Manga Spotlight: Leave it to PET: The Misadventures of a Recycled Super Robot
Volume 1
By Kenji Sonishi
Released by VIZ Media
Leave it to PET, the story of a boy and his recyclable polyethylene teraphalate plastic Poke-thing is not exactly manga's Captain Planet. Nine year old Noboru Yamada recycles a plastic bottle and the good deed is rewarded when the empty is rebuilt as an over enthusiastic pint-sized super-robot. So, PET shadows Noboru, hoping to protect his once savior and proving to be a source of comedy grief. When Noboru's mother's car breaks down, PET deploys a winch from its head, gives Noboru the rope to pull, then transforms into a kung fu guy, whacking Noboru with nunchucks to encourage the boy to tow the car. PET and Noboru meet a foreigner, and PET responds to the loud, incomprehensible man by attempting to converse with him in Pig Latin.
This is theoretically educational and concerned with conservation. It does feature a few ideas for projects involving re-using plastic containers, but for the most part, this isn't manga that's overly concerned with "teachable moments." The characters will throw batteries into a portable game system without any accompanying message about alleviating the environmental impact. It's even a bit unPC, with jokes revolving around ethnic stereotypes or putting two insects in a jar in order to watch the bugs fight it out. Instead of learning and betterment, the irreverent manga is concerned and quite good with exercising the comedy duo routine of energetically useless PET and straight man Noboru.
Here's the typical caveat that I include when addressing children's media. I don't have kids. I don't deal with kids. I see college friends' a couple times a year; I see neighbors out with theirs around my apartment complex. That's about it. As such, when I talk about kids' manga and anime, it's largely speculation.
What I do have a strong opinion about on the subject is that North America does not get much in the way of good children's manga. Yotsuba&! is frequently mentioned, but that manga is about a child and childhood, not for children. In fact, it runs in an anthology for males in their upper teens. Aria is in a similar situation. At least it's home anthology is for a young male, shonen audience, but beyond that, it gets an "Older Teen, 16+ rating for "non-sexual nudity, mild fan service and alcohol use."
PET is the rare kids' manga that is not just age appropriate. I can actually imagine them enjoying it. Especially if the child has geek inclined parents, I can picture the youngster giggling at PET turning into a soccer ball ninja or ruining Noboru's video game save file. Paced with the patter of classics like Akira Toriyama's Dr. Slump, PET's eight page stories move quickly from one joke to another. Pages are often divided into three horizontal spaces; sometimes with one of the rows vertically split. This yields large panels, with large text that younger readers will probably be able to grasp easily. With frequently situational turn over, the volume doesn't tire itself out, and should be easy for older audiences to read as well. Though funnier than substantial, PET is a rare, winning, truely all-ages manga.
Manga Spotlight: Gantz
Volumes 3 and 4
Released by Dark Horse Manga
Few manga gleefully embrace a "mature" tag the way that Gantz does. It's purview is a first person shooter on familiar streets, with familiar people. Normal Johns and Janes, armed with sci-fi gadgets, try to chase down alien creatures, and Gantz watches as things get very nasty. Punctuated with shower scenes and teeth loosening beat-downs, Gantz is seinen manga with the commitment to deliver on the more graphic, more charged brand of violence found in manga like Hellsing, Berserk, Blade of the Immortal or Eden: It's an Endless World. And, it is very refined in its approach to going about playing to primal interests. Creator Hiroya Oku's background includes risqué relationship stories, most notably the gender-swap manga HEN. Gantz builds off that, along with his experiments integrating digitally inked 3D models and manga, in order to construct a title that's both smart and salacious.
When a manga is still running after 25 volumes, the way Gantz is , it can be difficult to determine what an accurate, representative sample looks like. The impression suggested by Gantz's first four volumes is a bit different than the impression suggested by the first two. After a character revealing third volume and a fourth that gives revived meaning to the cliché "action packed;" after a female character asks the male lead "will you keep me as your pet?" I'm more inclined to say that Gantz is more intended to be smartly salacious in giving the audience what they want than it is smartly salacious in commenting on those expectations.
Upon finding himself standing next to long separated childhood friend Kato Masaru, Kei Kurono is guilted into jumping onto a subway pit to save a disheveled man who fell onto the track. This reluctantly performed good deed is swiftly and brutally punished when an oncoming express train splatters pair. Instead of what typically follows death, they're reconstituted in an apartment, bare except for a large black sphere, along with female peer Kei Kishimoto, devious looking middle school student Joichiro Nishi, and a host of other representatives of the recently deceased. The ad hoc squad are outfitted with form fitting, shiny, black suits, armed with sci-fi looking guns and told to go out into the city and kill off a group of child-sized "onion aliens." The mission doesn't go well, and ultimately, the aliens and humans do a fairly thorough job brutalizing each other.
Volume four delivers more of Gantz's attention commanding human versus "alien" battles of attrition. This time Kurono, Masaru, Kishimoto and Nishi are teamed with four members of abiker gang, just dispatched from the losing end of an ambush by rivals, an old lady and her grandson, who were just in an auto accident that also carried off a teen idol on a motorcylce with a girl he picked up. The adversaries on this go around are "Tanaka Aliens:" bird-men with a grotesque just-hatched quality about them, housed in bowl-cut headed robot-man bodies. Given that the scream from one of these guys can turn the insides of a human into mush, a lot of which seems to ooze out the eyes, nose, ears and mouth of the victim, the bug hunt certainly delivers a barrage of Gantz's caliber of unrestrained, disturbing violence.
Gantz's violent exchanges maintain their vigor going into the second outing. While the ferocity and abandon of this remain impressive, it is not fundamentally different from the Onion Alien battle. Volume three is the point at which I feel that the series evolved, or at least prompted a shift in my perception. While setting up the piece for the Tanaka Alien battle, the volume offers insight into the backgrounds and personalities of Kurono, Masaru and Kishimoto. While Masaru demonstrates genuine heroism outside the guns and birds mortal combat and Kishimoto seems desperate to clutch onto anything, Kurono continues to drive Gantz's conversation with its own wish fulfillment elements.
In discussing the dramatic and ideological elements of the manga, it is worth highlighting that beyond its exhibition of skin and blood, Gantz is far from a subtle manga. Hiroya Oku's writing is packed with arch tendencies . The character centric third volume reveals that Kato Masaru is an orphan, beings housed long with his young brother by an aunt. The relationship could not be laid out any more explicitly. "I have to teach you and your brother how to make your own way in this cruel world. For your own good. You aren't a part of this family." The broad faced, hang wringing aunt then takes her own children out for a steak dinner. "Aren't they coming with?" "No. we can't spoil them."
While these broad gestures are unmistakably obvious, there is a utilitarian purpose to them that leverages Oku's talent for cutting scenes. By packing heft into short exchanges, rather than slow development, Oku can allot more time to the manga's salacious marquee qualities. At the same time, these scenes are effecting. There are plenty of instances of school bullying captured in manga. Given that Oku doesn't do anything in half measures, Gantz's depiction of large, stubby roughs tormenting shorter geeky schoolmates is one of the medium most enraging.
