January 2011

January 31, 2011

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NEWS!!!


Magazine: Tokyo MX TV Affected by Youth Ordinance Bill


Weekly Gendai's source says station may self-regulate "explicit anime"; Tokyo MX denies job applicant filtering

On Monday, the February 12th issue of Kodansha's Weekly Gendai magazine published an article that discussed the disruption that the recently passed amendment to Tokyo's Youth Healthy Development Ordinance may cause to the Tokyo MX TV station's future plans. According to the magazine's unnamed source in the station's management, "There is a possibility that we will self-regulate the broadcast of explicit anime" because of the station's deep ties with the government. The source specifically cited the number of late-night anime that have panty shots and other kinds of risque depictions on Tokyo MX.

Weekly Gendai's source at Tokyo MX added, "We are popular among students as a station known for its strong presence of anime," but the station may have to reconsider hiring anime fans among new graduates. For example, the job application sheet may have the question, "If you were to take a foreign friend sightseeing in Japan, where would you take him or her? If the student were to write "Akihabara," the station might ask him or her to leave the application process.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government passed an amendment to the city's Youth Healthy Development Ordinance last month. The amendment would expand the number of manga and anime that fall under "harmful publications," the legal category of works that must not be sold or rented to people under the age of 18.




News: Navarre: No 'Adequate' Offer for Sale of Funimation


Sales effort may halt if no offer by March; higher income in Funimation's segment

Navarre Corporation, the Minneapolis-based parent company of the North American anime distributor Funimation, released its financial results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2011 on Monday. The financial results cover the three months which ended on December 31.

The report states that Navarre "has not yet received an adequate offer" in its efforts to sell Funimation. Although its efforts continue, the company anticipates halting the process in the event that no adequate offer is made in the fourth quarter, which ends on March 31.

As Navarre had announced in previous quarters, Funimation is now listed as "discontinued operations" — a financial term for a segment of a company that has been separated from the rest of the company, or has been approved for separation. Despite the connotations of the term, Funimation continues to operate as normal. Navarre is now reporting Funimation's financial information separately from the rest of Navarre's holdings while it is finding a possible new owner for Funimation.

Navarre's "discontinued operations" showed an income of US$1.8 million. In the third quarter of 2010, one year prior, discontinued operations showed an income of US$928,000; in the first quarter of 2011, the segment had an income of US$895,000, and in the second quarter, it had an income of US$1.68 million.




Interest: Gundam Lookalike Statue Reappears with Changes


Modifications added to orange statue removed from Chinese theme park last month

The orange statue with a striking resemblance to Sunrise's Gundam robotic mecha has reappeared with modifications in a photograph posted by a Twitter user named "otoutosama." Floraland (Chengdu Guosetianxiang), an amusement park in the central Chinese province of Sichuan, had erected the statue last year, and then insisted that it was "not an imitation but an original [design]. It is not an copy of Gundam, but a design we came up with."

A public relations representative added last December, "Since there are reports of similarities, we are currently working on modifications." Days later, the statue was suddenly removed, and park officials denied the existence of the statue to the news agency Agence France-Presse. The park's website also removed the image of the statue from one of its pages.

Source: Anime News Network soel





January 28, 2011

Did you know that we have more new titles that we know you will enjoy and even love? Here are some that we know that will widen your eyes with delight.


Masamune Shirow - Pieces 5 - Hell Hound 02

Tales Series 15th Anniversary - Visual of Tales


If you want to see more of what we have, you are always welcome to check out our New Arrival section for more.

Also, did you know that we have a lot of new Doujinshi that we recently have gotten that might be up your alley? They are the new rave in Japan recently and we have brought them back to share for those in the United States. Most of them are really good and even some that we all love and recognize like John Hathway and Shirow Miwa. We will be getting some more in so keep a look out on them in the weeks to come. But, for those who can't wait, check out our Doujinshi section for the current ones that we have in stock. Who knows? You might find one that will blow your mind.


larg

NEWS!!!


