This week, it's IA!






Title: Re;Birth
Producer: SeleP
Art: 優木きら さん
Genre: Pop
Vocaloid: IA

Kenn's Comment: If someone covered it, I think it'd sound a bit like ALI Project, because of the way the melody sounds and feels. I hear seleP's songs often are pretty dark, involving things like killing your lover...so I wouldn't be surprised if this one involves something like that. The "Jailed for seven years" seems to imply something along those lines.

Anywho, it's been a while since IA's taken center stage on the blog. Lots of GUMI and Miku as of late though you shouldn't take it to mean that there hasn't been a lot of IA songs. I'm actually quite happy about all the attention she's been getting. While she's not nearly as popular as GUMI was at this point of her release, she's still more popular than the AH Soft ones - they've more or less faded into the background (with the exception of Miki, who just barely stands outside that curtain). IA's got more or a less a steady stream of good songs, so I don't think she'll be losing favour with producers anytime soon. If Lily and IA could gain more popularity, it'd be great because these two have really good sound voices that are lower than that of the more popular Vocaloids. A nice mature sounding voice can be done really well with Lily, so I'm hoping they take some more notice of her range, rather than exploiting the upper ranges of Miku and the others.

For those of you who noticed, the title is in English today (of the post, Re;Birth is the actual title). Having problems with my machine, and I can't seem to change over to the Japanese language setting at the moment, so you might be seeing a lot less Japanese on the blog until I sort this out.

This photo, and the next two courtesy of Jerry, buddy photographer of the party. Thanks for the shirts too  yo!

Absolutely awesome gift from the girlfriend. First two volumes of 乙嫁語り (Bride's Story) in hard cover - Hard cover!!, and figma Homura ,who will have her turn for a photoshoot once I find the space to set up a temporary white box. I'll probably be lending her 乙嫁語り to spread the love of Kaoru Mori. More people need to know about her and her mind blowingly amazing art! For those curious, I featured both 乙嫁語り and Emma in one of my earliest Manga of the Week entries. 




Gift from a good friend from the university. I had hints from everybody about what this was going to be. "You should be nicer to her." "I think she dropped some bills on you" stuff like that. Didn't expect it to be quite this expensive though. It's a wonderful gift, and I was in need of a new iTouch; mine was on it's last legs with it's headphone jack not working properly, music player would constantly stop 15 seconds into the song,  the browser wouldn't stay open for more than 5 minutes, and the list goes on. It's greatly appreciated, though the what this leaves behind is one question. "How the f*** am I supposed to match this when her birthday rolls around the corner? 

Airs: 07/05 25:15 Fuji TV
Website: http://natsuyuki.tv/

Series Summary from Stiletto Heels:

Hazuki falls in love at first sight with a flower shop owner named Rokka and decides to get closer to her by applying as a part-time employee. A going-away party soon brings him to her doorstep, and Hazuki is elated. But what happens when he discovers that residing in her apartment is the spirit of the man she can never forget?

Kenn's Comment:  A Josei series with actual adults! The last few Josei series that've aired haven't always had truly adult characters. You've got Chihayafuru, high-schoolers I believer. Kuragehime, Tsukimi technically is an adult, but she don't really fit the description. Sakamichi no Apollon? High school. Usagi Drop is probably one of the few recently aired Josei series with an adult main (Daikichi).

Anywho, the manga ended recently at 4 volumes which means the anime will probably cover it in it's entirety.  Aside from that, I know nothing about the story. Might check it out, but I've never really been a fan of drama. Might make myself watch this one.

PV:

Airs: 07/01 22:00 TOKYO MX/ Bandai Channel
Website: http://lag-rin.com/

Series Summary from ANN (season 1):

Madoka is the lone member of her school's Jersey Club. She is one day recruited by a mysterious girl named Lan to pilot the robot "Vox" and protect her city from space invaders. They are joined by a third girl, Muginami, who has a different goal than Ran. Meanwhile, they still don't know their enemies' true goal, or what "Rinne" might be.

