And there you have it. After all the speculation and rumors coupled with the shock of Endless 8. It has been officially announced that The Disappearance Of Haruhi Suzumiya  will get a full length feature anime film in spring of 2010. The news was released as a teaser at the end of the final episode of this season’s re-air of The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya.

While it has been almost certain for some time that this novel will be animated it was always uncertain as to how. When the re-air began filling story gaps in the first season it became obvious that they were completing the story up to the point that Disappearance would begin, but whether it was getting a full season series or a film was the big question.

Kadokawa/Kyoto Animation may be some of the sneakiest companies around, but you gotta admit they know how to get publicity.

Update:

And here is the teaser:

So, now that the spring anime series are starting to wrap up I thought I’d give my impressions of the shows I have followed. Out of  all the great shows this season I have only been following a few, but they did not disappoint.  I’m kind of sad that this season is ending since the summer anime listings don’t appear to impress me much at first glance. So far the only thing I am intending to look into is “GA: Geijutsuka Art Design Class”. But you never know… Coming into this season I was only looking forward to K-On and Phantom, but it’s turned out to be quite a good batch of shows. So here we go…

K-On

I’ll begin with the obvious… This show was so over hyped before the season that I’m sure many non-anime fans were probably somewhat aware of it’s presence. At this time there is one episode to go (well not including the 13th bonus episode), and the show has definitely lived up to expectations… If it hasn’t altogether surpassed them. If this show hasn’t made everyone who watched it laugh hysterically then I’m sorry to inform you that you officially have no sense of humor whatsoever. The animation quality was pretty much the usual Kyoto Animation fare with one notable difference… It seems for once a company has actually gotten clearance to use actual instrument brand names rather than something made up. I thought it was a nice touch to see Yamaha, Fender, Gibson, Korg, Vox, Marshall, and Peavey all in their proper places on the instruments. The voice acting was really outstanding with the characters really fitting their voices well. The characters themselves are really quite impressive as well. Even with all the character polls going on I’d really have a hard time nailing down just one as my favorite… Even the side characters and “extras” are rather likable and hard not to enjoy. If I had to say anything was wrong with K-On it is that the that the story moved too fast… Aside from a few continuing stories most of the episodes spanned an entire season in the time line making everything feel rushed. It really should have been a 24 episode run crossing into summer as well. It appears that the series is going to end during the second year of the character’s high school journey, so there is always the third year to look forward to if they run a second series later on. Although I have seen no reports of any plans for another at this time, but by now everyone should be familiar with how Kadokawa seems to love keeping secrets… Almost to the point of driving one insane. If you haven’t checked this show out, and like cute comedies then you’ll definitely enjoy K-On.

Asura Cryin’

This one I was a bit wary of… I wasn’t aware of the light novels that this anime was based on, so I didn’t know what to expect. And… After the first episode I was even more confused than before. At the time it seemed to make no sense whatsoever, but I’m happy to say that by sticking with it for a few episodes it becomes rather apparent just what is going on, and it turns out to be a pretty decent storyline. I really don’t know what category one could put this in… It kind of crosses into every genre’s turf. You have Mech, Magic, Comedy, Drama, Action, Harem… They are all here… Except maybe sports, but then the series hasn’t ended, so they may throw a baseball team in there somewhere. To me the show has a rather intriguing story while at the same time not taking itself too seriously. You can literally have a battle one minute and the characters all laughing and joking the next. The only really confusing bit of the show seems to be that you can never tell who is the bad guy… Even the enemies are decent folk in this show. The only solution I found was to just root for the main character’s (Tomoharu, Misao, Kanade, and Shuri), and just assume everyone else deserves to get beat. I think this show would be classified as a “sleeper” in the US. A rather good show, but I think it’s popularity is lacking possibly due to either people not giving it a chance, or the more likely possibility that it simply came on during a season with a lot of heavy hitters and just slipped under the radar. I’m sure if this show had aired either in Winter or even the upcoming Summer season it would have fared better. Regardless of popularity I have enjoyed the series so far and recommend it to anyone looking for a good show.

Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom

This is one of the shows I had been looking forward to since it was announced, and I will say that so far it has not disappointed me in the least. The only problem I have with the show are the idiots who leaked the 10th episode early, and have at least at this point put everything on hold. Funimation is no longer streaming it, and has even removed all material relating to the show from their site. At the moment it’s looking like nobody is even fansubbing it although the raw for the latest episode is available. This all happens right during a cliffhanger scene to boot. Anyway… The show is great. The animation is fantastic, and the characters are quite good. The story has kept me on the edge of my seat so far, and I can’t wait to see what happens next. This show is 26 episodes and spans into the summer season, so there is quite a bit more to see how it will all turn out. I think if it weren’t for K-On then this would be my favorite show this season.

Maria Sama Ga Miteru (4th Season)

Now this show is technically from the winter season, but as I’ve just caught myself up on the entire show I figured I’d give it a mention. This is really not my type of show… If I had to compare it to anything I think it would be classified as a soap opera. Of course anything I could complain about the show itself would only be reflecting my personal tastes, and I’m pretty sure I am not the target audience for this type of show. That said I mostly checked it out because the Anime Network began streaming it (before they fled Comcast) on their OnDemand channel. And I’ll admit that once I started watching I simply couldn’t take my eyes off it… Kinda like a train wreck… Once it starts you can’t help but watch. For what it is I think the show is well done. The art reminds me of classic anime from the 60s or 70s, so it has a rather interesting look to it, and the story is pretty captivating. I also have always tended to be fascinated by Catholic symbolism which this show is not lacking in. The only complaint story wise that I can bring myself to address is with the 4th season specifically. You know, or should know the final outcome by the first episode (by the first image in the opening credits for that matter), so I was kind of irritated that it was drug out excruciatingly until the very last moment of the very last episode. I feel that there was plenty more story to be had elsewhere and that one plot point could have been taken care of much earlier freeing up the rest of the season to cover other plot lines that were occurring on the side. All in all I say if you are into chick flicks then you’ll love this show… Even if you don’t it’s still rather interesting to watch.

The “Re appearance” of Haruhi Suzumiya

I don’t have much to say about this as only one of the new episodes has aired to date, and based on the time line I’d guess Haruhi S2 will mostly be classified as a summer season show. I will say that Kadokawa has most certainly driven many people past the brink of insanity with their shady public relations regarding this show. Several years and hundreds of rumors, and in the end they decided to release it inline with the original series without even formally announcing it. At least the rumors have finally been laid to rest. The show itself fits right into the original series quite well… As a matter of fact if it weren’t for the different opening and ending you could even believe it was created right along with the original series. So all I can really say from first impressions is that if you liked the first season then you should enjoy the second just as much.

Eden of the East

Yup… I saved the big one for last. This show I actually avoided watching just because of the hype surrounding it. I finally did give in and caught up on it before the last episode airs. Mostly due to the fact that with Funimation’s video portal down right now I was kinda needing an anime fix, but I was also curious as it’s rather unusual for an adult anime to break into the top 5 in the Japanese Anime rankings. Really though… What can you say about a show that starts out with a naked guy waving a gun in front of the White House??? The story is actually pretty impressive, and the animation is rather interesting in itself… The main animation is nothing spectacular, but the things like blushing and thought clouds appearing above characters reminds me of old cartoons kinda like the 50s era. It really throws you for a loop sometimes to see those things since the story has a fairly serious tone to it. Quite a good show, and I’m glad I decided to check it out.

So there is my impression of this season’s anime offerings… I know there are other shows I probably should have watched (and probably will at some point), but this season gave me about all I could handle at once. All in all the Japanese animation industry gets a standing ovation from me for a great spring season… On the other hand… If summer turns out to be how it’s looking from the initial listing then they need to pull out something amazing in fall to make up for it.

With the initial disappointment still in the air that the news of a Haruhi Suzumiya anime being broadcast with this spring’s anime season which we all discovered will  actually be a re-air of the first season rather than the long awaited second season. Followed soon after by the release of the Haruhi-Chan and Churya-san web anime, and now Kadokawa has announced that they will be streaming the original series on their Youtube Channel one episode per week to coincide with the television broadcast.

