October 2009 Archives

There's some variation in the OP this week, but is just a shuffle of the images they are using (more from eps 2&3) and still not a "proper" OP. The waitress uniforms have changed again. Ascoeur has messed up Bflle and Alisa's order and Q-feuille comes to her rescue again.
Ascoeur delivers an order to Chief Hiver's office where she is in a meeting with Trixie and Troisienne. Ascoeur trips and Trois expertly catches both her and the tray. Seems she has practice with Trixie (or likes winding her up). Ascoeur wants to hang out with them a bit longer and ArmSommer tried to dismiss her but they let her stay to listed to the debriefing for educational purposes.
Back in the café she then tells Q-feuille that she wants a partner like Trois which understandedly annoys her. They then find a limited edition Card CaptorCGetter Sakura wand which someone has left behind, which ignites the inner Otaku in Q-feuille. CG Sakura is designed up Kagami Yoshimizu (Lucky Star) and voiced by Yui Makino (Tsubasa Chronicle's Sakura). Oha Lucky!. Ascoeur dismisses it as a kids toy (look who's talking ^^;) which further annoys Q-feuille. This leads to them divding they room in half using a bedsheet and then into.. a maze? Alisa and Belle stay up a;; night trying to mediate. Judging by the posters Alisa is into Shounen, Bishounen and Boys Love. Q-feuille does an Akiba (Kannagi)
They clearly don't change costume daily in the café and neither does Mi nourose, who orders the pair to take resposibility for wearing out Belle and Alisa by (after another pair of Dr.Moro eyecatches with CG Sakura and Pumpkin Pudding man).. taking their place on the reception desk.
A beat up guy, Mr Onda (Hirokazu Hiramatsu - Konata's dad in Lucky Star), arrives and collapses, and they display excellent teamwork in catching him. After giving them a card which has to be delivered to a man named Smith by midday otherwise his planet goes into immense debt, he is carried away on a stretcher. There are Smiths in multiple section of the relevant department. Q-Feuille displays her ability, precognition, for the first time, which makes her hair glow and her eyes turn yellow. All she sees is a woman so Ascoeur teleports to a random Smith and is referred from section to section, ending up in a section with only female Smiths. It takes teamwork to figure it out - the only smith that had been to Onda's planet recently was a woman bodybuilder who has been mistaken for a man. The injured guy comes back and thanks them and they make up, but Ascoeur can't resist calling Q-fi a tsundere.
It turns out the Sakura staff belongs to Troisienne who is a big fan (and that is so not a Lumière room, shedding further doubt on that possibility..) so Q-feuille starts idolising her also - and arranged to go over her house to cosplay together.

The ED is the CG Sakura theme "Magical Sakura-chan" (マジカルさくらちゃん) performed by Q-feuille (Aya Gouda) and Troisienne (Yukana). The ED sequence itself is just background art stills.

Next ep: Babysitting Special Duty (子守特務 Komori Tokumu) - they have to act as bodyguards for the blonde loli currently displayed on the top image of the Official Site. They'll be up against a pair somewhat reminiscent of Alv and Dvergr.

--Edit--
OP single artwork now up on the Lantis site (still nothing on the b-side track nor any listing for the three other CDs).

Links:

KIDDY GiRL-AND #03 -- Sakura's Stick (Tenka Seiha blog)
Kiddy Girl-And - Episode Three (NyanNyan Anime Blog)
Early Impressions: Kiddy Girl-and
3 Episode Taste Test: Kiddy Girl-and (chaostangent blog)
KIDDY GiRL-AND - 03 (Random Curiosity)

kiddygirl-and.com has had a major redesign. Most obvious is a new top image featuring Ascoeur, Q-feuille and an unfamiliar blonde, blue-eyed loli (a new anime-exclusive character? A side character from episode 3? Viola?)

I believe the following sections are all new:
A story section, but it only covers up to today's episode.
A Staff & Cast page.
A DVD & Goods page (just details the magazines and manga at present)
A Special page with the two trailers.
A web radio page.
A links page.
A broadcast page.

The information page has been updated regarding the next chapter of the Manga in December's Comp Ace - KIDDY GiRL-AND is the cover story this issue; the magazine has Ascoer and Q-feuille on the cover for the first time. Chapter 7 is entitled "Pretty Attack" (ぷりてぃ☆あたっく) and I believe it will be in full colour? I also gather that Letuchaia and Pauk will be coming into the open for the first time.

The only change to the database is that the "new" flags have been removed from the pages that were updated last to save confusion.

--edit--

Added some links I missed first time as they are on the front page but not on the submenu.
From the episode 4 preview the new girl in the top image will be an episodic character from that episode (no idea if she will be recurring or not).

Can I haz real OP nao pls?