Kenn's Comment: And it's back, the series that was part highschool comedy, and part mecha battler. The first season was actually pretty good so I'll be watching this one. The art still has that odd tinge. Go open the site and stare at Madoka (in the middle). Something about the placement of her eyes is throwing off her face...and giving it a bit of 'derp'.

Anywho, the story picks off where it left in the first season, and I'm tempted to tag it as 'Drama' due to all the stuff that'll go down in the first few episodes of the series. Daaaaaamn.

PV:

The day after he finds himself dumped by his girlfriend, Sorayama Shun recieves a letter... from himself? The letter was from Shun 25 years ago for his future self. The letter reminds him of the time when he dreamed of owning a Countach and being a successful professional racer. With loads of luck and his ambition to make his childhood dream come true, he finds himself as a new owner of an LP400 Countach.

Kenn's Comment: Read a bit of this a few years back, but take too much to it then, but it does certainly build on you. I wouldn't say I'm a car guy, but I do appreciate a nice lookin' car...and being a guy, we like anything that's loud, shiny and goes really, really fast.

Anywho, unlike Initial D, which focuses on drifting the mountain passes in modded cars, this one's emphasis lies in the realm of the super cars - the powerful cars that would turn heads wherever they pass through...and we could only dream to afford. Likewise, you won't be finding these tearing up and down mountain passes. I doubt you'd be able to pull off the stunts they do in Initial D when you're barreling down the road at 300km/h in one of these.

Anywho, with 27 ongoing volumes, you'll be reading this one for years.

Total Eclipse is set in the same world as MuvLuvAlternative, at Alaska's Yukon base, test site 18, where first-class staff from all over the world regardless of country gather to work on new Tactical Surface Fighters.
The main characters are engineers and pilots and it features many TSFs that failed to show up in Alternative.

Kenn's Comment: Mecha? Fanservice? Boobs!? Need I say more? And being broadcasted on TV Tokyo, need I mention that this will also be streamed on Crunchyroll?

I'm hoping Tarisa is awesome when animated. Dark skinned characters have been a bit of a rarity these days.

Anywho, I'm kind of looking forward to this one. I've got lots on my list, so I probably might just knock this one into a low priority slot. I don't know a heck of a lot about Muvluv anywho, so I might actually pass this up.

PV:

A few months too late for this, but it's a good song!







Title: Earth Day
Producer: Harry
PV: Sachico, Scotch, Sena
Genre: Power Pop
Vocaloid: 初音ミク


Kenn's Comment: Earth Day might have been back in April, but there's nothing stopping me from putting this song up when it's almost July! Anywho, I really wish more people used this voice for Miku. I'm really not a fan of her high register, which I find I'm hearing a lot more often now a days. This voice is just a lot more pleasing, less squeaky and a bit easier to hear!

Anywho, the PV is pretty cute, though I don't quite see how it's related to Earth Day...and the song itself probably isn't related to the Earth Day we know and love here in North America...or is it just a BC thing? 

 Joshiraku is a satirical comedy anime that follows the everyday life of a group of girls.

Kenn's Comment: Story is by Kumeta Koji, of Zetsubou Sensei fame, and art by Yasu, the illustrated of the ToraDora novels, among others. 

I took a look at the manga a few years ago, and from what I read...I didn't think it'd ever be made into an anime. To be fair, I didn't really look at too much of it, but it did seem very...episodic, and wasn't very...active so to speak. From the bit I read, the story...takes place almost entirely in that room. Things happen, and I can see some of their hijinks to be anime material...but I don't know. It'll be one of those series that'll never be licensed. Like Zetsubou Sensei, there's heavy reference to culture and language, which makes it really, really hard to translate in a way that keeps it's meaning while making it accessible to those not familiar with Japan and it's customs.

PV:

Sakura Ichiko is a 16-year-old girl who leads a charmed life and is blessed with beauty, brains, and health. She has an abundance of “Happiness Energy”, which can make people happy, but at the cost of absorbing all the “Happiness Energy” from her surroundings. She has caused the energy balance of the world to become unbalanced and because of this, she becomes the target of a Poverty God named Momiji. Momiji's goal is to remove Ichiko’s power of absorbing other people’s Happiness Energy and to return all the energy she has taken to its rightful place. 

Kenn's Comment: The anime will probably take a few weeks to rev into top gear, just like how the manga takes a while before it really gets good. Hanazawa Kana stars as Ichiko, and Uchiyama Yumi as Momiji. I've got some high hopes for the series, being a fan of the manga and all. Concerns I've got are the standard shounen fare - fillers that are dreadfully boring, and just badly paced story telling. The staff kind of concerns me too. A lot of them, like the director, animation director and whatnots like that...don't seem to have any big titles under them. The PV...though it might be because of the medium, looks...a bit off. I'll wait until I see an episode before I really judge the art though.

PV:
 

Meet Sawaki Tadayasu, the second son of yeast preparation suppliers, who is forced to go to an agricultural university and continue the family business. He has the unique ability to see microbes. He and his friend, Kei, are taken in as students by the fermentation-process obsessed Itsuki-sensei. This manga follows Sawaki as he tries to make his way through university as discreetly as possible…which is almost impossible if you’re as unique as he is.

Kenn's Comment: It's been 5 years since the first series was on air...and boy am I happy to have it back. Science, comedy and awesomeness! One of my favourite series comes back! Hail NoitaminA!! (It's the time slot the series airs in).

Anywho, this one's starting off where the first left off, so this is definitely a series you'll want to watch after getting through the first season. The situation with Kei will definitely need the first season to understand, and going through the first season and learning how the different bacteria look (and their names) will help you get through this one without racking your brain quite as much.　かもすぞ！

Also, in the beginning of the trailer. I don't remember Sawaki looking quite that feminine. Maybe it's the 5 year absence, but boy, he and Kei could swap places and I wouldn't notice. Along with the PV, there's also a short or 200 featuring the more popular of the bacteria.

PV:

Title: 恋と選挙とチョコレート, Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate, Love and Elections and Chocolate
Animation Production: AIC Build
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Airs: 07/05 25:25 TBS
Website: http://www.koichoco.com/

Series Summary from ANN:

Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate follows the protagonist Yūki Ōjima, who attends Takafuji Private Academy a large school with over 6,000 students. Yūki is a member of the Food Research Club along with seven others, including his childhood friend Chisato Sumiyoshi. The members leisurely spend their time in the club not doing much activities. When the election of the next student council president comes up, the front runner Satsuki Shinonome proposes that clubs that have no merit should be sorted out and abolished. The Food Research Club seeks advice from the current student council president Yakumo Mōri, who suggests Yūki run in the election as an opposing candidate. Yūki learns about the issues facing the school and decides to run in the election.

Kenn's Comment: An adaptation of the eroge by sprite and fairys.

I'm not sure how they'll be adapting it. Will they follow one route through to the end? Will they follow a 'true' ending if there's one in the game? How about combine several of the routes, but end with one route? There are so many ways to adapt a visual novel.

Took a quick peak at the manga adaptation, and I get the feeling that they'll be following the childhood friend's story. Just a feeling, but I feel that having the energetic character awaken feelings of sweet love over the course of the story is the way they'll be going. Just a thought.

PV:

Kaga Ryosuke, a helplessly romantic teenager, was walking in the rain when he sees a beautiful girl with red eyes drenched in the rain. Everyone was avoiding her, but Ryosuke was taught to treasure women so he offered his help by letting her dry off at his home. Ryosuke can't imagine that this mysterious girl would stab him in the chest and leave him to die… Or did she? Who is this pretty girl and what does she want with him? 

Kenn's Comment: I've read a very small amount of the manga (which is an adaptation of the light novel), and their relationship lies somewhere between the one that exists between Saito and Louise and Shana and Yuuji. On one hand, Lisara's the tsundere with too much tsun and not enough dere (more dere than Louise though). On the other, she depends on Ryosuke for support in combat (kind of like Yuuij and Shana).

