AnimeNation Anime News Blog

Yahoo Movies now hosts a visual history of Astro Boy, covering Atom’s first appearance in 1951 through this fall’s feature film.

Article provided by Daniel Zelter

Media Blasters’ film production label Fever Dreams is now producing director & special effects expert Tomoo Haraguchi’s giant monster film Death Kappa. An English subtitled promotional video has surfaced, including a teaser trailer and an introduction from Haraguchi to international kaiju movie fans. The brand new old-school giant monster movie is due out internationally next year.

Source: Twitch

GameTrailers.com has secured the premiere teaser trailer for 343 Industries’ Japanese animated anthology film Halo Legends.

This certain does seem to promise a unique interpretation of the Halo universe.

Viz Media has announced plans to serialize Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata’s currently ongoing Bakuman manga series, and Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro’s Toriko manga in its English langauge Shonen Jump magazine.

Bakuman, the latest series from the creative duo behind Death Note, is a story about two high school boys that aim to become professional manga creators.

Toriko is an adventure story about a professional who specializes in acquiring rare culinary ingredients for gourmet meals.

Source: Anime Vice

Dark Horse Comics has announced that anime studio Madhouse and manga creator Torajirou Kishi (Colorful, Maka-Maka) will collaborate to create a manga series titled “Devil” specifically for English language publication by Dark Horse. Devil will feature “genetically designed vampires in a sci-fi police drama set in Tokyo.”

At this weekend’s San Diego Comic Con, Dark Horse also revealed plans for an English language edition of the Okimono Kimono guide book to kimono fashion written and illustrated by CLAMP. And Dark Horse announced plans for the release of a deluxe Final Fantasy Boxed Set of artwork from Yoshitaka Amano.

Source: Anime News Network

A casting call on the Japanese Audition Dot Com website reveals that Japan’s Muse Entertainment (not to be confused with similarly named Canadian company) is developing a “Sugar Town” anime TV series, based on Kohime Ohse’s 2001 seinen manga “Heart Sugar Town.”

Source: Anime News Network

The official homepage for the current Umi Monogatari ~Anata ga Ite Kureta Koto~ TV series has announced that its DVD volumes 2-6 will include exclusive bonus short “Marin no Kore Naani?” (Marin’s What is This?) episodes. Furthermore, the sixth and final DVD volume will include a full length un-aired bonus episode. The first Umi Monogatari DVD will go on sale in Japan on October 28. The last DVD volume will be released on March 26, 2010.

Source: Anime News Network

Tohokushinsha Film Corporation subsidiary company Omnibus Japan has formally announced the development of Garo: Red Requiem, a digital 3D feature film installment of Tohokushinsha’s 2005 late night live-action hero show Garo. The original special-effects laden program was created and directed by Keita Amemiya (Zeiram), who will return to direct the feature film. Veteran stunt coordinator and Cutie Honey the Live series director Makoto Yokoyama will provide action choreography. The Garo movie is scheduled for release next year.

The popular Garo TV series had a successful 25 episode run, a side-story episode, and a two-episode TV special sequel.

Source: Anime News Network

Bishonen fans may be excited to hear that the official homepage for GungHo Works’ upcoming Playstation 2 simulation game Nadeshiko Voice Actor Production: The Game ~ NadePro!! ~Kisama mo Seiyuu Yatte Miro~ has added a streaming anime trailer. The game puts players in charge of managing the careers of five handsome young male voice actors. The game goes on sale in Japan on October 29th.

This isn’t really anime related at all, but this is a blog, so I’m gonna post whatever interests me. And, now that it’s finally available, the trailer for Ninja Assassin interests me very much. Find it in a massive variety of sizes, resolutions, and formats at its official site.

Question:
Whether I like it or not, I can see the financial reasons for making the long list of anime movies which are, in essence, just a clip show from the series, but why do they do so well? Surely even if the creative teams can’t put a stop to it or encourage an original production, the Japanese fan base should be up in arms over the lack of effort being put into their anime!

(more…)

The Los Angeles Times’ blog reports that Japanese anime production studios BONES, Casio Entertainment, Production I.G, Studio 4°C, and Toei Animation have been commissioned by Microsoft to produce an animated anthology film titled Halo Legends. Appleseed movie director Shinji Aramaki will serve as the film’s creative director and direct one of the film’s stories. Microsoft’s 343 Industries, the department in charge of the Halo shooting game franchise, is giving the anime studios free reign over the visual appearance of the animation, but, according to 343 Industries’ creative director Frank O’Connor, “Depending on the studio, we did everything from writing the stories to feeding them with characters and scenarios they could explore.”

A preview trailer will be screened at this weekend’s San Diego Comic Con. The shorts will then be released on the Xbox Live service this fall, followed by DVD & Blu-ray from Warner Bros. early next year.

Source: IGN

Viz Media has launched its Shonen Sunday website with exclusive English translated first chapters of Yuu Watase’s Arata the Legend, Haro Aso’s Hyder & Closer, and Kotaro Isaka and Megumi Osuga’s Maoh: Juvenile Remix manga series; the 13th chapter of Rumiko Takahashi’s RIN-NE; and the first chapter of Yellow Tanabe’s Kekkaishi. Kekkaishi is the only one of these titles to have been previously available in English.

Source: Anime News Network

Kyoto Animation has announced, via its Suzumiya Haruhi web page and a streaming trailer, that the fourth volume of the current Japanese Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu DVD release will contain episode 8: Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody (Sasa no Ha Rhapsody) – the first “second season” episode – plus supplemental features. A regular edition release retailing at 3,780 yen will include episode 8, non-credit ending, TV spots, promotional videos, an Aya Hirano music video, and other supplemental video. A two-disc limited edition retailing at 4,830 yen will include a second DVD with the exclusive first episode of “Taniguchi ga Iku. Fushigi Hakken no Tabi” (Taniguchi Go. Strange Journey of Discovery), the first SOS Dan theme song album, first SOS Dan memories album, a postcard, coaster, and bookmark.

Wow. Really? $38 for just episode 8 on DVD?

Source: Moon Phase

Prolific anime and live-action television scriptwriter Susumu Takaku died of acute respiratory failure on Wednesday, July 22, at 10:58 am. He was 76. Takaku’s work included scripts for TV anime including Cutey Honey, Devilman, Mazinger Z, Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro, Hyakujuu Ou Golion, and the screenplays for the Mazinger Z vs. Devilman and first Fist of the North Star motion pictures. Takaku also wrote for Capcom’s Biohazard 2 and Onimusha 2 video games.

Source: Anime News Network