Father Geek here with the latest news from the worlds of Anime and Manga... Scot has filed his report for the week and as is the usual it is a hell of a column. Sooooo lets get on to it with no further delay... Here's this week's edition of....

AnimAICN...

by Scott Green

Anime Spotlight: Tokyo Godfathers

To be Released by Columbia Tristar on April 13th

Satoshi Kon is the most unpredictable director in anime. Rather than work backwards by finding stories to tell that utilize the strengths and appeals of animation, Kon uses his chosen medium, animation to tell the stories he wants to tell.

Kon has followed up the psycho-thriller Perfect Blue and dramatic tribute to Japanese cinema Millennium Actress with the ironically joyful story of three homeless people, a former bicycle racer whose life was shattered by gambling, a drag queen who couldn't go on after her lover died, and a teenage girl who ran away from her parents six mounts ago, who find an abandoned baby of Christmas eve. After squabbling over whether the baby was a Christmas present from God for them to raise, or should be brought to the police with the likelihood of ending up in a foster home, the three embark of an odyssey through the street of Tokyo to track down the baby's parents.

For all the advantages of animation, run down, truly disheveled, and dirty are qualities that are difficult to capture. There's a gleaming facade in most anime, to a degree where grime is rare even in noir. In people, but also in structures and objects, there is an almost intrinsic tendency to idealize. Clean lines are easier to draw or look at than flaws. Instead, there is a tendency to works in short hand, spiked hairs, perpetually closed eye or dangling cigarettes. Tokyo Godfathers uses abstraction to accentuate features. Not to an R Crumb level of grotesque, but enough that you can read a character by the stumble on their face, some extra gut in the mid section, or the arrangement of their clothes. It almost a stylized realism, where every major or minor character is distinctive and recognizable as visibly distilled potential real person.

The movie opens with its three odd and zany heroes in the homeless version of a sitcom squabble. They're quirky and likable. They are operating in a level of emotional comfort both for themselves and the viewer. Their journey is Odyssey like in that it seems that no matter how circuitous, trying and outright bizarre the trip is, they will find their destination.

It sounds as if the movie would be in danger of being trite, but it isn't walking a thin line. The movie never loses sight of the fact that the characters are trying to hold on to their human dignity under dehumanizing circumstances. They hopped the step from social normalcy to homelessness, and now have to contend with another precarious step to faceless oblivion. All three dropped out of society rather than being forced out, and through the romp to find their charge's parents, they are forced for face the problems and regrets of their pasts. They are three individuals who haven't lived or made charmed lives, living a charmed experience. Not that there aren't several hospital visits, brushes with dangerous forces but the stars are aligned and they are given a new chance to do good and to mend broken pieces of their lives.

Tokyo Godfathers isn't Gift of the Magi, or It's a Wonderful Life, the needed twist comes, but just adds another bend to the story rather than affirming it. However, Tokyo Godfathers is worthy of becoming an enduring tribute to the holiday spirit. The characters earn an empathy as creations who could be real people. It takes a stony heart not to be moved by the time the not-quite j-pop, playful rendition of Ode to Joy kick in at closing credits.

Anime Spotlight: Tenchi Muyo: GXP Galaxy Police Transporter Volume 1: Out of This World

Released by FUNimation

Tenchi Muyo was one of the gateway series when anime started to gain notoriety in the 90's. Through a series of non-continuitous direct to video OAV series, television series and movies, it combined the Love Hina style story of an average teenager boy surrounded by interesting women with elements of Burrow's sci-fi, Star Wars and Japanese aesthetics.

Due to the laws of diminishing returns, and entropy in interest (the unstoked fire of interest burns out) the franchise went dormant, before being revived with GXP and a third OAV.

Given the that unifying factor in the previous Tenchi series was its characters, GXP takes a gamble in abandoning the cast that viewers have bonded with (apart from cameos and references) in favor of a tangentially related cast. GXP takes place in the same continuity as the previous OAVs (as opposed to television series and movies), and partially serves to prime interesting for the upcoming third.

Despite its proximity to the core of entries in the Tenchi franchise, it uses a new protagonist, Seina, younger boy from the same community who knows Tenchi, but not of his strange adventures, and owes more of its sense of humor to its director Shinichi Watanabe than to the core library of Tenchi Muyo Jokes.

Seina's gimmicks isn't just that he's a put upon hero, he's a put upon hero whose unluckiness is both tangible (ie falling into holes that didn't previously exist) and contagious (like the painted black cat from Loony Tunes). With his luck, he falls a lake, and given his proximity to Tenchi, as long time fans would probably expect, the lake house a space ship. This particular ship belongs to Amane, an inspector for the Galaxy Police, who after showing off her large chest, razor tongue and volatile personality, sends Seina on his way with a message for Tenchi, and an application to join the Galaxy Police.

So far the series hasn't outrageously gravitated towards the familiar routine of traditional Tenchi Muyo harem comedy. It is more the story of a chump on the stage of history. Seina receives the attention of every female character, but while there are some sexual/romantic aspects of the relationships, so far they are frequently dominated by interest in Seina's novelty, partially humoring or playing with him, partially trying to get a grip on his strange abilities (which prove to be use fall in location/stumbling upon large pirate fleets).

The galactic power sharing/struggle between the Galactic Police, pirate and national militaries (dominantly the Jurai royal force) has an intriguing complexity, as does the politics of Jurai royal family. There are connection here to the Tenchi Muyo back-story, which is quite confusion, but at least these episode contain a quickly talked through family tree. The confusion is exacerbated by frequency of the Masaki family name (both in the series itself and its staff), which at least has a number of different spellings in Japanese. The details add history and texture to the universe for longtime fans, and the strange commerce of legitimate institutions and their lawless throwbacks is intriguing.

GXP was directed by Shinichi Watanabe, whose work on Excel Saga cemented him as one of the kings of frenzied anime comedy (Akitaroh Daichi being the other), but despite his abilities and the strengths of the source, he misses the mark in GXP. Flaws in timing, context or participants continually make the humor almost funny, or of the type where the teller is more amused than the audience. Some of physical comedy works well, such as routine between Seina, his mother and sister in which his mother and sister they attempt to force him to put his thumbprint on his Galaxy Police application (ultimately holding the hand still and moving the application).

However the comedy of absurdity is full of near misses. It is trying and failing to be a manic comedy, while it isn't the screeching annoying of the sub-genre's spectacular failures, GXP is missing a little edginess that sharpens absurdities. Rather than wild exploitations of the familiar, it is safe. The punch line is Galaxy Police recruitment video in mock see the galaxy propaganda fashion is that agents are equipped with "magic hands" (the English is used in the Japanese language audio, child's toy like extending pincer hands.

GXP is a apt palette cleanser for the rival of the Tenchi franchise. Not a stellar attraction, but something long time followers as well as newcomers would find a watchable distraction. It features a welcome departure for the familiar jokes of bickering and blundering. It isn't the comic insanity visited upon Tenchi universe (lower case U) you might want from Shinichi Watanabe, but the windows into the back-story are interesting, he characters and action are vibrant and situation adeptly situate themselves outside the bounds of annoyance, and the fleets battle and sci-fi wildness exhibits promise.

Anime Spotlight: Infinite Ryvius Volume 4: Change of Command

Released by Bandai Entertainment

In its fourth volume, Infinite Ryvius continues to be an interesting teen political study in the guise of a sci-fi Lord of the Flies. With a cast that is too big, and too many outside factors to look at human nature a la Lord of the Flies or Battle Royale, the series instead examines human society.

After a sabotage induced disasters, hundred of teenage trainees are trapped in an experimental intra solar system star craft. Rather than pure anarchy or clique factions, the series moves deeper into a densely plot driven look at the brutal aspects of crisis politics. The volume opens with the Napoleonic gang leader Airs Blue being deposed. Though his loyalists were abused and arrested, Blue himself was able to go into hiding. Without a strong image handled leader, and under the pressure of periodic attacks from other advanced ships, control by an oligarchy of achieved through a triumvirate of merit, privillage and force begins to buckled.

The episode to episode continuity has built a spectacuarly intense situation. Each episode introduces new internal and external pressure. From reprisals and a growing wartime economy to sociopaths and schemers waiting in the wings the pace of society's deterioration is skyrocketing like a variably overladden social experiment spiraling out of control.

Infinite Ryvius is a bit too transparent to be socially edifying rather than just engage and entertaining, but it is a chilling look at the brutal mechanism that society produces. By staying true to the characters and eschewing easy solutions it gains the viewers trust that while the circumstances are imposed and feel artificial, the reactions are credible.

Anime Spotlight: L/R: Licensed by Royalty Mission File 2: Targets Mission File 3: Broken Angel

Released B Geneon

Even given the frequently used formula of opening a series with a number of episodic adventures before revealing the actually plot and tone of a series, the shift in Licensed by Royalty is a quite a coup. Rather than continue along the path of wry parody of British spy works, in its second and third volumes, the series has revealed itself to be a more serious look at globalization and corporate over expansion, along with their impacts on politics and media.

Set in Ishtar, a fictionalized non-parliamentary England, debonair Jack Hofner and irreverent Rowe Rickenbacker are L/R, trouble shooter agents Cloud 7. The series interweaves threads of the story of Ishtar's strip mining of Ivory Island (an Ireland stand-in) through the DTI mega-corporation, a string of terrorist bombings linked to an entity known as "Angel" with links to the Ivory, and the search for the Fifteen Year Princess, a rumored royal heiress to the Ishtar throne.

