Father Geek here with our latest issue of AnimAICN, the regular weekly report on all things Manga & Anime... annnnd this week is no exception, Scott scores on all bases with all the timely info you could possibly want to stuff into your head... Soooo grap you your fave refreshment, sit back, relax, and prepare to surf thru the whole wide world of...

AnimAICN...

by Scott Green

Anime Spotlight: Martian Successor Nadesico The Motion Picture: Prince of Darkness

Released by ADV Films

Part of the Nadesico's joke has always been a farce along the lines of "the medium as the message", and as part of that tract the Prince of Darkness, the final anime release of the franchise, is a worthy successor. As to advancing the lives of its characters, and telling an engaging story in its own right, its bound to disappoint.

The Martian Successor Nadesico television series was the ultimate geek anime. The show was built around a core community of characters that strongly skewed towards the geek culture: techies, anime fans, and assorted other disconnected and over involved individuals.

In jokes were balanced with universal humor, extreme indulgences are balanced with lucid moments of the addict knowing that they have gone too far, and when integrated with thoughtful science fiction, drama and social commentary, the composite was an engaging television series.

The movies the movie the obsessive and fringe aspects of the Nadesico space ship's culture and projects it onto an entire world. In anime, there is an expectation that movies will top tear in animation quality. Works like FLCL are reminders that inspiration can beet budget, but movies likes Prince of Darkness are anime glitz at its best.

Here the force of animation tuned to impress is projected into the aesthetic of instant messengers, CNN news scrolls, and video conferencing, and exploded in into every aspect of life: Cross-Fire style United Nation debates, info-theme parks, cute mascots on the newscast, projection traffic signals, more disembodied video screens than anyone knows what to do with. In an animated movie that look as crisp, and moves as fast as Prince of Darkness, it is something to see. There is brilliant glamour that at first glance it is fun and attractive, but ultimately it becomes crass and grating.

The movie seems determined to hit everything but the heart of the anime television series fan. It starts at the grave of the heroic couple. The cook/giant robot pilot Akito, and the hopeless and clueless romantic captain Yurika married and adopted Ruri, a more easily comprehended and comically caustic analogue to Evangelion's Rei. The truncated happily ever after isn't depicted in the movie, though it does appear in video game spin-offs, and the side work parody Gekiganger III. The presumed dead heroes were in fact captured by an offshoot of the Jovians who invaded Earth in the original Nadesico. Ruri, now captain of the new Nadesico B, along with her new crew must gather the original crew to rescue her friends.

If the movie was a revival, or just a burial and eulogy of the Nadesico's community, it would easy attribute to a voice, and a statement to the work, but instead, like chatroom blather world it is depicting, too many conversation are being squawked at the same time to highlight one .As the movie propels itself forward at break neck speed, it is going in five directions at one. It is introducing the status quo of Ruri and her crew of the Nadesico B while quickly shuffling them onto the Nadesico C, with the reassembled crew of the original Nadesico. While playing to nostalgia putting together the old crew, its is saying you can never go home again: beyond the fact that two of that community's lynchpins are missing, perhaps irreparably damaged, the rest of its member have matured and moved on with lives. All the while there is the plot of the new enemy, and its wake of parodies into new genres of anime and shoujo manga. Together there is too much feedback noise. In particular the new crew makes the movie out to be a launch point, while the use old crew is truer to the movie's role as franchise closer.

Historically, all sins of the Nadesico movie were forgivable. Given the right time frame, momentum, fan excitement, Ruri as captain, its Leiji Matsumoto style fleet battle, and Macross Plus style dogfights would have been enough to bury the datable qualities of the movie. For a time Nadisco ruled as the king of anime among Japan's hard core fans. While its popularity lingered longer than many modern series, it eventually dwindled. Likewise its popularity waxed and waned in the US. Almost three years after completing the release of the television series, and announcing its licensing, ADV has released the movie. In that time the mental real estate in the mind of its viewers has mostly been paved over and built on top of. Given the volume of what has come after it, three years have been enough to kill a great deal of interest in a the movie. And given the lack of any extra feature on the DVD, it is easy to suspect the same sentiment from ADV.

