Slam Dunk official uniforms on sale

In conjunction with the release of the 3-part Slam Dunk DVD collection, Toei Animation and Toei Video's online shop will sell replica uniforms of Shohoku, Kainan and Ryonan. Fans will be able to choose the uniform of the player they like best and each pattern comes in either regular or large sizes. As the merchandise will only be produced when orders are made, there are two deadlines to place your orders i.e. 31 August and 31 October. Deliveries will be made about two months later. For more information, please refer to the following site.

Jigoku Shoujo Mitsuganae 地獄少女 三鼎 to be back in Oct'08

Jigoku Shoujo's Part 3, Jigoku Shoujo Mitsuganae will be back in Oct 2008. It will be shown at 2.25am via MBS on Thursdays. Besides the main cast compromising of Enma Ai, Ichimoku Ren, Hone-onna, Wanyuudou and Kikuri, there will be two new characters introduced i.e. Mikage Yuzuki, a junior high student who has an unknown relationship with Jigoku Tsuushin and Yamawaro, a new subordinate of Ai.

Nodame Cantabile Paris Arc starting in Oct '08

Nodame Cantabile's anime will feature the Paris arc starting from Oct 2008 in the Noitamina slot on Thursdays at 12.45am. There will be a total of 11 episodes in this series thus I suppose the coverage of this latest instalment will stop at a certain point instead of having a conclusion since the manga is still continuing. For more information, please check the official website here.

Antique - Introduction

Title: Antique
Timeslot: Noitama, Thursdays, 12.45am
Broadcast by: FujiTV
Based on manga by: Yoshinaga Fumi



Anime produced by: Nihon Animation + Shirogumi
Confectionery producer: Yoroizuka Toshihiko
OP and ED: Life goes on by CHEMISTRY

Cast:
Tachibana Keiichiro - Fujiwara Keiji
Ono Yuusuke - Miki Shinichiro
Kanda Eiji - Miyano Mamoru
Kobayakawa Chikage - Hanawa Eishi
Sakaki Kaedeko - Kawanishi Tomomi (AKB48)

There was a drama version starring Takizawa Hideaki, Fujiki Naohito, Shiina Kippei and Abe Hiroshi previously and the focus was largely on Kanda Eiji (Takizawa). In the anime however, Tachibana is placed first in the cast list thus the focus of the story could be quite different. In addition, it is explicitly stated in the anime that Ono is a gay while in the drama, Ono resisted the idea of being mistaken as one. As such, it will be interesting to see how this anime version turns out.

Nightmare by SNoW (Theme song of Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori)

Title: Nightmare
Artist: SNoW
Lyrics: Yamano Hideaki
Melody: SNoW & Shindo Yasumitsu

ima nanji ka oshiete yume to itte dakishimete

haikyou no machi ni miboe ga aru
anata to mekutta shashinshuu no naka

doushite hitori atashi wa hitori
sugu ni sugu ni yume nanda to kizuku

gareki wo hashiru nani ka ketobasu
yume kara sameru deguchi wo sagasu no

hayaku ikanakya hayaku ikanakya
doko ka de anata no koe ga shiteru no

ugoite iru toki no naka shika
eien nante mienain da...

ima nanji ka oshiete yume to itte dakishimete
tomari kaketa atashi no kokoro wo ugokashite onegai
tonari ni anata ga iru
tabun chigau yume wo mite
taiyou nanka iranai
anata no egao ga ima koishikute

anata wo omou konna ni omou
sonna atashi wo yume de mitsuketa no

motto shiritai motto shiritai
anata no koto wo motto motto shiritai

nan toka shinakya shikkari shinakya
donna sekai ni mo setsunasa ga afureru

toki ga itoshii naze ga itoshii
ima wa motto anata wo shiritai

wasureteta yo shinji nakereba
donna koto demo hajimaranain da

ippun ichibyou demo zutto zutto dakishimete
warui yume wo mite ita dake to tsubuyaite kudasai
tonari ni anata ga ita
ima mo kitto soba ni iru no
araamu ga nattatte
anata no koe shika todokanainda

toroketain da
atama itain da
kimi wo mamoru toka tama ni kikitain da
hajiketainda
warette itainda
hajimetainda

ima nanji ka oshiete yume to itte dakishimete
tomari kaketa atashi no kokoro wo ugokashite onegai
tonari ni anata ga iru
tabun chigau yume wo mite
taiyou nanka iranai
anata no egao ga ima koishikute

Itazura Na Kiss イタズラなKISS (anime version) - Introduction

Title: Itazura Na Kiss
Official website
Showing on TBS, Fridays, 2.25am
Manga: Tada Kaoru
Produced by: TMS Entertainment




OP: Kimi, Meguru, Boku by Hata Motohiro
ED: Kataomoi Fighter by GO!GO!7188 (April to July) / Jikan yo tomare feat.SEAMO by AZU

Main Cast:
Aihara Kotoko - Mizuki Nana
Irie Naoki - Hirakawa Daisuke
Irie Noriko - Matsui Naoko
Irie Shigeki - Nagabori Takashi
Irie Yuuki - Park Romi
Aihara Shigeo - Shimada Bin
Ikezawa Kinnosuke - Sakaguchi Shuhei
Ishikawa Satomi - Hayamizu Risa
Komori Jinko - Yamada Kinoko

Given that I am already very familiar with the story (enough to produce a website dedicated to the drama ^__^), I guess this anime has to impress me by working more on the character design and voice acting. From the CV list, the only familiar names I see are Mizuki Nana and Park Romi. It can be good in a way since I won't form opinions of the acting before watching the series. Based on what I've seen so far from the first episode, the seiyuu who plays Naoki seems rather outstanding. As for the character design, it looks a tad different from the manga which I'm OK with it. Since the manga was drawn some time ago, subtle differences may arise from the anime version. As long as it's not too much, it should be fine.

One thing I find puzzling is why the anime was only made now. Well, the drama version was made more than 10 years ago so it's weird that nobody tried to capitalize on the boom during that period with an anime release. One reason I can think of is that the Taiwanese drama version of Itazura Na Kiss was released in DVD recently so it could be why they decided to come up with the anime now. Frankly speaking, I only watched the last few episodes of the first season and first episode of the second season from that adaptation. I'm not too impressed with it especially with the choice of actor for Naoki's role. His long hair irks me so much. Sigh...I think the original version is still the best by far. Replicas usually don't beat the original, at least that's what I think.

Hagane no Renkin Jutsushi (Fullmetal Alchemist) Box Set - Archives -

There will be a special box-set release of Hagane no Renkin Jutsushi (Fullmetal Alchemist) on 28 January 2009 which includes all anime episodes, the movie, OVA SP as well as the soundtrack CDs and character songs.

Price: 68,250 yen
Release date: 28 January 2009
Total number of discs: 28
Released by: Aniplex
ASIN: B001B61RAW

Contents:

Visual discs (20 pieces)
All 51 episodes of the TV anime in 13 discs, the movie + SP (2 discs), movie in Blu-ray version (1 disc), premium collection OVA (1 disc) and 2 special discs especially for this box-set

Music discs (8 pieces)
3 TV anime OST discs, 1 movie OST disc, 2 character songs best collection discs, 2 theme song combination discs

Booklets
Contains illustrations of famous scenes and unreleased data. Also includes the Hagaren boom chronicles and new 4-column comic drawings from Arakawa Hiromu

Goods
Posters, phamplets, the movie's tickets and press kit replicas
Illustration pin-up
Special 4-set disc cases illustrated by Ito Yoshiyuki

* All contents subject to changes without notice. You may wish to go to the following site for more details.

Romaji lyrics of Canvas - Hirai Ken (Hachimitsu to Clover drama version)

Title: Canvas
Artist: Hirai Ken
Lyrics and Melody: Hirai Ken

itsu no hi ka mata aou to te wo furu
kimi no egao wo eien ni yakitsuketa
sou dane to kotaeta boku no kao wa
jouzu ni jouzu ni waraete ita kana

daisuki to kaita booru wa mada watasenai mama
boku no mune wo goro goro korogari kusuguttainda

kono mama ja irare nakutemo
kore kara ni nagasaretemo
keshite wakaranai
keshita yogosenai
bokura dake no kyanbasu

gomen ne to itta kimi no kotae wo
mitsumete sagashite aruite iku kara

daisuki to kaita booru no moji wa usureteku kedo
hori nageru tsuyosa mo suteru zurusa mo naku

sugite yuku toki no naka de
kawari yuku sora no shita de
keshite wasurenai keshite tokenai
kizuna ga kitto tsuyosa ni naru
kumo no you ni chigire yasukute
niji no you ni tsukame nakute
keshite modorenai keshite yogosenai
bokura no ao kyanbasu

koi mo yume mo shuudensha mo gochamaze oikaketa
kimi no te wo nigiru to itai to itta
koi mo yume mo namidagoe mo ikiru subete datta
kimi no me wo miteita hontou ga itsumo ienakute

kono mama ja irarenakute mo
kore kara ni nagasarete mo
keshite kawaranai keshite uso janai
bokura ga ima deaeta koto
tori no you ni jiyuu nano ni
kaze no you ni sabishikatta
keshite modorenai keshite yogosenai
namida de nutta kyanbasu
bokura dake no kyanbasu

Hachimitsu to Clover (Drama Version)

It's been more than 6 months since my last update and here I am, posting something on a drama which I've watched a few months back. I probably need lots of time to catch up on what I intended to post.

