AnimeNation Anime News Blog

After the TBS television network reported earlier this week that Japan’s Ethics Organization of Computer Software (EOCS) would institute a ban on the manufacture and sale of adult computer games depicting violence against women to take effect June 2, members of the EOCS have expressed bewilderment over the report. Takahiro Baba, EOCS board member and president of the game development studio Visual Arts, has stated that the TBS news report was a total surprise to the EOCS.

Hiroyuki Kanno, an EOCS board member and chairman of PC game studio Abel, published a blog entry confirming that the EOCS has a meeting scheduled for June 2 and will discuss possible new restrictions on game development. But the EOCS has not formally implemented a ban on rape-themed PC games. Kanno’s blog post was deleted shortly after it was published.

Source: Canned Dogs

Digital Manga has put the first 25 pages of its English translation of Osamu Tezuka’s 1968 speculative thriller manga Swallowing The Earth online as free preview. The chilling tale about a mysterious woman determined to punish the men of the world for the injustices visited upon the female gender will be released as a single 520 page volume retailing at $24.95 on June 24.

Japanese production company TYO has announced plans to merge its subsidiary anime production studios Yumeta Company and Hal Film Maker. On July 1 the two companies will join under the new name TYO Animations.

Yumeta Company was founded in 1986 and presently has 18 employees. The studio has produced anime including Animation Runner Kuromi, Kiniro no Corda, Angelique, and the Harukanaru Toki no Naka de TV series.

Hal Film Maker was established in 1993 and presently has 6 employees. The studio has produced anime including Aria, Pretear, Princess Tutu, and Sketchbook ~Full Colors~.

Source: Anime News Network

During a press interview promoting the new Blood: The Last Vampire live action feature film, acclaimed film maker Mamoru Oshii revealed that he wants to shoot one of his next two live action feature films in Poland. Oshii created the Blood: The Last Vampire story concept. Oshii also shot his 2001 live action film Avalon in Poland.

Last March Oshii announced plans to direct two forthcoming live action films. One will be a low budget “art house” feature. The other will be an “eroticism and violence” filled action picture.

Source: Anime News Network

Question:
Recently you mentioned how the works of Madhouse for the past decade have been far above and beyond their previous works in creativity and quality. Are there any other animation studios you think are experiencing a creative surge? Similarly, which studios do you think are in a creative slump at the moment?

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The TBS television network reports that Japan’s independent PC game review committee will prohibit the production and sale of all adult computer games prominently featuring depictions of rape. The revised review criteria to certify games for production and release will take effect on June 2. Rape themed games are estimated to presently constitute up to 20% of Japan’s adult PC games. The ban will apply to approximately 200 commercial game development studios.

The ban is being implemented primarily in response to a campaign by Equality Now launched last May to eliminate Japanese games that seemingly encourage victimization of women.

While this ban does not extend to erotic anime, its impact on the anime industry is uncertain. Numerous erotic anime are based on games which will be henceforth banned, so the adult anime industry may turn to alternate story concepts. Or rape themed productions may transition from development as PC games into development as anime.

Note: This article has a follow-up.

Source: Canned Dogs

The new issue of Dengeki G’s Magazine has revealed that PC game developer Key is now at work on an original anime titled Angel Beats!. The battle action anime set in the afterlife will be written by Maeda Jun, scenario writer for PC games including Kanon, Air, and Clannad. Character design will be provided by Na-Ga, character designer on Key’s visual novel game Little Busters!

Source: Canned Dogs

Japanese publisher Kadokawa has added the 8th episode of its 2009 Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi television series to YouTube. The episode is the first new episode expanding the original 14 episode series from 2006.

The episode does not include an English language translation.

Source: AV Watch

Japanese anime production company Aniplex has announced its launch of an English language mirror of its Japanese Nagi-sama Fan Club website devoted to the 2008 Kannagi ~ Crazy Shrine Maidens anime series. The site presently has no content, but Aniplex has announced plans to “feature numerous updates in the coming weeks including the opportunity to sign up for an EXCLUSIVE MEMBERSHIP CARD which will entitle members to special benefits.”

