"Queen's Blade: Rebellion" Characters and Seiyuu

Queen's Blade is back this Spring 2012 with its raunchy and bare-body goodness in this sequel; "Queen's Blade Rebellion". The main heroines have been released, along with their seiyuu-counterparts and from the looks of this, I might just watch it for the epic casting.

The characters and their respective seiyuus;

AFA 2011 Report [Day 2: The Masses Amassed]

It was Day 2 of Anime Festival Asia 2011 at Suntec City Convention Centre, and I'm stuck with a broken shoe, concert-hangover, and an unsatisfactory breakfast.

But truthfully, never felt better.

Hanazawa Kana Card Gamer Debut

On the first issue of Card Gamer magazine, aimed towards the news of card-related games and topics, have featured the lovely Hanazawa Kana on the cover page.

Taketatsu Ayana's Exercise Tips

In the latest issue of monthly magazine "Seiyuu Grand Prix", the "Sports no Aki" column was taken over by Taketatsu Ayana and her exercising tips.

2ch Delighted Over Mizuki Nana's Exposed Thighs

Top seiyuu idol Mizuki Nana has appeared on TV, delighting fans with her thigh and various angle exposures.

Kamisama no Memochou Seiyuu Cosplays as Alice

NEET detective, Yuuko Shionji, or better known as Alice, in another JC Staff show, Kamisama no Memochou has been cosplayed not by a professional, but by her very own seiyuu who voices her, Ogura Yui.

Season 2 Title Decided; "WORKING'!!"

The 2nd season title for family-restaurant-crossdressing anime has been decided; WORKING'!!

Ano Hana Seiyuu Photography

"Now, with overlapping feelings" 

A photo shoot of the seiyuu from drama filled anime Ano Hana was recently released.

Seiyuu from left to right;

Hayami Saori (Haqua "World God Only Knows")
Sakurai Takahiro (Masakaki "C")
Kayano Ai (Tachibana Isana "Yumekui Merry")
Irino Miyu (Niwa Makoto "Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko")
Tomatsu Harukaaaaaaaaa! (Mysu "C")
Kondou Takayuki (Hanadate Takatoshi, "Otoma Youkai Zakuro")

PS: And it seems it seems I'll have to take a break from posting any long articles, specifically from my monthly "Seiyuu Comparison" section. I just can't find the time to sit down and write a good long article like before these days without worrying about deadlines. Sorry to all regular readers who may have looked forward to this column (does not apply to event coverages. will try my best to cover those). 

TV Show Eats Mio, Bashes Otaku Dance Troupe

Star ★ Draft, a variety show currently airing on Nippon Television, has welcomed a few "otakus" to their show and publicly shames them.

Now, its been awhile since I've watched any reality, talent or variety shows currently airing on Japanese cable (except Downtown for a good laugh), but I had no idea public bashing had become this open for slangs and slurs to even be uttered by the guest commentators (Okay, so it was pretty rampant to begin with but is that how you treat guests?).

For a good part of the show, bashing from the critics was disgustingly brutal and heavy. Many (rude) comeback remarks were exchanged mostly from the panel of 7 seated guests and it was clearly a "talk-down" session meant to silenced the "lambs". You can see the hostility for yourselves at the video link below.

The group were asked from things that they hold dear, such as K-ON!, Madoka and Toyosaki Aki being mentioned, to "Akiba News" which criticized their "Akiba" fashion from Tote Bags to merchandises.

At one point, one of the guest commentators asked to view the figure and started kissing it before shoving a figure of Mio into his mouth, not before rinsing his mouth with a Ritsu plushie doll and PSP.

As one 2channer said, "Welcome to public execution..."

Sphere on Friday

J-pop and seiyuu idol unit, Sphere has appeared on the front cover of the weekly pictorial magazine, Friday.

More featured scans after the time-jump

The Many Hairstyles of Toyosaki Aki

A nice compilation of "Aki Style", consisting of different hairstyles Toyosaki Aki has been seen sporting.

Seiyuu Comparisons - Spring 2011 (#16)

I just had to make this motivator. Couldn't help myself xD

Oh lookie, its freaking May already and OMGFORGOTTOPOSTTHISINAPRIL OTL
Comparison 16 was meant for the previous month but been too busy with posting other relevant news that might have caught your attention back in April.
Well, better late than never...

Welcome cherry-blossoms, sake, hay fever, masked people and melted snowmen to Spring!
And what better way to kick start the pollen month than to have a great lineup of shows!

And when I say "great", I mean "great number of shows", like getting cramped in a tiny closet with 3 beautiful girls while sinfully feeling their every shape in detail, further immortalised and memorised with the touch of your sweaty hands as you count your blessings to be alive at this great era and hope it could last forever.

Don't mind the previous statement, my "youth" was acting up again. Must be Spring ( ´∀`)
(cookies if you know which manga I was talking about)

Onto more important matters, Spring is ridiculously huge, as I'm following about 30 series, with around 260+ characters, not to mention a few dozen OVA/OAD/movies within the next three months. Hope I can keep watching all of them when I continue my studies later this month (still studying at the moment for external certificates but irrelevant).

Also, it's currently Golden Week at the moment in the great homeland, with many companies/shops/schools closing for the week, which gives me plenty of time to read up on older news that might have slipped my eyes. Thankfully, I recently received a notification that my shipment had just left the building before the retailers closed shop until the next working day, April 6th (Fri), then next week Monday. Unfortunately, Nendo Kuroneko is still stuck, so I'll just have to be patient and hope it'll be sent as soon as possible.

Also, if you've been following me for the last few months, you might have noticed a change of post topics, as its now less about me and more about anything and everything else, as I share news about this viral sub-culture of Japan. Hope you like this new twist and I'm gonna be following this pattern, from covering exhibitions to collaboration news to interesting stuff from Japanese forums.

Zero-chan has been behind the scenes, so I'll have to give him some news to post too. Also added an email notification function on the right bar, next to the other subscribe functions,  if you'd rather instead of my RSS feed or twitter. Chat me up on twitter anytime if you'd like ^^

To the great and youthful season, Happy Showa Day, Constitution Day, Greenery Day and Children's Day~!

Seiyuu Comparisons

<<<<<(#15)

[Uchiyama Kouki]

Yoga, Kimimaro                                       Orimura, Ichika

Firstly, I think this show is awesome. Love the acquisition terms from flations to invest and more importantly, money!
Secondly, they picked the right seiyuu for the protagonist.

[Tomatsu Haruka]

Mashu                                                 Naruko Anaru

Cute little Asset.
I wonder if Assets can evolve or innovate?

[Hosomi, Daisuke]

Mikuni, Souichirou                                       Genkishi

I sooooooooo want that card.
So I can get the money, THE MONEY, without selling my soul future

Season's Summation - Winter 2011

Another season (or 3 months) has passed and, once again, it's bittersweet.
Bitter, cause all the good shows have ended but sweet since I'm on break and its Spring!

Finals has ended and yours truly is on a (short) spring break and I've been playing non-stop all the game titles that have built up and watching final episodes of series that has ended ever since. Been playing Shogun 2 and it's been a blast.

Truly, the path to ascension from the Daimyou (Clan Leader) to ultimately Shogun (Ruler of Japan) after toppling the previous Shogunate is indeed a hard and long path. The Date clan were impressive, but the shogunate deemed me too dangerous and sent the whole (or what's left of the clans after conquering 20+ provinces) nation against me. Tried out Chosokabe next and with their farm income bonus, funding my war plans was relatively smooth as I took the South and East Japan easily.

