Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!: Another Kyoto Animation project

[MelancholicMariya]

I really like the designs, but something about the designs doesn't look like typical Kyoto Animation design. I can't quite place what it is. But, again, I do like the designs a lot.

Anyway the staff makes this look very promising. I'm curious if Kyoto Animation can pump out two works in a year.

[ultimatemegax]

Originally Posted by MelancholicMariya

I really like the designs, but something about the designs doesn't look like typical Kyoto Animation design. I can't quite place what it is. But, again, I do like the designs a lot.

Anyway the staff makes this look very promising. I'm curious if Kyoto Animation can pump out two works in a year.

The only staff Chuunibyou shares in common with Hyouka is the person in charge of background art/painting. In fact, the other three have not been shown to work on Hyouka in any part thus far. I was vastly curious what Ishihara and Ikeda were doing since Nichijou. Given the promotional imagery seen thus far, Fall seems like a very safe bet.

[something]

Originally Posted by ultimatemegax

Chuunibyou will be a TV series.

Good, I'd hate to see KyoAni's and Ishihara Tatsuya's talents wasted on an OVA.

Would be nice for it to start in fall though it seems like KyoAni has been having breaks between shows. Maybe that's just because they've had movies to work on, whether Shoushitsu or K-ON!. Should be Fall or Winter at any rate, especially since the staff differs from Hyouka.

[MelancholicMariya]

Originally Posted by ultimatemegax

The only staff Chuunibyou shares in common with Hyouka is the person in charge of background art/painting. In fact, the other three have not been shown to work on Hyouka in any part thus far. I was vastly curious what Ishihara and Ikeda were doing since Nichijou. Given the promotional imagery seen thus far, Fall seems like a very safe bet.

I knew that Ishihara and Ikeda weren't doing anything on Hyouka, but what I figured was that Kyoto Animation is a studio which tends not to work on two series' at a time, but when I think about it they've kinda always worked on two things at once. Be it the K-ON! Movie and Hyouka or K-ON!! and The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya. Well I imagine they were working on those at the same time as they're all fairly close to each others release.

But yeah I don't disagree that Fall seems real likely now.

[ultimatemegax]

Originally Posted by something

Good, I'd hate to see KyoAni's and Ishihara Tatsuya's talents wasted on an OVA.

Would be nice for it to start in fall though it seems like KyoAni has been having breaks between shows. Maybe that's just because they've had movies to work on, whether Shoushitsu or K-ON!. Should be Fall or Winter at any rate, especially since the staff differs from Hyouka.

I think there were a few factors in play recently. They've done back-to-back shows previously, but the situations didn't work out for Nichijou to air immediately after K-On!!. The mangaka was drawing comics that were animated a few weeks later during the final episodes, so they had to wait for more material in that instance. Movies, like you said, were the primary cause of the break between summer 2009 and spring 2010 and summer 2011 and spring 2012.

Given the countdown on the official site (5-> 4 today), the magazine spread in Newtype, and the staff not involved in Hyouka (plus the unconfirmed rumor that KyoAni was nearly 6 episodes ahead of airing for Hyouka) would really signal to a Fall airing. We wouldn't be seeing copyright illustrations in July for a January show, would we?

Edit: ANN's summary back in December was horribly incorrect. Here's a slightly altered back-cover text from the first novel

Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai! is a romantic comedy featuring Yuuta Togashi and Rikka Takanashi. Yuuta previously suffered from chuunibyou, or "8th grade sickness," a disorder where the patient believes they have superpowers and pretends to save the world. During his final year in middle school, he focused on studying and was cured. Now in his first year of high school, he finds himself entered into a contract with Rikka, an infected chuunibyou patient. How will the former patient and the infected patient co-exist?

[bloo]

The only staff Chuunibyou shares in common with Hyouka is the person in charge of background art/painting. In fact, the other three have not been shown to work on Hyouka in any part thus far.

A quick correction in regards to the staff. Kazumi Ikeda has actually been working on Hyouka since it began airing. In fact, she was the assistant AD in the most recently aired episode (11).

You're probably thinking of her sister, Shouko Ikeda (Haruhi Character Designer), who has yet to have been credited on Hyouka. On a side note, today's Encouragement Illustration is by Shouko Ikeda. It definitely has a bit of a Haruhi feel if you ask me.

[ultimatemegax]

Originally Posted by bloo

A quick correction in regards to the staff. Kazumi Ikeda has actually been working on Hyouka since it began airing. In fact, she was the assistant AD in the most recently aired episode (11).

