Did everyone have a good weekend? I spent most of it playing Tokimeki Memorial 4, but there was plenty of motion in the anime world. Among other things, we have a manga sequel to magical girl series Shugo Chara, an anime sequel to parody/history/moe anime Shin Koihime Musou, and a note of recognition for one of my favorite shorts of the year!

Shugo Chara Encore! Sequel Manga Starting in February

There was some worry earlier this year that the third Shugo Chara series going too far afield from the source material and starting to use too much filler material to pad the episodes. That concern was worsened when the end of Peach-Pit’s popular magical girl manga was announced. But fear not – according to the next latest Nakayoshi manga magazine, there’s more Shugo Chara on the way, and that almost guarantees a fourth season of the anime. Whether or not this is a good thing is up to you – I think that Shugo Chara is long past its expiration date, but as long as they keep putting out Mizuki Nana singles, I’ll still buy ‘em. (Source: ANN)

Shin Koihime Musou: Otome Tairan Announced

At the end of the last episode of Shin Koihime Musou, the producers snuck in a little joke. In spite of it being the end of the season, the characters participated in a next episode preview, which led to a lot of confused yelling. But there was a point – at the end of the episode, the logo for a new anime called Shin Koihime Musou: Otome Tairan appeared, along with an April 2010 air date.

I got tired of Koihime Musou’s premise after playing a little bit of the original game, so this new the anime doesn’t elicit any response from me. I’ve seen enough “turn historical/literary figures into cute girls/hot guys” anime and games in the past few years to fill a lifetime (see: Sengoku Basara, Ryofuko-chan, Ikki Tousen, and an endless stream of 18+ works I probably shouldn’t admit to knowing about), so I’m more than a little jaded about Koihime Musou.

“Fumiko’s Confession” Nominated For YouTube Video Awards Japan 2009

Over on YouTube Japan’s year-end awards page, you can find a whole host of independent animation projects from the sea of Japanese social media. My personal favorite is obviously the Looney Tunes-esque “Fumiko’s Confession,” which I loved when I saw it last month, but there are plenty of other worthy candidates you should check out too, like the lush and colorful Elephant Santie 3.

But, just because, here’s Fumiko’s Confession again: