Japanophile Isle

-first of all Yen Press has licensed SPICE AND WOLF novels yeah! yeah! yeah!

-Viz will have new japanese SF novels line . “It’s a Japanese science fiction imprint that is spearheaded by one of our editors here and is a wholly separate imprint. The name Haikasoru is a kind of Japanified version of ‘high castle.’ It’s a veiled homage to Philip K. Dick’s Man in the High Castle which is set in an alternate world where Japan colonizes the west coast of the U.S. It’s pretty traditional science fiction. We’ll see where it goes in terms of the breadth. It’s solidly a fiction line and we’ve got the buyers onboard for it. It’s pretty exciting to see what come out.” While I’m still mourning the death of Shakugan no Shana line, it’s good to see Viz not giving up on bringing japanese literature to english audience

-world isn’t all sunshine and flowers though, so All Seven Seas Light Novels are on hold.Yep..fans of Zero no Tsukaima, Vamp, Boogiepop Phantom, Kanokon, Ballad of Shinigami, Gun Princess and Pita Ten can start crying now (since I enjoyed Kanokon anime greatly I will be joining your weeping)

I’m sure most of you have already heard about the whole Tokyopop’s Restructuring by now. Basically the deal is that they fired a lot of people and they will be reducing their annual output by half. So everybody is asking: “Will my favorites be the one to get the cut?”. I also tremble for the fate of Aria manga, it’s been rescued once already, I doubt it will get the third chance. We can expect the less popular titles to be discontinued and unfortunately the Tokyopop line I’m most interested in: their novels are their less popular titles and as expected they are among the victims of the restructurization

Andrew Cunningham, the translator for many of Tokyopop’s novels is one of the persons who were fired and he made a post on AnineonDvD forums detailing which titles will get the cut.

Missing, Gosick and Chibi Vampire novels were canceled. There are still some of their volumes that will get published (Chibi Vampire vol5 will be out soon and Missing 3 also might make it out too, Gosick vol2 doesn’t look likely), but once Tokyopop rolls out the stuff they have already finished or almost finished, the lines won’t be continued.

Goth looks like it will come out (and it’s one volume long, so at least this will be finished), but for the rest of their novel series, including Full Metal Panic, Kino no Tabi and Twelve Kingdoms… nobody knows. Their novels section was always pretty low-profile and with Tokypop cutting out most of their less-popular offerings the future doesn’t look good for those series.

It’s such a shame, I really enjoyed Tokyopop’s novels line, not just the long series, but also (if not mostly) their one shots like Welcome to the NHK, Chain Mail or Calling You.

I must say though I’m really thankful to Andrew Cunningham, for both translating all those cool novels as well as informing the fans about those series’ fate. I hate how Viz doesn’t seem to care enough to inform fans Shakugan no Shana novels were canceled. It’s better to know for sure that our beloved series is done, at least this way we can move on.

Fortunately for fans of Japanese literature there’s plenty of other novels coming out in 2008 and 2009, so while the loss of Tokyopop is painful, it won’t be fatal

NisiOisin’s novel series will get an anime adaptation
About a damn time one might add as he’s one of the most important modern light novels writers and till now aside from one episode in the first xxxHolic season (which was based on the stories from his xxxHolic novel) he was completely ignored by anime studios.
2008 is shaping up to be a great year for NisiOisin fans I must say. English edition of Death Note: Another Note novel is already out, we’ll also see English releases of xxxHOLiC: AnotherHOLiC, the first volume of Zerotogo before the year is over, not to mention his work will also be included in first volume of Del Ray’s Faust anthology.

Hopefully this will lead to even more translations of his novels and there’s a lot to choose from, this man is a writing machine.
For those who want to learn more about Bakemonogatari and it’s author I once again recommend Andrew Cunningham’s excellent site:
Bakemonogatari
NisiOisin

More Light Novels news!

Del Rey is going to publish the english version of The Case of the Dragon Slayer (Japanese cover on the right), a fantasy mystery novel from Kouhei Kadono (best known for Boogiepop series).

Meanwhile we’ve also learned that Tokyopop will be releasing the Gankutsuou light novels in english. It’s ironic, the anime already was a twised version of a novel and now the anime itself is getting novelization ^_^
It’s reminding of the whole “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale” situation, first a novelette by Phillip K Dick,then a movie called “Total Recall” and finally Piers Anthony wrote novelization of that movie

from ANN
The Publishers Weekly trade periodical reports that Little, Brown Books for Young Readers will publish Nagaru Tanigawa’s Haruhi Suzumiya light novels in English starting in April of 2009. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is the first of the nine volumes, and the main inspiration for anime series of the same name. Little, Brown Books acquired the series from Kadokawa Shoten in a joint venture with Yen Press, who also revealed today that it will be publishing the manga version of the novels in North America. (Both companies are imprints of Hachette Book Group USA.) The first novel volume will be released in a US$8.99 trade paperback version and a US$16.99 hardcover version. 4.5 million novel copies and 1.5 million manga copies have been sold in Japan.

With the recent English light novels boom I was wondering why the hell didn’t anyone pick up Haruhi (which is THE light novel series). with this recent news now I’m wondering if there wasn’t fierce bidding war for it
And it looks like they plan to push it heavily
Our goal is to make Haruhi a household name…and through LBYR, it will get the same marketing and publicity support of any other major prose launch from one of the biggest and most reputable children’s publishers in the country.
There will even be a hardcover edition!

Now… somebody license Spice and Wolf as well as Baccano, please? ^_^

taken from ANN

Tokyopop will publish both Otsu-ichi’s Goth text novel in October and Kendi Oiwa’s one-volume manga adaptation in September. The mystery suspense story follows a high school boy and girl who are obssessed with death as they try to solve a series of murders. Otsu-ichi created the Calling you novel and manga as well as the The Chronicle of The Clueless Age manga. Oiwa drew the Welcome to the N.H.K. and Tsukumo Happy Soul manga. The original Japanese publisher of the Goth works, Kadokawa Shoten, is an executive producer on a planned Goth film adaptation with Fox Atomic. Fox Atomic signed J.T. Petty (Splinter Cell game series, Batman Begins game, The Burrowers movie) to write and direct the film project.

This book won the Honkaku Mystery Prize and turned Otsu Ichi from a light novels creator to a mainstream writer.

October is also the month when english translation of xxxHOLiC: AnotherHOLiC novel is supposed to be out.
English novels by both Otsu Ichi and NisiOisin in one month? Almost too good to be true ^_^

for more info about Otsu Ichi head to the excellent Andrew Cunningham’s site, mind you: he will be the one translating the Goth novel, which bodes very well for it’s quality.

Based on novels by Keiichi Sigsawa ( writer of one of my all time favorites: Kino no Tabi) and animated by Madhouse, from previews this was the show that made me hyped up the most this spring. So how did first episode fare when clashed with my expectations?

Opening


Opening song is a surprisingly peaceful and quiet one. I liked it and it complimented the animation of a plane flying slowly through various landscapes very well. Altough it is a kind od song that is usually reserved for endings.

Ending


This song is completely forgettable. There’s nothing special or interesting about it, the same with ending animation.

Short summary: The episode begins with introductions. We are explained the basics of the fictional world (which resemble early 20th century technology-wise), that’s essentialy one big continent with two opossing countries separatated by huge mountain pass and river. Then we meet the heroes of this story: Wil (an intelligent young student) and his friend Allison (a girl working as a pilot for army). When returning from a date(from Allison’s perspective)/friendly meeting (according to Wil ^_^) they encounter an old man, whos’ famous for being a huge liar. They drive him home and to thank them he tells them a real story: about a treasure so precious and important that it can end the war once and for all. Unfortunatelly the old man is abducted before he can finish his tale. Allison and Wil decide to help him. They start by stealing a plane and the episode ends with them beggining their chase in the sky

Impressions: The first episode is merely an introduction to the story, but it fared well. The characters have lots of charm to them, Allison has won me over very quickly. She’s energetic and sympathetic without falling into tsunadere cliche. Wil’s personality is a nice contrast to her, plus he’s smart and apparently good with weapons, so it looks like the show won’t fall into the typical “brave girl accompanied by useless guy” nonsense. They compliment each other nicely, which is nice good considering they’re obviously will end up as a couple.
The setting is interesting from the bits and pieces we’ve seen and the early 20th century feel is perfect for adventure series.

The action speeds up in second half of the episode. I’ve read somewhere that the original novels are known for making one bullet as exciting and dangerous as whole big action scenes in other stories. And it shows in the first episode. When chasing the car with abducted old man the villain shoots at our heroes. Instead ofignoring it, like in every other action show, here Wil reacts like he should in real-life: he jumps off the bike with Allison just to make sure the bullet won’t hit them.
The war story the old man tells makes me think the story will have pretty dark elements later on.

The visuals are pretty impressive. The characters are a bit on a simplistic side, but their old school design helps to hide it (similar thing happened in Kino no Tabi anime) and the backgrounds are simply beautiful. It’s also obvious Madhouse has spent a lot of money and effort on flying sequences: they look excellent with great plane models and sense of flight.

While the OP and ED songs aren’t impressive, the rest of the music definitely is. As the episode went the music was getting better and better. It really helps the action a lot and so far it’s the best one from spring shows I’ve seen.

Overall a very promising start for this show, it at least matched my expectations and I’m looking for second episode more than for other spring animes.

rating: 8.6/10

“Wil no Tabi?” ^_^












Viewers, welcome to the adventure !


That’s how stealing should always look like! ^_^

Light Novel series Todarora, authored by Yuyuko Takemiya and illustrated by Yasu will be turned into anime. The series won an award in the romantic comedy category in the Kadokawa Shoten’s 2007 Light Novel Award. Not much is known so far about anime.
The original series plot follows the lives of two ostracized high school students.Ryūji Takasu who is a calm and kind person, but because of his “wild eyes” he’s always perceived as a delinquent and Taiga Aisaka, whose complexes has made her act in a way that earned her the nickname “handheld tiger”. ( I love this nickname ^_^)

Opening

I didn’t care much about it. Typical forgettable jpop song. At least it’s not painful to listen I guess

Ending

The ending song is much better than the one from OP. It’s nice on ears and pretty catchy.

Short summary: This episode served as introduction. We’ve met the male lead: Kouta Oyamada, a shy 1st year high school student who recently moved to the city from countryside and Chizuru Minamoto, a 2nd year girl who fell in love with Kouta. We are shown (in form of flashback) the first day they’ve met, when after confessing her love to Kouta and kissing him Chizuru lost her control and reverted to her true form, which turns out is a fox deity.To confirm their…ermm.. “compatibility” she possesses Kouta and the fusion causes him to grow tail and ears proving that they are indeed well suited for eachother.
The episode ends with two funny attempts (first one sadly interrupted) of stealing the virginity from “poor” Kouta ^_^

Impressions: The first episode is pretty typical romantic comedy with light ecchi elements. Nothing truly original, but it’s nicely done. The visuals are very pretty (both designs as well as lighting) and the show has fun quirky atmosphere. The fox girl is adorably perverted (in funny, non offensive way)and very likable. Kouta is shy as hell, but fortunately not hopelessly shy. Oh, sure, he does protest when being molested, but the protests are pretty weak and halfhearted ^_^
There was plenty of fanservice in the first ep, but it was all light and I didn’t feel like they were showing it down my throat.
There are signs of more deeper setting elements (the separation of humans and foxes, the usage of powers, possessing people etc) that hopefully will be expanded in later episodes.
The shotacon elements (the boy younger and smaller than a girl) didn’t bother me as much as I though, definitely less than in Mamorou-kun at least.
It’s merely a first episode, so it’s impossible to form any real opinion yet, but I did have few laughs with it and overall it was very fun to watch, so this one will definitely be downloaded and blogged for at least couple future episodes.

rating: 7.9/10

I love the faces they make ^_^

Nicely put Chizuru! ^_^




Kanokon is another anime in the growing list of light novels adaptations, it will be merely 13 episodes and with 9 volumes of light novels already out the story is doomed to be cut short. Fortunately Seven Seas has licensed the original light novels for English releases.