The series offers a healthlt supply of excellent spy material and conspiracy fodder, including in these episodes a detailed procedural following a case from its initial discovery, down through the chain of command, to the physical and mental preparations of the field agents and its execution, there is more the sense that the characters, particularly Jack and Rowe, are self aware chess pieces trying to feel out their role in the game of politics, corporate greed, and in maintaining a certain status quo.

In popular media, corporations are the new communism. In a work like L/R it is easy to see them in the minds of the creator as menace like The Blob, creeping into the government, in to the media, across national borders. L/R is more an indictment of the crimes of a corporate entity than a discussion. The grey area is small. Though it expands during the course of these volumes, some of threads seem to be resolving themselves in disappointingly morally simplistic manners. There are the terrorists from Ivory Island who are misguided, conflicted one episode characters and there are some stiff upper lip hierarchical members who are on the side of the angel or devils depending on how the object of their loyalty positions them, but at a high level the grand theme falls along polar opposites. Jack and Rowe are irreproachably noble. Even staring suffering or tragedy in the face, the DTI authorities are inhumanly consciousless and greedy. Far from being meritless, the series brings home the frustration of the afflicted and the costs incurred by the direction of modern society. It is especially strong in its depiction of the easily overlooked aspects. Wrapping the message in a spy game, and at that a spy game with modern mod kitsch sensibility was an interesting and successful method of adding a perspective of distance, and making the series entertaining in its own right.

This Week's Releases

Anime

• Angelic Layer - Deus Ex Machina (Vol. 5)
• Comic Party - A New World (Vol. 1)
• Dragon Ball GT - Realization (Vol. 13)
• Dragon Ball GT - Conversion (Vol. 14)
• Figure 17 Vol. 4
• Gun Frontier: Gun Pack
• Gunparade March Vol. 2
• Heat Guy J - Haunted Past (Vol. 5)
• I'm Gonna Be An Angel Vol. 2
• Iria: Zeiram the Animation Collection
• Pretear - Vol. 4
• Rurouni Kenshin Legend of Kyoto Premium Box Set 2
• Saiyuki - Children of Sacrifice (Vol. 9)
• Slayers - Excellent
• Twelve Kingdoms Vol. 5
• Jem - The Complete 1st & 2nd Seasons
• Transformers Armada - Flashbacks
• Transformers Armada:Best Battles
• Transformers Armada:Flashbacks

Manga

• Aria Manga Vol 1 Tp
• Azumanga Daioh Manga Vol 4 Tp
• Battle Vixens Vol 1 Gn (Of 4)
• Confidential Confessions Vol 4 Gn (Of 6)
• Demon Ororon Vol 1 Gn (Of 4)
• Digimon Tamers Vol 1 Gn (Of 5)
• Dnangel Vol 1 Gn (Of 5)
• Dragonball Z Vol 15 Tp Shonen J Ed
• Full Metal Panic Manga Vol 4 Tp
• Gravitation Vol 5 Gn (Of 12)
• Initial D Vol 11 Gn (Of 23)
• Kindaichi Case Files Vol 6 Gn Legend Of Lake Hiren (Of 10)
• Magic Knight Rayearth Ii Vol 2 Gn (Of 3)
• Naruto Vol 3 Tp Shonen J Format
• Nausicaa Of Valley Of Wind Vol 2 Tp 2Nd Ed
• One Vol 1 Gn (Of 5)
• Peach Girl Art Book Sc
• Super Manga Blast #41
• Priest Vol 11 Gn (Of 15)
• Ragnarok Vol 10 Gn (Of 10)
• Raijin Comics #44 (Mr)
• Rebirth Vol 7 Gn (Of 11)
• Rebound Vol 7 Gn (Of 11)
• Ruler Of The Land Manga Vol 1 Tp
• To Heart Manga Vol 1 Tp

Also Megatokyo Vol 1 Tp (Dark Horse Comic's Release) Thor Son Of Asgard #2 (Of 6) (Manga and anime staffer Akira Yoshida on a teen version of Marvel's thunder god)

Also, if you in a comic retails, Saddle Tramp Press' Holliday Vol 1 Tp Cold Deck, a horror extension of dentist gunslinger Doc Holliday lore, is worth a look.

Upcoming Anime in Japan

From Natsume Maya

The new Ah! My Goddess anime will be a television series, and feature the staff from the movie. Ah! My Goddess (or Oh! My Goddess) is a sweet romantic comedy about college student who tries to order out for food and accidentally dials the Goddess Help Hotline. The goddess Belldandy appears and offers to grant the student his wish. Thinking it is joke, he wishes she would be his girlfriend. Soon, he's living with her, her mischievous older sister Urd, and her temperamental younger sister Skuld.

Toei 's Daiku Maryuu Gaiking Neo will following up on the 70's giant robot series.

Sunrise, the venerable studio best known for animating many of the Gundam works, has launched a website for Keroro Gunso (the manga is released as Sgt Frog by TOKYOP) here. The series will start on Japanese TV on April 3rd. A trailer can be seen here

The official website for the 26 episode studio Gonzo Samurai 7 is online at www.samurai-7.com. The series is a retelling of Kurosawa's 7 Samurai. The series is currently schedule to air on Japanese tV starting in June.

The 13 episode television series based on Osamu Tezuka's Hi no Tori (Phoenix) will be divided into four characters from the cycle of epics: Dawn, Revival, Deformity, Sun and Future.

Adult PC Games "Wind: A Breath of Heart " and "Tsuki ha Higashi ni Hi ha Nishi ni: Operation Sanctuary" will be adapted into an 3 episode OAV and TV series respectively this summer.

Evangelion creator Anno Hideaki's new Cutie Honey OAV Re: Cutie Honey OVA will run feature 3 45 minute episodes. Other staff members include composition Nakajima Kazuki, character design Hiramatsu Tadashi (Abenobashi etc), animation production Toei Animation. Along with Horie Yui, cast will include Noda Junko and Ishikawa Hideo. The first will be shown on pay per view Sky Perfect TV on July 24th, prior to its September DVD release.

During a radio interview writer Akahori Satoru announced that a new Saber Marionette work is in production. The is no indication of whether the franchise' new entry with will prose, manga, anime, and radio drama (forms that the series as previously appeared in). Saber Marionette is an action comedy about a colonized planet where after the death of its female colonists, the male survivors reproduced through cloning and soon created female robots for companionship.

A fifth Ojamajo Doremi series, Ojamajo Doremi Na-i-sho will run 13 episodes on Sky Perfect TV starting June 26th.

Gotoh Keiji, Kadonosono Megumi and Kimura Hidefumi, the staff behind Kiddy Grade, are working on a TV anime titled "Uta ~ Kata" (the tilde in the middle should actually be an S-shape rotated 90 degrees to the left so that it's lying on its side - hope that makes sense). Produced by Bandai Visual, with animation production by HAL Film maker. To be broadcast by Kids Station from October 2004.

An anime titled Money Punch Manga Katsudou Dai Shashin will commence broadcast on WoWoW in July 2004.

Nakamura Takashi, the creator of the anime film Tree of Palm, will write, direct, and provide character designs for an anime TV series titled "Fantastic Children" to air this October.

Studio 4ºC's (several segements of AniMatrix) has launched a site for their upcoming theatrical movie Mind Games. The movie, which mixed 2D and 3D animation with live action will be released in Japanese theatres this summer. Based on the "hyper tension" manga by Robin Nishi, it will be directed by Yuasa Masaaki with music by Yamamoto Seiichi.

Micott & Basara Inc announdec at the Tokyo International Anime Fair that they are going foward with production of an Appleseed 2 anime. Further the company hopes to complete its anime based on mangaka Masumura Hiroshi's Atagoul series by the summer of 2005. Furthermore, the third anime to be produced is titled Saiga, a sci-fi samurai action anime set in the near future. A princess who lives a sheltered life meets a good looking swordswoman. Director of Saiga will be Abe Yuuichi. Finally, a doll/puppet animation Komaneko is in production.

TOKYOP Distribution News

LIcV2 report that Diamond Comic Distributors and TOKYOPOP have announced an exclusive distribution agreement covering comic book specialty shops and hobby stores in North America.

Diamond is raising the discount it provides retailers on TOKYOPOP products to a maximum level of 50%, starting with orders placed via the March 2004 Previews and reorders placed after March 31, 2004. Diamond and Tokyopop also committed to "working together to achieve timely release of Tokyopop's titles in these markets." Several retailers surveyed by ICv2 for our upcoming Retailer's Guide to Anime & Manga mentioned that their chain store competitors had Tokyopop books a week or more before they received them from Diamond. Tokyopop Vice President of Sales & Marketing Steve Kleckner told ICv2 that Tokyopop will be shipping Diamond directly from the printers and that retailers ordering through Diamond "should all get their books first."

TOKYOPOP has also announced that will be expanding their manga translation and distribution in Germany.

ADV Toys Announces First Release

ADV Toys, the new division of A.D. Vision Inc. that creates exclusive toys and collectible merchandise based upon the company's extensive film, manga (graphic novel) and original content holdings, today announced its first toy, an exclusive Jonathan the Seal plush animal from the anticipated Kaleido Star anime series from ADV Films.

Jonathan the Seal first appears in Kaleido Star (which streets May 11, 2004) volume two, episode six: "The Amazing Seal," when his endearing character saves the day and wins the heart of the Kaleido Star characters with his extraordinary juggling skills. After Jonathan's appearance in episode six, he continues to liven up the screen and make hearts go a flutter with fuzzy joy for the remainder of the series.

Officially on sale this summer, the Jonathan the Seal plush will be available in a 5 inch size (SRP $7.99) and a 10.5 inch size (SRP $14.99).

CPM To Show Votoms on Sputnik7

Central Park Media and sputnik7 combine efforts to bring director Ryosuke Takahashi's Armored Trooper Votoms to the World Wide Web. This groundbreaking series mixes blazing mecha action with intergalactic intrigue and peril. Fans can log on to www.sputnik7.com on Wednesday, April 7th to catch this acclaimed and influential anime series which continues to cause a stir twenty years after its initial Japanese broadcast.

The first six episodes of this series will be airing on sputnik7 for a limited time only. All six 30-minute episodes will be in Japanese with English subtitles. The following is sputnik7's availability and viewing schedule for Armored Trooper Votoms:

Episode(s) Airing Date

• 1 April 7, 2004 - April 20, 2004
• 1 and 2 April 21, 2004 - May 4, 2004
• 2 and 3 May 5, 2004 - May 18, 2004
• 3 and 4 May 19, 2004 - June 1, 2004
• 4 and 5 June 2, 2004 - June 15, 2004
• 5 and 6 June 16, 2004 - June 29, 2004

Upcoming ADV Releases

April 27

Burn Up Excess: Complete Collection, "Warrior Case Files"

Happy Lesson: Mama-Lama Ding Dong (third and final volume)

May 4

BASToF Syndrome: Fear and Lemons (volume 1)

May 11

Kaleido Star: Welcome to the Kaleido Stage (volume 1)

Saiyuki: Trouble In Paradise (10th volume)

Slayers: Premium

BASToF Syndrome

Based on the hit Korean online game, BASToF Syndrome ("BASToF" stands for "Be A Stranger To Fear") is a new series produced in Korea, and it is currently airing on Japanese television.

The year is 2097 and in the city of Xenon, the ultimate cyber game, where players fight as bio-mechanical cyber robots, has been created. But something's wrong. Somehow, the game's cyber space and the real world are linked. The damage that occurs in the game's cyber space creates destruction in the city of Xenon. It all starts when the players hear a piercing scream, see the ghostly face of a little girl and a powerful scent of lemon overcomes them.

To solve this mystery, the creator of the game assembles a "Dream Team," the top three young gamers in all of Xenon. This team of rebellious, arrogant teens must overcome their attitudes and fears to find the answers, answers to the mystery that are much bigger than the game. Visit the BASToF Syndrome fansite at http://www.advfilms.com/titles/bastofsyndrome to view a trailer and to sign up for updates.

Kaleido Star

The first volume of a series directed by Sailor Moon's Junichi Sato, from studio HAL Film Maker.

Visit the Kaleido Star fansite at http://advfilms.com/titles/kaleidostar to view a trailer and sign up for updates.

The Story: The Kaleido Stage is a circus extravaganza with death defying stunts, flying trapeze artists, and magical clowns. The top performers of the Kaleido Stage are a handful super acrobats known as Kaleido Stars. When sixteen-year-old Sora Naegino arrives in the U.S. with little more than her dreams in tow, she has a chance encounter with mysterious man who immediately recognizes her potential for the stage. Sora can't believe her luck when the stranger turns out to be Kalos, owner of the Kaleido Stage. But things are never really that easy, and Sora will have to turn cartwheels to get past the power of a Kaleido Stage diva named Layla. Prepare yourself for high flying excitement, and jaw dropping beauty as you enter the world of the Kaleido Stage.

Slayers: Premium

Lina Inverse and Gourry Gabriev have teamed up again along with their friends from the original Slayers TV show to save an indulgent village from the wrath of an underwater nemesis. Lina thinks spending a little time by the seaside will afford her some much needed R&R, but little does she know the action is about to begin! After accepting their much awaited reward of seafood delights from a fishing village, Lina and Gourry discover that the village food supply has been cursed. Whoever eats the food loses their ability speak in anything but a bizarre aquatic language. Lina must brave the perils of the deep to get to the bottom of this mysterious hex on humanity.

And what would Lina say about the feeling Gourry is try to tell her - if she could only understand this strange tongue?

Extras include: commentary by Cynthia Martinez (Lina) & Crispin Freeman (Zelgadis); behind the scenes with Crispin Freeman.

TOKYOPOP Inks Third Major Book Deal With Rising Stars of Manga Winner

TOKYOPOP Inc.'s announced that they have signed Pseudome Studio-one of the prizewinners from its first Rising Stars of Manga competition to create a full-length series based on comedy Van Von Hunter. Pseudome's Mike Schwark and Ron Kaulfersch will join past Rising Stars winners Lindsay Cibos and M. Alice LeGrow, whose manga series are also scheduled to be published by TOKYOPOP.

In just a few weeks, TOKYOPOP will announce the winners of its third Rising Stars of Manga competition and plans to kick off a fourth contest in June.

Burn Up Excess: Complete Collection, "Warrior Case Files"

Excess: Complete Collection, "Warrior Case Files" with all thirteen episodes of the police action series, featuring an all-female squad of five officers-ravishing Rio, Machiavellian Maki, munitions-happy Maya, intellectual Lillica and slightly neurotic Nanvel-battling crime in Neo Tokyo.

