Rebuild of Evangelion 3.0 Teaser Now Online

Below is the latest teaser for the third Rebuild of Evangelion film. The subtitle for this one is You Can (Not) Redo, falling in the same titling scheme as previous films - You Can (Not) Advance and You Are (Not) Alone.

The film is scheduled for Japanese theatrical release on November 17.

Hat tip to the AnimeNation Anime News Blog for sharing the video.

PR: New Evangelion Manga Premieres In Print & Digital With Viz Same Day As Japan

VIZ MEDIA DELIVERS DOUBLE-DOSE OF

NEON GENESIS EVANGELION MANGA, INCLUDING PRINT & DIGITAL DEBUT OF LATEST VOLUME THE SAME DAY AS JAPAN

© khara・GAINAX

Volume 13 Of The Legendary Sci-Fi Action Series Debuts November 2^nd; New 3-In-1 Omnibus Launches November 13^th And Features Full-Color Bonus Pages

San Francisco, CA, October 30, 2012 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest publisher, distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, delivers an exciting double-dose of NEON GENESIS EVANGELION to manga (graphic novel) readers in November with the release of the series’ newest installment – Volume 13 – as well as the launch of the first volume of a new 3-in-1 omnibus edition of the venerable sci-fi action saga.

NEON GENESIS EVANGELION, Volume 13 is rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens and will be released on November2^nd with an MSRP of $9.99 U.S. / $13.99 CAN. The volume will also be available digitally for $4.99 U.S. / CAN through VIZManga.com and the VIZ Manga App for iPad^®, iPhone^®, iPod^® touch, Android-enabled devices, and Kindle Fire. A free preview of the series may be read at http://www.vizmanga.com/reader/479.

The opening volume of the NEON GENESIS EVANGELION 3-in-1 omnibus series bundles Volumes 1-3, is also rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens, and will debut on November 13^th with an MSRP of $19.99 U.S. / $22.99 CAN. Each volume will feature stunning full-color artwork.

AMV Of The Week: Håll Om Mig

This week’s AMV is a bit of a classic. It's probably one of the best Princess Tutu fan videos ever. It even won an award at Anime Boston 2006. It's a mash-up of the classical and the fantastical. Need I say more?

AMV: Hold Me (Håll Om Mig)
Author: Marisa Panaccio of Tidirium Studios (reuploaded by ElhaymVanHouten)
Music: Nanne Grönvall's "Håll Om Mig Nu"
Warnings: Spoilers for the Princess Tutu anime. Moments of violence and sexuality.

Interesting Blog Post Of The Day

For those interested in learning how to read Japanese, earlier this month Anya at the blog Forty-Four Fennecs posted How I Learned Hiragana and Katakana in a Few Hours. It is based on their experiences during their Japanese 101 class and the method that made it all stick. Hint: it involves music!

"About the only things that are regularly translated to romaji are lyrics, since everything else is directly translated to English for the people who don’t know Japanese, and the ones who do know Japanese can read in the original kanji/hiragana/etc. But songs are for singing so you need to know how they’re said, hence the giant surplus of romaji that’s in relatively random (for this purpose) order."

Hopefully, someone learning Japanese finds Anya's own hints helpful. I personally would love to learn Japanese, which is luckily a language my community college offers (although I won't be able to start until fall of next year, sob).

False Minoshiro / Bloodstained History: Shin Sekai Yori 3 & 4

Spoiler Warning: Post contains spoilers for episode three and four of Shin Sekai Yori. Read with caution!

Episode 3: The group has rowed past their designated safe place in search for monsters. What they find is much worse.

Episode 4: As the library continues to explain the history of the world, a danger looms in the background. (Source: Crunchyroll)

And Shin Sekai Yori said "let there be plot development", and yea, so it was. And it was good. Thus is the third and fourth episodes, in which questions are answered and then asked and then answered again, and a bit of young romance gets a chance to spring to life. Saki even gets to pretty much prove how she is the most competent person in her group despite her parents' earlier trepidations over her skills.

