The official website for CG animator/director Jun Awazu’s upcoming feature film Planzet has released its first teaser trailer. The movie will see limited Japanese theatrical release next year. Awazu made waves in the anime scene with his independently produced 2005 short film Negadon: The Monster From Mars.
So the human character renders aren’t the best we’ve seen, but this still promises to be quite thrilling.
A five episode TV anime adaptation of writer Katsuhiro Otomo & illustrator Shinji Kimura’s 2001 picture book Hipira-kun will air as part of the NHK’s BS Fuyu Yasumi Anime Tokusen program on the 21st through 25th. The story about the adventures of young vampire boy Hipira who lives in Salta, the city of vampires, was published in English by Dark Horse Comics in 2005 under the title “Hipira: The Little Vampire.”
Katsuhiro Otomo is best known as the creator of Akira & Steamboy. Shinji Kimura directed the “Deathtic 4″ segment of the anime film Genius Party and is directing the Hipira anime at Sunrise studios.
“Deathtic 4″ was awesome and this looks like it’ll be equally great, judging by the screenshots on the official site. What a nice Christmas gift!
Source: Anime News Network
A website has opened to officially announce Studio Deen‘s anime adaptation of the Starry Sky drama CD and game franchise from honeybee. Kiyoko Sayama (Vampire Knight) will direct the web anime series that stars 12 handsome men that exhibit the attributes of the 12 signs of the zodiac. The anime series will be streamed to Japanese viewers through the Animate.tv website and to mobile devices beginning next year.
Not coincidentally, Studio Deen also animates the Animate.tv exclusive Hetalia ~ Axis Powers anime series that personifies world nations as (mostly) handsome men.
Source: Moon Phase Diary
Reportedly next week’s issue of Shonen Jump magazine will formally announce that an anime TV series adaptation of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata’s current manga series Bakuman will air on the NHK-Educational channel next year. Bakuman is a story about two high school boys aiming to become Japan’s greatest manga creation team. Ohba & Obata previously partnered to create the Death Note manga series.
Source: Anime News Network
During its 2010 Bushiroad Senryaku Happyo-kai publicity event held yesterday, card & software game developer Bushiroad announced that its Tantei Opera Milky Holmes franchise will get an anime adaptation.
Source: Anime News Network
A trailer for the live action feature film adaptation of Inio Asano’s acclaimed 2005 drama manga Solanin has appeared on the film’s official website. The movie is scheduled for Japanese theatrical release in April. Viz distributes the original manga in English.
Question:
I’ve read many of your articles pertaining to copyright infringement on anime, but how does that apply to cosplay? If a fan were to dress up as their favorite character, I don’t think that would infringe on intellectual property, but what about selling the costumes? Morally and legally, to sell a costume or prop of a copyrighted design is wrong, even if the fan is not competing with a current product from an anime or gaming company, as a company primarily focuses on digital media, figures, and art books. So, I was just wondering how the industry feels about fans or commissioners who make costumes or props for other fans, as I’ve noticed how SquareEnix has dealt with major sword vendors who have profited off intellectual property.
Japanese record producer Starchild has opened its official website for the upcoming Arakawa Under the Bridge anime television series. The site features a quirky live action teaser trailer. The show is scheduled to premiere in April.
Source: Moon Phase
The official website for the Keroro Gunso movie franchise has updated with a teaser trailer and announcement that the series’ fifth feature, Chou Gekijouban Keroro Gunso Tanjo! Kyukyoku Keroro Kiseki no Jikujima de Arimasu! (Super Movie Keroro Gunso Birth! It’s the Ultimate Keroro Miraculous Space-Time Island!!) will premiere on February 27 as a double-feature with the Cho Denei-ban SD Gundam Sangokuden Brave Battle Warriors movie.
Source: Anime News Network
The new SD Gundam anime production announced last October will be a feature film double-billed with the fifth Keroro Gunso movie. Cho Denei-ban SD Gundam Sangokuden Brave Battle Warriors (Super Movie Edition SD Gundam Three Kingdoms War Era Brave Battle Warriors) will depict living squashed Gundam robots as heroes from the Chinese Romance of the Three Kingdoms war epic. Kunihiro Mori (Kenran Butosai, Shonen Onmyouji) and Kenichi Suzuki (SD Gundam Force CG director) are co-directing the movie.
Source: Anime News Network
Fan blog Tokyo Scum Brigade has published the first half of its six part interview with living legend manga creator Kazuo Umezu. Umezu is best known for his prolific body of horror manga and his iconic gag comedy character Makoto-chan, a predecessor of Yoshito Usui’s Crayon Shin-chan.
Interview part one
Interview part two
Interview part three
Source: Same Hat! blog
Question:
Is there a good reason why There were only 4 Okane Ga Nai OVAs, leaving the tale quite incomplete, compared to the ongoing status of the manga? It seems that a lot of yaois face this issue, such as Maiden Rose most recently. Is the fan base for yaoi too small to be worth pleasing? Series like a lot of the Tales anime don’t keep too much fandom after the first few episodes from what I’ve heard, and yet some of them reach over 12 episodes.
So I guess my question is why don’t yaois get the chance to flourish, when animes that could be equally as explicit (except with females) get more air time?
In 2005 California based animation studio Cybergraphix Animation announced its development of Guardians of Luna, an original 26 episode animated series created by Cybergraphix CEO Avi Melman and Michael Reaves, screenwriter for series including Batman: The Animated Series, Gargoyles, & Mighty Orbots. The series was to be animated by Japan based studio Tokyo Kids (Gakuen Heaven, Zoids: Fuzors). Cybergraphix now plans to launch the production next year as a feature length film animated by Japan’s studio A.P.P.P. (Risky Safety, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures). The film about four heroes with the ability to transform into werewolves forced protect their ancestral power from the designs of a ruthless mogul will be distributed on American DVD & BD by FUNimation.
Source: Anime News Network & ICv2
Digital Manga Publishing’s 801 Media label has acquired the translation and distribution rights to Mika Sadahiro’s 2005 yaoi manga Under Grand Hotel. The first of two extra large 320+ page books will retail at $24.95 beginning in June. The popular boy love story revolves around two inmates who partner for romance and survival in an infamous underground prison.
The Moon Phase Diary fan site reports that Sanri Yoko’s risqué 4-koma manga series B Gata H Kei (“B-Type H-Style” or loosely, “B-Type H-person”) will be getting an anime TV series adaptation. The story revolves around a sexually inexperienced schoolgirl who dreams about her 100 sexual fantasies. The ongoing manga series premiered in 2004. The series’ sixth collected volume was published in Japan last April.