I don't remember Feel ever doing an action series - much of their past work has been with fanservice-y series like Kiss x Sis and Mayo Chiki. While fanservice is a given for a series with a premise like this, I hope they don't go overboard with it...there's tastefully done, and then there's overdone.

PV:

Title: TARI TARI, タリ・タリ
Animation Production: P.A. Works
Genre: Drama, Romance, Slice of Life
Airs: 07/01 22:30 TV KANAGAWA
Website: http://taritari.jp/

Series Summary from MangaUpdates:

Wakana Sakai once took music lessons, but she withdrew from music after losing her mother. Konatsu Miyamoto is a positive-thinking girl who loves singing and spends time after school at the vocal music club. Sawa Okita is a spirited archery club member who dreams of becoming a horse rider. Taichi Tanaka is a chronically late badminton team member who lives with his college student sister. Win just transfered into Wakana's class after 12 years abroad in Australia. Music brings Wakana, Konatsu, Sawa and the others together into an ensemble during their last summer in high school. 

Kenn's Comment: Last summer in highschool makes them 17-18! ;D

Anywho, transferring into a 3rd Year highschool (12th grade) class is pretty unusual. Aside from that, I'm hoping that this whole 'music ensemble' thing doesn't get the better of people. From what I've read it's story themes will be similar to Hanasaku Iroha, coming of age kind of story, and it takes place in Enoshima...which I believe is where Tsuritama is set too. I'm really hoping the romance isn't as convoluted as it was in HSI, with it moving slower than a snail.

Anywho, I'll leave this for a bit and see how it plays out for the first few episodes before I make any decisions about it.

PV:

The story follows Arcana Famiglia, a self-appointed organization with mysterious powers that has protected a small Mediterranean island from pirates, foreign countries, and other threats. The only daughter of the family's "Papa," Felicitá, will be married to the next head of the family in two months — and the successor will be decided in a competition that Felicitá herself will take part in.  

Kenn's Comment: Based on the otoge (otome game) by HuneX, this one's a girl's series that'll likely be treated the same way Hakouki did - shift it's target market slightly closer to the middle of the spectrum (spectrum being boys on the right and girls on the left). It won't become a shounen by any means, but we'll probably be see more action to draw in more of a male audience. Of course, the pretty guys will stay, but I'm not quite sure how much of the romance they'll be adapting.

There's also a manga adaptation of the series floating around. Not sure how closely it follows the game because I haven't read the manga or played the game. The OP theme is sung by Harada Hitomi, if you're wondering.

PV:

Title: BTOOOM!, ブトゥーム
Author: Inoue Junya
Genre: Seinen, Action, Drama, Psychological, Romance, Sci-Fi
Serialized in: Shinchosha Comic Bunch
Total Volume Count: 8 (ongoing)

Series Summary from MangaUpdates:

Sakamoto Ryuuta is an unemployed 22-year-old who lives with his mother. In the real world, there may be nothing really special about him, but online, he's one of the world's top players of the combat game "BTOOOM"!

One day, he awakes in what appears to be a tropical island, though he has no memory of how or why he has come to be there. While wandering around, Ryuuta sees someone and calls out for help. The stranger responds by throwing a bomb at him! Now Ryuuta realizes both that his life is in danger and that he has somehow been trapped in a real-life version of his favorite game! Will Ryuuta be able to survive long enough to figure out how and why he ended up here? 

Kenn's Comment: Let me start off by saying that this one isn't for the faint of heart. Blood and gore are quite copious, violence coming naturally, with sexual themes trailing not too far behind.

The story really keeps you on edge. Situation wise, the comparison with the Hunger Games really works. It's a fight to the death that's more or less for the entertainment of others, to win and leave you have to satisfy the requirements (7 chips I think?), and you have occasional supplies dropped in the field. I used the Bomberman thing because of how everyone is armed with various kinds of bombs, each one with it's own unique characteristics.

