This Weekend: Chibi fun with a Layton and the Eternal Diva

Anime of the Week: Nasu

Announcement: PUELLA MAGI MADOKA MAGICA'S SHOWING IS NOT CANCELLED! It is moved until next weekend due to unforeseen circumstances!

Email Content:

• This Weekend's Meetings
• Officer Positions (IMPORTANT!)
  
• Blog Updates
• Anime of the Week

This Weekend:
Time: Friday and Saturday 7pm
Location: Maryland 110

Friday March 2, 2012
Potemayo
Episodes 1-6
Based on a 4-koma manga that concluded its manga run in January 2011. The TV series adaptation of Potemayo that ran in 2007 follows middle school student, Sunao Moriyama, who finds his ordinary life oddly disrupted by the appearance of a strange, small, magical cat-girl creature suddenly appears inside his refrigerator. Oddly enough, Sunao takes everything for granted by accepting this new "friend", naming her Potemayo (a made-up name from a potato-mayonnaise bread), and attempts to move on with his life. Things get more complicated when Potemayo dislikes Sunao's classmates, Mikan Natsu, whom Potemayo considers as a rival for Sunao's attention and affection. Of course, the fun doesn't stop there. A second silly magical cat-girl appears in Sunao's refrigerator the next day, but this time carrying a scythe and possessing strange magical powers. Sunao Moriyama is voiced by Eri Kitamura (Ami Kawashima in Toradora!, Karen Araragi in Bake/Nisemonogatari), Potemayo by Kana Hanazawa (Mayuri Shiina in Steins;Gate, Kuroneko in Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai), and Mikan Natsu by Ayako Kawasumi (Saber in Fate/Stay Night and Fate/Zero, Lafiel in Seikai no Monshou/Crest of the Stars). Takashi Ikehata (Genshiken, Taishou Yakyuu Musume) directs while J.C. Staff (Shakugan no Shana, Azumanga Daioh) animates.

Saturday March 3, 2012
Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva
A spin-off of the popular Nintendo DS Professor Layton game. Hershel Layton receives a letter from the famed opera singer Jenis (Janice) Quatlane, who invites Layton and his assistant, Luke Triton, to see her upcoming performance. Furthermore, she requests the assistance of solving a mystery regarding her friend's, Melina Whistler's, disappearance one year ago. Melina supposedly disappeared yet reappeared as a 7 year old girl who claims to have found out the secrets of eternal life. Naturally, this intrigues Layton and Luke, and thus set off to unravel the mystery behind "eternal life." Jenis is voiced by Nana Mizuki (Hinata Hyuuga in Naruto, Lan Fan in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood), Layton by Yo Oizumi (Pepe Benengeli in Nasu, Ki-Kima in Brave Story), Luke by Maki Horikita (Ashiya Mizuki in Hanazakari no Kimitachi e/Hana-Kimi Live Action), and Melina by Fumiko Orikasa (Rukia Kuchiki in Bleach, Shirley Fenette in Code Geass). Masakazu Hashimoto directed, Aya Matsui (Marmalade Boy, Gokinjo Monogatari) created the screenplay, and P.A. Works (Angel Beats!, True Tears) provided the animation.


Officer Positions
As May approaches closer and closer, JHAC is looking for at least 2 undergraduates who will be willing to take on the President and Treasurer positions of the JHAC board for next year. While elections will not be held until the end of the semester, if you are interested or would like to learn more please email waw2@jhu.edu or come to one of our regular meetings to inquire. Do note, that if no one takes on these two positions, JHAC will lose its ability to fund our regular convention trips and other activities in the future and it will be difficult to regain status that has been lost.


Blog Updates
For those who are unaware, our website can be found at: http://jhu-anime.blogspot.com/
Comments are open to all for suggestions, recommendations and the like. We encourage members to share their thoughts on topics regarding the posts as well as anything anime, manga, visual novel, light novel, and video game related. Thoughts on current titles or past titles are also welcome. As usual, any suggestions for the blog itself or how meetings are run are greatly appreciated.

Anime of the Week
To make this section more useful, Image of the Week has been changed to Anime of the Week where a different anime title will be featured in each week's email. The point of this is to discover what may be lost gems, obscure titles, underrated titles, or buried treasure in the anime world. These titles may or may not necessarily be shown at future meetings. Each title will come with a brief background. 

On the topic of Nasu this week (not the Type-Moon Nasu), this week we look at an OVA that slipped off the radar of many if not all US licensing companies. Nasu ~Summer in Andalusia~ is the first of the two available OVAs made by Iou Kuroda and long-time Studio Ghibli collaborator, Kitarou Kousaka in 2003. Prior to this, Kitarou primarily worked as an animation director for Studio Ghibli films, most notably Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, and Grave of the Fireflies. Furthermore, Kitarou has contributed character designs for Madhouse Studios' Monster and Master Keaton. If the first Nasu OVA did not catch your attention, then you may have missed out even more in 2007 when the second OVA, Nasu: Migratory Bird's Suitcase, was released and received the Best Original Video Animation Award at the 2008 Tokyo International Anime Fair. All in all, while Iou and Kitarou don't produce many works, and thereby not receiving much recognition, the works they have produced thus far are certainly gems.

Nasu ~Summer in Andalusia~ follows the tale of Spanish cyclist Pepe Benengeli who competes in the Vuelta, a world famous cycling tour. One of the stops on the tour is Pepe's hometown, and as fate would have it, he rides in on the very same day that his brother, Hernandez Benengeli, is to get married to Pepe's former girlfriend, Carmen Pascual Dominguez. Tired of constantly being "second-place" in both romantic relationships and on his own cycling team, Pepe gains the resolve to finally control his own destiny. Nasu: Migratory Bird's Suitcase is a direct sequel to the 2003 OVA and takes place in the Japan Cup where Pepe and his teammate Jean Luigi Ciocci will try to determine the fate of not only their future but also the future of the cycling team.