The New Face of Anime
Know what I hate? When people lament the state of a some form of media--be it comics, films, video games, whatever. (I say this while quietly shifting all the blog entries where I've done that myself to "Draft".) "Everything's ruined!", they scream, then go on lengthy diatribes about how and why whatever the fuck it is they love is terrible, now and presumably forever.
And yeah, everything goes through a dark period. Hip-hop suffered for like three or four years in the mid-2000s, until the new crop of guys popped up and put their stamp on the game. But most of the time? It's like the person who complains all day about how lonely they are while ignoring the best friend they've known forever who's freaking perfect for them.
What I'm saying is that usually when you're complaining about your hobby, there's probably some very noticeable things you're choosing to ignore. 2015 has a lot of potential to be a great year for anime because of a few noteworthy series--make sure you don't miss out on them.
The Heroic Legend of Arslan is a series of novels created by Yoshiki Tanaka (Legend of Galactic Heroes) with some art done by Yoshitaka Amano (Final Fantasy). The peace-loving main character Arslan is a prince who's forced out of his kingdom and forced to reclaim it alongside a band of small allies he hopes to build into a legitimate army. The series itself got an anime (and a manga) back in the early 90's, but it was an OVA series that skipped a bunch of the story. Supposedly this new series will be an adaptation of a new manga adaptation (confused yet?), using Tanaka's story but Arakawa Hiromu's artwork. Arakawa of course, is the creator of Full Metal Alchemist, which explains why Arslan looks a lot like Edward Elric in some fantasy armor.
I'm hoping this will get the attention it deserves as a major sweeping epic and not a one cours (13 episode) series, but it's early days and information is scarce right now. Arakawa's version isn't that far along, but considering there's plenty of story from the novels to pull from, they could easily use her designs and continue with the novel's story, so let's see what happens!
Lupin the III is back, in a new anime series coming next year! Another series where information is scarce, but the legendary thief will be spending his time exploring Italy and San Marino for this incarnation. As a teen, I always loved the concept of Lupin but the 70's storytelling style could be off-putting at times. With a chance to tell new stories using beautiful HD animation though, I think this stands a chance at being a favorite series for anime fans next year.
I'm also pretty positive this series will find a way onto Toonami, given adult swim's history with Lupin.
Apparently 2015 is Yoshiki Tanaka's year, as Legend of Galactic Heroes is also scheduled for a new adaptation. The story he's most famous for, Legend of Galactic Heroes is regarded by many as the best serial anime ever created, a gigantic science fiction epic that was adapted over twenty years in over 160 episodes. This adaptation is a little strange as the last OVA prequel series only ended in the early 2000's and the budget typically afford a direct to video release means the animation is still as clear and beautiful as ever, but as an anime fan who digests things better in small bites rather than huge chunks I still welcome the chance to see this series unfold over the next few years.
This one's a cheat. While the other three series on this list are series that haven't been on the air in over a decade, Macross' last appearance was sometime in 2012 with the Frontier films. Still, it's my favorite series and it's a classic franchise with roots dating back to the 1980's, so it counts.
Everyone's favorite dogfighting/pop-star idol anime returns with Macross Delta (tentative), a series currently in production and doing auditions for the lead female this December. Because of that little tidbit of information I'd be surprised if this series made an appearance before the Fall, but it'll still be a welcome addition to whatever season it becomes a part of.
2015. The New Face of Anime (which is actually the Old Face of Anime) looks pretty good. So I don't want to hear any complaining about how "everything's terrible" from anime fans, okay? Get over yourselves and get out and look.
And yeah, everything goes through a dark period. Hip-hop suffered for like three or four years in the mid-2000s, until the new crop of guys popped up and put their stamp on the game. But most of the time? It's like the person who complains all day about how lonely they are while ignoring the best friend they've known forever who's freaking perfect for them.
What I'm saying is that usually when you're complaining about your hobby, there's probably some very noticeable things you're choosing to ignore. 2015 has a lot of potential to be a great year for anime because of a few noteworthy series--make sure you don't miss out on them.
The Heroic Legend of Arslan is a series of novels created by Yoshiki Tanaka (Legend of Galactic Heroes) with some art done by Yoshitaka Amano (Final Fantasy). The peace-loving main character Arslan is a prince who's forced out of his kingdom and forced to reclaim it alongside a band of small allies he hopes to build into a legitimate army. The series itself got an anime (and a manga) back in the early 90's, but it was an OVA series that skipped a bunch of the story. Supposedly this new series will be an adaptation of a new manga adaptation (confused yet?), using Tanaka's story but Arakawa Hiromu's artwork. Arakawa of course, is the creator of Full Metal Alchemist, which explains why Arslan looks a lot like Edward Elric in some fantasy armor.
I'm hoping this will get the attention it deserves as a major sweeping epic and not a one cours (13 episode) series, but it's early days and information is scarce right now. Arakawa's version isn't that far along, but considering there's plenty of story from the novels to pull from, they could easily use her designs and continue with the novel's story, so let's see what happens!
Lupin the III is back, in a new anime series coming next year! Another series where information is scarce, but the legendary thief will be spending his time exploring Italy and San Marino for this incarnation. As a teen, I always loved the concept of Lupin but the 70's storytelling style could be off-putting at times. With a chance to tell new stories using beautiful HD animation though, I think this stands a chance at being a favorite series for anime fans next year.
I'm also pretty positive this series will find a way onto Toonami, given adult swim's history with Lupin.
Apparently 2015 is Yoshiki Tanaka's year, as Legend of Galactic Heroes is also scheduled for a new adaptation. The story he's most famous for, Legend of Galactic Heroes is regarded by many as the best serial anime ever created, a gigantic science fiction epic that was adapted over twenty years in over 160 episodes. This adaptation is a little strange as the last OVA prequel series only ended in the early 2000's and the budget typically afford a direct to video release means the animation is still as clear and beautiful as ever, but as an anime fan who digests things better in small bites rather than huge chunks I still welcome the chance to see this series unfold over the next few years.
This one's a cheat. While the other three series on this list are series that haven't been on the air in over a decade, Macross' last appearance was sometime in 2012 with the Frontier films. Still, it's my favorite series and it's a classic franchise with roots dating back to the 1980's, so it counts.
Everyone's favorite dogfighting/pop-star idol anime returns with Macross Delta (tentative), a series currently in production and doing auditions for the lead female this December. Because of that little tidbit of information I'd be surprised if this series made an appearance before the Fall, but it'll still be a welcome addition to whatever season it becomes a part of.
2015. The New Face of Anime (which is actually the Old Face of Anime) looks pretty good. So I don't want to hear any complaining about how "everything's terrible" from anime fans, okay? Get over yourselves and get out and look.
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