(CR) Hourou Musuko

[Pocari_Sweat]

Originally Posted by FireChick

Awww. What a sweet little anime this was. I loved every minute of it! I hope Crunchyroll streams the full versions of episodes 10 and 11.

Oh! This is kind of a random thought that's been following me since I finished the show. What if maybe AIC and Noitamina animated the middle of the manga as some sort of publicity stunt? Perhaps maybe, if Wandering Son was popular enough, they planned to make a prequel to the series which intends to animate all the chapters they skipped (perhaps possibly not on the Noitamina timeslot this time). It could be possible! It's happened with other anime! But then again I could be wrong. This is just a silly and random assumption from my feeble little autistic brain.

Maybe the main reason was notiaminA couldn't get hold of 2 season slots, and decided if they try to jam everything in one season, it wouldn't flow well or felt that the first half was too boring too animate? We probably won't know.

[Simon]

My copy of the first Blu-ray volume arrived today. As you'd expect of a Japanese release the packaging is both pretty and tastefully understated, and at least to my non-expert eyes and ears the content is gorgeous in HD. The liner notes are fairly basic, just episode synopses and CD track listing, but as promised they do include a selection of fanart from the illustration contest that was run on Twitter.

The soundtrack CD is lovely, if somewhat short - it features seven tracks including Clair de Lune and totals a bit over 16 minutes. A second OST will ship with next month's volume, then in June we apparently get a drama CD.

New content on the BD is a 15-minute documentary on the anime's making (cutely titled ぼくたちの、めいきんぐ - anyone who's bought the manga will appreciate this), and an alternate version of Episode 1. Even if (like me) you can't follow the Japanese, the documentary is interesting simply for showing the business-as-usual creation of the show - and relevant to acejem's post above, anyone who does speak the language can hear from the director's own mouth why they chose to start the story with the middle school arc (from what I could pick up on the first listen, the phrase "one cour" featured prominently in his explanation).

The alternate version of Ep 1 differs only slightly from the one we've seen. There are some changes to the BGM (the most noticeable being they don't use Clair de Lune in that final scene), and some of the voice-overs are omitted, but I didn't spot any new content as such.

[FireChick]

Maybe the main reason was notiaminA couldn't get hold of 2 season slots, and decided if they try to jam everything in one season, it wouldn't flow well or felt that the first half was too boring too animate? We probably won't know.

Actually, what I meant was: What if Noitamina INTENDED to animate the middle chapters as a way to get publicity for the anime? I never said anything about them wanting to animate the whole entire series in one cour. Maybe they thought "Hey! Since this manga is popular and we're short on episodes, we should animate the middle chapters to pull the fans in! If it's popular enough, maybe we can make a prequel that WON'T be on Noitamina and won't be as restricted!"

[wandering-dreamer]

Originally Posted by FireChick

Actually, what I meant was: What if Noitamina INTENDED to animate the middle chapters as a way to get publicity for the anime? I never said anything about them wanting to animate the whole entire series in one cour. Maybe they thought "Hey! Since this manga is popular and we're short on episodes, we should animate the middle chapters to pull the fans in! If it's popular enough, maybe we can make a prequel that WON'T be on Noitamina and won't be as restricted!"

There is no way they would ever think that would work. Wandering Son was on noitaminA since that was where it had the best chance of making any money at all, it's such a niche show. Perhaps they thought that part of the middle school arc would be easier to compress into 11/12 episodes than the elementary school ones, or maybe the producers just liked that arc better.

[Pellissier]

In addition, casting a real teenager (14) as Nitori clearly shows that there weren't further projects for this. If they really planned to work on it again in a couple years, then they'd probably have chosen a different seiyuu, a female sounding like a male for example . This way, shortly there won't be a Shuuichi's voice anymore, and what's Hourou Musuko without the "true" Nitori?

[FatPianoBoy]

Originally Posted by Pellissier

what's Hourou Musuko without the "true" Nitori?

An improvement. I liked the idea of casting a boy near the character's age, but that kid's acting was terrible.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by Pellissier

In addition, casting a real teenager (14) as Nitori clearly shows that there weren't further projects for this. If they really planned to work on it again in a couple years, then they'd probably have chosen a different seiyuu, a female sounding like a male for example . This way, shortly there won't be a Shuuichi's voice anymore, and what's Hourou Musuko without the "true" Nitori?

They could always skip a few more arcs (if the manga gets as far as adulthood...)

[Simon]

Off-topic, but anyone who's watched the anime might appreciate this:

Boy wears skirt to school in protest against 'discrimination'

[Guardian Enzo]

Talk about taking one for the team...

[FatPianoBoy]

Somehow I doubt any of his peers are going to give him crap for protesting a regulation they all hate. Also, this is completely different from what Nitori did.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Originally Posted by FatPianoBoy

Also, this is completely different from what Nitori did.

Indeed. This is a lot closer:

Taiwan hospital fined for firing transvestite

Taipei (May 18, Wed): A Taiwan hospital has been fined for violating gender equality laws by firing a cross-dressing male employee who came to work dressed as a woman.

Taipei's labour bureau ordered Mackay Memorial Hospital to pay NT$50,000 (US$1,700) for firing computer technician Chou Yi-jen last year.

The 35-year-old had been working at the hospital for five years when he started wearing women's clothes.

The case is believed to be the first of its kind on the island.

The hospital eventually fired Mr Chou, insisting the dismissal was unrelated to his cross-dressing, and was due to his job performance.

But labour officials told the BBC that Mr Chou had been verbally abused by supervisors and was required to seek permission to go to the bathroom.

They said they hope this case will serve as a warning to employers not to discriminate against workers. It is not clear whether Mr Chou will get his job back.

Taiwan is famous for film-makers such as Ang Lee, who produced internationally acclaimed films such as 2005 Oscar-winner Brokeback Mountain, about a gay cowboy.

But it is still grappling with how to fairly treat transvestites, homosexual and bisexual people.

BBC NEWS

[Simon]

Originally Posted by Shiroth

are we sure that's a audio CD, not a drama? If so, then it looks like we'll be getting the DVD only soundtrack format.

Six months late, but good news on the OST front:

Official site - Amazon - CD Japan

By my count 24 of the 37 tracks listed on Amazon aren't on the bonus CDs that came BD/DVD vols 1 and 2, so it's still worth getting even if you have those. On the other hand it doesn't have Clair de Lune (月の光) from the first bonus CD.

[Shiroth]

Fantastic news. Even more so because it's released two days before my birthday. Thanks for the update Simon.

[BBOvenGuy]

Can someone refresh my memory on when the full versions of Episodes 10 and 11 will come out?

Also, on a related note, is anyone else following the drama series IS? It's about "intersexed" teenagers, which isn't the same thing as transgendered teenagers, but it's in the same neighborhood.

[Simon]

Originally Posted by BBOvenGuy

Can someone refresh my memory on when the full versions of Episodes 10 and 11 will come out?

Episode 10 is on BD/DVD volume 5 which came out last week (got mine on Friday). Episode 11 will be on volume 6, due out 21 September.

Spoiler for Full-length version of ep10:

Compared to the broadcast version there are numerous small scenes added, and a couple of big ones. The small additions mostly expand on the fallout from ep9: we see more of how the various classmates deal with it, and Seya's response in particular (leading in to Maho's glomping him in ep11). The big additions are Ninomiya meeting Shū (manga ch71) and an expanded scene from ch72 where Takatsuki and Momo cross swords. I really have to see the subs for this, but it looks highly significant - especially the way Saorin is the one to follow Yoshino when she storms off.

The episode ends with Shū meeting up with Anna, and we know how that transpires...

Spoiler for Preview for full-length ep11:

Looks like we'll see a flashback to when Yuki was forced to wear sailor-fuku at school, and how she met Shi.

Also, on a related note, is anyone else following the drama series IS? It's about "intersexed" teenagers, which isn't the same thing as transgendered teenagers, but it's in the same neighborhood.

Thanks for the pointer - I've heard of the manga, but I didn't realise there was a drama adaptation. Has it been good so far?

[FireChick]

Is Crunchyroll gonna put up episodes 10 and 11 in both their entiretys?

[BBOvenGuy]

Originally Posted by Simon

Thanks for the pointer - I've heard of the manga, but I didn't realise there was a drama adaptation. Has it been good so far?

It's cheesy and melodramatic in spots, and half the opening episode feels like an after-school special, but it's watchable. I'm really impressed by the job Fukuda Saki is doing in the lead role. I've only seen her play girly-girl parts before, but she's very convincing as a gender-queer teen who self-identifies as male.

[FireChick]

Does anyone know if the DVD episodes are subbed? I notice they're not on the net yet.

[BBOvenGuy]

Um... while trying not to say anything that's not allowed on this board... a subbed Episode 10 has now been spotted...

[Guardian Enzo]

So great getting back inside this world. What a terrific series Hourou Musuko is, and there's a lot of good stuff in this full version of episode 10. But if you haven't read the manga, be warned - this will really whet your appetite.