Also: home version of opening to feature naked characters

Viewers of Cross Ange 's 13th episode on Saturday night may have noticed something was up with the "new" opening and ending sequences. As the second opening and ending, they mark the beginning of the series' second cour. Both the opening and ending were made mostly by reusing clips from the first cour's sequences, and Japanese fans on social media website Twitter began posting messages of confusion when the episode premiered.

This morning, CROSS ANGE Rondo of Angel and Dragon creative producer Mitsuo Fukuda expressed his regret over the snafu on Twitter. He explained that after seeing episode 13 one more time after work, his blood pressure rose again.

He wrote, "Regarding the opening, rather than saying it was involuntary, it's more the level of, 'I didn't give this kind of order!'" He noted that he absolutely wants to fix this problem by the time episode 14 airs, and explained that there is not much leeway when producing an anime during the end of the year, even though TV channels are still going during the end and beginning of the year. Fukuda wrote that he was extremely regretful about the situation, explaining that the photography process could not catch up to the frames that were already done.

Attentive fans might have expected this situation to come, because around half a week before the episode's airing, Fukuda posted about the bad quality of the opening sequence. He complained that it was not what he imagined. He also wrote that because of the busy production schedule, he could not take any time off for New Year's.



Fukuda also informed fans that the opening sequence featured on television and the one included in the packaged version will be different, with the girls featured in one portion being naked in the home video version. He noted that since it would be boring with lots of censor bars during the television broadcast, the decision was made to put clothes on the characters.

The show's second half premiered on January 3 with new theme songs by Yoko Takahashi (Evangelion, Shakugan no Shana, Ah! My Goddess) and Nana Mizuki. Crunchyroll is streaming the series as it airs in Japan, and Sentai Filmworks licensed the series for home video release in North America.

[Via Yaraon!]