Hulu now hosts the latest trailer for Imagi Entertainment’s upcoming animated Astro Boy motion picture while Yahoo! Japan now hosts the latest trailer for EDKO Film’s live action Blood: The Last Vampire movie.
Source: Twitch & Ain’t It Cool News
The latest anime production from director director Romanov Higa (Catblue: Dynamite, TANK S.W.A.T. 01, Urda) was announced at the recent Tokyo International Anime Fair. Turd on the Run, named after a 1973 Rolling Stones song, will consist of 12 six-minute episodes to be released online beginning early this fall. The sci-fi suspense action story stars incarcerated serial killer “Holiday Ripper” in a future when capitol punishment has been replaced by a device that “jettisons escapee’s eyeballs from their sockets.”
So, Ol’ Blue Eyes in Catblue: Dynamite, and now another “eye” focused production referencing the Stones. Interesting.
Source: The Anime Network
The official Japanese website for the Linebarrels of Iron television series has announced that a bonus 25th episode will be included on the series ninth and final Japanese DVD volume. The “Tensai Bishoujo Kagakusha Rachel-chan” (“Genius Beautiful Girl Scientist Rachel”) episode will, obviously, star series’ supporting character Rachel Calvin.
Source: Anime News Network
Japanese entertainment production company Marvelous Entertainment has requested that roughly 20 of its 120 employees voluntarily retire in order to reduce company operating expenses. The company announced late last month that it expects to have a 1.31 billion yen (US $13 million) deficit for the fiscal year ending this month, due to lower than anticipated sales. Marvelous Entertainment has already reduced employee wages and canceled numerous public promotional events.
Source: Anime News Network
Question:
I just started watching Zipang and so far I’ve been very impressed. As good as I’ve found the show to be, it’s occurred to me that its greatest weakness was its too-enigmatic title. I mean, what is it supposed to mean? I don’t think any consumer really knew what to make of the title, and therefore gave it little consideration.
I’m addressing this as part of a larger issue as the anime industry falters: while valuing the integrity of a licensed title is laudable, maybe distributors need to be more flexible in how they market titles; this can come right down to the title it is marketed under. Suppose, instead of Zipang, it had been marketed under a title like the movie it is loosely based on, “The Final Countdown.” I think people might have given it a second look. Recognizing that marketing is a key part of selling a product and communicating an idea, perhaps some anime may need to take some liberties in order to reach that broader market. What do you think?
The official homepage for next month’s Shinkyoku Sokai Polyphonica Crimson S television series has added a streaming teaser trailer. The series is scheduled to debut on April 4th.
Source: Moon Phase
FUNimation has formally announced a “strategic alliance” with Japanese anime production studio Gonzo to distribute current and future Gonzo anime titles. FUNimation will coordinate with Gonzo on domestic DVD distribution and online commercial distribution via multiple online outlets. “Our eventual goal is to simulcast these series online in tandem with the Japanese broadcast debut,” said FUNimation president and CEO Gen Fukunaga. The new partnership officially began on March 20, although FUNimation has been handling online and DVD distribution of numerous Gonzo productions for several years.
CoMix Wave Films and Brosta TV have announced plans for a limited Japanese theatrical release for director Tact Aoki’s new CG anime short film The Asylum Session. Aoki previously directed the 2007 CG anime short Catblue: Dynamite.
The hour long Asylum Session film is set in a distant future in which society has stagnated. The runaway teen girl Hiyoko, to be voiced by Aya Hirano (Haruhi Suzumiya, Konata in Lucky Star), takes up residence in a tent city nicknamed “Asylum” and becomes involved with the other young residents that launch a street culture festival called “The Asylum Sessions” to counter the plans of profiteer-minded police.
The film will screen at one theater in Osaka beginning in June, and one theater in Tokyo beginning in July.
Looks and feels a bit like a futuristic version of Gokinjo Monogatari to me, which isn’t necessarily bad. Let’s just hope that this gets a more satisfying ending than Catblue: Dynamite had.
Source: Anime News Network
During last week’s Tokyo Anime Fair, broadcaster TV Tokyo and Japanese advertising company Dentsu announced the launch of a live action TV program titled “Saki-yomi Jum-Bang!” Unlike countless anime television series based on manga published within Shonen Jump magazine, Saki-yomi Jum-Bang! (“Early Browsing Jum-Bang!”) will provide a weekly 30 minute preview of the following week’s new issue of Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. The program will air on Friday evenings beginning April 3rd. New issues of Weekly Shonen Jump magazine go on sale on Mondays.
Guests including celebrity and fashion model Akina Minami and comedy duo America Zarigani will appear on the program.
Source: Anime News Network
Talk about a blast from the past! Japanese digital entertainment company G-Mode has announced plans to re-release Data East’s 1985 interactive anime arcade game Road Blaster in a PC version. The Windows 200/XP/Vista compatible game will go on sale in Japan on May 4th, retailing at 2,940 yen.
Source: Dengeki Online
Question:
I want to ask John what his thoughts are on Soultaker anime created by Tatsunoko Productions. I always thought it was underrated highly. Most people don’t like it, not because its crap but either because of the way it is presented (editing) and/or the confusing story which sometimes requires repeated viewing. I find it more interesting than Karas which had some of the same staff on it.
Studio Anima, which primarily produces full CG video animation sequences for console video games, has announced its development of a 12 episode full CG anime adaptation of Motofumi Kobayashi’s 1998 manga series Cat Shit One (three volumes of which were released in English by AD Vision under the title “Apocalypse Meow.”) The anime series updates the setting of the original manga from the Vietnam War to modern military conflicts and updates the protagonist rabbits from US soldiers to employees of a private military company. The series is designed as a serious and realistic modern war drama that happens to star cute and fluffy animals.
Source: An Eternal Thought in the Mind of Godzilla Blog
Sunrise has announced plans to produce an anime feature film adaptation of Eto Mori’s award winning 1998 novel Colorful (no relation to the 1999 anime television series with the same name). The “heart-warming comedy” is the story of an individual granted a unique form of immortality after winning an angelic lottery. He’s given a new life by being placed in the body of a suicidal 14 year old boy, thus repeating the cycle of life, death, and life again. The film will be directed by Keiichi Hara (ESPer Mami, Kappa no Coo to Natsuyasumi) for Japanese release next year.
Source: Anime News Network
Anime, as we all know, is the combination of numerous component ingredients: visual design, color, writing, animation, sound design, music, and the distinctive creative perspective of Japanese artists. And clearly anime appeals to viewers in both Japan and America. But the reasons Japanese and American viewers enjoy anime seem to be different. Precisely what attracts Japanese and American viewers to anime is different. These differences explain, to a large degree, why Japanese studios produce the types of anime that they do in the quantities they do, and why certain anime are more popular in Japan or America. I believe that the philosophical reception of anime in Japan compared to America may be summarized in two related theories. Anime fans in Japan largely perceive the immersive content of anime as an alternate world while American anime fans typically perceive anime as an escapist world. An extension of this difference is the fact that Japanese viewers are heavily attracted to anime characters while Americans are typically attracted to the action of anime. These distinctions aren’t applicable to every individual anime fan, and there are individuals on both sides of the Pacific whose inclinations are closer to those of the other country. But these generalizations do seem to broadly apply to cultural attitudes.
Anime News Network now exclusively hosts an English captioned version of the new trailer for Production I.G’s upcoming historical samurai adventure movie Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai. The film is scheduled for Japanese release early this summer.
