It's not easy to become and live as a mangaka, as Mashiro knows from his late uncle.

At 9th grade, while trying to keep up with reality, school and then a normal job, he left his notebook with a sketch of Azuki, a girl he likes. Takagi, a first-rate student found it and tries to convince Mashiro to draw a manga with his story. Mashiro doesn't like the idea and declines.

Takagi, however, sticks to his dream and found out that Azuki wants to be a voice actress and has already gotten a good reply from a production company. Takagi then brought Mashiro to her house and told her his dream... Mashiro then tells her that he will write a manga with Takagi and will ask Azuki to voice their anime.

Out of confusion, Mashiro asks her if their dreams become reality, will she marry him? She says yes, only if their dreams become true, and not otherwise!! Now, the lives of wannabe mangakas begin!!!

Kenn's Comment: Adaptation of the very popular manga by Ohba and Obata, the mind and pen behind Death Note. Thankfully, it's early airing time slot means that J.C. Staff cannot turn this into a mindlessly fanservice-y series. Not saying that they have before...or at least not that I can remember, but the early airing time means that their target market isn't the otaku demographic. Most likely targeting readers of Shounen Jump, the younger male audience.

Anywho, Bakuman has great story and characters, albeit somewhat unbelievable circumstances, but nevertheless it's a good series. Will have to wait and see what J.C. Staff does with such high expectations when they have a very full palette this season, with this, Otome Youkai Zakuro, Tantei Opera Milky Holmes, and Index 2. Index will probably be their primary series, so I'm worried that they'll stick everything else on the back burner.

PV:

On the crescent-shaped island of Nantucket lives Seiji, a young Japanese artist. This heartwarming story is about his daily life and interactions with the people there.

Kenn's Comment: Only read a couple chapters, but I really like it. Very laid back, peaceful and slice of life-ish. As for the author, if you haven't realized it already, he's the man behind Hetalia Axis Powers. His art is really quite nice while keeping a certain feel of drawing too it. By that I mean the backgrounds have a very...sketch-like appearance. Which is a nice touch.

As for the setting, while it sounds unlikely, Nantucket is actually a island county in Massachusetts, USA. It's a town that once thrived on the whaling industry but saw various hardships that drove both it's economical well being and population down. Nowadays, it's mainly a tourist attraction, as well as a popular summer housing destination.

Details the shenanigans of a chibi Ookami Ryouko and those who gain, uh, inspiration from her.

Read it over @ Pixiv, or Danbooru

Kenn's Comment: Shirosame's Aisaka Taiga chibi Ryouko is adorable. You can almost hear Satomi Arai's narration in the boxed text. Now that you've just read that last sentence, I'm sure when you start reading the webcomic, you will hear her voice when you read it.

Anywho, fun li'l series that's perfectly safe for work despite the rather nocuous title.

Kurashita Tsukimi is a "kurage (jelly fish) otaku" girl who wants to be an illustrator. She comes to Tokyo and starts to live in a girl-only apartment Amamizukan. One day she meets a fashionable lady, who saves a jelly fish. But she turns out to be a man in drag.

Kenn's Comment: I'm always up for Brains Base, and this is no exception. This is the adaptation of the award winning and nominated Josei manga by Higashimura Akiko, who isn't exactly new to awards either. The series features a full female cast, with a 'special' guest.

Interesting way of doing trailers too. Rather than putting one fairly expensive PV out like everyone (okay, so most) is doing, Brains Base has been releasing short, low budget animations to rile up some enthusiasm. Each one is narrated by a different character.

PV:

1.


2.


3.


4.


5.

The sea in our world has been polluted. All sort of trash were thrown into the sea, making it unpleasant deep under the sea. One of the inhabitant of the sea, Ika Musume (Squid Girl) seeks to exact revenge on humanity for throwing trash into the sea. Clueless about the surface, she seeks to invade humanity alone, trying to rule over the world, only to find herself slaving away at one of the nearest beach-houses for breaking a side of its wall.

Kenn's Comment: Yeah, Squid Girl just sounds bad, evoking images of a feminine Cthulhu in my mind. So I'll call it Shinryaku! Ika Musume. Why? It sounds better, and I can.

Anywho, as a fan of the manga, I'm super looking forward to this one. Judging by the late night airing time, it's primary target market is the otaku population...which doesn't exactly put my mind at ease. Gives me the feeling that they'll flood the series with more fan service than it really needs. I'm hoping that's not the case at least.

