AnimeNation Anime News Blog

Viz Media has revealed plans to release the second Naruto feature film on domestic DVD on July 29th.

Source: Anime on DVD

Japanese pop group EXILE has announced plans for further development of its “Examurai” anime project. The “EXILE Entertainment Best” CD, scheduled for Japanese release in July, will include a bonus DVD containing a short “Roppongi Jigoku no Sho” (”Roppongi Hell Chapter”) anime OVA depicting the seven members of EXILE as futuristic samurai. Reportedly there are also plans for the development of an Examurai television series and feature film.

The Examurai anime premiered last year as a 12 minute OVA included with EXILE’s album “Love.” The original Examurai Prologue anime is now available for free online viewing until May 31st on Yahoo! Movies, but access to the video is limited to residents of Japan only.

Source: Anime News Network

A community association in the southwestern Japanese town of Ochi has premiered its independently produced 100 minute long anime film based on the regional legend that the child emperor of the Taira clan survived his reported “death” by drowning at the end of the 12th century. Local residents contributed to the film’s 3.2 million yen (about US $31,000) budget, and around 30 citizens and local elementary school children volunteered to voice the character roles. The completed film was first screened on April 29th during Ochi’s 808th Anniversary of Emperor Antoku Festival.

Source: Anime News Network

Japanese anime store Animate revealed last December that a third Higurashi no Naku Koro ni anime television series would be produced. The Moon Phase Diary now reports that the third series, tentatively titled “Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei,” will be produced for home video release instead of television broadcast. The new series is tentatively scheduled for release later this year.

The China Daily newspaper has reported that a new 52 episode “San Guo Yan Yi” (Romance of the Three Kingdoms) animated series created by Chinese studio Beijing Glorious Animation Co. Ltd. will air on Chinese and Japanese television beginning this June. The television series will be distributed in Japan by Future Planet Co., which will also serve as the international distributor for Beijing Glorious Animation’s “Qin-Han Heroes” animated series.

This won’t be the first time that Asian produce animation has aired on Japanese TV. The Japanese/Chinese co-produced Legend of Condor Hero animated series aired on Japanese television in 2001. The Korean animated series Janggeum’s Dream aired in Japan in 2006.

The official website of the Higurashi no Naku Koro ni anime has announced that a second live action Higurashi no Naku Koro ni motion picture is now early in production, even though the first live action film won’t hit Japanese theaters until May 10th.

Source: Anime News Network

Question:
Hello, John. A pile of Japanese readers are mad at you for your “Thou Shall Not Kill?” article. So I’d like to ask a question from the land of uncivilized samurai. Why do Americans hate for superheroes in comics [to] kill someone? They cheer Bruce Willis or Harrison Ford, who execute German terrorists or Arabian gangsters immediately, or applaud detectives, who like the violent speech “I, the Jury,” or “Go ahead. Make my day.” Honestly, it is hypocritical that they claim only comic heroes should be innocent while they fail to carry out gun control in the real world even after mad guys kill students in high school or college every year.

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The official homepage for director Mamoru Oshii’s upcoming romance/war film The Sky Crawlers now hosts a full 2 minute long theatrical trailer. The film is scheduled for Japanese release on August 2nd.

Source: Twitch

Media Blasters’ adult anime distribution label Kitty Media has revealed the acquisition of North American distribution rights to three new erotic anime titles.

Class Reunion: Yesterday Once More will be released on July 8th. The yaoi OVAs Crimson Spell and Seiryo will be released on July 22nd.

Source: Anime on DVD

Aurora Publishing has revealed plans for domestic releases of Izumi Kirihara’s light drama manga series Hitohira, and the yaoi titles Heavenly Body, by Takashi Kanzaki; Maid in Heaven, by Hisami Shimada; and Ruff Love, by Tamaki Kirishima.

The first volume of Hitohira will be released in October. The new yaoi books will debut this summer.

Source: Anime News Network

Bandai Visual of Japan has announced plans to release Blu-ray anime discs simultaneously worldwide beginning this fall. Bandai Visual’s new BD discs will include multiple optional subtitle languages, including English, and a constant pricing in all regions. Presently, the only title so far confirmed for this release strategy is a Blu-ray release of the Freedom OVA series.

The press announcement also states that the Bandai Namco Group has plans to begin selling “device specific” downloads through its online Bandai Channel website at the same time international BD sales start. However, the press announcement does not specify that internet distribution will be worldwide. Presently the Bandai Channel website refuses content delivery to anyone outside of Japan.

Source: Anime News Network

Japanese entertainment magazine Oricon has published the results of its survey of 900 Japanese men and women ranging in age from 10 to 40 of the most emotionally moving manga they’ve ever read.