I wouldn't go into details on the storyline of this drama adaptation but would rather focus on my opinion on this version and how different it feels from the manga, anime and movie versions.

In terms of preference, I would rank the various versions in this order: anime, manga, drama and movie.

The biggest problem I find with the drama would be the over-ambitious intention to squeeze the entire storyline within 1 season. Even the anime needed 2 instalments of 36 episodes to cover the manga's storyline extensively. Why in the world would FujiTV want to do a summary of the storyline when they've already had experience with how the anime was presented? If they were unsure about whether the drama would do well enough to warrant a sequel, I thought that it would be OK to end at the juncture of Takemoto returning from his trip. Due to this reason, the story lost its focus and was a major turnoff especially for fans who know the storyline very well. Personally, I think for most fans, they would want to see a complete adaptation rather than addition and deletions of important scenes here and there.

Besides the summarised storyline, I really hate redundant scenes like those with Romaiya-senpai. Too much of everything is no good. Initially, it was funny to see him around but it became a big issue for me later. Sometimes, I just feel that he should get out of the way.

And why did they make it seem like Mayama and Rika-san have a platonic relationship? The fact that Rika-san is in anguish about making use of Mayama, be it emotionally and sexually should be emphasized. They didn't have to go overboard with the intimate scenes but at least show that fact to people who don't know the storyline.

As for the casting, the drama and movie had major problems in their own ways. Here's my verdict of who fared better:

Sakurai Sho vs. Ikuta Toma (Takemoto Yuuta)
I prefer Ikuta because his image is closer to Takemoto. For people who know Sakurai's background, it's hard to associate him with Takemoto i.e. a smart elite who went to a good school and relatively smooth career in showbiz vs. someone who's unsure of what to do and can hardly make his own decisions without thinking too much. It's hard to separate Sakurai the elite from his screen character at times and this works against him when his acting skills are not strong enough to cover this gap. On the other hand for Ikuta, the good thing is that his cheerful image matches Takemoto's personality and that he is a better actor than his screen counterpart.

Aoi Yu vs. Narumi Riko (Hanamoto Hagumi)
Image-wise, Aoi matches Hagu more although Narumi is younger. The same issue arises here. Narumi is known for her strong personality and slightly cool image so to see her as Hagu feels kinda out of place. Acting-skills wise, she's matchable to Aoi to a certain extent but I guess image plays the deciding factor here.

Iseya Yuusuke vs. Narimiya Hiroki (Morita Shinobu)
Both were disappointments. Morita is a difficult role to play and coupled with the lacklustre scripts, Morita's multi-dimension character wasn't shown to the fullest. Iseya's potrayal went overboard on the artistic trait and gave the feeling that Morita is unkept and rowdy all the time. Narimiya had a similar problem too but at least he looked tidy. I was expecting the most out of the actor who plays Morita since he's my favourite character but I was disappointed twice over.

Seki Megumi vs. Harada Natsuki (Yamada Ayumi)
They were both OK in terms of image but...Ayu's internal struggles with her feelings about Mayama weren't conveyed convincingly. Maybe it's the script but sometimes, a good actor can do wonders with a lousy script. I guess both of them are just not at that level yet. Personally, Harada feels slightly closer to Ayu's image (at least to me) because Seki has always gave me the impression of being strong and independent which is a tad different from Ayu.

Kase Ryo vs. Mukai Satoshi (Mayama Takumi)
Kase is obviously the older of the two and looks more mature. He is a good actor too BUT given the shorter timeframe in the movie, I don't think he was given a fair chance to show his version of Mayama. Mukai is luckier in this sense since the drama is longer and he does look a bit closer to Mayama's image. In addition, his combination with Seto Asaka looks good on screen.

Well, besides the Morita issue, another mis-casting decision I feel is the choice of Murakami Atsushi as Hanamoto-sensei. He looks so scruffy and unkept, much worse than how Iseya looked in the movie. Thus, I count my blessings that we have been spared the agony of watching the last part of the storyline where Hanamoto confessed his feelings for Hagu. I scringe when I imagine this happening.

After all these complaints, one good point was the choice of Kashiwabara Takashi as Nomiya because he and Mukai looked uncanny close so it brought out the point of Nomiya and Mayama being similar in terms of character and appearance.

In conclusion, I feel that the drama version has fumbled because of its distorted storyline and weird casting decisions. It just goes to show that anime / drama adaptations work best usually when they stick to the successful formula in place. Just look at what Nodame Cantabile has achieved and you will see my point.