Tweedledee is working on the security system, following last weeks breach, with one of those invisible keyboards that saves you drawing keys (but would be impossible to actually use), in an immense room with huge nanomist monitors lining the far end - you think they would have provided her with opera glasses or something. Q-feuille brings coffee and she's wearing a different waitress uniform to last week. Ascoeur is admiring puddings, including the pumpkin pudding that gave the title to one chapter of the manga (see the gate illustration on Yukari Higa's blog here). She's also wearing the alternate uniform and Mi nourose is dressed, wigged and made up differently also (yet again reminding me of Shangri-La's Momoko). Ascoeur wheedles a pudding out of her which makes her so happy she sings about it. Time to shut up for the night, and to lock the door you tap random spots on a panel - numbers and biometrics evidently being too easy.
They meet up with Belle and Alisa on the way to the cafeteria, with Ascoeur and Q-feuille making a detour to their shared quarters where Ascoeur is so anxious to eat her pudding she keeps opening and closing the fridge door - it looks like Ascoeur wasn't kidding about Q-feuille's memory last episode as she automatically knows exactly how many times she opened the door without having to count. Minu is both head of the girl's dorm and cook and boy is she scary when she's cooking. Ascoeur finished her food in a flash but is denied a second helping, so Q-feuille gives most of her meal which Ascoeur accepts without a second thought (I feel sorry for Q-fi but while she often acts annoyed she really does care for her partner)
They seem to have inherited the pool from Mahora. The steam isn't Strike Witches bad, but the angles make up for it so there's lots of nudity but not really any overt fanservice. Ascoeur really is a child ^^;
Back in their quarters (which, while not exactly a mansion are pretty spacious), but tragedy strikes when Q-feuille sneezes and set off a chain reaction of flying objects which knocks Ascoeur's pudding on the floor. Ascoeur spazzes out so bad Q-feuille has to restrain her from licking it off the floor. She isn't going to wait till tomorrow to get more so.. they're going to climb around on the outside of the tallest tower in the complex? Q-feuille is now in her "regular" costume that I don't think we've seen thus far in the anime, but Ascoeur is still wearing pyjamas.
Time for some breaking and entering. The building is full of sensors but Q-feuille is good with computers and memorised details of the security system when visiting Tweedledee earlier.

Eyecatch is Pumpkin Pudding Man! Dr. Moro again so looks like a break from the norm for gímik series with no series of guest artists - although Yuiko Tokumi is on the ED credits this episode for "SD" character designs.

Tweedledee is still hard at work in her football stadium and she's detected the intrusion and sends.. a Yaranaika arm wrestling robot (is this Shiraishi's influence?). I really have no idea what's going on here.. and now mist that makes them sound like men. Why? And now they have to cross a deep pit bridged by two oiled up Sumo dolls? I think Tweedledee has gone a little kooky in her old age. Faceful of sumo nappy is just so wrong. So is Sumo paizuri. Aaand the first outing for Q-feuille's kuropants (with surprising lack of detail given who is directing this). Now they are chased by a mob of Muska clones (from Ghibli's Laputa) for reasons which entirely escape me.
And what's this? Is is a ball? Is it a plush Tweedledee? No, it's a Genetech Doll! This is where Tokumi Yuiko comes it (c/w this). And she's brought some friends to play! And.. play Ascoeur does - it's a CG Tweedle Afro! And now it's time to get serious - the Choco Bonbombs are in play. But the chibis are getting serious now too. Are they trying to suffocate her, muzzle her or kiss her?
Q-feuille to the rescue and, were there some serious goal in mind this might be touching but.. "Leave me, save yourself, go eat your pudding!" doesn't quite make the grade. Some time this episode that girl needs to remember she can teleport and falling down a pit seems like as good a time as any - but apparently not.
Has this taken them all night? Apparently so; the sponsorship image after the ED shows when they finally escaped the pit trap the pudding was all gone.
Next ep is "The Worst Compatibility?" (最悪の相性？ Saiaku no Aishō?), and I haven't a clue what it was about.

So far this is bearing little resemblance to the manga - I had been hoping for a more serious anime (ideally set after the manga and the whole waitress gig) but it is going the other way entirely at the moment.

