Manga Spotlight: Mail
Volume 1
by Housui Yamazaki
Released by Dark Horse Manga
Mail is an ideal horror manga for horror cinema fans. It's great cinematic horror on a manga page. Housui Yamazaki clearly has a strong individual style, with specific techniques that he excels at, but in terms of horror as a genres beyond manga, it isn't necessarily as distinctive as the works of Junji Ito, Hideshi Hino or Kazuo Umezu.
Mail warranted enough attention to be made into a live action movie staring Takamasa Suga (Takashi Kamiyama of Cromartie High) and Chiaki Kuriyama (Go-Go Yubari of Kill Bill). The attraction to this source manga is evident. Yamazaki, best known to English language horror manga readers for The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, wins by producing a character that looks like he should be able to carry a feature or franchise. He isn't precisely setting up a blazingly original high concept, but the shlumpy ghost buster PI who exorcises spirit with shots from his pistol, does cut a visually interesting figure. Distinctive, but passable for a real, he has the detective mystique of someone whose depth is hidden by an unchallenging exterior.
As with a character who looks more out of the realm of TV or film than manga, Mail's horror tableaus work deep in vein of what has been dominating live action the last decade. But again, Yamazaki achieves a commanding mastery. There's bleeding that works with creepy effectiveness; "Boo" horror that works; disembodied forms that work. Most of these aren't effects easily achieved in comics, Nor is Yamazaki quick to use the tricks of sequential story telling, namely revealing shocks on the turn of a page or quick transition of panels. Instead, he has an excellent sense of how to connect to the audience with the construction of specific images or sequences.
The ghosts, such as the one who fills a child's blankets with knifes, box cutters and scissors or the one who appears in digital photography to herald the death of the photo's subject, or the resold car haunted by the spirit of a child who was murdered in its trunk all modernize the idea of unsettled spirits who haunt specific locations or people. Yamazaki conveys the creepiness by playing on ingrained reactions. Being disturbed by distortions of the human form, futile attempts to claw the way out of a trapped enclosure, being cut by hidden objects all seem to be as natural as getting chills from the sound of figures on a chalk board. By establishing what looks like objective reality, then shattering with shapes and events shouldn't, or we hope shouldn't, happen, Yamazaki is able to attach the reader's composure.
Yamazaki's illustration in Mail has a tuned difference to what was seen in The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service. Where Yamazaki used asymmetry in Kurosagi to achieve informality in the look for characters, in Mail, he save the shape distortions for the spirits and relies on tighter forms and more expressive character design for the living actors. For example, hair is terribly expressive without going overboard. He also tunes the gore. There are still depictions of the aftermath of horrible crimes, but in Mail, it is more about how the violence happens than dwelling on the results.
The unveilings of Mail and seeing the acts of supernatural mid-process work as memorable horror set pieces. The flaw of Mail is that while Yamazaki is skilled at setting up situations, he's not adept as a complete storyteller. In Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service he was only an illustrator, and here, without guidance he runs into problems. A key problem is that he doesn't seem to have a good feel for handling his lead character. The scene that introduces the protagonist and high concept is impersonal and after that, the character never really seems to coalesce as an individual. Later, he often appears more as an image than a personality, never really filling out what is suggested by his appearance. This is exacerbated when the uses for the character seem almost like unintentional comedy. Seeing the character charging an oncoming car on scooter is so goofy that you have to question the intent of the manga.
Ending stories by shooting the unsettled spirits with a bullet often seems like an abrupt and not always satisfying conclusion.
Prose Spotlight:
The Kouga Ninja Scrolls
by Futaro Yamada
Released by Del Rey
Out of curiosity, at this point, how much cache does "Ninja Scroll" retain?
Well, regardless if Kawajiri's movie is still enthralling fans, Yamada's novel is perhaps the one "Ninja Scroll" work for which the title actually makes scene. The Iga and Kouga, legendary feuding ninja clans are allowed by Tokugawa Ieyasu to resume their bloody conflict. The names of 10 elite from each clan are committed to a scroll. Once one side has been wiped out, the survivors are to present the scroll at Sunpu Castle and receive the favor of the shogunate for 1,000 years. The crafty Tokugawa Ieyasu's plan to decide which of his grandsons will inherit the post of shogun through unimpeachable contest is complicated by a love affair between the heirs to the respective ninja clans.
Yamada's work is unabashedly action driven prose. This novel inspired the Basilisk anime and manga, as well as the Shinobi: Heart Under Blade live action film. The film, and to some degree the anime actually slow down the pace. The 300 page volume flies by as 20 characters hustle from point to point dispatching each other. Dashing at this speed, Yamada outruns problems. With event after event, contrivance is left in the dusk along with stagnation.