Burn Up Excess was produced by AIC (Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040, Oh My Goddess!) and directed by Shenichiro Kimura (Handmaid May). The animation was directed by character designer Yuji Ikeda (Angel of Darkness) and produced by Magic Bus.

Upcoming Right Stuf Releases

6/29

Comic Party DVD 3: The Big Time

Gravitation DVD 1: Fateful First Encounter

Comic Party is a comedy parody of Japan's fan comic culture. Volume 3 features episodes 7-9. The cover can be seen here.

Gravitation is a yaoi (male homosexual relationship, typically for a female audience) about a romance between a pop musician and a novelist. The first volume features episodes 1-3. The cover can be seen here

July CPM Manga and Manhwa Releases

CPM Press announced its July manhwa release Nambul: War Stories Book 1-Invasion! written and illustrated by the prolific manhwa creator Hyun Se Lee. Countries are going to war with neighboring nations over oil, while horrible acts of violence run rampant through out the streets of Tokyo.

CPM Press' July manga releases include Comic Party Book 2-Another Round which is based on themes and characters from the hit Comic Party TV series and video game; Hitoshi Tomizawa's (Alien Nine Series) action and adventure story Treasure Hunter Book 2: Figurehead of Souls and Kia Asamiya's Dark Angel Book 3, which has been re-formatted and re-priced.

Trailers

Apples's Japanese Quicktime site has trailers of the following movies (Animated)

Steam Boy

Ap pleseed

(Live action adaptations)

Devilman

Cas shern

A trailer for the new Stratos 4 OAV can be seen here

Animate.tv has a trailer for the Ragnarok anime series here. The Gonzo produced series, based on the multiplayer online fantasy game is scheduled to start on Japanese TV April 6th. The official website can be seen here.

A trailer for the Saiyuki Reload Gunlock, the latest chapter in the pop retelling of the Journey to the West legend (inspiration for early Dragon Ball) can be seen on the official site.

The series starts on Japanese television April 1st. Studio Pierrot's site for the series can be seen here and here.

Animate.tv has posted a trailer for the upcoming OAV adaptation of Namco's RPG video game Tales of Phantasia here

A teaser trailer for Geneon Japan's Koikaze is online here

Upcoming sci-fi/giant robots shows can be seen at Kenran Butou Matsuri The Mars Daybreak Dandoh !

Tokyo Anime Award Winners

From Natsume Maya

The Tokyo International Anime Fair held the Tokyo Anime Awards on 26 March 2004. The nomination section deals with anime which was broadcast, screened or sold between December 2002 and November 2003. Entries for the general invitation section have increased 80% since last year - a total of 182 entries, including 66 non-Japanese anime from 15 countries. In the general invitation section, the Grand Prix award went to "Africa a.F.r.I.c.A" by Kim Yong Chan, which shows African nature and the environmental problems.

In the nomination section, the award winners were as follows:

• Animation of the year: Gundam Seed
• Best TV anime: Astroboy, Gundam Seed, Hagane no Renkinjutsushi (Full Metal Alchemist)
• Best movie anime: Tokyo Godfathers, Nasu ~ Andulusia no Natsu (Eggplant ~ Andulusian Summer)
• Best OVA: Animatrix (special edition), Macross Zero
• Best foreign movie anime: Lilo and Stitch
• Best director: Kon Satoshi
• Best script: Aikawa Shou
• Best background art: Ike Nobutaka
• Best character design: Hirai Hisashi
• Best seiyuu: Paku Romi
• Best music: Kanno Youko

Japanese language Impress Corporation has more coverage of the Tokyo International Anime Fair, including a large figure of the castle from Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki's Hauru no Ogoku Shiro (Howl's Moving Castle) and this pic of the R.O.D - The TV - cosplayers with costumes made of paper.

CPM Manga Previews

Central Park Media has previews of manga series Comic Party, Duck Prince, Treasure Hunter, and The World of Narue here

Xenogears Anime Adventure Game

Magic Box has posted images of XenoKomi, Namco's anime adventure addition to their Xenogears franchize's upcoming Xenosaga Freaks Fan Disc here

Comic Party to Appear on Anime Network

ADV has acquired Comic Party from Right Stuf International, picking up US television broadcast rights to all 13 half-hour episodes of the anime comedy series that pokes fun at the very people it targets.

The show will be available on the Anime Network

From the press release: A hilarious roller coaster of laughter and confusion, Comic Party follows the exploits of Taishi, the ultimate otaku, and his friend, Kazuki, as they delve into the swirling world of comic fans, riddled with ambition, hatred, and love. Lost amidst herds of bizarre buyers, sellers, and players at a comic convention, Kazuki, clueless to the ways of the comic fanatic, is about to be baptized by fire. But it's imperative for Kazuki to experience the craziness of the comic convention in order to realize his true calling -- to take over the world using unsuspecting comic fans!

