Clannad After Story confirmed
Can’t get enough Clannad? Then fear not, for an After Story sequel has inevitably been confirmed, and although a release date has not been announced, you can tickle your taste buds with this 18 second trailer (actually about 12 seconds of content and 6 of a still screen entitled “After Story”).
Entertainment correspondent Aria: Punyu. [This was an inevitable announcement, really, and whilst it will probably be decent enough, it’s undoubtedly going to be filled with sadness and depression.]
Rozen Maiden rises from the grave
Recall how various issues led to Rozen Maiden being abruptly wrapped up after eight volumes with the worst concluding chapter ever? Well, for those who kept the torch burning, their patience has been rewarded- come April 17th, the manga will be resuming in Young Jump.
Entertainment correspondent Aria: Punyu. [Over here at Azure Flame, we once cared a lot about Rozen Maiden, but we steadily became disillusioned with it. Even so, enough vestiges of curiosity remain for us to want to pursue the manga continuation- once we read volumes five to eight.]
New Someday’s Dreamers
This summer, a new Someday’s Dreamers anime will be hitting our screens- Someday’s Dreamers ~Natsu no Sora~. Based on a new manga series that began serialisation in February, Natsu no Sora takes place in the same universe as the original series and its manga spin-off Spellbound, but this time around it focuses on new character Sora as she heads off to complete her mage internship.
Entertainment correspondent Aria: Punyu! [I was hoping Spellbound would get animated, but the first chapter of this manga was very good, so the anime is a must-see.]
Noramimi, Kodomo no Jikan get second seasons
Well, the title says it all, really- both Noramimi and Kodomo no Jikan have had second seasons greenlit for production. In the case of KnJ, a limited edition version of the fifth manga volume will include a preview DVD of the new season.
Entertainment correspondent Aria: Punyu. [Nothing much to say; I didn’t watch either of these series.]
Rocket Girls, Kiba licensed
Whilst Bandai have picked up Stratos 4’s spiritual successor Rocket Girls, ADV has chosen to license all 51 episodes of Kiba. So far, there has been no release date information for either series, whilst ADV has also failed to comment on the status of one of their other recently licensed series- Guren Lagann.
Licensing correspondent The Admiral: Kiba might appeal to some, but we only lasted six episodes before putting it aside. Rocket Girls is unlikely to command a huge fanbase, but there’s bound to be a small but dedicated group of people who want to get their hands on it. Of course, unless it has a fat cat it can’t be as worthy as my series.
Delays from Bandai Visual
Having promised to release them at an unprecedented rate, Bandai Visual has now announced that the release of Shigofumi and true tears (along with sola from last year) is to be delayed until after the summer. The company has also announced that they are planning to concentrate on expanding their Blu-ray catalogue.
Licensing correspondent The Admiral: It’s quite ironic that a company who plans to release 1-2 episodes per disc wants to use a high storage capacity format like Blu-ray.
Just so I can laugh some more…4Kids gets Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D
English-speaking viewers, do not despair- for Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D will be coming to you by way of 4Kids this autumn! Personally, of course, I don’t much care, but I just wanted an excuse to laugh a bit more- duelling motorcycles? Going out for a ride and then playing cards on the highway? Does it get any more ridiculous than this?
Licensing correspondent The Admiral: No comment.
I don’t get Bandai wanting to concentrate on Blu-Ray for the time being – Sure, it won the High Definition format war, but it’s still not going to be anything like as profitable as DVD releases, especially for an already niche market like anime.
After having watched Paprika in a really high definition from a blueray source I understand why they do it. Much better quality and since it costs more to make they can take a higher price, that way they get more money!!
But I´m still wondering what they are up to. Hopefully blueray won´t be the standard format anytime soon. It just costs to much.
Clannad after story YES!! Now I have more to write about. This is going to be fun 🙂
Since the DVD eps are getting released, every subber stopped subbing Kodomo No Jikan, so I´ll just have to wait and watch them when they arrive later.