Also, if you've noticed, I've changed my banner and background image after playing around with some image editing tools to suit my current obsession, Hatsune Miku and Nendoroids, along with a few companies and figure series that I love. Funny part is I swore I would cut down on Nendoroids but alas, Evil Smile Company won't let me off the hook that easily. ( ´∀`)

Zero says theres too much cuteness here now and he'd like the previous banner back.
I say ( ゜∀゜)アハハ八八ノヽノヽノヽノ ＼ ／ ＼／ ＼
What do you guys think about the new banner and background image? ^^

But enough about conquest and figures. It's time to summarise the previous season's lineup:

This season's was smaller compared to Autumn 2010, but nonetheless, it was fun. Almost everything ended within the same season, with a couple riding on and joining Spring much to my delight. The number of interesting shows has plummeted but that shouldn't stop me from enjoying whatever the industry has to throw. Spring looks really promising so we'll have to see how that ends up later.

Time to sing out my youth!

Some personal opinions on what went down in Winter's lineup with, again, bold ORENJI on those particularity worth watching;

Roukyuubu Gets Anime, Sphere Gets Regular Program

Newly formed seiyuu unit, Roukyuubu has dressed up in basketball attire with Hidaka Rina, Hikasa Youko, Hanazawa Kana, Iguchi Yuka and Ogura Yui each fashioning a bright red jersey.

Now here's the fun bit: it's an anime. 

The Many Faces of Hikasa Youko

Why isn't there a bigger reso for such a divine image...

OTL

Hikasa Youko, or as I and many others like to call her, "Hiyocchi" has voiced quite a handful of noteworthy characters up till now. Thou she may sound pretty common as any other seiyuu to many viewers, Hiyocchi's talent for singing is real, blowing away everyone's eardrums when she debuted in music comedy anime "K-ON!", propelling her to stardom as a noteworthy and talented seiyuu too.

Working!! 2 Announced, Sequel After All

To make up for the April Fool's joke, the guys at Wagnaria are happy to announce the sequel of restaurant-cross-dressing anime "Working!!" is underway, with a BD BOX for the "Working!! Season 1" releasing in August.  

Seiyuu Comparisons - Winter 2011 (#15)

O-ke-i, so this might be my last (lengthly) post for awhile. Everything else after this will be small updates until something groundbreaking occurs of which might be worth sharing.

This March has taken a toll on me, mentally. Its been a while since I've taken a proper rest, so the last 3 days was bliss as I take a short break. Finals are soon (oh god...) and I haven't even picked up my notes yet. I might have to seriously study after this.

Anyway, a short word about this month's. This month was slightly disappointing. Only a few actually grabbed my attention, with the rest just for viewing sake, and the rest are just something to kill time (and I've got finals/ wtf have I been doing?)

Next month will be great for sure. It's been awhile since I've seen that many airing in one season.
And some people say the anime industry is dying. Pffff.
I wonder if the "Bill" had anything to do with the jump in numbers. Summer's lineup is really pathetic, with only a handful of titles at this moment. Luckily, I've still got my Baka to Test 2 to look forward to ^^

I'll take my leave here then. Happy White Day (Singles Day part II) !!!

Seiyuu Comparisons

<<< (#14) 

[Nomizu Iori]

Haruna                                     Nymph

Slowly, very slowly, Nomizu is gaining pace on the number of MC roles.
Also, the Sora no Otoshimono Movie trailer was released the other day. Guess we'll have to wait for another... like what? 6 months? ┐（￣ー￣）┌

[Hikasa Youko]

Seraphim                                  Shinonono Houki

I'm not exactly pleased with Hikasa's role in Kore wa Zombie. Feels really shallow despite all the background of ninjas and stuff. It's like, something's lacking. Maybe a smile?

[Multiple Seiyuu]

Hellscythe Eucliwood

I (don't) think this need explanation. Each week features a different seiyuu which voices Hellscythe-dono, as per Aikawa's delusions.

Seiyuu Comparisons - Winter 2011 (#14)

Somehow, I made it. Forgot this month tends to end early every year, thus the lateness of this little section.

First order of business: objective!
It's been a year already, but no harm in restating the objective of this monthly post. A reminder at most.

