It’s not yet clear if this Hanaichi anime project will be a TV series or just an OVA, but more details are expected to surface when the magazine carrying the announcement comes out in Japan, this February 20. So, for now, just hang in there, boys and girls!

Update: ANN has also just reported on this, pointing out that the original cover image posted by the editors of B’s-LOG has already been replaced with a modified version that obscures the anime announcement. Good thing I got in it time… Oh, and the report also provides the following synopsis for the game’s story:

“This dating simulation game for female players (otome game) is set during Japan’s Taishou era (1912-1926). A girl named Haru Asagi works as a maid of the Miyanomori family, which is headed by one of Japan’s most powerful magnates. However, the family head suddenly announces that he is retiring, so one of his six sons must assume control of the family.”

source from:  animekon

The upcoming TV anime series Shining Hearts has also been officially labeled this week. With the opening of its official website, we learn that it will be titled Shining Hearts: Shiawase no Pan – or Shining Hearts: Bread of Happiness. The page also confirms that the series will be airing in Japan from April 2012, and lists additional cast members. The studio in charge of the animation for this one is also Production I.G, based on Sega’s 2010 game.

Update: The next game in Sega’s “Shining” series will be revealed next month, with the release of Shining Blade for the PSP. According to an official Twitter message (viaAndriasang), “pamphlets contained within the packaging for Shining Blade will contain a number of shocking announcements, including information on the next Shining project which is already in development”.

And for one more shiny piece of (bad) news, the Japanese eroge maker 0verflow has confirmed that Shiny Days will be the last game they release. However, they aren’t going bankrupt, so they will continue to support their existing titles – such as School Days, Summer Days and Cross Days. At the same time, it was announced that their “ero-swan song” has suffered a delay: instead of this February 24, Shiny Days is now set for release in April 2012.

source from:  animekon

From what ANN reports, the first OVA episode will be an ecchi-prequel of sorts, as it will depict “another encounter that the lead characters Rea and Chihiro had before the main story. The two happened to visit the same public bath one day”… And you can probably guess how it goes down from there on…

The TV anime Sankarea is part of the April 2012 line-up, with Studio Deen adapting it based on Mitsuru Hattori’s “zombie moe adolescent romantic comedy” manga of the same title. So having said that, you can go ahead and check out today’s new batch of fanarts in the localSankarea gallery.

source from:  animekon

January 13:
Sakura Hime: The Legend of Princess Sakura volume 9
Arina no Tane essay manga (pictured right)

January 18:
Full Moon O Sagashite bunko (smaller paperback) reissue volumes 1 & 2

February 15:
Sakura Hime: The Legend of Princess Sakura volume 10
Fudanjuku Monogatari 

February 17:
Full Moon O Sagashite bunko reissue volumes 3 & 4

To celebrate the release of these books, an “Arinacchi 555 Fair” campaign will give away five personalized autographed sketches, 50 Tosho cards, and 400 exclusive clear file folders via a random drawing among people who buy the books.

source form: animenewsnetwork

Fujisawa revealed in December that he would create a new series for serialization inYoung Magazine, and the magazine then announced the title last month. The “Inohead” in the title is an apparent wordplay on the Tokyo locale Inokashira.

The Black Sweep Sisters manga by Fujisawa and artist Takashi Sano (Iketeru Futari) will also move to Ichijinsha‘s Monthly Comics REX magazine on January 27. The manga premiered in ASCII Media Works‘ online magazine Dengeki Comic Japan in August. Black Sweep Sisters is a “thrilling dark action” story that centers around two dissimilar (“one large-breasted, the other small-breasted”) sisters who are exorcists for rising evil spirits.

source form: animenewsnetwork

The official website for Purple Cow Studio Japan‘s Sakasama no Patema(Patema Inverted) revealed details about the anime film’s plot and main character on Tuesday. Time of Eve creator Yasuhiro Yoshiura is writingand directing the anime film for release throughout Japan this year.

