Dantalian no Shoka

N

Nick Hunter

I have reached Yuki nirvana
... or, alternatively, Bibliotheca Mystica de Dantalian.

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I stumbled upon this light novel at Baka-Tsuki and despite slow translation progress started reading it - and ended up liking it a lot. The author is Gakuto Mikumo (some might have heard of his previous work, Asura Cryin'), and the plot unwinds in Great Britain early in 20th century. The stories seem mostly stand-alone, but they're interesting and hold some mystical/detective suspence not unlike some of Edgar Poe's stories. :ayashii: The first volume is almost complete, and I recommend it.

Also, Gainax is doing an anime adaptation due somewhere in July (unless this has changed after the earthquake... but there is no info on that :uh..: ). I'm really looking forward to it, even though my hopes to see Yuki involved (IMHO her music would be perfect for such a story :TdT: ) fell flat. sigh, after TWO of my Yuki-related hopes coming true in a row and in the course of three months... it had to end somewhere, didn't it? :leaf: :XD: :tea: Still, the announced staff:

Director: Yutaka Uemura (I couldn't dig up much about this guy, except for his involvement as (episode?) director in Mahoromatic sequel)
Character Design: Sumie Kinoshita
Clothing Design: BABY, THE STARS BRIGHT, ALICE and the PIRATES
Color Setting: Harumi Takahoshi, Satoshi Takezawa
Director of Photography: Yasuhiro Akamatsu
Editing: Yuri Tamura
Sound Director: Yoshikazu Iwanami
Music: Yo Tsuji
Animation Production: Gainax
Production: Dantalian no Shoka Production Committee

Huey: Daisuke Ono (aka Itsuki Koizumi and Sebastian Michaelis)
Dalian: Miyuki Sawashiro (aka Puchiko, Shinku, Kanbaru Suruga and Masami Iwasawa)

Apart from Madoka (and other Shaft shows to come), this is probably my only "plan-to-watch" entry for this year. :stars:
 
Huey what an awesome name
Click to expand...

Considering the quirks some Russian fansubbers have, I'm almost scared to think of the subs to come :white: :ohoho: ... even though the name itself is well-assimilated in fiction translations.

I read the manga, Dalian is so adorable
Click to expand...

Just checked it. Judging by designs, the mangaka thought he was assigned to draw a Rozen Maiden spin-off. :XD: On the other hand, those acquainted with Dalian's behaviour might find it hard to blame him. I even suspect that bringing Miyuki Sawashiro to the stand was the first thing that popped to the producers' minds. :psst:
I also don't quite understand why the first volume of the manga jumpstarts in the middle of the "Pedigree Book" chapter. Even further than the middle.
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Boy, and that wake up scene was cranked up to eleven here. :ohoho:
The unsealing ritual also seems to have changed... or is it just the translation? :@_@:

To get back to Dalian, she's cute in the novel illustrations as well. :dote:

EDIT: read the manga up to "Soul Transferrence"... There was nothing like that in the first volume of the book. Maybe the second one? Baka-Tsuki only lists chapters for No. 1 and 4 (and the latter's list is in Japanese for the most part). Otherwise, I wonder if the manga offers original material.
But seriously, what I've seen of Dalian so far pictured her as more reserved. While her tantrums and blushing in this story ARE hilarious and cute, I really hope it's not the mangaka's add-on to her original personality for the sake of adding that. Baseless moefication can easily earn this adaptation a near trainwreck like the Pandora Hearts case. :uh..:
 
Re:

Nick Hunter said:
Huey what an awesome name
Click to expand...

Considering the quirks some Russian fansubbers have, I'm almost scared to think of the subs to come :white: :ohoho: ... even though the name itself is well-assimilated in fiction translations.
Click to expand...
Maybe they'll put it in a Spanish manner like Уэй [uei] or something like Хьюи [hju:i:] :ohoho:
 
^ I opt for the latter, since it's nothing short of canon. Try googling it. :sparkleguy:
Spanish would be a bit weird, since the setting is clearly Great Britain.
 
The anime starts on July 16. I'll be away from the decent Internet by that time. :wai:

The official site features info on the theme songs:

TVアニメ「ダンタリアンの書架」主題歌

『「yes,prisoner」／「Cras numquam scire」』

■発売日：２０１１年８月２４日（水）
■品番：COCC-16507
■POS：4988001 493006
■価格：￥1,260（税込） ￥1,200（税抜）

■収録予定曲
1.ダンタリアンの書架　エンディングテーマ　「yes,prisoner」（イエス、プリズナー）
　歌：maRIONnetTe
2.ダンタリアンの書架　オープニングテーマ　「Cras numquam scire」（クラス ヌンクァム スキーレ）
　歌：Yucca　feat.Hugh Anthony Disward（小野大輔）
3.「yes,prisoner」　(Instrumental)
4.「Cras numquam scire」　(Instrumental)　
Click to expand...

Are they putting OP and ED into one single, or what? :confu:

:nophoto:

Is it me, or Dalian looks a bit like Homura in a puffy dress? :XD:
There's something different about her look in comparison to the books... Mostly those eyes... Please, Gainax, DON'T make her a mere Shinku/Victorique rip-off... :plz: :uh..:
 
looks so victorian era, i'll wait for the anime adaptation *doesn't really like reading*
 
I'll try this one. Who knows, maybe it will turn out to be something interesting.
 
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fc7U3VHakgY&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

Well... I like what I see so far. FX are fitting, Dalian is cute, but not overly moe. Huey's character seems to be adapted just fine. :ayashii:
Bonus point for the music, looks like we're in for some nice melodies in the OST. :dote:
 
I hate how they changed the character design, doesn't feel right anyhow :uh..:
 
I agree, but it could be worse. :XD:
Plus they have all these fancy brands designing clothes... and it seems they changed Dalian's original outfit just for the sake of it. :wai: Not that this one's bad, but the original was a bit cuter and fitting her... and not so puffy (I think). Maybe the designer took the "yomihime" part a bit too literally. :ohoho:
The hair shine is a common thing in anime, I didn't even notice it. :XD: But I hope the lighting team know their trade and won't make this issue absurd in the show itself. :knife:
Like I said, I'll be content with the character designs as long as they keep the characters intact. From what I've read, Dalian is NOT like Shinku, despite sharing a couple of quirks. With all the difference in origin, background, experience and motivation, it'd be wrong to copypaste the general "aristocratic tsundere" archetype. Then again, Gainax is a famous and experienced studio, so maybe my fears are baseless. :tea:
 
The BGM in the PV is beautiful~
Not too many summer anime that caught my eye, but this one definitely did. Because it involves books and a cute girl in gothic lolita attire. Like GOSICK. :L
 
I read the light novels and found it rather engaging so hurr... Guess it's enough reason for me to check out the Anime version. Setting expectations low though coz LN adaptations usually don't fare well based on a number of previously released series, save for a few rare gems. :ayashii:
 
I can't be a judge here, since I've only started reading LNs not long ago and can't compare much. But KyoAni did a quality [albeit trollish] job on Suzumiya, Silver Link did a great job on Baka to Test (there's Shin Oonuma at the wheel, too - I'm talking the guy from Team Shinbo and the director of Negima!? and Ef here :sparkleguy: ), and ufotable... you all saw what job they did on Kara no Kyoukai. :nosebleed: Also, while I haven't read Kyouran Kazoku Nikki, I liked the adaptation a lot, and many people say it was far more entertaining than the original. :ayashii:
I don't know if Gainax has adapted light novels before, and the director is practically debuting here, so it's hard to predict the results. But hope springs eternal, doesn't it? :sparkleguy:
 
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