Logo handmade by Bannister
Column by Scott Green
Anime Spotlight: Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete Released by Sony Pictures
Say that there's a fast food spot that serves good, consistent food. If Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children was stopping by for a cheeseburger, Advent Children Complete is stopping by for a double cheeseburger. It's not a fundamentally different experience, but it is more of what originally drew you there. I'm not a huge fan of the "if you like X, you'll like this instance of X" tautology, but when the subject is as much an overture to the fans as Advent Children is, that tautology seems applicable. If you're a Final Fantasy VII enthusiast, Advent Children Complete achieves its aims of delivering a value meal sized helping of what you expect from Final Fantasy VII. As a movie, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete fares no better than the earlier cut. This is not exactly a high water mark in narrative cinema. It's not that the movie is especially hard to follow. Silver haired guys in black leather are pursuing a fanatically malicious agenda to locate and resurrect "Mother." Meanwhile, there's a sulky blonde guy with heroically large swords riding into the desert on his motorcycle in hopes of losing his haunted past and the relationships that remind him of that pain. And, there's a black goop called "geostigma" that's infecting the populous as a lingering consequence of the events of Final Fantasy VII. Though this isn't an inaccessible plot outline, Advent Children isn't looking to welcome new comers into the clubhouse either. At one point, a character asks about the identity of the parade of colorful new characters arriving on scene. Shrugging off the newcomer, the question is ignored. Advent Children does not attempt to establish a bond between viewer and subject. Proceeding with an offscreen battle the movie launches into a jargon heavy recap, accompanied by scenes that, while not mystifying, are staged to be evocative of recognizable events. From those beginnings, spectacle is emphasized over drama in a flashy echo of the games. Advent Children was conceived as a story by game scenario writer Kazushige Nojima concerning the protagonist Cloud and busty martial artist companion Tifa, and grew from a 20 minute short to a 90 minute movie, then to a two hour one. The foundational concept was an animated work to excite an audience who had invested 40+ hours with the characters and world. As Advent Children filled out, rather than altering its approach, it intensified that glowing reflection of the time spent with the game. The results are all flourish and little thrust. After the opening minutes of the movie offer a reminder that our heroes were party to a near miss in which the cosmos almost snuffed out the planet, it becomes difficult to imagine how a hand full of half competent black hats and some oily pus would present a physical threat. Direction enhances rather than compensates for this impression. Gorgeous CG models render details down to strands of hair and tiny logos adorning objects. Then, with that realism, figures that look exotic, but not necessarily super human, effortlessly defy the laws of physics, leaping like insects, smashing each other through stone pillars, bouncing rather kinetically hitting, with only a bit of soot or a bloody nose to show. From the plot to the action, consequence is remembered rather than newly established. That directs the heart of the conflict to Cloud working through his post game issues. In a work of frenetic motion, getting this mope to act like a properly adjusted adult is an internal struggle. As such, the movie never finds a way to impactfully express itself other than through gestures for game fans to cheer. Yet, evaluated as fan service rather than as a movie, the brilliantly embellished Advent Children Complete builds on the success of Advent Children. During the course of one of Advent Children's battles, Cloud loses his cell phone (despite the name "Final Fantasy" this is a very cell phone driven plot) and as it descends into the depth of a river, it records a series of missed calls from the companions who accompanied him in the game as they let him know that they're looking out for him. In my personal hindsight view, the flaws of the Final Fantasy game are more starkly in focus than my enthusiasm for it. Yet, scenes like the cell phone calls do effectively evoke the fondness I had for the characters, and, here's a geek confession, I do get a bit worked up watching it. Comic blogger Tim O'Neil describes a phenominon of "momentism" in American super-hero works a style of writing predicted on the singular iconic "moment" as the indissoluble element of superhero writing. Kingdom Come is packed to the rafters with "moments", and the creators' understanding of the characters is good enough that many of the moments are good - a few of the Superman moments are very good. Video game based Advent Children is primed for momentism. The signature attacks, the unveiling of an uber-weapon, a mega-creature, or game-unlockable character... the movie works off a catalog of iconic touch points. Then, Advent Children renders the look of the source in a graphical fidelity that could represent an idealized version of what the game looked like. It's the lingering expectations of the original realized, with new footage serving to elaborate on those hopes. Advent Children Complete is packaged with the episode lengthen anime Denzel: On the Way to a Smile that feels like what it is - an adaptation of a one-off novella set within the framework of Final Fantasy VII. The story follows a young orphan who lived through the cataclysmic days of the game, was infected with geostigma, and eventually found himself in proximity to Cloud and Tifa. It wasn't nearly as dreary as I feared. Instead of being trapped in its subject's head, it offered as interesting view of average people trying to reconcile their lives in midst of apparent end times. And, it shaded in the culture of Final Fantasy's world with a bit of social and ideological stratification. As pleasantly surprised as I was by the short, I could have hoped for something more colorful and energized. In the past, I've defended talky, quite, anime. I think that there is a role for it. However, I don't think the story of a child learning about mortality and responsibility would top many wish lists for Final Fantasy anime. Advent Children is an effective magnifying glass for Final Fantasy passion. If there's none to begin with, the movie isn't going to find anything to enlarge. If you have some fondness, the movie can work with that. If you're a die-hard, you might be frothing by the time it's over. As such, if you're a Final Fantasy enthusiast, if you were part of the fan generation in which Final Fantasy marked a crest for Japanese pop culture washing over North America, then you will not be disappointed by Advent Children Complete. Its additional footage offers more of the iconic moments that you're probably looking for, while Blu-ray offers a nice HD upgrade.