Because of these sharp moments, it only takes a few scenes to prompt a reevaluation of the manga. There is one in particular in volume three that takes place during a respite between alien battles, after Kishimoto has implored Kurono to take her in as "pet". Kurono lives alone, financially supported by parents who are working abroad. Kishimoto can't return home because of a quirk in how Gantz reconstitutes the recently deceased. Kurono sits on the side of his bed reading Young Jump (the anthology that serializes Gantz), while Kishimoto kneels on the floor, watching TV. Kurono thinks to himself "Why am I sitting here reading Young Jump? And why are we sitting so far apart?" Gantz does still seem to be commenting on the kind of power fantasy that an anthology like its own trades in. Through the first two volumes, Gantz seemed to be a power fantasy that had metastasized. The manga introduced Kurono in the midst of an internal monologue, thinking that he's cleverer than the dull humanity around him, but denied the excitement and gratification that he deserved. When given the tools and opportunity to demonstrate his supremacy on Gantz battlefield, he proves to be largely unimpressive in a painfully nasty conflict.
In volume three, Kurono starts accumulating the spoils of being an action hero. He takes what he receive in his alien battles and applies it to combating school bullies with dominating results. This proves to be disadvantageous in the next alien battle, but that is more a function of his thoughtlessness. Then, there is the Kishimoto aspect. There is a real character there, but she is also used as a sex object, with plenty of petting scenes in which Kurono's hands don't seem to be where Kishimoto wants them.
Gantz could go back to an anti-power fantasy stance, but I don't think that the manga is going to refute the Jump formula. I predict that this is going to blow up in Kurono's face to the extent that he's not doing the Jump hero routine correctly.
From its inception, Gantz was unashamed to flaunt excessive displays of flesh and blood. Chapter title illustrations frequently feature context-free pin-ups of undressed and semi-dressed Kishimoto: parts of an incomplete black Gantz suit draped over her body, naked except for shoes and glove-smiling and holding a sci-fi pistol, chest exposed, holding a dog in her lap, or in one case just Oku seemed to be fitting as many naked figures as he could onto a single page. Beyond this, 5 page shower scenes and the like are worked into the manga. Personally, I can take or leave the titillation part, but I do have to say that few do it better than Oku. As someone who can go for a bit of exotic violence, Gantz is still a manga that I look forward to, that I get excited for. Yet, I feel that it is a let-down that Oku doesn't seem to be pursuing his pointed, dark commentary on the genre the way he seemed to in the opening chapters.
Going Hollywood
Variety revealed what many anime/manga followers were expecting. Sreenwriters Charley and Vlas Parlapanides have been tapped by Warner Bros. to adapted thriller Death Note.
From Variety's description "Story centers on a college student who accidentally finds a misplaced 'death note,' infusing him with the power to kill merely by writing anyone's name on the page while picturing the person in his mind."
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Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group (SPWAG) has picked up domestic media rights for East Wing Holdings Corp. and SAJ's Blood: The Last Vampire.
Samuel Goldwyn Films will release the feature film Blood: The Last Vampire in theatres later this summer.
Directed by Chris Nahon (Empire of the Wolves, Kiss of the Dragon), Blood: The Last Vampire brings to life an English language live-action feature movie of the original Japanese anime feature film. Gianna (My Sassy Girl, Daisy) stars in the film as Saya, a 400-year-old demon-hunting vampire slayer working undercover in Japan for a secret organization, on a mission in the Vietnam War era. The cast also includes Koyuki (The Last Samurai, Always: Sunset on Third Street), Michael Byrne (Beyond the Sea, Gangs of New York), Colin Salmon (Resident Evil, Punisher: War Zone, Clubbed), and Allison Miller ("Kings"). The film features stunt choreographed by Cory Yuen (Transporter 3, Red Cliff), is produced by Bill Kong and Abel Nahmias, with screenplay by Chris Chow.
AstroBoy World got some interesting insight into the Hollywood adaptation of Naoki Urasawa's Pluto from Cristoph Mark
Hi, I'm the writer of the original story. I don't know why I didn't include this in the original article, but Urasawa and Nagasaki both said the Hollywood version of Pluto would be live-action, not animated. There are also a few Japanese companies looking at it for different kinds of releases, but the Hollywood take on Pluto was something I thought we should all hope for...
One chapter in, the English simul-post of Rumiko Takahashi's RIN-NE has departed from its intended weekly schedule. Chapter 2 was moved from Wedneday, April 29 to Saturday, May 2. Chapter 3 is scheduled for Wednesday, May 13. Delays have been credited to Japan's condensed period of holidays known as "Golden Week."
Sporadic Sequential looks at VIZ's explanation here
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Crunchyroll announced today that it is partnering with Bandai Channel to bring MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM 00 to the streaming site.
MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM 00 (25 episodes) will be available to viewers in the United States and will be immediately available in its entirety in English dubbed, with the first nine episodes also available in Japanese audio
English subtitled versions. The show will be available to all visitors in these territories, free of charge with advertisements, while Crunchyroll Anime Members can enjoy up to 480p high definition streams.
Title Synopsis:
MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM 00
2307 A.D. - Humanity has obtained a new source of energy to replace fossil fuels: large-scale solar power generation system based on three huge orbital elevators. However, the benefits are available only to a handful of major powers and their allies. A private armed organization appears, dedicated to the elimination of war through armed force. Its name is Celestial Being, and it is in possession of "Gundam" mobile suits. With these Gundams, it begins armed intervention into all acts of war.
Crunchy Roll is working with Kadokawa Pictures USA to stream new content in Tuesdays, starting with live action horror.
Title Synopsis: MPD I
Memories of Sin/Drifting Petals:
A sadistic criminal is turning his victims into human flower pots. Detective Amamiya Kazuhiko is called out of early retirement to work on the case, which is tied to horrific events in his past. His new wife goes missing and a mysterious cult with barcodes tattooed on their eyeballs surfaces to wreak havoc on the city
How to Create a World:
A brutal serial murderer cuts babies from their mothers' womb in what appears to be a copycat crime from five years earlier. All of the women have barcodes tattooed to their eyeballs. The victims, under some sort of hypnosis, purchase the surgical quality knives used to kill them the day before their murders! As Detective Amamiya's wife wanders the city in a trance, he discovers someone from his past is involved in the crime wave...
MPD II
Life is a Constant Helix: Chiaki Kuriyama (KILL BILL) guest stars in the episode, which finds Detective Amamiya and the police team investigating the mass suicide of forty girls from a posh high school. Amamiya goes undercover as a high school teacher to find out why and learn more about a new generation of barcoders, many of whom are students at this militaristic school.
The Crushed Ant:
Perfectly severed body parts with numbers cut into them are discovered in a field. In a nearby arcade, two rival youth gangs battle each other and Amamiya's wife is taken prisoner by a gang leader. The Police Chief tries to put together more of Amamiya's hidden past with the assistance of a one eyed snuff filmmaker.
MPD III
Coronation of the Cursed King:
Cult members spontaneously combust when the barcoder network is infected. The burn victims are taken to the local hospital where a lonely employee's cyber girlfriend tells him to kill people. Detective Amamiya and his team lock down the hospital, while strange things happen on the secret 13th floor.
Soaring Souls and Human Bondage
The Police Department denies that the barcode case ever existed in the massive cover-up attempt. Three remaining members of the investigation team decide to continue working on the case on their own. The Police Chief's entire family dies under mysterious circumstances. Amamiya tracks the baby stealer to a remote cabin in a snowstorm for a final showdown to recover his own missing child
TOMIE: REBIRTH
Hideo, an art student, is painting a portrait of Tomie when she suddenly dismisses it as a poor work of art and destroys her own portrait. In a moment of rage, Hideo picks up an art knife and ends up killing Tomie. Hideo's friends help bury her and try to cheer him up by throwing a party. A girl appears at this party, uninvited that resembles Tomie in many ways. Hideo has gone missing but this girl begins to appear wherever these friends go.
