SET ME APART": THE AWESOME ANIMAX AND PUPIL COLLABORATION

Anime fans have long been curious and downright perplexed by the appearance of top Filipino alternative rock band Pupil in ANIMAX's recent events. Well, wonder no more!

Last May 22 at the Hard Rock Café, the ANIMAX and Pupil collaboration was revealed with the release of the 24/7 youth/lifestyle network's hard rocking theme song "Set Me Apart".

After treating VIPs, media representatives and winners of the Pupil Party contest to a sumptuous buffet, Pupil took to the stage to perform their greatest hits. Needless to say, they've got the crowd dancing and singing for more. But the BEST came at the end when Pupil performed live ANIMAX's official theme song Set Me Apart, which practically blew me away because of its hard rocking beat and meaningful lyrics.

According to guitarist Yan Yuzon, "Set Me Apart is custom made for the channel. Ely and band manager Diane Ventura, all of us, in the process of making the song, we watched ANIMAX a lot to discover underlying themes in the shows that they have. It all boils down to BE DIFFERENT, which is the catch phrase of the network. We needed to write a song that would sound more like us and aptly describes the lifestyle that the channel portrays. Set Me Apart is the result."

After the live performance, they showed the cutting edge music video for "Set Me Apart", not once but twice, because of the clamor from the audience, and with good reason.


Not to give too much away, you'll be seeing the members of the band transformed into animated characters. Lead vocalist and guitarist Ely Buendia is transformed into a mecha pilot. Yani Yuzon is a futuristic gunslinger battling ninja ghouls reminiscent of the anime Hellsing. Bassist Dok Sergio is the King of Waterworld while drummer Bogs Jugo is a moody urbanite playing his drums in the middle of a busy freeway. The stylish video was directed by ANIMAX and produced by one of Malaysia's leading broadcast design and animation studios.

Indeed, Set Me Apart is the very impressive product of the collaboration between Pupil and ANIMAX.

According to Judy Chow, Director of Animax Marketing, "We've always had a partnership with Pupil. They supported a number of our events before like Fashion Ability and Love Is In the Air. I think they're a perfect fit for our channel, because they have a lot of inside values, which we would like to get across as well. The song is all about being different, having your own style, being an individual. And I think the band is very much like that. They constantly reinvent themselves, and yet they still stay true to their music. So we think they appeal to the youth, which is who our viewers are. I believe that's the true collaboration."

Where's the Continuation?

Are you one of those who have been left in a serious state of strangulation by certain anime that are so engrossing that you followed it religiously, only to discover that the very last episode left you hankering for more? I'm sure some of you have been requesting ANIMAX to please make/air second seasons of these anime, as Animax has been producing all these anime to begin with.

For now, there are NO reports from my sources that there will be a Second Season for "Alice Academy". Neither is there any news of continuations for "Detective School Q" and "Ouran High School Host Club".

There are rumors that there MIGHT be a sequel to "Fruits Basket", especially with the sell-out success of the final version of the manga. But this has yet to be confirmed.

What is definite is that you'll be seeing Season Two of "Emma: Victorian Romance" and "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" this year.

If you're asking me what series I want to watch new episodes of, here's my list…

1) Zipang (My Dad's dying to find out what happens to the poor crew of the Mirai)

2) Fruits Basket (I want to see Hatori and Haru again.)

3) Detective School Q (Because I want to see Ryu wearing a dress.)

4) Alice Academy (Mikan is a delight to watch!)

5) Slam Dunk (Why didn't they animate the Inter High Championships? Grrr.)

6) Tactics (I want to see more of the story of Kantarou and Haruka. Groan.)

7) Emma: Victorian Romance – Second Act (Because I want to see gorgeous Max the Butler!)

8) Ouran High School Host Club (26 episodes is not enough!)

9) FAKE (Why just one OVA? Why not make it into a series?)

10) Hellsing (Because I could never get enough of Alucard.)

The Monster Hit that is "Monster"

Before "Death Note" became a huge hit, there was another manga and Madhouse anime that fans (including yours truly!) followed greedily, despite its daunting length. I'm talking about Naoki Urasawa's brilliant medical suspense thriller, "Monster".

To those of you who haven't heard of it, "Monster" is about a brilliant surgeon named Dr. Kenzo Tenma who is faced with the moral dilemma of choosing which critical patient he should operate: a politician who will be funding the hospital he works for or a little boy who had been shot in the head. Unfortunately, his choice will lead him into a life of a fugitive, being pursued by both the police and a mysterious organization, whose members wish to rule the world.

"Monster" recently garnered two nominations for Best U.S. Edition of International Material–Japan and Best Continuing Series at the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards. For the former category, "Monster" will be facing stiff competition from "Walking Man" by Jiro Taniguchi, "Antique Bakery" by Fumi Yoshinaga, "After School Nightmare" by Setona Mizushiro and "Old Boy" by Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi.

MUSIC IN ANIME

Music has long played an important role in anime. Writing and performing the opening (OP) and ending (ED) themes of popular anime has served as a springboard to a lucrative recording career for many J-artists. To further increase the fervor of fans for certain anime titles, the seiyuu or voice talents have sung in character albums, launching singing careers for them as well.

In recent years, music by western composers and artists has become prominently audible in anime soundtracks, ranging from classical to pop to alternative music.