Plus, the first two minutes of each episode continue to be rather "what the hell just happened?" in nature. Talking libraries! Killing emperors! Other stuff! All together, it's more of that same great flavor SSY has come to be known for.

PR: SuBLime Announces Yaoi Titles For 2013

GLOBAL YAOI PUBLISHER SuBLime ANNOUNCES ELEVEN NEW MANGA TITLES FOR RELEASE IN 2013 INCLUDING YOUKA NITTA’S EMBRACING LOVE

Publisher Delights Fans At YaoiCon 2012 As It Details Multiple New BL Manga Titles Scheduled To Debut During The First-Half Of Next Year

San Francisco, CA, October 24, 2012 – SuBLime, the global yaoi manga (graphic novel) publisher, thrilled fans during its packed panel discussion at the recent YaoiCon 2012 with the announcement of eleven new manga (graphic novel) titles the imprint plans to release throughout 2013.

The forthcoming new titles are rated ‘M’ for Mature Readers. Select releases will be offered as either print-only editions with an MSRP of $12.99 U.S. / $14.99 CAN, or as digital-only releases with an MSRP of $5.99 (U.S. / CAN). Other titles will be made available in both formats.

For digital releases, the $5.99 purchase price will offer readers digital access to two versions of each manga volume on www.SuBLimeManga.com – a downloadable PDF that is viewable on any enabled eReader device and computer or via the embedded online manga viewer found on the web site.

Signal Boost: The Kick-Heart Kickstarter

Production I.G. and Masaaki Yuasa's Kickstarter - a project in order to fund their 10-minute wrestling romance anime short, "Kick-Heart" - has been receiving a lot of attention in the anime/manga blogosphere. With six days to go, it has already reached its target goal and already has stretch goals (for when the amount of money reaches beyond the initial target), including an English dub and a half hour of extra animation. The story and the animation are well outside of the norm of current anime trends. 

Some bloggers have even gone so far as to say that the success of this Kickstarter could very well be what saves the current anime industry. That's a whole lot of expectations for such a short film! I can only imagine the pressure Masaaki Yuasa might be feeling after reading something like that.

AMV Of The Week: Shut Up & Ride

This week’s AMV is a Rideback fan video. Remember that series? I loved it to pieces when it first came out, and this year it's gotten the Funimation home video treatment. The fact that folks are making AMVs of it makes me incredibly pleased. The fact that it's a Rideback AMV that works with the chosen music? Even better.

AMV: Shut Up And Ride
Author: wmeunier87
Music: Rihanna's "Shut Up And Drive"
Warnings: Some spoilers for events in Rideback.

Initial Thoughts: Kamisama Kiss

Kamisama Hajimemashita: Abandoned by her father, Nanami finds herself homeless when she meets a man who offers his own home to her. His home turns out to be a shrine where his supernatural household awaits the return of their lord and master after a 20-year absence.(Source: Hulu)

Spoiler warning: Review contains spoilers for the first episode of Kamisama Kiss. Read on with caution!

In the first ten minutes of its premiere episode, it is clear that Kamisama Kiss/神様はじめました wastes no time in setting down what's going on. Nanami goes from homeless and in despair over her errant father's gambling habits to the girl living in a shrine and becoming a land god in the blink of an eye. And she gets acquainted with an incredibly handsome (albeit arrogant) wolf familiar named Tomoe and his oddball yokai attendants Kotetsu and Onikiri. So, definitely not your typical shojo romance. Good: typical is boring.

Read the rest of my review of Kamisama Kiss after the jump:

The Vanishing Children: Shin Sekai Yori 2

Episode 2: Another student is removed from the roster and Saki uses her powers outside of class. (Source: Crunchyroll)

"The Vanishing Children" is another brilliant episode of Shin Sekai Yori, where the pieces of the story just keep coming together slowly but surely. Everything seems innocent but once the layers start falling away, the true nature of this show's world starts peeking out between the cracks. In this episode, Saki's class engages in a little psychic game, the children continue to disappear from class, and Saki does something she's told she shouldn't to help someone else. It's a series of seemingly unimportant moments that have all the markings of being something much bigger in the long run.

The rest of my review of Shin Sekai Yori episode 2 is beyond the jump.

