March 2011

NEWS!!!

Macross II Producer Hiroshi Kakoi Passes Away in Quake

Animator also worked on 1st Macross, 1980 Astro Boy, Moldiver at Artland, AIC

ANN confirmed with Jan Scott Frazier, a close friend of the deceased, and other anime industry members that producer and animator Hiroshi Kakoi passed away during the March 11 earthquake (Tōhoku Chihō Taiheiyō-oki Jishin) and tsunami. Kakoi's wife Kumiko survived the disaster.

Among other projects, Kakoi was a producer on The Super Dimension Fortress Macross II: Lovers, Again and Moldiver original video anime series. He also worked as a key animator at the anime studio Artland on the first Macross series (from the first episode onward) and on the 1980 version of Astro Boy (Tetsuwan Atom). He served as a production manager at Artland and the anime studio AIC.

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Kodansha USA to Publish Sailor Moon, Sailor V Manga

September return of Naoko Takeuchi's magical girl series after 6 years out of print

Kodansha USA Publishing announced on Friday that its Kodansha Comics imprint will publish Naoko Takeuchi's Sailor Moon magical girl manga and its two-volume prequel Codename: Sailor V starting this September. The former has been condensed into 12 bi-monthly "deluxe-edition" volumes (from its original 18), and two more volumes of short stories have been added.

The new edition — with "new cover art, retouched interior art and dialogue along with extensive bonus material from Takeuchi" — is based on the 2003 Japanese re-release of the manga.

The 1991 manga Codename: Sailor V revolves around middle schooler Minako Aino, a magical girl and crime fighter. In the more well-known 1992 Sailor Moon series, Minako Aino is the side character "Sailor V" while Usagi Tsukino ("Bunny" in the previous English-language manga edition and "Serena" in the English version of the television anime adaptation) takes the lead role, the titular Sailor Moon.

Mixx Entertainment (now called Tokyopop) licensed the manga for English release in North America, but the series has been out of print for six years. Codename: Sailor V has never had an official English-language release in North America.

In 1992, Toei Animation premiered a television anime adaptation that would run through 1997, and then be dubbed into Italian, Spanish, German, English, Tagalog, and other languages. The anime has seen a resurgence of interest in recent months, including an upcoming Italian videogame for the Nintendo DS and a relicensing by m4e in Germany (PDF).

Source: Anime News Network

NEWS!!!

Tokyo International Anime Fair 2011 Canceled

March 24-27 event cancelled in wake of March 11 earthquake, tsunami

The official website of the Tokyo International Anime Fair (TAF) 2011 event confirmed on Wednesday that the event has been cancelled in the wake of the March 11 earthquake (Tōhoku Chihō Taiheiyō-oki Jishin) and tsunami. According to the announcement, the event's executive committee decided to cancel in consideration of the safety of the participants and attendees with uncertain power supplies and traffic accessibility. The event's staff apologized for the inconvenience caused by the decision.

TAF takes place annually at the Tokyo Big Sight convention center on Odaiba island at Tokyo Bay. According to the official website for the cancelled Hakurei Jinja Reitaisai 8 event (which centers around the Touhou self-published game franchise), Tokyo Big Sight suffered unspecified damage during the earthquake. TAF 2011 was originally scheduled to hold industry-only days on March 24-25, and general public days on March 26-27.

This year's event became part of a controversy due to Tokyo Metropolitan Government's amendment to its Youth Healthy Development Ordinance. The amendment is expanding 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. Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara is a major advocate of the amended Healthy Development Ordinance and the head of the executive committee for the Tokyo International Anime Fair (TAF).

The media company Kadokawa Shoten was the first to publicly cancel its TAF display, followed by boycott by Shueisha, Shogakukan, Kodansha, and other major manga publishers. Several anime and manga companies worked together to establish a new convention, the Anime Contents Expo, which was set to take place the same weekend at the time of this writing.

The Los Angeles Times newspaper reports that many airlines are offering refunds or waived ticket change fees for those whose travel plans have already been disrupted by the earthquake, or those who planned to travel through March 18.

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Anime Contents Expo 2011 Canceled

March 26-27 event, intended to counter Tokyo Anime Fair, cancelled after March 11 quake

The official website of the Anime Contents Expo (ACE) 2011 event confirmed on Thursday that the event has been cancelled in the wake of the March 11 earthquake (Tōhoku Chihō Taiheiyō-oki Jishin) and tsunami. A FES, the anime song event that would have taken place during the same March 26-27 weekend and in the same Makuhari Messe convention center as ACE, was already cancelled.

ACE cited the soil liquefaction in the Makuhari district, the planned power blackouts, the current disorder in the transportation systems, and the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station as the primary reasons why it cannot ensure the safety of everyone who attends. ACE added that there is also the possibility of additional aftershocks and earthquakes. ACE noted that it pre-sold 40,000 tickets to the event in less than three months, and it listed ways that people can obtain refunds.

A group of anime and manga companies created ACE in response to the controversy surrounding the Tokyo International Anime Fair (TAF) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's amendment to Tokyo's Youth Healthy Development Ordinance. The amendment will 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.

Among others, 10 major manga publishers were planning to boycott TAF 2011 because of the amended ordinance, although not all of them would have formally exhibited at TAF or ACE. TAF had announced the cancellation of its own 2011 event on Wednesday.

The Los Angeles Times newspaper reports that many airlines are offering refunds or waived ticket change fees for those whose travel plans have already been disrupted by the earthquake, or those who planned to travel in March. ACE would have taken place in Chiba Prefecture east of Tokyo.

Voice actor Junichi Suwabe had reported in a Twitter post on Wednesday that ACE was cancelled, but he later deleted the post. Suwabe was slated to record an episode of the radio program for the Starry Sky franchise on March 27 at ACE.

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Japanese Rocker Yoshiki Auctions Piano for Charity

X Japan leader calls for donations to relief aid after March 11 quake, tsunami

Yoshiki, the leader of the rock band X Japan, announced this week that he will auction off his custom-made Kawai piano and donate the proceeds to the relief efforts in Japan after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. The "crystal" piano (actually plexiglass) is described in the press release as Yoshiki's "favorite," which he used in X Japan's concerts at the Tokyo Dome.

Yoshiki will also collect donations through his own nonprofit charity organization, the Yoshiki Foundation. The foundation is typically focused on helping children with bone marrow disease; however, its official website states that information on how to donate in support of the victims of the earthquake and tsunami will be announced "soon."

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Manga Artists Unite in Dōjinshi Book for Quake Charity

Nodame, Fairy Tail, School Rumble, Full Moon, Di Gi Charat, GTO, GetBackers, Gash!/Zatch Bell, Gosick, Shuffle!, Suzuka, Hell Girl, Lollipop creators contribute The creators in Kodansha's Monthly Nakayoshi shōjo manga magazine and other publications are planning to make a charity dōjinshi (self-published work) to raise funds for the victims of the March 11 earthquake (Tōhoku Chihō Taiheiyō-oki Jishin) and tsunami.

The creators launched a placeholder website for the tentatively titled Higashi Nihon Daishinsai Charity Dōjinshi (The Great Eastern Japan Earthquake Charity Dōjinshi) on Tuesday, and they plan to release the dōjinshi at the Comitia 96 event at the Tokyo Big Sight convention center on May 5. More details about the release will be announced later.

Source: Anime News Network