Hirano Aya will play Yukiko in a new Lupin III OVA, Green vs. Red, which is due out in April.This is the 40th anniversary production for the classic franchise, which includes numerous manga, TV anime, feature films, direct-to-video releases, television specials, music CDs, video games, and a musical, as well as a Hollywood movie, slated to come out in 2009.This spring, Aya will also be in a Fist of the North Star OVA, as well as the series Zettai Karen Children.She is currently hosting Moegaku 5, a language-learning program for kids, five days a week on TV. Starting February 1, she will co-host a weekly variety TV show about movies, called Cinema Renaissance -- Aaya City 「キネマルネッサンス　あ～や城」 on Midtown TV on the web TV channel GyaO.She is in the game Appreach Majyan (associated with Final Approach 2) of which a version is now available for free download from Princess Soft. She is billed fifth in the cast, after Katou Emiri, Sendai Eri, Toyoguchi Megumi, and Hisakawa Aya.She does the voice of a cat (or maybe cats) in the film Honjitsu no Nekojijyo, which comes out on DVD 22 February.She plays Ilona in the animated part of the film Renaissance, which is now on sale in DVD.She plays the fairy Emily in a Hello Kitty anime now on TV in Japan on Kitty's Paradise: Apple Forest - Parallel Town.And she is host or co-host of three different current radio shows: Animelo Mix, Say Good Luck, and the radio show for the game Ramen Angel Pretty Menma, in which she is Menma.She will appear in a Galaxy Angelune live show on 27 February. And she will have her own mini-lives for last fall's CD singles on march 1 in Osaka and March 15 in Tokyo.And there are more versions of Suzumiya Haruhi games coming out. There was a wild rumor that she was giving up the character Haruhi, but her presence in the new games puts the lie to that. Rumors are that the second Haruhi anime series will start either this fall or next spring.All these bits and pieces add up to a lot of work, but it is not straight anime work. Cast lists for spring anime are just appearing, so she may be in more than one show.Her idol work continues apace, however. She is in Guam right now for some kind of photo-shoot.The photos on her blog have suddenly become larger. She says that she has a new cellphone, and by checking the posted photos with the program Exif Reader, I can say that it is an NTT DoCoMo N905i, which features a 5mpx camera with face detection.I found out about Exif Reader from the 2channel Aaya thread, where someone used it to show that the photos of a Christmas party she posted on Christmas Day were actually shot December 21. The poster and others came to the conclusion, from other blog posts, that she spent Christmas alone, eating Italian food. Lol. What a world is 2channel.
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Amisuke began July with her first venture into being a producer. She produced a little show at the Ginja club of the big karaoke chain Pasera. Ami and seiyuu guests sang anime songs of 1995. By all reports, the show went off well enough. Posters on 2channel said that the venue seemed full. The only complaints were from some attendees who wanted to sing more themselves. That sentiment was probably not widely shared.Below (l-r) Amisuke with her co-performers: her good friend Sanpei Yuuko (Renton in Eureka7, Souta in later episodes of Otogijushi Akazukin), Hanamura Satomi (Anise Azeat in Galaxy Angelune), and Abe Reiko (TV, radio, idol unit Pallet, Noriko in Strawberry Panic). Photo from Ami's blog.Below left is Ami with her special guest at the event, Kasahara Hiroko (Nanako in Oniisama-e, etc., etc., and singer of three OPs in 1995). A couple of days before the event, Ami went to karaoke to practice with her friends "Pe" (Sanpei Yuuko) and Mizusawa Fumie ( Wapourif in Simoun, Juliet in RomeoxJuliet). Fumie didn't look very Juliet-like as she sang with abandon: The next time we see Ami in her blog, she is at the