The story itself is really quite fast paced. With various alliances and jerk-face characters it's really something you read with a focus on the way characters act. The art is great, and there's really not a boring moment in what I've read so far. I'd say it's a good read for those who can stomach people getting blown to chunks.

The Culture Research Club of Yamahoshi Academy. The strange events that befall the five boys and girls there, causing their bodies and souls to be swapped around at random. What can be seen from the viewpoint of the others? 

Kenn's Comment: The character designs put me off a bit, but if the story is good, I'll be able to look past it. They're reminiscent of K-ON's character design, which I'm not a huge fan of, but have something that makes them a little bit different. If I'm right...and I'll put the two PVs below, I think the art direction actually changed between the two PVs. I really liked the first PV's character designs and art. The second PV...looks and feels too much like K-ON, and yes. That is a bad thing.

PV:

In the land of Flonyard, the Republic of Biscotti has been aggressively attacked by the Lion Kingdom of Galette. Facing potential defeat, Princess Millhiore summons a hero who can save the country. What she gets is Izumi Shinku, a middle-school boy from Japan. Awaiting him in Flonyard is the task of becoming hero enough to defeat his enemies while learning the peculiar rules of battle in this strange new world.

Kenn's Comment: The second season starts 3 months after the first left off, and drags Becky and Nanami into the fray. Specifically, Shinku is summoned again, and he takes Becky with him. Galette summons Nanami, putting master and pupil against each other in the 'wars'. Not sure what Becky will do, aside from serve as Millhi (and Eclair's) main rival for Shinku. It'll be intense as Becky's a childhood friend, while Millhi is a being of Flonyard, another world.

Anywho, a few new characters, but the entire cast from last season is coming back for wartime fun. Not sure what the story is this time though.

PV:

I've been seeing a lot of GUMI lately...




Title: しゅくふくのうた, Shukufuku no Uta, Song of Blessing
Producer: タカノン
Illus: 510
Genre: Pop
Vocaloid: GUMI

Kenn's Comment: I know I say this about all the songs I put up, but this one's great. I really like it! I only looked a few songs to put up this week (all using GUMI), and this one really stood out from the crowd. GUMI's voice really just sounds really good in this, not too high and not too low.

I'm battling through a cold right now, so I'll just leave it at that.

Right after starting middle school, Akari Akaza joins the Amusement Club which is composed solely of her two childhood friends, Kyouko Toshinou and Yui Funami. Chinatsu Yoshikawa, Akaza's classmate, becomes a member after finding out about the dissolution of the Tea Club. The Amusement Club, situated at the tea room facility since the Tea Club disbanded, has no clear purpose, being free for the girls to do whatever they want.

Kenn's Comment: More Yuru Yuri! The first season was awesome and here's to hoping for another awesome run. I don't expect too much to change, but if Akari's sister showed up to torment our protagonist Akari, that'd be awesome. She's got a voice actor already apparently, so it's just a matter of time before she shows up. Expect for アッカリーン！ jokes, and more TOSHINO KYOUKO!

PV:

Risking his life to ensure humanity's survival, Tanikaze Nagate rides out in his silver armour, the Tsugumori!

Thousands of years have passed since the Gauna destroyed the Solar System.

The enormous seed ship, Sidonia, travels through space while propagating and producing humans.

Brought up in the lowest decks of Sidonia, a young man, Tanikaze Nagate, becomes a Guardian trainee, and is authorized to pilot the outdated but historically renowned Tsugumori.

The battle with Nagate's life at stake begins now! 

Kenn's Comment: The summary makes it a bit more exciting than it is. Don't get me wrong now. It's not boring, but it's not action oriented like a Gundam series might be. The Mecha battle scenes are very coordinated, the character often fight and moving in formation. It reminds me quite a bit of the battles in 進撃の巨人, which I featured back in April.

