:anime: Anime Kibbles 'n' Bits ::04.09.13:: The (Actual) Return of the News Bits…

I may have had some fun a week ago, but this here is the true return of "Anime Kibbles 'n' Bits"!!

:Fri.04.05.13: Crunchyroll Scores Score of Major Simulcast Titles

Crunchyroll, more often than not, manages to obtain the rights to simulcast a good chunk of each season's new anime, but sometimes they have to share the lot of big titles with FUNimation, who doesn't post content on the site (as opposed to Sentai, who will often place them on both their sister company The Anime Network and Crunchyroll). Spring 2013 looks to be a good one on that end for the site, though, as they managed to nab Sunrise's Valvrave the Liberator, Mushi-Shi director Hiroshi Nagahama's Flowers of Evil, and the big Kazuya Murata (Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos director)/Gen Urobuchi (Madoka Magica creator) joint project Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet. Death Note director Tetsuro Araki's much-anticipated Attack on Titan adaptation (already settled?) and Yutaka Izubuchi (RahXephon) & Akihiro Enomoto's Space Battleship Yamato 2199 are still up in the air in terms of streaming homes (if any), but with Crunchyroll's quality service and being the only one in the game with 1080p-level streaming, hopefully those good-looking efforts will end up there with the other notable series…

:Wed.04.03.13: Kyoto Animation to Fully Adapt Kyoukai no Kanata

Kyoto Animation has no shame in showing off their jaw-dropping animation prowess in nearly every show they have done, and that even goes for the commercials for their novel division. The one they put together for Kyoukai no Kanata felt more like a painful tease than a promo with the effortless flare and intrigue they pumped into its 31-second time-frame, but now it appears they will be expanding it to a full-fledged anime. The fantasy tale of two teens with unique supernatural powers who land themselves in deep water has no set format yet, but be it TV or movie, one can only hope that it good as close to its source's trailer as does.

:Thurs.03.21.13: Film Version of Wish Upon the Pleiades Planned

Wish Upon the Pleiades (Houkago no Pleiades), which was reviewed not-too-favorably here despite its fanciful veneer, is receiving a film adaptation for later this year. One of the biggest problems with the ONA was its ill-considered composition, which treated its four short-length episodes like four full ones, but now with total runtime stretched from 30 minutes to feature-film length (provided it will be presented as such), there should be much more breathing room for the story to be told across, well, a span akin to four full-length episodes. Given how short the original was, too, I would suspect that much of the film will be new animation, if not the whole thing. Here's to it panning out better this time around…

:Wed.03.20.13: Honneamise Sequel, Blue Aru, To Finally Be Animated

For quite a while, a sequel to GAINAX's masterful first salvo, Royal Space Force: Wings of the Honneamise, has been in and out of the works. A decade after it was first announced in 1992, it appeared that any real hope for Blue Aru had fizzled away following a 2001 semi-confirmation that seemingly went nowhere (though the studio released material from the unmaterialized film in 1998, which even included the screenplay!). Now, another decade later and Blue Aru appears to be ready to be animated. It's a very intriguing prospect given the first film's chronicling of a nation's first foray into space, how much it reflected then-upstart GAINAX, and how they and the times have changed since then. What kind of film will Blue Aru be, both in visual and thematic terms, and how much will it follow its previously-released material? Only time--and an actual movie--will tell…

:Thurs.04.04.13: Famed Film Critic Roger Ebert Passes

I would be remiss without mentioning the passing of legendary film critic Roger Ebert. It was through Siskel & Ebert that I found out about Ghost in the Shell, which propelled me into my fandom of anime, and Ebert, himself, often held a supportive view of the genre. I greatly enjoyed his film critiques, both on screen and in print, and appreciated the fearlessness of his opinions, whether I was in agreement with them or not. Even his deteriorating health due to cancer and treatments did not hamper his review work or love of cinema and that alone deserves a lot of respect. Rest in peace…