If you've seen the other forms of the story, it is hard to really appreciate the originality of the first telling. Though it maintains the ninja mystique, there are few turns that aren't obviously telegraphed. If you've even started the anime or manga, there is even less. Even if you've seen all three of the other works, the novel is still brisk and engaging, but at the same time, the familiarity is inescapable. Yet, the novel complements the other stories well. Yamada puts together a number of psuedo historical and psuedo-scientific explanations that are a solid enhancement to the story. Especially if you have a passing familiarity with the founding of the shogunate, Tokugawa Ieyasu's plans nearly passes as logical and plausible. It also offers far better reasoning for the crisscrossing trajectories of the characters throughout the story.
The novel does operate with a pulp ethos that puts momentum ahead of depth. While it isn't quite the meat grinder that the manga is, it doesn't dwell on the drama and emotions to the degree that the anime does, or the meaning the way that the movie does.
The characters' personal motivations concerning the battle and their feeling towards it are kept slight and simple. What goes on in the characters' heads is kept to short bullet points. Charted, it would be something like: love X, loyalty Y, threshold to killing Z.
There are scenes of effective sentimentality, but these are more stops on the course than directed targets. The movie directs attention to the politics of the situations, how the ninja villages are stuck in an untenable situation due to the changing nature of the times, and X-Men-like, fear of the inherit powers. The novel puts a different spin on the end of the ninja, which is interesting, especially in that it doesn't seem to be picked up by the other adaptations. The tragedy of the Iga-Kouga conflict is that the marriage of the heirs is the one thing that would save the two villages. The same specialized breeding program that ensured the frightening powers of the ninja elite has introduced more and more birth defects and genetic disorders into the population of the two villages. An exchange of fresh genetic material was exactly what was needed to ensure the survival of both villages
As much as the Basilisk versions, if not more so, the novel swells with period/genre glee.
With ninja master Hattori Hanzo, and the Yagyu clan making appearances and more ninja practicing mysterious and deadly arts than you could ever ask for, it's the Big Mac of Edo Period fiction. Yes, if you make it through a Eiji Yoshikawa novel you'll probably enrich your life to a greater degree, but Kouga Ninja Scrolls will keep your butt in a seat and the pages turning.
Anime-Ish Spotlight:
Thundercats - Season Two, Vol. 2
Released by Warner Home Video
Thundercats is being called "anime-ish" because the Rankin-Bass production was animated by Studio Topcraft, the company that made Nausicaa, then semi - metamorphosed into Studio Ghibli. If you make it to the anime conventions, you'll bump into industry guests who half remember laboring on the series. Shuzilow.HA at Anime Boston 2006 for example.
It wasn't an impressively inspired project. Cat-people, with bulging muscles or shapely forms playing out 80's sci-fi adventures by fighting a super villain mummy on some variant-Earth. And yes, if you didn't see the series when you were in elementary school, you're not going to be won over now.
Yet, if you were imprinted at an early age, this is what we all dreamed about from the DVD format. The opportunity to purchase a of number discs, and at the time of our choosing, sit down and relive our childhood. The sheer ropiness of the work is nothing if not spellbinding. The series seems to have been approached 25 at minutes a time. How to fill one episode, then how to the fill the next. If you have to send someone to a rock in space, then invent a physic power, then have two half-lingual fur-balls argue , as long as there are enough fights, explosions and flipping, mission accomplished.
Part of the appeal is that staring at a literally dumbfounding, half-baked cartoon for a few hours is an exceptionally stress relieving exercise. Most 20-30 year olds can easily lose a couple of hours watching this He-Man with a mane fighting a blue muscle bound mummy.
As far as the series' last quarter goes, the writers do seem to make some effort to mix the formula up in these episodes. What happens is shaped less as arcs than as trends. For a while the Thundercats are jetting between Third Earth and New Thundaria searching out magical artifacts. For a while they are settling the planet, for a while they are rescuing refugees. These are all frameworks for episode-specific story-lines and for the most part, the content doesn't even approach a tight plot.
Yes, Mumm-Ra receives even more final send-offs, only to return the next episode. But really, it was too late in the game for a new uber-villain. Besides, the new villains introduced in these episodes are real C listers. Lovecraft and Mignola pulled off ancient evil frog-men. In the case of the Rankin/Bass model, who gets a bit too close to the Thunderkittens, the less said the better.