Yu Yu Voted Game Of The Year

Excerpted from the press release: The highly-acclaimed Yu Yu Hakusho(tm)Trading Card Game, created and produced by Score Entertainment, was recently named the Best Trading Card Game of 2003, by Inquest Gamer Magazine's Fan Awards.

The third expansion for the Yu Yu Hakusho TCG, Gateway, hits stores April 9th. For the latest details on the game, visit www.YuYuHakushoTCG.com.

Broccolli International to Distribute Bizarre Adventure

Anime on DVD reports Super Techno Arts (STA) has informed us that Broccoli International USA will act as a wholesaler of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. The step will make the title available at larger retailers.

Upcoming Anime on International Channel

From AnimeNation The International Channel will broadcast Tenchi Muyo in Love, subtitled in English, at 1:00 a.m (Eastern time) on April 3rd.

Tenchi Forever, subtitled, will air at 1:00 a.m (Eastern time) on April 4th.

Sol Bianca, dubbed in English, will air Tuesdays at 11:00 p.m. (Eastern time) starting April 6th.

Upcoming Geneon Releases... Solicited Releases

Anime

6/22

Gad Guard - Ligntning (V.1)... A robot mecha series featuring the talents of animation by GONZO (Last Exile, Vandred, Hellsing), directed by Hiroshi Nishikokiori (Azumanga Daioh, Angelic Layer), with character design from Toshiharu Murata (Blue Sub#6, Hellsing, Last Exile, You're Under Arrest).

Sound Tracks

6/8

R.O.D Original Soundtrack

Spy music from Taku Iwasaki (Witch Hunter Robin, Rurouni Kenshin)

Advanced (From Anime on DVD

Anime

7/13

Lupin the 3rd TV Vol. #07: Royal Scramble

Sailor Moon S 6 (Signature Series)

Tenchi Muyo OVA 4 (Signature Series)

Tenchi Universe 4 (Signature Series)

Trigun 6 (Signature Series)

7/20

Heat Guy J Vol. #7

7/27

Demon Lord Dante Vol. #2

Fushigi Yugi - The Mysterious Play Vol. #1

8/3

Captain Herlock, Space Pirate Vol. #4

Fushigi Yugi - The Mysterious Play is the first of indivual volumes of the series which was previously available as box sets.

A Geneon presentative said the following about their release of the ROD TV series:

"The LE version will not be a traditional Artbox. Instead, it will be a faux-leather book with DVD trays instead of pages with room for the rest of the ROD the TV series. Both the LE DVD Book (as we will refer to it) and the regular edition will ship with limited edition two-sided pencil boards that feature the artwork from the R2 cards.

At this exact second, I'm not sure if there are different pencil boards in each set, but I'll double check with the producer. This packaging is not like a digi-pack and will be a first in the industry and will be foil stamped with the series logos."

In regards to the Sailor Moon S Box Set release with its thinpak cases, "The reversible jackets will be the exclusive domain of the original release. However, the thin pack jackets will not have the Geneon Signature Series bar either."

A six volume Sailor Moon S Thin Pack DVD Box Set will be released on July 6th for $99.98

Sound tracks

8/3

Memories Original Soundtrack (2 CD Set)

Stellvia: Sound Wave of Stellvia OST

Tsukihime Original Soundtrack 1

Akira

The Rave Masters sound track has been rescheduled to an announced date, presumably to tie in more closely with the shows broadcast on Cartoon Network this summer.

ADV Formally Announces 37 Manga Titles

ADV Manga has confirmed the following licenses, many of which have been mention at conventions:

50 Rules for Teenagers by Ye Ri Na. A high school romance comic.

Blue Inferior by Kyoko Shitou. An ecological science fiction adventure and story of budding young romance.

Daemon Hunters by Seiuchiroh Todono. A story of a world of humans, elvesand demons.

Demon Prince Yoshida-kun by Natsuki Yoshimura. A light-hearted modern-day teen comedy that follows the hilarious exploits of demons searching for "Yoshida-kun."

Desert Coral by Wataru Murayama. A fantasy epic of a boy sucked into a dangerous land of his dreams.

Dream Gold by Tatsuro Nakanishi. A fast paced mystery with a kind of lighthearted sci-fi feel.

Enmusu by Takahiro Seguchi. A boy (with the help of his attractive maid) attempts to take over a massive corporation.

Fantasy Land by Lee Shi Young. A teenage girl trades her unhappy life for a thrilling and dangerous fantasy adventure.

FirstKing Adventures by Moyamu Fujino. This heartwarming fantasy was a huge hit in Japan.

Gadget by Hiroyuki Etou, super-popular creator of Japanese hit manga Mahoujin Guruguru. A comedy about UFO hunters.

Gadirok by Jung Ho Hwang. A young prince and his faithful comrade-in-arms fight to regain the throne.