You're probably thinking of her sister, Shouko Ikeda (Haruhi Character Designer), who has yet to have been credited on Hyouka. On a side note, today's Encouragement Illustration is by Shouko Ikeda. It definitely has a bit of a Haruhi feel if you ask me.

Yes, that was the Ikeda I mentioned in my post because I was curious what she and Ishihara were up to. When I say it has "no staff involved," I meant no "main staff." Kazumi Ikeda was the animation director for episode 4 as well and has worked in other episodes/OP too. Shouko Ikeda has been a mystery lately.

Edit: Another copyright illustration!

[bloo]

Originally Posted by ultimatemegax

When I say it has "no staff involved," I meant no "main staff." Kazumi Ikeda was the animation director for episode 4 as well and has worked in other episodes/OP too. Shouko Ikeda has been a mystery lately.

Ah, I see. And indeed Shouko has been a mystery lately. Although I do seem to recall that she mentioned she was beginning work on Hyouka on Kyoani's staff blog recently. So maybe we'll see something from her before that show ends.

In regards to Chuunibyou, I find the staff setup quite interesting. This is basically Kyoani's standard Key anime staff formation, minus Fumihiko Shimo. I'd imagine that if Key was able to get it's act together and book Kyoani however many years ago, we'd be seeing this group working on a Little Busters adaptation right now rather than Chuuni. It will be interesting to see the fan response to this show with that in mind.

As for me personally, I can't wait to see more. The key visuals shown so far look fantastic. And I fully trust Ishihara and Kyoani to put out an awesome show.

[MelancholicMariya]

Originally Posted by bloo

In regards to Chuunibyou, I find the staff setup quite interesting. This is basically Kyoani's standard Key anime staff formation, minus Fumihiko Shimo. I'd imagine that if Key was able to get it's act together and book Kyoani however many years ago, we'd be seeing this group working on a Little Busters adaptation right now rather than Chuuni. It will be interesting to see the fan response to this show with that in mind.

I'm actually surprised that Kyoto Animation turned down Little Busters!, though I guess working on Key titles for years your entire staff would end up getting tired of working on very similar projects and not expanding their business. I forget if it was just a rumour or if it was Key themselves who said Kyoto Animation turned down Little Busters! in response to all of the JC Staff backlash but it's not every day that you hear about a studio turning down work, especially a title as big as Little Busters!

Anyway, the reason why I was surprised is because their Key adaptations seem to be their best sellers. I hope Chuunibyou is just as successful. It could be competing with Little Busters! for all we know, though I doubt Little Busters! will air in the fall.

[ultimatemegax]

Originally Posted by MelancholicMariya

I'm actually surprised that Kyoto Animation turned down Little Busters!, though I guess working on Key titles for years your entire staff would end up getting tired of working on very similar projects and not expanding their business. I forget if it was just a rumour or if it was Key themselves who said Kyoto Animation turned down Little Busters! in response to all of the JC Staff backlash but it's not every day that you hear about a studio turning down work, especially a title as big as Little Busters!

Anyway, the reason why I was surprised is because their Key adaptations seem to be their best sellers. I hope Chuunibyou is just as successful. It could be competing with Little Busters! for all we know, though I doubt Little Busters! will air in the fall.

It was Baba who said in an interview that KyoAni was too busy to work on Little Busters since After Story ended. Since then, they've had the K-On! explosion, which eroded any support Key would have from TBS/Pony Canyon for more Key works. The other production company KyoAni works with, Kadokawa, was busy with Nichijou and Hyouka. The KyoAni Board of Directors probably decided to make one of their LNs into an anime (that being this one) to promote that portion of their company. They've been too busy for Little Busters since 2009.

The Key works sold very well, but not as much as K-On!, Haruhi, or Lucky Star, so it's not a surprise to see them downgraded when you had big selling titles (30,000+ average) in comparison (prior to their latest TV series, which were Kadokawa and Key wouldn't be considered with that committee). The other issue is that Pony Canyon produced all the K-On! music. Key was in charge of all 4 series's music sales, so that revenue stream for Pony would be taken away again. It just wasn't looking good for Key to have that series animated, and so they went with another committee instead.

As for sales, we'll just have to wait and see. Assuming that this show will be 1-cour, this will be the first 1-cour show for KyoAni since K-On! (truly)/Haruhi (disc-wise) in 2009. With only 6/7 discs, I think the chances of it selling well are very high without Kadokawa to muck it up. I also feel the main heroine could easily drive sales, but this is all speculation/personal feelings. Time will tell.