Fujoshi O'Clock (10/19/12)

What time is it? It's . . . Fujoshi O'Clock, the biweekly feature at Nagareboshi Review, when I bring to you the latest fujoshi-related news and reviews and various shiny BL-flavored things. Why? Because rotten girls need love too!

This week on Fujoshi O'Clock:

• Ogiue Maniax keeps on with the Fujoshi Files series with two new entries: Buraidaru Marie of Codename Sailor V and Gen'ei Ryou of Suzaku: Kabukicho Mahjong Legend.
• ふう子 at Hazukashii Kedo has started posting top 5 series lists for sub-genres of boys' love manga. The two that are up cover romance BL series and incest BL series.
• YaoiCon 2012 brought new BL licenses from Viz's yaoi imprint SubLime; these include titles from manga-ka such as Youka Nitta, Kano Miyamoto, and Yaya Sakuragi.
• For the first time in what seems like foever, Yaoi911 has updated their blog with info on their latest webcomic "The Young Protectors" and a new (somewhat NSFW) yaoi wallpaper free for download.

Reviews:

• ANN's Rebecca Silverman reviews In These Words by Guilt/Pleasure and gives it an overall positive rating, while warning for disturbing material inside.
• Bill Sherman of Blogcritics Book also reviews In These Words. His review talks mostly about how explicit and disturbing the content is.
• Connie at Slightly Biased manga reviews Flutter by Momoko Tenzen and finds it a pretty fantastic story about salarymen in love.
• A Library Girl's Familiar Diversion reviews Part-Time Pet by Reno Amagi; they found it fluffy but overall the relationships were too taboo for their tastes.

Am I missing your blog? Got some awesome fujoshi-related news and reviews you think deserve a shout-out? Poke me with a link and a bit of description over at my Twitter: @theseventhl. I'm always on the look out for more BL love!

Manga Review: Library Wars GN 8

Library Wars volume 8
Authors: Kiiro Yumi, Hiro Arikawa
Viz Media/Shojo Beat
200 pages

The Media Betterment Committee’s inquiry into Iku’s role in the so-called book burning continues, and an evil conspiracy comes to light. Someone on the team is deliberately manipulating Iku, and even her attraction to Dojo becomes fodder for the fight! Will Iku ever understand Dojo’s feelings for her? (Source: Goodreads)

Spoiler warning: This review contains spoilers for the eighth volume of Library Wars, as well as events in the series leading up to it. Please read on with caution!

I love this series so very much, and I think volume eight is the best volume of the series so far. It is, without a doubt, absolutely brilliant. But before I start fawning over its every minor and major quality, let me tell you why: it's explosive. It's jammed packed with plotty stuff and emotional drama and Iku/Dojo material galore. Plus, it's a very character-driven book; fans of folks like Shibazaki and Tezuka will not be disappointed.

PR: Viz Media Original Monsuno GNs Coming in Spring 2013

VIZ MEDIA DEVELOPS A NEW ORIGINAL GRAPHIC NOVEL SERIES BASED ON THE HIT BOYS ANIMATED ACTION ADVENTURE SERIES MONSUNO, AIRING ON NICKTOONS

™ & © Pacific Animation Partners LLC “Monsuno” ™ &
© 2013 Jakks Pacific, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Licensed by FremantleMedia Enterprises

New VIZ Kids Series Debuts 2013

San Francisco, CA, October 15, 2012 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest publisher, distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, continues to expand its library of original graphic novels as it announces the acquisition of the North American publishing rights for MONSUNO, an epic boys action adventure where kids discover, command and battle creatures with destructive potential. 

A race to harness the power of Monsuno ensues between this group of heroic kids and the evil forces focused on destroying the planet. The MONSUNO publishing series will debut with a graphic novel, written by Brian Smith with artwork by Erwin Prasetya, delivering all new, original adventures beginning late Spring 2013 under the company’s VIZ Kids imprint. MONSUNO Volume 1 is rated ‘A’ for All Ages, and will carry an MSRP of $7.99 U.S. / $9.99 CAN.