Anime Spotlight: CardCaptor Sakura The Movie 2: The Sealed Card

Released by Pioneer/Geneon

Like Nadesico: The Prince of Darkness, The second CardCaptor Sakura movie is a theatrical follow-up to an anime television series, and one whose domestic release was a long time in its materialization. Franchise anime movie tend to either be hollow side stories that echo with pointlessness or rushed catch-alls. Though it doesn't aim to make itself accessible to viewers unfamiliar with the characters and concepts of CardCaptor Sakura (especially how it ended), it does tell a complete story, and one that is more satisfying than most anime movies. It also adds to the original in a logical manner.

CLAMP, the team of manga (comic) creators that produced CardCaptor Sakura tend to appropriate other genre and styles, then twist the stories, often in subversive ways. Card Captors is a bit of a Pokemon story: an energetic young protagonist capturing cute wayward spirits.

As the movie opens, having captured all 52 Clow Card spirits, and made them her own young Sakura is a virtual godling. She shown in a fight against a number of literally titanic monsters in a brilliant battle. The pull back and reveal that it was a video compilation by her slightly creepy video camera toting friend.

The movie servers as a complement to the series. While Sakura is slowly being stripped of her captured Clow Cards, she finally has the desire and opportunity to admit her love to her former rival, Shaoron. At the same time a new card spirit that presents the negative energy opposite to her cards' positive spirit appears.

In the spirit of the television series is it a sweet story, with moments that can gentle, and in the CLAMP tradition, hard and painful choices. It takes time to relish things like the humor of Kero, a cute winged stuff animal lion side kick/guardian who is surprisingly palatable to older audiences, without detracting from the story.

It isn't Miyazaki-grade, and isn't friendly to those unfamiliar with the franchise, but The Sealed Card is a fun, spirited, movie that can be enjoyed by younger and older audiences.

Manga Spotlight: Wolverine Snikt By Tsutomu Nihei

Released by Marvel Comics

The mix of Marvel Comic's clawed mutant superhero Wolverine, and Japanese manga creator Tsutomu Nihei seemed a natural one. It seemed like a good test case for a Japanese manga creator using a American comic icon: Nihei' violent cyberpunk imagery completementing Marvel's feral hero could easily produce some driven action,

When Marvel released Snikt as a five issue limited series, the consensus what that 23 page increments where not doing it any favors, and that it would read better as a collected volume. Now, it has been released as the fifth "Wolverine Legends". As showcase or sampler of Nihei's illustration talent, the collected volume is noteworthy. As a well formed narrative, or a testament to integrating Japanese manga artists with mainstream American comics, it still doesn't offer much in its completed incarnation.

Tsutomu Nihei gained notoriety through his manga series Blame, a subterranean bio-mech punk epic. Though the series is still unlicensed for English translation, it wasn't long after its Japanese debut that its distinctive qualities became known to western manga fans.

The three pillars of Blame's horrific impact are present in Snikt: creatures that ooze a world gone wrong menace, traps that capture a guerilla tactician's eyes for genius brutality, and poundingly immense architecture. It is difficult to put together biomechanical creatures without withering under Giger's show, but Nihei finds new ways to create creatures that look like products of frightening mental and physical disease. In Snikt, these malformed children of nature and human technology even move with a strange combinations of a marionette's loose swings, and predator's headlong dashes.

The size of Nihei's backgrounds and landscapes are part of what sets apart his work. They convey an immensity that screams human insignificance. Snikt takes his repertoire of cyclopean ruins, and gaping abysses, and adds open vistas that appear like Dante meets John Ford.

