Happy Birthday to the Most Popular Drummer in Anime World, Ricchan!

So today (21/8) is the birthday of the most popular drummer in anime world, and also, the president of the light music club, Ritsu Tainaka (or Ricchan)! Here's some photos found, courtesy of Crunchyroll.

 

More pictures can be found on Crunchyroll.

Images are © by their respective owners.

Atsuko Maeda's Last AKB48 Performance to be Streamed Worldwide

The official Google+ pages for the idol group AKB48 and departing member Atsuko Maeda, as well as AKB48's official YouTube channel, will all stream Maeda's final AKB48 performance worldwide next Monday. The streaming will begin at 6:00 p.m. in Japan (5:00 p.m. UTC+8 Kuala Lumpur).

Maeda's final performance will be in AKB48's Tokyo theater, which opened in the Akihabara district in December of 2005 with 250 seats. However, a record 229,096 people requested tickets — 916.38 times more requests than available seats.

As a result, the performance will be streamed live. Maeda will also ride a vehicle in a farewell procession around the theater so she can greet the general public. The procession will start at 3:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. UTC+8 Kuala Lumpur) next Monday.

Google+ will begin accepting messages (registration required) for Maeda on Tuesday. Messages with the hashtag #maeda0827 will be printed along with the senders' profile names on petal-shaped confetti, and the confetti will fall during Maeda's final performance. Google+ is also collecting photos submitted by fans for a "graduation album."

Source: Oricon via Tokyograph

Kokoro Connect Yochi Random Game's 2nd PV, TV Ad

Namco Bandai Games began streaming the second promotional video and the second television commercial for its Kokoro Connect Yochi Random game for the PlayStation Portable on Thursday. Both videos feature the theme song "future indications" by the Kokoro Connect television anime's opening song performer eufonius.

The 2nd PV

Click here to view it on YouTube.

The TV Ad

Click here to view it on YouTube.

A wraparound jacket band on Sadanatsu Anda's Kokoro Connect: Yume Random light novel revealed in March that a game based on the comedy series was planned. Anda created a scenario for the game. Kokoro Connect Yochi Random will feature five character perspectives called "Pentagon View Scenario" that the player can alternate between, a "D.D.T" (Dynamic Drama Transition) feature, and a point system.

The game is slated for release in Japan on October 18. The "Pentagon Box" edition includes a "visual memory book," an original drama CD, the game's soundtrack, book covers, and an art box. The "Pentagon Box" edition will cost 8,980 yen (about US$113), while the regular edition will be available for 6,280 yen (US$79).

The novel series' television anime adaptation premiered in Japan last month. Sentai Filmworks licensed the "love and teen pentagonal comedy" anime for release in North America, and Crunchyroll is streaming the series in various countries outside Japan as it airs.

Source: ANN.

“True Route”: Ore no Imouto Anime gets “That” Ending!?

 

Image source: Sankaku Complex.

As if the situation surrounding Ore no Imouto’s many “endings” were not complicated enough already, the anime is now to receive a newly reworked 13 episode “true route special edition” run.

The broadcasts hit Japanese network on the 13th of October, with the exact nature of the “true route” unclear (the visual novel edition introduced scores of different endings with varying levels of canonicity, some of which have become quite famous).

However, as the “true route” season 1 is intended to serve as a run-up to the impending second season, it will presumably clear up the confusing mess of endings and episode orders which plagued the original, and allow much further bickering between advocates of Kirino or Kuroneko’s supremacy.

Meanwhile, those who accuse it of being a gussied up rerun with options on a new disc release are surely being overly cynical…

Source: Sankaku Complex.

New Initial D Anime to Run 2 Episodes Every Month

An official website for the upcoming Initial D Fifth Stage anime has revealed that the series will run on the "Animax presents PPV" pay-per-view service beginning on November 9 at 4:00 a.m. Two episodes will be released via the service for 840 yen (about US$11), and the remaining pairs of episodes will be released in a similar format on the second Friday every month.

The series will be the first adaptation of Shuuichi Shigeno's car-racing manga in roughly six years, and will feature a theme song performed by series mainstays m.o.v.e.

Source: Comic Natalie via ANN.

Girls und Panzer TV Anime Slated for October

The official website for the upcoming Girls und Panzer television anime series revealed on Thursday that the series will begin airing on Japanese television this October.

The story centers around high school girls who drive tanks that exist in real life, as they compete in teams. Tsutomu Mizushima (Squid Girl, Another, Blood-C, XXXHOLiC) is directing the anime at Moetan's studio ACTAS (with 3D CGI by Strike Witches' Graphinica) with Reiko Yoshida (K-ON!, Romeo × Juliet, Saint Seiya Omega) in charge of scripts. Humikane Shimada (Strike Witches, Sky Girls) is in charge of original character designs with assistance by Takeshi Nogami (Strike Witches: The Witches of Andorra, Panzer fräulein ALTESEISEN, Sailor-fuku to Jūsensha).

Source: Saishin Anime Jōhō via ANN.