Ristorante Paradiso (replacement to Michiko to Hatchin)
 

Ristorante Paradiso リストランテ・パラディーゾ
Animation Production: david production (episodes 16 & 20 of Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2, DOGS OVA)
Timeslot: NOISE (replacing Michiko to Hatchin), Fuji TV's second anime-themed timeslot after noitaminA, from 8th April, 2009
Based upon: Ono Natsume's two-volume manga of the same name
Genre: Seinen
Cast: Orikasa Fumiko (Nicoletta), Terada Haruhi (Olga), Nomura Kenji (Lorenzo)
Staff: Director: Kase Mitsuko (Glass Maiden, SaiKano, Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team Miller's Report), Inotsume Shin'ichi (Zettai Karen Children from episode 28 onwards, Hayate no Gotoku), Character Design: Takeda Itsuko (Blue Drop, Boys Be, Galaxy Railways), Art Director: Soejima Yasufumi (Gankutsuou, Last Exile), Music: ko-ko-ya (here's their official myspace)
Website: http://www.rispara.tv/

Ristorante Paradiso is the second show in Fuji TV's NOISE anime timeslot, which first started with the amazing Michiko to Hatchin, and is based on Ono Natsume's two-volume seinen manga. It's set in Rome, Italy, and follows the story of Nicoletta, a 21-year old, as she becomes an apprentice at a very unique restaurant. It's going to be produced by david production, a new studio that has produced animation for episodes 16 and 20 of Code Geass R2 and will produce the upcoming DOGS/BULLETS&CARNAGE OVA.

Interesting. I'll be looking forward to this.

Just one correction... This is not a seinen manga. Erotics F, the magazine this runs in is an alternative magazine that targets both genders; iirc it even includes some BL (yaoi) titles.

The Rispara manga is not two volumes in length, it is a single volume feature. The follow-up, Gente ~Ristorante no Hitobito~ is three volumes (the third comes out on March 12th).

Also of note for this adaptation:

OP: "Marigold" ("Marry Gold" ?) by orange pekoe (single out May 27th)
ED: "Suteki na Kajitsu" by Komine Lisa (single out April 22nd)

Cast members yet to be mentioned: Yamanoi Jin (Claudio), Tachikawa Mitsutaka (Luciano), Kiyama Shigeo (Gigi), Kuroda Takaya (Vito), Ueda Yuji (Teo), Soumi Yoko (Vanna), Watanabe Misa (Gabriella).

Rispara is one of my all-time favourite manga titles so I suppose I'm fairly excited by this adaptation. ;)

The first CM aired with the Michiko to Hatchin double episode this week, BTW. Here it is on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtR6gb8nDqE

Oh boy... Italian names. Can't wait to hear their pronunciation. That said, I'm looking forward to this, it looks like it'll be a lot of fun.

They must have fair conifidence in this timeslot, because Aoi Hana has just been announced as having the same timeslot in July.

Yeah, RisPara sounds interesting, hopefully different from the norm. Looking forward to it.

Ah, so it'll be about 12 episodes then. Should be fine for a series like this, since it's only one volume.

Wa-wait, as in Takako Shimura's Aoi Hana?! Seriously?! Oh, god, where'd you hear this? *crosses fingers*

Edit: Ah, never mind, found the link.

It will be eleven broadcast episodes.

Aoi Hana getting an adaptation is fantastic news too. Two Erotics F titles getting anime series one after the other!

Definately looks interesting. I'm really liking the music from the CM. This has to go on my to-watch list.

lol, it looks like they used google translator for the italian words on their website. But I guess that's not surprising, since even the english language gets raped by most anime series.

This really looks amazing... I'm excited for it.

Looks interesting. Will check out

Should there be a tad gayness in Ristorante? So far I've seen old guys on the poster, does that mean... *gasp* BL has expanded to GL (Granddad Love)?

Well what are your speculations about it's content* ish dumbfound*

In terms of the relationships in the series, they are mainly complicated, adult and heterosexual. Some of the characters are married, some are separated, some are single.

It doesn't really have any hints at BL. Ono Natsume does however, publish BL works under another name ("basso") so you'd definitely be forgiven for thinking along those lines. More than anything, it panders to women who like "older gentlemen", particularly "butler-types" with glasses (this is noted in the series itself - the restaurant is popular because of the men with glasses who work there). Quite a few of Ono's other works also touch on these character types.

If NOISE can continue with the amazing production values exemplified in Michiko to Hatchin, I'm sold already. They've set the bar pretty high. :D

The next issue of Erotics F (#57) will contain a commemorative feature on the Rispara anime adaptation. The Erotics F website is also running a Rispara/GENTE character poll at the moment. It closes on April 3rd (I'm betting on Gigi taking out top honours, knowing fans). A new anime image was recently released in the official Rispara anime blog too...



There's also meant to be some Rispara content in April 2009's Animage. There was a double page feature in the February issue too, though I've been hard pressed to find a decent scan of it (you can see a not-so-decent scan here).

For those wanting to see some close-up designs of the character's faces, Fuji TV's Rispara site gives us some decent mug-shots of the cast. Tsuntsun, Luciano XD~.

There will be a Rispara presence at TAF this year. Dates, times, etc. can be found here. Is anyone going? There looks to be a good assortment of titles on display this year. I want some of those goodies lol. :D

In an interesting bit of product placement, Morinaga Confectionary's "Carré de Chocolat" range will be featured in the Ristorante Paradiso anime. We get sweet (but small) wallpapers out of the deal. Also, chocolate.

Jin's Global Standard are producing a limited range of glasses ~as worn by the Casetta Dell'orso staff~. Each model is designed to exclusively reflect the character they belong to. Available designs will include: Claudio, Luciano, Furio, Theo, and Vito (wtf no Gigi?). You can learn more about the range here. Alternatively, there is a Jin's x Rispara display at this year's TAF - you can view the glasses in a display case at the Rispara stand.

Extended Rispara trailer from TAF.

You can vaguely make out what seems to be the OP in the background (well, it certainly sounds like orange pekoe).

OP theme: Marigold by orange pekoe
ED theme: Suteki na Kajitsu by Lisa Komine

This certainly looks pretty promising.