There is no shortage of DVDs that one could be prouder of to own than Thundercats, but, at the end of a difficult work week, if you don't have any agenda, Thundercats is the perfect mind-pain reliever.
Live Action Spotlight: Police Story
Special Collector's Edition
Released by Dragon Dynasty
There are reasons why the Dragon Dynasty release of Police Story isn't the for-all-times monument that Asian cinema-philes have been hoping for, but given the movie itself, the price, and the bonus content, it's still a release that fans who are lower on the AV curve and less posterity-minded can greatly enjoy.
Pissed off at Hollywood and moving away from goofy period film Jackie Chan threw a barrage of ideas and energy into Police Story, a project he directed, starred in and funded. A lot of it works brilliantly, some of it seems to work piece-mail: clever, but not a good idea in the context of the wider film, and all of it features an amazing performance by Chan. The plot is fairly standard bring the crime boss down fare that is noteworthy in the it allows Chan to run a complete cycle of performances, from hard dramatic to silent comedy style shtick.
The fact that Chan sticks a straight court drama in the middle of the film, then lets the scene transform into a gag, possibly one that breaks the fourth wall, makes the movie special. This thought-in-action approach is compelling as an experiment, but not always as a means of story telling.
Challenging what had previously been done, the factors that inspired Chan to meander wildly in the tone are understandable, but in retrospect, it doesn't precisely work in the feature. For example, Chan is clearly in love with his comic abilities, as much as he is in love with his body. So, there's a Jackie-ass shot and there are pies to the face and moon walking off cow-poo. At this point in cinema history, most movie viewers have seen films that effectively mix distinct tones. When a 100 minute film is bookended by hard situations that cause strong men to crack, and the middle has the kind of routines you'd think of as the link between Vaudeville and early film, the effect does less to humanizes the character than it does paint the project as bipolar.
Given what has been committed to film and widely seen in the 22 years since Police Story was filmed, the most memorable aspect of movie will be its stunts. Most have seen a number of Chan movies, some selection of John Woo's greater works, Takeshi Miike.. Park Chan-wook... In other words, extra-Hollywood talent producing stylish, thrilling, expectation defying works. And no doubt, exposure to Police Story now isn't what it once would have been. This and all the derivative works do dull a lot of impact. Jackie Chan can and probably will be taken for granted. Yet, yikes... Nothing commands attention like Chan's stunt work. There's a chain of action sequences in the beginning and one specific leap at the end that deserve to be truly legendary. With all the special effects that can currently be brought to bear in cinema, Chan's athleticism, his naturalism and the sense of real danger in stunts like those in Police Story are still unparalleled.
For any action fan, even those who aren't enamored with death defying stunts for the sake of death defying stunts, these feats clearly mark Police Story as a must see feature. Beyond these, the action is regrettably forgettable. Next to the human danger of the stunts, character danger isn't too impressive. An attempt to add realism to the physical man-on-man engagements ends up being half-showy: less stances, less forms, less grace. The idea seems to be to put so much energy into a kick that you land on your back. Stylized realism doesn't work quite as well as stylized unrealism, nor is at as effective in a crime story as stylized brutality. Ultimately, you have to work a bit to remember where the fights are situated during the course of the movie, and work even harder to remember much of what happened during the fights.
Bonus features include an audio commentary by Brett Ratner (Rush Hour) and Bey Logan (sort of a play by play and color pairing), a Tribute to Jackie Chan from Ratner, a short piece with Chan speaking about the movie, a look at the stunt work, and deleted scenes ranging from material included in various markets (such as an ending with all law breakers being arrested, required in countries that requiring such content) to a very obessive montage of minor scene extensions in a longer cut of the movie.
Ratner's contribution is immensely enthusiastic, bordering on insufferable. To mark my position as a reviewer, personally, my opinion of Ratner leans more towards disinterest than the dislike shown by some corners of AICN. His movies are entertaining enough. I don't go out of my way to see them. I don't have enough invested in the works he targets to think that a Ratner directed movie is a wasted opportunity. And, his contribution to this disc is certainly justifiable. Not only, as Ratner points out, is Rush Hour heavily influenced by Police Story, for better or worse, Ratner invented the formula by which Jackie Chan has been used in Hollywood.
A little Ratner praise goes a long way. Which is to say, if you hear him gush about one aspect of the movie or performance, the same sentiment, expressed similarly can be restated for any other aspect. Police Story is an outstandingly innovative movie, but to hear Ratner, Chan invented 75% of the popular tropes in police movies, from hard nosed lieutenants to credibly bad villains.