AMV Of The Week: Lights In NERV

This week’s AMV is a mash-up of two of my favorite things: Ellie Goulding and the Evangelion Rebuild films.  This vid is less like a fan vid and more like a promo/music video that happens to be set to a Goulding track. It's well edited and well executed, and that's good enough for me.

AMV: Lights
Author: LuftPyrite
Music: Ellie Goulding's "Lights"
Warnings: Spoilers for Evangelion 2.22; flashing quick images and moments of violence.

Initial Thoughts: Little Busters!

Riki was a child when his parents died, leaving him hopeless and depressed. What saved him was a group of four kids calling themselves the Little Busters. They took Riki out and played with him during his time of need. He really enjoyed being together with them, and his grief gradually faded away. Now in his second year of high school they still hang out, fight and live together, and enjoy their school life. (Source: MAL)

Spoiler warning: Post contains spoilers for the first episode of the Little Busters! anime. It does not contain spoilers for the visual novel the anime is based on.

Confession time! I have never played a visual novel by Key - not Clannad, nor Kanon, or Air and especially not Little Busters. Hell, I've never even seen an anime version of any of these games (sorry, Clannad fans!). But the hype from its fan base over an anime adaptation has gotten me excited in turn, so this program is the one of the new fall season I've really been looking forward to. So is it any good? In a word: yes. In two words: hell yes.

Initial Thoughts: Shin Sekai Yori

From The New World/Shinsekai yori: Five children living in the future are the protagonists. The story begins when they are 12 years old and starting their lives at an advanced school to learn the ‘cursed power’ of telekinesis. (Source: Crunchyroll)

Spoiler Warning: Post contains spoilers for the first episode of Shin Sekai Yori. Read this post with caution if you haven't watched it yet!

I'm not sure what I can say about this program. It's deep but not beyond comprehension. It's complicated and slowly unfolds from scene to scene. There is a mixture of fantasy and human-based reality I haven't seen since Madoka Magica. Everything about this first episode is, quite frankly, a bit of a blessing. SSY isn't an explosion of action and plot but rather a slow burn of exploring a future of magic and mystery.

I may not fully understand everything that is going on or why certain things are even happening to begin with, but I adore everything I've seen so far and I expect it to only get better from here on.

Read the rest of my thoughts on Shin Sekai Yori's premiere after the jump:

Manga Review: Sakura Hime GN 8

Sakura Hime Volume 8
Author: Arina Tanemura
Viz Media/Shojo Beat
200 pages

Enju and the followers of the moon are nowhere to be found after the destruction of the hidden palace. Sakura has returned with Aoba, but the lovers may soon be parted again. The emperor has asked Aoba to take another bride... (Source: Viz/Goodreads)

I'm really excited to be up to date with the Shojo Beat English language release of Sakura Hime - because now I can review it! And lately, Sakura Hime has been a series for me which started off bumpy, got bumpier, and has been steadily increasing in quality. Volume seven seemed so top-notch, so good that I had my doubts about volume eight matching it, especially with a new story arc starting up. Now that the 'action arc' of recent volumes has concluded, what will Sakura Hime do with its transformed set of heroines and heroes now?

Oh, a love twist. Once again, someone tries to break up Sakura and Aoba. Damn it, and here I was hoping for more fights, supernatural plot twists and Sakura kicking ass with her sword Chizakura! Well, we can't always get what we want, especially with a shojo manga. If you have a Shojo Beat, eventually you have to take a break for love triangles. And that's exactly what Sakura Hime does in this volume.

Final Thoughts: Who Is Imouto?

Abiding by his father's will, Shougo was transferred into an academy where many young girls attend. It appears as though his younger sister (separated from him at birth) also attends this academy, and that she is trying to get closer to him without letting him know who she actually is. Problem is, Shougo seems to be popular with the other girls as well! Can Shougo "properly" reunite with his little sister and while making a girlfriend at the same time?! (Source: M-U)

Spoiler warning: Spoilers for the entirety of Who Is Imouto?/NakaImo are beyond this line. Read with caution!

