AnimeNation Anime News Blog

The Japanese branch of online retailer Amazon is now streaming a 95 second episode of the upcoming Haiyore! Nyaruani OAD. The full length 20 minute long Flash anime will be released on March 17 as a premium packaged with limited edition copies of Manta Aisora’s fourth Haiyore! Nyaruko-san light novel. The comedy story stars the cute silver-haired girl Nyaruko-san who is actually the ancient monster god Nyarlathotep (from author H.P. Lovecraft’s “Cthulhu mythos”).

Source: Moon Phase

The homepage for this spring’s Kaicho wa Maid-sama! television series is now streaming the trailer initially released at last month’s Comic Market convention. The romantic comedy about a high school boy who discovers that his strict student council president secretly works part time in a made café will premiere in April.

Source: Anime News Network

The homepage for Production I.G’s upcoming anime film Bungaku Shoujo is now streaming its second theatrical trailer. The movie opens on May 1st.

Source: Moon Phase

Well Go USA has announced a March 30 domestic DVD release for the 2007 romantic fantasy action drama film Negative Happy Chainsaw Edge. The live action adaptation Tatsuhiko Takimoto’s best selling novel tells the story of a high school boy who falls in love with a mysterious girl who regularly fights a chainsaw wielding maniac.

Source: Kung Fu Cinema

Article provided by Daniel Zelter

Question:
Why is Kanamemo not popular? I know that there were a lot of other shows that grabbed attention last year (K-On!, Saki, and Haruhi S2) but I really enjoyed the show Kanamemo and yet unlike the other shows I listed above, there is no figures/statues from the series and apparently is was quite disliked on 2ch from what I heard. It had everything that otaku would like, so what gives?

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Sentai Filmworks has announced its acquisition of distribution rights to the Gintama, Hidamari Sketch x 365, Asatte no Houkou, and Le Portrait de Petite Cossette anime series.

Sentai released the first Hidamari Sketch TV series domestically earlier this month. The second TV series, Hidamari Sketch x 365, will be released in a 14 episode DVD collection on April 6 that includes the 12 episode TV series and both TV specials.

The 2006 romantic drama television series Asatte no Houkou will be released in a complete 12 episode DVD collection under the title “Living for the Day After Tomorrow” on April 13.

The 3 episode Le Portrait de Petite Cossette OVA series from 2004 was released on a single American DVD by Geneon in 2005. Sentai’s re-release will hit on April 20.

The currently airing Gintama TV series, which has broadcast 192 episodes in Japan since its 2006 premiere, has been simulcast on Crunchyroll since January 2009. Sentai Filmwork’s first 13 episode DVD collection will hit shelves on April 27.

Bandai Entertainment has announced that its Kanngai DVD complete collection will hit mass market on April 6 at a $59.98 SRP. The two discs contained in this DVD complete collection were released last summer at a $34.98 per volume SRP. In July 2009 Bandai Entertainment Director of Marketing Robert Napton stated, “When we do make this sub only version available to the mass retailers at some point down the line it will be the same product for a HIGHER SRP – not less expensive.”

I’m not sayin’. I’m just sayin’.

ICv2 has published a lengthy 3 part interview with Viz Media’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing Gonzalo Ferreyra.

The Hana Kappa anime TV series, based on Tadashi Akiyama’s children’s manga Hana Kappa-kun, will premiere on the NHK-Educational public television channel on March 29. New episodes will air every week day. Hana Kappa-kun is a story about Hana Kappa, a kappa (mythical Japanese monster) with a flower (hana) growing on his head, his family, and the village he lives in.

Akiyama is also the creator of the Mameushi-kun manga about the daily life of a tiny cow which was adapted into an anime television series in 2007.

Source: Anime News Network

The seventh volume of Kanata Konami’s Chi’s Sweet Home manga will be released on April 23 in a regular edition and a limited edition that includes an exclusive 10 minute long anime episode on DVD. The OVA episode will be the first animated appearance of Kochi, the new cat character originally introduced in manga volume 6. The cast and staff of the 2008 & 2009 television series will reassemble for the OAD.

Source: Anime News Network

Japanese Flash animation studio, in collaboration with the regional government of the northern Japanese prefecture of Aomori and the non-profit organization Jomonism, is producing an anime adaptation of writer Hiroyuki Aihara & illustrator Fuyuko Shimoda’s picture book Kukkuru ~Hikari no Michi~, which depicts a stylized vision of the Aomori region during the prehistoric Jomon period (14,000 BCE to 400 BCE). The anime intended to generate interest in the historcal relics and ruins of the Jomon era. A 20 second trailer for the anime production has been officially uploaded to YouTube.

Fanworks created original promotional anime for the Toyama Tourism Anime Project last year.

Source: Anime News Network

Starchild’s official homepage for the current Hanamaru Youchien anime television series now hosts a 90 second workprint video of the “Panda Neko Taiso” (Panda Cat Calisthenics) exercise video.

Source: Rakugakidou

Pop Japan Travel is now accepting reservations for participation in its 2010 Tokyo International Anime Fair Tour. The tour will include visits to Akihabara and Nakano Broadway, admission to the Ghibli Museum, an exclusive visit to an animation studio, admission to the Tokyo International Anime Fair, and more. The tour is scheduled to take place from March 24 until April 1. The cost of the tour will be $1985 and includes all accommodations, round trip airfare to Japan from Los Angeles, dinner in a cosplay-themed restaurant, transportation, professional bilingual tour guides, entrance fees to all activities, and a customized guidebook created exclusively for the tour. Reservations must be made by February 23.

Connecticon, Connecticut’s largest pop-culture convention of 2010, has announced its first round of guests. Voice actors Carlos Ferro and Daniel Kevin Harrison, as well as several webcomic artists will attend the con.

Carlos Ferro has starred in video games including Gears of War, Gears of War 2, The Godfather II, and Assassin’s Creed 2. Anime fans know him as the evil Thomas Waltham from Golgo 13: Queen Bee.

Daniel Kevin Harrison is an actor, producer, and writer with voice acting credits in anime including Gokudo, Gravitation, Madara, Shingu, and KO Beast.

The following webcomic artists will be returning to Connecticon as guests of honor:

Brian Clevinger – 8-Bit Theater
Tim Buckly – Ctrl+Alt+Del
Michael “Mookie” Terracciano – Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire
Ananth Panagariya & Mohammad “Hawk” Haque – Applegeeks
Scott Ramsoomair – VG Cats

Pre-registration for this year’s Connecticon is now open. The convention will be held at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford from July 9-11.

Question:
How do you think today’s landscape of anime differs from the landscape of, say, 15 years ago? What kinds of series, movies and OAVs were more prevalent back then in comparison to now?

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