March 2010
March 31, 2010 Update:
Another wonderful month come and gone. We hoped that you have enjoyed this month and we know you can't wait for April. Easter Sunday. Earth Day. And our favorite April Fool's Day. Come back for upcoming stuffs and conventions waiting for you around the corner.
WOW! It is almost time for Sakura-Con! We are coming to to Seattle, Washington for the famous Sakura-Con this weekend and we can't wait to meet you all. Come by our booth and say "Hi" to us.
NEWS!!!Mai Kadowaki, Rika Morinaga Cannot Attend Sakura-Con
Kadowaki, Washington con cite lack of time, complications in days before event
The voice actress Mai Kadowaki has announced on her official blog on Tuesday that she is unable to attend the Sakura-Con event in Seattle next month. According to Kadowaki, one of the coordinators explained that they "were not given enough time to coordinate and work out all the details between the Sakura-Con hosts and agent, so as a result, the trip to the United States is cancelled." Kadowaki said that she had already packed for the trip and was looking forward to meet her fans at the event. However, she expressed her hope for another chance to visit the United States.
Sakura-Con confirmed that Kadowaki and fellow voice actress Rika Morinaga are unable to attend the convention this year. The event staff added, "We are all very disappointed — including the guests and production companies. We were approached just weeks ago, and despite paperwork and such all in place before the announcements, other complications made the arrangements fall through just within the last day or so. Sometimes trying to put together things so close to the event can mean unforeseen complications are more likely to arise, even with everyone's best intentions. We are very sorry for the inconvenience and disappointment." Sakura-Con had just announced the two voice actresses' scheduled appearance last Wednesday.
The rock bands High and Mighty Color and Dazzle Vision, voice actress Mayumi Tanaka, voice actor Ryo Horikawa, animator Tsuyoshi Nonaka, director Satoshi Nishimura, character designers Yutaka Minowa and Takahiro Yoshimatsu, and illustrator Noizi Ito are still scheduled to attend the convention from Japan.
California's FanimeCon to Host Singer Halko Momoi
Voice actress of My Bride is a Mermaid's San Seto, Ai Yori Aoshi's Chika Minazuki
FanimeCon has announced that it will host voice actress and singer Halko Momoi at the May 28-31 convention in San Jose, California. She had attended FanimeCon last year as well.
Momoi has voiced roles in more than 30 anime, including Ai Yori Aoshi's Chika Minazuki, My Bride is a Mermaid's San Seto, Tales of the Abyss' Anise Tatlin, and Nurse Witch Komugi's Komugi Nakahara. Momoi sang and co-wrote the Under17 duo's theme songs for such anime as Genshiken and DearS. She has since performed solo and appeared on the soundtrack for D.C. ~Da Capo~ and School Days. Momoi is also a journalist, a composer, and a music producer who founded the music label Akihaba Love Records. Momoi became famous through her online journal and street performances at Tokyo's Akihabara otaku shopping district.
FanimeCon will also host the J-rock band LM.C.
Red Hot Chili Peppers, Oasis to Do Beck Film's Themes
Live-action version of Harold Sakuishi's rock manga to open September 4
The producers of the live-action film adaptation of Harold Sakuishi's Beck rock-and-roll manga announced at a Tuesday event in Tokyo that the American band Red Hot Chili Peppers and the British band Oasis will contribute the two theme songs of the film. Red Hot Chili Peppers will provide the opening theme song "Around the World," while Oasis will provide the ending theme song "Don't Look Back in Anger."
The film will open in Japan on September 4. Red Hot Chili Peppers had previously given their "Dani California" theme song for the live-action film adaptation of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata's Death Note manga. Oasis provided the opening theme song "Falling Down" for Production I.G's Eden of The East television anime series.
Hiro Mizushima, the star of the manga-based Absolute Boyfriend, Hana Zakari no Kimitachi e: Ikemen Paradise, and Lovely Complex projects, plays the charismatic guitarist and band leader Ryusuke Minami, while Takeru Satoh (Princess Princess D, Kamen Rider Den-O, Rookies) plays the ordinary high school boy Koyuki. After a chance encounter between these two, Koyuki joins Minami's five-person rock band, Beck, on its rise to stardom.
Rounding out the band's roster are Kenta Kiritani (Crows Zero, Rookies) as the rapper Chiba, Aoi Nakamura (Shinigami no Ballad, Q.E.D., Koizora) as the drummer Yuji Sakurai, and Osamu Mukai (Honey and Clover, Nodame Cantabile, Monochrome Factor, Mei-chan no Shitsuji) as the bass guitarist Taira. Director Yukihiko Tsutsumi (20th Century Boys, Trick, Ikebukuro West Gate Park, H2) appeared at the Tuesday event with actress Shiori Kutsuna, Mizushima, Satoh, Kiritani, Nakamura, and Mukai.
The original manga ended in Kodansha's Monthly Shonen Magazine in 2008 in Japan, and 15 million copies of the 34 volumes have been published since it began in 1998. Whereas Koyuki was the protagonist of the original manga, the film will focus on Ryusuke. Tokyopop published the first 12 volumes in North America, and Funimation completed its release of 2004-2005's BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad anime version in 2008.
Legendary Pictures Licenses Godzilla Film Rights
The Variety entertainment news source reports that America's Legendary Pictures production company has licensed the rights to make a Godzilla film from Japan's TOHO, and it plans to open the film in 2012. Legendary Pictures is co-producing and co-financing the film with Warner Brothers. Legendary Pictures will announce the director soon and has indicated that its version will hew closer to the original 1954 film rather than Sony's 1998 Godzilla remake. Dan Lin (Sherlock Holmes), Roy Lee, Brian Rogers, Yoshimitsu Banno, Kenji Okuhira, and Doug Davison will be executive producers on the film.
Adult Swim Lists Kekkaishi's U.S. TV Premiere in May
Sunrise's 2006-2008 anime of Yellow Tanabe's supernatural action manga
Adult Swim, the late-night television programming block of Cartoon Network in the United States, lists the American television premiere of the Kekkaishi anime during the May 29-30 weekend on its online schedule. Viz Media announced that it had acquired the television anime series at Comic-Con International last July. The Sunrise anime studio adapted Yellow Tanabe's Kekkaishi manga into 52 episodes from 2006 to 2008.
The story follows Yoshimori Sumimura, a 14-year-old junior high school boy who is the 22nd Kekkaishi — barrier master — of the Sumimura clan. As Kekkaishi, Sumimura and his rival Tokine Yukimura protect the land from supernatural beasts.
The original manga has been running in Shogakukan's Weekly Shonen Sunday magazine since 2003, and Viz will publish the 21st of the 28 current manga volumes in May. Viz has also been streaming the English-subtitled version of the anime on the Hulu website since January.
Source: Anime News Network
March 25, 2010 Update:
NEWS!!!Black Rock Shooter Anime to Be Streamed for Free
50-minute video streamed, Hobby Japan extra in June 25-August 31 campaign The official website of the Black Rock Shooter anime project has announced on Wednesday that the full 50-minute length of the anime will be streamed for free to "everyone," although it does not specify if the stream will be available outside Japan. The streaming is part of a promotional campaign that will run from June 25 to August 31. As the first part of the campaign, there will be a free DVD bonus extra for Hobby Japan magazine, which has a circulation of 160,000.
The website also announced that the main cast of the anime has been decided:
Mato Kuroi: Kana Hanazawa
Yomi Takanashi: Miyuki Sawashiro
However, more of the cast will be announced at a later date. The Nico Nico Douga video-streaming website will host the Black Rock Shooter production crew on its Toriaezu Namachū program's Okinawa Special Week. Good Smile representative Aki Takanori, illustrator huke, director Shinobu Yoshioka, Ordet studio head Yutaka Yamamoto, and others will appear at the program.