Manga Spotlight: Detroit Metal City by Kiminori Wakasugi Released by VIZ Media
Oh internet denizens, I've seen how you banter. After reading AICN Talkback for years, I think I can say with authority that Detroit Metal City speaks your language. This is the manga that declares its terrorist intent to affront good sense and good taste. Here's manga in which an Ozzy doppelganger grabs the skinny hero from behind while not-Ozzy's translator informs the panicking lead "he says relax a little. It'll hurt less and may even feel pleasurable." It might not be a highbrow pleasure, but I'll admit that I'm a mark for DMC's jokes about sputtering offensive obscenities and simulated sexual assault. I've read through Detroit Metal City a number of times now and I'm still laughing out loud at the vulgarity punctuated comedy. Soichi Negishi was a nice, Amelie-loving country boy who moved to Tokyo with dreams of playing Swedish style pop music about bakeries and pure love. Instead, he finds himself performing under the name Johannes Krauser II as lead guitar and vocals for "evil core death metal" band Detroit Metal City. Along with Alexander Jagi on bass and vocal (Masayuki Wada, a bit of a suck up, who tries a bit too hard) and Camus on drums (Terumichi Nishida, a stubby overweight geek with a habit of muttering obscene propositions in a low voice), the shock make-up adorned trio garner a rabid following with songs like Satsugai ("Kill 'em All!"), featuring lyrics such as "I am a terrorist from Hell! Yesterday I raped your mom, tomorrow I fuck your Dad!" Detroit Metal City relishes the opportunity to feature Negishi and his fans reacting to each other in a preposterously over-amplified feedback loop. Negishi will be in the park playing a song about making cheese tarts when his pop music is drowned out by a group of fans playing their DMC tribute song "Rape Her!" "Rape Rape Rape! Rape that Fucking girl!" Negishi will think to himself "it's so very wrong to rape," but it takes being called a poser by the DMC crowd before he's really incensed. He leaves, returns as Krauser and out "rape" yells the wannabes. Police arrive. Negishi trips and hits one with his guitar... this is cheered as attempted "poli-cide" by the DMC fans, then stumbles on top of a female officer... cheered as "public rape" by the crowd. The alter-ego premise of DMC has been compared to the concept of a super hero comic. As Negishi, the hero is well liked by people in his clique who share his taste in "trendy" living, but he's also a dweeb, with a terrible haircut that makes his head look like a penis, and much to his chagrin, he's the kind of guy who can never seal the deal with women. When he dons the black body suit, the blonde wig, skeletal armor padding and black and white make-up of Krauser, he's unstoppable. Throngs of groupies throw themselves at him. He's capable of maniac feats, such as uttering the word "rape" ten times in a second or playing the guitar with his teeth. And, he's prone to stomp over anyone in his path, regardless of whether that person really roused Negishi's ire. You can get into the Bruce Wayne/Batman - Clark Kent Superman debate as to which persona is more psychologically true to the individual, but I catch more of a Metal Incredible Hulk vibe from Negishi/Krauser. Krauser is the KISS-face Mr Hyde that turns up when Negishi reacts; when he's challenged, taken off guard or inebriated. While Krauser might be the antithesis of what Negishi thinks he wants to be, the metal demon is also the force that realizes the dweeb's desires, often to Negishi's later, guilty recognition. Detroit Metal City spices up the formula with unique characters, such as DMC's manager: an older woman (this is manga, so, what, 35?) in leather jacket, leather skirt and DMC shirt who chain smokes, roundhouse kicks Negishi and demands that the music be so hardcore that it makes her "cream her thong." However, beyond that, Detroit Metal City tightly hugs onto sitcom mechanics. Negishi guards his dual identity despite being prompted to assume the guise of Krauser II. If he's with his college crush Yuri Aikawa, her disorienting distaste for all things Detroit Metal City will result in her, Negishi or both ending the given venture in humiliation. Otherwise, if one of the chapter stories does not involved Aikawa, Negishi is bound to achieve a state of self-loathing triumph following a Krauser rampage . It's a minor miracle that Detroit Metal City is as hilarious as it is. Because it is reiterating variations on an obvious joke over and over again, it could have been wearisome. Additionally, Detroit Metal City teeters on bleakness. With all the "rape," "sow," and such, DMC could easily be accused of being misogynous, but it equally opens itself up for charges of misanthropy. No subculture comes off looking especially well here. Metal fans look like over-excitable, knee-jerk prone mobs. Otaku are pervs. Cool are followers. Negishi's Swedish pop music aspirations don't constitute some pure counter-point... he's dreaming of being featured in a soda commercial as a signifier of success in the field. In several amusing scenes, the manga illustrates that Negishi's pop and his metal are fundamentally the same. One can be written as the other, such that when they're laid on top of each other, the progression and themes of one is simply a warped reflection of the other. And perhaps darkest of all is the manga's notion of wish fulfillment gone haywire. Negishi has the desired musical success that lead him to leave his beloved family farm in favor of Tokyo, yet he can't turn around without seeing it corrupt his life. Inevitably he finds himself twisting the nipples of confidants or assuming the Krauser identity to explain the relationship between acing school entrance exams and ruling hell. What really sells the joke is Detroit Metal City's good natured irreverence. As if to affirm the proceedings, a chapter will end on an illustration of an unexpected DMC devotee, partying near naked with something subtly peaking out of his underwear or Krauser vowing "I'll penetrate the fuck out of that mother fucker with my shitake!!" While people are embarrassed through the course of the stories, the agitated characters are often making much ado about nothing. Though the jokes function by jolting the reader, DMC is comfortable with the sick condition that it is depicting. It affords the reader the opportunity to laugh a frothing turmoil of personalities, and there's an almost Zen pleasure at sitting back and delighting in the harmless disorder.
