Guillotine

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. [More]

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.