September 14th, 2012 
AstroNerdBoy Hey gang! Busy time for your’s truly, so much so that I’ve not been able to do much with the blog of late, including follow up on limbo comments. As such, this news from Kajishima-sensei’s latest Comiket (C82) doujinshi is two days old getting to me, and for that, I deeply apologize. Without further ado, here’s what Anon sent to me.
Fess up dude, you’ve been itching to hear Kajishima’s notes from the 12.08 Onsen. ^_^
I couldn’t speak up during Flora-sama and Gold-sama’s haggling to ask: how did you like “Parents’ Visiting Day”? I’ll cover the rest of the parents whenever I get a chance, but right now this is the end of the Parents’ chapter. Next time…… as it’s only the middle of June and there’s time until the deadline, let me take a time out and think about it…… and I’m back after three weeks of thinking! With still no inspiration, so leaving it undecided. Over and out. (TL: He’s been channeling Mexiah’s “-zamasu” mannerisms in this whole paragraph.)
On to business then. Plans are gradually moving ahead. I should be able to say something specific by the Winter Comiket~~~~ is what I hope…… Seems like I say this every time, but it’s hard to get an original anime picked up. I hope I’ll win the lottery…… (TL: You decide if he means this literally or in terms of getting picked up.) At any rate, it’s certain that this time the novelization will have to come first, but someone else will need to write it. Obviously someone else! Otherwise it’s too much!! Even if I’ve brought this on myself, but come on, you can’t expect me to write almost a small novel’s worth of plot outline!!! For now, I’ll just write a longer than usual outline, OK~~~~! …………And, as usual, there’ll be a GXP volume out early next year. See you in the winter.
Kajishima Masaki
Lol, even the dude himself knows he’s been saying the I’ll have something specific for you next time line way too many times… Can’t wait to find out what the project with the novelization is about.
Interesting stuff to be sure. When he says “original anime,” I’m guessing Kajishima-sensei is trying to do something not directly related to Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-ohki. His last three anime projects (Tenchi Muyo! Galaxy Police Transporter, Tenchi Muyo! OVA 3, & Isekai no Seikishi Monogatari — aka: Tenchi Muyo! War on Geminar) were all canon sequels or spinoffs to the original Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-ohki OVA line. Indeed, when AIC/VAP gave Kajishima-sensei the green light to do three series, the basis was that if the GXP TV series did well, Kajishima-sensei could do OVA 3. If OVA 3 could do well, then he could do ISM (WoG). Those three were very successful, so I think that if Kajishima-sensei wanted to go back to the Tenchi well or even the ISM well, they’d let him. Thus, I suspect something totally new since he hasn’t gotten this new project through yet.
Yeah, I know what some of you are going to say. All of Kajishima-sensei’s creations, including his two hentai anime OVA titles, are “linked at the corner,” carrying over concepts and elements from other titles, this being justified since in Kajishima’s universe, there are multiple dimensions and realms of existence (see ISM and Dual! for more on that idea, as well as GXP). So even if this new project is totally original, there’s a good chance that it too would be linked at the corner with his other works.
Hopefully, Anon will again be gracious and provide further information when it becomes available. In the meantime, this person has my deepest thanks. ^_^
As to the cover of Kajishima-sensei’s 12.08 doujinshi from C82, I did manage to find a small version of it since I don’t own it (yet).
Don’t have time at present, but I’ll be mirroring this on the new FAQ site and the old one (since the new one isn’t complete yet).
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Care to show some basis for your claim that ISM was very successful? In Japan, they couldn’t even find any stations to take it on for TV airing and had to go the PPV and direct to DVD route that gives so much less exposure. The f***ed up way it was fansubbed, not very many folks were exposed to it to begin with and even fewer stuck with it for the duration. Funimation clearly doesn’t have high hopes for it or they wouldn’t be retitling it beyond recognition and using the cheap lure of tagging it with the TM! prefix it never had originally. I’m guessing they only licensed it on the cheap because of some clause involved with getting all the TM! properties from the Japanese. It’s hardly a success story.