After a while the praises for Chan don't sound too different than "Crest is Best" or "Drink Coke". So plainly, uniformly positive that is sounds like a sales pitch, the reaction is to ignore what he's saying.
Success has proven that Ratner was smart about utilizing Chan in the Hollywood model of movie making, but other than mentioning bullet point operating principles, he seems more like a marginally informed every-fan than an expert, except he does offer director specific insight and a personal anecdotes of a few occasions.
Still, knowable viewers will be pulling out their hair as Ratner refers to Brigitte Lin as Maggie Cheung and somehow ends up using "samurai swords" to refer to wuxia.
As previous experience (such as the Kill Zone commentary) would suggest, Bey Logan is a foundation of information. Based on knowledge and research, he is able to name and give the resume of just about every significant player on screen. With stunning granularity, he is able to rattle of a steady stream of trivia, significant context and general points of interest. There are times that the commentary seems wanting to a primary source, especially as Logan covers the breath of topics facts instead of a significant degree of depth or analysis, but Logan is able to keep the commentary informative and attention grabbing through the course of the feature.
Clamp in Wonderland features the popular manga creation team's characters stuck together in light hearted meetings.
Ghibli News
Anime News Network reports Gedo Senki/Legend of Earthsea will be released on region 2/UK DVD by Optimum summer 2007. Sci-Fi Channel hold the American rights of Earthsea until 2009.
From Nausicaa.net
As it looked last year, the December 13th Toho lineup conference came and went without the expected announcement of Miyazaki next film. In recent years titles for Ghibli's upcoming films have been announced at this meeting. Miyazaki's current project is scheduled for release in summer 2007 and many believe detailed were to have been announced on the 13th.
The clock that Miyazaki designed as been unveiled. It can be seen here.
The UK's Film4 has started showing Ghibli films. Totoro has already aired.
Spirited Away will be shown on BBC Two Saturday 30th December at 5:15pm.
Only Yesterday will air
Sunday, 17th December - Film4 15.00, Film4+1 16.00
Friday, 22nd December - Film4 16.55, Film4+1 17.55
Speaking on anime on UK TV Anime News Network reports Gilgamesh and Cromartie High School will premiere January 5 at 8:30 p.m. and January 7 at 6 p.m. on the UK's Rockworld TV (Sky channel 368).
English Haruhi Suzumiya Site
Anime News Network points out that there is an official web site for hit anime Haruhi Suzumiya at A SOS Brigade.com. The anime follows a highschool boy who is caught in the wake of an insistent girl who introduces herself to her class saying she has no interest in classmates who aren't "aliens, espers, or time travelers". To meet these extraordinary beings, she forms the SOS Brigade school club.
A promotion campaign for the anime appears to the in the midst of a launch. Anime on DVD has been highlighting "S" "O" "S" in their next. ANN posted a footnote stating that their advirtising department has sold space to a company who be promoting the series in North America.
Via Ikimashou, if you want the reviel spoiled, check out here
Speaking of Haruhi Suzumiya, afpbb shows image of the anime used in a Gaza on a "Stop Killing the Children" protest placard here.
009-1 Licensed/h3>
Anime Nation reports that the January 2007 issue of Anime Insider Magazine lists that ADV Films has licensed 009-1, an anime from the creator of Cyborg 009 (and Kikaider)/ The series is scheduled to be released in North American starting in March 2007.
Ayakashi Licensed
Anime on DVD reports that Geneon's listing show that the company has licensed period horror Ayakashi ~ samurai Horror Tales, scheduled for release in May 2007.
Le Chevalier D' Eon Premiere
ADV Films announced that the first volume of Production I.G's (Ghost in the Shell) historical drama Le Chevalier D' Eon will be released February 20th.
From Director Kazuhiro Furuhashi (Get Backers, Rurouni Kenshin TV) and Production I.G. (Ghost in the Shell, Blood+) comes a tale of murder, mystery and mysticism. Le Chevalier D’Eon is a masterful fictionalization of the real life Charles d’Eon de Beaumont, a diplomat, writer, spy, and Freemason known as one of the best swordsman in France, whose true gender was a source of speculation well into the late 18th century.
Synopsis: Paris, 1742. A coffin floats in the shimmering Seine. On the lid, a word written in blood—Psalms. Inside, the body of a beautiful woman. Lia de Beaumont. Now her brother, D’Eon, seeks the reason for her mysterious murder, and uncovers an evil that shadows both the palaces of kings and the dark alleys of Europe. A power wielded by spell-casting Poets, and manipulated by royalty. A force so powerful it brings Lia’s soul back from beyond to seize the only weapon she can possess to avenge her death—her own brother. History meets horror. Fantasy meets mystery. Experience the next revolution in anime with Le Chevalier D’Eon.
