even more tellingly, 69% said they were conscious of being insufficiently womanly.

Just how this can be reconciled with a male population apparently displaying the opposite tendency is not clear…

cardit skkcm

Dream C Club on PlayStation: “We’d Like To!”

The developers of hit hostess seduction simulator Dream C Club have expressed their desire to bring the game out on the PlayStation.

D3 have the following to say about it:

"By the way, a lot of people are saying 'We'd like to see Dream Club on the PlayStation,' and we'd like to accommodate those wishes."

Observant souls will notice just which PlayStation platform is not specified, leaving the door open for some half-baked PSP port.

The Xbox 360 is lately in such dire straits in Japan that it seems even Microsoft is reluctant to keep throwing good money after bad; "development assistance" to help keep the title Xbox exclusive seems unlikely…

cardit skkcp

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Hetalia Anime's Third Season Green-Lit (Updated)

New episodes to launch on web, mobile phones in March 2010

A third season of the anime adaptation of Hidekaz Himaruya's Hetalia - Axis Powers comedy web manga has been green-lit for production. Like the first two seasons, it will run on the Animate.tv computer website and on the Japanese mobile phone site Mobile Animate starting in March of 2010. More details will be provided on the official Hetalia.com homepage, in Gentosha's Monthly Comic Birz magazine, and through other sources.

The "cynical gag" manga and anime take the archetypal characteristics of about 20 countries and regions, and anthropomorphize them as (mostly) bishōnen characters. The story re-imagines various historical eras including World War I and II. A theatrical film was previously announced for an early summer 2010 opening in Japan.

The first hall event for the franchise, the tentatively titled Marukaite Kanshasai, will be also held on March 7. The castmembers Daisuke Namikawa (Italy/South Italy), Hiroki Yasumoto (Germany), Hiroki Takahashi (Japan), Aki Kanada (Chibitalia), and Atsushi Kousaka (Estonia/Prussia) are scheduled to attend. The event is planned to have a video screening, a discussion section, and various other parts.

Source: Animate.tv

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Barefoot Gen's Nakazawa Donates Art to Hiroshima Museum (Updated)

Keiji Nakazawa to donate 30 boxes of materials to museum

Keiji Nakazawa, the creator of the semi-autobiographical manga Barefoot Gen about one boy's experience with the Hiroshima atomic bombing, will be entrusting his original drawings and other materials to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.

The museum has stored 2,735 original drawings of Barefoot Gen since 1994 when the museum held an exhibition of his work. These original drawings were also used for the English version of the series. Nakazawa will donate 30 more cardboard boxes of his original drawings, magazines, books, and movies relating to his works to the museum.

"I will be happy as long as the materials are properly preserved at the museum in my hometown Hiroshima and if the original drawings go on show across Japan," Nakazawa said.

The 70-year-old manga creator based his 10-volume story on his own experiences in the aftermath of the atomic bombing at Hiroshima. At the age of 6, Nakazawa survived the 1945 Hiroshima bombing and the loss of his entire family except for his mother. He moved to Tokyo in 1961 and became a published manga creator at the age of 24 in 1963. Since then, Nakazawa has been a proponent of nuclear non-proliferation.

Last Gasp Publishing picked up the manga's English-language rights in 2004 and just published 10th and final volume in November. Last Gasp used a new translation produced by the Project Gen group from the Japanese city of Kanazawa.

Nakazawa announced in September that he will not be drawing a planned sequel to Barefoot Gen due to his worsening eyesight.

Barefoot Gen has been adapted into two animated films and a live-action television drama special in Japan. Producer Northrop Davis and a partner have been pitching the story to Hollywood studios.

Source: Mainichi Daily News

Update: Last Gasp has pushed back its last English volume of Barefoot Gen to February. Thanks, Gatsu.

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2010 Pokemon: Diamond & Pearl Film's New Teaser Po

Pocket Monster Diamond & Pearl: Genei no Hasha Z to open in Japan on July 10

The official website for the Pokémon anime franchise's films has posted a new teaser trailer that announces the title and release date for the next film: Pocket Monster Diamond & Pearl: Genei no Hasha Z (The Phantom Champion Z) on July 10, 2010.

The website has also posted two posters and the film's official blog.

Source: Saishin Anime Jōhō

cardit ann

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Wednesday, December 9, 2009

B Gata H Kei Manga's TV Anime Confirmed for Next Spring (Updated)

Yukari Tamura to star in anime of Yōko Sanri's 4-panel school comedy from Young Jump

A television anime adaptation of Yōko Sanri's B Gata H Kei four-panel school comedy manga has been confirmed to premiere next spring. The manga has been running in Weekly Young Jump magazine since 2003 and six compiled book volumes have been published so far. 2010's combined 2nd/3rd issue of Weekly Young Jump officially announced the anime on Thursday.

In the anime, Yukari Tamura will play the heroine Yamada, who was played by Masumi Asano in the previous drama CD adaptation. Yamada is a virgin high school student who dreams of having 100 casual sex partners. However, she ends up targeting and pursuing only one boy.

Source: Comic Natalie

Update: More background and story information added.