I don’t know the reason that it wasn’t aired on TV. One of the things I heard was that they’d make more money the PVP/OVA route, and I suspect they did from what I hear (again, I can’t substantiate it since I don’t have the Japanese skills to hunt for sources).
The fansub thing was a cluster to be sure, but that is not an indicator of failure.
As to FUNimation, I can tell you right now that had the anime not been successful in Japan, they wouldn’t have even bothered to license it, cheap or not. After all, if it failed in Japan, why would it succeed in the U.S.? FUNimation won’t confirm this with me, but I hear that one of the reasons it took so long for FUNimation to license this was that AIC had to make sure they’d milked it for all it was worth in Japan. With the U.S. and Japan being in the same BD region, the Japanese are massively afraid of reverse importations destroying their massively overpriced Blu-ray market (which is why some Japanese companies are slapping restrictions on U.S. anime BD releases).
As to the renaming, that was pure marketing like ALL U.S. releases of any manga or anime, and it was done with AIC’s blessing. Going with “Saint Knights Tail” or “Isekai no Seikishi Monogatari” doesn’t link the series with the Tenchi franchise to the general anime market. Renaming it does, and I’m told the marketing team at FUNimation came up with a name that would both link the series to Tenchi, and provide an idea to anime fans of what the series would be about.
Reality is a difficult thing to accept sometimes. ^_~
Maybe it’s continuation of ISM or the OVAs (4 and 5). After all, TM! could be considered original, since it’s not based on already popular manga, novel, game, etc. And it’s based on his own child – TM! universe.
In this case it makes sense and have meaning even though it’ll be continuation of anime.
Maybe. Anything is possible, and Kajishima-sensei has been keeping whatever his idea is close to the vest. Well, when the novel comes out, we’ll know for sure, eh?
You could very well be exactly right, but let’s look at this from another angle.
“Original anime” may not mean that it’s completely unrelated to Tenchi, just that it’s an anime original and not adapted from an existing manga or light novel. It’s always easier to pitch something if you can show that it’s already selling well in another medium. Obviously testing the waters with a book would be a whole lot cheaper than spending major cash on an anime up front if it turns out to be a dud.
Being tangentially tied to a big-name franchise may not be enough on its own if it’s well past its peak, the way Tenchi is. Nor does the Tenchi name alone guarantee an anime deal, even for Kajishima himself. I’ve heard he’s stated in the past that his True Tenchi novels would’ve been a tough sell as an anime, and we know Tenchi was huge at the time.
That definition of “original anime” is quite possibly the one done here. Kajishima-sensei’s method of writing can be frustrating in that he loves having two possible meanings for what he’s saying, which always leads to rampant speculation (which is his goal if you ask me).
Still, I find it hard to believe that the True Tenchi novels would be a hard sell. Heck, those are the books I’d REALLY love to see made into an anime OVA series since they help flesh out this universe that Kajishima has created. However, I am a Westerner, so there may be factors for saying this would not be successful that I can’t fathom as a gaijin. I know that Azuma-sensei has stated that Yotsuba&! wouldn’t make a good anime, even though there have been fans in Japan and America who’d love to see such a series.
Some fun bentos: http://www.wired.com/underwire/2009/02/annathereds-sci/
Here’s her blog: http://www.annathered.com/
It’s just amazing what you can do with food and “little” imagination and creativity!
You probably already know, but this was OFF-TOPIC.
I knew and the guys did too, but knowing you, they let it through. ^_^
Sounds good if true, though I have some doubts about this news unless you know this Anonymous guy checks out.
@evgenidb: what does food have to do with this?
Off-topic…
Damn, forgot to put it there!
All I can say about this anonymous person is that they’ve provided translations for the last few text blurbs from Kajishima-sensei. Thus far, no one else has come forward with proof that these are not translations.