hairdresser's, having her hair tamed. Two days later, Pe has a pic of herself in her own blog, getting hers cut: Amisuke is now co-host of "Saki Radio" with Ueda Kana (Yumi in Marimite, Hazumu in Kashimashi, etc., etc.). The show is publicity for the drama CD (and probably a future anime) based on the manga Saki, which is about two high school girls who are champion mah jong players. Here's a photo from the show's website, and one from Ami's blog, with guest Itou Shizuka (Rei in Marimite, Eika in Sky Girls, etc., etc.): Finally, just today, Ami gives us another in the continuing series of pictures showing the fated connection between her and her friend Pe. They happened to buy the same socks, with little strawberries on them. This goes with such things as the fact that they were born two weeks apart in 1986, and the fact that they both got exactly the same fortune at New Year's last year:
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Koshimizu Ami 小清水亜美 is now becoming a producer. She is producing and performing in a live event called something like "Ani-stalgia," which will take place June 30 at the Ginza branch of the karaoke chain Pasera. The show will feature anime music from 1995.Guest performers will be her good friend Sanpei Yuuko (Renton in Eureka7, Souta in later episodes of Otogijushi Akazukin), Hanamura Satomi (Anise Azeat in Galaxy Angelune), Abe Reiko (TV, radio, idol unit Pallet, Noriko in Strawberry Panic), and further "secret guests." Sanpei-san's participation is probably made easier by the fact that she has just left her agency, Gekidan Wakakusa, and become independent.I'm wondering if the ED performances in Lucky Star have revived interest in old anime music.
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Well, I guess it's all Hirano Aya 平野綾 all the time here on Aya-channel. But the Aya thread on 2channel has been boiling for the last few days, so here's what's going on.First, there was the triumphant live event last Sunday, which ended with Aya weeping again. Then on Thursday, the Tokyo International Anime Fair (TIAF) 東京国際アニメフェア awards made her top seiyuu of the year -- but she couldn't attend, apparently because of a recording session, and sent a video message instead. From Friday to Sunday, she did not update her blog. This is remarkable because over the past few months, she has barely missed a single day, let alone three in a row.On Saturday, however, she appeared at TIAF in a Galaxy Angelune live event. She was late because of another recording session, but still took part in one musical number and a brief talk. However, according to a couple of observers, she arrived and left on crutches. The Japanese Aaya-ota on 2channel exploded with concern for her health. On Sunday, there was another live event at TIAF for the Seiyuu Awards that were presented a few weeks ago. She came to that one, too, and apparently spoke easily and well, but looked tired.Then late Sunday night she finally updated her blog, first finishing a series on making takoyaki, then posting some more food shots, and finally with posts about the TIAF and a big apology for not having updated the blog: her cell phone died and then her "physical condition fell apart a bit." Above left: making takoyaki. Middle: the finished product. Right: a White Day gift from Akesaka Satomi, who is a seiyuu with her on Galaxy Angelune. Above left: Negitoro-don [raw tuna and spring onion on rice, with various delicious-looking additions]. "I love this dish. But I haven't had it for a long time. This is just about the only kind of don [anything on rice] I like. Oyako-don? [chicken and egg on rice] -- Nooo. But I do love hitsumabushi [grilled eel on rice], which is a little different from don.Lots of seiyuus post pictures of food. Fewer post pictures of food they make themselves. Above centre: "The Food of Love." "'Here, darling. Tee-hee...' Well, it looks good, anyway." For someone who says she plans never to