Live Action Hayate The Combat Butler In Taiwan?

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From Taiwanese gamer news site GNN comes a report of a Hayate the Combat Butler live action drama. The two leads have been named, and I shall have to leave it to someone else who actually keeps track of the World In Three Dimensions to give more details.

The live-action series will be broadcast on Gala Television (GTV).

I have no idea how they’re going to adapt the comedic references to just about everything ever, but speculation shall abound, like it always does. Considering the popularity of shows like Hana Yori Dango, turned into a zillion (well, four, not including sequels) live-action series, at least it’s not like this is the first time Taiwan television has attempted to adapt an anime.

I suspect we may not be hearing anything close to Norio Wakamoto as narrator. And I am sure plenty of people will be wondering, with varying degrees of dread, about Hinagiku, while I ponder the ever-seventeen Maria.

Update from Anthony: A really big LOLWHUT from me. Anyways, the lead characters are played by Park Shin Hye (Goong S, You’re Beautiful) and George Hu (ToGetHer, K.O.3an Guo) as Nagi and Hayate respectively. I am not particularly familiar with either of them as I am more of a J-Drama fan. Nonetheless, I will probably watch an episode or two at least to see how it translates as a live-action series. I will be one of those curious about who will play Hinagiku as well, if she ever appears in the Taiwan series. Preferably someone who can pull off a Tsundere character…
(Source: ANN)

JA: Tsun tsun dere tsun dere tsun tsun~

… sorry.

Upcoming Anime on Animax: Blassreiter and Fairy Tail

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A little late but as they say, better late than never. Blassreiter will be premiering on Animax-Asia this Friday, 9.30PM while Fairy Tail is announced for September.  Based on information available at the Mikuni Shimokawa concert (namely Animax commercials playing on the television screens in Movida),  Fairy Tail will premier on the 30th of September. Will update once more information becomes available.
(Source: Jasmine@Animax / Jasmine@Animax)

Mikuni Shimokawa ASIAN LOVERS Tour 2010 “Replay!” in Singapore

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Despite my current NEET status and against my better financial judgement (JA: which was the main reason why I did not attend), I was convinced by my friend Willis (in no small part due to him subsidising half my ticket price, thanks once again!) to go for the Mikuni Shimokawa ASIAN LOVERS Tour 2010 at Movida, St James Power Station. Together with my friend Andrew and Willis’ friend Aloysius, the four of us made our way down to Movida yesterday evening.

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Demo Review: Recettear – An Item Shop’s Tale

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After a long silence, suddenly the first thing I review is not an anime, but a game. What madness is this?

Recettear is a fun little shop-simulation game with dungeon-crawling elements, which is like saying Facebook is a popular social networking site: the summarized statement doesn’t quite convey how fun (hint: very).

It was originally released in its full form by doujin game makers EasyGameStation at Comiket 73 (December 31 2007, if you were wondering; the demo was out in C72, I think). In July 2010, Carpe Fulgur brought it over to English, releasing a demo version which can be downloaded from their website. The full game will be sold via Stardock’s Impulse content delivery service at around September 10, assuming all goes well.

Major Update: Recettear now also will be available on GamersGate and, to the expectation of many, Steam. The delay in getting the game there is apparently due to many distributors not answering their emails.

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Black Rock Shooter official stream

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Earlier this year, we reported that the Black Rock Shooter anime will be streamed for free and we are glad to announce that it if finally official! From now till the end of August, the Black Rock Shooter anime will be streamed for free on the official Black Rock Shooter channel on Nico Nico Douga, albeit without subtitles. Catch it while it lasts!
Note: You need a Nico Nico account to access the videos.
(Source: ANN)

License News: Ga-Rei Zero, 5 Centimeters per Second

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One of my favourite anime of 2008, Ga-Rei Zero has been licensed by Funimation with a planned DVD release in early 2011 while Makoto Shinkai’s 5 Centimetres per Second has been licensed by Crunchyroll (Yes, the streaming site…). Crunchyroll will be using Bang Zoom! Entertainment’s dub and targets a late September/October release. 5 Centimeters per Second was previously licensed by the now-defunct ADV Films and will represent Crunchyroll’s first DVD release.
(Source: ANN / ANN)

Thoughts: Really awesome that both Ga-Rei Zero and 5 Centimetres per Second have been licensed (In the case of 5 Centimetres, “re-licensed”…). I am still a bit annoyed by the fact that the streaming video services from both companies still block non-US users from watching some, or in the case of Funi, ALL of their videos. Still, I am pretty sure I’ll be getting Ga-Rei Zero, not sure about 5 Centimetres though…

AFA X announced (Updated)

Events / Conventions
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Well, not so much an announcement as opposed to a teaser image on the new AFA website, http://www.animefestival.asia/. What is confirmed though is that the event is staying in Singapore and will be in the month of November. Still, AFA X definitely sounds cooler than AFA 2010…hopefully it’s going to be as cool as it sounds…

Update (10/08/2010): The website has since confirmed that the event will be held at Suntec City on the 13th and 14th of November 2010. The AFA twitter account has also posted a promo video. Interestingly, AKB48 will also be performing in Singapore this November. However, there is still no confirmation on whether AKB48 will be performing at AFA X. Will update once new information becomes available.
(Source: AFA twitter / SGcafe)

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K-On! manga to end this September

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All good things must come to an end eventually, anime and manga included. A footnote in the latest chapter of the K-On! manga in Houbunsha’s Manga Time Kirara magazine has announced that the next instalment will be its final one. K-On! by kakifly has been made into an anime, currently in its second season and has earned TBS 1.8 billion yen in sales of K-On! merchandise during the first quarter of the 2011 fiscal year.
(Source: ANN)

Thoughts: No more Azusa? (Sobs) No details have been given regarding on whether a continuation or sequel was in the works. Considering the commercial appeal of K-On!, I doubt it’ll go away so easily. K-On! fans should still be hopeful…