If you've been mesmerized by Kimiko Itoh's haunting "Follow Me" from Ghost In The Shell 2: Innocence, is actually set to Spanish composer Joaquin Rodrigo's second movement from Concerto de Aranjuez. Jazz versions of this tune were made popular by jazz legend Miles Davis and the James Last Orchestra.

Listen very closely to the whimsical ending theme "DuDiDuWa ~ LaLaLa" by Kotoko from The Adventures of Tweeny Witches. It is just a modern remake of the classic waltz "Beautiful Blue Danube" by Johann Strauss.

The dramatic background score of Gankutsuou/The Count of Monte Cristo comes from Pyotr Tchaikovsky's "Manfred Symphony" and Gaetano Donizetti's tragic opera "Lucia Di Lamermoor." Classical music lovers would readily recognize Robert Schumann's "Traumerei" as among the piano pieces that Eugenie Danglars performed in her first concert.

From classical to modern… Because of the success of anime in western countries, even popular composers and artists from the

U.S.

and

Europe

have contributed to the making of anime soundtracks and themes. A perfect example is award-winning composers Hans Zimmer and Mark Mancina, who wrote the brilliant score for Blood+.

Jean-Jacques Burnel, composer, vocalist and bass player of the British New Wave/Alternative Rock band The Stranglers, not only wrote the score for Gankutsuou/The Count of Monte Cristo, he also wrote and sang the OP and ED themes of this now classic anime, namely "We Were Lovers" and "You Won't See Me Coming", respectively.

British music icon David Sylvian wrote and sang the haunting ED theme "For The Love Of Life" for the anime suspense/thriller Monster. Popular Eighties New Wave band Duran Duran's debut hit "Girls On Film" was used as the OP theme for the Japanese release of Speed Grapher. Recently, the Red Hot Chili Peppers hit "Dani

California

" was used as the theme song for Death Note Movie 2: The Last Name.

Presently racing up the charts is "Inori ~ You Raise Me Up" by Korean American R&B singer

Lena

Park

. The song itself was written and composed by Rolf Lovland of the Irish band

Secret

Garden

, with lyrics by Irish novelist Brendan Graham. Even popular British soprano Sarah Brightman is all set to release "Be With You: Itsumo Soba ni", the theme song for the latest Pokemon movie.

Anime and music… It's a collaboration that is sure to enthrall anime fans and music lovers alike for years to come.

New Boy's Love Magazine in Japan

It cannot be denied that the Boy's Love genre is one of the most popular among female manga and anime fans.

Mediation, a publisher in Japan will be launching a new Boy's Love magazine called "Hug" this May 12. The fans of this genre are looking forward to "Hug"'s release since the maiden issue will contain "Border" by Kazuma Kodaka ("Kizuna") and the highly anticipated "FAKE Second Season" by Sanami Matoh, the sequel to her popular FAKE series which was originally published by the now defunct Biblos and translated into English by TokyoPop. As a preview of the new series, Matoh has recently been publishing new chapters of FAKE in the re-release of the original manga. Lead characters Detectives Dee Laytner and Ryo MacLane are both sporting stylish new looks for the upcoming sequel.

From Clovers to Lions

If you were one of those who got hooked to the bittersweet romance manga and anime "Honey And Clover", you'll be very happy to learn that artist Chika Umino will be starting a new manga that is tentatively titled, "Sangatsu no Raion" or "The Lion of March".

According to Umino, "'Honey And Clover' is a story about a world I already knew without having to extend myself, whereas 'Sangatsu no Raion' is a story based on researching and hearing various stories about worlds I don't know."

More "Kyou Kara Maou" OVA News!

f you're a "Kyou Kara Maou"/"God (?) Save Our King" fan, you might as well save up your mucho dinero this early. October 26 marks the release of the first volume in the five-part "Kyou Kara Maou OVA". A special live event is planned for February 24, 2008 in Nippon Seinen-Kan in Tokyo, which would feature a talk show style interview with the original Japanese seiyuus. Plus, the voice talents will even be performing a vocal drama onstage live.

Also in conjunction with the release of the first OVA, there will be a special DVD Box of the first 11 episodes of the series. Set to hit video shelves on September 28, the DVD box has a lot of freebies including original cover art and postcards by original character designer Matsumoto Temari and animation character designer Kudo Yuka and a special CD of the live vocal drama performance from the 2004 Maou Birthday Festival.

Death Note Triumphs Anew!

The two live action films of the hugely popular "Death Note" saga continue to reap accolades. The first "Death Note Movie" recently won The Pegasus ("Le Pégase") audience award at the 25th Brussels International Festival of Fantastic Film in Belgium. "Death Note: The Last Name" was the runner-up. Ironically Director Shusuke Kaneko attended the festival as a juror. "I was surprised when my own name was called out." Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that Hideo Nakata, director of the original "The Ring" Trilogy will be directing the "Death Note" spinoff, tentatively titled "L", which is scheduled for release in 2008. Ken'ichi Matsuyama will be reprising his role of genius detective L, together with Erika Toda as Misa Amane. Death Note Movies Trivia: If you've watched the movies, you would've seen Takeshi Kaga's passionate portrayal of Yagami Souichiro, Light's father. Kaga has tried his hand at being a voice talent ("seiyuu"). He dubbed the voice of Jirarudan in "Pokemon 2000 – The Movie" and took over the Dr. Kiriko role (in place of original seiyuu Hayami Shou) in "Black Jack: Two Doctors of Darkness."