Anime Preview: Samurai 7
Volume 1

To be Released by FUNimation August 23rd

Samurai 7 is Gonzo at the height of their craft, having mastered the integration of 2D and 3D effects in digital animation. One of the extras on the volume is a promo video that starts with some prequel footage that is a couple of minutes of pure sci-fi action blitz. Knowing how to put a ton of stuff on the screen and make it count it is a direct to vein injection of geek out material. The episode content itself offers more measured quantities and often differs character if not quality.

Cgi mecha come in from the foreground, approaching a floating castle fortresses. Their numbers increase until the screen is overrun with them. They look a bit like Gundam mobile armors (the big guys, as opposed to mobile suits, imposing wing/thrusters, large dangling bases). Another, three mecha force comes in formation and takes out an impressive swath through the attackers, then meet for some mecha on mecha melee action.
The scene zooms in to see incursion mecha (small, but bulky, a bit like Sakura War's steam tech mecha ) landing and attacking the fortresses, blowing a few up. The effects are great, there's impressive volume in the explosion and in the mobility in the 3d models. Seeing one of the mecha twist in level a gun is presented with perfect evidence that they aren't static.

The scene cuts again as a ship flies in with samurai, un-mecha-armored standing on it, Tekkaman style. He glides down with streaking samurai-run strides, jumps off, slices through a capital ship and a few attacking mecha for good measure. He runs into the incursion guys, ends up back on his escort, charging the enemy fleet.

After viewing it, when you've picked your jaw off the flow, you have to consider basing an anime series an Akira Kurosawa film is a double edged sword. Two have done it recently, and both have been quality anime series, and Kurasawa's movies have repeatedly been rich material that can been updated and metamorphosed. But they aren't the timeless masterpieces of the originals.

The problem with a Kurosawa revival, as opposed to say a Shakespeare revival is that Kurosawa's works have been committed to film, and any retelling has to directly compete with his originals. As with Yojimbo, The Seven Samurai is one of Kurosawa's frequently adapted stories. Most media consumers, even if they haven't seen the original have seen several derivative version. According to Japanese film expert Michael Jeck, it's also the origin of the film sequence in which a crack team is assembled for a mission. Even when a new telling is worth getting exciting about and not coasting on Kurosawa's foundation it suffers in comparison to Kurosawa's work. Against the lofty standards of a masterpiece from a creator who was a true genius and a perfectionist, not to mention collaborators like Toshiro Mifune, you can't help but loose something in the translation.

If you're a cinema purist who absolutely can't detach an inspired work from the original, you might want to skip Samurai 7. If you're a sci-fi fan looking for a plot driven, continuous story, and impressive action visuals, Samurai 7 is one of this year's rousing successes. Matched up other recent genre hot properties, its a good bet Samurai 7 will land the lethal slice.

Flaws, and elements that weren't handled as well as they were in Kurosawa's are evident, but if you watch the volume addition times, more and more things that were done well stick out. Probably, the more you detach yourself from the original, and compare it instead to other anime, the more Samurai 7 looks like prime sci-fi anime. From the careful character design, to the fact that the characters sweat in battle, to their complex movements, to complex shot composure where the focus is in the middle of the shot with effectively out of focus foreground and background, there are numerous ways that the famous $300,000 per episode budgets shows.

Hitching together a team of seven independent samurai, Kurosawa runs rough shot over the conventions of the genre, but he also ties it tightly to the connection between samurai and periods of unease. Despite being a warrior class, the majority of legendary samurai, and popular samurai stories have been from peace times. The thought is often of duels, personal conflicts and codes rather than the sweeping, history changing battlefield meetings. Events like the Battle of Sekigahara are used as historic set-ups. The Seven Samurai/Samurai 7 takes place in one of these post war period where society is dealing with the new realities of the shape that it has taken.

In The Seven Samurai, a small farming village who struggles to sustain itself learn that when their crop ripens, a hoard of bandits will sweep down and steal their harvest (along with women and goods). At a point of desperation in which they are pondering killing themselves or throwing themselves into a hopeless battle against the bandits, the village elder says in that in his youth villages were being looted and burned. The villages that hired samurai to protect themselves endeared. All the village has to offer the samurai is food, but in a day of peace, when many samurai have been let go by their masters and are struggling to make any living, food may be enough to recruit the warriors.

Three villagers venture into the city to recruit the protectors, eventually happening upon Kambe, an old veteran who has been stripped of all illusions about the life of a samurai. Kambe eventually agrees, saying that seven samurai would be needed to protect the village and they eventually pick up: Okamoto Katsushiro: a wealthy untried youth learning about the realities of the samurai life; Katayama Gorobe: a good natured, warrior with experience, though not to Kambe's degree, who's curious about his compatriots and the endeavor; Heihachi: a happy, easy going guy who isn't particularly skilled as a warrior; Shichiroji: a veteran lieutenant to Kambe's captain; Kyuzo: laconic, but impressively skilled and always honing his abilities; Kikuchiyo: a large, brash and loud man always brandishing his oversized sword, played in Kurosawa's movie by the great Toshiro Mifune.

The first change is that bandits are ominous, inhuman machines, slow, scanning and immense. (At this point, it's probably best to hold off judgement on the inhumanity of the bandits as opposed to Kurosawa's deplorable but human foes). Clearly outside the ability of the villagers to deal with. In Samurai 7, rather than sending three villagers to the city, including the vocal supporter of fighting the bandits Rikichi, a less focal Rikichi accompanies new characters Kirara and Komachi, who are more in the vein of anime tradition. Kirara replaces the peasant girl who becomes involved with Katsushiro, but she is also the village's shrine maiden, who finds water with a dowsing crystal. Komachi is a very cute kid, an almost mini-Kirara who is good for over-doing the plight of the villagers. A little saccharine, but not enough to poison the scenes she's in.

Sci-fi concepts are deeply ingrained into the samurai, up to the most extreme example of twisting the movie in a Kikuchiyo, with a mechanical body that's part traditional samurai armor, part bulky robot, including a steam valve attached to his head, and an almost literally barrel like chest. You're simply not going to replace Mifune, but the Samurai 7 Kikuchiyo is still a memorable character with his crushing sword swings that look like an application of a pneumatic pressure with moderately impressive, but often pointless results, to his shoddy construction that comic-tragically leaves him in pieces after most battle. He's voice well in the Japanese audio by Kuwata Kong, better known as the voice of Geese Howard in the SNK video games than for his anime work, Chris Sabat (Dragon Ball's Vegeta Piccolo and other's) in the English dub really aces the characters overcompensating bluster.