Upcoming in North America
Abrams ComicArts Astro Boy World notes that Abrams ComicArts will be releasing The Art of Osamu Tezuka: God of Manga by Helen McCarthy in October. Osamu Tezuka has often been called “the god of manga” and “the Walt Disney of Japan,” but he was far more than that. Tezuka was Walt Disney, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Tim Burton, and Carl Sagan all rolled into one incredibly prolific creator, changing the face of Japanese culture forever. Best known for Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion, Tezuka was instrumental in developing Japanese animation and modern manga comics. The Art of Osamu Tezuka is the first authorized biography celebrating his work and life and featuring over 300 images—many of which have never been seen outside of Japan. With text by respected manga expert Helen McCarthy, The Art of Osamu Tezuka: God of Manga pays tribute to the work of an artist, writer, animator, doctor, entrepreneur, and traveler whose curious mind spawned dozens of animated films, and over 170,000 pages of comics art in one astonishingly creative lifetime. The Art of Osamu Tezuka: God of Manga also includes an exclusive 45-minute DVD documentary covering Tezuka’s prolific career, from his early manga characters to his later animation work. About the Author Helen McCarthy is the author of eight books about Japanese animation and comics, including the first book in the English language devoted to anime: Anime! A Beginners Guide To Japanese Animation (1993). She is also the curator of the Osamu Tezuka Film Festival at London’s Barbican Centre. To say that something like this should be on the shelf of every serious fan of anime and manga would be a huge understatement. Let's hope that the final product will be as good as it aught to be. Considering the people involved, I see no reason why it shouldn't be. The additional DVD is an incredible bonus, especially since there really isn't much of anything else out there in terms of English-language video about Tezuka to fill that gap. Digital Manga Publishing Digital Manga Publishing is launching a Juné's Pre-Order/Demand for Publication Web-A-Thon program Through this program, we are offering a limited selection of Demand for Publication titles in which you can choose and pre-order a title, (originally set far into Juné's future normal release schedule, or was held back in publication), for early limited print publication (even several months earlier if fan demand is high). Each title offered will have its own minimum dollar amount goal to reach for its print publication. Once that dollar amount goal is reached, the book will be printed and copies will be sent off to those who have participated in this program immediately. This could mean acquiring a title several months in advance before its scheduled street date. All sales will be through PayPal, using a credit card or your PayPal account, meaning your purchase is secure and verified. Shipping is available domestically and internationally, so this program is for all yaoi fans all over the world! You can monitor the progress of a title's Demand for Publication through the status bar posted on the website. As more Pre-Orders are placed for a title, the status bar will increase, coming one step closer to its dollar amount goal for print publication. If the dollar amount goal is not reached by the particular deadline date we set, the book will continue back on its normal path of its original scheduled Juné release date. Pre-Orders placed will still get their books early before the street date, but only a couple weeks earlier before it actually hits store shelves. The first book to be offered is the novel "All You Need Is Love, Vol. 1"! ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE VOL. 1 (novel), written by Jinko Fuyuno, illustrated by: Noboru Takatsuki, rated M+ (18+), 4.3"x6.8", MSRP: $8.95, Regular Scheduled Release: January 27, 2010, Deadline for Pre-Order/Demand For Publication: September 30, 2009, Pre-Order/Demand For Publication Advance Release Date: October 30, 2009 Del Rey Del Rey Manga announced that they will continuing the release of Samurai Deeper Kyo (previously released by Tokyopop) and launching Wild @ Heart. SAMURAI DEEPER KYO, the supernatural action series by Akimine Kamijyo, will continue to be published in the US by Del Rey Manga, beginning with a special omnibus edition that collects Volumes 35 and 36 of the Japanese editions into a single package. The story, set in feudal Japan, follows two legendary warriors and rivals, Demon Eyes Kyo and Kyoshiro. One day they meet in battle during a lightning storm, and both fighters mysteriously disappear. Kyoshiro re-emerges several months later, harboring a secret: the soul of Demon Eyes Kyo is locked inside him—and he’s determined to reclaim his body. Volume 35/36 of SAMURAI DEEPER KYO will be published in December 2009. From the creative mind of Kitchen Princess manga-ka Natsumi Ando comes a new series promising a winning combination of drama, comedy and romance. WILD @ HEART takes the popular Western idea of Tarzan and gives it a fun shôjo manga spin. Chino is like any typical teen looking for love—but instead she finds herself stuck with Hyou, a child her father brings home from the jungle. Now she has to take care of Hyou, the wild child, and help him adapt to life outside of the jungle and in the city. The award-winning and popular Ando is also the creator of the top-selling Zodiac P.I. WILD @ HEART will debut in January 2010. Disney The first two volumes of Power Rangers R.P.M. are due out July 7th and September 8th. The discs will retail for $19.99 each. Fanfare/Ponent Fanfare/Ponent will be releasing The Summit of the Gods vol. 1 (of 5) by Yumemakura Baku and Jiro Taniguchi on July 23rd. 85 years ago today, on JUNE 8, 1924 at 12.50pm, was the last time that George Herbert Leigh Mallory and his companion Andrew Irvine were seen alive. They were observed by the expedition geologist, Noel Odell, when the clouds parted briefly and allowed him a vision of the summit ridge and final peak of Mount Everest with the two tiny black specks moving towards the summit. Then the scene vanished and became enveloped in clouds once more. They never returned. There has been much speculation as to whether they ever reached the summit and were on their way down when disaster struck. Almost seventy years later in 1993, with Mallory's body still undiscovered on the mountain, a Japanese expedition photographer, Makoto Fukamachi, stumbles across a 1920's Kodak camera in a Kathmandu bazaar which sparks a whole series of questions with few answers. The Summit of the Gods is an epic story of man and his personal conquests against his own limitations. No mountain is too high, no peak too distant in his pursuit of this passion for achievement. But Taniguchi's realistic art and Baku's tireless script will take you to such heights that mountaineers only dream about!Winner "Best Art" Award at Angouleme Festival, France (2005) Winner "Excellence Prize Manga Division" at Japanese Ministry of Culture's Media Arts Festival (2001) George Mallory's body is discovered on Everest's North Face minus his Kodak (1999) Original novel, Kamigami no Itadaki, winner of the prestigious 11th Shibata Renzaburo Award (1998) FUNimation Robert Anime Corner Store reports FUNimations releases of Kyo KaraMaoh!, Season 2, Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set and Paradise Kiss Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set (Viridian Collection) have been moved from July 7th to July 21st. FUNimation will be releasing Devil May Cry on Blu-ray August 25th for $59.98 Marvel