Marvel Comic's luck with manga creators has been rather poor. Kia Asamiya's run as illustrator of Uncanny X-men fizzled through one story line (which has been collected in the "Dominant Species" graphic novel), and made little waves among manga or comic followers. Other manga creators including Makoto Nakatsuka, Tommy Otsuka, and even Lone Wolf and Cub's Kazuo Koike have worked on short X-Men stories, but none have left lasting impressions.

Their outgoing president Bill Jemas started a manga inspired Tsunami line, hoping to gain traction with audiences not generally disposed to superhero story. The flagship was to be romance starring aquatic prince Namor, written by Jemas and illustrated by newcomer Mizuki Sakakibara, but she taken off the title before the first issue was released. She later provided art for an issue of the X-Men spin-off Exiles, which was workable but unexceptional and received little notice The Tsunami line tried again with Quest, written by Andi Watson and illustration by Yuji Iwahara, but after soliciting the first two issues the series was abandoned before release.

While Snikt is Marvel's closest thing to the successful use of a Japanese manga creator, its far from victory for integration between manga and American comics. In the early solicitation for the series there was some back and forth as to who would write it. In the end, it reads like no one did. Wolverine is transported to a place where he can fight the type of biomechanical creations that Nihie's brilliantly illustrates. Adamantium, the metal bound to Wolverine's skeleton and claws is revealed the only substance that can destory the queen of horde of mutant bacterial monsters which threatens to wipe out the future remains. In a straight forward manner he battles his way to the queen, saves humanity, and returns home.

While Nihei's illustration is worth seeing, and looks brilliant colored, there is a distracting lack of substance. As the leading reviewer of X-Men comics Paul O'Brien and original and advertising concept for the series was a highly promising one. "Alone in a barren wasteland inhabited by robotic, parasitic organisms, the X-Men's most lethal member devolves further and further into his true, savage, berserker state with each battle. The key to Logan maintaining a link to his humanity may lie with a mysterious young girl!" Except, this isn't depicted in the actual comic.

Blame illustrates Nihei's skill depicted descent and increased madness, which would play well to Wolverine's character and history as a warrior in conflict with his bestial nature, but there is none of that in Snikt. Through the story he shows an almost Zen indifference to the experience, as if he doesn't care what is happening. Even after he's been bloodied and brutalized, his demeanor is more bemused and mildly annoyed rather than raging. There is really only one scene where he works up a berserk fury. With any sense of emotional progression, or characters to connect to, Snikt is more a video game level than story.

This Week's Releases

Anime

• Beyblade - American Showdown (Vol. 6)
• City Hunter-Tv Season 4
• Genma Wars Collection
• Haibane Renmei - Free Bird (Vol. 3)
• Little Snow Fairy Sugar - Home Sweet Home (Vol. 5)
• Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi (Vol. 1)
• Mahoromatic - Automatic Maiden - Something More Beautiful - All Good Things (Vol. 6)
• Mirage Of Blaze Volume 4: Tragic Love
• Samurai Deeper Kyo - Nobunaga (Vol. 4)

Manga

• Alice 19Th Vol 2
• Angels Wing #6
• Bastard Vol 2 Tp 2Nd Ed
• Battle Angel Alita Vol 1 Tp 2Nd Ed
• Big O Vol 5 Tp
• Demon City Hunter Manga Vol 2 Tp
• Dragonball Z Vol 14 Tp Shonen J Ed
• Excel Saga Vol 4 Tp
• Hot Gimmick Vol 2 Tp
• Inu Yasha Vol 16 Tp
• Junko Mizunos Princess Mermaid Gn
• Knights Of The Zodiac Vol 1 Gn
• Please Save My Earth Vol 2 Tp
• Project Arms Vol 3 Tp Secrets Of The Past
• Sand Land Vol 1 Gn
• Shaman King Vol 2 Tp
• Silent Mobius Vol 12 Tp Thats All Folks
• Slam Dunk Vol
• Those Who Hunt Elves Manga Vol 1 Tp
• Vagabond Vol 8 Tp

Also

• Shirow 2004 Calendar Japanesque

Domestic Memories DVD?