Captain Harlock's New CG Pilot Images, Staff Revealed
Gundam UC's Fukui, Appleseed's Aramaki & Takeuchi, Ninja Scroll's Minowa
Toei Animation has announced that it has completed a pilot for its planned computer-graphics remake of Leiji Matsumoto and Toei's Space Pirate Captain Harlock manga and anime franchise, and it has revealed a preliminary image and the project's staff. Mobile Suit Gundam UC author Harutoshi Fukui, Appleseed director Shinji Aramaki, Appleseed mechanical designer Atsushi Takeuchi, and Ninja Scroll character designer Yutaka Minowa worked on the new Space Pirate Captain Harlock pilot with Sega Sammy Visual Entertainment. More details will be announced at this week's Tokyo International Anime Fair.
Avatar's CG Staff Light Stage Worked on Gaiking Pilot
Toei's new Gaiking CG pilot images revealed
Toei Animation has announced that Light Stage, one of the production tools used on the computer graphics for James Cameron's Avatar film, was used for an all-new pilot for a remake of Toei's Gaiking anime series. Light Stage developer Jules Urbach produced the pilot in North America. The pilot will be revealed for the first time at this week's Tokyo International Anime Fair.
In addition to Avatar, Light Stage also worked on Spider-Man 2, King Kong, Superman Returns, Spider-Man 3, Hancock, and Benjamin Button. Light Stage received a Scientific and Engineering Academy Award in recognition of its work.
Samurai Champloo Composer Jun 'Nujabes' Seba Passes Away
Automobile accident in Tokyo on February 26 claims hip-hop producer's life
The official website of hydeout productions has announced on Thursday that Jun Seba, the hip-hop producer better known as Nujabes, passed away due to an automobile accident in Tokyo late in the evening of February 26. He was 36 years old. An ambulance had rushed Nujabes to a hospital in Tokyo's Shibuya ward, but the live-saving efforts of the medical staff were ultimately unsuccessful.
Nujabes made his professional debut in 2003 on the label compilation album first collection and his first solo album, Metaphorical Music. He composed the music in Manglobe's Samurai Champloo television anime series, including its "Battlecry" opening theme song. He had left behind some unreleased tracks in the studio, and his label plans to release those tracks on some format in the future.
Source: Anime News Network
March 23, 2010 Update:
We just want to mention that the Magazines/Mooks section is now complete! All of the March 2010 issues are now in stock and ready for their new homes.
NEWS!!!Funimation Reschedules Darker than Black's 1st Set (Updated)
The North American anime distributor Funimation has rescheduled its Darker than BLACK: The Complete First Season DVD set for May 4. The set was originally slated for this Tuesday, but consumers had reported a problem with the set's third disc in copies which shipped early. People who received the early copies can return them for replacements.
Update: Funimation Senior Public Relations Manager Jackie Smith gave ANN the following statement regarding the Darker than BLACK DVD issue:
After its manufacture we discovered a video issue with disc three of the Darker than BLACK, The Complete First Season release scheduled for today. We have identified and corrected the issue and have rescheduled its release for May 4th. If you have already received this title, please contact our Product Concerns department at productconcerns@funimation.com to arrange a replacement disc.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Singer and Voice Actress Mari Iijima to Appear at SacAnime
Singer and voice actress Mari Iijima, known for playing the role of Lynn Minmay in both the Japanese and English dub versions of The Super Dimension Fortress Macross science-fiction anime series, will appear as a guest at SacAnime convention in Sacramento, California from September 3 to September 5.
Iijima contributed songs to later Macross projects and had her own independent music career. Her debut album, Rosé, was produced by composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. In 2006, Iijima returned to Macross to reprise her role as Lynn Minmay in the English dub. In doing so, Iijima made history by becoming the one of the first Japanese voice actresses to reprise a major role in the English dub of a Japanese anime. Iijima currently lives in Los Angeles.
Other guests at SacAnime include voice actress Ali Hillis (Final Fantasy XIII's Lightning) and voice actor Liam O'Brien (Naruto's Gaara of the Desert, Bleach's Jushiro Ukitake).
Seattle's Sakura-Con to Host Voice Actor Ryo Horikawa
Voice of Dragon Ball Z's Vegeta, Saint Seiya's Andromeda to attend April con
Sakura-Con has announced that it will host voice actor Ryo Horikawa, known for his role as Vegeta in the Dragon Ball Z animated television series and accompanying movies, at the April 2-4 convention in Seattle.
Besides his role as Vegeta in Dragon Ball Z, Horikawa has voiced roles in more than 100 anime, including Detective Conan's Heiji Hattori, Saint Seiya's Andromeda Shun, and Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory's Kou Uraki.
The rock bands High and Mighty Color and Dazzle Vision, voice actress Mayumi Tanaka, animator Tsuyoshi Nonaka, director Satoshi Nishimura, character designers Yutaka Minowa and Takahiro Yoshimatsu, and illustrator Noizi Ito will also attend the convention. Director Yasuhiro Imagawa was also scheduled to attend the convention, but had to cancel due to a new project.
Source: Anime News Network
March 19, 2010 Update:
NEWS!!!Funimation Recalls Darker Than Black
According to The Right Stuf International FUNimation Entertainment has issued a recall for the Darker than BLACK Season One release. Although the release was scheduled for March 23, consumers started reporting a problem with the third episode of the third disc in the set earlier this week.
Source: Anime News Network
March 17, 2010 Update:
HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY EVERYBODY!
We hope that you were all avoided that "pinch" since you were wearing the lucky color green. If you didn't, better luck next year.
We got a couple of new titles that we think you might find very interesting.
Vocaloid Art & Comic - Graphics
She is not wearing green, but it is close to it depending on which image you have seen our popular Hatsune Miku. This book is a very good deal for all Vocaloid fans especially since this is a very hot title in Japan! This book features a lot of images (including from the PSP Project Diva) from famous artists!
Canaan Official Fanbook
From the creator that gave us Fate/Stay Night, comes this new series called Canaan. For any fan of the series, this title is a keeper. It has tons of images from the series, episodes digest, and more. A true fan would not miss this title, especially if you are Type-moon fan.
NEWS!!!Yasuhiro Imagawa Cancels Trip to Sakura-Con
Trigun's Satoshi Nishimura & Takahiro Yoshimatsu, Haruhi's Noizi Ito, others still coming
Sakura-Con announced that director Yasuhiro Imagawa (Giant Robo, G Gundam, Shin Mazinger Shōgeki! Z-Hen) has cancelled his guest appearance at the April 2-4 convention in Seattle. Imagawa offered his apologies for canceling due to a new project, and he expressed his hope that he can attend the convention in the future.
The rock bands High and Mighty Color and Dazzle Vision, voice actress Mayumi Tanaka, animator Tsuyoshi Nonaka, director Satoshi Nishimura, character designers Yutaka Minowa and Takahiro Yoshimatsu, and illustrator Noizi Ito are still scheduled to attend the convention.
Last year, both Nonaka and Imagawa were scheduled to appear at Anime Weekend Altanta, but then cancelled their appearances.
One Piece #57 is Fastest Manga to Sell 2 Million
Latest volume reaches 2 million in 2 weeks; #56 took 6 weeks
The 57th volume of Eiichiro Oda's One Piece pirate manga has sold 2.005 million copies in two weeks to become the fastest manga volume to surpass the 2-million-copy mark in the history of Oricon's ranking charts. Shueisha had printed three million copies of the volume in its first printing, and it had already sold 1,690,932 copies in its first week of release.
The previous volume, One Piece #56, had taken six weeks to surpass the 2-million-copy mark in January. 185.6 million copies have been published in the entire series, including the latest volume.
Source: Anime News Network
March 15, 2010 Update:
NEWS!!!U.S.'s Nicktoons TV Adds Dragon Ball Z Kai in May
Also on Nicktoons: Voltron Panthera Force
America's Nicktoons television channel has announced that it will run the Dragon Ball Z Kai action anime series starting in May 2010. Nicktoons, a spinoff of Nickelodeon, will also launch Voltron Panthera Force from World Events Productions, Ltd. in conjunction with Kick Start Productions. (The channel did not specify if Voltron Panthera Force is Japanese-animated or not.) Nickelodeon made the announcements in the press summary sheet for its 2010 Upfront Presentation for advertisers on Thursday morning in New York City.