FUNimation Sues 1,337 Downloaders Over 'One Piece'


Anime distributor FUNimation Entertainment has filed suit in Texas against 1,337 individuals who it accuses of using BitTorrent sites, including isohunt.com, kickasstorrents.com, and nyaatorrents.org, to download copies of One Piece #481: Ace Rescued! Whitebeard?s Final Order!. The suit identifies the individuals only by the IP address used to download the episode, and seeks to use the discovery process under the suit to find out who was using those IP addresses.

The lawsuit was filed under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, and seeks injunctions to prevent further downloading, actual or statutory damages, costs, and attorney?s fees.

Lawsuits against end users have not had great success at slowing downloads in the past. The Recording Industry Association of America sued around 18,000 individuals between 2003 and 2008, when it ended the strategy. Most of the sued parties ended up settling with the RIAA for amounts of a few thousand dollars per person.

Litigation against end users has now shifted to independent film-makers, who began suing thousands of BitTorrent users last year.

Although such litigation affects only a small fraction of the individuals who download copyrighted content, those that bring such suits hope that a deterrent effect will slow downloading by others who hear about the suits.




Ex-Morning Musume Mari Yaguchi Designs New Digimon


Pop singer also voices half-panda/half-bee Panbachimon for Digimon Xros Wars

Mari Yaguchi, a former Morning Musume idol singer, designed a new character called Panbachimon which will appear in the television anime Digimon Xros Wars on February 1. Yaguchi also recorded the voice for the new character on January 19, the day before her birthday. Yaguchi said that she is a big fan of anime and wanted to try her hand at becoming a voice actress.

The opportunity to work on Digimon began with Yaguchi's appearance on the Anime Seisaku Senyū Tour!! Digimon ga Dekiru Made program last October. The body of the Panbachimon character has the top half of a panda and the bottom half of a bee. Its special moves include "Bamboo Leaf Cutter" and "Poison Stinger," although Panbachimon does not use these moves in the 25th Digimon Xros Wars episode that Yaguchi voiced, "Zone Hōkai! Hibana Chiru Taiki to Kiriha."

During her time in Morning Musume and its sub-unit Mini Moni, Yaguchi voiced a super-deformed "Yaguchi-san" version of herself in Mini Moni the TV and Mini Moni Yaru no da Pyon!. She also made cameos as the hamster version of herself, "Gucchan," in Tottoko Hamutaro: Ham Ham Ham~Jya! Maboroshi no Princess and Tottoko Hamutaro: Hamu Hamu Land Daibouken. She guest-starred as herself in Futari wa Precure Max Heart 2: Yukizora no Tomodachi and as Yoko on One Piece. Among other songs, she sang theme songs for the Hamtaro films and television series, One Piece, and Orphen.




News: X Japan Signs With EMI Music North America


1st U.S. single, "Jade," in March; Yoshiki to launch monthly show on Sirius XM Radio

The rock band X Japan has signed a three-year contract with EMI Music North America, with the first single release scheduled for March 15. The single, titled "Jade," is going to be the band's first single in North America.

Band leader Yoshiki said that they are also planning for an album in summer, and a tour before the end of the year. Yoshiki will also launch a monthly one-hour radio program called Yoshiki Radio on the American satellite network Sirius XM Radio.

The band made its American debut last year with a performance at the rock festival Lollapalooza and other venues. X Japan has created music for anime works such as the X² music video collection and the X film.




Interest: Daily Videos: Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts Promos


Square Enix previews Dissidia, FFXIII, Kingdom Hearts sequels

Over the past week, the videogame developer Square Enix released several trailers on its YouTube account. Most of these trailers are for sequels of past games, including Final Fantasy XIII, Kingdom Hearts, and Dissidia: Final Fantasy. However, one trailer is for the game Moon Diver, formerly titled Necromachina. The game features character designs by former Tatsunoko employee Roberto Ferrari, who also designed characters for Song Summoner: The Unsung Heroes - Encore.




