Anime Vice Anime/Manga News

Not a hentai...but coulda been!

Hentai’s been on a few of our minds lately, either because we’re discussing its merits on this site or because we’re filthy-minded smut-watchers. (Guilty!)

So imagine my surprise when I heard this rumor: that Japanese anime studio Gonzo, responsible for the fanservice-tastic Strike Witches, the almost fanservice-less Romeo x Juliet and Gankutsuou, and of course, Afro Samurai, may be making a foray into the world of 18+ anime. According to this blog, an animator mentioned that such an anime was in development on Mixi, a popular Japanese social networking site.

Gonzo has been having some financial troubles, and last month they announced that they were going to reduce their output to only four series per year. If nothing else, we know that their releases on CrunchyRoll haven’t left them rolling in the dough, at least for the time being. A move to ero anime could bring in much-needed funds.

But just because it might make financial sense doesn’t mean it’s true, so let me reiterate that this is a completely unconfirmed rumor. I’ve got an e-mail out to Gonzo’s PR people to see if they’ll confirm/deny, but I wouldn’t expect much…if I do hear back, though, you’ll all know about it.