A Look At Goro Miyazaki's Latest - "Ronia The Robber's Daughter"

The first trailer for Goro Miyazaki's latest foray into the directors seat since 2011's understated Up On Poppy Hill and 2007's divisive Tales from Earthsea is coming in the form of an upcoming TV show called Ronia. Based off of Swedish author Astrid Lindgren's 1981 story by the same name, the show will narrate the tale of a girl growing up in a medieval era setting alongside a clan of robbers in a castle.

A lot of people didn't expect the series to be a hybrid 2D/3D short, with the trailer revealing that the characters will actually be cel shaded models on hand painted backgrounds. This has lead to quite a bit of heated discussion between fans of Ghibli's work, decrying Goro's choices with the series- Although honestly we've already seen Ghibli go down the 3D route with the likes of the Level 5/Studio Ghibli videogame Ni No Kuni.

The production is a collaboration between Studio Ghibli, Polygon Pictures and Japan's NHK channel which is set to debut in the fall season of this year. No plans as of yet for a western adaptation.

"The Legend Of Korra" - Book 3 Trailer

While The Legend Of Korra - Book 2 was marred with quite a few stumbles, some minor character development issues, a tame villain and a slightly unsatisfying ending, I've still got my hopes up for the next chapter of the franchise. And the trailer is quite promising, and seems intent to address alot of issues present in the second season of the franchise.

No words in this trailer- Just an amazing score by Jeremy Zuckerman as we witness the return of characters like Tenzin leading an entire brigade of Airbenders, Jinora in the spirit realm, Korra on a glider and many new faces overall. The animation seems as awesome and fluid as ever, with plenty of amazing looking action to look forward to with minor plot snippets throughout.

Such a curious show for Nick, as it continues to walk a fine line between a kid and adult's show (More lean towards that). I guess that might be part of the overall appeal of Korra. No announced date yet for the release of this new season, but I get the feeling that Studio Pierrot has listened to their fans for Book 3, codenamed 'Change.' 

Wakfu - Ankama's Awesome Animated Series Making The Jump To English

Woohoo! If you've been following this blog for a while, you've probably heard me lament a few hundred times about the lack of France's Ankama animation never making the jump overseas. Wakfu in particular impressed me with it's fantastic animation quality, stylization (Courtesy of Ankama's Xaxaxa, among others) and popularity in it's home country which we noted during a trip to Paris. That was in 2011.

Fast forward a few years and it seems like Ankama launched a Kickstarter about a month back (Something we missed), which with less than 15 hours to go has blasted through all it's goals, achieving 500% funding (About $360,000). Among the rewards are some amazing art books, Blurays of the first season and more. I'd highly recommend checking it out if you get a chance. Here's to hoping other overseas studios take a similar approach with their franchises.

The World Of Milo - Another Amazing Animated Series From France

Following gorgeously animated series like Wakfu and a trip to Paris to check out the art scene, I'll say it again: France is the second-coming of the anime industry. While visiting I noticed that the art scene followed the same rules as Japan, in which the creator gets all the credit and retains the rights to his creation, which has resulted in a thriving culture there with young artists.



The World Of Milo is from the mind of French artist Christopher Ferreira, a former Les Gobelins alum who has actually worked in the Japanese anime industry on series including Lupin III, Genius Party, Bleach and other series, and he brought those skills back to work on his own series. There's a definite Ghibli-esque feel to the entire premise, involving a boy finding a new world and an epic quest on the other side of a nondescript lake. Here's to hoping it makes the jump to the West, as the animation looks gorgeous.

The World of Milo takes place close to a house by the lake, in which he often finds himself alone. One day he finds a beautiful gold fish, and his life changes forever! Following after the great fish, Milo runs into a man with the head of a toad, then another with an eagle's head, soon followed by a trapped girl. Milo discovers that on the other side of the lake lies an incredible fantasy world in which a battle between good and evil rages on. Over time he realizes that his involvement in this story isn't by chance.

Disco Destroyer Is Looking Slick

Developed by the rather awesome Jim Mahfood (Who's also contributing to the new Everyboy Loves Tank Girl series) in collaboration with Titmouse, Disco Destroyer is a new series that has just started airing on MTV's resurrected Liquid Television block. Mahfood's signature stylish pen and ink style is front and center here, and it's pretty damn badass.

Kind of like a mix between the pulpy goodness of Black Dynamite with hints of RedLine's kinetic races, this series definitely has an awesome combination of things going on. Two episodes have premiered so far, and we're kind of hoping that they'll be making their way online in some form or the other in their entirety at some point. Check out a preview of episode 2 after the break!