Archive for July, 2009

First Look at Queen’s Blade Second Season

Friday, July 31st, 2009

Media Factory will be releasing a “Queen’s Blade: Gyokuza no Tsugumono Episode 0″ promotional DVD at next month’s Comic Market 76 convention. A trailer advertising the 1,000 yen promotional DVD has been officially added to YouTube. The Queen’s Blade: Gyokuza no Tsugumono TV anime is scheduled to premiere in October.

Source: Anime News Network

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Second Strong World Teaser Released

Friday, July 31st, 2009

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The official homepage for this December’s One Piece Film: Strong World has released its second teaser trailer. A full length trailer will go online August 8th. The movie opens December 12th.

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Goro Miyazaki Directs New Anime

Friday, July 31st, 2009

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Goro Miyazaki, director of Studio Ghibli’s 2006 blockbuster hit anime film Ged Senki and son of internationally renowned animator Hayao Miyazaki, has directed his second anime work with Ghibli animators – an original TV commercial for the Yomiuri Newspaper. The animated commercial was inspired by the art of late manga artist Shigeru Sugiura (1908-2000). Sugiura’s art was also credited as an inspiration for Studio Ghibli’s 1994 feature Heisei Tanuki Gassen Pon Poko. The new TV ad will begin airing on Japanese TV on August 1st.

Studio Ghibli has previously created original animated TV commercials for sponsors including House Foods, Nippon TV, Asahi Beverages, and the Yomiuri Newspaper.

Source: Anime News Network

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Higashi no Eden Recap Movie Announced

Friday, July 31st, 2009

Prior to the November 28th premiere of Eden of The East the Movie I: The King of Eden on November 28, an Eden of The East Compilation: Air Communication (Higashi no Eden Soshu-hen Air Communication) movie will screen in two Tokyo theaters and one Osaka theater beginning September 26. Since the “Air Communication” movie will summarize the 11 episode TV series, presumably both of this fall’s movies will continue the TV series narrative with entirely new animation and story.

Source: Anime News Network

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Fate/stay night Movie in Development

Friday, July 31st, 2009

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Japan’s Geneon Entertainment has launched a teaser site announcing a Fate/stay night motion picture. It’s not clear if the “Gekijouban Fate/stay night” will be anime or live action. The original PC game from Type-Moon was released in 2004, to great acclaim and success. The game was adapted into a 24 episode anime TV series broadcast in 2006.

Source: Anime News Network

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New Sazae-san Live-Action TV Special in Development

Friday, July 31st, 2009

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Fuji TV has announced development of a new Sazae-san live action TV special based on Machiko Hasegawa’s classic newspaper comic strip serialized from 1946 until 1974. In this adaptation, 27 year old Sazae Fuguta will be played by 32 year old actress Alisa Mizuki. The two and a half hour TV special will air this fall.

Sazae-san was first adapted into a live-action movie series in 1948. The most recent live action adaptation was a 1992-1996 TV series produced by Fuji TV. The ongoing weekly TV anime series is the world’s longest running animated series, having broadcast over 2,000 half-hour episodes since its October 5, 1969 premiere.

Source: Anime News Network

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Astro Boy Director Interview Online

Friday, July 31st, 2009

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ICv2 hosts a brief, exclusive interview with David Bowers, director of Imagi’s upcoming animated Astro Boy movie.

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Japan’s Animation Market Continues to Shrink

Friday, July 31st, 2009

The Japanese Media Development Research Institute’s Animation Market Analysis Project reports that the market for animation in Japan declined for the second year in a row. Total revenue from domestic and foreign animation in Japan peaked at 241.5 billion yen ($2.53 billion USD) in 2006 then declined to 230.2 billion yen ($2.41 billion USD) in 2007 and 212.9 billion yen ($2.26 billion USD) in 2008. The decline is attributed to lower grosses for theatrical animation – especially Japanese theatrical releases of foreign animated films , a shrinking number of TV anime series, and significant declines in the consumer DVD market.

Source: Anime News Network

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Does Hollywood White-Wash Movies?

Friday, July 31st, 2009

The Examiner hosts a lighthearted article about the serious subject of Hollywood selecting Caucasian actors to play Asian characters. It’s exactly the sort of article that anime fans love to chew on.

Article provided by Daniel Zelter

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Fantastic Mr. Fox Trailer

Friday, July 31st, 2009

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The trailer for director Wes Anderson’s latest film, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, has turned up on the film’s official site, and it is indeed fantastic. The stop-motion animated movie is an adaptation of the book by Roald Dahl. The trademark Wes Anderson dry wit is in full effect, as are Anderson movie regulars Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, and Jason Schwartzman, along with George Clooney & Meryl Streep. The movie hits theaters November 13th.

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Ask John: Where’s the Urusei Yatsura Manga?

Friday, July 31st, 2009

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Question:
Do you have any personal insight as to why Viz has not yet considered releasing the Urusei Yatsura manga in its entirety in the United States? You would think that Rumiko Takahashi would have gained enough exposure by now to validate at least some success in its release.

(more…)

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CNN Video ‘Recession hits anime’

Friday, July 31st, 2009

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Kinos World Opening Animation Online

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

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4Gamer is now streaming the two-minute anime opening of GMO Games’ 3D MMO PC game Kinos World ~Kishi Shuketsu~. The animation is paired with Ui Miyazaki’s theme song “Kibo no Sora.” Miyazaki’s first album, UI1, goes on sale August 26. Limited edition copies of the CD will include the anime clip on a bonus DVD. Miyazaki also provides the voice of game character Rachel.

The Kinos World game is a Japanese revision of the Korean PC game Ludix Online. The Japanese version features changes to game mechanics, original Japanese character designs, and the exclusive anime opening.

Source: Anime News Network

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Kemocha Trailer Released

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

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The official homepage for the Kemono to Chat (“Kemocha”) OVA has updated and now includes a streaming trailer. (Oddly, at least for me, the trailer doesn’t have any audio.) The OVA will go on sale in Japan on October 23rd.

This may be Flash animation that doesn’t resemble conventional otaku anime, but I think this looks really funny and enjoyable.

Source: Moon Phase

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Fourth Lost Canvas Trailer on YouTube

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

TMS Entertainment has officially added a fourth promotional video for the St. Seiya: Lost Canvas video series to YouTube. The series’ second DVD volume, containing episodes 3 & 4, will go on sale in Japan on August 21.

Source: Moon Phase

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