Links:
Each Kiddy Girl-and Episode to Stream for 24 Hours (ANN)
Kiddy Girl-and Officially Online (Animenation)
KIDDY GiRL-AND #02 -- YARANAIKA!? (Tenka Seiha blog)
[review] ★ Kiddy Girl-And -- Lucky Item (rhodanum's Livejournal)
Kiddy Girl-Yaranaika? (Kurogane's Anime Blog)
Kiddy Girl -And - Episode Two (NyanNyan Anime Blog)
Kiddy Girl - AND (aka Kiddy Grade 2) (alpha_zulu's Livejournal)
First Impressions: Kiddy Girl-and
Kiddy girl -and - 01 (bananamuffin anime blog)
KIDDY GiRL-AND - 02 (Random Curiosity)
Kiddy girl -and -02 (bananamuffin anime blog)

Prologue narrated by Norio Wakamoto. In Sc 0354 (midway between the two series) there's some sort of big space battle involving Tweedledee, Tweedledum, A-ou and Un-ou, a planet is about to go boom which for some reason will doom the galaxy (whether this is a physical or strategic threat is not made clear). Éclair and Lumière for some reason turn into immense balls of light and dark that coalesce and envelop the whole planet (following on from the clips in the pilot DVD, Éclair is floating in the orbital elevator shaft and Lumière is surrounded by the remains of Donnerschlag-Re)

OP (mostly recycled footage)

The GU (Globe-Governments Union) is now the UG (United Globe Governments).
As in the pilot DVD the GTO (Galactic Trade Organization) logo bears the text "As it was in the beginning, and now and ever shall be, the World without End" from the Gloria Patri.

Fastfoward to SC 0379, GTO headquarters on Aineias. Unlike the manga, Ascoeur is already working at Touch&Go, the GTO coffee room. She's ordered to report to Chief Hiver and is both well known and liked within the GTO. Security on the Chief's office is a lot lower than what it was in Eclipse's day as she just barges right in ^^;. She was actually just ordered there to deliver some coffee and left without listening to the full instructions forcing Q-Feuille to follow with the tray.
Receptionists Alisa and Belle finish their shift and head to Touch&Go. Q-Feuille is a lot better at the job while Ascoeur is just a clumsy clutz who can't even keep an order straight in her head. She wears buruma under her waitress uniform - that wasn't in the manga. The owner of the joint, Mi nourose (a tranny voiced by Shiraishi), doesn't approve and they get into a big argument.
He might not have the right seiyuu or the mole, but Hiver's secretary Sommer does have Armbrust's grey eyes (Hiver being voiced by Kaori Mizuhashi, who was Mercredi/Pfeilspitze in the original series, and both also have green eyes). They walk in on the fight which ends with Ascoeur taking of her buruma. Who is now deperately trying to hold her skirt down because she realises she took off her knickers as well.

Dr. Moro Eyecatch - more indication that Hiver is Pfeilspitze as she is celebration a "big promotion".

A bunch of old guys wander in, Alisa tries to direct them back onto the tourist route but they are actually soldiers in boxers with nanomist disguises, which they now exchange for armour and guns.. and manage to shoot up the room without actually managing to hit anyone.
Sommer has a tiny case (like a business card holder only a little larger) which is a Black Box - leaving little doubt as to who he actually is - and uses it to produce a reflective shield. The buy guys take Q-feuille and the receptionists hostage. They seal off the whole room with nanomist barriers and demand Hiver's surrender. Ascoeur come to the rescue, teleporting and using the beam sword in her comb (I preferred the teleport effect from the pilot). Q-feuille wades in with signal jamming smoke Choco Bonbombs. Ascoeur's nanoneedle gun tranquillizes rather than exploding, but like the bonbombs might have multiple functions.
Ascoeur remembers she's still going commando but dropped her pantsu. She now starts firing tranqs indiscriminately taking out friend and foe alike. The lead bad guy has a device which strips them all, combining their nanoarmour to form a genetech beast dragon. Which promptly takes him out. (Hiver's height is 178cm, but she aparently keeps her weight a secret from her enemies). Ascoeur stabbing the dragon in the head just makes him mad, flying off with her in tow. She loses her grip on the comb while trying to hold her skirt down and has apparently forgotten she can teleport. Ouch, much repair work required to the building.
Now she remembers she can teleport but doesn't take relative speed into account. Ok, her sword can do BIG. Doesn't look like she'll get the credit for slicing it lengthwise as the troops take it out, but she's more worried about whether they saw up her skirt.
She finally gets some get pantsu back from Mi nourose and Hiver chews them out about overstepping their mark, not being ES-Members yet, and is a little miffed the state of her office.
Trixie and Troisienne (give us an official spelling already, please) turn up - given that Armbrust has been recast there is still a chance that they are Eclair and Lumiere. No-one can stay mad at Ascoeur long it seems.

ED (Ascoeur version)

Next ep: Sweet, trap (甘い、罠 Amai, wana) - return of the chibi 'dledees.

I'll be back with screencaps at some point (probably not tonight as my head is pounding and I have work tomorrow), and if I see a translated version will either revise or just write a new entry depending on how much detail I missed and how much I misundertood..

Revised, corrected or expanded a few things based on having seen the episode a few more time now. Still haven't got around to doing screencaps, sorry.