TOMIE: FORBIDDEN FRUIT
Tomie's father, Kazuhiko Hashimoto hasn't forgotten about the love from his youth. His daughter encounters a mysterious girl who is also named Tomie. The girls befriend each other and when Kazuhiko meets his daughter's new friend, he is surprised to see that she resembles the girl he fell in love with 25 years ago. It soon becomes clear that the meeting of the two girls was not by mere chance.
DARK TALES OF JAPAN
-THE SPIDERWOMAN
"if you look at her, you die." There is a creature terrorizing the dark streets of Japan after dusk, an eight-legged beast known only through rumored attacks and the name of Kumo Onna "the Spiderwoman." After a group of teenagers die in a car crash just after they encounter what seems to be a strange creature on the highway, Yamazaki, a local tabloid journalist, begins to follow the building legend of the Spiderwoman, hoping to uncover her identity. As he traces the myth, the trail of clues leads him to Kamiya City, but it seems that none of his sources have ever actually seen the creature first-hand. Just as Yamazaki is losing hope, he meets a trauma-wrecked girl who claims to have been attacked by the monster. Can her tale really undo the mystery of the legend? And just what is the price of delving further into this deathly web?
-CREVICES
Have you ever felt like the walls have eyes? Like there is someone, something there, lurking behind you‹that shadow on the curtains, the blurred presence in the mirror‹that sound you thought you heard just now? Kodera is the guarantor for his high school friend, Shimuzu and is called over to his apartment when Shimuzu skips his rent for three months. Entering the empty room, Kodera finds that every wall and window‹every crevice‹has been inexplicably covered with red tape. Kodera cannot fathom what would possess Shimuzu to do this‹but then he stumbles upon a video that reveals the morbid truth of his last hours and his disappearance. Have you ever felt like the walls have eyes? Like there is someone, something there?
-THE SACRIFICE
Mayu, an office lady working in Tokyo, was asked out by her coworker Fukuda but she rejected him immediately. The next day, strange things begin to happen around her and her friend tells her the story of a girl who rejected Fukuda before. At that time, it's said that he told her, "I'll put a curse on you!" Mayu returns to her apartment to find a symbol on her door written in blood. Just as things are becoming more horrifying, she receives news that her mother has fallen ill and she returns to her house on the outskirts. There she relives the memory of her grandmother's unexpected death, just as her mother was sick "as if grandma died in mom's place." The next day, Mayu notices a symbol on the ceiling of her parent's house resembling the one smeared upon her door! Mayu rushes back to the city, convinced that Fukuda is somehow involved with her mother's illness and the strange things occurring around her. What will she find when she sneaks into his house to investigate the truth?
-BLONDE KWAIDAN
For his job, Ishiguro is sent to Los Angeles where he is instantly amazed by the number of natural blondes! Ishigura is to stay in the house of his Executive Director, Hirota, who is presently away on vacation with his blonde girlfriend. But then strange things start to happen in the house and he wonders if he is truly alone. Ishigura soon finds out that the presence of this blonde isn't quite the American dream he had in mind.
-PRESENTIMENT
Fukawa is finally on vacation‹so why is he still at the office? Alone, he drops to the floor‹dodging the sight of the security camera‹he crawls to the main cubicle and breaks into the company's computer where he steals the client database. All the while his cell phone goes off repeatedly: first it is his wife and young daughter, currently waiting for him at their hotel. Then a mysterious woman who waits for him too on a train station platform where she threatens to kill herself if he doesn't arrive before the last train! We do not know where he is going, but it would seem he isn't going to get there very fast once he steps into an elevator that first refuses to go to the first floor and then gets stuck. Fukawa is now trapped in a metal box between floors, unable to contact anyone on his dead cell phone while the clock keeps ticking closer to 7:45 and the final train. There are three other people in this elevator so why is he the only one who seems to care about ever getting out?
ISOLA
When Yukari, a psychic able to read the thoughts of others, comes to help survivors of the 1995 Kobe earthquake, she encounters a troubled girl named Chihiro who is suffering from a multiple personality disorder. Chihiro has 13 different personalities and her 13th personality is a revengeful ghost named, Isola. Can the psychic find a way to stop ISOLA without harming Chihiro?
-CHAIN MAIL
Sayaka's friends get their kicks sending out hoax emails in the name of one of their classmates who committed suicide. Though Sakaya feels guilty about not standing up to the hoax, things start to go terribly awry when her classmates begin dying, one by one, under mysterious circumstances. It won't be long before Sayaka herself receives a terrifying electronic message.
-LEFT BEHIND THE MOUNTAIN
Yoshimitsu is all out of luck when it comes to the ladies. After several unsuccessful attempts at internet dating, he turns into a human monster who finds pleasure in driving dates to remote mountainous locations and leaving them there. Unbeknownst to him, however, his luck in carrying out the evil schemes is nearing a startling end.
-TATTOO
Immersed in a self-indulgent lifestyle, Mina has no plans to change. One day, after finding a butterfly-shaped leaflet from a tattoo shop, she decides to drop by and take a look. Though unaware at the time, Mina meets a mysterious tattoo designer who turns out to be anything other than what she expected.
-VIEWFINDER'S MEMORY
Three childhood friends take a vacation to a seaside cottage. As one of them falls in love instantly, another who happens to be filming the couple discovers an appalling secret via his video camera.
-GUARDIAN ANGEL
Yumiko, down on her luck, sees no point in life and attempts suicide. However, she is repeatedly foiled in her efforts by unexplainable events that seem to conspire against her mission.
-MORTUARY
Medical trainee Yohei attends an operation on a boy involved in a car accident, but unfortunately, the boy does not survive surgery. Afterwards, the mother insists that something unspeakably terrible is wrong with the lifeless boy.
RAMPO NOIR COLLECTION
-MARS CANAL
Within absolute silence, a naked man wanders through a dark and depressing landscape recalling the excruciating details of his last encounter with his former lover.
-MIRROR HELL
When a series of women are discovered with their faces burnt and skulls charred, a young detective investigates, discovering that a unique hand mirror is always found at the scene.
-CATERPILLAR
A war hero returns home with no limbs and only his eyesight remaining. His beautiful wife, tired of taking care of him, turns to torturing her crippled husband for amusement.
-CRAWLING BUGS
A sexy actress is returning home from a successful night on stage, until her limo driver decides that she should be coming home with him.
SHIKOKU
Hinako returns to her childhood home in the island of Shikoku after many years. She learns that her childhood friend Sayori has passed away and that Sayori's mother, a local priestess, has slowly gone insane with grief. When strange things begin to happen on the island, Hinako and an old friend Funiya learn that Sayori's mother has spent years conducting a pilgrimage around each of the island's 88 temples in reverse order, which, according to folklore, is supposed to release the sprits of the dead and turn the island into the "land of the dead".
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FUNimation's release of Fruits Basket is now available on XBOX LIVE video market place and Shigurui is now available on iTunes for Download to own.
The availability of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, the new adaptation of the popular manga has expanded with episodes 1 and 2 on Hulu.com
FUNimation posted episode 5 of Phantom April 30th, at 1:00 pm CDT, 45 minutes after the start of the episode on TV Tokyo.
