Young Gangan Magazine has announced that Ohtaka Shinobu’s martial arts/comedy/romance manga series Sumomomo Momomo ~Chijou Saikyo no Yume~ (Sumomomo Momomo ~World’s Strongest Bride~) will be adapted into an anime.
Source: Moon Phase
Palladium Books, publisher of the Robotech tabletop RPG, is on the verge of going out of business after suffering losses of an estimated $850,000 to $1.3 million because of “betrayal of trust, theft, and embezzlement.” Palladium owner Kevin Siembieda has published an explanation of the situation and request for support from fans.
Source: Anime News Network
The official Digimon Collectable Card Game website has announced that Bandai’s has placed the Digimon CCG “on hold” for the remainder of 2006, meaning that the three Digimon CCG products planned for 2006 will not be released. Bandai will decide in 2007 whether to complete its run of the old version of the game, begin anew with the new version, or leave it moribund. Bandai plans to focus all of its CCG efforts this year on Naruto, Zatch Bell, and Gundam War.
Source: ICv2 News
Question:
This is my opinion on the Anime industry in America. People download anime because it’s better then paying $30 a DVD and only getting 3-5 episodes. For series that are over 50 episodes, it’s not worth it. Person to person or web servers that charge a flat fee and give the user a large download are more efficient. This is America were people look to get the most for the lowest price. So what is John’s opinion on the American anime industry? Do you agree that if venders would give more episodes per disc, or a double disc set for $30 that has 13-15 episodes people would buy more? An alternative is lowering the price. At $5.00 a DVD that has 3-5 episodes per disc, people would start buying more. With international prices as high as they are, there is no way anime will last much longer in America.
Anime on DVD has confirmed that Media Blasters has acquired translation rights to the Yuusha Oh Gaogaiger (King of Braves Gaogaiger) anime series. The first domestic DVD will be released on August 29th.
The Gaogaiger anime includes 49 TV episodes, the 8 episode “Yuusha Oh Gaogaiger Final” OAV series, and the 12 episode TV broadcast version of the OAV series, “Yuusha Oh Gaogaiger Final Grand Glorious Gathering.” Media Blasters has not clarified exactly how much of the anime they’ve licensed.
Gekkan Shonen Magazine has announced that Iwanaga Ryoutarou’s action manga Pumpkin Scissors will be adapted into an anime. Moon Phase reports that the TV series will be animated by Gonzo & AIC and directed by Akiyama Katsuhito, director of Bastard!! and Bubblegum Crisis 2040.
Bungie Studios has announced that manga artist Tsutomu Nihei will contribute the story “Breaking Quarantine” to an upcoming Halo anthology graphic novel, based on the best selling Xbox game.
Source: Anime News Network
The official homepage for the live action horror movie Mizu ni Sumu Hana ~ Romance of Darkness, an adaptation of the Chie Shinohara’s Mizu ni Sumu Hana manga, now hosts a Quicktime trailer in small and large resolutions. The movie is scheduled to open in Japanese theaters on May 27th.
Source: Twitch
4Kids Entertainment has announced the launch of a new subsidiary, 4Sight Licensing Solutions, inc. 4Sight will specialize in the licensing and marketing programming at teens and adults. However, 4Sight’s line up presently does not include any anime and according to 4Sight spokesman Todd Fromer, anime lends itself more to the children’s market and therefore isn’t likely to be distributed by 4Sight.
Source: Anime News Network
Tampa, Florida based Metrocon has released several announcements about the convention scheduled for June 2-4.
Metrocon will host a Fantasy Masquerade, a formal dress ballroom dance with an anime and video game interpretation of a classic fairy tale, complete with interactive media and actors on stage and in the audience.
Due to overwhelming demand, this year’s Metrocon will host two performances of the Human Chess Match. One performance will be on Saturday, June 3 and the second on Sunday, June 4.
seek and YURAsama, former members of the popular J-rock band Psycho le Cemu, will make special guest appearances at this year’s convention.
Online registration for places in this year’s Metrocon Artist Alley is now open.
Angela Aki, the songwriter and vocalist for the Final Fantasy XII theme “Kiss Me Good-Bye,” will perform live at the world-premiere of PLAY! A Video Game Symphony on on May 27 in Chicago.
Joyride Entertainment has announced that members of its staff will attend select nationwide launch parties for the release of the Fullmetal Alchemist: A Hero’s Passing trading card game expansion set. Full details are available on the Fullmetal Alchemist Trading Card Game homepage.
Question:
I’ve noticed alot of shows now rely heavily on moe-fetish elements. But I’ve also noticed that most anime in the late 80’s/early 90’s period was mostly plot driven. I’m not going to argue that there’s still a fair amount of shows aimed for audiences looking for “substance,” but the more mainstream and popular anime today do seem to aim at the rather moe/otaku centric crowd. Although we might again encounter another paradigim shift of shows that take themselves seriously, do you think the advent of these new “moe” anime shows is just a trend?
Question:
Why don’t many Japanese anime artists show themselves in photos? Some draw themselves as an anime-ish caricatures, but I never see the real life them. Could it be that they are overweight or feel that they do not look good enough to show their pictures to their fans? I’ve always wanted to see what my favorite artists look like, but I never can.
Japanese Game News Site EG now hosts the first anime character designs for the upcoming Muteki Kanban Musume anime television series.
Source: Moon Phase