Links:
Kiddy Girl-and Discussion Thread (AoD forums)
KIDDY GiRL-AND #01 -- Panty Panty Revolution (Tenka Seiha blog)
Kiddy Girl-and 01 (Kurogane's Anime Blog)
Some Quick First Impressions: Kuchuu Buranko and Kiddy Girl-And (Star Crossed Anime Blog)
Kiddy Girl-And - Episode One (NyanNyan Blog)
KIDDY GiRL-AND - 01 (Random Curiosity blog)
Kiddy Girl - and - (ANN forums)
KIDDY GiRL-AND ep. 1 (Kite ze Inbou blog)
Kiddy GiRL -AND: Worst Anime of the Season (Moe Sucks blog)

Kadokawa has posted two KIDDY GiRL-AND commercials on Youtube:

「キディ・ガーランド」番組宣伝CM 【角川アニメチャンネル編】
「キディ・ガーランド」番組宣伝CM 【アニメNewtypeチャンネル編】

(I think it is exactly the same thing twice in fact)

There's also a half-length version on the official site.

Judging by the first scene of a destroyed orbital ring the events from the original pilot have been kept in some form at least. The music playing is the opening theme, Baby Universe Day.

Oh, ANN has already picked up on this (after ignoring all the emails I've sent the newsroom over the last couple of months regarding the series).

Aya Uchida has also blogged about performing the theme songs and about the PVs.

[edit]Added screenshots in the extended entry[/edit]

[edit=200910132139BST]
The first episode title is "Lucky Item" (ラッキーアイテム)
[/edit]

[edit=200910151926BST]
Just spotted a fourth KG-A single on AmiAmi. Other than the fact that it is out on the 23rd December and costs 300¥ more than the other three at 1500¥ there is no information.
My next update should be some form of writeup on the first episode.
[/edit]

Links:

Kiddy Girl-and, 11eyes, Boys on the Run Promos Posted (ANN)
Kiddy Girl-and Trailer Online (AnimeNation news blog)
The New Kiddy Grade (Quantumworx Blog)
Kiddy Girl-and (Dark Aquamarine blog)
Kiddy Grade's Sequel -- Kiddy Girl-and Preview! (NotCliche)
Kiddy Girl-and trailer (Animekon)
TV Anime KIDDY GiRL-AND Pickup (Lantis News&Topics)
『キディ・ガーランド』1０月１５日（木）より順次放送スタート！！ (Satelight)
A Fan History of Kiddy Grade (Otaku Crush)
Kiddy Girl - and Teaser (NyanNyan anime blog)

Full information on the opening and ending themes has been added to the official site:

OP theme: Baby Universe Day
Lyrics: Aki Hata
Composition: Katsuhiko Kurosu
Arrangement: Kaoru Ookubo
Performed by: Ascoeur (Aya Uchida), Q-Feuille (Aya Gouda)

ED Theme 1: Sun and Moon (太陽と月 Taiyou to Tsuki)
Lyrics: yozuca*
Composition: rino
Arrangement: Hijiri Anze
Performed by: Ascoeur (Aya Uchida)

ED Theme 2: Moon and Sun (月と太陽 Tsuki to Taiyou)
Lyrics and composition: yozuca*
Arrangement: chokix
Performed by: Q-Feuille (Aya Gouda)

- it looks like we're having alternating ED themes this time (last time it just alternated between closeups of Eclair and Lumiere at the end).

(reposted as I messed up when posting this at midnight)

The first volume of the manga has arrived:

Along with November's Comp Ace and Ch. 6.5: "Breaktime GTO".

Also, since I never obtained a copy originally, here's ch. 4: "Smile and Delivery"

Now I have a legible copy of the cover I've also some corrections to my earlier post containing the character bios.

Also, to reiterate a few things I've added as comments that weren't worth creating entries for:

There's a 10m advert for the anime on the side of the Cinema Sunshine in Ikebukuro, for pictures see the official site and Aya Gouda's blog.

There's a few new magazine scans on moe.imouto.org.

Aya Gouda and Natsuko Kuwatani have both blogged about their part in the anime, and both Aya Gouda and Aya Uchida have taken pictures of themselves with early copies of the manga.

The release date of OP single "Baby Universe Day" has been postponed from the 21st to the 25th of October, and there is now a section for the series on their site, which as of the moment only contains details on then OP. The artist name still hasn't been revealed but there was a post on 2ch (which no longer seems to be there, but there is a copy of it here) which claimed the artist is Aya Uchida, and also that the ED song title is "The Destiny's Line" by Faylan (until anything official comes out, take this with a heap of salt). [edit]actually, scratch that - it also says the single is being released on 11/11. Faylan does indeed seem to have a single coming out that day, but as it is pretty well documented that the KG-A ED singles are due out in December..[edit]

Anything else that comes up I'll either add here or in the comments.
No major links to add, but there's brief mentions of the series in Autumn Lineup posts in blogs everythere. There is a fan translation of the first chapter of the manga, but I'll let you locate that yourselves.