Looking Forward to Anime Titles this Fall

Posted by Neko Kyou in Coming Soon on August 21st, 2007

The anime fall season is upon us and many new titles will be showing up. Some are sequels, while most are new. What anime titles are you looking forward to?

Suzumiya Haruhi

For me, I had been eagerly awaiting for a second season of Suzumiya Haruhi. Although it would seem unlikely that Suzumiya Haruhi 2 will be showing up anytime soon, I’m still hoping to see KyoAni pulling a stunt by not doing any promo or announcement at all, or at least wait until the very last moment.

Shakugan no Shana

Putting Suzumiya Haruhi aside, I am looking forward to Shakugan no Shana Second. The ending of the first season suggests that Yoshida would play a larger role against the denizens of the Crimson Realm and her rivalry with Shana would escalate even higher. It would also be interesting to see whether Yuji himself would take up Blutsauger and fight alongside Shana.

Gundam 00 is something to look forward to as well, but I’m having doubts if it would be good. I don’t really like most of the character and MS design, but they really are secondary. The story would be the most important and hopefully we’re not getting another Wing. Nothing against Gundam Wing, but it just never really appealed to me except for some of its MS; namely Wing Zero Custom & Deathscythe.

Suteki Tantei Labyrinth sounds like something I would really like. I imagine it would be something like CLAMP School Detectives.

Other than those, a few others that caught my interest right now are:

  • Kodomo no Jikan
  • Shugo Chara
  • Minami-Ke
  • Rental Magica
  • Myself Yourself
  • Jushin Enbu
  • Goshuushousama Ninomiya-kun
  • MapleStory

There aren’t that much information on most of the new anime right now, but I’ll see what I can dig up.

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Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso Review

Posted by Neko Kyou in Reviews, Suzumiya Haruhi on August 15th, 2007

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso was held on the 18th of March 2007 in Japan and the DVD recording of the live event was recently released on the 27th of July. Until last week, I didn’t even realize such event had taken place and I kicked myself for it. It didn’t take long to search for it and after watching it last night I immediately made a post about it here.

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso

The Host and Co-Host of Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso

The MC for the event was none other than Shiraishi Minoru aka Taniguchi. Yes, he’s also the same Shiraishi Minoru from Lucky Star. The co-host is Megumi Matsumoto aka Kunikida.

The show is divided into 2 parts. In the first part of the show, the entire cast of Suzumiya Haruhi was brought on stage and introduced. Sugita Tomokazu (Kyon) appeared on-stage cosplaying as Char Aznable.

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso - Kyon

Kyon is… Char Aznable!

The best entrance belongs to Matsuoka Yuki aka Tsuruya, who started to laugh in her trademark (note: evil) laughter from all the way behind the stage until she appears.

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso - Tsuruya

“HA HA HA HA! Nyoron! Tsuruyan des~u!”

Even if you don’t know what the seiyuu looked like, it is very possible to guess who is who simply by looking at their actions. The hyper-active Aya (Haruhi), the calm and collected Minori (Yuki) and the bubbly Yuuko (Mikuru). Sugita, on the other hand, did the unexpected and came out as Char Aznable.

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso

It’s Yuki, Kyon, Haruhi, Mikuru and Koizumi on stage!

The director, Tatsuya Ishihara and character designer Shoko Ikeda was also called on stage. Some of the most memorable scenes for each character is then shown and discussed. You would need to be able to understand Japanese to fully understand what’s going on here, but even with my limited knowledge, I was still able to pick up the gist of things.

After that the cast did a skit.

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso - Skit

Is it just me, or does Sugita seems to be hiding something under the Char wig and the hat he’s wearing now? Hmm…

And there’s even Mikuru Beam…

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso - Mikuru Beam

The Actual Concert…

Is where the real fun begins. The concert portion of Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso started off with Mikuru with Koi no Mikuru Densetsu. I’m not sure if she’s doing it on purpose, but she can’t really sing. But if she’s doing that deliberately, then she’s a real good actor. Otherwise, it’s still good, because we’re talking about Mikuru after all 😛

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso - Mikuru

Mikuru complete with a maid uniform…

I’ve seen many of Hirano Aya’s pictures and videos, but she has never been so hot before.

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso - Hirano Aya

Hirano Aya as Suzumiya Haruhi doing the Bouken Desho Desho

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso - Hirano Aya

“DID YOU CUM TWICE?”

Yes, you probably read that right… It said “Did you cum twice too? Feel so dirty!!! I need a tongue bath!”

And just look at the back of her shirt…

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso - Hirano Aya

While I can’t make out the exact sentence, the final word is definitely “F*CK!!!” Seriously, what was she thinking!?

Minori’s performance was one of my favourite in the entire concert portion of Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso, especially with her Yuki, Muon, Madobe Nite.

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso - Minori Chihara aka Nagato Yuki

Minori has an awesome voice and she’s gorgeous to boot!

Then Hirano Aya returned on stage… in what at first appeared to be lingerie…

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso - Hirano Aya

Actually… it might really be lingerie…

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso

Yuki surprised me with a great performance. Natsuko, on the other hand, was great with her voice as Ryoko but her singing was only so-so. But the song was kinda catchy, though. Still, no complains here it was still fun 😀

ENOZ – God Knows

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso - Hirano Aya

You know what would have made this scene perfect? A pair of bunny ears…

Like so…

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso - Hirano Aya

A comparison between the performance of God Knows in Suzumiya Haruhi, and the Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso that was portrayed in Lucky Star –

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso

After performing God Knows, Aya goes on to introduce the band members, just as Haruhi did in the anime, before performing their next song, Lost My Music.