The series is scheduled to run 6 volumes.
Nerima Daikon Brothers volume 2, and a thin pack collection of Samurai Gun($49.98) will also be released on February 20th.
Junk Preview
DrMaster will be releasing the first volume of Kia Asamiya's superhero manga Junk in mid-January for $9.95
Asamiya is may be known for his work on Marvel's X-men (Marvel), Batman (DC), Martian Successor Nadesico, Silent Möbius and the Star War: Episode One manga.
Synopsis:
Hiro is a high school student refusing to go to school after a traumatic run-in with the local bullies. But his feeble life is forever changed when, one day, he applies online for a new gadget called "JUNK". Once the mysterious package arrives, he activates the gadget and finds himself encased within a powered armor JUNK suit. Apparently "the clothes DO indeed make the man" as Hiro is granted abilities far beyond anything the muscle-bound jocks at his school could ever dream. Soon after, he embarks on nightly rampages getting back at the bullies and destroying property until he discovers…. There is another with a unit nearly identical to his own. The owner of the other JUNK suit is a woman who's not too keen on Hiro's abuse of his new super-powered threads, and smacks him around real good for it. To complicate matters even further, he accidentally destroys his home and kills his parents! (oops!) Now, a naïve boy must learn to fend for himself and choose to use his power for good or evil.
Anime on Canadian TV
From Anime News Network, Razer will air the Canadian TV premieres of Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo on December 24 at 9:00 and 9:30 p.m. Eastern.
Paradise Kiss English Site
Geneon has launched their Paradise Kiss site to promote the anime adaptation of the popular fashion/drama manga.
ADV Films Licenses Ah! My Goddess Season 2
Anime News Network's interview with Mike Bailiff revealed that ADV has licensed the second season of the Ah! My Goddess anime. Media Blasters released the first season, but passed on the second.
FUNimation Channel in Seatlte
FUNimation Entertainment announced today that the FUNimation Channel is now live in Seattle and surrounding area. Available via digital broadcast on KHCV TV-45 Seattle Digital Channel 44-3, the FUNimation Channel will provide 24-hour digital programming to over one million households in the Seattle area.
Previews
Twitch has preview pictures of a Jin Kazama versus Bryan Fury Tekken: King of Iron Fight live action short film here.
The site also points out that a second trailer for the live action version of horror manga/anime has Gegege No Kitarô, concerning a young man whose dead father inhabits on of his eyes, been posted on the official site.
Trailers of the live action adapation Jirou Matsumoto's manga Freesia can be found online in Quicktime and Windows Media formats. A fan translation of the manga can be found online.
The sites for Kabutomushi Ouji Mushiking Super Battle Movie ~Yami no Kaizou Kabutomushi~ and Oshare Mahou Love and Berry: Shiawase Mahou motion pictures now host streaming trailers. To watch the trailers, click the fifth button from the left on each site.
A website for St. Seiya: Meiou Hades Meikai Hen Kosho (St. Seiya: Hades Chapter second half) is online here. The series has premiere on pay-per-view and will be released on DVD January 31, 2007.
Majoria's News points out both websites for the upcoming super-robot (exaggerated unrealism) series Maiking Breakthrough Gurren- Lagann (official and Gainax's) are now open.
Majoria also has a magazine scan of Maiking Breakthrough Gurren- Lagann here.
Upcoming in Japan
According to AnimeNation Kenjiro Hata's romantic comedy manga series Hayate no Gotoku ~ Hayate the Combat Butler will be adapted into an anime television series next year. The manga is released in North America by Viz.
Mitsunaga Yasunori's gothic horror manga series Kaibutsu Oujou ~Princess Resurrection~ ("Monster Princess ~Princess Resurrection~"), to be released domestically by Del Rey, will be adapted into an anime television series.
4-koma manga Neko Ramen, concerning a ramen shop cat, will be adapted into an anime television series.
Pocket Monsters Diamond and Pearl - Dialga vs. Palkia, the 10th Pokemon movie is scheduled for this summer.
ComiPress points out that Asa Higuchi's basketball manga Ookiku, which won the 10th Osamu Tezuka Cultural Award's New Hope Award, Furikabutte will be adapted into an anime TV series in 2007.
Illumitoon Delays
Anime News Network reports that new anime distributor Illumitoon has delayed their releases.