marry, she seems awfully domestic, in an almost Yamato Nadeshiko kind of way. Above right: "Cinnamon cocoa." "I love cinnamon, but I really love stick cinnamon." Left: "Awful. Don't say: 'Take off the wig.'" Centre: "Tokyo International Anime Fair." She certainly looks tired in this shot. "I received the seiyuu award! Only one person is chosen every year. It's a big responsibility. I will do my very best. Please don't worry, and please keep watching."Right: "I apologize for not updating my diary. My phone adapter couldn't take the different voltages in other countries, and my cell phone died. Then my physical condition fell apart a bit. I'm bowing to apologize, but I also want you to see the different style of hair-bun." By the way, posters on 2channel say that she has a red Sharp SH903i NTT DoCoMo phone. And the photos below seem to prove it. She posted the left-hand photo several hours after the others above, and after the discussion of her phone on 2channel. This makes me wonder if she might actually be reading her own thread on 2channel. Pretty scary, considering some of the things posted there. No-one knows what her physical problems are, but a post on 2channel linked to an interview from last December. The interviewer asked her about her school and said she must have done well in sports. She said she didn't take part much, and was usually just resting in the shade. The interviewer said perhaps it was because she had to avoid tanning. Aya replied that, no, her reflexes were so bad that she couldn't do sports at all, even though she could do her dancing.At Sunday's talk event for the Seiyuu Awards, there was talk and some skits. Paku Romi gave a moving talk that ended with her pretending to faint. Paku-san, Aya and Koshimizu Ami did a skit together that ended with them all embracing. Aya mentioned that she had been a big Pokemon fan, so they had her sing the theme, which she did to great applause. Paku-san said she wanted to take Aya home with her. Aya apparently seemed very natural when she was shaking hands with fans. No crutches in sight. "Best personality" winner Asano Masumi missed this event because of the flu.　The pictures below are from the event, and there are more pics here. Below left (l-r): Paku Romi, Koshimizu Ami, Hirano Aya, Kano Yui, host Washigaki Takeshi, Kakihara Tetsuya. Right: Paku, Aya, Ami. One more thing of some interest from the Aya thread on 2channel. The Sumomo mo Momo mo DVDs have full audio commentary by the seiyuus, etc. It appears that Kano Yui and Takahashi Hiroki (Momoko and Koushi) are on all of them, with others coming in for different episodes. On the commentary for episode 9, Aya (who plays Sanae) seems very relaxed and talkative, particularly during the scene where Sanae's grandmother has her in a skimpy horse outfit and is riding her, with a whip, as a form of martial arts training (this has to be seen to be believed, like some other scenes in that show):Kano: "Awful!"Takahashi: "Well, no...."Hirano: "Yay!"Kano: "She's not wearing a bra."Hirano: "It's just pushing up from below."Kano: "She has a lot of self-confidence."Hirano: "Great, isn't it..."Hirano: "Somehow I seem to have a lot of hentai roles lately."Takahashi: (laughing) "You've done others?"Hirano: "All kinds of them, for some reason."Takahashi: "Hentai in what way?" (his interest rising)Hirano: "Oh, like characters who always talk about ero things..."Layla in NANA is sort of an example. One of the early scenes for Layla, a big rock star, is when she has called in a young male prostitute to her room in a hotel.And one final thing. It was mentioned on 2channel today that items on the Seiyuu News website referring to Aya's photo book and the live event last week had 27,000 and 14,000 hits respectively, whereas most items in the news had hits numbering in the hundreds -- except one around 1500 and a Mizuki Nana item (with photos) around 5000. More indication of Aya's current wave of popularity.