Comics The long teased Junko Mizuno Spider-man comic has been revealed to be part of a Marvel Comics collection of works from indie creators called "Strange Tales Max." The first 48 page issue is due to be released in September. Paul Pope, Peter Bagge, Molly Crabapple &John Leavitt, Junko Mizuno, Dash Shaw, James Kochalka, Johnny Ryan, Michael Kupperman, Nick Bertozzi, Nicholas Gurewich, Jason and more unite for the all-new Strange Tales MAX! Just what does Peter Bagge have planned in “The Incorrigible Hulk”, a story so incredible that we had to serialize it over all three issues? Will Spider-Man make it out alive of Jason’s thrilling story? This first issue comes wrapped in a marvel-ous cover by Paul Pope and Jose Villarubia! “Flat out, this is the apex of human artistic achievement. This is it. The end. The crowning result of tens of millions of years of evolution, right here, in three packed-to-the-gills issues,” said Editor John Barber. “The philosophy of the book was to have these creators from ‘indy’ or ‘alternative’ or “literary” or ‘art’ comics come in and do what they do best. I think Marvel readers will really dig seeing radically different versions of their favorite characters, and the fans of these cartoonists will get to see the creators work in a milieu they never thought they’d get to see. It’s win-win. It’s really the best of both worlds.” Editor Jody LeHeup added, “This book is a metric ton of solid gold awesome. The talent we’ve got lined up are without hyperbole some of the greatest creative minds working in comics today. I mean, who wouldn’t want to read a Spider-Man story by Jason? Or an Iron man story by Tony Millionaire? Or anything by any of the contributors we’ve got attached to the project? I’ve been reading independent comics my whole life and I’ve always wanted to see what those creators could do with Marvel characters if they were given free reign to tell their stories. Well, now that visions becoming a reality and I can’t tell you what an incredibly special thing it is to see the final result. If you’re a fan of comics of any school, do yourself a favor and pick this up.” STRANGE TALES MAX #1 (of 3) Written and Drawn by: PAul Pope, Peter Bagge, Molly Crabapple &John Leavitt, Junko Mizuno, Dash Shaw, James Kochalka, Johnny Ryan, Michael Kupperman, Nick Bertozzi, Nicholas Gurewich, And Jason Cover by PAUL POPE Explicit Content …$3.99 Media Blasters Anime on DVD forum goers noted some interesting September Media Blasters releases listed on Amazon Blade Of The Immortal, Vol.1 - 125 Minutes - $29.99 - 9/29/09 Voltron: Defender Of The Universe - Lion Force (Reprice ?) - 325 Minutes - $24.99 - 9/15/09 Huntik: Secrets & Seekers - Journal 1: Golem Of Prague - 184 Minutes - $16.99 - 9/22/09 Media Blasters had not previously indicated that they would released in the Blade of the Immortal anime in North America Sony Sony will be re-releasing the 2003 Astro Boy across five individual discs, priced at $14.94 each, on August 18th. Audio options include English, Spanish and Portuguese. The series was previously released in a 5 disc set. The Robert's Anime Corner Store blog took a look at Sony's finances and what it says about the chances of getting the long awaited release of the second half of Blood+ Tokyopop MangaBlog heard from TOKYOPOP that vol. 5 of Aria will be out in November, and vol. 8 of Tactics is scheduled for a January 2010 release.
New and Upcoming in Japan
Gigazine collects a list of Summer 2009 anime (both TV and movies) Previews A promo for Yamato: Revival Chapter Katanagatari - the OVA adaptation of NisiOisin's light novel series Spice and Wolf II 20-Seiki Shonen Saishu-Sho: Bokura no Hata (Twentieth Century Boys the Final Chapter: Our Flag) Kaiji, the live action adaptation of the gambling manga Anime Via Anime News Network Currently running basketball mecha anime Basquash's chief animator Katsuzo Hirata blogged that main director, Shin Itagaki (Black Cat, Devil May Cry), is no longer working on the project. The anime was established as a collaberation between Shoji Kawamori (Macross, Escaflowne, Aquarion) and French animation creator Thomas Romain (Oban Star-Racers, Aria the Natural) Anime Vice looks at the drama* A theatrical adaptation of Yuji Iwahara's sci-fi manga King of Thorn is planned to hit theatres in 2010. Kazuyoshi Katayama (Appleseed video, The Big O, Doomed Megalopolis) will direct off a script co-written by himself and Hiroshi Yamaguchi (Bastard!!, Blue Submarine No. 6, Yukikaze). Hidenori Matsubara (Ah! My Goddess!, Sakura Wars, Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo) will design the characters, while Kenji Andou (Brigadoon, Karas, Origin ~Spirits of the Past~) will design the monsters.* Madhouse and Monster director Masayuki Kojima will be producing an anime adaptation of Chinese novel Tibetan Dog (Tibet Inu Monogatari).* The Terminator will be making a cameo in a special for the long running adventure of the time traveling robot cat Doraemon - Doraemon 1-Jikan 'O-26(furo) Special' ~Nobita o Aishita Bishojo~"(Doraemon One-Hour O-26 (Bath) Special: The Beautiful Girl Who Loved Nobita), scheduled for June 26th. A humanoid T-800 robot named "Terrinanor" appears in the story's climax as the ultimate weapon. A Jack Sparrow double named "Captain Johnny" previously appeared in Doraemon* Hiroshi Yamaguchi (Bastard!!, Blue Submarine No. 6, Yukikaze) will be scripting the Junichi Sato (Gate Keepers, Pretear, Princess Tutu) directed, fifth Sgt. Frog movie, scheduled to hit Japanese theatres in 2010* Voice actor Rikiya Koyama revealed that a sequel to boxing anime soon-to-end Hajime no Ippo: New Challenger is being planned. Manga Via ANN Chiaki J. Konaka (scripts on Serial Experiments Lain, Texhnolyze, and Hellsing) is joining Yoshitoshi ABe and director Ryutaro Nakamura on Despera. A graphic novel version will begin a one-year serialized run in the issue of Animage that goes on saleon July 10. According to Moon Phase Comments, the title is derived from a poem from the Dadaist poet Jun Tsuji (1884-1944). The story centers around Ain, a 14-year-old girl who builds devices despite the lack of the scientific background required for them. The science-fiction story is set in Japan's Taisho era in 1922 — one year before the 1923 Great Kanto earthquake in the Tokyo area.* Doujin Work manga's Hiroyuki will oversee oversee new manga anthology comic Gear, scheduled to launch on August 11th. The magazine plans to nurture new talent by having its creators work in the same studio.* Tomoko Ninomiya will be launching Nodame Cantabile spin-off Noda-Can BS (Nodame Cantabile Backstage" ) in the September issue of Kodansha's bimonthly Kiss Plus magazine on August 8. The four page comics will look into the lives of support characters in the orchestral manga Live Action A look at Aoi Miyazaki from Takahiro Miki's live-action adaptation of Inio Asano's manga "Solanin" can be seen here* Katsutoshi Kawai's manga series "Tomehane! Suzuri Koukou Shodoubu," about a girl who return to Japan from Canada and jokes a school calligraphy club is being adapted into a TV drama Via ANN Actress Suzanne will lead a film adaptation of a live-action film adaptation of Yukiya Sakuragi's Inubaka: Crazy for Dogs comedy manga this fall. The manga is currently being released in North America by Viz. Manga A schedule of when to expect more CLAMP Music Yoko Kanno's ‘Space Bio Charge’ recently hit Japanese store shelves. The three disc set features songs from her anime work, including Macross Plus, Wolf's Rain, Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Turn A Gundam. Stage A Naruto stage show will be performed at Universal Studios Japan July 18-31.
