The official Japanese Detective Conan movie homepage has announced that the series’ 13th theatrical feature, Meitantei Conan: Shikkoku no Chaser (Detective Conan: The Jet Black Chaser) will premier next April. This film will pit boy detective Shinichi Kudo against the mysterious “men in black” that tried to kill him, but succeed only in transforming him into “Edogawa Conan.”
Source: Anime News Network
As part of an ongoing North American touring retrospective of the films of acclaimed Japanese film director Nagisa Oshima, perhaps best known as award winning director of the 1978 drama In the Realm of Senses, Oshima’s 1967 anime film Ninja Bugei-cho (Band of Ninja) will have a public screening at the Jackson Hall Art Gallery in Toronto, Canada, on November 15.
Oshima’s only animated film is a cinematic adaptation of Sampei Shirato’s 1957 manga. The film consists of literal panels from the manga with spoken dialogue and narration, background music, and camera pans to create the illusion of movement.
Tickets for the screening are available from the Cinematheque Ontario homepage.
Source: Anime News Network
The short film “Target HAL Micro Adventure,” supervised by anime director Shoji Kawamori, will premier at the opening of the Cyberdyne Studio in the iias Tsukuba shopping center on the 31st. The short film details the technology employed in Cyberdyne’s HAL (Hybrid Assistive Limb) exoskeletons.
Although best known as the creator of the Macross anime franchise, Shoji Kawamori has been involved in the real world robotics field including designing the exterior features of Sony’s ERS-220 Aibo robot dog, and creating the Dualis powered suit concept to promote Nissan’s compact Dualis SUV. Kawamori is also credited as “vision creator” for the recently announced robotic themed BASQUASH project.
Source: Anime News Network
Production company Frontier Works has announced that the live action Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Chikai movie, a sequel to this summer’s first live action Higurashi movie, will open in Japanese theatrical release next May. Plans for the production of a second live action film were initially revealed earlier this April.
The live action Higurashi no Naku Koro ni are based on 07th Expansion’s popular mystery/horror PC game, which has been adapted into manga, anime, drama CDs, and other merchandise.
Source: Anime News Network
Fan blog Reverse Thieves has published an exclusive interview with Ryo Moto, the character designer of the Petite Evangelion franchise, among other works.
Crunchyroll has formally announced a deal with Toei Animation Co. to provide episodes of the Digimon Adventure 02, Fist of the North Star, Pretty Cure, and Slam Dunk television series through streaming, subscription and download-to-own options. Subtitled episodes of Digimon, Fist, and Slam Dunk are available now.
Toei began distributing these four series online to American viewers last June when Fist of the North Star and Slam Dunk premiered on IGN’s Direct2Drive download service. Digimon Adventure 02 and Pretty Cure were added to Direct2Drive shortly later.
Question:
How popular is Evangelion, right now, in North America? Is Evangelion more popular now than when it was first released in the US? Less so? Aside from having sales data, how do you judge these things, even?
Variety Magazine reports that Warner Bros. and Leonardo DiCaprio’s film production company Appian Way have acquired the rights to film a live action Ninja Scroll (Jubei Ninpucho) motion picture from Tokyo based anime studio Madhouse. Watchmen screenwriter Alex Tse will write the script for the American film. Madhouse and Appian Way’s Jennifer Davisson Killoran & Mike Ireland will co-produce.
This past February, Warner Bros. and Appian Way acquired the rights to produce a live action film franchise adaptation of Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira manga series.
Threshold Entertainment initially acquired the rights to produce a live action Ninja Scroll film in 2002, but no production was ever mounted.
Animate.tv now offers the first half of the first of two Switch “stylish crime action” OVAs for free online viewing. The footage is available for narrowband and broadband connections. The first Switch OVA, based on the manga by “naked ape,” is available for sale in Japan now. The second episode will be released on February 25.
The official homepage for the Major: Yujo no Winning Shot (Major: Winning Shot of Friendship) motion picture now hosts a streaming second teaser trailer and full theatrical trailer. The movie is scheduled to open on December 13th. The fifth Major television series is scheduled to premier next January.
The official Japanese Keroro Gunso (Sgt. Frog) movie homepage has updated with an announcement of the franchise’s fourth theatrical picture, Cho Gekijoban Keroro Gunso Gekishin Dragon Warriors De Arimasu! (Super Keroro Gunso Movie: There Are Invading Dragon Warriors!). The film will premier next March as a double bill with the short bonus feature Kero 0: Shuppatsu Da Yo! Zenin Shugo (Keroro Gunso Episode 0: It’s Time to Mobilize! Assemble All Personnel!).
The Fourth Keroro Gunso movie will deal with Keroro and his four subordinates mobilizing to New York, Paris, Sydney, Tanzania, and Tokyo with the help of a mysterious girl named Shion in order to defend the world from the sudden appearance of the “Dragon Tails.”
The “Kero 0″ short, based on an original concept by Keroro creator Mine Yoshizaki, will illustrate a new story about an attack by enemies at the space terminal where Keroro is preparing to leave for his invasion of earth. The prequel short will commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Keroro Gunso manga, and the fifth anniversary of its TV anime adaptation.
The SAME HAT! SAME HAT! blog has announced plans from Top Shelf Productions to publish an English translation of selected material from Seirinkogeisha’s AX underground manga magazine. The ten year old publication serializes esoteric, experimental, and avant garde manga stories from artists including Suehiro Maruo, Shinichi Abe, and Usamaru Furuya.
The 400 page English language AX Alternative Manga anthology will be co-edited by Scottish author living in Japan Sean Michael Wilson and AX editor & co-founder Mitsuhiro Asakawa. A release date for the domestic book has not been determined yet.
The Taiwan News now hosts an interview with Naoki Urasawa & Yukihiko Tsutsumi, the creator of the Twentieth Century Boys manga series, and the director of the Twentieth Century Boys live action film trilogy.
The A Geek By Any Other Name blog has published a follow-up to its interview with Yaoi Generation president Thuy Duong, which was published earlier this month.
The official title of the fifth Slayers TV anime series was formally announced during a recent autographing session for Slayers creators Hajime Kanzaka & Rui Araizumi. Slayers Evolution-R will conclude the storyline begun by this year’s Slayers Revolution television series.