Beet the Vandel Buster #1 January 9 -> January 30
Beat BtX #1 January 23 -> February 27
AM Driver #1 February 6 -> March 13
Beet the Vandel Buster #2 February 20 -> March 20
Beat BtX #2 March 6 -> April 17
AM Driver #2 March 20 -> TBD
Game News
Majoria's News points out Ah! My Goddess PS2 game, based on the popular magical girlfriend relationship comedy will be released in Japan on February 22. The website is online here.
New Final Fantasy releases
Anime Nation reports that Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will release Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Limited Edition on February 6, 2007. The DVD collection will be sold for $49.95 with Advent Children DVD plus the Final Fantasy VII: Last Order anime short, ten collectible postcards, an English movie script, and a biographical character booklet.
The Magic Box has screen shots of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII here
More English Shinchan
The Beat points out that Evan Dorkin has posted on his blog that he and Sarah Dyer have begun work to "punch-up" work on a new batch of episodes for the Shin-Chan anime from Funimation. The thought is that additional episodes will be aired on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim.
Flight Volume 4 Scheduled
ICV2 reports Kazu Kibuishi's fourth Flight anthology will be released by Ballantine Books in July 2007. The 352 page collection will retail for $24.95. Ballantine will issue its editions of Flight Volume 1 (208 pg. $19.95) and Flight Volume 2 (432 pg., $24.95) in April.
Talent Winners
From Comipress:
TOKYOPOP has announced the winners of the 2nd TOKYOPOP Rising Stars of Manga competition for the United Kingdom and Ireland:
Grand Prize:
- "Knives" by John Aggs of West Sussex, England
Second Place:
- "Poison" by Selina Dean of Cambridge, England
Third Place:
- "Beyond" by Hannah Saunders of the Isle of Wight
Runners-up:
- "Redeemon" by Mai-yeng Tran of London, England
- "Promise Me" by Khalid Kassim of Essex, England
- "The Homecoming" by Morag Lewis of Cambridge, England
- "Happily Ever After" by Joanna Zhou of London, England
People's Choice:
- "Experiment 1817295#7205" by Suzanne Lam of West Yorkshire, England
The recommended manga were:
* IS
* Team Medical Dragon
* Onii-chan to Issho
* Kataribe (Storyteller)
* Koukoku no Shugosha (Imperial Guards)
* Suzuki Sensei
* Tsukidate no Satsujin
* Truede Obasan Grim no Youna Monogatari
* Honey and Clover
* Historie
* Hourou Musuko
* Mimikaki Ochou
* Moyashi-mon
* Takashi Morimoto Short Story Collection
* Yume no Soko
Anime Network Scores News
Anime Network has announced that the channel has signed linear carriage deals with Puerto Rico's two largest cable providers, One Link and Liberty Cablevision. These deals, which represent more than two-thirds of the island, will net the 24/7 channel 178,000 new subscribers.
Anime Channel has secured 24/7 linear deals in Missouri, Texas, Florida and Wisconsin, with launches on Longview, Optical Entertainment Network (OEN), Home Town Cable and Community Antenna, respectively.
Anime Network's current linear launch schedule for each MSO is as follows:
* One Link – Now available on Channel 134 in Puerto Rico
* Liberty Cablevision – January 21, 2007 launch, Channel 70 in Puerto Rico
* Longview – Now available on Channel 221 in Missouri
* OEN's FISION Service – January 2007 launch, Channel 305 in Houston, Texas
* Home Town Cable – December 15 launch, Channel 175 in Florida
* Community Antenna – December 15 launch, Channel 221 in Wisconsin
Coyote Ragtime Show: Fox Trot will premiere of Anime Network's Video on Demand service on January 11th and Moeyo Ken Tv: Shinsengumi On The Prowl will premiere on January 18th.
Coyote Ragtime Show: Fox Trot
Insurrection will not be tolerated! To prove that point, the government has set a big, bad bomb to blast the planet Graceland right out of the sky. To make matters worse, The King is dead. However, before the Pirate King Bruce died, he hid billions in stolen loot on the doomed planet. Now, the galaxy's most infamous criminal—a mystery man known only as "Master"—has busted out of the slammer to get his hands on the booty before it's too late! Along with King Bruce's daughter and his misfit band of "Coyotes," Mister sidesteps government goons, dodges a hot investigator and fends off a dozen Gothic Lolita androids programmed to kill, kill, KILL! Bullets, blades, bombs, beauty and boobs…all capable of destruction or distraction in this chilling, thrilling, killing, blood-spilling first volume of Coyote Ragtime Show!