The Bee Train produced series is an adaptation of the "Phantom of Inferno" visual game software from the game production company Nitroplus and its original script writer Gen Urobuchi ("Blassreiter"). The story centers around a mysterious organization called Inferno and its "Phantom," the organization's most elite assassin. This assassin’s true identity is compromised by an unwitting witness. Witnesses are usually killed but this witness is brainwashed into become Inferno’s newest assassin and enters a world of intrigue and violence.
Andrews McMeel
Gilles Poitras notes that
Andrews McMeel in the US and Ilex Press in the UK will be releasing Helen McCarthy's Manga Cross Stitch in June. The book and attached CD with feature manga inspired over 100 cross sticking charts.
Enter the strange world of Imiri Sakabashira, whose denizens are zoomorphic creatures that emerge from one another as well as their equally bizarre environs. The Box Man follows its protagonists along a scooter trip through a complex landscape that oscillates between a dense city, a countryside simplified to near abstraction, and hybrids of the two; the theme of hybridity permeates throughout. One is unsurprised to encounter a creature that is half elderly man, half crab, or a flying frog in this world where our guide apparent is an anthropomorphic, mollusk-like cat. Sakabashira weaves this absurdist tale into a seamless tapestry constructed of elements as seemingly disparate as Japanese folklore, pop culture, and surrealism. Within these panels, it becomes difficult to distinguish between the animate and the inanimate, the real and the imagined—a tension that adds a layer of complexity to this near-wordless psychedelic travelogue.
Imiri Sakabashira (real name Mochizuki Katsuhiro) was born in Shizuoka, Japan, in 1964, the same year that Garo, the influential manga anthology in which he would first be published, was founded.
Continuing D+Q’s groundbreaking exploration of the fascinating world of Gekiga, this collection of short stories is drawn with great delicacy and told with subtle nuance by the legendary Japanese artist Susumu Katsumata. The setting is the premodern Japanese countryside of the author’s youth, a slightlymagical world where ancestral traditions hold sway over a people in the full vigor of life, struggling to survive the harsh seasons and the difficult life of manual laborers and farmers. While the world they inhabit has faded into memory and myth, the universal fundamental emotions of the human heart prevail at the center of these tender stories.
Katsumata began publishing comic strips in the legendary avantgarde magazine Garo (which also published his contemporaries Yoshihiro Tatsumi and Yoshiharu Tsuge) in 1965 while enrolled in the Faculty of Science in Tokyo. He abandoned his studies in 1971 to become a professional comics artist, alternating the short humorous strips upon which he built his reputation with stories of a more personal nature in which he tenderly depicted the lives of peasants and farmers from his native region. In 2006, Katsumata won the 35th Japanese Cartoonists Association Award Grand Prize for Red Snow.
Del Rey
Del Rey Manga will be collaberating with Cartoon Network to produce two graphic novels based on action-adventure The Secret Saturdays. This deal follows on the heels of the successful debut of the Ben 10 Alien Force and Bakugan Battle Brawlers film-comics in Fall 2008.
The first Secret Saturdays film-comics will release in September 2009 with a second volume to follow. In the same format as both the Ben 10 Alien Force and Bakugan Battle Brawlers film-comics, the book will feature detailed, full-color stills straight from the animated series and will be rated for all ages.
The Secret Saturdays series, which debuted in October 2008, found its home on Cartoon Network’s "Action Fridays" animation block, and its combination of family life, fantastical creatures and action-packed adventures appealed to a large audience. The Saturdays, a family of cryptozoologists, dedicate themselves to protecting secret artifacts and mysterious, hidden monsters, cryptids, across the world. Their adventures—which take them from ancient ruins to bottomless caves—have lead to encounters with some of the weirdest and wildest creatures on the planet.
Discotek
From a new listing post
Fist of the North Star the Movie
Street Date May 19th
Oh! My Zombie Mermaid
Street Date: July 28th
Hana Yori Dango Final: The Movie
Street Date: August 25th
Crying Freeman and Fist of the North Star the Movie are anime. The other titles are live action
FUNimation
Last Gasp
ICV2 reports that the September release of Junko Mizuno 's Little Fluffy Gigolo Pelu will be the first of three "adult only" volumes. The large format (10" x 8") will retail for $17.95
Little Fluffy Gigolo Pelu is the comic tale of a cute fluffy extraterrestrial who comes to earth determined to find happiness in the form of a human bride. The little guy lands in an off-kilter Japan where he meets aspiring idol singers, sassy tomboys, and a weird group of body-switching students from a very strange high school.
Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory will be releasing the three DVD The Transformers: The Complete First Season 25th Anniversary set on June 16th for $29.99.
VIZ Media
VIZ Media announced the North American release of THE STATIONMASTER, a collection of eight short stories by award-winning author Jiro Asada. THE STATIONMASTER available now with a SRP of $22.99 U.S. / $26.99 CAN.
In the book’s eponymous opening story, railway man Otomatsu waits each day, as he has for most of his life, at the end of the line to greet the incoming trains. But where the cars once brimmed with passengers, they now carry only one or two or sometimes none at all. Facing the imminent closure of his station, Otomatsu reflects back on the quiet tragedies of his life. Then into the cold emptiness of his days, wanders a carefree young girl who bears an uncanny likeness to his infant daughter who died years ago. In the winter of his life, has spring returned to the stationmaster?
In "Love Letter," a man who has seen the rough side of life finds comfort in the memory of a wife he never knew. A young boy witnesses the dissolution of his family under the influence of a strange tutor who seems, to him, to be none other than the "Devil" himself. In "Kyara," a clothing salesman meets a mysterious and beautiful boutique owner at the mercy of a scheming salesman from a rival company, but she may not be as helpless as she seems. The book continues with a young woman’s strained marriage as the topic of gossip at "The Festival of Lanterns," held to honor her husband’s deceased grandfather, but it’s her own grandfather who returns from the beyond to help her through to the next phase of her life. Next, a husband and wife struggle to recapture the love they once shared by visiting the movie theater where they met as children in "Invitation from the Orion Cinema." These stories and two more make THE STATIONMASTER an intriguing invitation for any fiction fan.
VIZ Media has announced their lineup for second quarter 2009
New VIZ Media Manga Titiles for Q2 Include:
DOGS PRELUDE, Volume 0 • Rated ‘M’ for Mature Audiences •
MSRP: $12.99 US / $15.00 CAN • Available Now
IKIGAMI: THE ULTIMATE LIMIT, Vol. 1 • Rated ‘M’ for Mature Audiences •
MSRP: $12.99 US / $15.00 CAN • Available May 12
Congratulations! You have been randomly selected by the government…to DIE in 24 hours! Please enjoy your final day and take pride in the fact that your death will inspire others to live life to the fullest!
Welcome to the world of Ikigami, the Death Notice, where to keep citizens on the straight and narrow path of productivity and prosperity, citizens are randomly selected by the government for termination!
IKIGAMI was created by Motoro Mase and originally debuted in Young Sunday. The manga presents a wicked slant on crime deterrence as readers see the last 24 hours through the eyes of the very people slated to die for their country with no hope of reprieve. What happens when people have no hope of survival will shock readers to the core in this new frighteningly dark series! IKIGAMI has sold more than a million copies and recently debuted in Japan as a live-action film. An acclaimed artist and manga creator, Mase was also nominated for Shogakukan’s 43rd Grand Prize for best comic by a new artist.
DETROIT METAL CITY, Vol. 1 • Rated ‘M’ for Mature Audiences •
MSRP: $12.99 US / $15.00 CAN • Available June 9
Prepare to have your mortal soul devoured by the demonic Johannes Krauser II, front man for Detroit Metal City, the most outrageous death metal band on the Japanese indie rock scene! Soichi Negishi dreamed of moving to Tokyo and starting a bubblegum pop band, but now he’s fronting the most scandalous and demented metal band in Japanese rock! Deep down, Soichi still dreams of acoustic guitars and trips to Paris, but when the makeup comes on and he transforms into his alter ego, Krauser II, not even the denizens of hell are safe from his soul-devouring death metal sound. Can Soichi reconcile his sensitive inner yearnings with his wild on-stage persona – the vilest hard rocker in Japanese (and possibly world) history?
GESTALT, Vol. 1 • Rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens •
MSRP: $8.99 US / $10.50 CAN • Available June 16
In the legendary past the gods battled for supremacy and cast out a demon whose name cannot be spoken. Banished to earth, the demon found refuge on the mysterious and dangerous island known only as "G." After experiencing a crisis of faith, Father Olivier of the Valaria Order decides to go there and find out the truth behind the legends. But Olivier’s journey is unsanctioned and the head of the Order engages the dark elf Suzu to stop him at any cost. As he begins his quest, Olivier encounters Ouri, a young girl from the south who cannot speak. When Suzu catches up to them, Ouri reveals herself as a powerful sorceress and quickly disposes of Suzu, at least for the moment. The pair continues their journey south, dodging the agents of Olivier’s order, the considerable native dangers of the island of G, and Ouri’s secret past.
GESTALT was created by Yun Kouga, one of the biggest names in manga, and incorporates many visual facets from computer and tabletop role-playing games to give the series a video game-like ambiance.
New SHOJO BEAT Manga Include:
HONEY HUNT, Vol. 1 • Rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens •
MSRP: $8.99 US / $10.50 CAN • Available Now
RASETSU, Vol. 1 • Rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens •
MSRP: $8.99 US / $10.50 CAN • Available June 2
A fantastic supernatural spin-off to the hit shojo manga series YURARA (also published by VIZ Media), RASETSU is about a girl named Rasetsu Hyuga who works for an exorcist agency where she uses her special powers to banish evil spirits. But there's a story behind the mysterious red flower mark on her chest. It's a memento left by a powerful spirit that vowed to claim her on her 20th birthday. Unless Rasetsu can find true love by then, she’s fated to become his. Yako Hoshino, a young man with spiritual powers and a past of his own, comes to the agency one day seeking help with a possessed book. He's seen a lot of strange phenomena in his day, but the last thing he expects to see is Rasetsu bearing a striking resemblance to his old love Yurara! Fans of Chika Shiomi’s popular shojo series YURARA won’t want to miss this exciting debut.
TAIL OF THE MOON PREQUEL: THE OTHER HANZO(U) • Rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens • MSRP: $8.99 US / $10.50 CAN • Available June 2
This is the one-shot prequel to the critically acclaimed romantic melodrama TAIL OF THE MOON and also serves as an addition to the popular shojo series created by Rinko Ueda. Set in feudal Japan, a young woman is found with a huge scar on her back and has no memory of who she is. She’s given the name "Kaguya" and taken in by a local brothel where she's put in charge of babysitting and housekeeping duties. Hanzou Hattori, the head guard of the nearby castle, starts to pursue her romantically. He eventually realizes that they’ve met before in the past...under very surprising circumstances! Later, a case of mistaken identity leads Kaguya to the village of Iga where she meets the high-ranking ninja leader Hanzo Hattori. Things get complicated when she figures out she’s gotten her Hanzo(u)s mixed up!
New VIZKIDS Manga Include:
DINOSAUR HOUR!, Vol. 1 • Rated ‘A’ for All Ages •
MSRP: $7.99 US / $9.50 CAN • Available April 7
Journey back in time to an age when dinosaurs ruled the earth, fierce – and funny! In this world, dinosaurs are just regular dudes who may try to eat each other, but still have social foibles like the rest of us. With some of their antics, its no wonder dinosaurs went extinct. In each installment, DINOSAUR HOUR! introduces younger readers to exciting dinosaur species through fun and easy-to-read educational factoids mixed with wacky humor. Kids will also delight in dinosaur puppet cut-outs in the back of the book that readers can use to create fun dino-ramas. Educational and captivatingly illustrated, the humorous vignettes in DINOUSAUR HOUR! create the universal appeal of these creatures to make a captivating choice for even the most reluctant young reader.
LEAVE IT TO PET!, Vol. 1 • Rated ‘A’ for All Ages •
MSRP: $7.99 US / $9.50 CAN • Available May 5
One day, nine-year-old Noboru does the responsible thing and recycles a plastic water bottle, but little does he know that the bottle will come back to him as PET, a robot with a mission to pay Noboru back for recycling him! The only problem is that PET’s sense of "helping" isn't quite in touch with reality. LEAVE IT TO PET! combines the visual appeal of manga with episodic comedy, adorable characters, and a few gentle lessons about protecting the environment. The manga also features color pages and related activities and cut-outs, giving it strong all-ages appeal. This series an excellent candidate for book clubs and fairs, schools and libraries.
Pokémon Adventures, Vol. 1 (2nd Edition) • Rated ‘A’ for All Ages • MSRP: $7.99 US / $9.50 CAN • Available June 2
Q2 DVD releases...
New DEATH NOTE Releases Include:
DEATH NOTE RELIGHT: VISIONS OF A GOD • Rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens • MSRP: $24.92 US / $35.99 CAN • Available June 23
DEATH NOTE DVD Box Set Volume 2 • Rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens • MSRP: $69.97 US / $99.99 CAN • Available Now
Death Note: L, Change the World will be released on August 25 for $24.92
New NARUTO Releases Include:
NARUTO UNCUT DVD Box Set Volume 13 Special Edition • Rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens • MSRP: $69.97 US / $99.99 CAN • Available Now
Special Edition Box Set features 14 episodes on 3 discs and includes a collectible Mininja figurine of Kakashi.
NARUTO UNCUT DVD Box Set Volume 13 Standard Edition • Rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens • MSRP: $49.95 US / $71.99 CAN • Available Now
Standard Edition set features the same episodes as Special Edition but no collectible Kakashi Mininja is included.
NARUTO UNCUT DVD Box Set Volume 14 Special Edition • Rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens • MSRP: $69.97 US / $99.99 CAN • Available May 26
NARUTO UNCUT DVD Box Set Volume 14 Standard Edition • Rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens • MSRP: $49.95 US / $71.99 CAN • Available May 26
Naruto Uncut Box Set 15 will be release on August 25 for $69.97
Standard Edition set features the same episodes as Special Edition but no collectible Neji Mininja is included.
Special Edition includes Gaara figure, the 5th of 6
NARUTO Uncut Box Set Volume 15 • Rated 'T+' for Older Teens • MSRP: $49.95 US / $71.99 CAN • Available July 21
New BLEACH Releases Include:
BLEACH Volume 16 • Rated ‘T’ for Teens • MSRP: $24.92 US / $35.99 CAN • Available May 12
BLEACH Volume 17 • Rated ‘T’ for Teens • MSRP: $24.92 US / $35.99 CAN • Available June 16
BLEACH Volume 19 • Rated ‘T’ for Teens • MSRP: $24.92 US / $35.99 CAN • Available August 18
BLEACH Uncut Box Set 3 • Rated 'T' for Teens • MSRP: $69.97 US / $99.99 CAN • Available July 7
BLEACH UNCUT Box Set 3 w/ Limited Collector's Hollow Mask• Rated 'T' for Teens • MSRP: $89.97 US / $129.99 CAN • Available July 7
BLEACH Volume 18 • Rated 'T' for Teens • MSRP: $24.92 US / $35.99 CAN • Available July 14
New HUNTER X HUNTER Releases Include:
HUNTER X HUNTER Box Set Volume 2 • Rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens • MSRP: $49.95 US / $71.99 CAN • Available Now
Hunter x Hunter Box Set Volume 3 will be released on August 11th for $49.95
New INUYASHA Releases Include:
INUYASHA Season 7 DVD Box Set Special Edition • Rated ‘T’ for Teens • MSRP: $119.89 US / $169.99 CAN • Available April 28
The Box Set features 21 episodes on 4 discs. Special Edition also includes a collectible figure of Inuyasha wielding his powerful Tetsusaiga sword.
INUYASHA Season 7 DVD Box Set Standard Edition • Rated ‘T’ for Teens • MSRP: $99.94 US / $142.99 CAN • Available April 28
New POKÉMON Releases Include:
POKÉMON ALL STARS Volume 19 Torchic • Rated ‘A’ for All Ages • MSRP: $9.98 US / $14.99 CAN • Available Now
POKÉMON ALL STARS Volume 20 Onix • Rated ‘A’ for All Ages • MSRP: $9.98 US / $14.99 CAN • Available Now
POKÉMON ALL STARS Box Set 2 is due on August 25 for $39.97
POKÉMON: ELEMENTS Volume 1: Grass • Rated 'A' for All Ages • MSRP: $9.98 each US / $14.99 each CAN • Available July 28
POKÉMON: ELEMENTS Volume 2: Fire • Rated 'A' for All Ages • MSRP: $9.98 each US / $14.99 each CAN • Available July 28
New VIZ Pictures Releases Include:
HAPPILY EVER AFTER • NOT RATED • MSRP: $24.92 US / $35.99 CAN • Available May 12
In this new live-action release, Yukie Morita (Miki Nakatani) works hard to make ends meet while her husband Isao (Hiroshi Abe) hangs around all day gambling away their savings and getting into trouble. Isao’s uncontrollable temper often results in the dinner table getting overturned and their meal on the floor. Everyone advises Yukie to leave Isao, but their unconditional love keeps them together through happiness and through hard times.
HAPPILY EVER AFTER was a box-office hit in Japan and based on a best-selling manga. This bittersweet comedy combines a visually-striking cinematography, a heartwarming storyline with love and friendship and a top cast of actors and will be enjoyed by all members of the family.
Warner Home Video
Super Friends: The Lost Episodes will be released on August 11. The two disc set will feature 24 episodes.
The animated Green Lantern: First Flight DVD, special edition DVD and Blu-ray are now scheduled to be released on 7/28/09
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 25th Anniversary Collections of the four movies will be released on DVD and Blu-ray on August 4th.
The DVD is packaged with four masks, a travel case and temporary tattoos for $39.92
The Blu-ray features a comic, signed sketch, beanie, and character cards for $84.99
Bean 10 Alien Force volume four will be released on September 1 for $14.98
Smurfs: Volumes Two will be released on August 18th for $14.97
Event News
Otaku USA EiC Patrick Macias will be presenting J-POP in the USA – Past and Present at San Francisco State University Sunday, May 3
In this presentation, Patrick Macias will present an overview of the development of J-pop fandom in America, from fans of early anime like Astro Boy to today's breed of self-identified "otaku" who made manga such as Naruto bestsellers in the USA.
Time and Date
1:30pm – 3:00pm
Sunday, May 3
Location:
San Francisco State University
College of Humanities
Room 133 (Humanities Auditorium)
General $5
Students $2
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Bang Zoom! Entertainment will offer two new Adventures in Voice Acting workshops in May. Bang Zoom also announced a money-back satisfied guarantee on the programs.
Description:
Each workshop is a full-day "Boot Camp" style course from 10am to 6pm that will allow for a lot of on-mic experience. The workshops will be held at the world famous Bang Zoom! Studios in Burbank, California, and you'll be working inside the studio and voice booth. The cost for each workshop is $299.00, and each workshop is limited to ONLY 12 students.
The Beginner Level Voice Acting Workshop covers such topics as:
How to break into the business
How to develop a character
How to use your voice and project
Basic acting skills
Studio etiquette and protocol for when you land your first audition
The Intermediate Level Workshop covers such topics as:
Creating original characters for Pre-lay shows and games
Voice acting for Commercials and promos
How to make a living as a Voice Actor
Auditioning techniques: How to approach an audition script and book more jobs
The Intermediate Level Workshop is only open to those who have already completed the Beginner's Workshop or have had some experience as a professional voice actor.
Instructor:
Tony Oliver (Director of GURREN LAGANN; Voice of Rick Hunter - ROBOTECH, Harry - GUNGRAVE, Arsene - LUPIN III)
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The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences will be presenting the ANIME! High Art – Pop Culture exhibition May 15 through August 23, 2009 at the The Academy’s Grand Lobby Gallery and Fourth Floor Gallery
"ANIME!" illustrates the fascination of anime and its dramatic, and often breathtaking, visual language. On view are rare collectors’ items and artwork that has seldom been seen outside Japan. A portion of the exhibition is devoted to manga and its relationship to anime, providing a historical overview of the development of this "comic book" genre from 19th century Japanese woodcuts and book illustrations to the mass-produced manga of the present.
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FUNimation screenings at Texas' Alamo Drafthouse include
We regret to inform you that in accordance with an official announcement made by Pony Canyon Inc. today regarding the outbreak of the swine flu made on April 30th, the upcoming LM.C appearance at AKON (May 29-31 in Dallas, Texas) has been cancelled. This announcement comes in response to the World Health Organization's decision to raise the swine flu pandemic level to phase 5. Pony Canyon Inc. and Ponycanyon Music Inc. announced that all employees and artists have been grounded and are prohibited from traveling overseas. This suspension of travel will remain until WHO officials determine it is safe.
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Anime News Network notes that France's Annecy animation festival (June 8-13) will be screening Takeshi Koike's ( "World Record" short in The Animatrix, key animator on Dead Leaves, Samurai Champloo, and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust) new Madhouse produced anime Redline.
Films in the Official Selection in the Feature Film category include:
Battle for Terra by Aristomenis Tsirbas
Boogie, el aceitoso by Gustavo Cova
Brendan et le secret de Kells by Tomm Moore, Nora Twomey
Coraline by Henry Selick
Jeh-bool-chal-shee e-ya-gee by In-keun Kwak, Il-hyun Kim, Ji-na Ryu, Eun-Mi Lee, Hae-young Lee
Kurt blir grusom by Rasmus A. Sivertsen
Mary and Max by Adam Benjamin Elliot
Monsters vs Aliens by Rob Letterman, Conrad Vernon
My Dog Tulip by Paul Fierlinger, Sandra Fierlinger
Redline by Takeshi Koike
Previews Takeshi Koike's Redline
MW - the adaptation of Osamu Tezuka's mature audience thriller
First Squad - Misha Shprits and Aljoscha Klimo working with Studio4C
Anime
Production I.G has posted a report from the press conference for Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai, Production I.G's upcoming feature film, written by Mamoru Oshii and directed by Mizuho Nishikubo.