Something smells of fish to me… When you consider that the manga will continue it’s US releases in just a few days with volume 2, and the first translated light novel due this spring… There is just entirely too much Suzumiya related goings on right now to not think that they are planning something. As with the other hopefuls out there I’m booking my money on the second series finally making it’s way out of whatever dusty corner of Kyoto Animation that it has crept away to for all this time, but I would say that I wouldn’t expect it any sooner than the fall or winter season. With all the time they have had I also would hope for a 24+ episode season. 14 was nice for the first season, but really you can only watch them over and over so many times.

Okay Kadokawa… I think it’s safe to say that by now all eyes in the anime community are on you, so it’s time to make your next move… No more boats please.

Update: For those waiting for the translated light novels… According to Little Brown Books website the first volume is scheduled to release July 5, 2009 now rather than the originally expected april date. More delays it seems for anything Haruhi related.

A TV ad has run in Japan for the March issue of Kadokawa’s Newtype magazine, and according to the cover (from what others are saying since I haven’t learned to read Japanese quite yet) the new Suzumiya Haruhi anime series will premiere in April, and that there will be interviews and details on the upcoming season. There is also an interview with “Brigade Leader’s Assistant” Yasuhiro Takemoto who directed the first season.

Interestingly the new season will run in Japan at the same time the first of the translated light novels goes on sale here in the US. That coupled with the March release of the Suzumiya Haruhi Chan 4 panel comic and the additional upcoming releases of the 2nd and 3rd volumes of the manga (in the US) pretty much assures that there will be Haruhi everywhere we look in 2009.

The issue of Newtype containing the announcement will ship on February 10. No further details about the series have been reported at this time, but according to rumors that have been floating around the internet (some started by Kadokawa and Kyoto Animation themselves) since Christmas of 2007 the new series may be based on “The Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi” Which is the 4th volume in the light novels series by Nagaru Tanigawa who originally created the stories and characters of the “Suzumiya Universe”.

Maybe too soon to say this is probably the biggest anime related announcement of the year, but it will definitely be hard to top.

P.S. I may have to score a copy of this issue for myself to frame because of the awesome Nagato cover.

Update: According to a follow up article on Anime News Network it is said that a PR representative of Kadokawa-Shoten has stated that the April running of Haruhi Suzumiya will be a re-run of the first season, and that they are not announcing a new season at this time. Well… I guess we’ll all have to wait until the March issue ships to know if that is true or not. We’ve possibly fallen prey to yet another false rumor of a second season of Haruhi.

Here is the ad:

Hmmm… Still wondering why they included a picture from The Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi in there. Maybe Kadokawa is having a bit of fun with us?

Okay… So this isn’t something new, but I wanted to talk about it seeing as how Anime Network OnDemand has begun running FMP: Fumoffu. For anyone who has seen this anime and has not read the Full Metal Panic: OVERLOAD! manga that it was based on really needs to check it out, and if you haven’t yet seen the anime… Good God what’s your problem??? Watch!!! It’s pure comedy gold.

The manga is not exactly like the anime, so it’s even more craziness for those who didn’t get enough of Fumoffu. More to say there are elements and scenes that were pulled from the manga to create the anime though for the most part the episodes are different. It’s quite fun to spot the bits that they used though. Several differences exist from the anime that one might wish to be aware of though… It has an abundance of chibi style characters rather than the more serious rendering of the anime, and the characters are a bit different. Souske and Kaname are the same, but the others… Well… Kyoko rather than being merely a sidekick becomes something like Wylie Coyote in that she takes the physical brunt of Souske’s mishaps, Kurz Weber is portrayed as Souske’s rival for Kaname’s affections and pops into the story at random, I think Mao only shows up once, and Tessa just pops into random frames throughout the stories as kind of an “extra”.

There are also several characters that never made it into the anime, but are pretty hilarious and maybe should have been included. Not to mention the adventures of Souske Dog (can’t believe that didn’t make the anime although they do make a quick reference to it in episode one). As I mentioned the chapters (or Bombs as they are called) are not the same as Fumoffu. They are for the most part different stories that they simply pulled out the bits they wanted for the anime, so don’t expect an episode for episode match with Fumoffu. If anything Overload is like Fumoffu squared… You’ll quickly realize that they really did hold back on the foolishness in the anime as amazing as that seems.

Here’s one thing to look out for… For anyone else who’s a fan of Kyoto Animation you know they love to pepper their anime with references. There is a reference to something in one of the volumes of Overload in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (Episode 00 The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina) which you would never get or even realize was a reference unless you read Overload… I’ll give you a hint… “Mi-Mi-Mikuru Beeeeam.”

At any rate… Any Full Metal Panic fan should give these books a once over (or even 2 or 3 times). Now you might not find these at your local Books A Million as they are 7-8 years old, but you can get them at Amazon (at $10 a pop new… Kind of pricey but I’ll provide the link anyway). The best bet is to get them used if possible. I found them in a local used book store and paid $25 for the whole set, or you can most likely find them on ebay as well. The set is 5 volumes so it’s not going to take forever and a ton of debt to get the whole series, and to date the series is finished so new volumes are not very likely. So check it out and enjoy (if you liked the anime then I can’t see anyone not liking this).

Well… If you live in Japan then here are the new Anime show which will be gracing your TVs this winter. The rest of us will be patiently waiting for it to be subtitled and uploaded to youtube while even more patiently waiting for the one to two year period it usually takes for the officially licensed and dubbed DVDs to make it to the U.S.

Click on the graphic at the top of the post for a graphic chart created by Denizen

Still no word as yet about a Suzumiya Haruhi second season, but I also don’t see an entry for Kyoto Animation in that chart, so there is hope… Unless it’s being delayed yet again.

Full list (compiled from the chart) after the jump. Please keep in mind that this list is only what has been announced so far for the Janurary Winter season. There are already announcements for spring that are not included, and most likely a few more winter season announcements to come.

• Zoku Natsume Yuujin-chou (Brains Base)
• The Tower of Druaga ~The Sword of Uruk~ (Gonzo)
• Shikabane Hime – Gen  (Studio Feel)
• Birdy The Mighty – DECODE:D  (A-1 Pictures)
• Slayers – EVOLUTION-R  (JC Staff)
• Major – 5th Season  (Studio Hibari/Synergy SP)
• Hajime no Ippo  (Madhouse)
• Konnichiwa Anne  (?)
• Z Mazinger  (Palm Studio)
• Afro Samurai – RESURRECTION (Gonzo)
• Maria-sama ga Miteru 4  (Studio Deen)
• Precure New Series  (Toei)
• Kemono no Soja Erin  (Production IG/Trance Arts)
• Ride Back  (Madhouse)
• Asakiumemishi – The Tale of Genji  (Tezuka Productions/Tokyo Movie)
• Viper’s Creed  (Sony Pictures)
• Chrome Shelled Regios  (ZEXCS)
• Kurokami  (Sunrise)
• White Album  (Seven Arcs)
• Maria + Holic  (Shaft)
• Akikan!  (Brains Base)
• Queen’s Blade (?)
• Asu no Yoichi  (AIC)

As Lucky Star fans should know by now the Lucky Star OVA officially released in Japan on September 25th.

Those of us in the US will most likely not see a release over here until at least April 2009 (after the regular series DVDs have all released) if not well into summer or fall depending on how fast Bang Zoom can get the cast dubbing.

I will say this… I have seen it (just don’t ask how), and it will be worth the wait. Kadokawa and Kyoto Animation really brought the funny on this release. The story takes up right after the end of season 1, and some have even dubbed it as “episode 25″. The OVA has done a few things differently than the series. First off there don’t seem to be quite as many meaningless idle conversations. The characters always seem to be up to something. Second… I think they intended this to be viewed by a wider audience as the usual obscure references have for the most part been replaced with references that most people (who haven’t lived under a rock for the last 10 years) will get. If anything these changes didn’t hurt the story one bit, but I believe made it much easier to enjoy. The third thing I noticed is that several plots were created throughout the OVA that were not resolved, and the ending itself tells me that we haven’t seen the last of Lucky Star. (Like anyone needed me to say that). Whether it be a new season or more OVAs this show seems to be far from finished. From me the OVA definitely gets two thumbs up.

While on the subject… Since some may not know this yet the Lucky Star Vol 4 DVD is scheduled to release in the U.S. on November 4th. I have not seen any DVD artwork as yet and after the Vol 3 DVD released with completely different artwork than was advertised I will not even assume it will be the same as the Japan DVD.