[Update: I just bought the second volume of the straight adaptation. I hope they do this properly in the anime, because there’s a real story going on, and I quite enjoyed the revelation of how the Demon Lord was defeated.]

So I picked up the Kindle editions of the first volume from both of the Yuu-shibu manga. The one that’s actually called Yuu-shibu is the extra-ecchi version that adds Elza, Lam, Nova, and a lot more fan-service, while the one that shares the novels’ full ridiculous title looks like a more direct adaptation. The anime is using a lot of material from the ecchi manga.

The simplest way to explain the difference is to show the Witch’s Arms… (NSFW!)

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Crunchyroll reports that they’ll be simulcasting the Sword Art Online Extra Edition special episode, in which sister/cousin/haremette Leafa/Suguha learns to swim in the real world, so they can do an underwater quest in the virtual world.

No doubt the next special episode will send the girls to an onsen so Liz can overcome her fear of steam.

They could have animated the one-and-only story with Asuna as the protagonist, but no, they went for the fan-service.

Apparently the number one problem with the show was that there wasn’t enough fan-service in the opening and end credits.

They fixed that.

[Update: speaking of fan-service, Nova, Lore, Elza, and Lam are not in the novels. Lore is anime-original, and the other three were added in the manga. Actually, it looks like there are two different manga running, one a straight adaptation of the novels, and the other with extra service. Airi’s bunny-suit is straight from the books, though, and “somehow” Fino and Sara both end up in them as well.]

Via the never-safe-for-work Sankaku Complex. It would be nice if they could skip the jarring tone shifts of the first one. Our Hero deserves a break, and his new home could use some more exploring. If they pick up after the end of the first series, I suspect they’ll try for something like Watt-Evans’ The Wizard and the War Machine.

While checking up on Mouretsu Pirates movie news, I happened to spot director Sato’s twitter profile pic.

I hereby predict that the unbeatable Berg-Katze will be undone by…

(…poor man’s spoiler-hiding ahead…)

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The Gatchaman Crowds Blu-ray box set is currently the best-selling anime on Amazon Japan, and the ninth best-seller in all genres. Four months before it comes out.

Interestingly, the only merchandise available besides the music CDs are cosplay school uniforms and wigs. You too can be Hajime or Sugane, or have hair like Joe. A “design works” book is coming in October, but the usual quick tie-in merchandise is missing.

Will more cosplayers choose LOAD-kun or Utsutsu-chan?

(setting aside the issue of being arrested for faithful Utsutsu-chan cosplay…)