Anime on DVD and www.dvdfile.com reports that Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment is set to release Memories on DVD March 24th. The DVD will retail for $24.95 and it's mentioned to be both anamorphic and in 5.1 sound.

The movie is an anthology of three featurettes: Akira creator Kasuhiro Otomo's Magnetic Rose, about a space salvage crew who find a momentum to an opera singer, Stink Bomb, about a man who accidentally turns himself into a devistating weapons and releases himself into Tokyo, and Cannon Fodder, a steam-tech integrated child's vision of his perpetually warring country.

Tokyo Godfathers Site

Sony has opened an English Tokyo Godfathers site here

Astro Boy Date

Kids' WB will begin airing the latest Astro Boy televison series January 17th. Their official site can be seen here

Exaxxion to be Rolled into Anthology

Starting with the March release of issue 41 Dark Horse's release of Gunsmith Cats creator Kenichi Sonoda's sci-fi action Cannon God Exaxxion will be rolled into manga anthology Super Manga Blast!. The collection will also include What's Michael?, Club 9, Shadow Star, and Seraphic Feather.

Berserk Volume 3 Release

Dark Horse Comics will be releasing the third volume Kenturo Miura's Berserk Manga on April 14th. The 240 page collection will retail for $13.95.

Hellsing

Dark Horse and Digital Manga's release of the second volume of action horror Hellsing will be released March 17th.

t.A.T.u. Anime

Anime News Network points out that Paragate, an anime movie starring Russian pop duo t.A.T.u. has been set to be released in Japan in November 2004. The official site can be seen at www.tatu-paragate.jp/. Cowboy Bebop's Shinichiro Watanabe will be directing the opening.

Cyborg 009 Video Release

The Cyborg 009 anime series which aired on Cartoon Network's Toonami block will be released by Columbia Tristar Home Video. Two versions will be released on February 3rd.

The first bilingual, unedited collection will run 198 minutes and retail for $39.95.

The firt two 89 minutes volumes of an edited, English dubbed version will retail for $24.98 each.

Manga Nominated for French Comic Award

From Comics Journalista's translation, the following manga graphic novels have received nominations for The French 2004 Prix d'Angoulême, to be given at Festival International de la Bande Dessinée in Angoulême

Best Story

Planètes Volume 3 by Makoto Yukimura (Panini Comics)

Planètes is a collection of hard sci-fi stories about a trio of workers removing debris from Earth orbit. Planetes is being released in English by TOKYOPOP.

Best Art

Ping Pong Volume 1 by Taiyo Matsumoto (Delcourt)

Taiyo Matsumoto's illustration mixed elements of manga storytelling with a more European sense of design. Ping Pong is an odd sports story in the vein of Shaolin Soccer. A live action movie adaptation was released last year. Two of his works Black and White, and No. 5 have been released in English by Viz.

Best Series

20th Century Boys by Naoki Urasawa (Génération Comics)

20th Century Boys is a complex narrative about a group childhood friend who made up stories about saving the world from terrorist attacks. One grows up and finds his life intersecting with a cult that appears to use the attacks he thought up for those games. 20th Century Boys has not been licensed for domestic release.

Best Archival Collection

Ayako by Osamu Tezuka (Delcourt)

Ayako is a series by the profilic Astro Boy creator from 1972. The mature work is a look at changes in Japan during the reconstrustion after World War II through the eyes of a girl locked in a storehouse. For a summary see here. Ayako has not been licensed for domestic release.

Black Jack Anime on DVD

Central Park Media will be releasing the Black Jack anime, based on the medical drama by Osamu Tezuka, on DVD February 10th.

From the press release: From Osamu Tezuka comes a world where the grim reaper can strike at any time; a brilliant renegade surgeon known only as Black Jack operates outside the law. For the rich and dying, he performs miracles of a macabre medical nature.

Running time: 100 minutes

SRP: $24.99

Anime Game News

From The Magic Box

Konomi will be releasing DreamMix TV World Fighters this December in Japan, which will feature a number of odd characters, include Transformers. Screen shots can be seen here

Sega's Plystation 2 Fist of the North Star can be seen here

Astro Boy: Tetsu Wan Atom can be seen here

Banpresto is working on a brand new Dragon Ball Z fighting game for GameBoy Advance. Unlike Bodokai and Taiketsu, this game features a 3 versus 3 battle system like in Marvel Vs Capcom 2, you can switch between other fighters in your team during the battle. The battle arena spans over 4 screens, you can check your location by the location bar at the top center of the screen. It can be seen here

Summer TOKYOPOP Manga

TOKYOPOP has announced five new manga series that will debut in June 2004.

Comic Party (Comedy, Volume 1 Release: 6/4/04)

Manga fans and creators alike will get a laugh from this story by Sekihiko Inui that reads like a wacky, behind-the-scenes look at The Rising Stars of Manga. With a breakneck pace, Comic Party's over-the-top plot centers on Kazuki, who has a passion and talent for painting and drawing that propels him into the world of Doujinshi (amateur manga). Soon, Kazuki's everyday life is consumed by manga... reading it, drawing it, living it at convention after convention. Sure, his new career as a struggling artist has begun, but at what cost to his friends and family?

Deus Vitae (Sci-Fi, Volume 1 Release: 6/4/04)

In a world powered by machines, are humans even necessary? That's the question posed in this futuristic manga by Takuya Fujima, sure to appeal to fans of the Matrix and Terminator franchises. The action takes place in 2068, after mankind has developed a "Brain Computer" to manage all machines on Earth. Unfortunately, this ultra-sophisticated CPU has detected a virus-humans!-and has eradicated most of the race. Now, the only thing preventing humanity's complete annihilation may be the forbidden love between a man and an android.

Immortal Rain (Fantasy/Drama, Volume 1 Release: 6/4/04)

Kaori Ozaki (Hitsuji-No-Hana, Honeymoon) delivers a unique spin on the predator-prey relationship. For centuries, the eternal Methuselah Rain has escaped assassins and eluded bounty hunters determined to kill him and expose his secret. Even the Grim Reaper Zol died without uncovering Rain's fountain of youth. Now Zol's 18-year-old granddaughter Machika vows to end Rain's immortality once and for all. What stands in her way is the line between love and hate that becomes blurred when she actually discovers she needs him.

Remote (Action/Horror, Volume 1 Release: 6/4/04)

From the creative minds of Seimaru Amagi and Tetsuya Koshiba comes this wildly compelling and ultra-violent manga that inspired a top TV drama in Japan. Kurumi Ayaki is a police officer who needs extra money to pay for her wedding. Seeking serious overtime to earn the cash, she takes on a host of crimes previously classified as unsolvable. Kurumi's partner is a mysterious young genius who is not only emotionless, but is also confined to his room. Acting as his eyes and ears, Karumi begins the frustrating task of piecing together the most elusive of clues while her personal life succumbs to business.

The Seikai Trilogy: Crest of the Stars (Sci-Fi/Action/Adventure, Volume 1 Release: 6/4/04)

Aya Yoshinaga and Toshihiro Ono's three-part sci-fi manga series is an exciting and insightful adaption of the hit anime series, which was inspired by Hiroyuki Morioka's bestselling novel series. This epic tale of romance against a backdrop of ethnic politics, cultural clashes and interplanetary war is sure to delight fans of franchises such as Star Wars and Gundam. In Volume 1, Crest of the Stars, the home world of a boy named Jinto is taken over by the Abh, a space-faring race whose form of government is at once authoritarian and representative. When Lafiel, an Abh princess, is charged with taking Jinto to the imperial academy, they become entangled in a massive galactic war.

Broccoli Books Announces Galaxy Angel Vol 1

-Broccoli Books, the publishing division of Broccoli International USA, is set to release the English version of Galaxy Angel volume 1 on March 3, 2004. This will be a simultaneous release with the anime DVD of the same name by Bandai Entertainment.

Galaxy Angel, featured in games, novels, anime, manga, and merchandise, is one of Broccoli Co.'s many hit series. Artist Kanan teams up with renowned writer Ryo Mizuno (Record of Lodoss War) for the manga series, currently running in Dragon Age magazine.

Galaxy Angel will be part of the Broccoli Books Deluxe line, which will feature additional bonus materials that were not included in the original Japanese edition. Aside from the original 4-page color insert, Broccoli Books' version of Galaxy Angel will feature character profiles, information about the Galaxy Angel universe, and bonus manga by Kanan. Each book will have a voucher redeemable for a limited edition dust jacket featuring an alternate Kanan illustration.

Broccoli Books will be working closely with Bandai Entertainment, contributing to the DVD release by producing an exclusive fan booklet available in the Limited Edition DVD. Broccoli Books and Bandai Entertainment is also co-producing a Galaxy Angel website scheduled to launch early next year.

About Galaxy Angel

The Angel Troupe is composed of five beautiful and talented female pilots. When a coup d'état threatens the life of Prince Shiva, they are called to action. Takuto Meyers is put in charge of the Angels and is ordered to escort Prince Shiva to safety. With their enemy right behind them, Takuto and the Angels have enough to worry about-but multiple love triangles don't seem to be helping!

Slayer and Nadisco Manga

Central Park Media has announced that they will be releasing the manga graphic novel Slayers Return on March 3rd, and Nadesico Book 2 on March 17th.

Slayers Return brings back Lina Inverse and her partner in crime, Naga the White Serpent . Kia Asamiya's Nadesico Book 2 will be available in smaller print format and at a reduced price.

Anime on International Channel

According to Anime News Network, the International Channel starting January 5th, Lost Universe will be replaced by the English dub of Black Heaven. Black Ghost parodies the Macross style music saves the universe story with a former hard rock god, who abandoned his career in favor of a like with a wife, child, and office job. While dealing with the job of that beats his down, and a wife who wants to burn his last and favorite guitar in the trash, he is recruited by an alien force to fuel their ultimate weapon with his music.

The last episode of the Fushigi Yuugi TV series will air on December 23rd, it will be replaced on December 30th with the Fushigi Yuugi OAV series, airing Tuesdays at 11pm est./8pm pst.

Also airing every week are El Hazard: The Alternative World (wednesday at 11pm eastern) and Dragonball GT (Sundays at 10:30pm). Dragonball GT appears to be ending on December 28th.

The International Channel's anime schedule for the coming weeks can be seen here

Viz to Re-Collect Miyazaki Manga

Viz will be re-releasing Hayao Miyazaki's (Princess Mononoke, Spirited Awau) ecological epic manga Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind in February. The 136 page volume will retail for $9.95.

The four volumes of the Perfect Collection will also be re-released for $17.95 each.

Upcoming Geneon releases

To be release January 13th:

Volume 6 - My Only Person

Lupin The Third Volume 5 - Mission: Irresistible

Someday's Dreamer Volume 2 - The Power Of Love

January 27th:

L/R - Licensed by Royalty Mission File 2: Targets

March 9

Someday's Dreamer Volume 3

Lupin III features the episode "To Be Or Nazi Be", which wasn't shown in the US.

Geneon will be releasing their second wave of Signature Series releases on March 9th. The volumes, which will retail for $19.99 each will include:

Gatekeepers 2

Lain, Serial Experiments 2

Tenchi Muyo OVA 2

Tenchi Muyo Universe TV Series 2

Trigun 2

Sailor Moon S TV Vol. #2

Sound tracks of GAINAX's Neon Genesis Evangelion, His And Her Circumstances, Fooly Cooly will be released January 20th. See www.GeneonAnimeMusic.com

Upcoming ADV Releases

January 13th

Princess Nine: The Complete Collection

Rune Soldier: Louie Punch

January 20th:

Orphen Season Two: Revenge, Volume Two

January 27th:

Crying Freeman: The Complete Collection

PRincess Nine: The Complete Collection Nine young high school girls defy the male-dominated tradition of Japanese sports... not to create a League of their own, but to challenge the boys on their own artificial turf and prove there's nothing a man can do that a woman can't do just as well! The hallowed stadiums of Japanese baseball become a battlefield as the bats crack, the sweat flies and every hard-earned run becomes another step in the long road-trip to victory! Sizzling sports action and gripping drama intertwine as nine young women come together in the acclaimed series that has fans cheering around the world!