Moeyo Ken TV: Shinsengumi on the Prowl
Yuuko Kondou, Toshie Hijikata, and Kaoru Okita are the daughters of the legendary and honorable Mobile Shinsengumi team. They have been charged to carry on in the noble tradition of their samurai fathers and their task is to defend Kyoto from a hoard of outlawed and unlicensed beasts! But along with crazy monster cat, Nekomaru, wacky inventor Gennai, and silly-boy Ryuunosuke, these danger-prone damsels stir up more trouble than they can shake their swords at!
Seven Seas Licenses Venus Versus Virus
Seven Seas Entertainment has announced that it licensed Atsushi Suzumi's manga Venus Versus Virus manga, which is soon to become a full-length anime tv series in Japan.
Venus Versus Virus is a gorgeously illustrated fantasy horror series with yuri undertones that will appeal to fans of series such as Bleach. The story follows Sumire Takahana, a seemingly normal school girl cursed with the ability to see malevolent ghosts known as "Viruses." Her life hits a crossroads after a run-in with a "gothic lolita" clad monster killer for hire, Lucia Nahashia. Not content to stay on the sidelines while these "Viruses" prey on the weak, Sumire decides to join forces with the mysterious eyepatch-wearing Lucia to hunt down these "Viruses" before they can hurt anyone else.
SunRise'sGundam Evolvereports Gundam the Ride, an attraction ride at Fujikyu Highland Park, will close at the end of this year. Gundam the Ride opened on July 2000 featured Jack Bayard and Adam Stingray escorting your escape shuttle during Battle of A Baoa Qu.
Char-Aznable.jp, points out that a Char Aznable body esthetic lounge, dedicated to the Gundam antagonist opened in Tokyo's Setagaya ward last month. The beauty salon features a stone sauna, Germanium baths, and three kinds of tanning machines.
Shojo Beat Plans
VIZ Media has announced its plans for the anthology Shojo Beat staring with the January 2007 issue. This will mark the introduction of a new design, vivid new color pallets and fonts and the debut of a new mascot Beat Girl, who will be featured on the cover. Beat Girl will be the illustrated spokesperson for the magazine. Also in January, look for expanded sections like Fashion & Beauty, which includes DIY projects and a "High Style, Low Budget" feature, and Culture & Trends, a roundup of stories about the latest in art, music and movies both in Japan in the US. The SB & You section consolidates popular features like Drawing With Yuu (a manga lesson by renowned manga artist Yuu Watase), reader letters, interactive contests and submitted fan art. These are all in addition to the popular shojo manga titles serialized each month.
A new Girl Hero column will also begin spotlighting real women doing a variety of selfless and charitable works for other people and help inspire readers. The January Girl Hero feature will focus on a 16-year-old manga and anime fan named Kiara La-Shray Saucer, from Albany, California, who helps underprivileged women in her community by collecting business suits for women getting ready for job interviews to help them 'dress for success' in the workplace. A first-ever SHOJO BEAT fashion shoot will also be included for January, with six pages of fun and stylish wardrobe ideas for the new year. More fashion shoots will follow in future issues.
The issue is rounded out with a contest to win a special pink Nintendo DS Lite and the inclusion of a unique 2007 SHOJO BEAT calendar that showcases art from the magazine's serialized manga series including VAMPIRE KNIGHT, ABSOLUTE BOYFRIEND, NANA and the magazine's newest shojo manga title, BACKSTAGE PRINCE.
Worth Checking Out..
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Eva Monkey looks at NewType USA's Evangelion movie coverage here. (The planned anime revival, not the proposed live action).
Alt Japan features guest blogger Roger Harkavy reporting from the Ultra Objects Ultraman exhibition here
ComiPress points out that Mainichi Daily News has an article looking at the real life inspiration for the popular classical music conservatory manga Nodame Cantabile.
ComiPress translates an interview with Inoue Takehiko on the scholarship inspired by his basketball manga Slam Dunk.
ICV2 talks to ADV Sr. VP Mike Bailiff, specially concerning the Coyote Ragtime Show preview on IGN here
ANN interviews the voice talent behind Hellsing Ultimate here
Manga Blog points out Felipe Smith (MBQ) talks to Scryptic Studios here
Publisher's Weekly talks to Rivkah about Steady Beat here
Same Hat continues their look at comics in Germany here
ADV has a Nerima Daikon Brothers, Nabeshin's musical comedy, behind the scenes here
FUNimation has posted a DBZ season sets/HD DVD FAQ here
Finaly... via ComiPress Ken Akamatsu's (Love Hina, Negima) wife here. Explains alot.