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This past weekend, during a spate of blog posts from Seoul, Hirano Aya's website seems to have become the most popular seiyuu website in Japan. She was in Korea with Kudou Haruka and others from Death Note to do location shooting for feature material, as well as a magazine feature. (click photos to enlarge) According to traffic estimates made using Alexa.com and posted on 2channel, Aya's and Mizuki Nana's websites are the most popular among a group of top idol-seiyuu sites. Both have been zooming up since the beginning of the year, and Aya's shot above Nana's on the weekend, during the Korea trip.On Monday, Aya's site was, according to Alexa.com figures, about the 20,000th most popular site on the Web, with Nana's about the 60,000th, despite her recent release of a new CD. Hardly YouTube, but a big jump above other seiyuu, with popular TV personality Nogawa Sakura out of sight below 100,000th.For the past few months, Aya's site has been tracking Nana's. On the weekend, Aya's site jumped ahead, and the Sunday figure of about 37 users per million internet users for Aya's site compared with only 22 for Nana's site; Tamura Yukari's was around 12, a six-month high for her; and Nogawa Sakura and Shintani Ryouko around 2. Figures for Horie Yui's site were not available for technical reasons. By Monday, Aya's site had entered the stratosphere, reaching over 60 users per million.The trip to Seoul had a bad beginning. Aya forgot her passport and was late arriving for takeoff. It must have been a charter or a private plane, since they were apparently able to hold it for her. In Seoul, Aaya and Kudou Haruka (whom Aaya described as moe) posed in Korean traditional dress. She went to have a massage -- for the first time, she said -- where they told her she had problems in a lot of areas: tonsils, chest, ears, sascral nerves, intestines, knees. About "chest," she commented: "!? Must mean heart and lungs." On 2channel, there are frequent comments about her small bust. Sunday night, in her room, she took a picture of her feet, and her manager took a picture of her posing on her bed as Superman. The photos are getting fairly intimate. Welcome to the global village, where where we see more details of celebrities' lives than of our friends' lives. She was fascinated by the spicy food, which she says she can't take. She was also fascinated by a plate of live squid, still moving. And loved her Monday breakfast of abalone rice porridge. She will appear in a Japanese TV interview in traditional Korean dress. With the more traditional hairstyle, her usually-covered high forehead is revealed. She says her pose in the left-hand photo is meant to be proud and seductive, like someone saying: "No-one is as pretty as me. Come hither." "No way, for me," she said disingenuously. Everything was held in by pins, as shown in the right-hand photo. "They hurt!" And she made a point of posing with a producer of Death Note (below, left), with the director of the Death Note and NANA special features, and with an editor for Korean NewType, thanking them all for their support. These are some of the people she depends on for employment and publicity. She's very careful to give such people their due. Maybe it's my imagination, but the smile in the shot with the producer seems a bit forced, lol At one point she joked that she liked Korea so much she might move there. Her last meal in Seoul was in a Western restaurant with an English menu, and she was impressed by how well the Koreans around her knew English. (This has become a topic for some soul-searching on the Japanese fan-board 2channel.) The visit to Korea demonstrates the growing importance of that market, and also Korea's changing image in Japan.The whole trip was tiring. Her shoes gave her blisters, and she ended up going to the airport in hotel slippers. But it might have been worth it for photos like the classic, old-fashioned shot poorly reproduced below right. As Aya said: "Who's that?" Except for her tiredness, there is no indication of the problems that set her back late last year. She has made few public appearances, however, and her blog gives no indication she is actually going to college this term. The weeks seem full of recording and photo-shoots. She was in a Galaxy Angelune concert earlier this month, and will be in the big Suzumiya Haruhi event in March.A further indication of her popularity is the fact that she had the top two seiyuu recordings last year -- Hare Hare Yukai, and Boken Desho Desho. Hare Hare Yukai, at almost 95,000 units, sold more than twice as many units as any other seiyuu's recording (#3 was Horie Yui's Hikari, at 45,000). But both of her hits were from Suzumiya Haruhi, and her own September recording -- Ashita no Prism -- only got as high as (a fairly respectable) 16th, at 15,000 units sold.It's interesting that all this fuss is over an artist who has really had only one starring role in an anime, and then with number two billing, after Sugita Tomokazu. She has turned in more great performances since then -- Leila in NANA and Mei in Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight are terrific, in my opinion -- but they are supporting roles. We'll see where she goes from here. She stars in the new Kyoto Animation slice-of-life comedy Lucky Star, which will begin airing in April.On TV, she is an engaging personality, a combination of kawaii burikko, proud professional, and informally chatty gal-pal. Her interview schtick is to suddenly change her voice to assume a voice character. On Nakagawa Shouko's show last fall, she did Lumiere, Haruhi...and Pikachu.Sometimes the things she says in her blog and on radio shows are not what you would imagine her management wanting to hear. The days blogging her struggles to make chocolates for Valentine's Day were painful. And it was surprising to see that she had said on Sumomo Radio she had long decided not to marry, that it imposed too many restrictions, and that if it came to that she would just live with someone.
