AnimeNation Anime News Blog

Tomorrow Sony’s Metreon Action Theater located in San Francisco will host the American premier of Mobile Fighter G-Gundam and the unveiling of a one-of-a-kind 6-1/2-foot tall replica of the Gundam F-91 mecha head.

The Metreon is home to Bandai’s only American anime retail store. Beginning tomorrow at 10AM the day long Gundam celebration will kick off with Gundam modeling and building contests.

At noon, the Bandai Shop will unveil a new 6-1/2-foot tall Gundam statue. The Gundam head, created and constructed in Japan, is based on the character from Gundam F-91 and is the only one of its kind anywhere in the world.

From 5-7PM the Action Theater will host a free public screening of the first volume of the next Gundam series coming to America, Mobile Fighter G-Gundam.

If you live in the San Francisco area, be sure to make time to check out this exclusive event.

A new petition entitled “Appeal to Disney for Respectful Treatment of Asian Films” is online and quickly gaining significant support. The intelligent and persuasive document urges particularly the Disney owned Dimension and Miramax Films to discontinue their policy of editing, re-naming and otherwise altering Asian films for American release. The petition is mainly aimed at live action film, but is still very relevant to anime considering that Disney companies are the American licensors of films including Mononoke Hime and Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi. A previous similar fan petition to Disney over the inclusion of the Japanese language audio track on the Princess Mononoke DVD was successful, so all readers are encouraged to read and sign this petition.

Source: Ain’t It Cool News

Continuing its tradition of insightful, thoughtful analytical reviews of Japanese cult cinema, Midnight Eye has published a new review of Isao Takahata’s 1994 Studio Ghibli film Heisei Tanuki Gassen Ponpoko.

Source: Anime News Network

In a surprise announcement, a new Japanese print advertisement for the upcoming Sun Entertainment produced Neo-Geo arcade fighting game Rage of the Dragons (based on the Double Dragon franchise) mentions that King of Fighter 2002, Shin Gouketsuji Ichizoku” (New Power Instinct), and amazingly a new version of SNK vs Capcom will be coming to the Neo-Geo system.

Source: Madman’s Cafe

Question:
What’s the Deal with white panties. And what about Aika?

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Studio Ghibli has unveiled the first cel art image from the upcoming psuedo-sequel to Whisper of the Heart, Neko no Ongaeshi (Cat Who Returned a Favor). The new image reveals the cast of the film. Ghibli studio has also announced that popular Japanese television actress Ikewaki Chizuru will play the voice of the film’s main human star.

The 75 minute long Neko no Ongaeshi, directed by Morita Hiroyuki, will screen with the 25 minute long Studio Ghibli parody “The Ghiblis Part 2″ in Japanese theaters this summer.

Source: Anime News Service

Pioneer has opened the official American homepage devoted to the upcoming Arimtage: Dual Matrix movie. The site includes details on the various versions of the film’s American home video release and information about the film.

Source: Anime News Network

The official homepage of Sailormoon and Utena director Kunihiko Ikuhara is now online in English, Japanese and Italian language.

The official Japanese homepage for the upcoming Azumanga Daioh TV animation is now online.

The official Japanese homepage for Gonzo’s Studio’s upcoming anime TV series adaptation of Ultimate Girlfriend, titled “She, the Ultimate Weapon: The Last Love Song on this Little Planet” is now online.

The official Japanese homepage for the upcoming children’s anime series Hikarian (Denko Chou Tokkyu Hikarian: Lightning Attack Express) is now online also.

Source: Anime News Service

In recent months legal controversy surrounding licensing and the use of character likenesses has surrounded the Weiss Kreuz animation franchise in Japan. The second television series, Weiss Kreuz Gluhen, was scheduled to premier on Japanese television last month, but its timeslot has been home to a repeat broadcast of the Sakura Taisen TV series instead. Furthermore, Japanese distribution of the planned new TV series opening and ending theme song CD singles has been canceled in Japan.

Source: Anime News Service

After months of heavy publicity, the first weekend sales of Capcom’s Gamecube remake of Biohazard have tallied much lower than expected. In its first weekend of release the GameCube Biohazard sold only around 104,000 copies while the Dreamcast premier of Sakura Wars 4 sold 216,000 copies. In only a few weeks of availability, Capcom’s Onimusha 2 has sold over 850,000 copies in Japan.

Source: The Magic Box

The Gaming Intelligence has published an early, extensive and very positive review of Squaresoft’s Kingdom Hearts. GameSpot has also published a shorter but no less favorable early review of the game.

Question:
John, do you by any chance know about the anime Kyattou Ninden Teyande, otherwise known as Samurai Pizza Cats? This show was on the air a long time ago. It made its debut in Japan in 1990, and lasted only until 1991. A few years later, Saban aired it on television in America. It didn’t seem to be a very popular anime, but there were, and still are, a lot of devoted fans, such as myself. Has anyone thought of releasing this series on VHS or DVD, since it is no longer shown on TV?

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French gaming site The Sugoi! has published the first images and screenshots of the upcoming anime OAV “Nakoruru: Ano Hito Kara no Okurimono,” adapted from SNK’s Samurai Spirits fighting game franchise and the Nakuroru PC adventure game.

Scheduled for Japanese release on May 25th, the Nakoruru OAV is the third anime based on Samurai Spirits, following the feature length Samurai Spirits television movie and two-part Samurai Spirits 2 OAV series.

Source: Mad Man’s Cafe

Mad Man’s Cafe has published a personal review of the recently concluded Final Fantasy: Unlimited anime TV series for those that are interested in knowing more about the show.

Toon Zone has reprinted an official Cartoon Network press release announcing that “Hamtaro,” the American translation of Tottoko Hamutaro, will debut on the Cartoon Network in July. The anime children’s program “follows Hamtaro [the hamster] and his gang of hamster pals, known as the Ham-Ham Gang, as they join forces to solve problems and embark on countless adventures.”

Source: Anime News Network