Sunrise has indication plans for an international simultaneous release of the upcoming adaptation of the Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn novels. Planned languages include Japanese, English, German and French.
Via SRW Hotnes series details includes
Staff credit:
Original Story - Hajime Yatate, Yoshiyuki Tomino
Director - Kazuhiro Furuhashi
Screenplay - Yasuyuki Muto
Original Character Design - Yoshikazu Yasuhiko
Animation Character Design - Kumiko Takahashi
Original Mobile Suit Design - Kunio Okawara
Mechanical Design - Hajime Katoki, Yoshinori Sayama, Junya Ishigaki, Nobuhiko Genma
Science Fiction Consultants - Shinya Ogura
Story: Harutoshi Fukui
Main Character:
BANAGHER LINKS
16 years old.
Main character. When his mother died, he has been entrusted to a father that he has never known and went to the Anaheim Electronics school on the Industrial 7 space colony. His encounter with the mysterious Audrey Burne will involve him in the trouble surrounding the "Box of Laplace".
AUDREY BURNE
16 years old.
Heroin. Important member of the antigovernment organization "Sotsudeki". For an unknown reason, she boards the Garencières to reach Industrial 7. Her fate will change when Banagher saves her from a deathly danger.
Mobile Suit:
RX-0 GUNDAM UNICORN
A prototype Mobile Suit developed under the "UC project" in the secret base of Anaheim Electronics for the Earth Federation Forces. His characteristics are his pure white armor and horn. Nickname : Unicorn. This unit hides a secret that will change the future of mankind.
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The sixth and final episode of the Hellsing Ultimate DVD has been given a July 24th release.
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Astro Fighter Sunred, a parody of tokusatsu heroes in mundane situation, will be continued in a second anime series.
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The August 26 release of the first volume of the DVD/Blu-ray release of the new Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood will feature a bonus adaptation of manga creator Hiromu Arakawa's Momoku no Renkinjutshi (Blind Alchemist) story.
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Gonzo's mecha-girl anime Strike Witches will be back for a second season, tentatively called "Strike Witches 2-ki." FUNimation recently announced plans to release the first season in North America.
Hisaki Matsuura's ecology based novel Kawa no Hikari (River's Light) will be adapted into an anime series for NHK
Manga
Via Anime News Network
Yuzo Takada (3x3 Eyes, Blue Seed, Cat Girl Nuku Nuku) will launch new manga series Captain Alice manga in the next issue of Evening, due to hit stores on May 12.
Shueisha's Weekly Playboy magazine for men is spawning a spinoff manga magazine called Man's Playboy on Thursday. Manga carried by the parent Playboy include Yudetamago's Kinnikuman Nisei (Ultimate Muscle: The Kinnikuman Legacy), Kia Asamiya's Kanojo no Carrera (My Favorite Carrera), and Hiroshi Motomiya's Ore no Sora. Miu Nakamura (Tales of Agriculture's Yogurti) is also making her debut as a manga creator with the four-panel comic called Miu-man "Kusa"ttemo Nakamura-ke!!
Makoto Raiku (Konjiki no Gash!!/Zatch Bell) has announced in a Monday blog entry that he will launch his next manga in a new magazine from Kodansha on September 10.
Young Gangan will feature a new Yuji Iwahara manga based on super-powered spy anime Darker than Black called Black: Shikkoku no Hana (Jet Black Flower)
Tenchi Muyo fantasy spin-off Isekai no Seikishi Monogatari will be getting manga tie-in.
Eiji Otsuka and Hosui Yamazaki's The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service manga will move to Young Ace when that magazine debuts on July 4
Young Magazine will resume Nobuyuki Fukumoto's gambling manga Kaiji in the year's 27th issue.
Live Action
Racing manga Wangan Midnight will be adapted into a new anime movie, scheduled for release this summer.
Misc
Fullmetal Alchemist manga creator Hiromu Arakawa produced the Japanese cover for the Japanese edition of Sarah Rees Brennan's The Demons Lexicon I: The Scion of Magicians
The Business
Anime News Network notes a report from The Crain's New York Business that Central Park Media has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The business closed on April 27th and will liquidate to cover $1.2 million in debt.
Central Park Media filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in federal bankruptcy court last Friday, citing assets of $126,282 vs. secured liabilities of $908,173 and unsecured liabilities of $277,531. Bank of America was the only secured creditor, and according to minutes of the CPM board of directors meeting held on April 23rd, the company was to file bankruptcy if changes to a forbearance agreement with the bank could not be negotiated
The two largest unsecured creditors were the company’s landlord and law firm.
The assets were primarily accounts receivable, with some limited inventory. No specific value (or an unknown value) was assigned to the company’s intellectual property rights and master tapes.
The legal matter in question likely refers to the Biblos yaoi titles that Libre claimed were never licensed by CPM, described here.
via Anime News Network's description
CPM and its Software Sculptors, U.S. Manga Corps, and Anime 18 labels were once the North American homes of such prominent works as Grave of the Fireflies, Utena, Mobile Police Patlabor, Record of Lodoss War, Slayers, Night on the Galactic Railroad, Project A-Ko, Dominion Tank Police, Descendants of Darkness, Demon City Shinjuku, Urotsukidoji, and La Blue Girl. It later branched out into the book publishing field by releasing Comic Party, Record of Lodoss War, Slayers, Embracing Love, Kizuna, and other titles under the CPM Manga and Be Beautiful Manga imprints. It sponsored the Big Apple Anime Fest earlier this decade.
Anime Corner Store's newsletter featured an interesting comment about Best Bey's anime stocking
Funimation gave me a list of June releases that will NOT be carried by Best Buy (at any store). I'm not going to reveal the exact titles, but it amounts to about half of their June lineup and I think this will be first time the big chain has not carried successive volumes of titles in current release. It also adds credence to the rumors that Best Buy intends to divest itself completely of their Anime business by the end of the year. Frankly, it wouldn't bother us much, as I'm sure you can imagine.
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Publishers Weekly has confirmed that VIZ Media Senior Vice President and public face has Lisa Coppola left the company.
B.F.A., San Francisco State University (Japanese Language). For seven years Ed has been writing and critiquing Japanese popular culture for Publishers Weekly, Mania.com, and Otaku USA magazine. His familiarity with the Japanese comics industry led him to freelance work as an editor and translator for Tor-Seven Seas and DC/Wildstorm. Prior to joining Vertical, Ed developed publicity and promotional projects for DC Comics’ CMX and Kodansha, Ltd’s Kodansha BOX. When not trying to promote peace through manga culture, Ed has been known to edit indie comics and doujinshi.
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The blog for Robert's Anime Corner Store is reporting that producer of Japanese Anime figures Jun Planning will close its US operations and reorganize their Japanese business.
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The buzz is that VIZ Media is offering Rumiko Takahashi's new manga in English at the same time it is released in Japan as a measure to combat unauthorized translations and piracy.
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Cartoon Network has promoted Chris Waldron to Vice President of Gaming Operations, where he will oversee he network's growing casual games business, including internal game development, production and overall strategy.
Anime Vice notes that TOKYOPOP will be selling OEL titles in Japan including s Svetlana Chmakova's Dramacon, e Felipe Smith's MBQ: Tales of LA and Pink Psycho's In The End. Softbank Creative will be localizing the material, which retails for ¥630 a volume
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Anime's hot bead in Tokyo's Nerima Ward and Annecy in southeastern France along with the city's neighboring local bodies have entered into an anime industry exchange agreement. Under the agreement, the municipal governments will cooperate in hosting anime-related events and film festivals in Nerima and Annecy. Nerima is also planning to invite anime creators from Annecy and neighboring areas to studios in the ward.
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The Japanese Blu-ray of CG animated Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete has become the first Japanese Blu-day to top 100,000 sales on its day of release.
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Prime Minister Taro Aso carried out some "Manga Diplomacy" on a visit to Beijing. Before speaking to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, he watched Mandarin dubbed Detective Conan with a class of student studing Japanese.
Cool Figures News
New Sideshow figures available for pre-orders include Yamato USA Cammy
PVC Figure, due Q3 2009 for US $99.99
Ninjutsu 4" Series. Two waves of 4" boxed trading figures eail for $6 each
Series 1 features Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi, Gaara, and Itachi
Series two features Naruto, Sasuke, Sai, Sasori, and Deidara
Naruto Basic Figures Series A, $5 each
Series 1, due in May featuresNaruto, Sakura, Kakashi, Neji, Rock Lee, Gaara, Itachi, and Kisame.
Series 2, due in June and will have Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi, Shikamaru, Temari, Kankurou, Sasuke, and Deidara.
Naruto 6" Figures Series, $12
Series 1 arrives in July and will include Naruto and Deidara.
Series 2 will arrive in Oct and includes Kakashi and Gaara.
Series 3 comes in December and will have Sasuke and Itachi.
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Ghibli World has a look at the LAWSON limited edition Ponyo Status the W160×H242×D156mm sized statue will be sold at a price of 18,900 Yen.
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If you think that new Evangelion girl Mari Illustrious Makinami looks a bit creepy, check out the Be@rbrick version
Anime News Network notes that SyFy/Sci Fi will premiere Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Second Season at 11:00 p.m. EDT on June 29.
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ADV Nation reports yjat Anime Network will be offering Right Stuf's Aria, Maria Watches Over Us and Toward the Terra (Movie) in May.
About Aria:
Hundreds of years in the future, mankind has transformed the harsh landscape of Mars into a world covered by water and has renamed it "Aqua." Refined gondoliers and tour guides, known as "undines," navigate the canals of Aqua's Neo-Venezia, a city that boasts both the architecture and the atmosphere of its Venetian namesake. ARIA follows the day-to-day adventures of Akari - a recent arrival to the planet and a gondolier-in-training with the prestigious Aria Company - as she works toward her dream of becoming an undine and explores her new home.
About Maria Watches Over Us:
When Yumi Fukuzawa entered the Lillian Girls' Academy, a prestigious all-girls Catholic school in Tokyo, she never imagined she would catch the eye of beautiful and demure Sachiko Ogasawara, one of the school's most popular students. Now Sachiko has offered to be Yumi's sur - her "sister" and guide for all her years at the academy. The whole idea has Yumi completely flustered: After all, they hardly know each other! The entire campus is abuzz with rumors about the two of them, but Yumi is conflicted over accepting Sachiko's offer. While she admires Sachiko, being her sur would also mean constantly being at the center of the entire school's attention!
About Toward the Terra (Movie):
Light-years from Earth, where every aspect of life is controlled by the great master computer, if you are a Psychic (called a MU) you're dead. Hunted tirelessly, the MU have been hiding for centuries from the general populace.
On this world light-years from Earth, if you are Psychic you are also dead. The Mu (as these unfortunates are called) are hunted tirelessly by the great computers that control every facet of life.
Aria and Maria Watches Over Us will be Premiering on May 7th, while Toward the Terra (Movie) will be premiering on May 14th.
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Cartoon Network has licensed the not too animated original, Ricky Gervais version of the Office to air on its Adult Swim block.
In conjunction with the upcoming completion of the English edition of Barefoot Gen, atom bomb survivor Keiji Nakazawa announced a desire to give a copy of the semi-autobiographical manga to President Barack Obama.
Scandal Sheet
Mai Goto (Ichi the Killer), along with Masanori Fujiyama have been charged with selling videos in violation of the regulations on obscenity. The video in question was an "image video," which generally feature idol posing in swimsuits, increasingly with some nudity. This marks the first time that an "image video" has been officially classified as "obscene."
A man falsely claiming to be key animator and mechanical animation director on Neon Genesis Evangelion to teach at two universities has been forced to resign
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Via ANN and Computerworld
New Zealand's Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) censorship inspector Peter Pilley three cases of people possessing sexualised manga (Hentai) are about to come to court locally. The group has been monitoring online peer to peer through a software called "Squirrel Hunter" to track allegedly offensive materials.
According to Japanamerica author Roland Kelts, Patrick Macias is "an American otaku and blogger extraordinaire." More accurately, he is the author of multiple books in both English and Japanese and currently the Editor-in-Chief of Otaku USA. Mr. Macias was in Tokyo a few weeks back, and we met over a discount tonkatsu lunch to talk about the state of Japanese recession and the current yankii cultural takeover. Luckily, a recording device captured our dialogue (and my total inability to enunciate words or complete sentences).
Before Viz, I never really was a reader of manga. I had nothing against it, but I didn't know much about that realm. I got really involved in Nana right away. I loved it from the beginning. I thought it was interesting and I love that there is manga that is really smart and funny.
This story is one of the past stories, dated in the master chart of the series as 937 AD. "Robe of Feathers" exists as a story within a framing device. The majority of the story exists within the frame of a play performed for an audience. The time period at which the play is being performed is unclear. At first I thought it was in 937, but I think I see men in sailor suits in the audience, so perhaps the play is being performed in a modern time, and it is the play itself which is set in 937.
Doujinshi began in the ’70s with original stories, but shifted to parodies of established series and characters in alternative settings and "couplings." The genre runs the gamut from academic writing to pornography, and much of it is as sexual and violent as it is artistic. Legally, fans can produce whatever they want insofar as it’s not blatantly for profit or obscene. In the beginning, large coteries managed costly and labor-intensive production, but the democratization of printing in the ’80s resulted in small, even single-member circles. Researcher Gunnar Hempel, 27, a Sophia University MA who wrote his thesis on the phenomenon, estimates there are 8,000 Japanese living off doujinshi, but stresses the number could be greater thanks to digital publishing. A "professional doujinshi" artist scrapes by on some 12,000 yen a month, but can gross 32,000 yen from large sales events.
Otaku2 offers their review of Gurren Lagann: Ragan-hen, the movie that condenses the popular mecha show
At Otaku USA, Erin Finnegan on "mustache chick" Higepiyo
Many of the characters meet their demise in gruesome fashion, with dismemberment and disemboweling commonplace in Reiko's world. Mikamoto writes of Act 20, in which victims are forced to eat their own entrails, that, "I wanted to create something really scary--I mean terrifying, not just gory...but I only got letters telling me that it was 'revolting.'" Never has public opinion been more accurate.
Read About Comics has an advanced look at Fanfare/Ponent Mon's release of Jiro Taniguchi's A Distant Neighborhood Vol. 1
Wondering about the background of Shin Mazinger’s gangster controlling bathhouse mistress Tsubasa Nishikori. Awesome Engine unearths the details in their look through Violence Jack
also Violence Jack - Dragon Fort
pics from Dengeki Hobby Mag (June)
