Hello and welcome to another edition of Sunday News Bites! This week we are joined in the newsroom by Nozomu Itoshiki from Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, who claims that Azure Flame has left him in despair! Let’s see if we can dissuade him from suicide attempts long enough to comment on the week’s news.
Not quite Sayonara for the hopeless sensei
Did the fact that Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei was a mere twelve episodes long leave you in despair? Then never fear, because come the start of 2008, a second season will be coming our way, promising more insanity and bleak humour from the depressive teacher and his class of misfits.Sensei says: Anime producers know that a second season is cheaper and easier than coming up with something new and exciting from scratch! This culture of sequels has left me in despair!
New manga- Shiki
Shiki, a novel series from Fuyumi Ono (author of the Twelve Kingdoms and Ghost Hunt novels) is set to follow its brethren into the realm of manga adaptations courtesy of mangaka Ryu Fujisaki. A fantasy/horror series about an isolated village whose population mysteriously starts dying, Shiki’s manga incarnation will begin in the January 2008 edition of Jump Square magazine.
Sensei says: This blatant attempt to squeeze more money out of consumers by adapting the same story across different mediums leaves me in despair! Never mind that my anime is near identical to the original manga!
Lay-off hell: the apocalypse is coming
In recent weeks, both FUNimation and (more infamously) Geneon have laid off employees, but now ADV joins them in laying off 13 of its 100 or so employees (although admittedly a few new staff members have been brought on board). These changes are supposed to reflect ADV’s priorities, but without further details, we can’t say exactly what they are prioritising and why. Note, however, that these numbers do not include freelance workers such as voice actors.
Sensei says: You work hard and then get laid off by the big bosses! This capitalist culture leaves me in despair!
Too loli for TV?
The infamous Kodomo no Jikan already made waves when Seven Seas caved in and dropped the manga license, but now the TV version has gained notoriety after its airing was cancelled from all but two channels- a move apparently sparked by the arrest of a 54 year old elementary school vice-principal for soliciting obscene behaviour from a 16 year old girl (he is also accused of filming and photographing obscene footage of 600 other underage girls). The channels which chose not to drop KnJ aired a highly censored version of the first episode this week.
Sensei says: This teacher thinks he has problems with overly mature elementary school students, but just let him try teaching at my school!
Be the height of fashion with Bleach shoes!
Come next February, you can impress all your friends with a limited edition pair of Bleach shoes from the Viz online store! Rather than being shinigami-style sandals, these special Bleach shoes are actually a pair of trainers with shinigami symbols on them, only 360 pairs of which will be made available. This really should take the biscuit for unnecessary merchandising, however Viz have already outdone themselves by offering Naruto-themed boxer shorts.
Sensei says: The merchandising culture leaves me in despair!
Manga licenses
Media Blasters have picked up Akihabara @ DEEP, a six volume novel adaptation about the trials and tribulations of life in Akihabara, alongside Strawberry-chan no Karei na Seikatsu, a one-shot volume about a frog and her master. Meanwhile, Del Ray have picked up Toto! Wonderful Adventure, a five volume series about a boy who meets a dog wearing an experimental collar, and Haridama Magical Cram School.
Sensei says: What are all these manga anyway?
Disgaea 3 promo video
Yes, in the slow drip feed of information about the new Disgaea 3 videogame, we now have a whole video to watch- and I have to admit it looks good. Although it will be a while before I have either a PS3 or the game, I’m looking forward to it.
Sensei says: So…if I commit suicide, I will become one of those prinny things? The afterlife has left me in despair!
While I agree that second series are basically in it for the money, it’s not so bad when there’s enough manga material to accommodate the extra episodes. Think of the beauty we would’ve lost if there wasn’t a second series of Honey & Clover…
And those job redundancies are troubling. Is it a case of ADV broadening their horizons too much (with manga etc), or is it fansub connoisseurs like ourselves slowly bleeding them dry? I’m feeling this strange, guilt-like feeling deep inside. Must just be gas.
Yeah, I’m not as cynical about second seasons as ‘Sensei’ but I wanted to write that bit in character…I do have my issues with the latter part of H&C II but there are plenty of second seasons that I’ve enjoyed.
I know what you mean about that strange guilt-like feeling, but I’m buying as many DVDs as I can afford- honest (and Christmas is coming); it’s just that I’m past the stage of investing in any old crap just because it’s anime. Everyone seems to have a different opinion on whether fansubs are killing the industry or if it’s just that the market has reached capacity sooner than companies expected, but in the end we’ll just have to wait and see.
“So…if I commit suicide, I will become one of those prinny things? The afterlife has left me in despair!”
Best I´ve read in years!! Almost better than the NIS jokes.
Disgaea 3, I wonder what they will use as a tagline for it this time. They used “get your life back” and “the game that turned people into insomiacs”. Wonder what they will say about the third game.
Will be released in Japan this winter, hopefully it´ll reach USA next August, a MUST BUY!!
Lol, just because Zetsubou-sensei was the guest start I had to read this the second I saw it hahaha. And I was pleasantly surprised with the D3 trailer. Oh, those stack attacks make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside…