Otaku, No Video

Sugar Dark novel cover

ANN: There’s going to be a new Ikki Tousen series, Ikki Tousen XX. Um, yay? The ANN article has lots more info.

ANN: Hey, Strike Witches fans!  Looks like AIC will be taking over the reigns from Gonzo for season two of the little-girls-with-guns-and-no-pants show. So hopefully it’ll have a decent conclusion, though AnimeNation.net‘s right; Gonzo usually has the higher animation quality of the two.

ANN: In lighter news, the House of Five Leaves manga is being adapted into an anime. It tells the story of a ronin samurai who takes a job with a gang in Edo-era Japan. The official site lists Samurai Champloo as a keyword, so here’s hoping that the show mimics at least Watanabe’s kinetic visual style in Champloo. The show will air in the prestigious noitamina block, which has recently aired such shows as Eden of the East, Nodame Cantabille, and Tokyo Magnitude 8.0.

ANN: Meanwhile, Funimation has posted the entire Vexille movie to Hulu.  They’ve also posted the first two English-dubbed episodes of Spice and Wolf up at Funimation.com.

ANN: Ten otaku in Japan have been arrested for uploading anime to file-sharing sites. They were sharing shows ranging from Ranma 1/2 TV to Gundam 00. Wait, seriously, someone in Japan was uploading old episodes of Ranma?

ANN: A light novel has won Kadokawa’s Sneaker Award! Sugar Dark is the first light novel to win since The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya six years ago, so Kadokawa’s president predicted there’ll be an anime adaptation. Sugar Dark tells the story of a gravedigger, a beautiful girl, and a horrific monster (only in Japan).

ANN: Game developer Circus, probably best known for making the Da Capo games, has recently suffered a fire. Half of their offices were burned, but nobody was hurt and it looks like they’ll be able to continue work without significant problems. Whew!

ANN: Just to show how weird the Japanese can be, the Konata family from Lucky Star will now be entered as official residents of Satte, Japan, the former residence of Lucky Star‘s manga-ka. But wait; it gets weirder: the life-size statue of Gigantor in Kobe is also getting a residency certificate. O…kay?