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Episode 7 of the current “Galaxy Angelune” series marked the long-awaited return of the Moon Angel Troop! This had to be one of the most emotional cameo appearances I’ve had to the privilege to experience — the Tenchi family in episode 17 of GXP still remains in my top spot of all-time. Although there was [...]
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Somehow I've managed to see the first episodes of almost all the new anime. Here's what I thought of them. As usual, there are far too many watchable shows.Just for reference, my favorite recent shows are Simoun, Honey & Clover, Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu, NANA, and Bokura ga Ita. But I've also enjoyed Kashimashi, Lemon Angel Project, NHK ni You Koso, Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora, Shinigami no Ballad, Saiunkoku Monogatari, and Noein, among others.Here is a trip through the week, day by day. Shows I like most get a screencap. Best show so far? For me, it's Asatte no Houkou. For others, it might be Kanon, Death Note, Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto, or Negima. I also have a calendar of the week, showing days and times the shows are on in Japan, and highlights of staff and cast.Sunday:Gin-iro no Cord ~Primo Passo~ -- Reverse-harem romance in a high school devoted to music. Takagi Reiko does a lovely job communicating the heroine's feelings. The music fairy who is the guardian of the school gives her a magic violin that enables her to compete with the best musicians in the school, most of whom are bishounen. I liked it. So sue me.Galaxy Angelune -- Crazy comic beautiful girls commit crazy violence in good causes. Despite Hirano Aya and Kobayashi Akiko (PuniPuni Poemi), this didn't do much for me.Marginal Prince -- An innocent Japanese boy becomes a student at a grand old school on an island in Europe, where the half-dozen students are all princely bishounen. Uh-oh: I enjoyed this simple, old-fashioned, somewhat cheesy and yaoi-ish bishounen show. Your mileage may vary.Monday:Tokimeki Memorial ~Only Love~ -- School comedy. Beautiful girls. Stupid humor. Some people apparently liked this ero-game conversion. Not me.Rabudoru ~Lovely Idol~ -- Another simple show I enjoyed a lot. Girls becoming idols. Decent music. A nice look. Great voice-acting: Nogawa Sakura, Sakai Kanako (REC), Nakahara Mai (Mai in Mai-HiME), Chihara Minori (Yuki in Suzumiya Haruhi), Gotou Yuuko (Mikuru in Suzumiya Haruhi), Momoi Haruko (Nurse Witch Komugi). (Second episode was not so enjoyable.)Pumpkin Scissors -- Well-made show set in a post-war purgatory of famine and disorder. Decent action. Characters with character, although kind of shallow, for me. Itou Shizuka in one of her two good roles this season (the other being in Asatte no Houkou). Ueda Kana as the humble secretary who knows everything.Tuesday:D. Gray Man -- Monster-of-the-week. Well-made but a bit limp. Set in London circa Jack the Ripper. Kobayashi Sanae (Maya in Glass Mask) is good as the (male) protagonist.Death Note -- Powerful, excellently animated and well-acted descent into megalomaniac madness. For many, this will be the show of the season. Great performance by Miyano Mamoru (Tamaki in Ouran, in a totally different role) as the top student who gets a shinigami's notebook, enabling him to kill whom he pleases. And Hirano Aya and Kudou Haruka will apparently show up in episode 2.Ghost Hunt -- Nicely-made female-oriented story of a girl who becomes part of a group of ghost-hunters led by a (sort of) bishounen. Good voice-acting by Nazuka Kaori (Yun in Simoun). Develops slowly.Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge (Perfect Girl Evolution) -- Animation that's completely nuts of a manga that's completely nuts by a director who's completely nuts (Nabeshin, who made PuniPuni Poemi). Four bishounen are given free rent in a mansion if they can convert the owner's niece from a hikikomori, self-conscious, negative horror freak into a charming young lady. (Second episode was hilarious.)Shounen Onmyouji -- Great Heian setting for a monster-of-the-week anime featuring yin-yang magic. Love interest arrives in episode 2. Looks wonderful, has some nice features, including a terrific (and powerful) animal companion, but didn't do much for me. Screenplay by the man who did Wolf's Rain and Turn A Gundam, however, so things may improve. My problem is that monsters bore me.Black Lagoon ~Second Barrage~ (haven't seen it)Red Garden -- Fascinating supernatural mystery featuring amazing realistic animation and pre-recorded voices that really act. Set in New York, centered on four girls at the same school who discover they have all forgotten the evening when a classmate died, and are told that they are dead, too. (Second episode was outstanding.)Wednesday:Negima!? -- Wonderful comic animation directed by Shinbou Akiyuki (Tsukuyomi ~Moon Phase~, PaniPoni Dash!), with a cast that never stops: Kanda Akemi (Kazuki in Tonagura, etc.), Satou Rina (reprising her role as Negima), Nonaka Ai (Iriya, etc.), Kadowaki Mai, Noto Mamiko, Horie Yui, Inokuchi Yuka (Anju in Karin). (Second episode blew me away.)Busou Renkin -- Almost bearable monster show. And that's saying something, coming from me. Hirano Aya as a (platonically) loving imouto is worth the price of admission. Yahagi Sayuri (Karin) will show up soon. (Second episode bored me, descending into real monster-of-the-week. But Hirano Aya was still great.)Super Robot Taisen OG ~Divine Wars~ -- People who like this sort of thing seem to like it. Good mecha. Nice bright look. Takahashi Mikako in a b-role as the brave damsel in distress. For boys.Galaxy Railways ~The Junction Point to Eternity~ -- I find the whole concept of a train flying through space difficult to swallow, and don't like mecha that look as if they were designed in the 19th century. But even that aside, this first episode of the new series seemed pretty lame to me: logic seemed quite absent. I've never watched Galaxy Railways 999, which people say was a good show.Yoake Mae yori Ruriiro na Crescent Love -- Cute game-conversion comedy that I actually found funny. Nabatame Hitomi (Shizuma in Strawberry Panic, Nobue in Ichigo Mashimaro) is wonderful as the regal but romantic moon princess who comes to Earth for a homestay with the hero (his onee-san is chief spokesperson for the president of Earth). (Second episode has me hooked.)Souten no Ken -- Appears to be a stupid, cheap, ugly, fighting show. I couldn't stand to watch enough to really find out.Thursday:Sasami Mahou Shoujo Club 2 -- Kid stuff. The main seiyuu are all under 15 and sound like it. Charming, but of little interest to me.Pokemon Diamond & Pearl (haven't seen it)Mamoru-kun ni Megami no Shukufuku wo! -- A big surprise. Funny and extreme. The superwoman (and I do mean Superwoman) school idol instantly falls in love with the weak little new boy. Hilarious schtick and well-done fanservice. Takahashi Mikako in a new kind of role.Kanon -- As good as advertised. Fabulous, deeply moving animation. Melancholy supernatural romance featuring sad girls in snow. The largest, most liquid eyes ever. Horie Yui, Tamura Yukari, Sugita Tomokazu, Seki Tomokazu, Kawakami Tomoko, Kawasumi Ayako. Directed by the director of Air, written by the writer of Full Metal Panic, animated by Kyoto Animation. Need I say more?009-1 -- Could become a camp classic. Voluptuous, invincible, cool female James Bond and voluptuous colleagues in a 1960s East Block-West Block cold war setting. Great character design. Well directed, if simple and old-fashioned. Enjoyable fighting and bionic weaponry. Based on a classic late-1960s manga by Shotaro Ishinomori. A sleeper. Feminist bishoujo?CODE GEASS - Lelouch of the Rebellion -- Entertaining enough, but not as gripping as I'd hoped. Area 11 (i.e., Japan) rebels against rule by the Britannia Empire. America/England bad, Japan good. The first of two anti-foreign shows from Sunrise. I want to see