Wolf's Rain is an japanese animation series created by writer and story editor Keiko Nobumoto and produced by BONES Studio. The series was directed by Tensai Okamura and featured character designs by Toshiro Kawamoto with a soundtrack produced and arranged by Yoko Kanno. It focuses on the journey of four lone wolves who cross paths while following the scent of the Lunar Flowers. They form a pack and decide to seek out the Flower Maiden in order to open the way to Paradise. Along the way, they must avoid a fanatical wolf hunter and the nobles who wish to use the Flower Maiden to create their own Paradise.
The anime series was well received in Japan, being the third ranked anime series in its time slot while airing on Fuji TV. The Bandai Entertainment English language release sold well in North America. It helped Bandai gain the 2004 Anime Company of the Year award from industry news company ICv2 in the ICv2 Retailers Guide to Anime/Manga. The manga adaptation was selected as one of their top ten anime products of 2005 and sold well in North America. Reviewers of the series gave it high marks for characterization, visual presentation, and its soundtrack, while disparaging the existence of four recapitulation episodes in the middle of the series. The manga adaptation also sold well in North America and received good reviews, though reviewers felt its short length resulted in a rushed plot and neglected supporting characters.
technorati tags: animation programs, animation, japanese animation, animes
Friday, July 18, 2008
Wolf's Rain
Friday, July 11, 2008
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is the name of the 2006 television anime about a girl who, unknown to her, possesses the power to change reality. The story is based on the series of novels, the first of the same name. The anime adaptation, directed by Tatsuya Ishihara and produced by Kyoto Animation, shares the first novel's plotline, contained in six self-contained episodes. Intermingled between them were seven episodes based on chapters from the second, third, fifth, and sixth novels. The ninth episode, "Someday in the Rain", was a new totally story written for the anime by Nagaru Tanigawa, the author of the novels. The fourteen episode series premiered in Japan on April 2, 2006 and aired until July 2, 2006. Notably, these episodes were not originally broadcast in chronological order.
Soon after the show aired, Kadokawa Shoten received offers from companies in regards to licensing the anime, manga, and novels. On December 22, 2006, the website asosbrigade.com revealed that the anime version of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya was licensed for North American distribution by Kadokawa Pictures USA, who sublicensed production and distribution to Bandai Entertainment. The first and second DVDs were released on May 29, 2007 and July 3, 2007, respectively, with the third and fourth on September 25, 2007 and November 6, 2007.
The series was extremely popular and has become a cult television series with a large and dedicated fanbase. As of December 2006, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is the most popular anime in Japan according to Newtype magazine. Similar to Star Trek's fans as Trekkies, fans of the series call themselves "Haruhiists", and the collective fandom is known as Haruhiism.
