In school they always tell you not to copy others' works, but what happens if your textbook is guilty of that very act? Esteemed 2channel users have spotted an oddly familiar face in a French guide to the Japanese language. Perhaps it is a coincidence, but it doesn't stop there. They went so far as to track down the source image to prove that this had to be a serious case of TRACE ON. You'll find the incriminating evidence of this Simmons-style homage below.

If you remember back in 2010 there was a spinoff of Naruto featuring the super deformed chibi version of Rock Lee and other characters from Naruto. NarutoSD: Rock Lee no Seishun Full-Power Ninden also known as Rock Lee's Springtime of Youth Full Power Ninja Training will finally make it's anime debut.

Nico Nico Douga will be streaming the first episode of the English dub of the hit anime, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica next week. The first episode is scheduled to air Friday, February 10, 2012 at 11:30 PM EST on the Nico Nico Live program. Fans who live in Japan, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand will be able to tune in to watch. After the episode there will be a special segment with three of the English voices behind the characters.

English speaking viewers can watch the stream on Aniplex USA's NicoNico channel.

Source: [Presepe] via [ANN]

UPDATE: Added link to stream.

Mother of god… Bleach, a series that has been on-going for over a decade is finally coming to an end soon! The magazine known as Weekly Shonen Jump will bee announcing on Monday that the epic series is soon coming to a close.

P.S.: Wow, I remember watching Bleach years ago. I can’t even believe it still went on for this long.

Although the winter season is still in its infancy, upcoming Spring 2012 Sakamichi no Apollon (Kids on the Slope) is so notable that we have to talk about it right now. The series which is based on an award winning manga by the same name is notable for more than its awards and the fact that it will be airing as part of the Noitamina programming block. The series' trailer (which you'll find below) and official website have indicated that director Shinichirou Watanabe of Cowboy Bebop fame will be reuniting with composer Yoko Kanno (also of Cowboy Bebop fame) to work on the anime upcoming anime adaptation.

The series, which is based on Yuuki Kodama's shoujo manga, follows Nishimi Kaoru. Kaoru is a perpetual transfer student, who befriends his new school's class president, Mukae Ritsuko, and its local delinquent, Kawabuchi Sentaro. While they seem like they have nothing in common, it's their love of jazz that brings them together in a coming of age story with heavy emphasis on music. With a subject matter like that it's no surprise that such a stellar team has been assembled for the series. Check out the trailer and staff list below.

It sure has been a while since we've last heard any news on Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakama-tachi (Ookami-san and Her Seven Companions). In fact, the last time we heard about it was when Funimation announced that they had licensed it at Otakon 2010. Today Funimation unleashed the English dub of the 12 episode anime series on their website as well as a trailer on youtube which you'll find below. The English dub voice cast has only been revealed to Funimation's premium video service subscribers so far. It also shouldn't come as a surprise that a Limited Edition DVD / BluRay combo pack for the series has now been posted online with a release date of April 3, 2012.

It has been nearly 4 years since Code Geass: R2 ended and it's been 3 years since we heard the announcement that Code Geass was going to have a new series coming out. The title is going to be called "Code Geass Gaiden: Bōkoku no Akito" also known as "Code Geass: Akito the Exiled". We haven't heard news about it for a while, and I don't know about you but I need my Pizza Hut. Ever wonder what ever happened to that new series? Well we have good news for you.

Alright my non-American friends, take your bandwidth caps off, we're in for a wild ride. Anime streaming site, Crunchyroll has added full 1080p streaming for some of their anime titles. As of press time, we are not aware of any other anime streaming site that allows this kind of bandwidth abusing but eye pleasing streaming.

They plan to offer the 1080p option to paid subscribers, starting with approximately 20 titles which include Naruto Shippuden, Bleach & Nisemonogatari. HD-philes should probably take note that it's rare for 1080p to even be broadcast on TV so it's possible that Crunchy's 1080p option is really an upscale from either 720p or 1080i.

via UK Anime Network