Urban life is expanded upon in Samurai 7. In this incarnation the state of the time, with the samurai and peasants in their respective predicaments isn't just something that developed beyond the control of the depicted participants. The anime version introduces a merchant class that is directly shaping the age. It's a bit of political complexity, a bit of conflict before dealing with the bandits. The results feed into the movie's theme and Kambe's thought that no matter who wins a conflict, the force on the battlefield loses. The added element looks like an addition to distend the plot, but it's also providing interesting material and a different brand of foe.

Some of the changes might be a bit hard to digest for fans of the movie, especially in that they go against interesting points. Beyond the fact that a Mifune role is taken by a noisy red mech or that there's a textbook anime heroine in the middle of the action, to build a full length anime series around this group of samurai, their abilities are enhanced. In the movie, there was the sense that these were average people off the street. With a sword... a few good ones... a few not so good ones... and Kambe's mind for applying them to the job. Here, they're above the average samurai flooding the streets looking for something to do with their skills. Kambe in particular is shown to be a monster on the battlefield. He's still no Kyuzo, but he's not middle of the pack with a sword. The footage of Kambe at war are enough to indicate that it is going to take something impressive to try the abilities of Kambe or Kyuzo.

The mecha-slicing samurai action is as much as much wuxia as chambara, with aspects of video games and Tekkaman style action for measure. Told with live action drive,set to taiko drum beats or music inspired by the original, with animated abilities, the volumes off less mecha action and more small group show sword clashes. There's Ninja Scroll sense of showdowns where you don't know what to expect. Someone's bound to pop open a false arms and launch something weird, combined with the movie's remarkable sense of agility and movement. Not to mention its unusual, freakish fighters.

The effort that event into animating the series is event in its details. Art director Hiromasa Ogura, of many of the Production IG classics including FLCL, Ghost in the Shell, and Jin-Roh, as well as Miyazaki's Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro, Ninja Scroll and The Wings of Honneamise, mechanical/art designer Makoto Kobayashi (Giant Robo, Last Exile, Zeta Gundam), and character designers Hideki Hashimoto and Takuhito Kusanagi really get to stretch their legs with the series budget. Every scene is packed. Especially in the city, which dominates this volume, there is little unused space without building, objects or people. Down to a bouquet of flowers, if an object is in the view of the camera, it looks tactile of the created world, and eye-catching.

A lot when into building the character's history and personality into their appearance, cramming as much design in to almost the breaking point of becoming busy. Even taking away of the bold outfits and accoutrements of the characters, plenty can be read from in the shapes of their faces.

Toshifumi Takizawa's direction in the series is able without being outstanding. It grabs inspirations from how Kurosawa handled his while missing the genius of Kurosawa's shot composure. Given what Kurosawa had to build or effort needed for capture his vision, it is somewhat disappointing that with the tools at the disposal of the animators, didn't match or expand on the original.

For example, there is a scene introducing the samurai making their way through the crowds of the city. In one shot, Kurosaw would follow on samurai for a while, then when he cross paths with another samurai, it would change and track that samurai. Samurai 7 uses a similar scene, but replaces the tracking with clear focus of a range of distinctively design samurai in separate cuts. It provides a good crowd context for some, but loses some of the dizzyingly flow of the urban bustle.

Even though the animators have the tools to freely compose action, what they produce is an odd mix of innovative inspiration and cliche. For example, there some very impressive scenes where the samurai use Matrix-like abilities without falling back on the over-used Matrix nomenclature, yet there's a real love of ledges and vertical gaps that rings of action short cutes. (Almost to the degree of crate reliance in video games).

Not in every engagement, but in the first four episodes alone, the use of people fall or jump down drops, or get divided by them seems a little over extended. You can get lost in a long falling scene, and feel the energy of the moment, but when it concludes, there's a realization that it was a cheap obvious thrill. The action grabs you the first time around, but it sometimes takes a second of third viewing to pick out the really good bits.

Manga Preview: Katsuya Terada's The Monkey King
Volume 1

To Be Released by Dark Horse Manga September 14th

Katsuya Terada's The Monkey King, is a chest thumping, blood drenched, often disturbingly un-PC (plenty of bondage imagery), legend. Originally printed in Ultra Jump, the publication that introduced Tenjho Tenge and Battle Angel Alita Katsuya,Terada's presents Frazetta-like telling of the Journey to the West that looks more like a top entry in Heavy Metal manga than the common idea of manga. The hideous demonic journey, painted with Dark Knight Returns color proclaims a a bold defiance suitable for an angry Monkey King. Don't expect the human dimension, but if you're a fan of Berserk's no holds barred take on violence, Monkey King would make a stunning addition to your library.

With exploding guts, drinking the blood of the dead and pseudo-mythology the material could becomes juvenile, but here, it is carried out at some a magnitude that it seems to capture the conflict of higher beings. Not to say that reading The Monkey King is an especially intellectual exercise. but envisioning what powerful creatures can do tends to be limited by the imagination of a work's creator or the code of what can be depicted. Here, Terada rips apart bland conceptions of a familiar story. Think Simmon Bisley telling the Odyssey, or the labors of Hercules.

Like King Arthur in the English tradition the Journey to the West is a story that constantly inspires retellings, in the anime world including Dragon Ball and more recently Saiyuki. Journey to the West tells the story of a Buddhist monk's travels to India to bring back a collection of sacred scrolls. This three disciples/companions include a pig-creature, a water demon, and most famously Son Goku, the Monkey King. The story starts with the adventures of Son Goku (Sun Wukong), a mischievous monkey/man possibly based on the Indian Hanuman, often depicted as fighting with a staff weapon. In the story, the Monkey King is invited to the heavenly kingdom in hopes that station will calm him down. All the efforts of heaven to subdue him only make him stronger until Buddha takes charge of the problem, tricking the Monkey King and imprisoning him under a mountain. Leashed by a magic head-band, the Monkey King is taken by the priest of his pilgrimage to India.