The Dragon Ball Kai television series condenses the 1989-1996 Dragon Ball Z anime series to more closely follow Akira Toriyama's original Dragon Ball manga. In addition to a digital high-definition remastering and a re-recorded soundtrack, Dragon Ball Kai also enhances selected scenes with new effects or re-animated footage. The series premiered under the name Dragon Ball Kai in Japan last April, and it has consistently ranked among the top 10 anime in viewer ratings every week since.
Funimation had licensed the series for North America, and it plans to ship the first part of the series on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on May 18. The distributor already licensed both the Dragon Ball Z television series and the earlier Dragon Ball television series for North America. Funimation reassembled most of its original Dragon Ball Z cast for the English dubbing of Dragon Ball Z Kai, except for four new cast members. Viz Media publishes the original manga in North America.
Nickelodeon has run a number of anime titles in the past, although neither Nicktoons nor Nickelodeon has a Japanese animated program in the current season.
Anime Expo to Host Bebop Designer Toshihiro Kawamoto
Kawamoto also worked on Gundam 0083, Golden Boy, Wolf's Rain, Heroman
Anime Expo has announced on Thursday that it will host the prolific character designer Toshihiro Kawamoto as a Guest of Honor this year. Anime Expo is scheduled for July 1-4 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
A co-founder of the BONES animation studio, Kawamoto is best known as the animation director and character designer for Cowboy Bebop and Wolf's Rain. His other designer credits include Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory and Golden Boy. He also served as a key animation director for Sword of the Stranger, Escaflowne: The Movie, Fullmetal Alchemist, and Eureka Seven. His career as an animator includes titles such as the first Mobile Suit Gundam series in 1979, Nadia - Secret of Blue Water, and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. He is now the chief animation director for Heroman, this spring's superhero anime series from BONES and American comic pioneer Stan Lee.
Kawamoto joins previously announced guests: director Shinichi "Nabeshin" Watanabe (Excel Saga, Puni Puni Poemy, Tenchi Muyo! GXP), voice actress Yuu Asakawa (Love Hina, Azumanga Daioh, Bubblegum Crisis 2040) and J-rock band SOPHIA.
Source: Anime News Network
March 10, 2010 Update:
We have received a lot of new titles and we just had to let you know!
pixiv Girl Collection 2010 Art Book
The 2009 title was a hit, but now, there is a whole new one just in time for 2010. This book showcase more new artists and their works in one big volume! Over 100 artists and over 150 illustrations. It just couldn't get better than that. Rare books come in once in a blue moon, so come and get your copy today!
One Piece Color Walk 4 - EAGLE
Join the crazy adventures of Luffy and his crew and they voyage out into the great blue in this all new installment of the COLOR WALK series. This volume contains illustrations by Eiichiro Oda from July 2003 to February 2005. Come and get this book before it set sail out to the horizon.
The time has come to witness a new volume in the Final Fantasy saga. Just in time for the release of the new Final Fantasy XIII out on March 9,2010, new books and new figures just release for your entertainment pleasure. Be sure to sock up a lot of Hi-Potions and Elixirs. You might need after all the Final Fantasy XIII overload. Here are some to get you started in the right path:
Final Fantasy XIII Official Guide Book - Lightning Master Guide
Final Fantasy XIII Official Piano Piece Piano Solo / Vocal & Piano Score
Final Fantasy XIII > Final Fantasy XIII: Snow Play Arts ~Kai~ Action Figure
Not enough? Want more of Final Fantasy XIII? Come check out our Books, Other Goods, and Figures from the game. There will be more stuff in store for this series, so keep on a look out. Just don't forget to bring your Materias with you. We hope that Yuffie is not watching you...
NEWS!!!Gundam 00 Film's Official Title, New Character Revealed
The anime studio Sunrise has announced the official title of its Mobile Suit Gundam 00 film on its website on Wednesday. The title is Gekijō-ban Kidō Senshi Gundam 00 -A wakening of the Trailblazer- or Mobile Suit Gundam 00 the Movie: A wakening of the Trailblazer. The film will open in Japan this September and continue the story from the two television seasons of the Mobile Suit Gundam 00 anime series.
Sunrise also announced that advance tickets will go on sale on March 27 with one of two card-sized stickers. The "Type.A" sticker (shown at right) will depict the main character Setsuna and a mysterious new character, while the "Type.B" sticker will feature Setsuna's new 00 QAN[T] mobile suit.
Quentin Tarantino Sued Over Kill Bill's Anime Segment
A man named Dannez Hunter filed a lawsuit against Quentin Tarantino and others on Monday on several claims, including the allegation that Tarantino's Kill Bill film project plagiarized Hunter's "Lotus" film treatment. Hunter claims that he gave the Miramax film studio the concept of a character named "Ren based on the historical lineage of Samurai 'Sakanouye No Tamuramaro.'"
Hunter further claims that Tarantino "copied verbatim the concept/character name 'Ren,' without changing anything and pilfered every element from the Lotus treatment, including Ren witnessing her mother's sadistic murder in a cartoon format, the knife through the mother's abdomen that went inches away from her face with droplets of blood on her face as she gasped for breath, burning the house down while standing next to the small shrine, Ren becoming the head of the Yakuza, the collection of the Katana swords, the death touch, the esthetic [sic] look of the Yakuza, the collection of the Katana swords, the death touch, esthetic [sic] look of the cover-page treatment marketing plan, and her being taken by her father to be trained by her grandfather to become an assassin."
According to Hunter, he registered a copy of his treatment with the Writers Guild of America in 1999, four years before Kill Bill: Vol. 1 opened in theaters. Tarantino and his A Band Apart production company, Miramax and its founders Bob and Harvey Weinstein, Miramax's parent company Walt Disney, The Weinstein Company, Carlos Goodman, Bloom Hergott, and the Visiona Romantica and Lawrence Bender Productions corporations are named in the lawsuit as defendants. Hunter is seeking in excess of US$1 million for damages. The E! network's website posted the filed document that launched the lawsuit.
Shōjo Manga Pioneer Moto Hagio Heads to Comic-Con
Hagio's appearance at San Diego precedes Fantagraphics' new manga line
Fantagraphics Books has announced on Monday that shōjo manga pioneer Moto Hagio will appear as a special guest at Comic-Con International in San Diego this July. Fantagraphics will announce more details on Hagio's planned speaking event and panel at the July 22-25 convention soon.
Hagio helped pioneer both modern shōjo manga and modern science fiction manga. Along with To Terra's Keiko Takemiya and Rose of Versailles' Riyoko Ikeda, she co-founded the Year 24 Group — a group of innovative female manga creators who were born in or around the Year Shōwa 24 (1949) and who shaped the now diverse field of shōjo manga. Along the way, Hagio earned the Shogakukan Manga Award, Seiun Award, Osamu Tezuka Cultural Prize, and Nihon SF Taisho Award.
Although Hagio debuted in 1969 and has been popular in Japan ever since, only a handful of her works have been released in English until now. Viz Media published A,A' and They Were Eleven, while Fantagraphics' The Comic Journal published her "Hanshin" short story along with an interview in a special shōjo manga issue. They Were Eleven was eventually made into an anime movie of the same name which Central Park Media distributed in North America.
Hagio's appearance will mark the launch of Fantagraphics's new manga line in September. Fantagraphics will ship A Drunken Dream and Other Stories (a collection of short stories by Hagio) that month, followed by the first volume of Takako Shimura's Wandering Son (Hōrō Musuko) manga in December. Kyoto Seika University cultural anthropologist and veteran manga translator Matt Thorn had conducted Hagio's interview in The Comic Journal, and he is now editing Fantagraphics' new manga line. Both of the announced books will be hardcover in the original right-to-left page-turning format.
