Mangahelpers.com Latest News

A brief FAQ. And yes, you have RTS

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 21:26:27 -0600

Alright I went through and manually PMed just about EVERYONE that sent in a complaint (er well started at around #70 because the others were already replied to...)

Anyway, to help everyone out, we collected all the common questions/complaints and came up with this handy quick FAQ. Up until now we had the shout box (announcements) to guide you to what you wanted. We understand, you feel lost. But there is a method to our madness. First ask yourself a question -- what are you looking for?

Q: Where are the RTS THREADS?!?!

A: A list of all the latest releases are now accessible through the "Downloads" link on the main menu.. You can also access the last few on the homepage or search for a chapter from the homepage.

Q: Where is the SHOUT BOX?

A: If you want to know when manga is out, instead of the need for a shoutbox that contains tons of releases you may not be interested in, just subscribe to exactly the series you want to read and you'll be notified by PM instantly on release.

To subscribe.

Go to a manga page, like http://mangahelpers.com/manga/details/one-piece
On the right is the option to subscribe. Just select what you want and you'll be notified the moment it comes out!

Now we can do more.

Want RAWs? All here:

Downloads -> Raws -> http://mangahelpers.com/downloads/?lang=jp

Want Translations?
Translators -> http://mangahelpers.com/translators/

Want scans? Never easier.

Downloads -> Browse EN Scans -> http://mangahelpers.com/downloads/?lang=en

Q: Where's (so and so) manga?

A: Before, unless you knew where you were going, or it was shouted finding manga was a pain. The new browse feature (Manga > Browse) makes it much easier to find what you're looking for. Just type the first few letters & click on the name, and it takes you to all raws/scans/trans ever released for that manga! This is something that took ages to do before, when it was even possible at all.

Q: But still... why'd you change everything!?

A: Because it benefits everyone. Before, the Shout box was limited to staff being around, now it can be instantaneous.

Before, it was hard to know what else a scanlator or translator was working on. Now with their own pages you can see everything they work on. And further, in their archive pages you get even more info.

Observe:
http://mangahelpers.com/t/cnet128/archives/
Now you can find the Raws based on Cnet's translation and the scans using them.

Or from the groups view
http://mangahelpers.com/s/binktopia/releases/
You can see both the raw and the translation from here as well

Not to mention on the:
http://mangahelpers.com/downloads/
You can see ALL raws/scans on one page, easily sort it on the right and see who the translator was (so you can pick the scan that uses your favorite person). Before, you had to download the file just to see this basic info.

And finally -- !

You never have to worry about files expiring!
If people upload to the site, the files will stay here, not expire, and they'll be accessible for everyone whenever. However, if everyone opts to use the various download sites like rapid/mega/etc then there is always the chance that your files will just disappear.

And as a bonus, those that do upload will have their manga viewable on an online reader, and in their release details will automatically have the cool thumbnails (so you can quickly see their quality^^)

http://mangahelpers.com/s/maximum7/details/2594

This, amongst other reasons is why we changed what you guys knew. It may seem like the end of the world, but if you take a minute to adjust you'll wonder how you lived without it.

Also keep in mind we will continue improve the site to make it easier, so keep suggestions coming. :D

LiveBeta launched: MangaHelpers v2.3

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:41:21 -0600

And with that, our maintenance and website upgrade is complete. The features originally found on our beta website, as mentioned in this news post have made it live. Does this, however, mean we're entirely finished with development on MH2.3?

In a word, "No".

The new system is here because of some coherent flaws with the older, less structured and more archaic method of having "everything be a forum post". Content aggregation, release archives, proper searches and other functionality was simply not possibly having every release be a forum post as there was simply no way to parse out all the data you needed from one automatically.

The new system might seem a bit unfamiliar at first, mainly due to the "where is my old menu?!?!?!?" comments, but once you learn to appreciate how modular and sectioned this new version has been built, those complaints will become a thing of the past. Despite human psychology 101 dictating that most people dislike change, sometimes it is necessary in order to evolve forward.

With that said, please keep your eyes open and give us feedback on how to improve our favorite Manga Community - in a constructive and courteous manner, of course!

Let the next generation of MH begin.

19/11 Downtime & Website Upgrade!

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:13:31 -0600

Dear everyone,

We just wanted to give a small heads up.

Sometime in the next day we will be taking the website offline to perform some maintenance on the back end, front end and forums. This downtime is estimated to take around three hours, and during its period we will be performing an upgrade of the website.

For the next few week(s) there will be a live beta, which essentially means that 100% of backend is complete and what remains is only a few aesthetical fix-ups. We have been working very hard for around 8-9 months on this product you are about to experience.

Taking everything in the Manga Community into consideration, it’s easy to see there’s your bread and butter websites with downloads and some forums slapped onto them. That is not what we saw for MangaHelpers.

We feel that our community is by far one of the best on the net, and as such deserves to get something equivalent- therefore, a custom built Manga Resource was in its place.

When we come back up – Welcome to Next Generation Mangahelpers~

MH Birthday + Public Beta now here!

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 00:24:44 -0600

Greetings everyone!

In our development update, we told you about our “super secret” development that has been going on for the past 8 months following the release of MH v2 in March. Well, some time has passed since then, and we have finally arrived at the stage we know some of you have been waiting for!

PUBLIC BETA HAS BEGUN!

Before we let you all loose in our beta site, we would like to remind you that this is in fact a BETA product. There *will* be some bugs, and there *will* be some unfinished design and templates. Please note that at the current time of writing, there has been no IE7 css written, so bugs with IE7 are pretty much expected.

Also, it is important to note that we will NOT be supporting Internet Explorer 6 anymore. If you are using this web browser, please upgrade to a newer web browser in order to experience this website as intended. Our recommendation is Firefox 3.0.x!

Lastly, PLEASE NOTE that the FORUMS on beta do not require testing. Bugs and synchronization issues with forum posts, avatars, passwords and the like exist on beta SOLELY because the database and forum files were duplicated and copied to a separate location a few days ago. Please do not report bugs with the forums missing your avatar, your password is changed, you get errors using the forums or whatever else. Keep testing to the website and its features mainly! Thanks! :-]

Now, with that said;

Welcome to the Public Beta of MangaHelpers v2.3!

Manga Section (/manga/)
Meet our manga section! This is a comprehensive manga resource database with everything from official information to syndicated data aggregation from our other new website sections (listed below). Additionally, this section houses manga series ratings and reviews which you may find very useful when looking for interesting manga to read. Browse, search or filter your way to the manga YOU want to read! You can even subscribe for notification on new manga releases of various forms for your favorite series!

Translators Section (/translators/)
The ultimate manga translator resource. Translations no longer take place as unorganized and cluttered forum threads, but rather in our new database that organizes and syndicates translations between releases, raws and manga series. With features such as Translator profile pages, translator's tips and notes as well as the possibility of subscribing to alerts from your favorite translators, this resource will allow you to find the translations you want in a fast and accessible manner!

Scanlation Groups Section (/scanlators/)
Are you part of or do you own a scanlation group? Be sure to register your group in our scanlation groups database here at MangaHelpers. Until now, publishing scanlations on MangaHelpers has been done via forum threads, and finding older scanlations could be somewhat of a hassle. No more! Scanlation groups now have their own profile pages here at MangaHelpers, featuring both group statistics and project tracking, a news system for scanlation groups as well as a powerful scanlation release database. Once a group has been created, only members of the group in question (or optionally leader only) may submit releases on behalf of that group. Once a scanlation has been uploaded and is stored on our MangaHelpers media servers, it is additionally decompressed and converted into a read online version within the group's profile pages. Optionally, you may choose to not host with us and provide an external download link, though this is not recommended as scanlations hosted offsite lose their thumbnail/online viewing functionality.

Members can in turn interact with all their favorite groups at MangaHelpers by subscribing to notifications on new releases and registering as fans of the group. Which group will become the most popular? YOU can decide this in a fair way!

Quick Downloads Section (/downloads/)
To a new visitor, Mangahelpers might have been a bit confusing when it came to finding something to download. Not anymore, with our download section you no longer have to spend your valuable time searching for manga just to find broken links. As long as the group decides to use us for hosting you'll easily find what you're looking for to either download or to read online right then and there.

Miscellaneous features
We have also added some new custom options for members such as:

- Subscribe to notifications for Manga
Get a PM sent to you the moment a manga is released, be it a raw, trans or scanlation!

- Customize Shoutbox display
Were you tired of seeing other things on the shout box that just took up too much of your screen space? Well choose to hide what you don't want to see with our new customizable shoutbox display.

- Reading list
Having opened the doors to easy access of so much manga, you might find yourself overloaded with things to read. So in order to help organize that burden we provided an easy to use reading list. Know what you're reading, and the status of it so you can spend less time sorting and more time reading!

- And much, much, more!
The amount of features going into this release of MangaHelpers is enormous. A comprehensive feature list will be created at some point in the future, but for now we will allow you all to explore on your own!