Neither the 14 episode (13 broadcast, 1 DVD exclusive) Kannagi anime series, nor Eri Takenashi’s original manga that the anime is based on have been confirmed for official English language release.

Neat, but quite odd that a Japanese producer would launch a site targeting fans that have only been able to watch the show via unauthorized means.

Source: Anime News Network

Anime production studio Barnum Laboratory has announced that its experimental CG anime short film Hoshi ni Negai wo Cold Body x Warm Heart will begin streaming on Yahoo! Douga beginning June 1. Barnum Laboratory has previously done animation work on TV series including Kyoran Kazoku Nikki, Kemeko DX, and Devil May Cry.

Unfortunately, Yahoo! Douga limits viewing access to only Japanese IP addresses.

Source: Moon Phase Comments

Reportedly next week’s issue of Weekly Shonen Jump magazine will officially announce the development of a live action television series adaptation of Osamu Akimoto’s long running police comedy manga “Kochikame” (Kochira Katsushika-ku Kamearikouen-mae Hashutsujo). SMAP band member Shingo Katori will star as the hapless police officer Ryotsu Kankichi. The manga serial premiered in 1976 and presently has 164 compiled volumes. The series’ anime adaptations have included a 1985 TV special, a 367 episode television series, and two feature films.

Source: Anime News Network

The official website for Production I.G’s upcoming historical anime documentary film Miyamoto Musashi: Soken ni Haseru Yume (Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai) now hosts a new streaming trailer. The latest trailer includes extensive previously unreleased footage, and includes brief scenes of graphic violence. The film is scheduled for Japanese theatrical release on June 13.

Source: Anime News Network

Novelist Kaoru Kurimoto, best known as the author of the long running Guin Saga fantasy series, passed away on Tuesday at 7:18 p.m. at a Tokyo hospital. She was 56, and had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2007. Kurimoto, born as Sumiyo Yamada, wrote hundreds of mystery, fantasy, and historical novels and stories under the names Kaoru Kurimoto and Azusa Nakajima. The Guin Saga novel series, which premiered in 1979, spanned 126 volumes and 21 side story volumes, selling 30 million copies. An anime television series premiered this past April. The Guin Saga novel series and its manga adaptation are published in English by Vertical.

Source: Anime News Network

Naoko Matsuda’s 2007 manga series “Shoujo Manga” will serve as the basis for the NHK television network’s tentatively titled live action drama “Haken no Oscar ~ Shoujo Manga ni Ai wo Komete” (Oscar’s Order ~ From Shoujo Manga With Love). The drama will revolve around Katsuko, a young female office worker who imagines herself as a character within Ryoko Ikeda’s Rose of Versailles manga series. When her boss proposes drastic cost-cutting measures, Katsuko hears the voice of Lady Oscar, inspiring her to fight on behalf of the company’s employees. The 6 episode drama will premiere on August 28.

Source: Tokyograph

The 7-Eleven convenience store chain will offer an exclusive Domo Slurpee beginning October 1. The six week promotional campaign co-branded with Dark Horse Comics & Tokyopop will offer red apple-flavored Slurpee in exclusive fuzzy brown cups. Dark Horse will produce exclusive toys for the campaign, and Tokyopop will offer a sample version of its Domo comic. Rich Collins, CEO of the Big Tent Entertainment company that manages the Japanese NHK Television mascot character Domo for territories outside of Asia, said the Slurpee is Red Apple-flavored “because Domo doesn’t like apples. That way you don’t have to worry about Domo stealing your Slurpee.”

New online anime shorts will create a story about “Domo’s quest for a Slurpee and how he gets a brain freeze in the process.” This year’s promotional campaign will eventually to lead to America’s first Domo DVD, from distributor Phase 4, which will contain shorts, webisodes, fan created animations, commercials, the original Japanese spots, and other extras.

Source: Adweek