News: Arrietty's U.S. Theatrical Run Set for February 2012


The film news website Deadline.com reported on Wednesday that Disney will release Hiromasa Yonebayashi and Studio Ghibli's Arrietty the Borrower film in North American theaters on February 17, 2012.

The movie originally opened in Japanese theaters last July with supervision by Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki. Even though 18 months will have passed between the Japanese opening and the American opening, the film can still qualify for eligibility in the 84th Annual Academy Awards in 2012 — provided that it screens for at least one week in a Los Angeles County theater in 2011.

The film re-imagines Mary Norton's 1952 novel The Borrowers by moving the story to a Tokyo suburb. The story revolves around Arrietty, a member of the "little people" who live under the floorboards of a regular human family's home, and their struggle to remain hidden from the human "beans."

Producer Frank Marshall revealed this month that Bridgit Mendler is voicing the title character. Joining her in the cast are Amy Poehler, Will Arnett, David Henrie, and Carol Burnett.

Source: Anime News Network and ICv2soel





January 21, 2011

As promised, we have started to make some changes on our site!!! If you look up from here, you would see two new features - Sign In and Register! Now, you can sign in and check out your purchase history or even make adjustments to your account just in case you purchased another item that you already have at hand. Oh, yeah! Did you know that you can use your existing YAHOO!, Google, or Aol. account to register? Well, you can! One click of a button and you are ready to start in the new Animebooks.com!

Come back and check out what new existing stuff we have in store for our customers in the upcoming months.


larg

NEWS!!!


Hawaii's Kawaii Kon Hosts Voice Actor Kappei Yamaguchi


Clannad, Angelic Layer dubbing director David Williams to also attend

Honolulu-based anime convention Kawaii Kon announced that voice actor Kappei Yamaguchi will appear at the April 29-May 1 event, along with dubbing director David Williams and rock group Eleven Staples.

Yamaguchi is best known for his title roles in Ranma ½ and InuYasha, both anime adaptations of works by Rumiko Takahashi, and for his role of L in Death Note. Yamaguchi also portrays Usopp in One Piece and Shinichi Kudo in Case Closed (called Jimmy Kudo in the English-language version). Last year, Yamaguchi attended North Carolina's Animazement event, and the year prior he appeared at Seattle's Sakura-Con. In 2008, Otakon hosted the voice actor.

David Williams has worked on anime titles for 18 years and has directed the English dubs of popular titles like Clannad and D.N.Angel. He currently works for Sentai Filmworks.

Eleven Staples is a band consisting of anime, manga, and game fans local to Hawaii; it will be their second appearance at Kawaii Kon. Also attending this year's event are Arashi Productions' Jonathan Tarbox, voice actor Scott McNeill, and voice actress Wendee Lee.




Interest: 2011 Super Sentai Film Unites 199 Heroes/Rangers From All 35 Years


Film has every robot in franchise; Kamen Rider's 40th year marked with 2 films

The Japanese film distributor Toei announced during its 2011 lineup press conference on Wednesday that it will release a film tentatively titled Super Sentai 35-Saku Kinen Sakuhin on May 21. The film will assemble 199 heroes from every team in the live-action special-effects Super Sentai franchise — from the original 1975-1977 Himitsu Sentai Goranger to this year's Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger. (Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger will launch next month in Japan as the 35th entry in the longrunning franchise.) In addition to the 199 heroes, the May 21 film will feature all of the giant robots in the franchise.

A separate film, Tensō Sentai Goseiger vs. Shinkenger Epic on Ginmaku, is opening in Japan this Saturday with the heroes from the 33rd and 34th Super Sentai entries. Anime and manga pioneer Shotaro Ishinomori launched the costumed hero franchise with Himitsu Sentai Goranger. Power Rangers Samurai, an American remake of the 33rd Japanese Super Sentai series Samurai Sentai Shinkenger, will premiere on the Nickelodeon channel on February 7.