So what can you expect?
Well, as mentioned, it is a beta. While we feel we have the framework and back-end working at such a level where we are comfortable with letting you all play around with it, we would like to point out that there are some templates that are *considerably* more polished and done than others. Over the next few days and weeks we will finish mopping up the rest of the templates for an amazing user experience around the board.

What do we ask from you?
Read THIS THREAD and follow the instructions there!

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Aaaand last but not least......

Happy Birthday MangaHelpers!

Now for the icing on the cake! This year we've included more members that regularly contribute to MH in the Birthday Bash!

Those that decided they wanted to join in on the fun sent an image and a few comments and then the staff used some magic (Read: Lots of sleepless nights, blood, sweat and tears) and made an amazing set of playing cards! Unlike having to go out and find them like in Pokemon, we've collected all of them for you! So with your deck, maybe you can rule MH! Get yours now! Before it's too late!

We've also created another yearbook! This one has messages from the staff, a time line of who's worked here, an introduction of our new mascot and much much more!!! This lovely yearbook took many many hours to complete so do try to take the time out of your busy day to check it out ;).

New Usergroup and a little color change!

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 18:18:26 -0600

Hello everyone :)

This news post is to inform you guys about the new usergroup on MH.

Introducing MH Senpai!! Yes, the color is the old Translator Assistant color ^^;; There's a reason for it (read below).

Anyway, about MH Senpai, the people in this usergroup are MH old timers, ex-staffers who served MH diligently during their time, and have stepped down for various reasons. In order to recognize their efforts, we decided to make this usergroup as an appreciation :) They are no longer mods, but they'll still be recognized for their contributions.

As for the Translator Assistants, they get a new color, dunno what exactly that color is called but it is purple... or some people might see it as pink >.>; This is to group them together with Translators and Int. Translators. So when you come to MH, you see someone in purple, you'll know they are somehow related to translations :)

That's all for the usergroup and colors ^^
Thanks for reading.

Japanese GitS Re-Release has Subs + Jump Anime Streamed + Other Shorts

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:41:21 -0600

Ghost in the Shell 2.0 DVD includes English Subs
Japanese Ghost in the Shell 2.0 DVD, the 2008 re-release of the 1995 film, will be sold with English subs states the official listings for both the Japanese DVD and Blu-ray releases, which will be released on December 19.

Summary from Anidb:
In the year 2029, the world is made borderless by the net; augmented humans live in virtual environments, watched over by law enforcement that is able to download themselves into super-powered, crime busting mecha. The ultimate secret agent of the future is not human, has no physical body and can freely travel the information highways of the world, hacking and manipulating whatever and whenever required.

This may mean that you could just import the DVD instead of waiting for them to release a subtitled version for North America.

Source(s): Twitch | AnimeNation

ADV Translates and Distributes Princess Resurrection
ADV will translate and distribute the 26-episode anime Princess Resurrection (Kaibutsu Oujo) anime series, which includes 2 side stories where one which was only available on the Japanese DVD, for licensor Sentai Filmworks and will release the first of six DVD volumes starting on March 17, 2009. Episodes will also be available on its cable video-on-demand service as well as streaming for a few English-subtitled episodes prior to sale.

Princess Resurrection, based off of Yasunori Mitsunaga's manga, is about a boy named Hiro who goes to meet his sister at an old mansion and ends up getting killed and resurrected by the owner of said mansion who is also the princess of all monsters. The manga is currently ongoing at seven volumes and being distributed by Del Rey with four volumes currently out.

Sources: ANN | ICv2

Three Jump Animes Streamed
Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine has announced that three anime specials being shown at the Jump Super Anime Tour, Dragon Ball, Tegami Bachi, and One Piece: Romance Dawn will be streamed for free on the Jumpland website beginning November 24. It is unknown whether or not non-Japanese IP addresses will be blocked. However, you need to "Download the Jumpland Original Browser" in order to view the anime specials.

Downloading a browser is a small price to pay to watch the anime specials, even if you don't understand it at all. Let's just hope they don't block us non-Japanese residents.

Sources: ANN | Jumpland

Streamed Test Episode for Keroro Gunso
FUNimation posted a dubbed "test episode" for the anime Sgt. Frog (Keroro Gunso) anime on YouTube stating:

"Sgt. Frog Needs You! We are beginning work on Sgt. Frog, and we need your input. Watch the test episode and add your comments. Let us know what you think!"

However, I wonder if they really do care about your comment/opinion since I put my opinion on the episode, but later on I was reading the comments and I found out that my comment was removed/hidden. I have never seen an episode of Keroro before so I wasn't influenced by seeing the fan subbed version and I've never read the manga and I thought I gave an objective opinion/critique. Why are some comments hidden? Check out the youtube page and you'll notice that it jumps from comments 2 hours ago to 10 hours ago (as of 8:00pm PST/GMT - 8).

Source: ANN

FUNimation Offers Four Free Anime Downloads
FUNimation is giving away the first episode of Afro Samurai, Burst Angel (Bakuretsu Tenshi), Basilisk, and Moon Phase (Tsukuyomi), via iTunes (link requires iTunes). The offer expires on February 28, 2009.

Who'd turn away free anime downloads? Although it's too bad it's only available for iTunes.

Source: Japanator

Street Fighter IV Anime Shipped with Game
Capcom announced at the Capcom Dai-Kakuto-Sai ~Ore Yori Tsuyoi Yatsu ni Ai ni Iku 2008~ publicity event in Tokyo that the Studio 4°C produced Street Fighter ~Aratanaru Kizuna~ (Street Fighter: Renewed Bonds) anime will be included with first edition copies of the Street Fighter IV game for the PS3 and Xbox 360 in February. The anime will be 50-60 minutes long and images that were shown at the event can be found here.

Source: ANN | Dengeki Online

Kagami wins Saimoe 2008 Tournament
After running for 5 months with the Saimoe Finals pitting the Hiiragi sisters against each other, Kagami emerges victorious against her sister, with the results as follows:
* 1　1037 Kagami Hiiragi - Lucky☆Star
* 2　976　 Tsukasa Hiiragi - Lucky☆Star

Kagami is the winner of the Saimoe 2008. Guess we can't live without cute tsunderes.

Source: Moetron

Chagecha Axed + Free Morning 2 Magazine Online + Viz + Ero Manga Online

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 05:44:50 -0500

Canned Dogs reports that gag manga Chagecha, Sawai Yoshio’s new serialization in Shounen Jump, will end with only eight weeks in Jump. Sawai Yoshio is most well known for his manga Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo which is about a man named Bo-bobo who decides to take a stand against a cruel dictator who mandated the hunting of all hair in the Maruhage Empire and has nonsensical adventures with his sidekick snacks as they lead their hilarious rebellion against the Empire. Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo is complete with 21 volumes and is currently being published in Viz's Shonen Jump magazine.

Source: Canned Dogs
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Kodansha is posting three issues of manga magazine Morning Two online for free due to complaints about the difficulty in finding and purchasing said magazine. You have to download Crochet, a free comics reader which works for Macs, in order to view the magazine, which is in Japanese. Morning Two is a sibling magazine of the more popular magazines Morning and Evening. Morning Two mainly publishes foreign authors and avant-garde titles and includes such titles as Saint Young Men, Gunjou and Peepo Choo.

Yukari Shiina has translated this page on MangaBlog, which explains why Kodansha has decided to do this:

Dear everyone,

It’s been two years since we launched Morning Two. It’s still just two years old, but it has been very well received more than we had imagined before we launched. We, however, have heard people’s complaints that it is difficult to find the magazine in bookstores or convenience stores where you can easily find many manga magazines here in Japan. In the meantime, the sales of the paperbacks (tankoubon) into which the series of Morning Two are compiled are dozens of times bigger than the circulation of the magazine itself.

We are proud of our manga in Morning Two and think that the magazine has a potential to reach people who haven’t read it. Therefore, we would like to give you an opportunity to read our magazine and enjoy it! We are afraid that the magazine is only in Japanese, but we hope that you enjoy it!

We also hope you read Morning Two for free and then use the money for other manga works. We think that there are tons of interesting manga out there. If you find good manga, enjoy it, and love it, we, the department of Morning Two, would be very happy!!

In the next three months, we will keep uploading Morning Two magazines for free.
Here is the schedule:

October 22nd, Morning Two #14
November 21st, Morning Two #15 (The issue #14 is taken away from our website.)
December 22nd, Morning Two #16 (The issue #15 is taken away from our website.)

Issues #14 and #16 include Peepo Choo, the manga created by an American artist, Felipe Smith!

In order for you to read our free magazine, you have first to install software (Crochet) on your computer. You can install it for free. To install the software, you click the word “Crochet” next to the orange square button.

Now that you are ready to enjoy our magazine, please click the orange button and read it!!

