Random Curiosity

Summary:
Arriving at the same time as the submarine in the harbor is a convoy of trucks much like the convoy Hei tried to ambush.

Summary:
Madame Oreille seems to know about what happened in Vladivostok, but what Misaki is still mainly interested in is why BK-201’s star disappeared.

I gather Stereopony doesn’t need much introduction after their “Namida no Mukou” song earlier this year, but I’ll redirect you to my introductory blurp here if you do. I know I tend to say this a lot with songs, but I found “Tsukiakari no Michishirube” (Moonlight Guidepost) catchy right when I heard it. Here though, at least I can say it’s because of the tune in the chorus. With the release of the single still several days away (09-11-04), it’s nice to finally get to hear the full version of the song. However, since it’s a direct extension of the TV size version, it can start to sound a bit repetitive if you listen to it too much (which I found out firsthand while writing this). As for the PV itself, it’s fairly simple with Aimi (guitar, lead vocals), Nohana (bass), and Shiho (drums) performing on a barren wasteland while weathering a rainstorm, but Aimi’s new hairstyle looks really good. That’s probably the farthest thing from an analysis of their music, but what can you do — I’m talking about a PV here, so enjoy the eye candy!

Show Darker than BLACK 2 OP 「ツキアカリのミチシルベ」　by Stereopony ▼

Summary:
Having taken the offer to join Agency No. 3, Misaki has returned to Tokyo and has been assigned the fake identity of Ichinose Yayoi.

Summary:
A certain surge causes the drones keeping Hei in place to overload, and at the urging of Mao, Suou tackles Hei into the icy waters nearby.

Summary:
After finishing off April, Hei tries to get the meteor core from Suou, who he still thinks is Shion.

I’ve got some stuff to take care of, so it might take me a little while to get today’s episode of DtB: Ryuusei no Gemini written up, but here’s the OP and proper ED which premiered today. I say proper ED because it’s the same song but different animation sequence (I have no idea what the Russian says), meaning that last week’s city shots were just temporary. They probably just wanted to delay revealing the fact that Suou and Hei will team up. The opening sequence meanwhile was kind of disappointing because it showed mainly Suou (albeit with some big-ass guns) and barely any Hei or Yin. I guess that’s probably as good an indication as any for who the series will mainly be focused on. Either way, I liked the Stereopony song.

As for the second episode, Show Episode 2 Spoilers ▼

Summary:
Two years ago, on the night of the Tokyo Explosion incident, twins Suou and Shion Pavlichenko had been with their father during a meteor shower, and an actual meteor had crashed into their Siberian campsite.

After the final episode (Someday in the Rain) of the current broadcast run finished today, it was announced that there would be a movie version of the next volume, the Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi, coming Spring 2010. No other important information is given, other than the extended shot of Yuki. I’m actually a bit apathetic towards more Haruhi at this point, but I guess we’ll see how it turns out.

More exciting to me right now is the first episode of Darker than BLACK Ryuusei no Gemini which just finished airing. I’ll have a full post up a little later, but it was as good as I’d hoped it’d be, and they did a nice job reintroducing the series and its concepts. It had a surprising amount of lighthearted moments in the first half, but then things got really exciting, building up to a great cliffhanger, and they even killed off some characters already (or so it would appear).

Airing after today’s finale of Basquash (which I’m currently in the process of writing up) was the fourth and most likely final commercial for the new Darker than BLACK: Ryuusei no Gemini. Although it didn’t have much new to see, it did feature the new opening song, Tsukiakari no Michishirube by Stereopony. I assume the title is a nod at the first ED of the first series, Rie fu’s Tsukiakari. It’s a pretty catchy song, though the commercial doesn’t make the best use of it because there’s so much going on from an audio standpoint. Regardless, I’m looking forward to the start of the series, especially since Basquash ended up being so disappointing…

A third commercial for the new Darker than BLACK: Ryuusei no Gemini series aired after today’s episode of Basquash. This one focuses on the new girl Suou talking about the stars and has a nice piano piece in the background, but it’s again stuff that was already shown in the longer promo video that’s available on the official site.

Perhaps more important is the news that, based on a comment Kuwashima Houko made during an event last week, Ryuusei no Gemini might only be one season/cour long. I haven’t seen any official confirmation of this, but MOON PHASE seems to think that it’s one season as well, so it’s likely true.

A new commercial for Darker than BLACK: Ryuusei no Gemini aired with this week’s episode of Basquash. This one revealed that the new girl is named Suou and that the initial setting will be Vladivostok, Russia, but I didn’t see anything in it that wasn’t already shown in the longer promo video that’s available on the official site. Assuming they go with a normal promotion strategy, there’s probably two more commercials in store before the premiere of the show, at least one of which will feature the new OP or ED. I’m hoping one of them will be a Rie fu song.

There was a Darker than BLACK 2 - officially titled Darker than BLACK: Ryuusei no Gemini - commercial that aired with today’s episode of Basquash. As you can see above, it starts with a quick montage of stuff that happened in the final episode of the first series, including Hei’s line about how there is no longer any man named Li. Then comes the interesting part of the commercial, the much wilder looking Hei. It’s not a lot to go on (there are magazine spoilers that reveal more), but it’s exciting to me all the same, and I’m looking forward to the series. The fact that the commercial aired during Basquash today means that it’ll most likely be taking over that MBS timeslot come October, the same Thursday timeslot that the first series had.