New Bleach No Longer Slated for April on Adult Swim
The schedule of Adult Swim, the late-night television programming block of Cartoon Network in the United States, indicates that the Bleach anime series will be repeated from episode 129 onward, starting early in the morning of Sunday, April 25. Adult Swim had run an onscreen bumper in January that said that new episodes of Bleach would premiere in April, but no new episodes are listed in the April schedule after episode 167 repeats early in the morning of Sunday, April 18.
Adult Swim's schedule of weekend anime, as of April 24-25, will be as follows:
12:00 a.m. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
12:30 a.m. Bleach
01:00 a.m. Bleach
01:30 a.m. Bleach
02:00 a.m. Cowboy Bebop
02:30 a.m. Cowboy Bebop
03:00 a.m. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
03:30 a.m. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
04:00 a.m. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
04:30 a.m. Big O
05:00 a.m. Inuyasha
05:30 a.m. Inuyasha
Source: Anime News Network
March 9, 2010 Update:
NEWS!!!"Sailor Moon" Fans Eager for Revival Of Both Anime & Manga
It hasn't been a good last half of the decade for the Sailor Moon property in the English speaking world. Naoko Takeuchi's innovative magical girl team (sentai) manga debuted in 1991 and immediately spawned an anime adaptation from Toei. The manga, which was published here by Tokyopop (then known as Mixx) starting in 1997, helped spur the turn-of-the-century manga boom, while the Sailor Moon anime series received a ton of TV exposure here in the 1990s. All that exposure moved a lot of merchandise and inspired a wide and diverse audience. But since 2004 the anime series has been off the air in all English-speaking territories, and Tokyopop's license for the Sailor Moon manga lapsed in 2005.
Word that Toei was planning a worldwide revival of the property based on the Sailor Moon anime has stirred interest in U.S. fan sites, which were also energized in 2009 when Funimation announced that it was considering a re-dubbing of the Sailor Moon series and put out survey questions to Sailor Moon fans.
The Moon Chase site publicized the Funimation survey and collected more than 1,300 responses. After sending a 200-page report on the initial survey to both Funimation and Toei, the folks at Moon Chase have continued to survey Sailor Moon fandom in order to discover how fans would like to see the Sailor Moon anime and manga series revived here in the States.
Certainly it would be ideal if the Sailor Moon series could be brought back in a more pristine form. DiC Entertainment, which adapted the first two seasons of the anime, bowdlerized the series. Six episodes were eliminated entirely, while two others were merged. Every episode suffered cuts to eliminate scenes that were deemed inappropriate for children and to create more time for commercials and the DiC-produced "Sailor Says" educational inserts.
Cloverway's adaptations of the third and fourth season were far closer to the Japanese originals, though they weren't without key changes "Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus were simply depicted as "kissin" cousins" rather than the lovers that they were in the original version.
The fifth series Sailor Stars was never dubbed and released here in the U.S. Naturally the fans surveyed by Moon Chase are most interested in getting the Sailor Stars series released here in the States. As for bringing back the first four Sailor Moon series, the majority of the fans want either a new dub with the original cast or a re-release of the old dub. It appears that the fans have fond memories of the original series since 70% of them want to retain the musical cues created for the English dub rather than reverting to the original Japanese musical cues.
As for the manga, in 2003 Kodansha began publishing the shinsoban (renewal) edition of the original 18-volume manga series. Takeuchi reworked some of the drawings that she felt needed polishing and produced new sketches and new covers for the revamped series. Kodansha increased the number of chapters in the individual volumes. The revamped series includes 12 volumes of manga and two volumes of short stories. Certainly fans would enjoy getting the saga in 12 volumes rather than 18, and the respondents to the Moon Chase survey also hope that a new American publisher would go back and clean up some of the translation errors from the earlier U.S. editions.
Source: ICv2
Domo-kun Gets CG Superhero Transformation This Spring
BS Digital Domo to promote NHK BS broadcast satellites' digital transition
Domo-kun (Domo), NHK's internationally known mascot character, is getting transformed into a superhero character with computer graphics this spring. "BS Digital Domo" is designed to promote the NHK BS broadcast satellite system's full-digital transition. The familiar furry brown mascot will don a sky-blue "full-digital transition suit" complete with a "BS Belt" and stars over his eyes to symbolize the broadcast satellites. The Mainichi Shimbun paper's website posted an image of the promotional campaign's new design.
Whereas the earlier incarnation of Domo was animated with stop-motion techniques, "BS Digital Domo" is being produced with computer graphics. NHK's digital broadcasting campaign site has posted 11 5-second stop-motion shorts as teasers for the transition. (At least five more shorts are planned.)
Director Tsuneo Goda developed the profile of "BS Digital Domo" just as he did for the original Domo-kun character. The vibration- and heat-resistant "full-digital transition suit" offers freedom of movement in space while the gloves give the character 30 times the punching strength of a gorilla. Similarly, his new shoes enables him to run 50 times the speed of a cheetah and jump to the moon. He can fly 100 times the speed of a jet, and he can also hear distant whispers with the "full-digital mike."
The "Taikan! Digital Power ga Yatte Kuru" promotional campaign for the digital transition will be unveiled on March 20, and it will be then be shown on all of NHK's television services on March 29.
New stop-motion Domo shorts were created for the Target chain of department stores in the United States in 2008, and more shorts were created for the 7-Eleven chain of convenience stores last year. Tokyopop published an English-language, full-color graphic novel last September. The following month, Goda unveiled the second stop-motion anime feature film for another of his creations, Komaneko, in Japan.
Source: Anime News Network
March 5, 2010 Update:
Man, there are so many new titles updated on our site and we just had to tell you. We would like to tell you the good ones from the list, but it is hard to choose when they are all good! So, we decided to let you all choose for yourself in the Books Section in New Arrival.
Also, there are new Manga titles listed on our site. Come check them out after finishing viewing the new art books.
NEWS!!!
Anime Expo to Host Voice Actress Yuu Asakawa (Updated)
Asakawa voiced Love Hina, Azumanga Daioh, Megurine Luka, Final Fantasy XIII
Anime Expo has announced on Wednesday that it will host voice actress Yuu Asakawa as a guest of honor this year. Anime Expo is scheduled for July 1-4 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
Asakawa has voiced roles in more than 70 anime titles, including Love Hina (Motoko Aoyama), Azumanga Daioh (Sakaki), and Bubblegum Crisis 2040 (Priss), and she also lent her voice to the Vocaloid 2 virtual singer character Megurine Luka. Ayukawa sang theme songs for Bubblegum Crisis 2040 and the Love Hina X'mas Special - Silent Eve, and voiced roles in the Final Fantasy XIII and Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII games.
Other guests at Anime Expo include the J-rock band SOPHIA and director Shinichi "Nabeshin" Watanabe.
Source: Anime News Network
March 3, 2010 Update:
We got a new title and new magazine issues that we know will make your jaws drop from all of the excitement.
Queen's Blade Complete TV Animation Official Visual Book: -the evil eye-
This book can blow your socks off! No, really! The babes from Queen's Blade are at it again with a new season from their hit series. And, this time, there are more fighting, more bathing, and more destruction of clothes. It is a must see!
Also, we have up our latest issues of the magazines that we know you all love. From Megami Magazine to Dengeki Hobby, we have the latest issues of the month of March. See what we have in our Magazines / Mooks section from the New Arrival section of our site. Get them all before they all sold out for good.
March 1, 2010 Update:
A new month and we just want to remind you of the last books that we have up that needs attention (not that they really).
Gurren Lagann Ground Work The Movie ~The Lights in the Sky Are Stars~
AND...
Background Visual Material Vol. 9 - Government Agencies
NEWS!!!
Trigun Gets New 2-Part Manga Story in March, April
Yasuhiro Nightow marks April 24 opening of Trigun film with new manga story
The April issue of Shonen Gahosha's Young King Ours magazine announced on Saturday that Yasuhiro Nightow is drawing a new two-installment Trigun manga story in the next two issues in March and April. The new story will mark the April 24 opening of the Trigun: Badlands Rumble film.
The original science-fiction action manga, the television series adaptation, and the upcoming film follow the misadventures of Vash the Stampede, a gunman with a "60 billion double dollar" bounty on his head. As a side story to the movie's plot that Nightow conceived with Trigun director Satoshi Nishimura, the new two-part story is titled "Gekijōban Trigun Bangai-hen: Dodongo Kyōdai Honeycombed Village no Kettō."
Dark Horse Comics has been publishing the original Trigun manga in North America. Funimation licensed the North American rights to the television anime from the Japanese company Flying Dog, after Geneon had previously released it in 2000 and 2001. Nishimura and character designer Takahiro Yoshimatsu are appearing at Seattle's Sakura-Con with the world premiere of the Trigun film in the first weekend of April.
Two in-store performances at Amoeba Music in Los Angeles, San Francisco
The all-girl J-pop band chatmonchy will perform at more stops in San Francisco and Los Angeles during their U.S. tour in March. Chatmonchy performed ending theme songs for the Bleach and Hataraki Man anime. The band will perform with the Japan Nite U.S. tour and visit New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Chatmonchy will also appear at the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas.
The tour dates and locations, including the additional performances, are listed below:
* March 19 - Austin, TX - Elysium (SXSW Japan Nite)
* March 21 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom (Japan Nite Tour)
* March 24 - Los Angeles, CA - Amoeba Music (In-store)
* March 26 - San Francisco, CA - Amoeba Music (In-store)
* March 26 - San Francisco, CA - The Independent (Japan Nite Tour)
* March 27 - Los Angeles, CA - Viper Room (Japan Nite Tour)
The Japan Nite U.S. tour will perform in six cities and will also feature the bands Omodaka, Red Bacteria Vacuum, OKAMOTO'S, and JinnyOops!
Anime Expo to Host Japanese Rock Band Sophia in L.A.
Band performed Kaleido Star's 2nd ending theme "Boku wa Koko ni Iru"
Anime Expo has announced that the Japanese rock band SOPHIA will appear at the July 1-4 event in Los Angeles. SOPHIA performed "Boku wa Koko ni Iru," the second ending theme song for the Kaleido Star television anime series.
SOPHIA will hold a concert at the Nokia Theater in Downtown Los Angeles at 1:00 p.m. on July 3. In addition to its previous songs, SOPHIA will perform songs from its 15th anniversary album, appropriately titled 15. In addition to his musical career, SOPHIA's lead vocalist Mitsuru Matsuoka has starred in several television series such as the 2007 live-action adaptation of Ai Morinaga's Yamada Taro Monogatari manga.
Source: Anime News Network
IF YOU MISS OUT ON ANYTHING FOR THESE MONTHS, COME CHECK IT OUT UNDER THESE SECTIONS.
WOW! It is almost time for Sakura-Con! We are coming to to Seattle, Washington for the famous Sakura-Con this weekend and we can't wait to meet you all. Come by our booth and say "Hi" to us.
NEWS!!!
Kadowaki, Washington con cite lack of time, complications in days before event
The voice actress Mai Kadowaki has announced on her official blog on Tuesday that she is unable to attend the Sakura-Con event in Seattle next month. According to Kadowaki, one of the coordinators explained that they "were not given enough time to coordinate and work out all the details between the Sakura-Con hosts and agent, so as a result, the trip to the United States is cancelled." Kadowaki said that she had already packed for the trip and was looking forward to meet her fans at the event. However, she expressed her hope for another chance to visit the United States.
Sakura-Con confirmed that Kadowaki and fellow voice actress Rika Morinaga are unable to attend the convention this year. The event staff added, "We are all very disappointed — including the guests and production companies. We were approached just weeks ago, and despite paperwork and such all in place before the announcements, other complications made the arrangements fall through just within the last day or so. Sometimes trying to put together things so close to the event can mean unforeseen complications are more likely to arise, even with everyone's best intentions. We are very sorry for the inconvenience and disappointment." Sakura-Con had just announced the two voice actresses' scheduled appearance last Wednesday.
The rock bands High and Mighty Color and Dazzle Vision, voice actress Mayumi Tanaka, voice actor Ryo Horikawa, animator Tsuyoshi Nonaka, director Satoshi Nishimura, character designers Yutaka Minowa and Takahiro Yoshimatsu, and illustrator Noizi Ito are still scheduled to attend the convention from Japan.
Voice actress of My Bride is a Mermaid's San Seto, Ai Yori Aoshi's Chika Minazuki
FanimeCon has announced that it will host voice actress and singer Halko Momoi at the May 28-31 convention in San Jose, California. She had attended FanimeCon last year as well.
Momoi has voiced roles in more than 30 anime, including Ai Yori Aoshi's Chika Minazuki, My Bride is a Mermaid's San Seto, Tales of the Abyss' Anise Tatlin, and Nurse Witch Komugi's Komugi Nakahara. Momoi sang and co-wrote the Under17 duo's theme songs for such anime as Genshiken and DearS. She has since performed solo and appeared on the soundtrack for D.C. ~Da Capo~ and School Days. Momoi is also a journalist, a composer, and a music producer who founded the music label Akihaba Love Records. Momoi became famous through her online journal and street performances at Tokyo's Akihabara otaku shopping district.
FanimeCon will also host the J-rock band LM.C.
Live-action version of Harold Sakuishi's rock manga to open September 4
The producers of the live-action film adaptation of Harold Sakuishi's Beck rock-and-roll manga announced at a Tuesday event in Tokyo that the American band Red Hot Chili Peppers and the British band Oasis will contribute the two theme songs of the film. Red Hot Chili Peppers will provide the opening theme song "Around the World," while Oasis will provide the ending theme song "Don't Look Back in Anger."
The film will open in Japan on September 4. Red Hot Chili Peppers had previously given their "Dani California" theme song for the live-action film adaptation of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata's Death Note manga. Oasis provided the opening theme song "Falling Down" for Production I.G's Eden of The East television anime series.
Hiro Mizushima, the star of the manga-based Absolute Boyfriend, Hana Zakari no Kimitachi e: Ikemen Paradise, and Lovely Complex projects, plays the charismatic guitarist and band leader Ryusuke Minami, while Takeru Satoh (Princess Princess D, Kamen Rider Den-O, Rookies) plays the ordinary high school boy Koyuki. After a chance encounter between these two, Koyuki joins Minami's five-person rock band, Beck, on its rise to stardom.
Rounding out the band's roster are Kenta Kiritani (Crows Zero, Rookies) as the rapper Chiba, Aoi Nakamura (Shinigami no Ballad, Q.E.D., Koizora) as the drummer Yuji Sakurai, and Osamu Mukai (Honey and Clover, Nodame Cantabile, Monochrome Factor, Mei-chan no Shitsuji) as the bass guitarist Taira. Director Yukihiko Tsutsumi (20th Century Boys, Trick, Ikebukuro West Gate Park, H2) appeared at the Tuesday event with actress Shiori Kutsuna, Mizushima, Satoh, Kiritani, Nakamura, and Mukai.
The original manga ended in Kodansha's Monthly Shonen Magazine in 2008 in Japan, and 15 million copies of the 34 volumes have been published since it began in 1998. Whereas Koyuki was the protagonist of the original manga, the film will focus on Ryusuke. Tokyopop published the first 12 volumes in North America, and Funimation completed its release of 2004-2005's BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad anime version in 2008.
The Variety entertainment news source reports that America's Legendary Pictures production company has licensed the rights to make a Godzilla film from Japan's TOHO, and it plans to open the film in 2012. Legendary Pictures is co-producing and co-financing the film with Warner Brothers. Legendary Pictures will announce the director soon and has indicated that its version will hew closer to the original 1954 film rather than Sony's 1998 Godzilla remake. Dan Lin (Sherlock Holmes), Roy Lee, Brian Rogers, Yoshimitsu Banno, Kenji Okuhira, and Doug Davison will be executive producers on the film.