Sources: Kodansha | Mangablog | animeanime.jp via ANN
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Viz's December issue of Shonen Jump and Shojo Beat will contain an extra section featuring video games. Shonen Jump will have a special extended “Games We Love” section that announces the magazine’s first-ever game awards for 2008, reviews on games, a chance to win a Wii as well as the latest information on the Naruto games made by Namco Bandai, Tomy and Ubisoft. Shoujo Beat will also include information on girl-oriented and vampire-themed games, a chance to win a Wii as well as a special 11-page insert containing the Official Guide to Vampire Knight which will include a detailed timeline of key storylines, a two-page chart of Vampire Knight's cast of characters, answers to reader questions, and a preview of the new Vampire Knight anime in Japan.

Source: Viz
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Hentai manga publisher Icarus Publishing is partnering up with e-publishing pioneer DriveThruComics to offer Comic AG Digital online. Comic AG is an erotic comic anthology featuring Japanese hentai manga completely translated into English. All issues, including past issues, will be offered at the price of $0.50 an issue. Future issues will be released at DriveThruComics first, with a one-month exclusivity period.

Source: Icarus Publishing

Toei Offers Anime Episodes on Crunchyroll + Ninja Scroll Live-Action Movie Announced

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 01:39:09 -0500

Toei Animation partners up with Crunchyroll to offer streaming, subscription and download-to-own English subtitled episodes of Slam Dunk, Fist of the North Star, Digimon Adventure 02, and Pretty Cure! starting this past Monday, October 27. Downloads cost $1.99 an episode or $22.99 for the first 15 episodes of Slam Dunk and Fist of the North Star or $39.99 for the first 25 episodes of Digimon. Streaming and downloads are only available to the U.S. and Canada. A new episode will be offered each week, with the schedule as follows (in Pacific Standard Time [GMT -8]):

Slam Dunk - 1 new episode weekly on Mondays at noon
Fist of the North Star - 1 new episode weekly on Tuesdays at noon
Digimon Adventure 02 - 1 new episode weekly on Thursdays at noon
Pretty Cure - 1 new episode weekly on Wednesdays at noon (coming soon)

Title Synopses (from ANN):

FIST OF THE NORTH STAR
"You don't even know you're already dead!!" The year is 19XX – war has turned the world into a nuclear wasteland. The oceans have dried up, the land scorched, and it appears as though all life has gone extinct. However, humanity had survived these harsh conditions, only to relapse into society where violence dominates.

In this world of mayhem, a drifter in possession of a lethal fighting style known as the Divine Fist of the North Star wanders through the arid desert. He is Kenshiro, and on his chest he bears 7 wounds as he treks through the wastelands to rescue his lover Yuria who has been kidnapped by Shin, his former friend. Along the way he takes Bat and Lin under his wing as they continue their journey. With the ruins of earth as the backdrop, many come in the way of Kenshiro as he tries to find Yuria in this epic saga!

DIGIMON ADVENTURE 02
Three years after the adventure of Tai and his friends, a new enemy Digimon Kaiser appears in the Digital World and he is out to control all Digimon. The powers of Digimon Kaiser prevent Agumon and other Digimon from Digivolving, causing a big scare. In this pinch a new generation of hero arrives, it's the Veemon! Veemon is able to combine with DigiMental and create a new type of Digimon that has never been seen before. Tai calls upon Daisuke Motomiya, a kid on his soccer team to the Digital World and to fight along with Veemon. What kind of adventures will this new pair run into, but more importantly, will they be able to save the Digital World from the Digimon Kaiser?

PRETTY CURE
Nagisa Misumi is an outstanding athlete and daring girl that doesn't take to studying but has a very strong sense of justice. She is one of the most popular students in her class. Honoka Yukishiro is an honor-roll student always boasting the best grades in her class. At first glance, she may seem rather stuck-up, but actually she's just a bit spacey.

The two are 8th graders at the Verone Junior High School for girls. Nagisa and Honoka each encounter Mepple and Mipple – two mysterious creatures who came down from the sky one night. Mepple and Mipple have fled from their homeland – the Field of Light – in order to escape an attack by the evil force of Dotsuku Zone. These two strange creatures grant Nagisa and Honoka the power to transform into superheroes called "Cure Black" and Cure White", and thus the two girl become guardians of planet Earth.

Using their super powers, the two girls with contrasting lifestyles and personalities work together to battle the evil enemies sent to conquer Earth by Dotsuku Zone. BUT will they be able to save our planet?

SLAM DUNK
Hanamichi Sakuragi, an entering freshman at Shohoku High, holds a record for being rejected by 50 girls during middle school. Ever since the last girl turned him down for a guy on the basketball team, Sakuragi's been traumatized by the sport. One day, an unsuspecting Sakuragi is approached by a cute girl who asks him, “do you like basketball?” Sakuragi immediately falls head over heels for this girl, Haruko, and answers “I love it!” Dreaming of the day he can capture Haruko's heart, Sakuragi, who doesn't know a dribble from a dunk, begins his training. But Haruko had her sights set on another freshman, Kaede Rukawa, the superstar rookie. The freshmen pair and the rest of the Shohoku basketball squad begin their season with their sights set on a national championship…

His rivalry with the star rookie Rukawa, and the dominating presence of the towering captain Akagi drives Sakuragi to realize his potential on the court. With Haruko, and his old up-to-no-good gang cheer him on from the sidelines things get heated up! But the competition is stack upon Shohoku! Ryounan High with its superstar player Sendo, top contender Kainan High, along with Touma High, and the towering Shouyo High -- Sakurgai and Shohoku High need go up against these veteran tourney regulars to capture the title. Can Shohoku survive with such tough competition? Will captain Akagi be able to realize his dream of a national championship? For the self-proclaimed “genius” Sakuragi, the battle has just begun!!

Sources: Crunchyroll | ANN
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Warner Bros. has acquired the rights to make a live action movie based on the 1993 action anime movie Ninja Scroll, directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri, with Leonardo DiCaprio's production Appian Way to co-produce with Madhouse and Alex Tse (Watchmen, The Illustrated Man) to write the script.

Ninja Scroll was about a ninja named Jubei who travels alone while hiring out his services. A plot to overthrow the government causes him to fight and stop an old enemy. The movie was distributed by Manga Entertainment and the anime TV series, which was based off of the movie, was produced and distributed by Urban Vision.

Sources: Variety

Scanlator List Predicts to-be-Licensed Manga

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:35:05 -0500

Kuriousity recently revealed a list of 230 manga that needed to be removed from scanlators' and download sites sent out in February by Tokyopop Germany and has checked which of the following have yet to be licensed and found out that all have been licensed except for the following 27 manga:

1. .hack//Alcor
2. Acony
3. Akuma to Dolce
4. Amatsuki
5. Ashita no Yoichi!
6. Baroque
7. Carat!
8. Eensy Weensy Monster
9. Far East
10. Futari Ecchi for Ladies
11. Ga-rei
12. Hana to Akuma
13. Harlem Beat wa Toaki made
14. HaruHana
15. High School of the Dead
16. Karakuri Odette
17. Kiss and Never Cry
18. Koori no Mamono no Monogatari
19. Metal Heart
20. Mobile Suit Crossbone Gundam
21. Saiunkoku Monogatari
22. Saiyuki Gaiden
23. Seikon no Qwaser
24. The Rose of Versailles
25. Tokyo Underground
26. Yamada Taro Monogatari
27. Yasashii Ryuu no Koroshikata

I guess scanlators should be wary of scanlating these manga. Well, either that or quickly finish scanlating it before the manga is officially licensed. If you want to see the complete list, then click here.

Source: Kuriousity

Funimation licenses Shikabane Hime: Aka + Kodomo no Jikan News

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 21:30:25 -0500

Funimation has officially licensed the 13-episode horror and action anime Shikabane Hime: Aka and will start to offer English subtitled episodes, which was produced by Gainax, through YouTube, Joost and Hulu as well as their own website starting October 24. Downloads will cost only $1.99 an episode and are not DRM-free. According to AnimeNation there will be another 13 episode series based on the Shikabane Hime universe, but it's unknown whether or not Funimation has the rights to that as well.

Shikabane Hime: Aka is based on Akahito Yoshiichi's manga, Shikabane Hime, which is about a girl named Makina who is a corpse princess who must kill 108 corpses or undead beings before she can rest. The anime is currently being broadcast by Japan's AT-X television with the first episode shown on October 2.

Sources: Market Watch | AnimeNation | Giapet

Moetron reports that the limited edition sixth volume of Kodomo no Jikan will be bundled with a 25-minute OAD based on the relationship between the Kagami Kuro (Kuro-chan) and Shirai-sensei (Shiro-chan) storyline and will be part of the Kodomo no Jikan Second Term series. It will be released on January 21 and cost 3,980 yen. Volume 1 of the OVA series, Kodomo no Jikan Second Term, will be released on February 20 and focus on the fourth grade.

