AnimeNation Anime News Blog

The AnimeNation offices and retail store will be closed on Monday, January 3rd in commemoration of the new year holiday.

The official Japanese website for the Simoun anime series is now open.

The official Japanese website for the Himesama Goyoujin anime series is now open. The series is scheduled to premier on the WOWOW satellite television network in April.

The official Japanese websites for the Wan Wan Selepu Soreyuke! Tetsunoshin anime TV series is now open. The series will premier on TV Tokyo stations on January 7th. The website hosts a small Real Media trailer for episode 1.

Source: Moon Phase

Pop Japan Travel has announced that its upcoming winter tour will include an exclusive guided tour of the Gonzo Digimation studio where productions including Afro Samurai, Witchblade, and the Hellsing OVA series are currently being produced. In light of this announcement, the deadline for reservations has been extended to January 6th.

Harmony Gold now hosts a free downloadable version of the first English dubbed Gatchaman OVA from 1994. The video file in .m4v format encoded with H.264, which may require Quicktime 7.

The OVA series is available on bilingual American DVD from Urban Vision.

Source: Anime News Network

Viz has authorized Basic Fun! to produce Naruto Ipod covers and keychains, and authorized Great Eastern Entertainment to produce Naruto wall scrolls, patches, wrist cuffs, headband, caps, key chains, and buttons.

Source: ICv2 News

Infinity Studios has announced its acquisition of translation rights to Ju-Ri Kim & Jae-Sung Park Korean romantic comedy comic series Sweety. Volume 1 will be released in late April and retail at $9.95. Each volume of Sweety will include some color pages, a dust jacket, and bonus items such as collectable postcards.

Question:
What were the best and the worst anime shows for the year 2005? Another year came and went by. Based on your initial expectations and your judgement, which series do you think were major highlights and which were major disapointments?

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The cover of the February 2006 issue of Shinshokan’s Wings Magazine announces that Mikiyo Tsuda’s manga series Princess Princess will be adapted into an anime.

Source: Moon Phase

Marvelous Entertainment has formally announced that the first episode of a 7 episode long Prince of Tennis OVA series will be released on March 24, 2006.

Source: Moon Phase

Bandai has announced release dates for two new anime titles.

Fantastic Children volume 1 will retail at $19.98 or $29.98 with series box beginning April 11, 2006.
Eureka Seven volume 1 will retail at $24.98 or $59.98 with series box beginning April 25, 2006.

Possibly due to the closure of DVD replicator Future Media, Bandai has announced that the re-releases of the Outlaw Star and Gundam Wing DVD boxed sets and the release of Dan Doh!! volume 2 have been delayed from January 24 until March 28. The releases of Cowboy Bebop Remix volumes 5 & 6 have been delayed until an undetermined future date.

Source: Anime on DVD

Galaxy Anime has updated with numerous video game trailers including: Kingdom Hearts II, Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerebus, Front Mission 5, Grandia III, Naruto: Narultimate Hero 3, Generation of Chaos, Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max, Driver: Parallel Lines, Megami Tensei, Far East of Eden, and Zoids: Fullmetal Crush.

Question:
Do trends in Japan determine the success of an anime series and manga series? Also, if someone has their own manga published and distributed during a certain trend, can that cripple the artist’s possibility for success (eg: a comedy inspired manga during a sci-fi trend)?

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The Akibakei BB Channel news site now hosts a 1:30 clip from the upcoming Papillon Rose New Season anime television series. The show is scheduled to premier on Japanese television next February.

Source: Rakuga Kidou

Japanese publisher Shogakukan has announced that An Nakahara’s shoujo manga series Kirarin Revolution will be adapted into an anime television series that will premier next April.

Source: Moon Phase

Mag Garden’s Comic Blade Magazine has announced that Aria the Animation will be getting a second season. Mag Garden has also confirmed earlier reports that Noriko Ogawara’s novel “Nishi No Yoki Majo” (“Good Witch of the West”) will be adapted into an anime television series. The series will be animated by Hal Film Maker (Princess Tutu, Uta~Kata).

Source: Moon Phase