The Business
Matt Alt has summarized a recent working paper written by Robert Dujarric and Andrei Hagiu for the Harvard Business School that lays out the problems facing the anime industry in stark, depressing detail. Fans tend to romanticize the anime world as one of unbridled creative freedom. The reality is a vicious cycle in which production committees not only dictate the content (as they will only fund the series they feel are solid investments) but keep the majority of the profits (as animation studios have traditionally only been paid a fixed sum, without royalties, for their work.) The vast majority of the men and women who actually create the stuff toil in poverty and obscurity, because they are at the absolute bottom of the food chain. Roland Kelts also addresses the various worrying reports* Tokyopop Chief Operating Officer John Parker spoke to ICV2 about the state of the company an its plans going forward, including conservatively focusing on fewer releases. "We think with our lower output of say 12-15 volumes a month, and with better quality of titles, with stronger stories, better characters, and so on that we’re better positioned to see increases in sales." Lately, Tokyopop has been critisized for using lower paper quality while raising prices.* As part of the chapter 7 liquidation of a listing of Central Park Media's assets included limited copyrights to anime: * A-Ko the Versus * Adventure Kid * Agent Aika * Akai Hayate * Angel Sanctuary * Animated Classics of Japanese Literature * Area 88 * Ariel * Ariel Deluxe * Armored Trooper Votoms * Art of Fighting * Ayane's High Kick * Battle Arena Toshinden * Battle Skipper * Big Wars * Birdy the Mighty * Black Jack * La Blue Girl * La Blue Girl Returns * Blue Sonnet * Botchan * Crystal Triangle * Cyber City Oedo 808 * Cybernetics Guardian * Dancougar - Super Beast Machine God * Dark Angel * Darkside Blues * Demon Beast Invasion * Demon City Shinjuku * Demon Warrior Koji * Descendants of Darkness * Detonator Orgun * DNA² * Dog Soldier: Shadows of the Past * Dominion Tank Police * Dream Hazard * Explorer Woman Ray * Fencer of Minerva * Fobia * Four Play * Gall Force - Eternal Story * Gall Force 2 - Destruction * Gall Force 3 - Stardust War * Gall Force: Earth Chapter * Gall Force: New Era * Garaga * Garzey's Wing * Genocyber * Geobreeders * Grappler Baki * Grave of the Fireflies * Hades Project Zeorymer * Harlock Saga * Harmagedon * Here is Greenwood * The Heroic Legend of Arslan * The Humanoid * Hyper Speed GranDoll * Iczer 3 * Iria - Zeiram the Animation * Judge * Knights of Ramune * Lady Blue * Legend of Himiko * Legend of Lemnear * Love Lessons * Lunatic Night * Machine Robo: Revenge of Chronos * Mama Mia! * Mask of Zeguy * Masquerade * Maze * M.D. Geist * MD Geist II - Death Force * Metal Fighter Miku * Midnight Panther * My My Mai * Mystery of the Necronomicon * Night on the Galactic Railroad * Night Shift Nurses * Nightmare Campus * Nightwalker * Now and Then, Here and There * Odin - Starlight Mutiny * Ogenki Clinic * Patlabor The Mobile Police * Patlabor The Mobile Police: The New Files * Peacock King * Photon: The Idiot Adventures * Ping Pong Club Anime * Private Psycho Lesson News * Professor Pain Network * Project A-Ko * Project A-Ko 2: Plot of the Daitokuji Financial Group * Project A-ko 3: Cinderella Rhapsody * Project A-Ko 4: Final * Pure Love * Record of Lodoss War * Record of Lodoss War: Chronicles of the Heroic Knight * Revolutionary Girl Utena * RG Veda * Rhea Gall Force * Roots Search * Roujin Z * Rumik World: Fire Tripper * Rumik World: Maris the Chojo * Rumik World: Mermaid Forest * Rumik World: The Laughing Target * Shamanic Princess * Silent Service * Sins of the Sisters * The Slayers * Sohryuden - Legend of the Dragon Kings * The Sound of Waves * Spaceship Agga Ruter * Sprite: Between Two Worlds * Stepmother's Sin * Strange Love * Takegami - Guardian of Darkness * They Were 11 * Tokyo Babylon * TriAngle * Twin Angels * Ultimate Teacher * Urotsukidoji * Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend * Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer * Venus 5 * The Venus Wars * Virgin Fleet * Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer * Wanna-Be's * A Wind Named Amnesia * Yotoden * Yu Yu Hakusho The Movie: Poltergeist Report * Zenki Darkside Blues, Grave of the Fireflies, M.D. Geist., and Now and Then, Here and There have already been acquired by ADV Films.* ICV2 reitterates the figure that manga sales declinies 17% to 2005 levels during 2008. The site also listed the top 25 manga properties for Q1 2009 1 - Naruto - Viz Media 2 - Fruits Basket - Tokyopop 3 - Vampire Knight - Viz Media 4 - Bleach - Viz Media 5 - Death Note - Viz Media 6 - Rosario & Vampire - Viz Media 7 - Chibi Vampire - Tokyopop 8 - Maxiumum Ride - Yen Press 9 - Tsubasa - Del Rey 10 - Bakugan - Del Rey 11 - Negima! - Del Rey 12 - Yu-Gi-Oh! - Viz Media 13 - Otomen - Viz Media 14 - Shugo Chara - Del Rey 15 - D. Grayman - Viz Media 16 - Skip Beat - Viz Media 17 - One Piece - Viz Media 18 - Gentlemen's Agreement - Viz Media 19 - The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - Yen Press 20 - Captive Hearts - Viz Media 21 - In Odd We Trust - Del Rey 22 - Nora: Last Chronicle of Devildom - Viz Media 23 - Black Cat - Viz Media 24 - Phoenix Wright - Del Rey 25 - Higurashi: When They Cry - Yen Press Top 10 Shonen Properties 1 - Naruto - Viz Media 2 - Bleach - Viz Media 3 - Death Note - Viz Media 4 - Rosario & Vampire - Viz Media 5 - Chibi Vampire - Tokyopop 6 - Tsubasa - Del Rey 7 - Negima - Del Rey 8 - D. Grayman - Viz Media 9 - One Piece - Viz Media 10 - The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - Yen