According to Moetron:
Volume I Extras inlude:

Special CD “Outa no Jikan”
Rin’s Very Secret Diary - 8 pages
Box illustration by original author Kaworu Watashiya
Credit-less OP/ED
CM collection
Audio Commentary

OVA Release Schedule:

Volume 1 - February 20th, 2009 (55 minutes - 6,300 yen)
Volume 2 - April 24th, 2009
Volume 3 - June 26th, 2009

The Kodomo no Jikan anime series was broadcast from October to December 2007 for a total of 12 episodes and were highly censored. The anime was based on the comedic seinen manga by Kaworu Watashiya about a 23-year-old school teacher, Daisuke, who is in charge of a third grade class. The story focuses on one of the students, Rin Kokonoe, and her two best friends.

Sources: Moetron | Otaku News Notes

Naruto Databook 3 Project Needs Your Help!

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 11:01:29 -0500

If you're a fan of Naruto then I'm sure you're already aware of the Databook scanning that JapFlap's founder and webmaster Eagle has been doing. Currently Eagle has scanned 190 pages(warning linked to all the pictures so may take a bit to load) of the 360 page databook. Not only has he scanned it, but he's made sure to make them extra good looking ;). Thanks Eagle :ossu

Following close behind his efforts Tora-chan and Pazuzu, who are both truly awesome people, have been translating the book as quick as they can so that you can be up to date with all you need to know to call yourself a true Narutard. But it doesn't end here!

Eaballer10 has organized all efforts into one thread to help get it scanned! And here is where you guys come in! Not only do they need more help translating, but they would love help scanlating the book as well! So if you're free drop by the thread and see what you can offer them. If everyone works together I'm sure the book will be completed in no time, and you can go down in history as being the first people to do it!

So what are you waiting for, stop reading and help already! Thanks! Yes you! Why? Because you're going to help right? What? You're still reading? -.- OK... I forgive you, just go and help! Alright! That's the spirit :). You guys rock :D

Dev Update: MH v2.3?

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 23:13:03 -0500

It has been a while since we last wrote to you about our development status. The last message we gave you was about our moving to dedicated hosting, and a brief mention of MH v2.3. Lots has been done since then, and we feel confident enough to give you all a small sneak peak at what is hitting MangaHelpers next!

Before we go on to that though, we wanted to let you know that a beta period will soon be starting on MangaHelpers. Once we activate the beta period, we will randomly send out access accounts to members of the community. We will reward some of the more active members first as a thank you for all they have done, and then randomly select bulk amounts of people with a mass invitation.

We greatly appreciate any feedback that you can give us if you are one of the lucky beta invitation recepients!

We have been working diligently, taking constructive suggestions from our community and been implementing those that make the most sense for the website. Keeping it close to heart that our number one mission is to provide you with the best place for translators and translations on the internet, we are pretty sure you will love what we have in store for you!

Now, without stalling the inevitable any further, here is a quick changelog and sneakpeak:

Preliminary Changelog - MH v2.3.0 Beta

Global

Rewrote CSS - Cleaned up and structured into different files for different sections.
Loginbox changed for registered users. "My AFF" added to loginbox.
My Actions - Your choices for what to do on MH, from anywhere on MH!
My Forums - Customizable per-user: built-in forum favorite links.
My Favorites - Customizable per-user: Will display information about subscribed manga, translators and other exciting new features!
Shoutbox: Increased amount of lines displaying by default for translations and added option for user to completely close and hide shoutbox.

Main Page

Completely Rewrote Main Page
Latest News is now a stream of information that follows the options of the website.
Website Statistics Display added
Removed Manga Cloud - we felt this did not contribute enough to the quality of the website.
Temporarily removed featured users - these will get a new function soon enough.

Added Section: Manga

Added the new Manga Section. Amongst other things, users will be able to center around their communities for each manga, providing a new intuitive interface for how to access new and exciting series!
More Information to come soon!

Added Section: Translators

Added the new Translators Section.
Have the ability to apply as a registered translator on site and get your own translations profiles with ratings, comments, back-links from releases and transcriptions, links to the raw used for translation, and much, much more!
More Information to come soon!

Added Section: Unreleased

More Information to come soon!

Added Section: Unreleased

More Information to come soon!

Added Section: Unreleased

More Information to come soon!

Preview Image: The New MangaHelpers Mainpage (Alpha)

Hellsing Ends

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 16:35:07 -0500

Kouta Hirano's Hellsing vampire action manga ends with the final chapter in the November issue, released on September 30, of Shonengahosha's Young King Ours magazine ending a 11-year serialization. Hellsing will be compiled into 10 volumes and Darkhorse will be releasing the ninth volume on October 22. Hirano plans to start his next work in the beginning of next year.

Source: Muhyojo via ANN

Win Tickets to see Death Note 2 movie

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 16:06:41 -0500

Chuck's Anime Shrine is offering two free tickets for US residents to watch Death Note II: the Last Name, the second part of the live action movie of the widely popular manga and anime, Death Note, on either October 15 or 16. Currently there is a 100% chance of you getting a ticket seeing that no one has made a comment on his blog, but today is the last day to enter the contest. All you have to do is leave a comment here today. However, make sure that the movie is playing in a theater near you or else I don't think you'd want to drive a couple hours to watch a movie. Locations of theaters playing the movie can be found here.

Breakdown:
What: Win a ticket to watch Death Note 2: the Last Name for October 15 or 16
Check to see if you live near a movie theater: here
Post comment: here
Deadline: Today (October 1)

Vegeta's Brother in Dragonball Short

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:25:51 -0500

Zepy from Canned Dogs reports that the new Dragonball 35 minute anime short, completely written by Akira Toriyama which will be shown at the Jump Super Anime Tour, will have Vegeta’s younger brother and will take place two years after Majin Buu was defeated.

Could this be what his brother looks like? I found this picture on Toonzone, but people were doubting its authenticity.

Source(s): Muhyojo via Canned Dogs | Toonzone

Mature Manga for Women Available Online

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 23:41:22 -0500

Newly formed LuvLuv Press, the Ladies Comics/Josei Manga imprint of Aurora Publishing, will start offering their manga on the NETCOMICS' site in early October 2008 at http://www.netcomics.com. Readers will be able to see a free preview of the first chapter of any manga's first release with one new release each month starting with Voices of Love by Kanae Hazuki, a collection of five "romantic, hot and sexy stories about modern women and the men they love. All of the stories depict romantic and physical relationships with nothing held back." (LuvLuv) Each manga will have a free preview with each chapter offered at $0.25 each for a 48-hour period or can be bought in paperback.

In November, Real Love by Mitsuki Oda will be offered which is about twins who are unlucky in love, but will a chance encounter with an ex provide Shu with what she needs? This manga is currently available for sale in paperback.

For December, Love for Dessert, by Hana Aoi, which is another collection of one-shots with the title story about a girl named Rei who loves sweets and her co-worker Kazune, who doesn't, but what kind of compromise is needed to keep these two together? This title is currently available for sale in paperback.

The fourth NETCOMICS release will be in January with Pretty Poison by Yutta Narukami which is about Riyako who gets cheated on and decides to have a one night stand with a young man, only to find out he's connected to her ex. This title is currently available for sale in paperback.

For February, Make Love & Peace by Takane Yonetani will be published in NETCOMICS. The story is about college student Ayame and her detective boyfriend Koichi. After they are able meet up and get together, things in life keep causing them trouble, but all they want is peace and quiet. This title is currently available for sale in paperback.

Finally in March, Sounds of Love by Rin Tanaka, which is about pianist Kyoichiro and his manager Kazune. Kyoichiro’s arrogance causes her to feel insecure and used as his erotic plaything, but is that the truth? The title is available for sale in paperback in November.

LuvLuv was established in 2008 to fill the lack of mature womens manga. LuvLuv graphic novels show realistic sexual relationships and real life romances and are rated “M” for mature (ages 18+).

Source: LuvLuv via Gia

New OEL light novel magazine out and reviewed

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 23:13:42 -0500

The OEL (Original English Language) light novel magazine, Karui Shosetsu Magazine (literally meaning Light Novel Magazine) featuring 11 different stories from a variety of genres: mystery, alternate history, slice of life, romance, psychological, horror, sci-fi, fantasy, comedy, and action was recently released and published on Wednesday, September 24. This free magazine, which can be downloaded at its official website, http://www.ksm.lightnovel.org/, was created by Matt to fill the lack of an English authored light novel magazine, to promote light novels and to see if English writers could write like Japanese light novel authors. Most of the stories in Karui Shosetsu only had the first chapter, and you would have to read the next issue, which is supposed to be released in November, to find out what would happen next. The stories are sporadically illustrated with most stories not illustrated at all.

Although I don't have much experience with Japanese light novels, except for one or two that were translated by Baka-Tsuki, I wondered what an English-authored light novel would be like. I thought that the magazine, overall, was okay because it was the first issue done by amateurs, but if it was done by professions, then I would be mightily dissapointed.

According to wikipedia,
"A light novel is a novel with anime or manga-style illustrations, primarily targeting teens and young adults."