This section is dedicated to spreading the awareness of Voice Actors/actresses (声優 / seiyuu) through a comparison between respective characters that they have voiced. Why images of seiyuus are not displayed here is due to natural human nature of visual recognition that supersedes the voice recognition aspect. Thus, various characters that have been voiced by a said seiyuu are compared in this section, to recognize their voicing talents and acting ability that breathes life into animated characters. Hopefully, this will generate curiosity, or better yet, interest in a said seiyuu and acknowledge their roles / existence within this industry, while stamping out VA ignorance. 

What a mouthful, but in other words; my troll space lol.

It seems these comparisons have been falling into the "end of the month" category as of late.
This might result in a common trend from here on as it give me time to better manage other stuff accordingly (and publish more content, future-wise).
Finals are in March, so published contents will slacken over the next few weeks until the 4th month as I need to concentrate. This goes for Zero too.

Speaking of exams, a shout out to all students whom are taking their entrance examinations throughout February, in schools and universities all over Japan. Graduation ceremonies are to follow in March.

Hope you had a ronery Singles Day!

Seiyuu Comparisons

<<< (#13) 

*broken images should be working as we move into the next month.

Apologies if the images are still dead. We're in the process of backing everything up to our new server. 

[Okamoto, Nobuhiko]

Fujiwara Yumeji                                      Accelerator

These two roles are the most conflicting, period.
But finally, the old Accelerator that I love to watch vector-massacre the shit out of inferior beings, is back.
I really missed his maniacal and sinister chuckling. Welcome home, Accelerator~♥

[Sakura Ayane]

Merry Nightmare 

New seiyuu on the block and grabbing a main role as her first while stirring the navel fetish.
Very unique cutesy voice and worth keep an eye out for. And everybody loves Mr. Donuts ^^

[Nakata Jouji]

John Doe                                           Yamisaka Ouma

Woohoo! Nakata again!
Love his deep "declaring" voice cause everything he says sounds kinda like a statement/fact lol.  

Seiyuu Comparisons - Winter 2011 (#13)

Though winter is here, some of us are already on fire...

Welcome, once again, to another year of the Seiyuu Comparisons corner, 2011 edition.
I know its is reeeeeally late as January had me booked and I have a study life to keep up with, resulting in this post being delayed until I had some free time while making the deadline (which is the last day of the month)

Winter's lineup is rather small this time, but I'll have to judge that after when it ends in March. Nonetheless, I'll be tracking a few shows as we head into February and I've already got a few favourites ^^

And this season is, thankfully, not as backbreaking as the previous with around 250+ characters only. Probably because of the quantity of shows but I'll just add more later on with the upcoming OVAs and movie titles.

This might be my last post for the week, depending on how fast I finish up my other priorities. So I might pass the baton to our new contributer, Zero, whom normally works behind the scenes, if he's willing to grab onto it. Hopefully, he's reading this as we speak and getting the message ; )

Before I close shop for the (chinese) new year holidays, Happy Setsubun, Chinese New Year, Birthday to me, Holidays!

Seiyuu Comparisons

<<< (#12) 

[Namikawa Daisuke]

Kazehaya Shouta                                    Ki El Dogra Baka

This is..... unexpected (*ﾟーﾟ)
And Kimi ni Todoke is back! *pumps fist*

[Noto Mamiko]

Kurunoma Sawako                                        Himegami Aisa

I love hunting around for deformed characters in KnT.
You might think they're insignificant but just try imagining without them....

[Nakamura Yuuichi]

Sanada Ryuu                                              Graham Aker

A hero in my eyes, that went out with a bang like a star reaching supernova.
His sacrifice lead to the ceasefire in the battle against the aliens of the Gundam 00 movie.
For that, I will never forget you, Mr Bushido.

Hikasa Youko X Akiyama Mio

Hikasa Youko really got my attention when she starred as Mio and I fell in love with her voice.
Not because of the obvious moe levels emitting from her character, but her latent talent in voicing and singing really awed me.

Already having a few main roles under her belt with more to come, while doing a radio talk show, she's really quite something.

Here's the best of both world; Hikasa Mio, or Akiyama Youko or Myocchi or which ever floats your boat.