Spice and Wolf began it’s life as a series of Light Novels written by Isuna Hasekura and illustrated by Jū Ayakura. The first volume won Silver Prize in Dengeki Annual Novel Contest.

story synopsis

Spice and Wolf’s story revolves around Craft Lawrence, a young traveling merchant, who dedicated his life to a dream of one day saving up enough money to open up his own shop. That is until he meets Horo; a 600 years old wolf deity, who for centuries blessed harvests of wheat in local village. Since she feels no longer needed by locals she decides to become Lawrence’s companion and they make a contract: she will help him in trading and he will help her on her journey to the North, a land where Horo’s folk live.

The story takes place in a fictional world resembling early Renaissance. It’s very well built and coherent. There a little fantasy elements there, but it actually helps to make the it more mysterious, because when something supernatural happens it really does make a huge impact.
The plot is surprisingly original. I don’t remember any anime about life of merchants. Lawerence is pretty low key trader, but in a interesting way. The show manages to make things like selling spices, taking loans, smuggling gold or currency exchange interesting. The added mysticism and inquisition who hunts beings like Horo spice things up to create engaging and fun to watch story.
The strength of the show are characters though, or particularly Horo (more on her later). She overshadows other characters, but on their own secondary characters are pretty well developed, with their own unique motivations and codes of conduct.
Lawrence at first seems a bit flat, but it natural: he is after all intimidated by presence of Wolf Deity. However as show progresses he grows a lot and becomes bolder (I guess he got used to Horo ) and even manages to stand on his own against her in arguing(the ending scene from last episode is simply priceless).
I really liked how relationship between Horo and Lawrence progressed. It’s built slowly and naturally. What’s more it manages to escape all those damn cliches that anime romances have (especially characters being clueless, Horo and Lawrence are many things, but they sure as hell aren’t clueless).
The animation isn’t anything to brag about, but shows is pretty to look at with very nice character designs, detailed backgrounds and great lighting.

Horo

Many faces of Horo the Wise
novel, manga, anime
Yes, she deserves separate section ^_^. Horo is just extraordinary character. She’s not two dimensional, she has layers upon layers of complexity in her. She’s completely unpredictable, one sentence from her might completely redefine your understanding of her and it often does. She’s witty, smart and with sense of humor and at the same time she escapes all the cliches that plague even the best anime characters. This forms an irresistible combination that is always fascinating to watch.
She is the star of the show, stealing and dominating every scene she’s in.
Horo is the main reason why most people follow the series.
After watching whole Spice and Wolf every other female character in anime seems bland, there’s just no comparison. Even likes of Haruhi must bow their heads before the Wise Wolf ^_^

I don’t know who created those gifs, but whoever you people are: you rock like hell !

Soundtrack

Spice and Wolf was blessed with great soundtrack. Aside from OP and ED songs all tracks are instrumental pieces that imitate historical music. Especially the numerous “happy” tracks sound like something taken straight from Renaissance carnival.
Highlights to me are the action packed Hashiru , the dramatic Henka and my personal favorite: the incredible Kagen no Tsuki, which with it’s slow guitar and gentle girl chanting sends chills into my spine every damn time I listen to it.
The music really helps this show a lot, I haven’t heard anime soundtrack this good in a very long time.

I must say I had a blast with the show. The unique premise and setting coupled with great characters and excellent music made it easily my favorite show so far in 2008. And it left me with only two problems that are frequent symptoms of finishing great anime series:

-I want my damn second season!!!
-I need to learn Japanese so I can read original novels!!!

Oh, well, at least I still have a DVD-only episode 7 to look forward to.

rating: 9.2/10

No, he didn’t. The question is: why ?

Apple= devil fruit! Look it up in the Bible! ^_^

Not going to share those devil fruits with anyone!

They don’t call her Horo the Wise for nothing