In the past few days, I've read news of two confirmed anime sequels that I'm interested in.
The first one I'd like to address is the second season of The Seven Deadly Sins. I made a comment on the Crunchyroll page confirming the news, but in case you don't want to access the link, I'll add it here with some elaborations.
I don't know how to take this news. On the one hand, I'm happy they're giving it a sequel, but on the other hand, I haven't seen the original anime.
Even though I haven't seen it, I do know that it covered the first major story arc, which was about 100 chapters. How they were able to cram all that into 24 episodes is beyond me. Since the second season will premiere sometime in 2016, I wonder how faithful it could be to the second (current) arc. Since I've been following the manga, I have a feeling that there's not enough source material for them to follow.
The other thing to speculate is the licencing issues. I'm pretty sure the Netflix rumors were simply that-- rumors. If they had it, they would have announced it by now. After all, it's been a year since the premiere, and the hype has died down. Anime News Network has an article that supports this hypothesis.
Now that I think about it, maybe the sequel is a good way to regenerate interest so that someone can finally pick it up. Hopefully, that someone is Crunchyroll. Heck, anyone with an option to stream it for free would be great.
The second bit of news that I'm excited about is that the third story arc of Sailor Moon is going to be rebooted. This makes me happy. Sure Sailor Moon Crystal had flaws, but it wasn't without merits. I'm optimistic about the new season, maybe naively so, but even if it's at the same level as the first SMC, I'll still watch it.
My biggest worry is that with all the delays that SMC went through, who knows when this one will premiere? Then there's the question of whether it will follow the same broadcasting format or not. Getting only two episodes per month was torture. Then again, the ritual of getting up at some ridiculous hour in the morning to watch it was kind of fun.
I guess I haven't really updated much lately. Let me change that.
I've been on a manga/light novel kick recently. I took advantage of Barnes and Noble's "buy two get one" sale on manga, and I finally got down to reading the one I got for free. It's the first volume of Blue Exorcist. It wasn't as hooking as I'd hoped. Then again, it was only three chapters long, so I haven't got enough of a feel for it.
Today I was selling some old magazines at Half Price Books. When they were looking the magazines over, I found five volumes of the FMA light novels (which are all of the ones translated into English). Needless to say, I'm roughly $26 poorer. The magazines, if you're wondering, only fetched me a buck-- and there were 241 of them! Hey, at least I'm not $27 poorer.
Hmm... not sure what else to say. I was going to finish watching that Yu Yu Hakusho DVD set that I borrowed from the library, but the third disc is badly messed up. Oh well. But I'll find a way to finish the series. A legal way.
If you managed to get through all my ramblings, I have a little tip: if you subscribe to Crunchyroll's email newsletter, they give out free premium trials. That's how I got to watch Cardcaptor Sakura in its entirety. Subtitled. I burned through that like nobody's business. If you didn't know, I'm kind of in love with Crunchyroll now.
So has anyone seen/read any of these aforementioned series? Better still, do you have a Crunchyroll account? Don't you just love my lame attempts at starting conversation?
This is going to be an art/anime-related rant post. Don't worry; I'm not attacking anyone.
Reasons why I'm frustrated:
1. I may have bought the fabric for my vest, but I don't know what to do now. Apparently, I need a pattern. I don't know how to choose the right one. Guess another trip to the fabric store is in order. I just hope I don't make a fool of myself. Or have to buy lessons on how to execute the pattern. 'Cause money's tight.
2. The pressure sensitivity isn't working on my Bamboo tablet. I just contacted Wacom for help about that, but in the mean time, I CAN'T DRAW THE STUFF I JUST STARTED. I was going to make some surprise gifts for people. And do livestreams. My complimentary premium thing on Join Me is gonna run out, and I wanted to take advantage of it. *Cries.*
3. Although I finished drawing 28 characters from three series for the Sketch Marathon, I don't know what series to go through next. Also, I was going to make the cover page digitally, but I can't (see #2 above).