Nihei Tsutomu has Blame! and Biomega, among others, under his belt. His art is rather distinctive, but it really quite nice. The mecha designs are really cool, though I feel that the ships, specifically the Sidonia, could be a little bit more...special. It's certainly not as elaborate as the ships of Macross and Gundam, but the Sidonia is rather bland.

As a Sci-Fi, I feel that it gives a much more Sci-Fi feel than the more recent Mecha series have. There's something about it that makes this feel a lot more sci-fi. Anywho, I'm going cut it off here before I start ranting. It's a good read!

;__________; This song. THIS SONG.





Title: Souvenir
Producer: フェイP
PV: 水奈
Genre: Ballad, Pop
Vocaloid: 初音ミク

Kenn's Comment: Such a beautiful song. It's from a while back...September of last year to be exact. Really quite a touching song about regret, and gratitude. The PV deals with this beautifully, in a way that almost everyone can relate to. We've all been there and done that (unless you've somehow grown up without parents, my condolences if that is the case)., and it really does hit home a bit. Miku's voice, either soft or sweet, really gives it that extra touch of emotion, which might surprise people when they learn that Miku's a piece of software.

Link to lyrics here, with original Japanese lyrics over here.

If this wasn't enough, here's a cover by 赤ティ. His voice really just pumps the sentiments of the song up several notches. A beautiful cover of a beautiful song. DOUBLE BEAUTIFUL.

Magic is a product of neither legends nor fairy tales, but instead has become a technology of reality since a time unknown to people.
 

Supernatural power became a technology systematized through magic, while magic became a technical skill. A "Supernatural Power User" became a "Magic Technician".
Magic Technicians (in short, Magicians) are nurtured through Magic High Schools and Universities.
 

This is a story about:
A defective, low achieving older brother.
A perfect, flawless high achieving younger sister.
After both siblings entered a Magic High School,
The stage of daily turbulence was unveiled ---. 

Kenn's Comment: I've changed some of the wording in the summary so that it reads more naturally. I'm almost certain that it's a rough translation off the back of the first volume, or even off the novel's website.

Anywho, magic exists in this one, but it takes a similar route as the Index series does with the ESPer powers. Magic is essentially science, coupled with super powers. This one also is infinitely more technical than the Index series is. Often, you'll have somewhere up to 10-15 pages dedicated to explaining how someone's spell works. It also delves into various aspects of particle physics, antimatter, and some other stuff (took a year of physics in high school and this is well above that level. Even if you can read Japanese fluently (which I can't) you might find this one a bit more challenging compared to other light novels due to the sheer amount of jargon.

Character wise, Tatsuya is quite possibly one of the most overpowered and badass main characters I've seen in a very, very long time. You'll quickly find that he's not quiet like some of the other characters we're used to. Also, having a cold, emotionless main character is really quite nice, especially after we've gotten characters like Amata in Evol (MIKONO SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN), and, in general, your typical hot blooded, always shouting main character. Someone who's more subdued is always welcome.

The other characters are all interesting in their own way too. You have Miyuki's constant advances, and their classmates all have their own little quirks and quips. All in all, it's a great read, even if it's a little bit heavy on the technical jargon.

There's a manga adaptation of it that's floating around SquareEnix GFantasy, so you can check that one out for those who want to read it in manga form.

This week, we're going back to one of my favourite producers, BuzzG





Title: ラムダ, Ramuda, Lambda (98% sure that's right)
Producer: BuzzG
PV: ぽたこ
Genre: Pop
Vocaloid: GUMI

Kenn's Comment: BuzzG's songs always are so good. GUMI's voice always sounds great and the backing always is at a good level. When I first heard the song, I was hoping for something slower. The piano at the beginning lulled me into expectation of something different from BuzzG. Then the band kicked in and it was more or less your typical. It's a great song though.

The PV is done beautifully too. It's kind of like a pastel-y colour, no? I'm not really good with colours, so I won't dwell on that topic.

If I translated the title wrong, drop a comment with the right one and I'll be changing it stat.