Rather than a uncontrollable wily trickster, Terada's Goku is a fearsomely raging beast of id: hulking, wild eyed, with a frightening a mane of hair sprouting from a granite physique. The story screeches into focus with some first shots that are of creature with red back wings and red skin tauntly stretched over a skull screaming "the ape! he sleeps!" before going to a shot of goku in his mountain imprisonment.
Cut to a barely clothed woman stalks through an expanse of desert, happens upon goku crouched on a rock sleeping like a statue, his enormous pillar like staff hefted over one soldier, with a vulture resting on it. Sweating, at the point of exhaustion, she falls before the rock. She puts a breast against the rock as Goku opens one golden eyes. Goku wakes, turns his staff, and knocks her head clean off. Hakkai, the pitiful, hideous pig-creature picks up the gore-dripping head, weakly chastised Goku, but the girl's headless corpse, stands, rips off its clothes and changes into a hulking demon.

The emblematic twist in this telling of the story is that Sanzo is now a nun, tied, blind folded, and gagged who speaks potent sutras when her mouth is freed. (the difference is explained in a flashback) Subject to the series sex drive, she's often unclothed, pawed and assaulted, with her binding treated as bondage fetishism.

Dark Horse keep pace with the manga's bold presentation, with high quality pages, printing and a dust jacket cover. The translations is impressively thorough, helped with an appendix discussion of the Journey to the story, and annotation with a sound effect illustration/symbol glossary and cultural notes.

Resource Spotlight: The Notenki Memoirs
By Yasuhiro Takeda

Released by ADV Manga

In addition to a resume of that has included some of anime's highest regarded works (The Wings of Honneamise, Gunbuster, FLCL, His and Her Circumstances, and most recognizably Evangelion), the anime studio Gainax has a reputation of an institution of geeks. Not that other creators and studio aren't passionate fans of the anime and sci-fi, from Gainax's fan films and model kits through the degree of literate and intelligent sci-fi they worked into their anime, it's clear that these guys occupy positions at the top of the geek pyramid. There's no better subject for a behind-the-anime look.

Yasuhiro Takeda, a founder and general manager of Gainax runs though the bumpy ride from sci-fi geeks to the creators of Evangelion in this memoir. Told in a brisk read from a gregarious personality the recounting the raises and falls of passionate individuals makes for a geeks done good odyssey as much about the time and place as the people. Two sets of end notes are a considerable assets for readers not familiar with all the names.

As the post-script "Trial in Absentia" round table interview with Hiroyuki Yamaga (Wings of Honneamise), Takami Akai (probably best known for the non-Gainax project Banner of the Stars), and Hideaki Anno (of Evangelion fame, with another hint that he;s gone very non-Shinji since his marriage to Moyoco), affirm Takeda is a pure forefront guy who will put himself at the head of the column, trying to direct it, but sometimes taken with the moment.

To call the book a memoir really isn't a misnomer. It's how Gainax evolved from a group of intelligent sci-fi enthusiasts to a producers of anime. Personally, Takeda goes from a voracious reader (sherlock holmes, Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke to Van Vogt) to university sci-fi club addict, to an ambitious organizer of conventions. The climax isn't Evangelion, but the Gainax tax evasion scandal which was of more personal significance to Takeda.

The book is obviously going after Evangelion fans, as proclaimed by its crouching Evangelion cover illustration. That the book is the inside story of Evangelion isn't a strictly untrue claim, but the book doesn't detail the creation to much of a degree, and if it did, on involvement alone Takeda wouldn't be the one to tell the story. He has a manager. He knew the personalities, but he knew the work at high level or business level rather than a creative one. You get to know a bit about the people, the process and the attitude, but you will not find out what Gainax was thinking when they made Evangelion in this text. Some what contrary to the text description of the book, Evangelion is viewed as a landmark that doesn't need to be further explored, as if it were an earthquake everyone knew about, so there was no need expanding of what happening directly before, during or after the event. The text refer to the reception of Evangelion, but doesn't address their Gainax's of the story. Then again, Yasuhiro Takeda famously said that Evangelion was being made of the second floor of the building, but he had know idea about what was happening with the series as it was being developed, and couldn't follow what he had seen.

This applies to the rest of the Gainax resume. Notenki Memoirs does not provide a significant degree of insight into specific anime projects. You're not going to learn the evolution from Gunbuster to Evangelion or a delineation of the Miyazaki influence on Nadia. Do not expect juicy insights into the creative process in their anime works. Even when they address points, its at a high level, with pointers to outside knowledge (it doesn't address production problems with Nadia, saying that they are well known)

With the book written in 2002, the perspective touches on the Evangelion aftermath, but FLCL, KareKano, and series after that with the Gainax name looses its halo aren't included.

Though the end notes identify many of the names, coming into the book with some topical knowledge helps when pulling value out of it. For example, they talk about approaching Enix to license RPG Dragan Quest/Warrior. Enix warned them about the trouble acquiring the rights for "Toriyama character designs" referring to Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama's work on the series. In an interesting move Gainax completely side-stepped the issue by licensing the game's item for replica kit merchandise.

Anime Spotlight: Noir: The Complete Collection

Released by ADV Films

Noir is high quality sensory anime set to a girls with guns assassins story that's less salacious than the norm to a point where even physical intimacy doesn't involve an edge of sexuality. Instead, it dances a bullet ballet across a Europe who's present is an impressionist lit scene with a van Gogh color palette, and who's secret past is illuminated in neon. Dressing like, at the time trendy Japanese urbanites (micro-skirt, heeled boots and sleeveless blouse on one, classy school girl on the other) two girls go Counter Strike to the music of Yuki Kajiura (second to Yoko Yanno, a composer fans have some to look for) a tone is all that needed to carry the story.

Mireille Bouquet, and Kirika Yumura are a girl with no past, and a girl haunted by her past who take up the mantle of NOIR, a pair of assassins who are "fated" to be "two maidens who govern death". They become knights in a chess game played by powerful and would-be powerful organizations. The characters' occupation and position put them in a field where they never know who to trust, and are required to always think and act quickly trailing a conspiracy not too different from comic's 100 Bullets or TV's Alias. Ironically, they're often killing people with information they need.