4. Not only has the anime adaption of The Seven Deadly Sins concluded without my watching a singe episode, THERE HASN'T BEEN AN ANNOUNCEMENT OF IT BEING LICENSED. Don't tell me the US companies have been competing for it for half a year. And if Netflix really DID get it, why haven't they said anything? (Note: If you've seen Knights of Sidonia, how long did it take for Netflix to say, "Ha-ha we've got exclusive rights." I know Netflix likes to sit on series until they finish and then post them, but was the announcement made prior to that?)
5. I can't log in to Hulu. This has been going on for a while now. A few days ago, I contacted Hulu for help. They replied instantly saying, "We can't locate your Hulu Plus account." Well, that's because I DON'T HAVE ONE. It's just a regular account. I told them that (without caps lock abuse), and I haven't heard back since. Thanks a bunch, Hulu. Now I can't watch series for "mature audiences" because without my account, I have no "proof" that I'm an adult. (Just for the record, I'm not That Guy. I'm not into X-rated material, but I will watch the occasional not-meant-for-kids thing. And by Hulu's standards, stuff like Attack on Titan is for "mature audiences".) Edit: I actually fixed this one on my own, just now. I reset my password and everything worked fine.
OK, now I feel a little better after having gotten that off my chest. Just needed to vent a bit.
I think I'll give a little Sketch Marathon update, since I haven't actually posted my sketches. Truth is, I'm over a week behind. In addition to not catching up from my initial stumble, I'm having trouble finding full-body references for certain characters, thus impeding my progress.
If you're wondering why I don't Google pictures of characters, it's because there's so much junk that I have to wade through. I don't want to scan a sea of pixelated junk, bad fan art, porn, and stuff that has nothing to do with anything.
What are some good sites that specialize in official anime artwork? If you know of any, please list them. They can be general or series-specific.
I also noticed that some series have more official art circulating than others. I'm guessing this is because the series are more popular and/or have stood the test of time. I'd like to watch more of those types of series. So, to you, what are some series that are pretty much required viewing? List as many as you want.
Click and scroll down. Does one of these things look familiar? I'm famous! Almost.
In other news, I'm actually keeping up with my end of the Sketch Marathon. I just haven't scanned or posted anything. I'm almost at the halfway point with the first anime series that I'm sketching characters from. I'm still trying to decide which series to do next. (Note: I'm adding spoiler tags in case anyone wants to be surprised as to what I pick.) Basically, my next pick is between Death Note and Gurren Lagann.
I'm thinking that when I get each series done, I might make a series group picture. That's going to be separate from the Sketch Marathon. I'd just import the sketches into Manga Studio and mess around with them. Just a thought.
Oh! And I'm almost done with my Secret Santa. I just need to add another layer or two of color and it'll be ready to scan. Way to go, Keba. You're two weeks late. But at least it's turning out pretty nice. That is, except for the bottom of the page where it's a bit wrinkled. It was really hot in my apartment last night, and the sweat from my palms was getting on the paper. Hope that wasn't too much information.
There's also this Challenge I want to enter. Even if I don't make it in time, I still want to draw my idea. ♪
On a completely different subject, I got a trial subscription to Hulu Plus. Big deal. They still have commercials. I'm canceling once my trial period runs out.
Speaking of anime, I haven't started anything new. I'm aiming to wrap up a series or three before I pick up a new one. Believe me, I need to. I have eight different series that I'm in the middle of watching. And that's not counting the ones that I've put on hold. (No, I'm not watching them on eight different screens. That would require more multitasking than I can manage... plus seven more screens than I actually have.)
Ahem. Moving on...
Some KAAMP topics I want to write about in the coming year:
- Guilty pleasures and feeling shame
- Series that I want to like more than I actually do
- Series that I've avoided and why
- How obscure can you get?
- Opinions on specific series (any requests?)
I was also kicking around the idea of posting my thoughts on slash and the like, but that could open a big can of worms. And by big, I mean that I could be criticized by both sides of the political aisle.
I'm also thinking about putting up my "help wanted" World mid-month. The question is, what do I call it? I want a catchy name. I was thinking "Artist 2 Artist", "theO's Most Wanted", or something involving the words "bulletin" or "collaboration". Maybe it could be a combination of any of those things. Any thoughts on the matter?