IF this is an anime from Kajishima, and IF it is non canon material, I’M STAYING WELL CLEAR.
NO WAY.
Kajishima is the ultimate troll.
*lol* I hear ya. Still, I’ll give it a look-see since I’ve seen every other Kajishima title, including the two hentai ones.
Well, if Masaki-sensei is tired of the Tenchi -verse, it does not mean that AIC is also tired, and maybe asking him for more material. Hopefully thay may result in he producing another short Tenchi series to get permission for his own project.
Maybe if we are luck, his new work will be just as good as work like Tenchi OVA, Dual, or ISG. There is no reason we can’t enjoy other series after all.
One good thing that can come out of this is his beginning to work with a co-writer. I believe he been avoiding them since the Tenchi OVA1 problems, but if he find i someone that he trust to fill in the details of words.
I think it’s the reverse: the AIC is tired of Tenchi or think of it as high risk project. Otherwise we could have already heard about a green light on new Tenchi related OVAs, series, etc. Or at least not-Kajishima’s spin-offs like it was in the 90s. There are non, so it’s more likely that AIC is tired of Tenchi, not K-sensei.
Further proof is that K-sensei continues to show “us”* more of his Universe with books, doujinshi,… and not a single original that’s NOT related to Tenchi somehow.
Maybe this original and bringing someone other to help is because he’s trying to save his universe in the “anime” front. Or he’s trying to finish more works than he’s capable of on his own. (I hope I understood what I mean.)
* By “us” I mean those who know Japanese. Unfortunately I’m not one of them.
Actually, I believe he has been working with co-writers all along (though I can’t say for sure that all of his novels have a co-writer). I’m pretty sure the ISM novel was co-written by someone. It is just that he can be a prima donna about his vision and so any writer that helps is more to make Kajishima-sensei’s writing a bit more understandable. He tends to write in a rambling, run-on fashion, based on his doujinshi stuff.
That said, this new novel would be written by someone else based off of Kajishima-sensei’s outline, so that part would be new for sure from what I understand.
As to whether AIC is tired of Tenchi or not, I couldn’t say. Certainly, there is a demand for stuff, as the GXP novels keep being published, and new doujinshi come out with each Comiket. Plus, the one factor in all of this that’s the biggest wildcard is Kajishima himself (IMO).
ANB, no offense but I think there are better ways to maintain your Tenchi cred than making a big deal out of very vague statements coming via anonymous sources.
Unfortunately, that’s everything official we get nowadays, which is still better than nothing. It might be a few years from now (if at all!) before we get another TM! related OVA or TV series, which is really sad.
And the chances that we’ll ever have translated TM! novel gets less and less with every year passing.
As evgenidb says, that’s all we get these days. At present, I’ve no reason to disbelieve the translated text. Yes, it would be better if said person and I had at least an e-mail relationship, but this person is staying anonymous and has done so for a while now. I am happy that we get a translation at all, but if someone proves that this is false, I’m willing to hear the evidence.
Whine whine whine. Those who don’t believe this translation is good can suck it unless they can do it better themselves. People sit around twiddling their thumbs waiting for someone else to do everything for them and then they still whine about it. Show some respect to ANB and be grateful that he has his sources and is bringing us the news, or else you’d still be whining about not knowing anything.
Keep up the good work, ANB!
>Keep up the good work, ANB!
Thanks. ^_^
Although the hard work is done by those who score the doujinshi and translate it. ^_^;
How is it whining to point out that something coming from an anonymous source lacks credibility? The only credibility this has is because ANB has a good track record with Tenchi information, but that’s because he always used to have reputable sources as well whom everyone knew and respected. So if he’s now making news posts based on the sayings of some random guy we know nothing about, it’s absolutely legitimate for us to express doubt.
I understand your concerns. All I can say is that for a long time, I haven’t had anyone who names themselves here when they post info, but I suspect it is the same people who used to provide info back in the day.
> Reality is a difficult thing to accept sometimes. ^_~
Apparently so, because anything based on a lot of “I hear” and “I’m told” without a shred of real evidence is not reality.
It’s funny how you always seem to hear so much about what goes on in Japan when, as you’ve repeatedly said here, your only available source for this here post is some mysterous anonymous person with no one else to confirm or deny it. It’s interesting how there isn’t anyone else who’s heard about the PPV route being selected because it was more profitable, but you have. Meanwhile some of us have heard that even Kajishima has expressed bewilderment over the no-TV move, but that can’t possibly be true because you haven’t heard of it. It’s certainly a wonderful thing we don’t have to substantiate any claims these days.
Now then, refresh my memory, doesn’t Funimation have a history of teaming up with the Japanese specifically to make anime geared towards the U.S. market, even if it didn’t do well in Japan? Separately from that, are you saying that you, a seasoned anime fan, don’t know of any instances of anime that did badly or mediocre in Japan but were successful in the U.S.? Are you perhaps saying you’ve never heard of a series being licensed as part of a package deal for some other property? Your appeal to your image of being in the know about how Funimation does things might work, but alas you’re also regularly complaining about how the folks at Funimation don’t actually give you any inside information when you ask them. That’s why it’s always the same “I hear” weak-sauce with you.
According to you the Japanese must be a bunch of fools who couldn’t figure out that stamping Seikishi with the Tenchi label would have done wonders for marketing. Could it be they simply had a little more integrity and didn’t resort to blatantly false advertising? I bet the casual Tenchi fans who buy Seikishi on name recognition are going to love the surprise when it turns out that the Tenchi gang never make an appearance in this show. I’m amazed to see you, with all your hard line ideas about always keeping everything authentic to the Japanese version, making excuses for this clearly deceptive move. In any other case like this, you’d be ranting your disapproval all over.
>Apparently so, because anything based on a lot of “I hear” and “I’m told” without a shred of real evidence is not reality.
Kinda like your pure speculation, without any shred of evidence other than your personal feelings, that ISM was a failure. ^_~ Odd that the last few Kajishima Onsen doujinshi have been ISM and sell for such a failure title that no one wants. ^_~
Here’s the deal; there is a very small group of people who loathe anything from GXP forward. That’s fine because to each their own. However, I keep hearing how everything sucks from GXP forward and that they are failures and whatever even though I know for a fact that GXP and OVA 3 for sure were quite successful, both here and in Japan. There’s nothing to suggest ISM wasn’t either.
>Now then, refresh my memory, doesn’t Funimation have a history of teaming up with the Japanese specifically to make anime geared towards the U.S. market, even if it didn’t do well in Japan?
What titles would you be referring to? Sgt. Frog, which was a massive hit in Japan but fell flat in the US? Or maybe it was Detective Conan? Or maybe it was the Lupin III OVA’s and movies (not counting the new Fujiko TV series)? Or maybe it was US cult favorite anime Kodomo no Omocha?
Still, considering how many anime fans have been irritated or angered over FUNimation dropping titles that have failed in the US, I suppose their business people go, “Hey! I’ve got an awesome idea. Let’s license a FAILED anime title in Japan ’cause we KNOW we can make money off it.” Yeah, that’s the ticket. By gum, you’ve cracked the code! ^_~
>…you’re also regularly complaining about how the folks at Funimation don’t actually give you any inside information when you ask them.
Um, “regularly complaining?” *lol* Wow. I guess I missed that and have been sleep posting. FUNimation tells me what they want to tell me. My NDA with them prevents me from telling things I know that is off the record. If it is on the record, then I go ahead and speak. And sometimes, they don’t tell me anything because at the end of the day, I’m not a FUNimation employee.
I can say that in this case, ISM was on FUNimation’s radar for some time. They even plugged it while it was still on PPV in Japan, and it was the only title they plugged that wasn’t a licensed title of theirs.
>I’m amazed to see you, with all your hard line ideas about always keeping everything authentic to the Japanese version, making excuses for this clearly deceptive move. In any other case like this, you’d be ranting your disapproval all over.
I don’t recall ever ranting over the title of an American release of a manga or anime. I have expressed my personal preferences, such as in the case of Bunny Drop, which I think could have remained Usagi Drop, but having spoken with insiders at manga publishing companies and FUNimation, I know that the naming of US releases goes down to the marketing team, which is then either approved or not by the Japanese (and in some cases, the Japanese insist on the American title name, whether to leave it as is or to change it to something specific). Indeed, the moment I heard what FUNimation named this, I immediately went to them to ask about it, and I’ve already said why they named it the way they did.
It is a nice try though. ^_^ Assuming you are around for my review of the DVD (or BD) release of this anime, maybe you’ll be in for a surprise or two, or maybe you’ll just come up with anther excuse to explain why I say what I say. Either way, you’ll have to wait a while. ^_^
AstroNerdBoy, I’m with you on not having a reason to doubt this news because I’ve seen you post this guy’s translations a few times before and I haven’t seen anyone disputing them. Even if it’s not 100% accurate, it’s better than being completely in the dark.
Regarding the title of ISM I have to say I don’t like what Funi has done, because the whole friggin’ point of the show is that it’s about Isekai which I understand literally means another world. If Masaki Kajishima had intended for it to go under Tenchi, he’d have put Tenchi in the title like with GXP. The AIC suits may have agreed to change the English name but that doesn’t mean it’s true to the author’s intention.
I agree. However, marketing trumps in this case, and $$$/¥¥¥ help grease the treads. However, at least in this case, there wasn’t already an official English subtitle, which was then subsequently renamed, as happened when Dark Horse licensed Ah! My Goddess.
Thanks for sharing this with us. I’d like to see a new Kajishima anime but I would prefer a Tenchi sequel or even an ISM sequel.
Yeah, I could go that route, though I’d prefer the Shin Tenchi Muyo! novels to be animated.
Tenchi fans have too much genki if people start picking fights over this trifle of information. Now all we need is for ANB’s biggest fan to add one of his insane rants. What I mean is take it easy guys and thank you for sharing ANB even if it sin’t much.
> Kinda like your pure speculation
Quite different from my speculation. I stated known information and my interpretation of it. You threw out a bunch of flimsy “I hear” and “I’m told” which you yet can’t substantiate for some reason.
> However, I keep hearing how everything sucks from GXP forward and that they are failures
If you keep hearing it, maybe you should give it some thought. They are failures beyond all doubt. It’s not measured just by breaking even, it’s about alienating most of your existing fans and not gaining nearly as many new ones.
> I know for a fact that GXP and OVA 3 for sure were quite successful
They used to be very successful, now they’re quite succesful. For a fact. I wonder what will happen if we continue this.
> There’s nothing to suggest ISM wasn’t either.
Glad to hear that unless there’s clear proof to the contrary we can claim whatever. Don’t mind if I do then. I don’t see why your claims must be taken as reality if all you have are speculations of your own. The only difference is that mine are based on facts and yours on unsubstantiated “I hear”.
> What titles would you be referring to?
No need to play dumb.
> Let’s license a FAILED anime title in Japan ’cause we KNOW we can make money off it.
Nice way to demonstrate your complete failure to see the point of that question. Or your lawyerly distortion ability, whichever it may be.
> I can say that in this case, ISM was on FUNimation’s radar for some time.
Anyone with basic reasoning skills could have told you they’d be interested in a Tenchi tie-in. This is your inside information? Thanks for the breaking news.
> I’ve already said why they named it the way they did.
And in any other case you’d have expressed your dismay that they did it this way. Instead you’re going out of your way to find excuses for the company. Is this the new definition of ANB-approved?
> It is a nice try though. ^_^
Why are you complimenting yourself?