There's a non-typical degree of emotional resonance in the series that focuses more on the act of killing than the characters. On one hand it is a particularly hard series to to watch if real world terrorism in on your mind. On the other, Mireille and Kirika don't invoke much of an attachment as individuals. Despite their motivations and character evolution, they're ultimately cold to the viewer, with not much to them beyond killing. It's hard to envision what these characters do when they stop killing, or reconcile a decision to stop with the fate of all the faceless people they've killed.

Noir offers slick violence, where a combination of strategy and athleticism allows a grace in the combat. It doesn't make killing look pretty, but in that its set in beautiful locals and that it is executed like thai-chi: smoothly moving, hitting points of resistances, and moving around them, there's an aesthetic glow.

Guardians of Order Cancels Eva RPG

Eva Monkey points out that Guardians of Order has announced that that two announced Neon Genesis Evangelion books for their Big Eyes Small Mouth anime role playing game have been cancelled. President of Guardians of Order Mark C. MacKinnon says that the decision to cancel was entirely ADV's, and that Guardians of Order would still like to produce the books.

Gutsoon! Fate?

According to a report on MangaNews.net's forum, Gutsoon! Raijin comics, the publisher of a weekly English language manga anthology that included Fist of the North Star prequel Fist of the Blue Sky, popular basketball manga Slam Dunk, and fighting manga Baki the Grappler, has gone out of business rather than the previously reported hiatus.

From the report:

on anime expo 2005, I made friends with one of the shipping supervisors of raijin comics, he told me that after they refunded the money of everyone that subscribed to the magazine, they had to send everything back to japan to be resold in cheap markets, the last day of work in the raijin warehouse, everyone raided the warehouse and took whatever they could like complete collections of "the master editions" of hokuto no ken, boxes and boxes of loose manga and whatever they could got in their hands, they were fired already so they took advantage on that.

The company lost its domain this spring.

While no official announcement was made, and article in Viz's Shonen Jump anthology has lead many to believe that the company has picked up the title.

State on Japanese Animation Industry

Anime News Network has posted a detailed run of of the current state of the anime industry in Japan here.

eigoMANGA Announces Viz Collaberation

eigoMANGA announced that they will be collaborating with Viz on the titles Basara (a shojo fantasy epic) and Flame of Recca (a shonen fight tournament). Though eigoMANGA described the role as "producing" the manga series, it base been corrected as a more minor role. The company, known more for their vocal self promotion than their output, got into some hot water with the announcement, which was not cleared with Viz.

From the eigoMANGA's blog:

Just wanted to let you guys know that the people at Viz were super mad at the press release circulated by us. They pulled the press release from some of the major news sites and they called it "illegal".

Apparently the marketing department didn't know about our collaboration with the publication department and the publication department didn't show us the proper protocol in order to get approval from the marketing department. The press release we sent out is true and legit.

The issue has been resolved peacefully. Its a misunderstanding. I talked to marketing director and after they talk to the publication team, they may re-write the press and circulate it for us. But they wanted us to take down the Viz graphics until everything works out so we did that.

It was important for us to send this press release out because this is like a big break for us and this announcement would finally put eigoMANGA on the manga map as a brand and company to watch out for. So hopefully things will work out.

New New Nadesico or Stelvia

AnimeNewsNetwork reports director Tatsuo Sato has stated on website that new sequels to sci-fi series Nadesico and Stelvia are now impossible. Nadesico, an interesting mix of relationship comedy/drama, space operara war, parody and big idea sci-fi was released domestically by ADV. Stelvia, a intellegent space-acedemy series for a somewhat younger audience is released by Geneon.

Screen Caps From Mamoru Oshii's Open Your Mind

TwitchFilm points out that screen shots of the DVD release of Mamoru Oshii's animated art installation project Open Your Mind has been posted on this blog

November/December Dark Horse Releases

November (issues)
11/9
Blade Of The Immortal #107

11/30
Super Manga Blast! #58

December (collections)
12/7
Harlequin Pink: A Girl In A Million Tpb
Harlequin Violet: Response Tpb

12/14
Iko The Zombie Shop Volume 1 Tpb
Samurai Executioner Volume 9 Tpb
Shadow Star Volume 7: Victim's Eyes, Assailant's Hands Tpb

12/28
Lady Snowblood Volume 2: The Deep-Seated Grudge Tpb

Blade Of The Immortal #107
"Shortcut," part 1 of 5. Hiroaki Samura takes Blade of the Immortal into darker depths, as his latest story arc, "Shortcut," gets rolling. Visceral horror takes center stage, and this masterful manga series begins to explore man's hunger for immortality and the early years of "modern Japanese medicine." Habaki Kagimura's medical examiners begin to test the seemingly immortal Manji, who is imprisoned, chained, and a very unwilling toy in their merciless hands! Also, as Hyakurin and Rin step up their search for Manji, Hyakurin receives some shocking news concerning the future the Mugai-ryü assassins

Harlequin Pink: A Girl In A Million Tpb
Written by Betty Neels, art by Kako Itoh.
Dark Horse Manga and Harlequin Books are delighted to present a shining new line of books that marry two of the most successful phenomena to hit bookstores best-selling Harlequin romance fiction and female-friendly Japanese manga! These sparkling manga adaptations of Harlequin's best-selling titles are a romantic step above much of the cookie-cutter manga hitting the shelves today.
A vacation fling was completely out of character for old-fashioned Carol, but her attraction to intriguing, older Marius tempted her to break her own rules. The next thing she knew, though, he'd turned up working at her hospital! Does she have what it takes to attract much less keep the attentions of this intimidating, sophisticated, and utterly compelling man?
160 pages, black and white, $9.95

Harlequin Violet: Response Tpb
Written by Penny Jordan, art by Takako Hashimoto.
Response takes a sexy look at love in the workplace. Sure, you shouldn't date your boss, but what if he's really, really hot? Sienna is a temp hired at a busy London firm. In a stroke of luck, she's assigned to work with Alex, who's smart, sexy, and interested in her! But there may be much more to his attentions than he's letting on. Will Sienna learn the startling truth behind their relationship and if she does, will their love survive?
106 pages, black and white, $9.95