Press Top 10 Shojo Properties 1 - Fruits Basket - Tokyopop 2 - Vampire Knight - Viz Media 3 - Otomen - Viz Media 4 - Shugo Chara - Del Rey 5 - Skip Beat - Viz Media 6 - Gentlemen's Alliance - Viz Media 7 - Captive Hearts - Viz Media 8 - Ouran High School - Viz Media 9 - Heaven's Will - Viz Media 10 - Trinity Blood - Tokyopop* Comics212 on DMP's move to sell directly to retailers* David Welsh Interviews Gail Kump Of Fanfare/Ponent Mon's New Distributor Midpoint "We believe that Fanfare/Ponent Mon titles should take their place on the shelves with other graphic novels," Kump said. "With names like [Jiro] Taniguchi, [Frederic] Boilet, [Emile] Bravo and [Hideo] Azuma, comic and graphic novel fans alike are well aware of Ponent Mon's existence. Our job now is to inform those who are new to the scene or (excited by the theatrical release of [the] Watchmen [motion picture]) are eager to learn about the genre, that these amazing works are out there and are ready to be purchased and enjoyed."* Japanese government plans to build a 11.7-billion-yen (about US$120 million) for center for anime, manga, and other art for has been called "unnecessary" by a task force who sited lack of an ongoing purpose for the building. Yukio Hatoyama of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) derided the building as a "national manga kissaten (café)."* China’s manga drive ‘is all fake’ - a look at the complexities of China's initiative kick start a creative industry (the article conflates comics and animation) “I think the money goes to businessmen that say that they are going to invest in animation, but they do not,” says Benjamin, sitting across a table looking at his hands.
Event News
This is the final weekend for NYICFF's Miyazaki Screenings at New York's at Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway at 95th Street Kiki's Delivery Service -11Am Castle In The Sky - 2Pm Bonus: Ponyo "First Look" Excerpts* Eleven Arts Inc. and FUNimation Entertainment will be bringing EVANGELION: 1.0 YOU ARE (NOT) ALONE to theatres this summer - LA, Seattle, Houston, Phoenix, and San Diego in July, Boston in August and across the US and Canada in September. A complete list can be seen here.* A list of theatres that will run the live action Blood: the Last Vampire* ICV2 notes that the live action Blood the Last Vampire will be screened at Wizard World Philadelphia on Friday, June 19th at 7pm in Room 201A.* Via Eva Geeks, the English dub of Evangelion 1.0 will be screening at Seattle’s Grand Illusion Cinema from July 3rd to the 9th.* Yuricon & ALC Publishing will be at AnimeNEXT, at June 12-14 at the Garden State Exhibit Center and the DoubleTree Somerset Hotel in Somerset, New Jersey with a table in Con Row (ask at the Information Desk where that is) and a Yuri Panel at 6PM on Saturday, June 13. FUNimation details there presence at the event here* Anime Expo, July 2-5, 2009 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, announced that Afro Samurai creator Takashi Okazaki will be a guest a the event. It also also added AX After Drark Programming that will include Tabletop Game Room-Pasadena Foyer; start time: midnight Dance-Catalina Ballroom; start time: 6:00 pm Karaoke-Hollywood Ballroom; start time: midnight Anime Video Room-San Jose Room; start time: 9:00 pm* Otakon, July 17-19 at the Baltimore Convention Center, has added director and animator Yutaka Yamamoto (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Lucky Star, Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens) and voice actor Crispin Freeman (Alucard in Hellsing and Hellsing Ultimate, Itachi in Naruto, Rude in Final Fantasy: Advent Children, Prince Turnip in Howl's Moving Castle, Tsume in Wolf's Rain, Kyon in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Alan Gabriel in The Big O, Duskmon/Koichi in Digimon, Holland in Eureka 7, Haji and Van Argeno in Blood+, Amon in Witch Hunter Robin, Alex Rowe in Last Exile, and Togusa in Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Innocence and Solid State Society) to their list of guests* The Mamoru Oshii written "Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai" has reportedly been invited to both the 62nd Locarno International Film Festival ( Switzerland, August 5-15) and the 13th Puchon International Fantastic Film Festiva ( Korea, July 16-26).* Film Independent’s 2009 Los Angeles Film Festival (June 18-28) announced that animation, comics, graphic novels, and anime will take center stage at this year's event, highlighted by the US debut of the award winning animated feature Ponyo, written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Attendees will also have the opportunity to view a diverse selection of animated shorts and music videos from around the world. Titles include The Cable Car, Western Spaghetti, and the critically acclaimed Skhizein, directed by Jérémy Clapin and recent recipient of the Audience Prize and a Jury Special Mention at this year’s Stuttgart Trickfilm Festival. FEATURE Ponyo (DIRECTOR/WRITER Hayao Miyazaki DIRECTORS - ENGLISH VOICE TALENT John Lasseter, Brad Lewis, Peter Sohn WRITER - ENGLISH VERSION Melissa Mathison PRODUCER Toshio Suzuki PRODUCERS - ENGLISH VERSION Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Steve Alpert CAST Cate Blanchett, Noah Cyrus, Matt Damon, Tina Fey, Frankie Jonas, Cloris Leachman, Liam Neeson, Lily Tomlin, Betty White) - From Academy Award-winning director and world-renowned Japanese animation legend Hayao Miyazaki comes Ponyo, a story inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale “The Little Mermaid.” Featuring the voices of Cate Blanchett, Noah Cyrus, Matt Damon, Tina Fey, Liam Neeson and Frankie