Although this is not true for all light novels, the magazine did not give off the impression that it was targeting young adults. I (maybe mistakenly) thought that light novels were created for those that did not want to or have the time to read regular length novels and were supposed to be very easy to read and very enjoyable. Although I understood what was happening in each story, for some stories, I read the story quickly and enjoyed it, but for some, they did not intrigue me in the least and I couldn't wait for the chapter to end. The following is my overall impression and opinion for each story, which may help you determine whether or not you want to read the story. This is only my opinion so please don't flame me if you disagree.

First story: One Last Stand (not illustrated)
The story is set in an alternate present-day Japan where Japan is still ruled by a royal family, but society had advanced enough in technology where large humanoid robots have been created. The story mainly concerns the two sons of the royal family of Japan, and sets the stage for what will happen in the chapters to come. Although the editor said that this story was most like a light story I found that the minor spelling/grammar errors somewhat distracted me from the story. The story somehow came off as generic and the characters somehow didn't pop out and grab my attention and seemed a bit like Code Gaess, with a bit of talk of the Brittania Empire. Even when something happens to one of the characters I didn't particularly care. The reasoning behind how one of the character acts also seems a bit ridiculous. Overall impression: The story was not particularly interesting and didn't grab my attention and I probably will not read the next chapter.

Second story: Face (not illustrated)
The story is a futuristic one set in 2180 about a girl, along with a few other people, who is trained to be a killer, but escapes because of a warning from a friend. The story is reminiscent of the Gunslinger Girl anime minus the lolis, but with robots/mechas. I liked the first season of Gunslinger Girl, but I didn't particularly like this story. Although the gratuitous violence may appeal to some readers, the way how the main character "grows" somehow comes off as fake or awkward. Overall impression: I probably won't read the next chapter.

3rd story: Cuenta (not illustrated)
This short one and a half page fantasy story was about a girl named Cuenta who runs away from home. The story was very descriptive and kept me entertained to the end of the chapter. Although the chapter was very short, the author seemed to know what he was doing. Overall impression: I will definitely read the next chapter.

4th story: Fight of the Pegasus (not illustrated)
This sci-fi/military story is about a man named William Thompson who was recently put in charge of a newly created space ship. The story describes the background well about this alternate universe that Will lives in and the conflicts that are currently going on. Although the story was not difficult to read at all, I couldn't get into the story at all, although it may be because I'm not too interested in sci-fi stories. If you like military/sci-fi stories with battles in space, you should read it. Overall impression: I probably won't read the next chapter.

Fifth story: Alive in the Super Unknown (not illustrated)
This is one of two short stories featured in this magazine and is about a man who sees a shrink, who one day offers him pills to make him feel alive. These bring him to a mysterious world, where he will have to face his fears head-on. This story was somewhat interesting and was fast-paced enough so that it didn't seem like it was 19 pages long. Overall impression: If you're up to reading something fast paced and weird, read this. If the author writes another story, I'd be up to reading it.

Sixth story: Yami no Hikari: Anrakki Rabaa (illustrated)
The story starts out with two prologues about angels and vampires, which are somewhat weird and seem to be completely unrelated to the story, but I would guess it's supposed to set the stage for a large conflict to come. For the main story, three boys are given a mission to protect a girl. There are some slight comedic moments and two pencil drawings are used to help illustrate the story. Oveall impression: The story is fun, fast paced, and seems like something a manga or anime could be made of. There are some slight hints of romantic underlying feelings between two characters. With the exception of the prologues, I felt this story was interesting and I will definitely read the next chapter.

Seventh story: Ambitions (illustrated)
This story contains the first three chapters is about a girl who is running away from something and who has forgotten where she's come from. She continues to travel to unknown parts and encounters weird and mysterious people. Overall impression: The story was a completely confusing and it seemed as though I had skipped a part of the story and was dropped off in the middle of a horror story with no idea what was going on. The story seemed to drag on and on, and I will definitely not continue reading this story.

Eighth story: Medallion (not illutrated)
The story seems to be set in present time about a girl who helps out at her grandmother's pawnshop and comes in contact with a mysterious medallion. Overall impression: Although the story is very easy to read, the story didn't interest me in the least, even though it was only four pages long and the end of the chapter left me confused. I probably will not continue reading unless the author elaborates on what she meant by 'freedom.' (You'll know what I'm talking about if you read the story.)

Ninth story: Specialists (not illustrated)
Specialists is a military set story about a group of *surprise* military men who are given a mission to take down a man. This first chapter features three events that seem to be not related to each other. Although I don't mind reading a story featuring military men, like Lee Child's Jack Reacher series, this story has too many different gun names/different cars/initials, which all contributed to making the story distracting and boring. Basically, there were too many names. Overall impression: By the end of chapter, the story neither interested me enough to want to continue nor make me want to read the next chapter. The story seemed to drag on, and although the author clearly knows his weapons and military vehicles the rest of the story was neither interesting nor compelling. The story is great for gun nuts.

Tenth story: Elements - Millenian (not illustrated)
This story is about a high school boy who's lost everything and slowly recalls what led up to his current state. The prologue hints that this world is not exactly like our present day since the main protagonist, Jack, does some sort of weapons training, but we don't get to see any. The story mainly consists of describing a high school boy's daily life in school and the beginning of romance with a girl. Overall impression: The story is very easy to read and reminds me of high school and the many insecurities we go through and how boring it can be as well. Although I didn't particularly like the very beginning, it was very interesting to read about how
an adolescent boy thinks, especially in terms of how he feels when confronted with the girl he likes.

Eleventh: Musical Hypnotist (not illustrated)
The second and last short story features a girl who grows up in an affluent neighborhood while being ridiculed for being poor, is suddenly offered the power to manipulate people by playing her flute. Overall impression: The story is somewhat entertaining, yet the ending somehow leaves me somewhat unsatisfied.

So what do you think of this new light novel magazine? Which stories did you like?
To download the magazine, click here.

New manga licenses & other manga news

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 23:13:17 -0500

With the New York Anime Festival that recently occurred, many new mangas and manwhas licenses were announced. Gia reports that Funimation has acquired the live-action Mushishi film. Many new manga and manwha licenses have also been announced from various companies.

Bandai Entertainment has acquired the following:

Gurren Lagann manga, by Kazuki Nakashima and Kotaro Mori, is a sci-fi action adventure about two boys named Simon and Kamina, a girl named Yoko, and a mysterious robot. It has been made into a 27 episode anime in 2007 and an animated movie.

At the Kitty Media panel, they revealed that Fujoshi Rumi, also known as Mousou Shoujo Otakukei, is probably going to be released in January. Fujoshi Rumi, written by Natsumi Konjoh, is a romantic comedy about a girl who constantly daydreams about the guys in her class in yaoi situations.

Yen Press has acquired the following five items:

Hiromu Arakawa's historical action fantasy, Hero Tales, which has been made into an 26-episode anime, which ended in March 2008, about a battle between two spirits, which should not exist during the same time. The manga currently runs in Square Enix's GanGan Powered magazine and has 2 volumes compiled to date and will be serialized in the Yen+ magazine. (Due out on October 2009)
The Spice and Wolf novels, which was made into a manga and an 12-episode anime in 2008 and is about a wolf deity of wheat who hitches a ride with a merchant, Lawrence, while she travels towards her hometown in the north. (Due out on December 2009)
Sang-Eun Lee's romantic shoujo Manhwa 13th Boy about a girl who's unlucky in love. After confessing her love for a guy on a TV show, she later gets dumped in a humiliating way. After 12 failed attempts, will the 13th boy be the charm? It is currently ongoing and compiled into 8 volumes. (Due out on June 2009)
Googoo Gong's manwha,Sugarholic, about a girl from a small town who moves to the city she runs into an old friend who just happens to be a rock star. When she meets a millionaire who's interested in her, a love triangle forms between her rock star friend and a man who can give her anything she wants. (Due out on June 2009)
Chako Abeno's romantic comedy, Welcome to Wakaba-Soh about a transfer student, Kentarou Sawai and Karen, the granddaughter of the board chairperson at Kentarou's new school, which ran in Houbunsha's Manga Time Kirara Max and was compiled into two volumes. (Due out on June 2009)

Source: Giapet

Del Rey Manga has acquired the following three new titles:

Masayuki Ishikawa's comedy manga, Moyashimon, which is about a boy who grew up being able to talk to microbes. Moyashimon has been made into an 11-episode anime in 2007 and is currently ongoing and published in Kodansha's Evening magazine and has been compiled into 6 volumes. (Due out in the Fall of 2009)
The two volume supernatural action comedy Amefurashi by Venus Versus Virus's mangaka Atsushi Suzumi about a boy named Gimy who meets a rain goddess, Sora, who brings rain to his village and surrounding desert. (Due out on June 2009)
Ran's harem fantasy adventure Maid Senki (Maid War Chronicles), which is about maids who become protectors to a prince after the imperial guard knights have been killed. The manga is currently being serialized in Kodansha's Shounen Sirius magazine and has compiled into 3 volumes to date. (Due out on May 2009)

Sources: ANN | About.com

If the following seems familiar, it's because I posted it in the previous article before, but njt thought it'd be better if it was separated with manga news, so here we are. If you read this already, then you may ignore the rest of this article.