Once upon a time - and by that, I mean the first of July, which seems like a long time ago - I asked readers to pick which show of the then current season I would review. The singular response to this poll was clear: I was to be punished by the powers of incest roulette. And by incest roulette, I am naturally referring to One Of Them Is My Younger Sister! aka Kono Naka Ni Hitori Imouto Ga Iru. The ultimate irony of this situation? The person who had me review NakaImo is my own sister, albeit an older sister. And so review it I did. Every. Bloody. Week.

Have I learned my lesson? Nope. I'm going to be blogging about this season's latest sis-con fest as well: "Onii-chan Dakedo Ai Sae Areba Kankeinai yo ne", which translates into "As Long as There's Love, It Doesn't Matter If He is My Brother". Yeeeep. This should be fun - for y'all, not for me. But what does this have to do with NakaImo? Not a lot. Except that when it comes to imoutos, NakaImo has taken a hold of me in the worst way possible. As in, I still want to blog about it!

AMV Of The Week: Be Yourself

This week’s AMV was the the contest winner in the Fun category for DoKomi 2012 - and it deserved it, truly. It's a Denpa Onna fanvid combines a lot of fun, fast action with clever and flashy video editing/effects along with a really great track to create a vid that even has me wanting to watch this anime. Great job!

AMV: BE YOURSELF;
Author: CazyBunny
Music: Marina & The Diamonds' "Oh No!"
Warnings: Quick edited clips, flashing lights/flashing movements, moments of light fanservice

Initial Thoughts: Lychee Light Club

Litchi De Hikari Club/ライチ DE 光クラブ: A short, comical anime adaptation of the psychological-horror manga, LitchiHikari Club. The story is about nine boys who are members of the Hikari Club and their self-made AI robot, Litchi. They are lead by their leader Zera, and keep a kidnapped girl named Kanon. (Source: MAL)

As someone who has read the original Lychee Light Club manga by Furuya Usamaru which this new anime is based on, a quick question to Kachidoki Studio: the hell is this? They've taken one of the most demented, psychologically screwed-up manga I've ever read and turned it into a gag-based farce on the same level as Nyanpire or Poyopoyo - but unlike those two series, this comical shortened format for Lychee Light Club does not work at all.

The first episode is rather forgettable, as it is just a vehicle in which to introduce the main cast. The only characters that stand up so far are the leader Zera, their robot Litchi, and the girl Kanon. I can barely remember the names of the other boys in the Light Club. None of them really made a solid impression on me, which isn't surprising given how little time each boy gets on screen.

The humor itself is flat, almost non-existent. This show is trying so hard to be funny, it's on the verge of straight telling the audience that a line of dialogue or goofy graphic is part of a joke and that they should be laughing. The so-called 'punchline' of the episode with Kanon's answer to Zera's question is just the last gasp of an over-extended bad joke gone sour. 

So far, there's nothing visually stunning or funny about Lychee Light Club - but the episodes are so short, I'll probably end up watching it for another couple of weeks before I decide to drop it or not. Perhaps it will get better sooner than later - or keep to its low-brow 'humor' and awkward art.

Manga Review: Stepping On Roses GN 8

Stepping On Roses volume 8
Author: Rinko Ueda
Viz Media/Shojo Beat
200 pages

Sumi asks Nozomu to stop buying the land where she and Soichiro currently reside, and he agrees on one condition—Sumi has to leave Soichiro and become his wife instead! Faced with the possibility of eviction, Sumi must decide whether she’ll live in poverty with Soichiro or take Nozomu up on his offer… (Source: Goodreads/Viz Media)

It should come to no surprise that this blog would eventual review the latest volume of Stepping On Roses, the most recent shojo manga series by Rinko Ueda to be released in English (her previous work including the ninja-centric Tail Of The Moon). There's just something about the Edo-era melodramatics and soap opera style plot twists that have kept me glued to each volume. It also helps that Ueda's artwork is lush and inviting to the eye, and she doesn't skimp on the period-appropriate costumes. Yeah, it's that kind of manga - and if that kind of manga is your kind of manga, Stepping On Roses' latest release will not let you down.