Jonas, this is the story of Ponyo, a young over eager goldfish on a quest to become human who is befriended by a young boy named Sosuke. SHORT FILMS Billís Vistors. Directed by Simon Deshon. England The Cable Car. Directed by Claudius Gentinetta, Frank Braun.. Switzerland Codswallop. Directed by The Brothers McLeod. England I Live in the Woods. Directed by Max Winston. USA Photograph of Jesus. Directed by Laurie Hill. England Rains (Líondée). Directed by David Coquard-Dassault. Canada The Royal Nightmare. Directed by Alex Budosky. USA Skhizein. Directed by Jérémy Clapin. France Stand Up. Directed by Joseph Pierce. England Western Spaghetti. Directed by PES. USA MUSIC VIDEOS 21st Century Life: Sam Sparro. Directed by Mariah Garnett Her Morning Elegance: Oren Lavie. Directed by Oren Lavie, Yuval & Merav Nathan Fortress: Pinback. Directed by Elliot Jokelson Grapevine Fires: Death Cab for Cutie. Directed by Walter Robot Mykonos: Fleet Foxes. Directed by Sean Pecknold Ruler of Everything: Tally Hall. Directed by Sean Donnelly Who's Gonna Save my Soul: Gnarls Barkley. Directed by Chris Milk PANEL DISCUSSIONS Graphic Explosion – Adaptations of comic books and graphic novels have proliferated in recent years, and it’s no all superheroes: Sin City, 300, Wanted, and Persepolis all came from graphic novels. A group of filmmakers, artists, writers, and fans explore Hollywood’s fascination with the medium and the creative challenges of translating them to the screen. Panelists include Zak Penn (Screenwriter, Incredible Hulk, X-Men: The Last Stand) and Barry Levine (Publisher, Radical Comics).* LA's Cinefamily will be hosting Jerry Beck Presents: Frank Tashlin Toons Tuesday, July 7th at 8:00pm Frank Tashlin spent the first part of his screen career as an animator, storyman and cartoon director at various Hollywood animation studios in the 1930s and 40s. It was during this period he honed his sense of comedy timing and crafted his most outrageous visual gags. He began his career in New York gaining his first screen credits on the original black and white Tom & Jerry cartoons (not the cat-and-mouse, but loose limbed humanoids). He went west to Warner Bros. and helped Tex Avery revolutionize the pace and humor of the earliest Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. Tashlin's talents next brought him at Disney where he contributed sight gags to various Donald Duck cartoons. He was soon hired away to run the Columbia cartoon studio and for them created the Fox & Crow – a long forgotten cartoon duo who were quite popular during the 1940s (their DC Comic books, which were published through 1968, are worth a fortune). Warner Bros. called Tashlin back in the mid forties and he made his funniest cartoons at this time with the likes of Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig and Daffy Duck. Check out the roots of Tashlins genius with this rare screening of Tashlin's best animation, with rare film prints, curated by animation historian Jerry Beck.* A new Asian American Comic Con is scheduled for July 11 at the Museum of Chinese in America in New York City.* MechaCon returns to the Hilton Lafayette on the weekend of July 24-26, 2009 with MechaCon V. Guests include Transformers voice actions Garry Chalk and David Kay, anime localization voice actors Chris and Greg Ayres of Nerima Daikon Brothers, Samantha Inoue-Harte of Sakura Wars, Vic Mignogna and Wendy Powell of Fullmetal Alchemist and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn of Naruto and Ghost in the Shell as honored guests, and Harmony Gold's Kevin McKeever as part of the Robotech Convention Tour 2009.* Robotech Anime Expo Panels include ROBOTECH PANEL - Harmony Gold's Robotech panel will take place on July 4th at 2:00 p.m. in LP-3. GIANT ROBOT RUMBLE - Steve Yun's world famous Giant Robot Rumble will take place on Friday, July 3rd at 9:00 p.m. in LP-2 Robotech San Diego Comic con panels include The SDCC Robotech Panel Thursday, JULY 23 6:45-7:45 ROOM 6A* Keio Academy of New York's summer Digital Media Creation two-week residental program will feature guest speakers Michael Arias A visual creator acting beyond boundaries such as genres and nationalities. His credits include “ANIMATRIX” (2003 / producer), “Tekkonkinkreet” (2006 / director), his first animation future based on Taiyo Matsumoto’s famed comic, and “Heaven’s Door” (2009 / director), his first non-animated narrative feature film. Roland Kelts Author of "Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U.S.", published in the U.S., Europe, and Japan. He is a lecturer at the University of Tokyo, Sophia University and The University of the Sacret Heart Tokyo, an editor and writer for the New York-based literary journal "A Public Space" and "Adbusters" magazine, and a columnist for "The Daily Yomiuri." His novel, "Access," will be published next year. Shoji Kawamori An animation director and mechanical designer. His work as mechanical designer includes "Valkyries" in TV animation "ULTRA SPACE-TIME FORTRESS, MACROSS", AIBO (ERS-220) of SONY and design supervising for Trans Former series. His directing work includes "ULTRA SPACE-TIME FORTRESS MACROSS-Do you remember the love?", "Spring and Chaos (Spring of Kenji)", "Macross ZERO", "AQUARION", “Macross F (Frontier)”, “Basquash” , etc... Yuji Nunokawa CEO of Pierrot Co., Ltd, which has produced TV animation series, "NARUTO", "BLEACH" and more. He has worked on “Casshern”, “Yatterman” and others as an animation director.* Hawaii's Kawaii Kon will be run April 16 -18, 2010 at the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu* Coverage of the MoCCA Art Festival can be seen at Publishers Weekly and The Beat