The top five combined results were:

01. One Piece
02. Slam Dunk
03. Honey & Clover
04. Fruits Basket
05. Baby & Me / Sunadokei / Touch (three-way tie)

The top five choices from women were:

01. One Piece
02. Slam Dunk
03. Fruits Basket / Honey & Clover (tie)
05. Sunadokei

The top five choices from men were:

01. Slam Dunk
02. One Piece
03. Touch
04. Maison Ikkoku
05. Doraemon

Really?

Source: Tokyograph

Question:
I know it’s been quite a while since the first series of Berserk has come out, but how good of chance is there right now for it to make a comeback? The reason I ask this is because Slayers was revived after a long pause, and I know normally older anime like that become something of the past in Japan unless it’s extremely popular. That, and I know the Berserk manga sells very well, so maybe there is a possibility?

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If you missed part one, here’s a link for you!

http://www.animenation.net/blog/2008/04/18/tokyo-was-awesome/

Nakano Broadway

Continuing on my trip to Tokyo, as promised, here are detailed instructions on how to get to Nakano Broadway. I’m VERY directional and the DPS (Daphne Positioning System) works best when she knows what direction she’s facing. That being said, the DPS had some issues working in Tokyo. To find Nakano Broadway from Shinjuku station, take the JR Chuo line west to the Nakano stop, third from Shinjuku. NOT Higashi-Nakano! That’s the mistake we made trying to find it. Here’s a picture I took from the north exit of the train station, looking straight across the street:

When you’re at the Nakano station, take the north exit and walk straight across the bus/taxi plaza to the deco-style covered shopping arcade that leads to Nakano Broadway (there’s a sign for McDonald’s directly to the right of the entrance). Walk to the end of the shopping strip to see the sign over Nakano Broadway. Woohoo! The first floor didn’t have much of what we were looking for, but floors two and three had tons of figures and other collectible-type items. Nirvana!

There are several Mandarake stores in Nakano, which deal in secondhand items. However, people who sell off their items to Mandarake take very good care of their stuff. I managed to snag all three of Minekura Kazuya’s Backgammon art books for about 1000 yen off the cover price of each. Just a little something I’ve been in search of for a long time! Each Mandarake store specializes in a different type of goods such as doujinshi, manga, yaoi, and more. We managed to make it back to the train station with goodies in tow, although we did go back for a second round later in the trip. Back to the hotel to peruse the stuff we bought!

Akihabara

The next day was the first trip to Akihabara. My goal: purple PSP. I was very lucky in that I was able to get one in the second shop I asked. However, no one seemed to have either of the colors that Jax was looking for. We eventually found one later in the trip at Bic Camera in the Odakyu building in Shinjuku…she got the green one. Cool colors and sparkly to boot! We found more figures, yeah, ‘cause we needed more, right? We shopped at many of the game stores and bought lots of PSP and PS2 games. One thing I have to say is that the stores are LOUD! Around every corner is a speaker blaring out music or game and movie trailers. The loudest places were the larger electronics stores like Sof-Map and Bic Camera, and the variety store Don Quijote was the worst. Wow…just, wow. I thought Best Buy was loud, and yet even though BB annoys the heck out of me, it didn’t bother me in Tokyo. Go figure!

Just a couple of observations:
There are a lot of people in Tokyo…well, duh.

I have to say that in all the big cities I’ve ever been (New York, Honolulu, Paris, and more), Tokyo was, by far, the cleanest. Even though there aren’t garbage cans at every corner, there was no trash in the street. Finding one of the recycle bins could be challenging at times, but the vending kiosks and train platforms usually had something to put trash in. And did I mention that I’ve never felt safer? I’m not naïve enough to think that there’s no crime in the city, but I also know that it is one of the safest places in the world. Even something as simple as dropping change became a positive encounter in Tokyo. A 100 yen coin (about a dollar) had fallen out of my pocket when I got up to exit the train and the gentleman that had been sitting next to me tapped me on the shoulder and gave it back! And another time, Jax’s had left her handbag open after getting money for the train and her cash, passport, credit cards were there for all to see for about a half hour and nothing went missing. Just amazing!

Well, that’s it for now. Tune in next week for another installment of my trip!

The official homepage for the upcoming Mugen no Juunin ~ Blade of the Immortal anime television series now hosts its Tokyo Anime Fair trailer. The series is scheduled to premier on July 13.

The official homepage for the upcoming sci-fi action anime series Bonen no Xamdou now hosts a streaming teaser trailer. The trailer is DRM encoded for comparability with Windows Media Player only.

Pretty impressive animation quality on that Xamdou trailer. Mugen no Juunin, not so much.

Source: Anime News Network