Lady Snowblood Volume 2: The Deep-Seated Grudge Tpb
Written by Kazuo Koike, art by Kazuo Kamimura.
The path of revenge can have many twisted turns, and Lady Snowblood's is no exception. Born in a prison, a product of her mother's grudge, Yuki is a child of hell. What will she do for revenge? Pose as a nun? Become another woman's lover? Possibly.
In this volume we learn about Yuki's training and youth, see her woo some allies, and embark on the first steps of her angry path.
Written by Kazuo Koike of Lone Wolf & Cub fame, Lady Snowblood is a tale of a woman's path in hell. 224 pages, black and white, $13.95

Iko The Zombie Shop Volume 1 Tpb
Written and art by Rei Mikamoto.
Terror has struck the sleepy little town of Shiraike. A serial killer stalks the streets murdering innocent girls. Twenty-nine grisly murders have been committed, with no clues to catch the killer. That is, until the town receives a strange visitor: a beautiful young woman who can raise the dead. She is Reiko the Zombie Shop, necromancer for hire. For a price, she'll wake your dead, if only to find a clue to their demise, but she's not responsible for what the dead will say or do once they awaken!
192 pages, black and white, $12.95

Cartoon Network Talks Naruto

From the press release:
Worldwide Sensation Naruto Makes Cartoon Network Debut in September U.S. Debut of Popular Animé Series on Saturday, Sept. 10, at 9 p.m. (ET, PT) during Cartoon Network?s Action Block, Toonami

Naruto, the global hit animé series centering around Uzumaki Naruto, a rebellious ninja in training, makes its U.S. debut on Saturday, Sept. 10, at 9 p.m. (ET, PT) during Toonami, Cartoon Network?s high-rated action block. The series has already acquired a huge fan base in the U.S. through DVD sales and bootleg tapes, having first aired in Japan in 2002. Its debut on Cartoon Network will mark the first time the series has been shown in English.

The story of Naruto begins 12 years ago, when the evil Nine Tailed Fox demon terrorized The Hidden Leaf Village. The Fourth Lord Hokage sacrificed himself to seal the demon inside the body of a baby, bringing the decimation to an end. For fear that the boy, Naruto, would abuse the powers inside him and release the demon within, a rule was made that forbad anyone to tell him that he possessed the spirit of the Nine Tailed Fox. Raised as an orphan and with no one believing in him, Naruto grew up unaware of the reason that the villagers shunned him.

Now a teenager, Naruto attempts to earn the respect of the villagers by training to become the Village Hokage, the top ninja in the village. As a student at the ninja academy, he is earnest and hardworking, yet clumsy. As Naruto develops as a ninja, he must learn to control his special powers to become the respected master ninja.

"Naruto has reached a level of underground fandom comparable to the Dragonball phenomenon in both the U.S. and abroad. We are excited and honored to present Toonami fans with the compelling characters, story arcs and incredible action that have made Naruto an international sensation," said Bob Higgins, senior vice president of programming for Cartoon Network.

Naruto is an adaptation of the popular manga series Naruto created by Masahi Kishimoto. Cartoon Network has acquired 52 episodes of the animé series that will air during Toonami, Cartoon Network?s Saturday prime time action block.

Upcoming Japanese Releases

From AnimeNation

A site for the upcoming Keroro Gunso (Sergeant Frog) movie is online here. The manga version of the comedy about frog aliens who have invaded Earth has been released by TOKYOPOP.

Production IG has announced an anime adaptation of popular SNK fighting game King of Fighters. Some of the component game series that were brought into King of Fighters, including Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting were previously animated.

A trailer for the Futari wa Precure Max Heart 2: Yukizora no Tomodachi movie can be seen here

English and Japanese versions of the website and trailer for upcoming anime television series Kotencotenco are now open. The Japanese site also hosts a 64Mb Kotencotenco "traffic safety" anime short.

Mediaworks has officially announced that Hasegawa K-Ske's series of Shinigami no Ballad "lite novels" will be adapted into anime. The six (so far) Shinigami no Ballad novels tell the story of "Momo the Girl God of Death."

Japanese video game development studio 7th Expansion has announced that its amateur created murder mystery computer game Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni will be adapted into an anime television series next year.

The official Japanese website for Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam II -Lovers- ("Kido Senshi Z-Gundam II -Koibito Tachi-") is now open, and features a streaming Windows Media trailer in narrowband and broadband resolutions. The movie will open in Japanese theaters on October 29th.

Anime on TV

From Anime News Network 4Kids' site reports that a preview of Magical Doremi will be shown on Fox's 4Kids TV on August 13th.

Official Japanese sites for Aria the Animation and Fate/stay night have gone online.

Naruto will start on Canadian YTV on September 16 at 9:30pm, delayed from a previously announced September 9th date.

G4's anime unleashed block will become part of the new Barbed Wire Biscuit, which will include t&a sex comedy Colorful and elegant mecha series RaXephon, which will start August 29th. For more, see here.

4Kids Entertainment has announced that Yu-Gi-Oh! GX will premiere on Cartoon Network in October.

Comcast Anime Selects will be airing Anime Expo coverage, from the July convention starting next week. A sample can be seen here

November/December CMX Releases

CMX's November releases include

GALS! VOL. 4
Writer & artist: Fujii Mihona
$9.99, 192 pages

MUSASHI #9 VOL. 5
Writer & artist: Takahashi Miyuki
$9.99, 192 pages

SWAN VOL. 5
Writer & artist: Ariyoshi Kyoko
$9.99, 192 pages

TENJHO TENGE VOL. 4
Writer & artist: Oh! great
$9.99, 232 pages

TESTAROTHO VOL. 2
Writer & artist: Sanbe Kei
$9.99, 192 pages

TOWER OF THE FUTURE VOL. 1
Writer & artist: Hiwatari Saki
$9.99, 192 pages

YOUNG MAGICIAN VOL. 2
Writer & artist: Narushima Yuri
$9.99, 200 pages

December releases include:

CHIKYU MISAKI VOL. 2
Writer & artists: Iwahara Yuji
$9.99, 196 pages

THE DEVIL DOES EXIST VOL. 4
Writer & artist: Takanashi Mitsuba
$9.99, 192 pages

MOON CHILD VOL. 1
Writer & artist: Shimizu Reiko
$9.99, 192 pages

MONSTER COLLECTION: THE GIRL WHO CAN DEAL WITH MAGIC MONSTERS VOL. 4
Writer: Original concept by Yasuda Hitoshi/Group SNE
Artist: Itoh Sei
$9.99, 170 pages

PIECES OF A SPIRAL VOL. 2
Writer & artist: Tachibana Kaimu
$9.99, 200 pages

SEIMADEN VOL. 3
Writer & artist: Higuri You
$9.99, 180 pages

TENJHO TENGE VOL. 5
Writer & artist: Oh! great
$9.99, 232 pages

Her Majesty's Dog Preview

GoComi.com has posted a preview of their upcoming Her Majesty's Dog.

