Kotaku has secured the Comic Con promotional posters for the upcoming Halo Legends anime project.
Yup. This really does look like a rather unique perspective on Halo.
Article provided by Daniel Zelter
Japanese media company Impress reports Manga delivered to cell phones accounted for around $345 million in sales in Japan in 2008, a 43% increase from 2007. This sales gain opposes continuing sales declines in traditional print media in Japan. Reportedly josei manga intended primarily for young adult women is one of Japan’s fastest growing genres in digital manga.
Source: ICv2
Salon.com has an intriguing article up on the subject of the global recession not only driving more Japanese women into the professional hostess profession, but the increase itself possibly evolving the Japanese society’s perspective on the profession.
Article provided by Daniel Zelter
Question:
Why do anime fans hate the Kawajiri Highlander, while Highlander fans think it’s the best one since the first movie? Did people in the former group expect another X TV or something?
Studio Pierrot’s current shoujo romance anime Hanasakeru Seishonen will premiere on Crunchyroll for North American viewers at noon on Sunday, August 9th. The series’ first episode and its latest 16th episode will premiere online Sunday. New weekly Japanese episodes, along with episodes 2-15 will premiere every following Sunday.
Anime Innovation Tokyo, a production initiative that sponsors short anime films from independent, talented, upcoming animators, has released a new “long version” trailer for the Hokkaido-based Picograph studio’s sci-fi racing action film Tailenders. The project has been in development for a least a year, and doesn’t have a release date. However, the Anime Innovation Tokyo sponsored short film Cencoroll was in development for over two years before getting scheduled for a public release.
Tailenders is the story of promising race car driver Tomoe Shiro. When he nearly dies in an accident, he’s saved by having his natural heart replaced with the core of his car’s engine. However, now deemed deemed an automobile part, he’s banned from racing as a driver. So Shiro migrates to a distant frontier planet where racers barred from sanctioned racing are allowed to drive.
This looks like a really thrilling hybrid of the styles of manga-ka Sin-Ichi Hiromoto and animator Takeshi Koike. Hopefully we won’t have to wait years to actually see this.
Source: Manganimation
The TV Tokyo network has revealed that it will begin broadcasting the Uchurei television anime series this Sunday, August 9th. The show is a comedy about Takashi, a high school boy who adopts the ghost of a space alien (uchujin no yurei) as a pet that he names “Uchurei.” The animation production is from studio ROBOT CAGE, which has been affiliated with acclaimed anime productions including Stray Sheep, Nanami-chan, and La Maison en Petits Cubes. The show will be 12 five-minute weekly episode.
Source: Anime News Network
The Okinawa based Ryukyu Shinpo newspaper has announced that Kokoro Momo’s four-panel comic strip Gajumaru Family will be adapted into anime by the local Okinawa Digital Motion studio based in Uruma City. About 300 strips in the manga serial about the daily life of an Okinawa family has been published in the Ryukyu Shinpo newspaper since 2004.
The animation production will be funded by a stipend from the Japanese government’s stimulus grant to revitalize employment throughout the country. The initial anime will be a three episode series, with an estimated 300 to 500 copies of each episode produced on DVD. About half of the DVDs will be distributed for free to local residents. The remainder will be used for nationwide promotional purposes. Okinawa Digital Motion anticipates expanding the Gajumaru Family anime adaptation into a major commercial production within two years following the premiere of the initial anime adaptation.
Source: Anime News Network
The Yomiuri Newspaper is now streaming its 15 second “Fuusen Gum-suke to Wakaru” anime TV commercial which was produced by Studio Ghibli and directed by Ged Senki director Goro Miyazaki.
The Yomiuri paper is also streaming the earlier Ghibli produced “Ghibli Kawara” anime TV ad.
Source: Nausicaa.net
Yahoo Movies has begun streaming the second US trailer for Ponyo, which opens theatrically on the 14th. I don’t mean to sound negative about a new Studio Ghibli film getting a significant American distribution effort, but this second trailer really sounds dumbed down. More specifically, it gives me the impression that all of the beautiful subtlety and uniquely Japanese “naturalness” of the film’s universe have been eliminated in favor of expository dialogue. I hope I’m mistaken, and the whole English dubbed film will actually reflect the intuitive charm of the original Japanese version. But both US trailers have really given me the impression that the English dub has all the subtlety and nuance of a sledgehammer.
Fan site GhibliWorld now hosts a transcript of Hayao Miyazaki’s on-stage interview conducted by Tokyo University professor Roland Kelts during Miyazaki’s acceptance of the 2009 Berkeley Japan Prize. This particular interview is exceptional because while Miyazaki has never hesitated to express his sometimes very opinionated thoughts, he rarely discusses himself as an artist in this extent of forthrightness and detail. It’s a fascinating look into the mind and personality of one of the world’s most revered film makers discussing his work.
ICv2 has published exclusive interviews with the co-creators of the Ultimo manga series, Hiroyuki Takei and Stan Lee.
Japan’s Blu-ray Disc Association picked 15 anime series and asked Japanese respondents to choose the one they most wanted released on Blu-ray. The results:
The Mainichi Newspaper reports that as of July 28, two million viewers have watched the Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance motion picture in the 120 Japanese theaters screening the film. A “Manatsu no Goaisatsu Campaign” to thank viewers for their patronage will launch on August 8th when movie viewers at select theaters will receive a free set of 3 “thank you” postcards. Exclusive second and third post card sets will be distributed to theatergoers beginning on the 14th and 22nd.
Nice way to get repeat viewers.
The Sankei Sports Newspaper reports that Kenji Yokoi (Watch Me) will direct actor/musician Shinji Takeda (Gohatto) in a live action feature film adaptation of Hiroshi Mutou’s action drama manga series Kyou Kara Hitman. The 2006 and ongoing manga is the story of a salaryman who gets mixed up in the death of a legendary hitman, consequently and inadvertently becoming the killer’s successor. In addition to starring, Takeda will also compose and perform the movie’s theme song, “The Hitman.” The movie is tentatively scheduled to open this fall.
Source: Anime News Network
