According to Natalie, new Youkai manga “Higanbana no Saku Yoru ni (At Night When the Amaryllis Bloom)” by Higurashi creator Ryukishi07 starts serialization in Dragon Age magazine’s May issue on sale April 9th. The art will be handled by newcomer mangaka Tsunohazu Ichiro. The story will be about the popular urban legend “The Seven Mysteries at School” and a rumor about the eighth mystery “Mesomeso-san.”
With only a month until released I’m pretty much obligated to be excited. Hopefully I can find scans of it to read but that probably shouldn’t be too hard with Ryukisshi’s fame. Of course this is being serialized in a monthly magazine so it’ll take forever to go anywhere.
My question is what kind of story will it be? There’s always the default assumption of mystery but that’s not necessarily the case. I’m certain there will still be mystery elements but that doesn’t mean it will be the main focus. Just a random observation that probably means nothing but I like how the title follows Ryukishi’s normal naming convention–(noun) no (verb) (time period) ni.
Anyway whenever I hear youkai I think of Touhou which Ryukishi07 is definitely a fan of. Remember that scene from the beginning of Umineko Episode 2 when Kanon goes to the culture festival at Jessica’s school and she cosplays Marisa while belting out “Tsurupettan?” What if that was actually Marisa rocking out with an an assortment of youkai? Yeah that would be fun to read about humans discovering youkai at school and befriending “exterminating” them. That’s probably too much of a fanciful stretch but I’ll be looking forward to Higanbana no Saku Yoru ni regardless of what it ends up being.
Over the last two weeks I caught up with watching Ookami Kakushi. The last time I had watched it was when I spent my 21st birthday immersing myself in everything 07th Expansion. I watched the first two episodes and after only that I was pretty much able to formulate a solid theory which later proved to be correct with each subsequent episode. The ease at which I solved the “mystery” was the main reason I fell behind it in the first place. Yet I find that very fact the reason I believe Ookami Kakushi is a better anime than Umineko. When put next to the Higurashi anime it definitely doesn’t compare but still I would place it above the likes of the Umineko anime. To put things into perspective I place the Umineko sound novels on equal terms as the Higurashi anime.
As a mystery series Ookami Kakushi pales in comparison to the Higurashi anime and the Umineko novels. As previously mentioned it is a lot easier to predict than would be expected. In fact I wouldn’t even classify Ookami Kakushi as a mystery series at all but rather as supernatural suspense. The show does not really have to rely on the mystery elements at all and can focus on character interaction and the moment-to-moment events that befall Hiroshi. At times the show can seem shallower than Higurashi or the Umineko sound novels but it also doesn’t place the same expectations that made the Umineko anime a letdown in many respects. In a way this allows the series to sidestep several of the many big faults with the Umineko anime–the terrible transition of the mystery to animated form. Get ready for possibly massive spoilers as is always the case when I discuss stuff about 07th Expansion. Read the rest of this entry »
The premiere of Gundam Unicorn’s excellent first episode a couple of weeks ago was one of the most exciting events of my recent life, and in the time since I’ve been snapping up all the Unicorn-related goods I can get my hands on. As soon as the OVA ED song leaked, it was my destiny to translate it!
I went with a looser translation in the interest of speed, but I think the lyrics of “Ryuusei no Namida” convey the bond between Banagher and Audrey very well. (Newtypes sure fall in love fast, don’t they?) It’s a pretty song that I hope you enjoy.
P.S. Bonus points for anyone who recognized rookie idol Kuriyama from her role as Gogo Yubari in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill vol. 1! Read the rest of this entry »
Looking ahead to the next season it seems I won’t be watching too many new series just like the winter season. However the few shows that I will be picking up will be more than enough to keep me entertained. Let’s have a look at what I’ll be watching: Read the rest of this entry »
Sora no Woto was one of my most anticipated shows of the winter season. I had high expectations of it since it was supposed to be my replacement K-ON for the season but after a couple of episodes I realized it actually wasn’t what I was wishing for. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing but still after those first two episodes I kind of lost most of the interest I had before. Only just recently did I start catching up by watching it again. I realize now that had I had a different perspective going in I probably would have enjoyed it more from the very beginning. Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve been meaning to do this since it came out but I haven’t been able to get around to it until today due to school-related issues. I think I was a little less strict in my interpretation into English than usual but hopefully it turned out well. I keep rereading it just to make sure but I think it feels right. Judging by the lyrics it’s from Fate’s perspective so hopefully I conveyed that well. I hope you enjoy. Read the rest of this entry »
So today I finally got the limited edition shirt I won from Penny Arcade’s Bayonetta Contest. Basically on the release date, January 7th, Penny Arcade ran an old school ’submit-a-photo’ style contest to award the first 500 entrants to beat the game on hard difficulty an exclusive T-shirt. For extra validation contestants also had to have the ‘Umbra Elder’ achievement/trophy. After getting the game the same day a friend told me about the contest which gave me even more of a reason to play. Long story short I beat Hard on the 11th and have pretty much been waiting to see if I had won until this afternoon when I saw a Penny Arcade envelope on my porch. Now I feel like I achieved something tangible for being so obsessive about a game and all I had to do was be in the top 500 fastest lol.
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