Anime fans yield up a ranking of what they regard as the anime titles with most heartwarming atmospheres, perfect for those looking for the full Type B smothered-in-cotton-wool experience.

The ranking:

1. Tamayura ~hitotose~

2. Natsume’s Book of Friends

3. Usagi Drop

4. K-ON!

5. Ano Hi Mita Hana

6. Kamichu!

7. Minami-ke

8. Hidamari Sketch

9. Clannad ~After Story~

10. Kimi ni Todoke

With both K-ON! and Clannad forced from the top spots, this is probably not a result many would have predicted.

Anime imouto do not only come in the form of loveable moeblobs – they are also available in the form of (presumably equally loveable) responsible and supportive younger sisters who can be relied upon, the most promising of which have been ranked by anime fans below.

The ranking:

1. Mikan (To Love-Ru)

2. Chiaki (Minami-ke)

3. Ui (K-ON!)

4. Miya (Amagami SS)

5. Sakura (Card Captor Sakura)

6. Hitoha (Mitsudo Moe)

7. Nazuna (Working!!)

8. Dorami (Doraemon)

9. Miina (Please Twins)

10. Mei (Clannad)

See also the more conventional imouto moe ranking.

Legendary production controversy anime Minami-ke is apparently finally due a second season, much to the delight and scepticism of fans.

The announcement states a new project is in progress, with a formal announcement in the autumn:

Debate rages online as to whether this is a second or fourth season:

“So it’s getting a second season?”

“There was one. Face reality!”

“Is this even true?”

“Kana’s seiyuu tweeted about some ‘happy news’ coming, so presumably that was the 4th season.”

“There’s already a second season, you old fart.”

“There is a second season. This will be the third.”

“Strictly speaking there are now 4 seasons, though amongst fans this is another issue entirely.”

“At least recognise ‘Okaeri’!”

“So the second season is finally coming?”

“Give it a rest!”

“The first was good, the second and third were rubbish.”

“There was no second season!”

Gag anime fans quizzed on which characters they consider the funniest, whether by dint of gags, surrealness or plain stupidity, provide a ranking which holds some surprises…

The ranking:

1.  Hosaka (Minami-ke)

2. Kuroko (To Aru)

3. Youhei (Clannad)

4. IkaMusume (Ika Musume)

5. Yuuko (Nichijou)

6. Rintaro (Steins;Gate)

7. Akihisa (Baka to Test)

8. Yui (K-ON!)

9. Mio (Nichijou)

10. Shirayuki (Hidan no Aria)

Baka-yarou anime Minami-ke gets a rare figure incarnation with this Nendoroid rendition of the formidable Chiaki Minami.

Chibi Chiaki is set to go on sale in December; international pre-orders are open now.

Fans of formerly excellent baka-yarou anime Minami-ke have been dealt a final affront in the form of the final sales figures for the series, which seem to indicate a tragic and irreversible fate has been forced upon the show thanks to the much maligned involvement of hated animator Asread.

The final DVD sales figures (for the initial week of sales where 90% of sales are usually concentrated) run thus:

Minami-ke

Minami-ke Okawari

Minami-ke Okaeri

The second and third seasons were of course graced by varying levels of Asread quality…

This would appear to spell the end of the show?

This recent Nico video is proving to be popular on this week’s anime charts, deftly combining Minami-ke‘s flamboyant Hosaka with Final Fantasy VI’s classic “Kessen” battle theme in a way that that only makes sense to Nico-goers.

決戦のきもちわるい【みなみけ×FF6】 / Gross Kessen (Minami-ke x FF6)

The creator’s blog.

The recently released Minami-ke OAD accompanying the sixth volume of the manga has stunned fans with the inclusion of loli Chiaki panchira, and even more astonishingly seems to have largely avoided the usual Asread Quality fans have come to dread…

The panchira in question is helpfully placed at the very end of the article to preserve dramatic tension:

The panchira you came for:

The OAD is currently on sale now.

The good source.

Viewers of Valkyria Chronicles can’t help but notice certain curious similarities between the show’s heroine Alicia Melchiott and a certain Kana Minami, of Minami-ke… Mere coincidence?

Some curious reworking has also been going on: below you see the next episode preview image of “Alicia shock”, and after it the version actually featured.

Fans will doubtless be praying the similarities with Minami-ke end there…

Fans still following Asread’s latest Minami-ke parody offering have been shocked by a new low in quality; not only is the animation in the 12th episode in dire need of attention, as usual, but the episode also presents something of a unique production issue in that the A and B parts are actually animated by different people, as is painfully obvious…

The A part:

So far, so good.