Hellboy: Sword of Storms DVD Release Plans
Starz Home Entertainment has announced that the animated Hellboy: Sword of Storms will be released on DVD February 6th for $19.98.
Based on the character created in the influential graphic novel (an exclusive 32-page limited edition comic is included with this release) and featured in the wildly successful 2004 Hellboy theatrical, Hellboy: Sword of Storms is the first of two produced full feature length films that reunites Hellboy's dramatic stars Ron Perlman, Selma Blair and Doug Jones.
Hellboy: Sword of Storms is the combined effort of Tad Stones (Buzz Lightyear of Star Command), Mike Mignola (creator of the Hellboy) and Guillermo del Toro (writer/director, Hellboy). The story begins when a professor of folklore becomes possessed by a duo of Japanese demons who plan to summon their brothers (the Dragons), to dominate the world. The Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense sends Hellboy (Ron Perlman) and a team of agents (Selma Blair, Doug Jones) to investigate. But when Hellboy picks up a cursed samurai sword, he is swept into a dimension of ghosts and monsters. Even if he does survive this terrifying world, will he be able to defeat the two most feared spirits of Japanese legend?
HELLBOY ANIMATED-SWORD OF STORMS cuts deep with the following extras:
• Widescreen Presentation (1.78:1), enhanced for 16x9 TVs
• To Hell And Back – How Mike Mignola Created Hellboy
• A New Breed – Creating The New Hellboy
• Conquering Hellboy – The Actor's Role
• A View From The Top – The "Heads" sequence
• Keepers of Hellboy – A Comic Con 2006 Panel Discussion
• 32 page Comic Book created by Mike Mignola
• Audio Commentary Featuring Hellboy Creator Mike Mignola, Supervising Producer/Director Tad Stones and Director Phil Weinstein
• Hellboy Goes East: A Revealing look at many of the inspirations, backstories and secrets of Hellboy: Sword of Storms
• DVD Rom: weblinks, storyboards and more
• Spanish Audio Track
Flash Animation to Become Comic
Devil's Due Publishing has announced that it has signed an agreement with Xombie, Inc. to bring online Flash cartoon Xombie to comic books.
XOMBIE, a downloadable web series created by James Farr, boasting more than 13 million downloads, tells the story of a variant zombie (called "Xombies", capable of thinking and feeling) named Dirge; Dirge discovers a young human girl named Zoe who suffers from amnesia, and, as his last good act before becoming dust on the floor of this ruined, zombie-filled world, begins a dangerous journey to return Zoe to the safety of her loved ones. Along the way, Dirge and friends must survive the assaults of zombies of all shapes and sizes.
More information is about the comic is expected soon.
Kuro Kumo to Appear at Slamdance 2007
Humouring the Fates' animated short "Kuro Kumo" makes its world premier at Slamdance 2007. Written and directed by Jesse Norton, yhe six-minute Japanese-language animation will run during the 2007 Slamdance Film Festival, which happens along side the Sundance Film Festival January 18-27th in Park City, Utah.
KuroKumo represents a labor that Mr. Norton has always wanted to undertake, a dream-like samurai film with a progressive message. "Jesse and his crew have created a piece that is visually stunning and makes a statement on violence that really creeps up on you" stated producer Jake Hensberry. "The feudal violence portrayed in the film exemplifies how our modern culture often turns its heads, and news cameras, from the real depiction."
The animation for Kuro Kumo is a departure from traditional animation's standard production methods. Not a single sheet of paper was used in the animation of this film. This new digital process has been three years in the making, combines 2D and 3D techniques, and allows for more fluid and extreme camera motions.
A sample scene of the film can be viewed at www.fates.com
Pirates of Coney Island 3 Released
The Pirates of Coney Island #3 (of 8), a 32 page issue retailing for $2.99 will be released on December 20th. The creative team includes
Written by Rick Spears - Art by Vasilis Lolos - Colors by Nick Filardi and Vasilis Lolos - Covers by Vasilis Lolos and Becky Cloonan
Patch and the Pirates are on the prowl hunting cars and tonight's prey is a sweet '66 Pontiac GTO. The Pirates attack and board the GTO in full-blown Pirate style, ARRGH!! Then after a quick stop at the chop shop it's off to the Coney midway for more trouble. Ah, it's the Pirate's life for me!
For more commentary see the AICN Anime MySpace
I've also jumped on the ComicSpace bandwagon. Manga fans should definitely check out the networking site. See my profile here.
It might not have the functionality of MySpace, but ComicSpace it is an excellent opportunity to spot some great projects. I few, online focused, I've noticed are:
