AnimeNation Anime News Blog

Trans World Entertainment Corporation, parent company of the FYE chain of music stores, has submitted a bid to purchase bankrupt Musicland Holding Corp. for $104 million in addition to assuming Musicland’s $17.1 million debt. According to ICv2 research, the reaction to the possible acquisition from unidentified members of America’s anime and manga retail industry varied from hoping that new ownership would salvage some mainstream distribution for anime and manga, while other respondents worry about Trans World’s marginal interest in supporting anime and manga sales.

Question:
What are the chances of a title being picked up after a license expires? I recently heard that Manga Ent. had several titles that expired. For instance what would be the chances of another company picking up the original “Fist of The North Star” or “Guyver”?

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Underland Online has published its review of AN Entertainment’s recently released Haré+Guu DVD volume 1.

The official website for upcoming anime television series Yoshimune is now open. The 24 episode series is scheduled to premier in April. Animate.tv reports that Gonzo will produce the TV series version of the Flash animation series.

Source: Moon Phase

The Yomiuri Newspaper has published an introductory article about graphic designer Takashi Okazaki’s Afro Samurai and plans to develop the franchise as an American/Japanese co-produced animated series and live action movie that will premier in America then be exported to Japan. The article reports that an Afro Samurai manga series will also be published in America.

Source: Anime News Network

Contrary to reports from last summer that director James Cameron’s next feature film would be a live action adaptation of Battle Angel, ICv2 reports that Cameron has told Entertainment Weekly Magazine that his next film will be the mysterious “Project 880″ followed by Battle Angel. As a result, the live action Battle Angel movie is now tentatively scheduled for release in 2009.

Entries are now being accepted for Metrocon’s Anime Fan Film Festival, an exciting event debuting this year at the fourth annual Tampa, Florida anime convention. Creators are invited to submit anime related short films in live action, original animation, original CG, or a hybrid of formats in nearly any genre. Submitted films will be judged within multiple categories, including Best Cinematography, Best Editing, and more. Deadline for entries is May 27th. For more details, please visit the Metrocon homepage.

Pop Japan Travel is now accepting reservations for participation in its March 23-31st Neo Tokyo Tour and April 1-8th Samurai and Anime Tour.

Question:
Are similarly named and iconic characters Binchou-tan, Habanero-tan, the OS-tans related in any way? I’ve also seen images of other, similar characters posted on the English-speaking 4chan image board such as Thumb Tack-tan and Caltrop-tan. Do they share a creator perhaps?

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At this past weekend’s Katsucon convention FUNimation announced its acquisition of translation and distribution rights to the Kimi ga Nozomu Eien anime televsion series. The series will be released in North America as “Rumbling Hearts,” its official Japanese English language title. The first DVD will be released in October.

Funimation also announced that they’ll be shifting several new titles to a monthly (every 4-5 weeks) release schedule. Titles including Desert Punk (as of volume 2), Negima, Moon Phase and Rumbling Hearts will see new DVD releases monthly. Speed Grapher, Trinity Blood and Basilisk will have new DVDs released every 7 weeks.

The American release of Negima has been delayed from July to August. Tsukuyomi ~Moon Phase~ will be debut in August.

Source: Anime News Network

Galaxy Anime has updated with an interview with Namco Bandai Games representative Peter Garza about the Tales of Legendia RPG, ICv2’s Milton Griepp reviews 2005 and looks ahead toward the New York Comic Con, and a 2005 interview with voice actor Johnny Young Bosch is available once again.

Question:
Where are all the fans that enjoy anime and manga on a more academic level? It seems that as soon as one tries to get a fan to intelligently talk about anime and/or manga they freeze up or run away. I know this is a tricky medium to deal with as it’s an art form, a marketing device, and a form of entertainment, but that’s what is so good about it! There is a great opportunity for discourse, and no one seems to be up to it. Should fans even try to get anime and manga recognized as valid objects of study in academia when the majority seem to be completely against it?

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Media Blasters has announced that its first Kirameki Project DVD will be released on June 13th. The DVD will contain the first 3 of 5 episodes and retail at $19.98.

The 60 minute long “Kisaku Spirit - The Letch Lives” adult anime DVD will be released on June 27th.

Media Blasters has also announced that in response to American consumer demand, they’ve been able to convince their Japanese licensor to allow future Bible Black releases to include the original Japanese language dialogue track. The second Bible Black New Testament DVD, scheduled for release on June 13th, will contain bilingual episodes 3 & 4, and bonus subtitled episodes 1 & 2. English dubbed versions of episodes 1 & 2 were released on American DVD last November.

Source: Anime on DVD

Japanese site Galge.com now hosts a streaming Windows Media trailer for the upcoming first Kyou no Go no Ni (”Today in Class 5-2″) OAV.

Source: Rakuga Kidou

The official Japanese website for the Makai Senki Disgaea 2 Playstation 2 game now hosts a sample version of the game’s anime opening movie in streaming Windows Media and Quicktime MP4 formats. The game is scheduled for Japnese release on the 23rd.

Source: Moon Phase