Sunrise's 2006-2008 anime of Yellow Tanabe's supernatural action manga
Adult Swim, the late-night television programming block of Cartoon Network in the United States, lists the American television premiere of the Kekkaishi anime during the May 29-30 weekend on its online schedule. Viz Media announced that it had acquired the television anime series at Comic-Con International last July. The Sunrise anime studio adapted Yellow Tanabe's Kekkaishi manga into 52 episodes from 2006 to 2008.
The story follows Yoshimori Sumimura, a 14-year-old junior high school boy who is the 22nd Kekkaishi — barrier master — of the Sumimura clan. As Kekkaishi, Sumimura and his rival Tokine Yukimura protect the land from supernatural beasts.
The original manga has been running in Shogakukan's Weekly Shonen Sunday magazine since 2003, and Viz will publish the 21st of the 28 current manga volumes in May. Viz has also been streaming the English-subtitled version of the anime on the Hulu website since January.
Source: Anime News Network
March 25, 2010 Update:
NEWS!!!
50-minute video streamed, Hobby Japan extra in June 25-August 31 campaign The official website of the Black Rock Shooter anime project has announced on Wednesday that the full 50-minute length of the anime will be streamed for free to "everyone," although it does not specify if the stream will be available outside Japan. The streaming is part of a promotional campaign that will run from June 25 to August 31. As the first part of the campaign, there will be a free DVD bonus extra for Hobby Japan magazine, which has a circulation of 160,000.
The website also announced that the main cast of the anime has been decided:
Mato Kuroi: Kana Hanazawa
Yomi Takanashi: Miyuki Sawashiro
However, more of the cast will be announced at a later date. The Nico Nico Douga video-streaming website will host the Black Rock Shooter production crew on its Toriaezu Namachū program's Okinawa Special Week. Good Smile representative Aki Takanori, illustrator huke, director Shinobu Yoshioka, Ordet studio head Yutaka Yamamoto, and others will appear at the program.
Gundam UC's Fukui, Appleseed's Aramaki & Takeuchi, Ninja Scroll's Minowa
Toei Animation has announced that it has completed a pilot for its planned computer-graphics remake of Leiji Matsumoto and Toei's Space Pirate Captain Harlock manga and anime franchise, and it has revealed a preliminary image and the project's staff. Mobile Suit Gundam UC author Harutoshi Fukui, Appleseed director Shinji Aramaki, Appleseed mechanical designer Atsushi Takeuchi, and Ninja Scroll character designer Yutaka Minowa worked on the new Space Pirate Captain Harlock pilot with Sega Sammy Visual Entertainment. More details will be announced at this week's Tokyo International Anime Fair.
Toei's new Gaiking CG pilot images revealed
Toei Animation has announced that Light Stage, one of the production tools used on the computer graphics for James Cameron's Avatar film, was used for an all-new pilot for a remake of Toei's Gaiking anime series. Light Stage developer Jules Urbach produced the pilot in North America. The pilot will be revealed for the first time at this week's Tokyo International Anime Fair.
In addition to Avatar, Light Stage also worked on Spider-Man 2, King Kong, Superman Returns, Spider-Man 3, Hancock, and Benjamin Button. Light Stage received a Scientific and Engineering Academy Award in recognition of its work.
Automobile accident in Tokyo on February 26 claims hip-hop producer's life
The official website of hydeout productions has announced on Thursday that Jun Seba, the hip-hop producer better known as Nujabes, passed away due to an automobile accident in Tokyo late in the evening of February 26. He was 36 years old. An ambulance had rushed Nujabes to a hospital in Tokyo's Shibuya ward, but the live-saving efforts of the medical staff were ultimately unsuccessful.
Nujabes made his professional debut in 2003 on the label compilation album first collection and his first solo album, Metaphorical Music. He composed the music in Manglobe's Samurai Champloo television anime series, including its "Battlecry" opening theme song. He had left behind some unreleased tracks in the studio, and his label plans to release those tracks on some format in the future.
Source: Anime News Network
March 23, 2010 Update:
NEWS!!!
The North American anime distributor Funimation has rescheduled its Darker than BLACK: The Complete First Season DVD set for May 4. The set was originally slated for this Tuesday, but consumers had reported a problem with the set's third disc in copies which shipped early. People who received the early copies can return them for replacements.
Update: Funimation Senior Public Relations Manager Jackie Smith gave ANN the following statement regarding the Darker than BLACK DVD issue:
Thank you for your cooperation.
Singer and voice actress Mari Iijima, known for playing the role of Lynn Minmay in both the Japanese and English dub versions of The Super Dimension Fortress Macross science-fiction anime series, will appear as a guest at SacAnime convention in Sacramento, California from September 3 to September 5.
Iijima contributed songs to later Macross projects and had her own independent music career. Her debut album, Rosé, was produced by composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. In 2006, Iijima returned to Macross to reprise her role as Lynn Minmay in the English dub. In doing so, Iijima made history by becoming the one of the first Japanese voice actresses to reprise a major role in the English dub of a Japanese anime. Iijima currently lives in Los Angeles.
Other guests at SacAnime include voice actress Ali Hillis (Final Fantasy XIII's Lightning) and voice actor Liam O'Brien (Naruto's Gaara of the Desert, Bleach's Jushiro Ukitake).
Voice of Dragon Ball Z's Vegeta, Saint Seiya's Andromeda to attend April con
Sakura-Con has announced that it will host voice actor Ryo Horikawa, known for his role as Vegeta in the Dragon Ball Z animated television series and accompanying movies, at the April 2-4 convention in Seattle.
Besides his role as Vegeta in Dragon Ball Z, Horikawa has voiced roles in more than 100 anime, including Detective Conan's Heiji Hattori, Saint Seiya's Andromeda Shun, and Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory's Kou Uraki.
The rock bands High and Mighty Color and Dazzle Vision, voice actress Mayumi Tanaka, animator Tsuyoshi Nonaka, director Satoshi Nishimura, character designers Yutaka Minowa and Takahiro Yoshimatsu, and illustrator Noizi Ito will also attend the convention. Director Yasuhiro Imagawa was also scheduled to attend the convention, but had to cancel due to a new project.
Source: Anime News Network
March 19, 2010 Update:
NEWS!!!
According to The Right Stuf International FUNimation Entertainment has issued a recall for the Darker than BLACK Season One release. Although the release was scheduled for March 23, consumers started reporting a problem with the third episode of the third disc in the set earlier this week.
Source: Anime News Network
March 17, 2010 Update:
We got a couple of new titles that we think you might find very interesting.
NEWS!!!
Trigun's Satoshi Nishimura & Takahiro Yoshimatsu, Haruhi's Noizi Ito, others still coming
Sakura-Con announced that director Yasuhiro Imagawa (Giant Robo, G Gundam, Shin Mazinger Shōgeki! Z-Hen) has cancelled his guest appearance at the April 2-4 convention in Seattle. Imagawa offered his apologies for canceling due to a new project, and he expressed his hope that he can attend the convention in the future.
The rock bands High and Mighty Color and Dazzle Vision, voice actress Mayumi Tanaka, animator Tsuyoshi Nonaka, director Satoshi Nishimura, character designers Yutaka Minowa and Takahiro Yoshimatsu, and illustrator Noizi Ito are still scheduled to attend the convention.
Last year, both Nonaka and Imagawa were scheduled to appear at Anime Weekend Altanta, but then cancelled their appearances.
Latest volume reaches 2 million in 2 weeks; #56 took 6 weeks
The 57th volume of Eiichiro Oda's One Piece pirate manga has sold 2.005 million copies in two weeks to become the fastest manga volume to surpass the 2-million-copy mark in the history of Oricon's ranking charts. Shueisha had printed three million copies of the volume in its first printing, and it had already sold 1,690,932 copies in its first week of release.
The previous volume, One Piece #56, had taken six weeks to surpass the 2-million-copy mark in January. 185.6 million copies have been published in the entire series, including the latest volume.