Toei will also mark the 40th anniversary of Ishinomori's live-action Kamen Rider franchise with two films this year. OOO - Den-O - All Riders Let's Go Kamen Rider will assemble the Kamen Rider characters from all the entries in the franchise on April 1. On August 6, the newest Super Sentai and Kamen Rider series will cross over in the Gekijō-ban Kamen Rider OOO/Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger film.




News: Oshii Writes Novel of Satoshi Kon's Unfinished Seraphim


Katsuya Terada illustrates prologue to novel by original story creator Mamoru Oshii

Mamoru Oshii, the acclaimed anime director and the original story creator of the late Satoshi Kon's unfinished Seraphim: 2-Oku 6661-Man 3336 no Tsubasa (Seraphim: 266,613,336 Wings) manga, will publish a novel version of the manga in the Spring of 2012.

The story is set after the world has been ravaged by "tenshi-byō" (angel disease), an affliction that eventually leads to death for all the victims. To solve the mystery of this disease, three wise men and a girl named Sera embark on a journey to the heart of Central Asia. Many enemies and conspiracies await them along the way.

According to Kon, Oshii created the story's original concept and then asked Kon to make a manga of it. Kon originally serialized the manga in Tokuma Shoten's Animage magazine from the May 1995 issue to the November 1996 issue, but the story was incomplete after 16 chapters. After Kon passed away last August, Tokuma reprinted part of the manga in Monthly Comic Ryū magazine and then compiled Kon's entire run into a book (pictured at right) last December. Tokuma is also publishing Kon's first manga series (Kaikisen) this Friday and Kon's short manga stories (Yume no Kaseki Kon Satoshi Zen-Tanpen) on February 17.

The March issue of Comic Ryu shipped on Wednesday with a supplemental booklet containing San Kenja Reihai-Hen (Three Wise Men's Worship), the prologue to Oshii's Seraphim: 266,613,336 Wings novel. Illustrator and character designer Katsuya Terada (Blood: The Last Vampire) illustrated the prologue.

Source: Anime News Networksoel





January 5, 2011

The new year has began and it is time for a new start! We are going all out for our customers making sure that you get the greatest satisfaction from us. We will be making some few changes such as shipping options, better services, and much more. You'll see...

To our customers, we are throwing out the guns and bringing our customers the newest and rarest titles straight out of Japan. No joke! We want our customers to feel that they deserve these books. After all, you guys have done a pretty good job in 2010. So... why not?

So, let's start with the year off with...Hatsume Miku and the rest of the Vocaloid gang. We know you love them. We love them too! There is not much to say about them so we will let the books doing all the talking. Take a gander at these books fresh out of Japan!


Hime-Chara☆ Designers File Art Book

Vocaloid Art & Comic - Graphics 2 Art Book


If they are not your thing, how about this one? This character is from the famous artist huke that was featured in the pixiv Official Book 2009 for the work of Black Rock Shooter. Black Rock Shooter was the IT girl of 2010 with loads of figures and a 50 minutes OVA. Clearly, she was the one customers were dying to have. This book is the official book of the OVA that features so much such as screen caps, character profiles, and more. Not only the book, but we also have the Black Rock Shooter figures and they were all designed by huke. This new sensation is certainly not a miss. So...check them out.


Black ☆ Rock Shooter - Phenomenon Fan Art Book by Hobby Japan

Nendoroid: Black Rock Shooter Action Figure





January 1, 2011

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!!! WE HOPE GOOD FORTUNE TO ALL AND A HEALTHY NEW START OF A NEW YEAR. WE WOULD LIKE TO THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR LOYAL CUSTOMERS OUT THERE WHO HAVE SUPPORTED US LAST YEAR. HOPEFULLY, WE WILL SEE YOU GUYS AGAIN. TO OUR NEW CUSTOMERS, WELCOME TO ANIMEBOOKS.COM!





IF YOU MISS OUT ON ANYTHING FOR THESE MONTHS, COME CHECK IT OUT UNDER THESE SECTIONS.