Diomedea doesn't have too much under their belts, but if it helps any bit, their latest endeavor was Polyphonica's second season. Diomedea is Studio Barcelona's successor in a way, and Barcelona's got a bit more tucked under their belt than Diomedea, with Kodomo no Jikan, Nanatsuiro Drops and Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu's first season.

PV:
Sorry. This is the only one I can find. = =" Doesn't even seem to be one up on the website. Turn down your speakers when watching.

It's the Meiji Era in a slightly alternate Japan, and the Gregorian calendar has just come into effect. The fox-eared girls living in the youkai part of town are about to be put to work together with a delegation of young human soldiers, to promote interracial understanding. So what will happen when Zakuro's strong personality collides with human sensibilities?

Kenn's Comment: Not familiar with the source material at all, but it reminds me a bit of Yozakura Quartet.  It's getting hard to write these comments when I haven't the foggiest about the series. Anywho, it's J.C. Staff, so you can at least count on it being decent to good. The voice cast looks great too.

PV:

The story takes place in an imaginary world in "the Age of Detectives", where private detectives and phantom thieves overwhelm the cities. It's about four girls who aim to be great detectives. 

Kenn's Comment: Based on a Visual Novel by Bushiroad.. 4 girls? Check. Cute? Check. Doing cute things? Check. Striving to be a better something? Check. Yup. I can see kind of competing with the now completed K-ON! I'm kidding. There have been loads of series with a similar set up that came before K-ON!.

Anywho, I'm not really sure how this one will turn out. The fact that the original game is by Bushiroad tells me that it's going to be part of their card game, as well as being turned into a bunch of figures.

PV:


OP (game's...though it could very well be the anime's too.)

After a childhood full of school transfers, Hasekura Kouhei's parents finally send him to a traditionally-Christian boarding school so he won't have to move with them. Finally free to have the calm and uninterrupted school life he's always wanted, he instead find himself busy with a swarm of idiosyncratic friends.

Kenn's Comment: No clue about this one. I'm not familiar with the game, and I haven't taken a look at the manga counterpart either. As for Feel, they've done some pretty good stuff. Most recent examples would be Kiss x Sis and Kanamemo (two polar opposites). Should be noted that they also did most of the Da Capo anime series, Jinki Extend, Nagasarete Airantou, and Straight Jacket (ova), among others.

Anywho, I'm expecting this to be a rather light hearted fun series, hopefully not quite as diabetically sugary as Shukufuku no Campanella is right now. Excuse me while I hit up on some insulin.

PV: Enjoy your 4 second preview. 



2008 Game Opening

One day, suddenly... a night where the moon shines like never before, a boy meets the otherworldly Serin, a denizen of Chaos, only to die and become the undead. Now immortal, he can no longer exist with humans due to an ancient law... A tale of revelations that begins as he returns to Chaos, the start of a new adventure!

Kenn's Comment: I actually meant to put this one up years ago, but I kept getting sidetracked by everything and anything. Anywho, it's a good read fi you haven't read it already. It's one of the first manhwa I read and I have to say it left a pretty darn good impression. I tend to stay away form Korean shoujo though. Art style always looks the same...kind of like Japanese shoujo, but even more so. Regardless, the art and story are great and there's a sequel! All the more reason to read it.

Sequel to Immortal Regis. Reading the entirety of the prequel is highly recommended, otherwise, this story from chapter 4 on will spoil it and/or be confusing.

Cavalier of the Abyss (so far) is set only in the world of Chaos. There is now a Regis of Chaos.

Kenn's Comment: Sorry for the summary (or lack of). The story will be fairly difficult to follow if you haven't read Immortal Regis, as the story connects, intertwines and shifts quite a bit past chapter four. I still find it a bit confusing, but that's probably because I don't regularly read it. Anywho, like it's prequel, it's a good read too.

Noëls Anciens - Quelle est cette odeur agréable? (arr. D. Patriquin)

Sistah Mary (arr. R. Dilworth)

Hodie, Christus natus est (H. Willan)

O brillante estrella - (M. Sirett)

Himig Pasko (arr. G. Hernandez)

Mass in G Minor (R. Vaughan Williams)

 Picked these up today from the music store. I have to choose my third piece for piano, so I've been doing lots of research into what piece I want to play. For those who can't read the titles:

Brahms Klavierstücke op. 118 (Wiener Urtext)
Liszt - The Procession by Night, Mephisto Waltz No. 1 (Urtext Edition Peters)
Chopin Ballades (Urtext)
Chopin Nocturnes (Urtext)

As you can see, they're all Urtext editions. They're pretty pricey but these are kind of like the ferrari's of music editions.

Two twins - Haruka and Sora, his younger sister, are going back to grandfather's house.

They visited this house many times when they were kids and they still remember it. A while ago, they lost their parents in a car accident and they decided to move and live at their grandfather's house.... Nao, their old friend, Ryouhei, his classmate, Akira, a miko at a neighboring shrine, and Kazuha, Akira's close friend, welcome them.

Nothing is changed. His good old memories and silent atmosphere heal his sadness.... However, his peaceful life gradually changes.... A secret promise made long time ago. A lost treasure. A real reason for moving to the town. Real feelings. The story now starts under the summer sun...

Kenn's Comment: Not sure what to think of feel. From what I can remember, this is the first time I've seen then at the helm of operations. Anywho, the character designs in the anime are a fair bit different from Hashimoto and Suzuhira's original designs. The trailers look pretty dark too. I'm not expecting a happy end. Though VNDB doesn't show that it has bad endings...so I dunno.

PV:
(clean version)


(full pv)

;_; I...I didn't cry. Seriously!

Super spoiler and mega ultra image heavy post ahead. I-I'm just warning you before hand because I want to!  /tsundere




The last episode of K-ON, story-wise. The next two episodes are 'bonus' episodes. Anywho, this episode really tugged at heart strings. I'll just put it out there. This is the high school graduation you probably never will experience if you live in in the western world.

I'll call these three the B-team; A-team being Yui and co.. I still have to say I would not mind a few more episodes around these characters.

Azunyan...you should watch where you're walking a bit more. Yui and the rest of your club are leaving you, but pay attention to your surroundings a bit more!

Feel free to draw on the blank card. Keep reading to find out what that is.

Do you really need a bandage for running into a wall? I don't know, I've run into my share of doors, walls and light poles, and I don't think I've ever needed a bandage.

This scene was funny. Azunyan's expression changed in less than a second. Jun hoped that the graduation ceremony would go off without a hitch. Knowing Yui though...



Pre-ceremony activity thing. The lower grade students (Asuza & Ui's year) give prepared flowers to the graduating class.



Remember what Jun said about hoping that the ceremony went off without a hitch?


Sawa-chan has quite the imagination. I'm pretty sure Yui is smart enough to know that bringing Ton-chan into the ceremony wouldn't be a smart idea.


Communication lines never work out in anime. Order goes as so: Mio -> Mugi -> Ritsu -> Yui

You could probably say that Nodoka is the valedictorian. Not sure if that's what they call the student who does the graduation speech in Japan though.

 Remember the tape from last episode? That's what the mid-episode eye catch is. Anywho moving on to B-side.



She made it! I wish that my high school diploma was pretty like that. Heck, this episode made my graduation feel really, really cheap and lame.



Himeko-chan~ ヽ(´▽`)/ She's really pretty. I WOULD NOT MIND HAVING HIMEKO AS A MAIN CHARACTER.

 The board is revealed. It's a gift from the class to Sawa-chan. In my highschool, our homerooms were rarely visited, so teachers don't often feel attached to a class. We'd have a homeroom class for the first week. After that we'd only go to our homerooms to pick up our report cards. I kind of wished we had homeroom every morning. It's a way to get a sense of unity in the grade, I think.

Peace signs...peace signs everywhere. Except Ritsu and Yui.

;_; 泣かないで、さわーちゃん！(Hope I got that right. Give me a shout if I weeb'd that up)

And now, I shall not talk until the end of the pictures. A picture is worth 1000 words after all.






;_; Azusa's tears were so sad. My graduation was nothing like that. I guess the difference is that they're graduation ceremony is after all the tests, while mine was...before all the tests (which is really stupid). So after the ceremony we were all back in classes studying for provincials and whatnots. Great joy!

Anywho, it was a fun second season, which had it's ups and downs, but definitely got better. I have to say that it's an improvement over the first season. This episode was really tender and lovely, similar to the ending of episode 20, which was also a tender episode (towards the end).