Digital Distribution
ANN spoke to Funimation CEO Gen Fukunaga about the problem with leaked streaming being illegally distributed* Z-Cult FM, a bittorrent tracker used for unauthorized distribution of comics has announced that it's shut down. “Well, a decision was just made to call it a day. We had no legal threats since all those ones you covered but the site was dead in the water due to no Marvel or DC comics etc. After Marvel and DC tried to sue us, we decided to remove those [links to] comics, then every other publisher started sending us e-mails so we removed those too. In end we were left with a tracker but not many torrents on it.”* VIZ Media is launching as a VIZ Media channel in the new Anime category on the PlayStation Networks video delivery service. Launch anime include, , that will be accessible on the Playstation3 and PlayStation portable include BLEACH, DEATH NOTE and NARUTO and is available on the PlayStation Network, The episodes are available for $1.99 each via the Network’s new VIZ Media Channel page. NARUTO UNCUT is launching with 13 episodes, BLEACH will debut with 20 installments and the DEATH NOTE series will be available immediately with all 37 episodes. Episodes will be English dubbed and presented in Standard Definition.* The Manga Recon Roundtable has considered digital comics* Akamai Technologies, Inc. announced that Crunchyroll has implemented its Akamai’s Media Delivery solution to improve the quality of its video delivery to users worldwide. Akamai will deliver Crunchyroll’s online video content including select titles offered in High Definition (HD) streaming. Akamai describes the solution as "an integrated service for securing, delivering and monetizing valuable audio and video content across PCs and portable devices. This Akamai solution is designed to enable content owners to protect their content while making it available for e-commerce with a wide variety of consumer payment models." With Akamai License Delivery, content owners encode media files, determine the proper distribution method, and assign rights to each file. Before consumers can play content, they’re transported to the content owner’s website for authentication, registration or payment. Akamai then verifies the request, generates a license and speeds it from the content owner’s Web server to the consumer – who can now decrypt and play the file with all rights in place.* Panyo Panyo Di Gi Charat has been added to Anime Network's streaming content.* Magellan Media Consulting Partners has issue a report on a correlation, not causality, effect of piracy on sales. We’ve been asked to explain what’s “new” in the most recent update to the data in our ongoing study of the impact of peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing on paid book sales. At BookExpo America, we presented an update that included sales data for 21 O’Reilly Media 2008 front-list titles that we found on one or more P2P sites. This is an increase of 13 titles over the 8 that had been found when we first presented at Tools of Change in February 2009. It is still less than a third of all O’Reilly titles first published in 2008. ... In trying to assess the impact of digital piracy on paid sales, we have been measuring paid sales four weeks before and four weeks after a title is first seeded. In our initial data set (eight titles), sales in the four weeks after a file was first seeded increased 6.5%; in the most recent report (all 21 titles), sales decreased 4.8% in the four weeks after seeding first occurred. The average lag time between first paid sale and first instance of seeding on a P2P site remained relatively constant at about 19 weeks.* New FUNimation download to own content includes Fullmetal Alchemist Episodes 1-26 (Sub & Dub) Samurai Champloo 1-4 (Dub) Dragonaut 9-10 (Sub)* Addition to Crunchyroll's streaming includes New content from the "Martial Arts Theater" Legend Of The Condor Heroes The Duke Of Mount Deer The Secret Of Tai Chi Secret Of The Chinese Kung Fu Thunder Kick New Titles from Kadokawa Pictures USA on the Number One Online Destination for Anime and Asian Entertainment New Kadokawa Pictures USA content includes Never Give Up Sleepless Town Inugami St. John's Wort* DMP is offering Rieko Yoshihara's Ai no Kusabi - The Space Between Vol. 1: Stranger Vampire Hunter D on Kindle* NTT DOCOMO, INC. announced that its wholly-owned European subsidiary DOCOMO Netherlands B.V. will launch Europe's first mobile-phone service for downloading Japanese manga in France. Customers of French mobile operator Bouygues Telecom S.A. will be able to use the service to download French translations of famous manga into their mobile phones and view them panel by panel using a dedicated reader Manga titles to be provided by Japanese publisher SHUEISHA Inc. will include international hits such as NARUTO, DRAGON BALL and DEATH NOTE. Content will be distributed via Bitway Co., Ltd., a Japanese firm operating content-distribution servers.* What iPhone enhancements might mean for comics* "Big Dreams Little Tokyo" is now available on Amazon VOD.* Scott McCloud: Understanding comics
Cool Figures News
Of note on CollectionDX A very nice montage of coming Revoltech - including Alien Xenomorph, Gamera, Daimajin, Gloomy Bear and Raoh + Kokuoh-go Mechanic Collection Mazinger Z from Bandai - Due July 2009 for 49.99 Ultra Gokin Jo Kaisaka from Go Nagai's King of the Sky Groizer X New Metaltech Grendizer images Yamato 1/60 Perfect Transformation Elintseeker GX-48 Soul of Chogokin BIG O Evangelion 00 Entry Plug* Good Smile Company's Nendoroid Puchi Death Note Toward the Terra's Soldier Blue & Jomy Marcus Shin figure Lucky Star X Macross Front
