The Hagane-shi takes a break as they get ready for their second act.

This is the news we’ve been waiting for…A new Fullmetal Alchemist series has been officially confirmed! Anime News Network reported that a wrap-around on the latest volume of the Fullmetal Alchemist manga (Volume 20 in Japan) noted that a new series is in production. This announcement came a month after Studio BONES denied that a second season was in the works at the time when information of another Darker than BLACK series was leaked. It’s about time!

[Source: Anime News Network]

Ah…the good old days when Final Fantasy XI was the only decent MMORPG available before World of Warcraft took over the online gaming market. At the time, Fullmetal Alchemist was a huge in both Japan and the US. What happens when you take the citizens of Vana’diel into the world of Hagaren? An awesome flash video! This video was made several years ago by a Japanese FFXI player, who is obviously a fan Hagaren, taking character elements from Final Fantasy XI (which is now commonly known as Machima) and the fourth opening theme of FMA, featuring “Rewrite” preformed by J-Rock group, Asian Kung-Fu Generation. The results are sweet. The next time you go to Bastok, don’t forget to see Colonel Mustang!

Next, there’s the J-Rock group that helped make Fullmetal Alchemist a legendary anime. L’arc~en~Ciel’s “Ready Steady GO!” is the second opening to the series. L’arc has been around for a long time–since 1994, to be exact. Older hits include “Fourth Avenue Cafe”, “Spirit Dreams Inside” (as heard in the Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within movie), and “Driver’s High” (opening theme to the Great Teacher Onizuka anime). After taking a five year break, they returned with this song.

Today, they continue to rock fans with “New World” (The Conqueror of Shambala) and “Daybreak’s Bell” (Mobile Suit Gundam 00 opening). The last two L’arc albums (SMILE and AWAKE) was released by Tofu Records, but they are now collectors album since Tofu is no more. However, thanks to iTunes Media Store, they can be downloaded with a click of a button. If you’re looking for just this song and don’t want to pay extra for the Japanese CD, look for FUNimation’s release of the Fullmetal Alchemist Soundtrack.

“Are you ready?”

Collecting Shitajiki is a step forward in becoming an Otaku for life. Anime enthusiasts usually collect figurines created based on original or existing characters. For me, however, I take a different approach to collecting anime memorabilia. Shitajiki are pencil boards, like a clipboard–but without a clip, and with graphics. They are just like trading cards, but twice in size!

The photo above is a sample my growing Shitajiki collection. I’ve been collecting them for a few years. The only time I buy Shitajiki is at anime conventions, where the tables are always crowded with fans looking through the selections. The first ones I found were amazing. However, some of them were “plain” since the same picture is seen all over the place, such as the Internet.

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For those who have yet to watch Fullmetal Alchemist have a reason to check it out. The next video in the Ni-Oangaku Spotlight series is “MELISSA” from Porno Graffiti. The song is the first opening theme to the anime, “Fullmetal Alchemist”. When I first heard this song, I had no idea it was a theme to an anime that I debated about checking out back when fansubs were huge–and not just on the subject of privacy.

After FUNimation got a hold of rights to Fullmetal Alchemist in 2004, I had to wait until the fall to check it out on Adult Swim (hey, I had dial-up at the time). Unfortunately, MELISSA isn’t anywhere to be found during the broadcast version, thanks to plugs for the now defunct Tofu Records’ domestic releases of L’arc-En-Ciel’s “SMILE” (”READY STEADY GO”) and Asian Kung-Fu Generation’s “ソルファ” (”Rewrite”). However, it’s on the Region 1 DVD release, which is an excuse to own the series.