Source: Anime News Network
March 15, 2010 Update:
NEWS!!!
Also on Nicktoons: Voltron Panthera Force
America's Nicktoons television channel has announced that it will run the Dragon Ball Z Kai action anime series starting in May 2010. Nicktoons, a spinoff of Nickelodeon, will also launch Voltron Panthera Force from World Events Productions, Ltd. in conjunction with Kick Start Productions. (The channel did not specify if Voltron Panthera Force is Japanese-animated or not.) Nickelodeon made the announcements in the press summary sheet for its 2010 Upfront Presentation for advertisers on Thursday morning in New York City.
The Dragon Ball Kai television series condenses the 1989-1996 Dragon Ball Z anime series to more closely follow Akira Toriyama's original Dragon Ball manga. In addition to a digital high-definition remastering and a re-recorded soundtrack, Dragon Ball Kai also enhances selected scenes with new effects or re-animated footage. The series premiered under the name Dragon Ball Kai in Japan last April, and it has consistently ranked among the top 10 anime in viewer ratings every week since.
Funimation had licensed the series for North America, and it plans to ship the first part of the series on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on May 18. The distributor already licensed both the Dragon Ball Z television series and the earlier Dragon Ball television series for North America. Funimation reassembled most of its original Dragon Ball Z cast for the English dubbing of Dragon Ball Z Kai, except for four new cast members. Viz Media publishes the original manga in North America.
Nickelodeon has run a number of anime titles in the past, although neither Nicktoons nor Nickelodeon has a Japanese animated program in the current season.
Kawamoto also worked on Gundam 0083, Golden Boy, Wolf's Rain, Heroman
Anime Expo has announced on Thursday that it will host the prolific character designer Toshihiro Kawamoto as a Guest of Honor this year. Anime Expo is scheduled for July 1-4 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
A co-founder of the BONES animation studio, Kawamoto is best known as the animation director and character designer for Cowboy Bebop and Wolf's Rain. His other designer credits include Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory and Golden Boy. He also served as a key animation director for Sword of the Stranger, Escaflowne: The Movie, Fullmetal Alchemist, and Eureka Seven. His career as an animator includes titles such as the first Mobile Suit Gundam series in 1979, Nadia - Secret of Blue Water, and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. He is now the chief animation director for Heroman, this spring's superhero anime series from BONES and American comic pioneer Stan Lee.
Kawamoto joins previously announced guests: director Shinichi "Nabeshin" Watanabe (Excel Saga, Puni Puni Poemy, Tenchi Muyo! GXP), voice actress Yuu Asakawa (Love Hina, Azumanga Daioh, Bubblegum Crisis 2040) and J-rock band SOPHIA.
Source: Anime News Network
March 10, 2010 Update:
NEWS!!!
The anime studio Sunrise has announced the official title of its Mobile Suit Gundam 00 film on its website on Wednesday. The title is Gekijō-ban Kidō Senshi Gundam 00 -A wakening of the Trailblazer- or Mobile Suit Gundam 00 the Movie: A wakening of the Trailblazer. The film will open in Japan this September and continue the story from the two television seasons of the Mobile Suit Gundam 00 anime series.
Sunrise also announced that advance tickets will go on sale on March 27 with one of two card-sized stickers. The "Type.A" sticker (shown at right) will depict the main character Setsuna and a mysterious new character, while the "Type.B" sticker will feature Setsuna's new 00 QAN[T] mobile suit.
A man named Dannez Hunter filed a lawsuit against Quentin Tarantino and others on Monday on several claims, including the allegation that Tarantino's Kill Bill film project plagiarized Hunter's "Lotus" film treatment. Hunter claims that he gave the Miramax film studio the concept of a character named "Ren based on the historical lineage of Samurai 'Sakanouye No Tamuramaro.'"
Hunter further claims that Tarantino "copied verbatim the concept/character name 'Ren,' without changing anything and pilfered every element from the Lotus treatment, including Ren witnessing her mother's sadistic murder in a cartoon format, the knife through the mother's abdomen that went inches away from her face with droplets of blood on her face as she gasped for breath, burning the house down while standing next to the small shrine, Ren becoming the head of the Yakuza, the collection of the Katana swords, the death touch, the esthetic [sic] look of the Yakuza, the collection of the Katana swords, the death touch, esthetic [sic] look of the cover-page treatment marketing plan, and her being taken by her father to be trained by her grandfather to become an assassin."
According to Hunter, he registered a copy of his treatment with the Writers Guild of America in 1999, four years before Kill Bill: Vol. 1 opened in theaters. Tarantino and his A Band Apart production company, Miramax and its founders Bob and Harvey Weinstein, Miramax's parent company Walt Disney, The Weinstein Company, Carlos Goodman, Bloom Hergott, and the Visiona Romantica and Lawrence Bender Productions corporations are named in the lawsuit as defendants. Hunter is seeking in excess of US$1 million for damages. The E! network's website posted the filed document that launched the lawsuit.
Hagio's appearance at San Diego precedes Fantagraphics' new manga line
Fantagraphics Books has announced on Monday that shōjo manga pioneer Moto Hagio will appear as a special guest at Comic-Con International in San Diego this July. Fantagraphics will announce more details on Hagio's planned speaking event and panel at the July 22-25 convention soon.
Hagio helped pioneer both modern shōjo manga and modern science fiction manga. Along with To Terra's Keiko Takemiya and Rose of Versailles' Riyoko Ikeda, she co-founded the Year 24 Group — a group of innovative female manga creators who were born in or around the Year Shōwa 24 (1949) and who shaped the now diverse field of shōjo manga. Along the way, Hagio earned the Shogakukan Manga Award, Seiun Award, Osamu Tezuka Cultural Prize, and Nihon SF Taisho Award.
Although Hagio debuted in 1969 and has been popular in Japan ever since, only a handful of her works have been released in English until now. Viz Media published A,A' and They Were Eleven, while Fantagraphics' The Comic Journal published her "Hanshin" short story along with an interview in a special shōjo manga issue. They Were Eleven was eventually made into an anime movie of the same name which Central Park Media distributed in North America.
Hagio's appearance will mark the launch of Fantagraphics's new manga line in September. Fantagraphics will ship A Drunken Dream and Other Stories (a collection of short stories by Hagio) that month, followed by the first volume of Takako Shimura's Wandering Son (Hōrō Musuko) manga in December. Kyoto Seika University cultural anthropologist and veteran manga translator Matt Thorn had conducted Hagio's interview in The Comic Journal, and he is now editing Fantagraphics' new manga line. Both of the announced books will be hardcover in the original right-to-left page-turning format.
The schedule of Adult Swim, the late-night television programming block of Cartoon Network in the United States, indicates that the Bleach anime series will be repeated from episode 129 onward, starting early in the morning of Sunday, April 25. Adult Swim had run an onscreen bumper in January that said that new episodes of Bleach would premiere in April, but no new episodes are listed in the April schedule after episode 167 repeats early in the morning of Sunday, April 18.
Adult Swim's schedule of weekend anime, as of April 24-25, will be as follows:
12:00 a.m. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
12:30 a.m. Bleach
01:00 a.m. Bleach
01:30 a.m. Bleach
02:00 a.m. Cowboy Bebop
02:30 a.m. Cowboy Bebop
03:00 a.m. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
03:30 a.m. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
04:00 a.m. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
04:30 a.m. Big O
05:00 a.m. Inuyasha
05:30 a.m. Inuyasha
Source: Anime News Network
March 9, 2010 Update:
NEWS!!!
It hasn't been a good last half of the decade for the Sailor Moon property in the English speaking world. Naoko Takeuchi's innovative magical girl team (sentai) manga debuted in 1991 and immediately spawned an anime adaptation from Toei. The manga, which was published here by Tokyopop (then known as Mixx) starting in 1997, helped spur the turn-of-the-century manga boom, while the Sailor Moon anime series received a ton of TV exposure here in the 1990s. All that exposure moved a lot of merchandise and inspired a wide and diverse audience. But since 2004 the anime series has been off the air in all English-speaking territories, and Tokyopop's license for the Sailor Moon manga lapsed in 2005.