The story will take place in an underground world where tunnels extend everywhere. Even though they live in dark and confined spaces, people wear protective clothes and lead quiet and enjoyable lives. Patema, a princess in her underground village, loves to explore the tunnels. Her favorite place is a “danger zone” that her village prohibits people from entering. Even though she’s scolded, Patema’s curiosity can’t be held back. No one ever explained what the supposed danger was. On her usual trip to the “danger zone,” Patema faces unexpected events. When hidden secrets come to light, the story begins to unfold.

Yoshiura previously wrote ”This new animation is … a story about girl-meets-boy, and boy-meets-girl. It is an extremely righteous, but also extremely strange, story.”

source form: animenewsnetwork

This year’s seventh issue of Shogakukan‘s Big Comic Spiritsmagazine is announcing on Monday that Motoro Mase is launching the 20th and final arc of his Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit manga in the next issue on January 23. The arc is titled “Moboroshi no Kuni” (The Long-Lost Country.).

Ikigami takes place in Japan after the establishment of a policy that assigns an “Ikigami” to randomly selected citizens. Anyone who receives the Ikigami has 24 hours to live. The story focuses on the lives of the people who deliver the Ikigami and the people who have just a day to live.

The manga has been running in Japan since 2005, and the ninth compiled book volume shipped last June. The manga inspired a live-action film in 2008. Viz is publishing the eighth book volume in North America this August.

source form: animenewsnetwork

Bandai Namco Games

Between the first game, Naruto: Konoha Ninpōchō, which was released in 2003 for the WonderSwan Color, and the most recent game, Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Impact (Naruto Shippūden: Narutimate Impact), which was released in Japan and North America in October 2011 for the PlayStation Portable, 15Naruto game titles have been released.

source form: animenewsnetwork

Animate USA

Platinum Pasta centers on a man named Mamiya who opened an Italian restaurant one year ago. He gets ingredients from the fisherman Ohsuga and the herb garden owner Eiji. After Mamiya sees them in a lover’s fight, he decides to intervene.

Theorem of Desire is a sequel to Higashino’s Aphrodisiac Kiss manga, which Animate USA released in October 2011. In the sequel’s story, Takamura rescues Ayashima from an attack, and the men’s romantic relationship blossoms.
Selfish Love is a two-volume series that follows a university Honors Society president who selects a hapless classmate as his vice president. In this climactic volume, the president jeopardizes the vice president’s honor by refusing to give up on him.

ANIMATE USA is the American arm of the ANIMATE retail chain for character goods, and it has been releasing boys-love manga from Libre on the Kindle e-book platform since April of last year.Libre Publishing Co., Ltd. originally released all three of the above titles in Japan.

source form: animenewsnetwork

The Space Battleship Yamato 2199 film will open on April 7 in 10 theaters throughout Japan. The 50-minute movie will be the first two episodes of the new television series, combined into one theatrical preview screening.

Yamato 2199′s basic story is the same as the first Yamato anime set in 2199, butYutaka Izubuchi (RahXephon), the 52-year-old animator who worked on mechanical designs and science-fiction concepts on some of the earlier projects in the franchise, is serving as chief director. Yoshinobu Nishizaki, the late producer of the franchise, iscredited with the original story. Nobuteru Yuki (Escaflowne, Record of Lodoss War) is designing the characters, and the anime studios XEBEC and AIC are producing the anime. Mechanical designer Makoto Kobayashi (Giant Robo, Last Exile, Space Battleship Yamato Resurrection) revealed at Anime Expo in July that he is working on a Yamato remake for this year.

Nishizaki and Leiji Matsumoto‘s Yamato space opera anime franchise began with the first Space Battleship Yamato television series in 1974. The titular spaceship Yamatois built from the remains of the World War II battleship of the same name to protect Earth from extraterrestrial threats. Over the next 35 years, the television anime spawned two television sequels, two video projects, and six films including 2009′s Space Battleship Yamato Resurrection. The anime was dubbed and partly rewritten in English as Star Blazers. A live-action film remake of the original Space Battleship Yamato anime opened in Japan in December 2010.

source form: animenewsnetwork