Yet Another News Round-Up (Now With 100% More TYPE-MOON)

This week has been very exciting, especially if you are a fan of visual novels turned anime. This latest round-up proves that Sentai loves me very much and so does Dark Horse Manga.

• Crunchyroll: Preview videos for the Little Busters! anime are now up, thanks to the Warner Brothers' JP YouTube channel. We get to hear more of the voice talent, which is always a plus. The link includes previously posted preview videos.
• (Speaking of Little Busters!, awesomecurry at OASG has posted a review of the LB! visual novel and covers all of the routes, including the Refrain route. Go and read it!)
• Crunchyroll: Sentai Filmworks has licensed the Fate/Stay Night anime for Blu-Ray release; the first collection is scheduled for January 2013. Sentai has already licensed the Unlimited Blade Works film of the same series. Unsure if it will be a Blu-Ray/DVD bundle or just BR.
• ANN: Dark Horse just announced a handful of new manga releases, including a Trigun anthology and a new Neon Genesis Evangelion spinoff. The NGE spinoff is called Shinji Ikari Detective Diary and is a private eye AU featuring Shinji and Kaworu.
• Finally, Fantagraphics has given Wandering Son fans something to talk about: a subscription option for future volumes of the Wandering Son manga. Readers will get a discount for pre-ordering as opposed to buying them individually as they come out.

PR: Barrage GN 1 To Be Released Digitally Same Day As In Japan

SENSEI NO BARRAGE © 2012
by Kouhei Horikoshi/SHUEISHA Inc.

Wait, why is the digital coming out March 2013? That's a heck of a gap between digital and manga, especially for the first title to be cancelled in Shonen Jump Alpha. At least it'll be available for Android tablets!

VIZ MEDIA INVITES FANS TO CATCH THE FIRST SALVO OF SPACE BATTLE FANTASY MANGA SERIES BARRAGE ON VIZ MANGA APP AND VIZMANGA.COM

VIZ Media brings the new hit WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA manga series – BARRAGE – to VIZManga.com and the VIZ Manga App on October 4^th. Volume 1 of the action series, created by Kouhei Horikoshi, is rated ‘T’ for Teens and debuts today, the same day the graphic novel launches in Japan. Digital MSRP will be $4.99; the print edition is scheduled to debut in March 2013.

BARRAGE is a space battle fantasy series set on a planet called Industria, which is in a state of chaos, and its fate lays in the hands of Astro, a kid from the slums! Please visit VIZManga.com/barrage for a free chapter 1 preview of BARRAGE, as well as to purchase and view Volume 1.

Manga Review: Secretary's Job?

Secretary's Job?
Author: Miki Araya
June/Digital Manga Publishing
200 pages

Takase is a legendary secretary. He'll do anything to make your day easier and efficient. Some say he's a miracle worker. As per the President's request, Takase has been assigned to his lazy son, Honjo, to become Toshiaki Honjo's secretary. As always, Takase is doing his best to support him, but Honjo makes a move and kisses him at work What does this mean? Sounds like business is getting mixed up with pleasure. (Source: Goodreads)

If the name Miki Araya sounds familiar, it should; I reviewed a title by her earlier this year called I'll Be Your Slave, an oddly delightful book about Moriya and his favorite model who he ends up falling in love with. On the heels of that we have Secretary's Job?/秘書のお仕仕事?, based around secretaries and the stubborn men they work for that end up - wait for it - falling in love with their assistants. Opinion for this one doesn't seem to be as divided which is good, because Secretary's Job? is a surprising gem of a one-shot that will please any fan of BL office romance/humor.

AMV Of The Week: We're All Idiots

This week’s AMV is a full-out hilarious blast and a really great tribute to a shonen that deserves more love, the 60-episode series Beelzebub. It's cleverly edited, fits great with the music (which is in Dutch), and highlights a lot of reasons why Beelzebub is one of the most goofy high octane series in the past decade.
 
(Also, it's a good reminder to myself that I'm only 1/6th of the way through the anime. Whoops!)
 
AMV: Idiots!
Author: CharmingIceDS
Music: New Kids - Turbo
Warnings: A lot of madcap violence and some blood, possible spoilers for the Beelzebub anime.