Odex Releasing DVDs Again?

Anime on DVD reports appears to be returning to the DVD market with new English subtitled DVDs after spending time focusing on VCDs. A first set of Full Metal Alchemist has been released. Odex stated that if they wanted to put the dub out for the show, they'd have to wait until November 2005 before they'd be able to use the English dub that FUNimation has due to licensing restrictions but it's still a possibility. For now they're focusing on the localized subtitle languages instead, which includes English.

Dragon Ball Anniversary Event

From AnimeNewsNetwork and Kazentai, though the 20th anniversary of the first issue of Shonen Jump carrying Dragonball was actually in December 2004, celebrations are taking place this summer at the Aqua City building in Daiba, Tokyo. It is open from 10am to 6pm daily and runs until August 31.

The 20th anniversary of the TV series will be in February 2006

Images can be seen here under the 18th entry.

Tokyopop Licenses Smuggler

TOKYOPOP will has licensed ugly urban drama Smuggler from Shohei Manabe, the creator of Dead End (also release by TOKYOPOP).

Hentai Case to Go to Supreme Court

Anime News Network and Japan Today report that the obscenity case as the distributor of a hentai (pornographic) manga will be going to the Japanese supreme court.

The case against Motonori Kishi, president of the Shobunkan stems from a pornographic manga, called Misshitsu that Shobunkan distributed. Kishi was charged with distributing the manga, which contained graphic portrayals of sex, rape, sado masochism and realistic close-ups of genitalia.

In January 2004 found the Tokyo District Court found Kishi guilty of obscenity charges and sentenced him to one year in prison, subject to three years probation. The case was previously appealed to the Tokyo High Court on the grounds of the freedom of expression guaranteed by the Japanese constitution, countering the charges with the argument that the pornographic material was properly label. The High Court reduced the sentance to a a 1.5 million yen fine. Though the prison time was removed from the sentance, Kishi is appealing the ruling to the Japanese Supreme Court.

Spawn The Animation News

According to ComicsContinuum, the new animated version of Todd McFarlane's horror super hero Spawn in production at Film Roman, introduces a new villain to the Spawn mythos, Lukas, a "more real villian" who opperates out of the Russian Orthodox Church and "comes into power by playing off cultural superstitions". Terry Fitzgerald of Todd McFarlane Productions says "He sews people's eyes shut. He's a bad ass."

Chuck Patton, a director on the film said that the film, due in the second quarter of 2006, has the feel of HBO's The Wire. "It's very urban. It's very dark. It's very twisted."

A teaser trailer can be seen here

Geneon Running Concert and Dance Contest at Otakon

Geneon Entertainment, launches the hit dance craze, Para Para, with the debut of a Para Para Max US Mix CD release and a key event at one of the largest U.S. anime conventions, Otakon 2005 (Aug 19-21) in Baltimore, MD.

Para Para is an infectious dance trend which began in the hottest dance clubs in Tokyo, Japan, and now Geneon brings the groove to the United States. A potent combination that fuses the fresh beat of techno and Euro-dance music with uptempo remixing of songs from popular anime shows, Para Para is unlike anything before. Pushing the forefront of dance and music to the next level, this eye-catching and ultra-cool dance style is poised to break out with the upcoming release of Para Para Max US Mix.

To celebrate the first CD volume release of Para Para Max US Mix on August 16, Geneon and Otakorp, Inc., the organizers of Otakon 2005, will host the first-ever Para Para Max Contest at the Baltimore Convention Center. With Para Para prequalification rounds beginning 1:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. on Friday, August 19, contestants will be selected to advance onto the next round, where they will learn dances from the CD and then perform for a panel of judges and a live audience at the Para Para Max Contest at 4 p.m. on Saturday, August 20. Judges and audience reaction will determine the winner. The Grand Prize winner will then have the opportunity to choreograph the dance steps for a song on the next Para Para Max US Mix CD release, and their steps will be printed in the CD booklet.

Para Para is a part of the trendy dance culture in Asia, says Nobu Yamamoto, Geneons Director of Business Development. With Geneon leading the way for the successful distribution of anime in North America, now is the perfect time to introduce this hip trend.

For more information on Para Para Max Contest rules and the upcoming Para Para Max US Mix CD release, visit www.ParaParaMax.com , www.GeneonAnimeMusic.com or www.otakon.com.

The Indigomakes their U.S. debut on Friday afternoon at the Camden Lobby area and Saturday evening at the OtaCaf, both located on the Baltimore Convention Center show floor. Additional performances will be at the Geneon Entertainment booth during all three days of the convention. The duo Miki Toaka (vocals and lyrics) and Yuichi Ichikawa (composition and arrangement) has contributed their unique musical stylings to several popular anime series, including Ai Yori Aoshi, Ai Yori Aoshi ~Enishi~ and Somedays Dreamers. Their new domestic album, the Indigo: Indigo suite, streets from Geneon Entertainment on August 16th.

Friday, Aug. 19, 2005 2:30 pm - 3:30 pm
Saturday, Aug. 20, 2005 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm

Kamikaze Girls Release Info

VIZ Media, LLC, announces the theatrical release of the award winning Japanese film KAMIKAZE GIRLS in several major North American cities beginning September 9 in New York at the Village East Cinemas, followed on September 16 at Landmarks NuArt Theater in Los Angeles. Additional bookings in Seattle, San Francisco and other cities will follow.

KAMIKAZE GIRLS stars two hot young J-Pop talents as a Lolita-type character (Kyoko Fukada) and a high school biker girl (Anna Tsuchiya), whose strong personalities initially clash but eventually bind them together. With a strong focus on the eccentricities of many Japanese pop fashion obsessions, colorful shjo comic book inspired visuals, and a complex, multilayered plot, KAMIKAZE GIRLS maps out its quirky world with an eccentric and infectious brand of humor that has already made the film a cult favorite among fans. The publication of the translated novel and manga graphic novel series arrive early 2006.

KAMIKAZE GIRLS won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress and Best New Actor at the Yokohama Movie Awards, and Best New Director at the Fujimoto Awards.

For additional information on Kamikaze Girls please go to www.kamikazegirls.net.

The Anime Companion 2 Info

Stone Bridge Press, publisher of books about Japan, rolls out the next volume to the well-loved 'Anime Companion!'

'The Anime Companion 2' boasts hundreds of all-new glossary-style entries to help you decipher anime's distinctive content, images, and cultural motifs. Ranging from Adachi-ku (in Tokyo, seen in 'You're Under Arrest') to Zomen (a mask, seen in 'Spirited Away'), with Miso Ramen in between (a favorite noodle dish in 'GTO'), Gilles Poitras covers the minutiae of anime in fascinating detail, including illustrations, anime images, film citations, and numerous references to the related art of manga.

More than a guide, 'Anime Companion 2' is a pop survey of Japanese art, kitsch, history, food, and daily life. Now with entries in kanji (Japanese characters) and English, plus maps of old provinces and current prefectures (and the 23 wards of Tokyo), 'The Anime Companion' remains the best friend an otaku (anime fan) ever had, and a fun way for the non-otaku to learn about Japan.

'The Anime Companion 2: More...What's Japanese in Japanese Animation?' Retails for US$18.95. It is 160 pages paperback with 35 b&w photos and illustrations. ISBN 1-880656-96-5

North American Count Duckula DVD

Capital Entertainment will be releasing a collection of the first season of Cosgrove Hall (of DangerMouse and Wind in the Willows fame)'s Count Duckula on October 4th. Count Duckula: The Complete First Season caries all 26 episodes fully restored and uncut, the three-disc set.

From the press release:

This is the chance for audiences to get reacquainted - or meet for the unforgettable first time - Count Duckula, a once-villainous vampire brought back to life after a near fatal stake to the heart. His butler, Igor, and bumbling maid, Nanny, revive Count Duckula with a transfusion of ketchup instead of blood. So, now a mild-mannered vegetarian, Count Duckula spends his time pursuing fame and money by teleporting from his castle on madcap adventures all over the world.

Dramaqueen Annoounces Third New Yaoi License

DramaQueen, LLC has announced that they have acquired the license to Sakurai Shushushu's Mandayuu and Me (Mandayuu to Ore). This is the tale of an aspiring manga artist aiming to achieve fame, fortune, and love - in one stroke (if he's lucky!). As in art, love rarely comes that easily. Please look forward to the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of this sweet couple coming from DramaQueen in early 2006.

Pokemon Tours America

Pokemon fans are invited to "Pokmon Rocks America! to be part of the Pokmon experience, including playable demos of the new Pokmon XD: Gale of Darkness game for the Nintendo GameCube, exclusive downloads for Pokmon video games, Pokmon carnival games, and live stage activities.

City Stops: September 17th, 2005 San Jose, CA
McEnery Convention Center

Saturday, October 1st, 2005 -- Phoenix, AZ
Phoenix Civic Plaza Convention Center

Saturday, October 8th, 2005 Dallas, TX
Dallas Market Hall

Saturday, October 15th, 2005 Chicago, IL
Navy Pier

Saturday, October 22nd, 2005 Boston, MA
Bayside Expo Center

Each event is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For more information go to www.pokemon.com

Anime Games News

Rumic World reports Rumiko Takahashi's Urusei Yatsura will be adapted into a Nintendo DS game to be released in Japan on October 20th.

From The Magic Box, new screen shots of Jump! Super Stars on the Nintendo DS, features many characters from Shonen Jump's most popular series can be seen here

Bleach DS: Souten ni Kakeru Unmei for the Nintendo DS can be seen here and Bleach: Heat the Soul 2 for the Playstation Portable can be seen here

Shojo Beat Site Re-Design

The site for Viz's new anthology has unveiled a new design.

Cosplay Photo Shoot Scheduled For Otakon 2005

In preparation for the upcoming release of Eric Bresler's anime fandom documentary Otaku Unite!, Central Park Media will be taking photographs of fans in their cosplay costumes at Otakon 2005. The best pictures will be included in a special photo gallery on the DVD release of this documentary.

Fans should come to the CPM booth (#1327) dressed as their favorite anime character any time during Otakon (August 19-21, 2005) and look for the Otaku Unite! display. CPM will be snapping cosplay photos all convention long.

December Media Blasters Releases

AnimeWorks (Anime)
12/13
Genshiken Vol.3: Cosplay Confessions (Eps 9-12 + 1 episode Kujibiki Unbalance)
Giant Robo - Premium Eyeball (Full) price to be determined

12/27
Knight Hunters Eternity Complete 3 discs, 13 episodes $29.95
Sukisho Vol.2: Rules of Attraction (episodes 5-8)

Giant Robo
It is a new dawn for mankind. The Shizuma Drive has brought clean, limitless energy and launched humanity into an age of prosperity. But even in this Eden of technology, there lurk the shadows of envy and greed. Big Fire: a secret brotherhood whose only goal is to direct the world toward chaos. "Together! Allegiance or death! Big Fire!" The world is protected by the Experts of Justice: a team of operatives assembled from around the globe to stop the ultimate disaster of The Eternal Night. The key to everything is the bravery of their newest member, a boy named Daisaku Kusama, and the great machine he commands..."Crush them now Giant Robo!"

5 discs, 7 episodes + Extras disc + Ginrei disc, 415 minutes, English/ Japanese language dialogue w/ English subtitles, new 5.1 soundtracks! Original Dub & New Dub!(1992)

Knight Hunters
Hunters of Night, deny these Dark Beasts their tomorrows for all Eternity! Koua Academy is a prestigious school for the future leaders of Japan. However, a dark plot between influential students and teachers spells doom for those who don?t make the cut. During a rash of mysterious "suicides", Sena Izumi arrives as a transfer student. He seems to be an ordinary freshman, but by night he stalks evil as a member of the assassin group Weiss. Along with fellow classmate Kyou Aguri, he answers only to his enigmatic teacher Aya and they are joined by veteran assassins, Ken, Yoji and Omi to rid Koua Academy of evil once and for all.

