AnimeNation Anime News Blog

Question:
When I started anime collecting I was a huge fan on Record of Lodoss War and collected every bit of anime, even the spin off stuff and its sequel TV series. It seems the shoes it left have yet to be filled. What good sword and sorcery anime has been released in the last 5 years that’s worth collecting or comes close to the fantastic work done on Record of Lodoss War saga? Is there still hope that the Lodoss series will continue in anime ever again?

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FUNimation has produced an English dubbed trailer for its August 4 DVD release of the Fullmetal Alchemist: Premium Collection.

Source: Anime News Network

8-gatsu no Symphony —Shibuya 2002~2003 (Symphony in August: Shibuya 2002-2003), an anime feature film biography of singer-songwriter Ai Kawashima, will open in Japanese theatrical release this August. The official site includes a streaming trailer for broadband and narrowband connections. The movie is based on Kawashima’s autobiography, Saigo no Kotoba (Final Words), which details how Kawashima performed on the streets of Tokyo’s Shibuya ward in an effort to get recognized. Since turning professional, Kawashima has sung the theme songs for The Place Promised in Our Early Days and eighth One Piece motion pictures.

Akio Nishizawa (Nitaboh) serves as the film’s writer and director. Tatsuo Yanagino (First Kiss Story, Lupin III: Legend of the Gold of Babylon) serves as character designer and animation director. Despite playing a cameo role in the eigth One Piece movie, Kawashima does not have a voice actor role in the movie. In the film, Kawashima is played by Misato Fukuen (Yin in Darker Than Black, Yoshika Miyafuji in Strike Witches).

Source: Anime News Network

The Mainichi Newspaper reports that 22 year old Japanese actress Suzanne will star in a live action feature film adaptation of Yukiya Sakuragi’s comedy manga Inubaka. The manga about a pet shop employee with an uncanny affinity with dogs premiered in Weekly Young Jump magazine in 2004. The ongoing series has been compiled into 17 volumes so far, which have sold a combined 720,000 copies. Viz Media will release its 13th English translated volume this month.

Source: Anime News Network

The summer’s new anime season has already started. Here’s what’s coming up.

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The official Okami to Koshinryo homepage has released a new streaming trailer for the upcoming second TV series.

There’s a whole lot of good stuff in this 45 seconds. And it looks like “Spice & Wolf” has been adopted as the official Romanization of the series’ title.

Source: Moon Phase

The official website for the upcoming Katanagatari OVA series has updated with its first promotional images. The adaptation of NisiOisin’s 2007 light novel series looks like it will be a 20 monthly episode series released on pay-per-view TV then DVD. Katanagatari is a historical drama about a young swordsman in medieval Japan tasked with locating 12 swords forged by a legendary swordsmith.

Source: Moon Phase

Katsuzo Hirata, chief animator on the current Basquash! mecha basketball television series, has revealed on his personal website that he is no longer working on the series, and series director Shin Itagaki (Black Cat, Devil May Cry) has also been replaced. The official Japanese Basquash! homepage now credits Eiichi Sato (Kissdum, Slayers Next) as series co-director.

Source: Anime News Network

I’ve proclaimed the excellence of Madhouse & director Maasaki Yuasa’s Kaiba television series since its April 2008 premiere, citing it as last year’s best original anime TV series. Twitch has now published a new, thorough and highly positive review of the show – a review worth reading.

ICv2 has determined that despite American graphic novel sales growing by 5% in fourth quarter 2008, domestic manga sales dropped by 17%, down to 2005 sales levels.

ICv2 also reports the top 25 most popular “manga” titles in America during first quarter 2009, and the top 10 shounen and top 10 shoujo manga titles of the same period.

Unsurprisingly, Naruto tops the charts of shounen manga and all manga sales in America. A bit more surprising is the fact that Fruits Basket is America’s most popular shoujo manga even after five years of domestic availability.

Evidence that anime really is dangerously addictive?

Crunchyroll is now streaming an additional four live action films from Kadokawa Pictures. The suspenseful drama Never Give Up, the crime drama Sleepless Town, and the horror films Inugami and St. John’s Wort are now available to viewers in the U.S., Canada, American Samoa, United States Minor Outlying Islands, Puerto Rico, Guam and Virgin Island regions.

Actor/director Stephen Chow has announced plans for a second CJ7 movie, this one to be animated. Chow, along with the cast of the live action original movie, will return to voice their characters in the second movie, which will be an original story rather than a sequel. Chow will produce while My Life As McDull director Yuen Kin-to will direct. The animated CJ7 movie is expected to hit Chinese theaters next spring.

Source: Crienglish

Question:
John, have you ever seen “Meimon! Daisan Yakyubu”? It’s a late 80′s baseball show. If you have seen it, what did you think of it? Touch is the baseball show most fans probably want most. Is there any chance either would be licenced?

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I don’t have a clear recollection of where I first heard mention of the OVA Down Load, but I know that it was some time in 1992, as I recall seeing it mentioned in a list of upcoming anime productions in Japan. Then I never heard nor saw anything else about it for over 15 years, until I recently stumbled upon a copy. Now that I’ve watched it, I’m even more puzzled over why this gem remains buried and forgotten.

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