Gamerz Heaven by Maki Murakami, author of the hit manga Gravitation.

Gate by Hirotaka Kisaragi. Four teenage boys become gatekeepers between our world and a magical world beyond.

Gunparade March by Hiroyuki Sanadura. Basis for the popular anime of the same name about teenage robot pilots fighting the alien invaders, the Phantom Beasts.

Jinki: Extend by Sirou Tunasima. Jinkis-giant human-piloted robots-battle for good and evil.

Kids Joker by Maki Fujita. A hard-boiled thriller with a romantic triangle thrown in.

Lineage by Shin Il Sook. Based on one of the most popular MMPOGs (online computer games) called Lineage (available in the US from NCsoft). A magical medieval fantasy that pits young Prince Deporojue against his wicked step-father.

Love Blossoms by Lee Jong Eun. A romantic comedy starring teenage triplets.

Mythical Detective Loki RAGNAROK by Sakura Kinoshita. A popular series in Japan (with considerable fan buzz in the U.S.); the Norse god Loki is a boy detective in this manga.

Pastel Green Spell by Lee Young Yuu, author of the very popular series Kill Me, Kiss Me.

Peacemaker Kurogane by Nanae Chrono. At the violent last gasp of Japan's shogunate, a group of swordsmen called Shinsengumi protect the city of Kyoto. Their newest member is a boy named Tetsunosuke Ichimura, who is about to be drawn into a dangerous web of violence and intrigue.

Pretty by Shi Hyun Ha. Pretty is the story of a middle school girl who is interested in stars and astronomy, who meets and becomes infatuated with a biy sharing her interests. But there are complications...

Princess Tutu by Mizuo Shinonome. A magical girl story in the classic mold.

Quantum Mistake by Sohn Eun-Ho and Choi Myung-Soo. The story of what happens when a tough high school punk switches bodies with a 90-pound weakling nerd.

R2 by Maki Hakoda. A pizza delivery boy must save the world.

Ray by Akihito Yoshitomi. An underground group runs a "farm" to raise children as human commodities for selling organs.

SIU Special Investigation Unit: NY Police Story by Kye Seung Hee. A New York City police mystery and thriller.

Saint Marie by Yang Ygo-Jin. Good and evil fight it out on the grounds of an exclusive private school.

Sky Blade, Sword of the Heavens by Hyun Kang Suk and Ah Shin. Two warriors, each sharing the same destiny for greatness, meet for adventure.

Sweet & Sensitive by Park Eun Ah. One girl and two boys in a high school love triangle gone wrong.

Tactics by Sakura Kinoshita. By the same author as Mythical Detective Loki RAGNAROK, this is a humorous fantasy set in medieval Japan.

Taimashin MASHIN Taidou-hen by Hideyuki Kikuchi and Misaki Saitoh. The story of a suave demon-fighting acupuncturist and his beautiful assistant.

Tengai Retrogical by Rin Asano. Set in a bygone Japan, a comedy with fantasy elements.

The Boss by Im Jae Won. Fists fly in this tale of high school gang war.

Vaizard by Norihiro Yoshida. A boy "vaizard" (tomb protector) teams up with a female archeologist to fight evil.

Yo-u by Sanami Matoh. A title from the best-selling creator of Fake. A fantasy adventure set in a medieval Japan full of supernatural creatures. The heroine is a witch searching for her father, whose spirit has been trapped inside a sword for decades.

Your & My Secret by Ai Morinaga. A teenage boy and the girl he's in love with switch bodies, with hilarious (and excruciatingly embarrassing) results.

Bubblegum Crisis Re-Release

Anime on DVD points out that AnimEigo has indicated plans to produce a new set of Bubblegum Crisis DVD as a result of the sublicense to Multimedia expiring. According to the AnimEigo page, a new remastered version with some potential new extras and new packaging is in the works.

New Gundam SEED Online

Anime on DVD points out that GundamOfficial.com has been updated with new information about the series' domestic release, including the romanization of the character names.

Protoculture Update Web

Canadian anime periodical Protoculture Additions has announced that they will be updating their web pressance.

Excerpted from web site: Protoculture is currently in the process of restructuring its domain names and moving its web page to a new host server. Those changes will allow Protoculture to offer more content online. Up to now, the Protoculture web page (www.protoculture-mag.com or www.protoculture.ca) was merely a promotional tool for the Protoculture Addicts magazine, giving mostly product information, but, with the Internet becoming more and more omnipresent in anime fans' lives, it will soon start offering articles, anime stories, purchase guides and many reviews of anime & manga related products. This information and contents will be available for free and products' reviews will be released more quickly online. Until this process is fully completed and the entire web site is updated, a few page or image links may not work properly. Protoculture will do its best to correct all the links problems quickly and thank its users readers for their patience and understanding.

Of course, with the staff being busy with the implementation of those changes, some production delays are to be expected. Protoculture Addicts #81 will most probably be released only at the end of April or early May.