Entertainment magazine Oricon surveyed 300 teenagers (ages 14-19) to name the most interesting manga series they had read and revealed the results:
1. One Piece
2. Slam Dunk
3. Dragonball + Death Note (Tied)
5. Gintama
6. Lovely Complex + Nodame Cantabile (Tied)
8. Detective Conan
9. Hana Yori Dango + Fullmetal Alchemist (Tied)

I guess Naruto and Bleach aren't one of the most popular mangas among teens afterall.
Sources: AnimeNation and Tokyograph.

Manga is not only entertaining, but apparently it can affect wine sales. Kami no Shizuku, written by Tadashi Agi, the pen name of the collaboration between the brother and sister duo, Yuko and Shin Kibayashi, can drive up wine sales by 20% by the mere mention of the name of a wine. "The main character of the manga, a young man called Shizuku Kanzaki, discovers the beauty of wine after his father, a famous wine critic, dies and leaves an unusual will: a description of 12 wines he considers to be the best in the world, comparing them to Jesus Christ’s disciples. The first person to find these “disciples” will inherit the father’s wine collection, a contest that pits Shizuku against his adoptive brother, Issey Tomine, who works as a wine critic." (from Mangaupdates)

Read more about the authors and the effects of the manga at Reuters and Japan Times. I just wish that someone would continue scanlating this interesting manga.

Lucky Star OVA and various shorts/more trailers

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 22:03:40 -0500

The Lucky Star OVA was released today and continues the adventures of four high schoolers, Konata Izumi, Kagami Hiiragi, Tsukasa Hiiragi, and Miyuki Takara. The OVA is 42 minutes long and ends with a live action Lucky Channel. Both Sankaku Complex and Kurogane provide screenshots from the OVA. Sankaku also shows what is included with the OVA while Kurogane talks about what happens (if you want to be a bit spoiled) in the OVA. The OVA features a bit of MMORPG action and if you'd like to watch 5 minutes worth of the raw (in Japanese of course), then click on the image to watch the youtube video:

The Otaku Times is giving away two tickets for the upcoming screening of the Death Note movie, Death Note: The Last Name, which will be shown Octboer 14-15. All you have to do is leave a comment, although you should check to see if they are playing the movie near you. Check here and then post a comment here to enter their contest.

It appears that anime is becoming more mainstream as a Negima poster appears in horror movie, Mirrors.
Source: Sankaku Complex

Finally, here are some trailers that were released since the time that I wrote the last article about the new animes coming out this fall. The previous article will be updated to include these new trailers. Remember, click image to watch trailers on youtube.

Shikabane Hime: October 2
"The story starts off with a bunch of high school students, taking the dare to go up to this abandoned building that has been half destroyed by a fire. It was rumoured to be haunted. Just a rumour, right? Not when real corpses start showing up, and they start feeling things grabbing them, and finally zombies going after them! Shikabane Hime is there to save the day. The immortal girl, “Shikabane Hime,” has the mission to “kill” 108 corpses. It’s a contract she has between herself and the Buddhist monk, Keisei. After 108 corpses, she will finally get her happiness and go to heaven." (From Mangaupdates)

Toradora!: October 2
"Toradora!'s story begins with the male protagonist Ryuuji Takasu who is frustrated at trying to look his best as he enters his second year of high school. Despite his gentle personality, he has a natural outer-appearance which makes him look like an intimidating delinquent so he is utterly hopeless about his chances of getting a girlfriend anytime soon, and does not have many close friends either. After being greeted by his hungover mother in the morning, Ryuuji goes to school and is happy to find that he gets to be in the same class as his best friend, Yūsaku Kitamura, and crush, Minori Kushieda. However, it is then that he unexpectedly knocks into "the school's most dangerous animal of the highest risk level" — Taiga Aisaka — who just happens to also be in his class." (From Mangaupdates)

Hokuto no Ken Raoh Gaiden Ten no Haoh: October 3
"Youkow Osada's Ten no Haoh - Hokuto no Ken Raoh Gaiden manga spinoff (pictured at left) will be animated as a series this fall. Unlike most of the previous Fist of the North Star anime, this story focuses not on the protagonist Kenshiro, but on the early life of his oldest brother and frequent enemy Raoh. Osada's manga ran from 2006 to 2007 in Comic Bunch magazine and was compiled into five volumes." (From ANN)

Yozakura Quartet: October 3
"Akina, Hime, Kotoha, and Ao are four members of the Hiizumi Seikatsu Soudan Jimusho (Hiizumi's Everyday-life Consultation Office), which, in addition to helping kindergarteners deal with tough times, strives to preserve the peace of their little town, Sakurashin, by hunting down the troublemakers who dare threaten it. Hime is a superheroine. Ao can read minds. Kotoha can conjure up anything with the right word. And Akina…well, he's just a regular guy, surrounded by three supergirls! Together, they protect the town of Sakurashin. But that's not easy, as the town faces demon dogs and other supernatural threats!" (From AniDB)

Jigoku Shoujo Mitsuganae: October 4
Continuation of Jigoku Shoujo - Season 3

Skip Beat: October 6
"Kyoko Mogami followed her true love Sho to Tokyo to support him while he made it big as an idol. But he's casting her out now that he's famous! Kyoko won't suffer in silence--she's going to get her sweet revenge by beating Sho in show biz!" (From Mangaupdates)

Promo: Lucky Star OVA & Michiko to Hatchin

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 10:41:36 -0500

Promo for the Lucky Star OVA. Shipping to Japan as of September 26th.

And this is the promo for Michiko to Hatchin, newest production from the manglobe studio (Ergo Proxy, Samurai Champloo).

Trailer here.

Nodame Cantabile and Other Upcoming Anime Trailers

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 20:33:32 -0500

Animenewsnetwork reports that the official Nodame Cantabile anime website has released a 15 second trailer for the continuation of Nodame Cantabile, entitled Nodame Cantabile Paris-hen. Tomoko Nonomiya's romantic comedy about two music students, Chiaki Shinichi and Noda Megumi, was adapted as an anime in 2007 with 23 episodes. The manga is currently being published in KISS with 22 volumes released to date. Del Rey is releasing the manga in English which currently has 14 volumes released.

*click images to watch YouTube video*

Or watch on the official website: here (10th link on the right)

With many spring and summer animes ending in the next month or two new animes will soon start in September and October to replace those, and so I thought it'd be a good idea to post the trailers that I could find to help you decide what new anime to follow. Note that I couldn't find all the trailers for every anime that will come out, as some have only just recently had their websites posted (Mouryou no Hako and One Outs) and some just don't have much information released, so if you see one that I'm missing, just post a comment.

Hakushaku to Yousei (Count and Fairy): September 29
"The story is set in 19th century England and centers on a "fairy doctor" named Lydia. Her life takes a 180-degrees turn when she meets a legendary blue knight count named Edgar and his crew. He hires her as an adviser during his quest to obtain a treasured sword that was supposed to be handed down to him by his family." (From ANN)

(C74 Trailer)

Rosario + Vampire capu2: October 2
The continuation of ecchi comedy Rosario + Vampire.

Hyakko: October 2
Hyakko is the anime adaption of the slapstick comedy manga who follows the lives of four high school girls as they get into various high jinx.

Shikabane Hime: October 2
"The story starts off with a bunch of high school students, taking the dare to go up to this abandoned building that has been half destroyed by a fire. It was rumoured to be haunted. Just a rumour, right? Not when real corpses start showing up, and they start feeling things grabbing them, and finally zombies going after them! Shikabane Hime is there to save the day. The immortal girl, “Shikabane Hime,” has the mission to “kill” 108 corpses. It’s a contract she has between herself and the Buddhist monk, Keisei. After 108 corpses, she will finally get her happiness and go to heaven." (From Mangaupdates)

Toradora!: October 2
"Toradora!'s story begins with the male protagonist Ryuuji Takasu who is frustrated at trying to look his best as he enters his second year of high school. Despite his gentle personality, he has a natural outer-appearance which makes him look like an intimidating delinquent so he is utterly hopeless about his chances of getting a girlfriend anytime soon, and does not have many close friends either. After being greeted by his hungover mother in the morning, Ryuuji goes to school and is happy to find that he gets to be in the same class as his best friend, Yūsaku Kitamura, and crush, Minori Kushieda. However, it is then that he unexpectedly knocks into "the school's most dangerous animal of the highest risk level" — Taiga Aisaka — who just happens to also be in his class." (From Mangaupdates)

Casshern Sins: October 3
Remake of Shinzou Ningen Casshan about a cyborg who rises against the robotic armies that have subjugated all of humanity.

Clannad After Story: October 3
The continuation of the romantic comedy Clannad featuring high school students Tomoya Okazaki and Nagisa Furukawa.