Tokyo Shock (Live Action)
12/13
Atragon

12/27
Kekko Kamen Surprise!

Atragon
From beneath the sea, the forces of the Mu Empire are preparing their invasion. They are armed with a vast array of weaponry and have creatures of unimagined power at their disposal but what they're not counting on is the Undersea Battleship Atragon, an incredible flying submersible vessel. Another classic from the vaults of Toho in the tradition of the Mysterians!

Kekko Kamen Surprise!
No one has seen her face, but everyone has seen her body! Many have feared this day would come, but they were all considered to be crackpots. And now... it's too late. It's Kekko Kamen the musical! At the Mangriffon Music Academy, located on a mysterious hidden island, Mayumi is undergoing the usual classroom tortures. It's Kekko Kamen to the rescue, with a hunk of burning love and rock and roll justice to save the day!

AnimeWorks Manga 12/14 Apocalypse Zero 4
Kamunagara: Rebirth of the Demonslayer 4

Upcoming Geneon Releases

10/11
Lupin The 3Rd: The Flying Sword, Volume 12

11/08 Ah! My Goddess: The Movie - Dts Version
Chobits: Complete Thinpak Box Set, Volume 1-7 ($99.98 )
Doki Doki School Hours
Mahoromatic: Automatic Maiden: Complete Thinpak Box Set, Volume 1-7 ($99.98)

11/08(UMD)
Ah! My Goddess: The Movie
Samurai Champloo volume 3

Chobits
A Boy's first computer.
A country boy from Hokkaido, Hideki arrives in the big city (Tokyo) to go to college. Instantly, he is shocked and amazed by the variety and prevalence of Persocoms: personal computers designed to look and act like animals or even people! Too poor to afford one of his own, Hideki is overjoyed to discover a discarded Persocom in a trash heap. However, this gift of fate turns into a mystery as his Persocom, Chi, appears to be able to operate without her OS... How real is real?
Orginal Manga by CLAMP, Director: Morio Asaka

Doki Doki School Hours
Mika Suzuki wants to be the best teacher in the world, but standing at under five feet tall (even in heels!) with a baby face and a tendency to cry, her students just can't take her seriously. She may be an adult, but she seems more like a little kid! With a class is full of "energetic" kids--from the jock to the narcissist to the resident otaku, can Mika control the chaos in her classroom?
* Directed by Yoshiaki Iwasaki (Love Hina, Bottle Fairy)
* Animation by JC STAFF (Ai yori Aoshi, Azumanga Daioh)

Mahoromatic
Troubles you can only dream of...
Suguru's horrible cleaning skills have his friends calling his home the "Haunted house" and being an orphan, he needs help! Enter Mahoro, a beautiful young girl that catches bullets in her fingers, claims to be an android, and who wants to be his maid! Now, his school friends are suspicious and his well-endowed teacher is going over the edge with jealousy. How will he react when he discovers that Mahoro only has 398 days to live and has chosen him for a reason?
Created by GAINAX (The studio that brought you Evangelion, Wings of Honneamise, FLCL, His and Her Circumstances), scripts and direction by Hiroyuki Yamaga (Wings of Honneamise), character designs by Kazuhiro Takamura. Music composed by Toshio Masuda (Hand Maid May)

4Kids Reports Sales, Earnings Declines

ICV2 reports licensing powerhouse 4Kids Entertainment reported lower sales and sharply lower earnings in the second quarter compared to year-ago figures. Sales declined 14% to $19 million from $22.1 million last year; earnings dropped 68%, from $2 million in the second quarter of 2004 to $631,000 in the second quarter of this year. CEO Al Kahn attributed the decline to lower home video and international TV sales, as well as dropping sales of Yu-Gi-Oh! and Kirby merchandise and correspondingly lower licensing revenue. Improved licensing revenues for Winx Club (and AKC) in the U.S. and Shaman King internationally only partially offset the declines in those two brands. The stock dropped 7.65% on Wednesday, after the lower earnings were announced.

Kahn touted the launch of Bratz, Magical Doremi, and G.I. Joe Sigma 6 shows on 4Kids TV this fall. Yu-Gi-Oh! GX will premiere on Cartoon Network in October, one month later than previously announced.

Upcoming TMNT DVD Release

4Kids Entertainment Home Video, Inc., the home video unit of 4Kids Entertainment, Inc., in association with FUNimation Productions LTD, will release Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Volume 3.4: Shredders Final Countdown on DVD August 30, 2005. This latest release includes five episodes, three from the third broadcast season on 4Kids TV, and two never-before-seen episodes.

A special in-pack promotion gives kids the chance to become an instant winner of original, signed TMNT artwork from creator Peter Laird. While all of the DVD packages will include a collectible TMNT postcard, two hundred of these cards will be original art, signed by the artist and creator.

Episode 77: The Final Countdown - Part 1
Episode 78: Shredder Rising - Part 2
Episode 79: A New Start
Episode 82: Dragons Brew
Episode 86: Bad Day
RUNNING TIME: 110 Minutes
RATING: TV-Y
FORMAT: DVD
SRP: $14.98
STREET DATE: 8/30/2005

Chris Sabat To Be Guest Host On The SciFi Zone Radio Show

Voice Actor Chris Sabat, one of the guests of honor at Anime Festival Orlando 6, has stepped up to the plate to be a special guest host on the SciFi Zone Radio Show. The SciFi Zone is the official radio show of AFO and is broadcasting live from the convention Saturday night 11pm to midnight. "When we broadcast from an event or convention, we like to have one of the guests be a host with us on the show Saturday Night Live style. After our phone interview with Chris two weeks ago, we knew he was the perfect choice for AFO," commented Angela Duplis; on-air named "Anime Angie."

Past guest hosts include Vic Mignona (MetroCon 2005) and George Lowe (JACON 2005); whose guest host performances can be heard in the SciFi Zone show archives.

"Guest hosts are a riot," laughs Clear Channel engineer Brandon Kunc, "Not only do the show hosts love it, but also the guests of that weeks show. Its a great way to see another side of the celebrity."