The Guys…

Ono Daisuke wowed the crowd with his flashy moves. Granted, he’s not a great singer, but he has great moves!

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso - Ono Daisuke

And we finally get to see why Sugita has been hiding his head under wigs and hats…

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso - Sugita Kyon

OMG! It’s… KYON!

The fans went nuts when he first appeared, chanting his character name in unison. I’m not sure if he’s playing some part of his character, but Sugita seems pretty stiff and uncomfortable during this performance. Aya, on the other hand, was a natural.

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso - Kyon

And IT happened… The Hentai Trio

Minoru cosplayed Haruhi…

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso

I think I may be traumatized…

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso

Self-declared, the Hentai Trio

Introducing the Hentai Trio:

  • Hentai #1 – Sugita
  • Hentai #2 – Minoru
  • Hentai #3 – Daisuke

I have no idea what they were trying to do, nor do I think I would want to know…

Hare Hare Yukai

The girls came out for another song before the finale.

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso

The finale, the epitome of Haruhiism, the moment all devout Haruhiist present had been waiting for… The Hare Hare Yukai

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso - Hare Hare Yukai

The Hare Hare Yukai

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso - Hare Hare Yukai

Watching the dance performed in real life by the cast… priceless…

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso - Hare Hare Yukai

And the final part of the dance…

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso - Hare Hare Yukai

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso - Hare Hare Yukai

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso - Hare Hare Yukai

Pure satisfaction.

Encore! Encore! Encore!

The fans screamed for an encore, and an encore they get. The encore was the TV version of the Hare Hare Yukai, with Sugita and Daisuke joining the girls. The giant screen also showed the full animated dance as well.

Everyone was now in more casual clothing as well.

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso - Hare Hare Yukai Encore

Everyone getting comfy in casual clothes

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso - Hare Hare Yukai Encore

You can see the animated version of the dance on the giant screen

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso - Hare Hare Yukai Encore

… and FINISH!

End of Show

It actually got quite emotional towards the end of the show.

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso

A job well done!

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso - Minori aka Nagato Yuki

Minori asked for silence as she delivered a special message from Yuki… “Daisuki…”

Hirano Aya got over emotional and broke out in tears.

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso - Hirano Aya

Aya was so moved, she broke into tears…

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso - Hirano Aya

When it’s her turn to speak, she once again gets emotional and sobbed through her thank you speech. I think she tried to put the blame on Kyon for teasing her too 😛

Aya’s speech is easily the most touching moment in the entire event. I felt moved as well even though I only understood about 70% of her speech. A truly great end to a truly great event. I seriously hope the event would repeat in the future and maybe to attend it in person if possible as well.

Backstage…

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso

Tears are still flowing… Sobs could still be heard… Aya was really in an emotional fit.

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso

and Sugita/Kyon continues to tease…

I’ve said before, I would rate this 12 out of 10. A must have for any Suzumiya Haruhi or Hirano Aya fan. Wait, let me rephrase that. You cannot call yourself a fan unless you have this! This receives my highest recommendations!

If for some reason you have not gotten your hands on this, do it now! Grab Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso!

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Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso

Posted by Neko Kyou in Suzumiya Haruhi on August 14th, 2007

I’ve just finished watching Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso and I’ll have to say that it’s pure awesomeness! I’m going to go through it once more before I do a proper review for it, probably within a day or two. There’s over 3 hours of fun stuffed in the 2 DVDs and there’s never a dull moment.

In the meantime, you can enjoy the Hare Hare Yukai performed by Hirano Aya (Haruhi), Chihara Minori (Nagato) and Gotou Yuuko (Mikuru) here:

If you liked that, just imagine what happens if you grab the DVD *droolz* I wished I was there for the live event :(

Grab Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso

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Hare Hare Yukai

Posted by Neko Kyou in Suzumiya Haruhi on August 10th, 2007

I found this to be really amusing. Yet more signs that Haruhiism is once again spreading in anticipation of a 2nd season of Suzumiya Haruhi.

This seriously takes a lot of courage, doing it in public, so hats off to her 😀

I wonder if she was inspired by the Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekiso event that was held in Japan a few months back…

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Who Made Haruhi God?

Posted by Neko Kyou in Suzumiya Haruhi on July 8th, 2007

Suzumiya Haruhi SOS BrigadeTrue to the nature of Suzumiya Haruhi, there’s been quite a discussion over the 20+ minutes live action video that was released at http://haruhiism.com/ yesterday. Those “in the know” would argue that the teaser was excellent while everyone else would complain that they had just wasted their time on it.

The teaser shows the viewer (me and you) a live action sequence that took place 3 years ago, from the view of the various security cameras around the school Haruhi attended 3 years ago. Taniguchi mentioned in episode 2 that Haruhi admitted to drawing some huge pictograph with a chalk dispenser back in middle school. This is what the video is all about.

Let’s have a brief walkthrough of the video –

Haruhi appeared at the front gates of school, followed by a boy who was carrying another person on his back (presumably Kyon and Mikuru). They broke into the school compound and headed for the storage room and after throwing some equipments on the wagon, took off to the field. The footage for this next part takes up pretty much the rest of the video, as Kyon is seen to be “drawing” something on the field under Haruhi’s instruction.

Regardless of the reactions from fans, KyoAni really went through a lot of trouble to prepare such an elaborate video, on the actual day that the said event happened in the timeline of Suzumiya Haruhi.

HaruhiismHaruhi supposedly got her powers on 7th July 2007 (07/07/07), which was yesterday, when the video was released. So, as far as the story is concerned, the world as we know it might have just been created yesterday after a series of reincarnation by the mind of Suzumiya Haruhi.

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