Well, hello, it's been a while. I have my excuses (perfectly valid ones!) for being away, but I'm fairly sure that that's not what you came here to read.

And yeah, I promised a recap of Kalafina's moonfesta PV. It's been forever, but I'm not about to give up on it. Not just yet. But it'll probably take some more time before it's done.

In the meantime, let us all rejoice at the announcement of Kalafina's new single, Hikari Furu, which will be released on the 24th of October.


More Kalafina is always good news!

The title track for the single will be the theme song for the second Madoka Magica compilation film. The title of the movie, by the way, is Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie Part II: The Eternal Story, which is too long for me to attempt to fit gracefully into the previous sentence. Anyway, I'm very excited about all this, which should not surprise anyone who has been and is still reading this blog. I'm going to stop hazarding guesses as to many of you there are.

The single comes in four (whew) editions: Limited Edition Type-A (includes DVD of the title track's PV), Limited Edition Type-B (same PV, this time on Blu-ray), Regular Edition (no PV) and Anime Edition (includes "...bonus DVD with special animation").

It's available for pre-order on Play-Asia as well. The site has not deigned to tell us which edition is which just yet but a comparison of the catalogue numbers suggests that it's Type-A, Type-B, Regular Edition and Anime Edition. But you don't have to take my word for it, we can wait till they provide more info.

I'm not usually interested in Anime editions but that bonus "special animation" (of the Madoka movie, I presume) sounds intriguing...

In other not-so-new news:



The Rurouni Kenshin live action movie (you know, the one I talked about once or twice or more), which opened in Japan on 25 August, has made a ton of money. It is also, according to the one in-depth review I found that was in English, quite awesome. The movie also been licensed for distribution in over 60 countries. Which is very nice and all, but is Singapore one of them? I think it's likely but they haven't confirmed it why can't they just tell which countries are among those 60+ countries the suspense is killing me here.

Oh, speaking of movies...



Hosoda Mamoru's Wolf Children opened in Singapore this Thursday. Catch it at Bugis+'s Filmgarde if you haven't already. I did, and I greatly enjoyed it. There are several reasons as to why I recommend it but not the least among them is aaaaah widdle wolf kiddies so cute! Okay, seriously, the story is heartwarming and the animation, for the most part, is gorgeous. I'll see if I have time for a proper review.

Sasaki Hisashi, the movie's deputy director posted four photos taken on the set -- it seems that they've got the Kamiya dojo mostly up. Looks pretty good. But first, check out who showed up at the set to watch:

Aoi Yuu and Aoki Munetaka added to live-action Rurouni Kenshin cast

Aoi Yuu. Aoi freakin' Yuu. Playing Megumi. This definitely needs to be seen.




My excitement springs from the fact that Aoi Yuu is one of my favourite Japanese film actresses. Actually she's one of the few Japanese actresses I'm familiar with I'm just not much of a live-action person. I first saw her in Hana and Alice (she played Alice) and thoroughly enjoyed her performance (it was a great movie too. Weird, but great). She was 19 then; she's 26 now. I admit I haven't watched her most recent films, but I imagine she's only gotten better.

You don't have to take my word for it; check out that list of credits and awards. She's the biggest name on the cast list so far.

My only (very minor) cause for reservation is that I think she looks a little too, well, girlish to play the Kenshingumi's resident Fox Lady (Megumi's maturity is supposed to make her contrast against the younger Kaoru). Might not work too well if she doesn't look any older than Kaoru's actress (Takei Emi). But it's not much of an issue. I have faith that Aoi is more than talented enough to pull it off.

Oh yeah, they've cast Sanosuke too. Someone I don't know (big surprise). His name is Aoki Munetaka:



The article lists roles in Kamen Rider Den-O and Beck, among others; he's not an unknown, at least. I think he really looks the part though. He just needs a lot of hair gel. Or a spiky-haired wig.

They've also cast a Tanaka Taketo for the role of Yahiko. Apart from the fact that he's 11 years old, there's not much info on him.

I'm still trying to temper my hopes, but right now this live-action project is looking pretty good. I'm mostly worried about how loyal the characters will stay to their manga counterparts. I can accept changes to the plot, but please, please don't ruin the characters.

Emi Takei to Play Live-Action Rurouni Kenshin's Kaoru

I'm mostly extremely relieved that she's not a member of AKB48. I don't think I could have taken this adaptation seriously if she was.

She's 17, like Kaoru would be in the manga. I was actually expecting them to cast someone older, but hey, she might actually be able to pull it off. She seems to have quite a bit of experience under her belt (some prominent J-drama roles and Liar Game 2? Not bad). A quick YouTube search turns up quite a number of CM starring her -- she's quite an idol, it seems.

I asked the foremost authority on J-drama readily available to me (my little sister) how she was in Taisetsu na Koto wa Subete Kimi ga Oshiete Kureta and she said, "Yeah, she's okay." And that's pretty much all I have to go on. I would have asked the kid if Takei could pull of 'tsundere' but she doesn't know what that means...

As for how well her looks match up to the character.




Pretty (but for better or worse that's pretty much expected these days, right?). Looks good in a ponytail. I just hope her acting measures up.

For a better comparison...



You know, I really think this could work.

And if you, like me, want to know what she sounds like (I was wondering how well she could yell) here's a small acting sample and a video of her working the Wii...

Anime News Network report

Nearly choked on my cereal when I read the headline. I'd pretty much dismissed the rumours about this that came out some months ago but it looks like they did have substance after all.

I've mentioned it before, haven't I? I'm a huge fan of Rurouni Kenshin. Some of my fellow fans are excited, others are apprehensive. A new anime, and a live-action film -- pretty cool for a series than ended more than a decade ago. But of course, they are worries about how well the source material will translate to the big screen, casting quibbles, and the occasional cries of "NO THEY GONNA RUIN MAH CHILDHOOD FOREVER". My opinion is that this has the potential to be epic, but I don't want to get my hopes up -- I'll reserve that for the upcoming anime adaptation instead.

I have to wonder, though, how they plan to adapt the story, which arcs they plan to cover, which characters will appear, so on and so on. It seems to be a given that it's not going to be based on what the Tsuiokuhen OVA already covered, which I think is a reasonable assumption. The plot will have to be compressed, naturally, for a movie, but...

"...The Sankei Sports newspaper adds that the staff aims to release the film internationally and eventually make a series."

The part about an international release is cool, but not surprising; from what I've heard, the RK manga has sold pretty well overseas, particularly in the US. As for the other bit...If they're planning for this to be the first of a series (a series of movies? Or are they going for a TV drama?)...It gives me more hope that they wouldn't completely butcher the story.

On the topic of casting, we only know who's playing Kenshin right now -- one Satoh Takeru:

Satoh Takeru and an apparently handless Kenshin *shrug* I just grabbed the first decently-sized image I could find.

Meh. Could work, I guess? I don't know much about the guy. There's a list of his acting credits in ANN's report but I've never watched Kamen Rider or Beck fan. He's 22, but Kenshin is supposed to look too young for a 28/29-year old. How tall is he? I couldn't accept a tall Kenshin. And I hope he gets a decent red wig.

I should probably be more concerned about his acting chops.

Anyway I'm looking forward to see who else they'll cast. Especially for the role of Kaoru.