The B part:

Endless problems plague Asread’s production of this series, but here a new level of quality has been reached?

Minami-ke fans continue to cast a critical eye over the production of Minami-ke Okaeri. This time it is Chiaki who comes under scrutiny; above you see her character design across 12 episodes of the series compared.

The differences in (normal) character designs between episodes seem rather pronounced. Perhaps too pronounced? Some subtle variation is normal, but some of what is seen here hardly seems subtle.

Bonus:

Baka-yarou anime Minami-ke Okaeri has provided fans with a moment of pure quality. You can see it above in animated .gif format (enlarge to view).

This almost looks deliberate, and is about a charming an error as one could wish for.

Poor Asread has a lot to live up to; this is as at least widely considered a step up from the second season some allege to have existed.

Baka-yarou manga Minami-ke is set to receive an OVA attached to the sixth volume of the compiled manga; the OAD/manga will be going on sale June 23rd.

Production is entirely to order, so pre-ordering a copy is advisable, if the next sentence does not put you off:

The OVA will be produced by Asread.

Via Comic Natalie.

Episode 6 of Minami-ke‘s much lamented third season features a rather interesting beach scene involving some mizugi groping action…

Below you see the groping in greater detail:

Or not…

Bonus nude-filter for those of you left sorely disappointed:

Fanservice? Or merely an innocent scene interpreted the wrong way by its fans?

Is the character pictured here in episode 18 of palmtop tiger anime Toradora in fact Kana Minami of baka-yarou anime Minami-ke? To many she bears a striking resemblance, though she may be just a generic character all the same.

The other character pictured also bears a passing resemblance to Touma in the eyes of some…

This spotted by the eagle-eyed Techeese on the forums.

The Minami-ke Okaeri OP and ED songs, Keikenchi Soku Joujou  and Zettai Karafuru Sengen debuted today, placing 8# and 10# respectively on the Oricon Daily Music charts.

The appearance of anison (anime songs) on the music charts is not that uncommon, but as both singles are sung by the Minami trio‘s seiyuu and previously only heard on the three episodes broadcast so far, it follows that the CD’s popularity is made up nearly entirely by fans of the show.

You can hear both songs below:

経験値速上々↑↑ / Keikenchi Soku Joujou↑↑

The title very roughly translates to something like “The value of experience’s speed is the greatest↑↑”.

絶対カラフル宣言 / Zettai Karafuru Sengen (Absolute Colorful Declaration)

The singers for both songs are Rina Satou (Haruka Minami), Marina Inoue (Kana Minami) and Minori Chihara (Chiaki Minami).

Both singles are available on Amazon (OP and ED) for ¥1,200.

Via Oricon.

Although the response to baka yarou anime Minami-ke Okaeri’s first episode was cautiously optimistic, despite a disastrous blunder, nobody can help but notice the less than first rate animation and character design, or Asread quality as it has come to be known. Merciless 2ch gathers the oddest above.

With all these from but one episode, we might wonder if the anime is looking to qualify for the fail gallery, and given the usual progression of quality we see in anime, we have to wonder whether the worst is yet to come…

The latest series of apprehensively awaited baka-yarou anime Minami-ke, Minami-ke Okaeri, has arrived, and episode one is already attracting harsh censure for its sloppy production values, with an especially major error being rapidly detected by the critical engine that is 2ch.

You can see the glaring error which has so outraged fans below:

As you can see, what is written on the document is 寝むそう / nemu sou, incorrectly meaning something along the lines of “apparently sleeps”, instead of the correct 眠そう / nemusou, meaning “looks sleepy”.

A truly shocking example of poor production values. There are some suggestions that this might be a joke based on the teacher, but which seems more likely, a joke, or Asread quality?

Just how so blatant an error found its way through QC is surely a sad indictment of the Asread production process. Perhaps it was they who were sleepy? Was the effort of drawing faces on the background characters too much for them? Is this to be Okawari all over again?

Leaving aside this colossal disaster on the part of Asread, fans are mostly rather positive, going so far as to guardedly revise their previously vitriolic disparagement of the studio.

Praise for the humour and upbeat atmosphere of the show is not lacking, so it seems Okawari may have been the unfortunate nadir of the series after all.

Most do retain some reservations about the character design and animation quality however. certainly, some slightly strange frames are in evidence.

Below you can see some of the episode in caps:

Hopefully, it has not been marred completely by the “sleepy” debacle.

The imminent third season of troubled baka-yarou anime Minami-ke, Minami-ke Okaeri, has been unveiled in modest detail with the release of a brief trailer, allowing a fair comparison between the three seasons.

Minami-ke fans are seemingly split between those who consider the new series to represent a complete collapse in design quality, and those who think it compares well with Okawari. We need not consider the other possible opinion, vanishingly rare as it is.

You can evaluate it yourself below:

Season 1:

Season 1 versus 2:

Season 2:

Season 3:

The short CM itself:

Player 1

This is Asread quality…

Minami-ke is due to receive an OAD (an OVA bundled with the manga) next year, in what is becoming something of a notable trend.

The disc is set for a June 2009 release, bundled with the limited edition version of the sixth volume of the manga, for some ¥3,700.

Now the important part: production will be handled by Asread, the same esteemed company responsible for the much unloved Okawari second season, and also currently producing the third season.

Nothing, it seems, can now wrest this franchise from their grip…

Kodansha seems to be experiencing some success with, or at least is promoting aggressively, the OAD (Original Animation Disc) format, though fans seem ambivalent or hostile to the tactic, not that this apparently impacts sales.

Negima, To Love-Ru, Zetsubou Sensei, Kiss×sis, the list goes on. The OAD seems to be here to stay.

The Minami family gather in Yuletide spirit, fully attied in Santa-san apparel, and most appealing they are. Sadly we have been denied the sought after continuation of the original series, perhaps the most desired Minami-ke Christmas present, but this apparently cannot be helped.

By the same artist as Santa-Nagi-sama.

The controversial second season of the marvellous Minami-ke looks to be getting its continuation in short order, for we hear that the third season’s  release will be in January 2009, airing in a late night slot (01:30 on a Monday morning in the case of Tokyo TV).

The production is being handled by the now notorious Asread, so fans are overwhelmingly scathing. However, animation is listed as being handled by the animators of the first season, 童夢 / Dome, which is as we discussed in the earlier article on the subject.

Thus it looks as if the series will attempt to incorporate the best of both worlds, although many fans insist there is nothing good in Okawari. In fact, a mere 2% of you thought Okawari was the better series…

The cast of the anime looks not to harbour any surprises, so at least in that department things should be untroubling.

It seems surprising that they would continue to drag out the unfortunate problems with the production of this fine title by not simply handing it back to Dome; perhaps this is what they have done, albeit by stealth, in handing off animation to them?

If so, they would have done better to emphasise the fact to counter the negative fans response…

An anon was kind enough to introduce me to the superb 3D CG artist whose works we saw when looking at the state of 3D Haruhi games; going by the name of 北仙 / Hokusen, with his site/circle called “Feel Myself”, he possesses notable skill in rendering anime characters in 3D, and his works are well worth a look, both for their artistic merits, and as a sign of things to come.

You’ll also notice he has a singular predilection for creating interesting Haruhi images…

I have placed these fine images on the Channel, where he now has a tag; please feel free to help tagging them.

You are of course encouraged to visit his homepage.

Not much information is offered, so providing you with much information on him is not possible; he does mention the software he uses: LightWave, Photoshop, Premiere After Effects, openCanvas.

Sadly, he has not gone far in exploring the possibilities offered by animating his great creations, although for all we know this is his day job.

Minami-ke fans everywhere are in a state of grave despair with the news that the recently announced third season of Minami-ke is set to be a continuation of the oft reviled second series, Okawari, with the same producers, which was not previously clear.

However, it also seems that parts of the production will be going back to the original producers, so there may yet be hope for Okawari detractors.

Production will be undertaken by アスリード / Asread, who produced Okawari, but it is said there will be efforts to bring the series more in line with the first, by way of the involvement of the original producers, although official announcements are not yet forthcoming.

The key source is one of the animation staff, whose blog entry it seems was dug out by a 2cher. The blog has been deleted, apparently after this came to the attention of 2ch, but the entry is mirrored here.

The animator also talks about the difference in style between the third series and the previous ones, saying that the characters will look a little more mature, but be otherwise similar.

The whole fiasco is rather puzzling, and sad. Apparently, viewing figures for the second series were better than the first, although the DVD sold less than half as many copies (the first sold over 10,000 in the first week, a very respectable performance), so it seems those holding the reins are gambling on being able to ignore the protests of fans, or else they really do intend to repair matters.

The whole thing seems like a hideous mess, and a fine example of how not to produce a series, so it may be best just to wait and see what they come out with.