Word that Toei was planning a worldwide revival of the property based on the Sailor Moon anime has stirred interest in U.S. fan sites, which were also energized in 2009 when Funimation announced that it was considering a re-dubbing of the Sailor Moon series and put out survey questions to Sailor Moon fans.
The Moon Chase site publicized the Funimation survey and collected more than 1,300 responses. After sending a 200-page report on the initial survey to both Funimation and Toei, the folks at Moon Chase have continued to survey Sailor Moon fandom in order to discover how fans would like to see the Sailor Moon anime and manga series revived here in the States.
Certainly it would be ideal if the Sailor Moon series could be brought back in a more pristine form. DiC Entertainment, which adapted the first two seasons of the anime, bowdlerized the series. Six episodes were eliminated entirely, while two others were merged. Every episode suffered cuts to eliminate scenes that were deemed inappropriate for children and to create more time for commercials and the DiC-produced "Sailor Says" educational inserts.
Cloverway's adaptations of the third and fourth season were far closer to the Japanese originals, though they weren't without key changes "Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus were simply depicted as "kissin" cousins" rather than the lovers that they were in the original version.
The fifth series Sailor Stars was never dubbed and released here in the U.S. Naturally the fans surveyed by Moon Chase are most interested in getting the Sailor Stars series released here in the States. As for bringing back the first four Sailor Moon series, the majority of the fans want either a new dub with the original cast or a re-release of the old dub. It appears that the fans have fond memories of the original series since 70% of them want to retain the musical cues created for the English dub rather than reverting to the original Japanese musical cues.
As for the manga, in 2003 Kodansha began publishing the shinsoban (renewal) edition of the original 18-volume manga series. Takeuchi reworked some of the drawings that she felt needed polishing and produced new sketches and new covers for the revamped series. Kodansha increased the number of chapters in the individual volumes. The revamped series includes 12 volumes of manga and two volumes of short stories. Certainly fans would enjoy getting the saga in 12 volumes rather than 18, and the respondents to the Moon Chase survey also hope that a new American publisher would go back and clean up some of the translation errors from the earlier U.S. editions.
Source: ICv2
BS Digital Domo to promote NHK BS broadcast satellites' digital transition
Domo-kun (Domo), NHK's internationally known mascot character, is getting transformed into a superhero character with computer graphics this spring. "BS Digital Domo" is designed to promote the NHK BS broadcast satellite system's full-digital transition. The familiar furry brown mascot will don a sky-blue "full-digital transition suit" complete with a "BS Belt" and stars over his eyes to symbolize the broadcast satellites. The Mainichi Shimbun paper's website posted an image of the promotional campaign's new design.
Whereas the earlier incarnation of Domo was animated with stop-motion techniques, "BS Digital Domo" is being produced with computer graphics. NHK's digital broadcasting campaign site has posted 11 5-second stop-motion shorts as teasers for the transition. (At least five more shorts are planned.)
Director Tsuneo Goda developed the profile of "BS Digital Domo" just as he did for the original Domo-kun character. The vibration- and heat-resistant "full-digital transition suit" offers freedom of movement in space while the gloves give the character 30 times the punching strength of a gorilla. Similarly, his new shoes enables him to run 50 times the speed of a cheetah and jump to the moon. He can fly 100 times the speed of a jet, and he can also hear distant whispers with the "full-digital mike."
The "Taikan! Digital Power ga Yatte Kuru" promotional campaign for the digital transition will be unveiled on March 20, and it will be then be shown on all of NHK's television services on March 29.
New stop-motion Domo shorts were created for the Target chain of department stores in the United States in 2008, and more shorts were created for the 7-Eleven chain of convenience stores last year. Tokyopop published an English-language, full-color graphic novel last September. The following month, Goda unveiled the second stop-motion anime feature film for another of his creations, Komaneko, in Japan.
Source: Anime News Network
March 5, 2010 Update:
Also, there are new Manga titles listed on our site. Come check them out after finishing viewing the new art books.
NEWS!!!
Asakawa voiced Love Hina, Azumanga Daioh, Megurine Luka, Final Fantasy XIII
Anime Expo has announced on Wednesday that it will host voice actress Yuu Asakawa as a guest of honor this year. Anime Expo is scheduled for July 1-4 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
Asakawa has voiced roles in more than 70 anime titles, including Love Hina (Motoko Aoyama), Azumanga Daioh (Sakaki), and Bubblegum Crisis 2040 (Priss), and she also lent her voice to the Vocaloid 2 virtual singer character Megurine Luka. Ayukawa sang theme songs for Bubblegum Crisis 2040 and the Love Hina X'mas Special - Silent Eve, and voiced roles in the Final Fantasy XIII and Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII games.
Other guests at Anime Expo include the J-rock band SOPHIA and director Shinichi "Nabeshin" Watanabe.
Source: Anime News Network
March 3, 2010 Update:
Also, we have up our latest issues of the magazines that we know you all love. From Megami Magazine to Dengeki Hobby, we have the latest issues of the month of March. See what we have in our Magazines / Mooks section from the New Arrival section of our site. Get them all before they all sold out for good.
March 1, 2010 Update:
NEWS!!!
Yasuhiro Nightow marks April 24 opening of Trigun film with new manga story
The April issue of Shonen Gahosha's Young King Ours magazine announced on Saturday that Yasuhiro Nightow is drawing a new two-installment Trigun manga story in the next two issues in March and April. The new story will mark the April 24 opening of the Trigun: Badlands Rumble film.
The original science-fiction action manga, the television series adaptation, and the upcoming film follow the misadventures of Vash the Stampede, a gunman with a "60 billion double dollar" bounty on his head. As a side story to the movie's plot that Nightow conceived with Trigun director Satoshi Nishimura, the new two-part story is titled "Gekijōban Trigun Bangai-hen: Dodongo Kyōdai Honeycombed Village no Kettō."
Dark Horse Comics has been publishing the original Trigun manga in North America. Funimation licensed the North American rights to the television anime from the Japanese company Flying Dog, after Geneon had previously released it in 2000 and 2001. Nishimura and character designer Takahiro Yoshimatsu are appearing at Seattle's Sakura-Con with the world premiere of the Trigun film in the first weekend of April.
The all-girl J-pop band chatmonchy will perform at more stops in San Francisco and Los Angeles during their U.S. tour in March. Chatmonchy performed ending theme songs for the Bleach and Hataraki Man anime. The band will perform with the Japan Nite U.S. tour and visit New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Chatmonchy will also appear at the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas.
The tour dates and locations, including the additional performances, are listed below:
* March 21 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom (Japan Nite Tour)
* March 24 - Los Angeles, CA - Amoeba Music (In-store)
* March 26 - San Francisco, CA - Amoeba Music (In-store)
* March 26 - San Francisco, CA - The Independent (Japan Nite Tour)
* March 27 - Los Angeles, CA - Viper Room (Japan Nite Tour)
The Japan Nite U.S. tour will perform in six cities and will also feature the bands Omodaka, Red Bacteria Vacuum, OKAMOTO'S, and JinnyOops!
Band performed Kaleido Star's 2nd ending theme "Boku wa Koko ni Iru"
Anime Expo has announced that the Japanese rock band SOPHIA will appear at the July 1-4 event in Los Angeles. SOPHIA performed "Boku wa Koko ni Iru," the second ending theme song for the Kaleido Star television anime series.
SOPHIA will hold a concert at the Nokia Theater in Downtown Los Angeles at 1:00 p.m. on July 3. In addition to its previous songs, SOPHIA will perform songs from its 15th anniversary album, appropriately titled 15. In addition to his musical career, SOPHIA's lead vocalist Mitsuru Matsuoka has starred in several television series such as the 2007 live-action adaptation of Ai Morinaga's Yamada Taro Monogatari manga.
Source: Anime News Network
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