and hear more of the intriguing alien (?) played by Yukana.Gin-iro no Olynssis -- A misfire from Artland. Fairly silly, with some nice shots and the potential for a good silent beautiful alien. Second-rate monsters are even worse than first-rate monsters. So far this is a waste of the talents of Nazuka Kaori, Hisakawa Aya and Akemi Kanda.Asatte no Houkou -- The best first episode of the week. Beautifully directed and acted, with an intriguing premise involving a little girl who wants to grow up fast, and a young woman who wants to go back to being a child. We'll see where it goes. Ito Shizuka is marvellous.Happiness -- Made me happy. Appears to involve tension-free romance at a school for magicians. Lamune vibes.Sumomomo Momono -- Hilarious and outrageous. Unique character design. The daughter of one martial arts master is betrothed to the somewhat older son of another so that they can produce a worthy heir. She wants to be his bride (does she ever) and he just wants to become a lawyer. But be warned: the greatest amount of loli fanservice I have ever seen in one episode. Hirano Aya enters the fray starting with episode 2.Gift ~Eternal Rainbow~ -- People love the game, but the first episode didn't do much for me. I didn't like the protagonist, and the "plot" was pretty limp. But the VA cast is nice: Shimizu Ai, Miyazaki Ui, Shintani Ryouko, Koshimizu Ami, Tai Yuuki(Chevalier/D'Eon).Friday:Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto -- Animation at least as good as Kanon, if you can imagine it. So beautiful it brought tears to my eyes. Complex end-of-Edo-period plot involving swordsmanship and magic. Anti-foreign and maybe anti-Chinese vibes, but the animation is so good it doesn't matter.Kujibiki Unbalance -- It's going to take a while to get over the complete dissimilarity from the OVA eps in Genshiken, but I enjoyed it, up to a point. Moe voice-acting and reworked cliches to the max. Nonaka Ai was just fabulous as Tokino, and lots of others were good, too, including Koshimizu Ami as The Chairman and Gotou Yuuko at her most extreme kiddy-moe. The semi-unknown new recruits to the voice-acting cast stepped right up.Saturday:Katekyoshi Hitman Reborn! (haven't seen it)Ayakashi Ayashi -- Another Edo swordsmanship and magic story, like Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto, with simpler (but still very nice) animation and a simpler (but to me more moving) plot. Fujiwara Keiji (Shuuji in Honey & Clover) and Niino Michi (Aaeru in Simoun).Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori -- Great new opening, at least for the first episode. If anything even more beautiful and tormenting that the first series, if this episode is any example. But still repetitive and unsatisfying.Otome wa Boku ni Koi Shiteru -- Kashimashi reborn. Following his grandfather's will, a very pretty boy dresses as a girl and goes to a girls' school, where everyone falls in love with him (I mean her). Lots of Strawberry Panic, too. Horie Yui, Matsuki Miyu (Simoun/Anguras, Strawberry Panic/Hikari), Kanda Akemi (Negima /Asuna, Tonagura /Kazuki), Asano Masumi, Gotou Yuuko, Nogawa Sakura. Plenty of yuri-esque fanservice.History's Strongest Disciple Ken'ichi (haven't seen it)
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Alright. I went to watch 2 animes that were released for the Fall season and they had 1 thing in common. They have loli-girls going “Nanoda!!!”. Is it just me, or is this going be some trend somehow? I gotta admit I did went “Nanoda!!!” at times to annoy people in the AnimeNano IRC channel [...]
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Yeah, I’m planning to through the garbage of the season first by watching the raws. It’s not like shows of this nature were known for their incredibly difficult language anyway. Galaxy Ange-lune This is anohter one of those failed attempts at comedy. We’ve got a cast of stereotypes, who try to be as random as possible, [...]
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