Hokuto no Ken Raoh Gaiden Ten no Haoh: October 3
"Youkow Osada's Ten no Haoh - Hokuto no Ken Raoh Gaiden manga spinoff (pictured at left) will be animated as a series this fall. Unlike most of the previous Fist of the North Star anime, this story focuses not on the protagonist Kenshiro, but on the early life of his oldest brother and frequent enemy Raoh. Osada's manga ran from 2006 to 2007 in Comic Bunch magazine and was compiled into five volumes." (From ANN)

Kuro Shitsuji: October 3
"Based on a shounen manga by Toboso Yana, serialised in GFantasy. One of the noble families of England Phantomhive's butler Sebastian Michaels has got unquestionably perfect knowledge, manners, talent with materials, martial arts etcetera but is also able to serve a 12 year old master. Wearing a gray tailcoat, gracefully brewing the world's strongest red tea, please read on to see how such a perfect butler copes with such a master..." (Taken from AniDB)

Tales of the Abyss: October 3
"Luke fon Fabre, the son of Duke Fabre of the Kimlasca Kingdom, is 17 years old. He is the Light of the Sacred Flame who is destined to bring prosperity to Kimlasca. But since being kidnapped seven years ago by the Malkuth empire, he has been kept confined to the Fabre family mansion. The shock of the kidnapping erased all of Luke's memories prior to the event. But one fateful day, a mysterious woman breaks into the mansion and sets off a chain of events that will change the world forever..." [Adapted from a video game] (From AniDB)

Yozakura Quartet: October 3
"Akina, Hime, Kotoha, and Ao are four members of the Hiizumi Seikatsu Soudan Jimusho (Hiizumi's Everyday-life Consultation Office), which, in addition to helping kindergarteners deal with tough times, strives to preserve the peace of their little town, Sakurashin, by hunting down the troublemakers who dare threaten it. Hime is a superheroine. Ao can read minds. Kotoha can conjure up anything with the right word. And Akina…well, he's just a regular guy, surrounded by three supergirls! Together, they protect the town of Sakurashin. But that's not easy, as the town faces demon dogs and other supernatural threats!" (From AniDB)

Jigoku Shoujo Mitsuganae: October 4
Continuation of Jigoku Shoujo - Season 3

Kurogane no Linebarrels: October 4
"Based on a shounen manga written by Shimizu Eiichi and illustrated by Shimoguchi Tomohiro, serialised in Champion RED. Fourteen-year-old Kouichi Hayase’s life has always been a mediocre one, if not dismal. However, those days of being bullied by classmates and escaping to a fantasy of being a hero are put to an end when a certain “accident” bestows on him a girl and a gigantic humanoid robot called “LINEBARREL”. The extraordinary power that Kouichi obtains puts him and everything around him on a sudden rollercoaster ride of battles, intrigues and friendship! During the course of his adventure, the boy starts to learn what life has to offer; he meets new friends, bids farewell to the old ones, but most of all he now has considerable responsibilities and is forced to confront the world around him." (From AniDB)

Kannagi ~ Crazy Shrine Maiden: October 5
"Our unlucky protagonist, Jin, uses the trunk of a sacred tree to carve a statue for a school project. When he takes it outside, to his surprise, it begins absorbing the surrounding earth and transforms into, hold your breath on this one, a girl! So like all similar setups this guardian deity is pretty pissed that her tree was cut down and lives with Jin while she takes out her anger on squashing bugs....er, cleaning the "Impurities"." (From Mangaupdates)

Kemeko Deluxe!: October 5
"10 years ago, high-school student Sanpeita dreamed he was engaged to a beautiful girl. One morning, an unknown homely girl suddenly pressed him for marriage. The homely girl was named Kemeko. In order to escape, Sanpeita left for school where Kemeko followed and showed up with an uproar. A larger disturbance was when Sanpeita was targeted by a rice cooker on the school's rooftop. As Sanpeita and his childhood friend Izumi were being attacked by the rice cooker, Kemeko saved them both. What is the girl's true shape!?" (From Mangaupdates)

To Aru Majutsu no Index (A Certain Magical Index): October 5
"In the story, Tōma Kamijō is an ordinary high school boy with terrible academic scores and a power called Imagine Breaker. Imagine Breaker can defeat any other power, but it also undermines Kamijō's own good luck. His Imagine Breaker's immense strength is literally immeasurable, so hapless Kamijō is listed at the supernatural level of 0. He happens to meet a girl in white hanging off his window balcony. The girl says she is being chased by sorcerers, and Kamijō learns that the girl is a Church of England nun whose memories have been forcibly replaced by Index-Librorum-Prohibitorum — the 103,000 forbidden texts of the Church." (From Mangupdates)

Kidou Senshi Gundam 00 2nd Season: October 5
The continuation of Gundam... enough said.

Well, there are too many trailers for this, so I just chose the most recent one.

Ga-Rei: Zero: October 6
"While many of us will probably scream at even the thought of a ghost being near us, Freshman Nimura Kensuke just thinks of it as a common everyday thing, seeing as how he has the uncanny ability to see so many of them on a daily basis. Things soon heat up for him when he meets a girl who changes his life from then on. Her name’s Kagura, and she has the power to summon a mighty “spirit devourer”–otherwise known as a “Ga-rei”–called Byakuei. So, what’s Nimura to do? Chase down the evil spirits and and have Kagura summon the Ga-rei to devour them, of course! Now, come feast on their adventures like some ravenous Ga-rei!" (From Entropy)

Macademi Wasshoi!: October 6
"Magician's Academy revolves around Takuto Hasegawa, who attends a magic academy that is not marked on any map. During a summoning spell exam, he accidentally creates a girl named Tanarot, who happens to hold enough magical power to destroy his country, but fortunately Tanarot professes undying loyalty to her "creator."" (From ANN)

Here for HQ on official website.
(new trailer added: 9/29)

Skip Beat: October 6
"Kyoko Mogami followed her true love Sho to Tokyo to support him while he made it big as an idol. But he's casting her out now that he's famous! Kyoko won't suffer in silence--she's going to get her sweet revenge by beating Sho in show biz!" (From Mangaupdates)

ef - a tale of melodies: October 7
The sequel to the 2007 TV series “ef - a tale of memories,” based on the adult PC game from Minori.

Vampire Knight Guilty: October 7
The sequel to Vampire Knight.
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Chaos;Head: October 9
"Based on a Japanese visual novel developed by 5bp and Nitroplus, Chaos;Head is a delusional murder mystery story, with strong elements of gore, psychology and science fiction. The game uses a feature called a "delusional trigger", which allows the player adjust the ‘realness’ or ‘surrealness’ of the perspective of the main character, which directly affects the storyline. The main character, Takumi is a troubled young man who struggles to distinguish reality from his delusions, while being pursued by the perpetrator of a series of bloody murders, (or so he thinks). His travels take him in and around Shibuya, Tokyo and his adventures bring him in contact with various scientific themes such as the concepts of matter, antimatter, and the Dirac sea." (From AniDB)
Trailer:

Visual Novel ad
I would suggest checking out both the trailer and the visual novel ad since I personally find the VN ad alot better.

Tytania: October 9
"In a future where mankind is spread amongst the stars in the vastness of space, the TAITANIA family has been able to build a large empire through intimation and economic might. In the year 446, the city-state of EURIA rebels against the tyranny of TAITANIA control. Their isolated act of revolt starts a sequence of events which strains the careful alliances and agreements within the empire, as factions and associations take action to exploit the situation to their best advantage. In the ensuing turmoil, ambitious members of the Taitania Royalty begin to move against each other in an effort settle old grievances and seize control of the family. What started as an act of rebellion in EURIA, quickly expands to a civil war - with the wealth and power of the empire up for grabs for who ever is brave enough to aspire for it." (From AniDB)

(new trailer added: 9/29)

Michiko to Hatchin: October 16
"Michiko is a free-willed "sexy diva" who destroys a supposedly inescapable fortress, while Hatchin is a girl fleeing her strict foster parents. The two join forces on an improbable escape to freedom." (From ANN)

(new trailer added: 9/29)

Animes with no trailers yet (that I can find): Akane-Iro ni Somaru Saka, Tentai Senshi Sunred, Noramimi 2, Ga-Rei: Zero, Kyou no Go no Ni, Mouryou no Hako, Stitch!, and Kurozuka.

Here are character designs for Shikabane Hime:

Note: This is as big as they are - I took them from the official website.

If you want to see the character designs of Ga-Rei: Zero, go here. Sorry, I'm too lazy to photoshop them all together.

There are quite a number of interesting looking animes that are piquing my interest. It would be interesting to find out which animes everyone wants to follow, so please post what you find droolworthy and will watch.

Note: The images are linked to the anime's respective trailer. Click on the image to access the trailer.

Sources: Animenewsnetwork | AniDB | Mangaupdates | Youtube

edit1: added trailers for Shikabane Hime, Toradora!, Jigoku Shoujo Mitsuganae, Skip Beat, Yozakura Quartet, and Hokuto no Ken Raoh Gaiden Ten no Haoh
edit2: added trailer for ga-rei, 2nd trailers for Michiko, Tytania, and Macademi WAsshoi!