Princess Nine: The Complete Collection (SRP $59.98) is a DVD-only release, containing 26 complete episodes on six discs. Includes both English 2.0- and Japanese 2.0-language versions, with English subtitles.

Rune Soldier: Louie Punch, the sixth and final volume of the anime adventure tale, combining fantasy, magic, comedy and epic quests in one irreverent package. Rune Soldier was created by Ryo Mizuno, the mind behind the acclaimed Record of Lodoss War anime.

Crying Freeman: The Complete Collection, which includes all six episodes of the gripping anime series on three discs. Crying Freeman tells the tortured story of a brainwashed contract killer, at once brilliantly lethal and stricken by remorse. Gundam SEED Dub Cast

Anime on DVD has learned the English dub cast for Bandai's release of Gundam SEED.

• Alison Matthews - Narrator
• Matt Hill - Kira
• Mark Oliver - Rau
• Trevor Devall - Mu
• Lisa Anne Beley - Murrue
• Sam Vincent - Athrun
• Vanessa Morley - Cagalli
• Brad Swaile - Dearka
• Anna Cummer - Miriallia
• Richard Cox - Tolle
• Tabitha St. Germain - Flay, Birdy, Haro
• Bill Switzer - Sai
• Keith Miller - Kuzzey
• Sarah Johns - Natarle
• Michael Adamthwaite - Yzak
• Philip Pacaud - Neumann
• Chantal Strand - Lacus
• Gabe Khouth - Nicol
• Simon Hayama - Chandra
• Matt Smith - Tonomura
• Brendan Van Wijk - Pal
• Ward Perry - Murdoch
• Don Brown - Siegel Clyne
• Andrew Kavadas - Patrick Zala

Manga Looks at Depleted Uranium

Comics Journalista points out a Main ichi Shimbun article about Kodansha's upcoming graphic novel detailing the alleged effects of armaments made with depleted uranium in Afghanistan and Iraq, after an earlier serial in Shonen Magazine tapped into that nation's popular anti-war sentiment.

TOKYOPOP Manga In More Mainstream Outlets

Icv2 reports TOKYOPOP continues its aggressive pursuit of CEO Stuart Levy's goal of at least one volume of TOKYOPOP manga in every household in America. After gaining a strong bookstore foothold, the company turned its attention to mass-market retailers. Best Buy, is putting Tokyopop endcaps in its growing anime DVD sections. Tokyopop is the first manga publisher to get its product into mega-merchant Wal-Mart with a 100-store test. Both the Fred Meyer chain of department stores and the Shopko chain are also testing Tokyopop titles in sizable numbers of their stores, and Tokyopop is also displaying its wares in the New England Stop and Shop supermarket chain. Tokyopop has also placed a number of translucent, 160-book display racks in the Sam Goody chain of record stores. A Three volume collection of street racing manga Initial D is available at Radio Shack.

Anime Merchandise

Figures.com has images of the two sets of Kotobukiya's 3" Big O mini-figures which will be March here.

BragonBallToys.com has a list of JAKKS' Dragon Ball figures releases for spring and summer 2004 here Lines include Dragon Ball GT Basic Figures Series #1 (Affliction), Basic Figures DBZ Series #15, Striking Z Fighters Series #6, DBZ 2-PK Series #3 Ultimate Struggles, DBZ 2-PK Series #4 Brother v. Brother, DBZ Vehicles Series #5,and DBZ 9" Movie Collection #6.