Lucky Star PV, Toradora and Haruhi-chan anime

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 20:16:08 -0500

Moetron reports that a second trailer to the Lucky Star OVA, due out on September 26, is now being streamed on Movic. Lucky Star portrays the lives of four high school girls in 4-koma style and has 6 volumes to date. It has also been adapted as a tv anime series in 2007. The anime is currently being distributed by Kadokawa Pictures USA with the third out of six DVDs currently released, and the manga is licensed by Bandai Entertainment.

*Click image to see youtube video*

Or go here to watch on the official site.

Dengeki releases character designs for the anime Toradora. Romantic comedy Toradora, written by Yuyuko Takemiya, was first produced as a light novel series by Mediaworks, but has also been adapted into a manga and released by Dengeki Daioh. Toradora is about high school student Takasu Ryuuji, who despite his kind personality is completely misunderstood by everyone due to how his eyes look, and the petite but dangerous Aisaka Taiga. The light novel series currently has eight volumes published, while the manga is currently ongoing with one tankouban published to date. The popularity of the series also produced a spinoff called Toradora Spin-off!.

Incidentally, the staff has been revealed about who is working on the upcoming YouTube anime series Suzumiya Haruhi-chan no Yuuutsu and Nyoro-n Churuya-san in NewType's October issue. Both will be produced by Kyoto Animation and directed by Takemoto Yasuhiro (Full Metal Panic, Lucky☆Star, new Haruhi series 2) and illustrated by Nishiya Futoshi (Chief animation director for Haruhi series 2).

Although Taiga is still a bit too Chiaki-like for my tastes, who else is excited to see Toradora as an anime? Both Nagato and Haruhi just look too cute~

Sources: Moetron (Lucky Star) | Dengeki | Moetron (Haruhi)

Tegami Bachi, Kite: Liberator and Beck sidestory

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 18:45:36 -0500

Can you Moe reports that the official Tegami Bachi website has updated their website to include new screenshots and character designs of its upcoming anime special, which will be part of Shueisha's Jump Super Anime Tour event which will be shown in ten Japanese cities this fall. Tegami Bachi will be shown along with One Piece, Dragon Ball, Bleach, Blue Dragon, Gintama and Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's. Tegami Bachi is about the journey of a boy named Lag Seeing who wants to be a Letter Bee or mail carrier and travels with his dingo, Niche, while following the footsteps of his idol Goos. Tegami Bachi currently runs in Jump SQ and has 4 volumes compiled up to date. Viz plans to start serialization of the series in Shonen Jump in March 2009.

In other news, AnimeNation reports that Yasuomi Umetsu is currently writing a sequel to the Kite: Liberator OVA. Kite: Liberator, a sci-fi action thriller about a high school assassin, is loosely based on Kite.

Animenewsnetwork reports that the October issue of Kodansha's Monthly Shonen Magazine has announced that a side story of Harold Sakuishi's manga Beck will get published in the next issue featuring the rocker Eddie Lee. Beck portrayed the life of 14 year old Yukio Tanaka and how his life changed once he met rocker Ryusuke Minami and joins his band "Beck." Thirty-three volumes have been published in Japan with the final 34th volume due out in October. Beck finally ended in June of 2008. Tokyopop has currently released up to the 12th volume. Beck was also made into an anime in 2004 and Funimation has released all 26 episodes.

edit: added Gintama to list thanks to Bomber D Rufi
Sources: Can you Moe | JumpSQ | AnimeNation | Animenewsnetwork

mx0: the painful ending...

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 16:31:43 -0500

Since mx0 has been cancelled for a while and the board wasn't as active as it used to be, we decided to make an end to the mx0 section.
For those knowing mx0 well, for the mx0 fanbase, I can still advice to discuss the manga in the mx0 thread in the general shounen section.

Some people will remember how hard I supported mx0 to bring it to the public, to make a lively fanbase on mangahelpers. So for those not knowing mx0, allow me to give a short summary to get your interest in this manga. Let us say a last push to get mx0 to you

mx0 by yasuhiro kano
genre: shounen, comedy, action, school life, magic, ecchi,...
amount of volumes: 10

summary: The series centers around Taiga Kuzumi who has plans to join Seinagi Private High School. During an interview to determine if he can attend this school, Kuzumi is asked what he would do if he could use magic. He answers: "take over the world". This is quickly followed by an outburst of laughter from a very cute girl, called Hiragii Aika. Kuzumi can't forget this event and blaming the girl for his failing, he goes back to Seinagi to confront her. Kuzumi can't enter the school because of magic barrier but due to some misunderstanding events, a teacher mistaking kuzumi for a student, kuzumi set foot on the ground of Seinagi Private High School. Later on, due to various circumstances surrounding strict rules of the school, Taiga is admitted into the school but with only one difference from all the other students: he can't use magic. He must now try to survive in a school of magic and try to fool the entire school that he's a powerful mage at the same time.

To end and to convince you: a banner (not the one I had used in the past, but still a great one)... Read, laugh, love... Mx0

credits to neru for the banner

Hellsing Manga to End

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:31:04 -0500

Can you Moe reports that the final chapter of Kouta Hirano's seinen manga Hellsing will end in the November issue of Shonen Gahosha's Young King Ours out on September 30, ending a 11 year serialization, and will be compiled into ten volumes. Hellsing, published in Young King Ours since 1997, has been produced as an anime series and OVAs, both which were released by Geneon Pioneer. Darkhorse will be releasing the ninth volume on October 22.

Description from mangaupdates:
"Vampires exist. It is the duty of Hellsing, an organization sponsored by the British government, to hide that frightening fact and protect the blissfully unaware populace. Along with its own personal army, Hellsing also has a few secret weapons. Alucard, an incredibly powerful vampire, has been controlled by Hellsing for years. Although he dislikes being a servant to the Hellsing family, he certainly enjoys his job as Hellsing’s vampire exterminator. Seras is a fledgling vampire and a former police woman. Although reluctant to embrace her new self, she is still a valuable member of the organization. Integra Hellsing, the current leader, is usually fully capable of fulfilling her duty, but lately, vampire activity has been on the rise. Unfortunately, the cause is more alarming than anything she could have imagined. A group long thought dead has been plotting in secret since their apparent destruction over 50 years ago. Plotting to plunge England, and perhaps the entire world, into war."

What do you all think? Think it will end 'well'?

*edit: date changed according to myanimelist
Source: Can you Moe | Moetron | Moonphase | My Anime List

Inital D OVA + Hatsukoi Limited Anime Announced

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:25:18 -0500

Fans of Shuichi Shigeno's seinen manga Inital D may be happy to hear that a sequel to the 2001 Initial D: Extra Stage OVA celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Initial D anime franchise, will be on sale on December 5. The sequel, Initial D Extra Stage 2: Tabi-Dachi no Green, will star the two girl racers, Mako and Sayuki, from the 2001 OVA. Shigeno's manga was first published in 1995 in Kodansha's Young Magazine and is still ongoing with 37 volumes compiled to date.

In other news, Mizuki Kawashita's short lived romantic comedy, Hatsukoi Limited, is in plans for both an anime adaption and a drama CD. Kawashita's manga ran in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump from September 2007 until May 2008 and her series will be compiled into 4 volumes.

Since I don't read the Initial D manga, I wonder if they will take material from manga to make this OVA. Any thoughts? As for Hatsukoi Limited, I wonder how they will adapt this series as an anime. To me, the manga seemed a bit too jumbled in the beginning so maybe they will do a better job of introducing the characters in the anime. Although the manga had a somewhat satisfying ending, I sort of hope they make a different story line.

Sources: Animenewsnetwork | Moetron

Mushishi manga ends

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:57:26 -0500

After 9 longs years in which it was published in Kodansha's Afternoon, Yuki Urushibara's fantasy manga, Mushishi, ends the monday issue. Ten volumes will be compilled and printed, also Del Rey will be releasing the fifth one in english this week. There was a 26-episodes anime made out of this manga and also a live-action movie.
I can pretty much say I'm happy it ended, I appreciate it when they know when to put an end to a manga, and I'm pretty sure it had a decent ending. Also, let's hope we'll have a 2nd anime season out of it, because now there's material.

news & pic via ANN

Vampire Knight Season 2

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 05:50:27 -0500

Ok, so I was about to to to sleep, but while I was roaming around I happened to find something interesting for all you Vampire Knight fans. I think most Vampire Knight fans are aware that there is going to be another season of Vampire Knight called Vampire Knight Guilty and I found that the promo video for it has come out on the Vampire Knight website. For those of you that don't know, the next season will premiere in October with 13 episodes.

Check out the Vampire Knight website and watch the PV there or for the lazy people, watch the video here. Let the fangirl drooling commence~

*click image to see the youtube video*

Who else is excited about the next season?

Source: Moetron