AnimeNation Anime News Blog

During yesterday’s “Rio Super Carnival” publicity event, Japanese game developer Tecmo announced that popular mascot character Rio will star in an anime production tentatively titled “Rio.” The female casino card dealer Rio, and associated characters, were designed by Tecmo and debuted in the 2003 pachi-slo (pachinko slot machine) arcade game Super Black Jack, developed by Net. Since her first appearance, Rio has become tremendously popular, appearing in manga, spin-off games including Rio Carnival (2005), Rio Paradise (2007), and Rio 2 -Cruising Vanadis- (2009), collectible figures and other character goods. Rio will also appear in the Dead or Alive Paradise game for the PSP, due out in Japan on April 2.

Considering how popular Rio is, I’m surprised that it took so long for an anime to get green-lit.

Source: Anime News Network

Question:
Does “third time the charm” finally apply to Fist of the North Star? While the movie has had a cult following here, the show and the manga have had problems catching on in the U.S. Changed opening aside, Manga’s DVDs had higher episode counts than the norm for singles back then, and the series still bombed for the company! And yet, Discotek has pressed on with the goal of releasing the series in four chunks. While sales might be helped by Fist finally getting “mass” exposure in the U.S. via Crunchyroll, Zac at Anime News Network might have a point about how viewers might be more reluctant to pay for what they can currently get for free.

Nonetheless, the optimist in me thinks Fist TV is actually getting re-released at the right time. Not just because there’s a potential newer fan-base for the franchise, but because there’s a sort of zeitgeist appeal to his character which might not have existed 8-12 years ago. I’m hoping Discotek exploits it; outside of “Taken,” there’s definitely been a serious lack of a well-received “Death Wish”-like archetype consumers can embrace. And given the anger over the bank bail-outs and tepid economic recovery, Kenshiro satiates that public need for vindication which did not exist until now. Does that argument sound plausible?

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NIS America, the American subsidiary of Japanese video game developer Nippon Ichi Software, has announced plans to launch anime distribution in North America. NIS America’s initial four titles will be Toradora!, Persona -trinity soul-, Pandora Hearts, and Our Home’s Fox Deity (Wagaya no Oinari-sama). Releases will get physical distribution with collector’s items beginning later this year.

Good shows that have taken too long to reach America. It’s certainly surprising to see them coming from a new distributor, though.

The homepage for the upcoming Eiga Precure All-Stars DX 2: Kibou no Hikari ~ Rainbow Jewel wo Mamore! (Movie Pretty Cure All Stars Deluxe 2: Light of Hope ~ Protect the Rainbow Jewel!) motion picture has added a new streaming trailer. The trailer specifically reveals that the movie will feature all 17 cure soldiers, including Cure Blossom & Cure Marine from the brand new Heartcatch Precure television series. The second Precure All Stars movie will hit Japanese theaters on March 20.

Reportedly a new Jewelpet anime series will premiere on April 3rd. The Moon Phase Diary reports that the second series will introduce a new cast of human characters while the jewelpets will carry over. Furthermore, Studio Comet, which animates the current first Jewelpet television anime series, will also animate the second series, but the new series will be staffed by a mostly new production crew. The current series is directed by Nanako Sasaki. The second series will be directed by Yamamoto Takashi (Final Approach, Nanatsuiro Drops).

Source: Anime News Network

Question:
I was wondering if you know which anime are only available on VHS? I need a list.

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The Sankei Sports newspaper reports that Arashi band member Satoshi Ohno will star in a live-action television adaptation of Fujiko Fujio A’s 1965 supernatural adventure comedy manga Kaibutsu-kun (Li’l Monster). Ohno will star as Kaibutsu-kun, the prince of Monster Land who spends time in the human world as training to eventually become king of the monster world. The original manga was adapted into anime television series in 1968 & 1980, and into an anime film in 1981. The live action television series will premiere in April.

Source: Anime News Network

Mr. Christopher Handley, the 39 year-old Iowa resident who plead guilty in May 2009 to charges of possession of obscene material and mailing obscene material, has been sentenced to serve six months in prison followed by three years of supervised release and five years of concurrent probation. Mr. Handley will also have to participate in mental health treatment program during his supervised release, intended to diagnose and treat sexual/gender identity and/or other mental health issues.

The material possessed by Mr. Handley which was ruled obscene by the Iowa Southern District court included over 80 Japanese manga. The offending material contained depictions of children engaged in sexual activity, sexual abuse of minors, and bestiality. However, Mr. Handley was not charged with any counts of sex crimes or child pornography. Mr. Handley will not be registered as a sex offender.

This is an unfortunate blow to the freedom of creative expression, but this case involves only charges of legal obscenity, not charges of child pornography. Legal obscenity is defined as any material that, within the relevant community, appeals predominantly to ‘prurient’ interest, depicts or describes sexual conduct in an offensive way, and lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value. In effect, exactly what constitutes “legal obscenity” varies by community within the United States.

Source: Anime News Network

The DC Anime Club will host a costume creation workshop called “Cosplay Corner” at the Martin Luthur King, Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, DC, on Saturday, February 20. DC Anime Club members will provide cosplay tips, including creating costumes and making props, places to acquire materials, and acting in character. The event is free and open to all participants ages 13 and up. For more information please call (703) 655-1412 visit the DC Anime Club website.

The Massachusetts Instutute of Technology will host a free, open to the public screening of director Mamoru Hosoda’s 2009 anime film Summer Wars on March 1 at 7pm. The director and producer of the film will attend the screening and take questions afterwards.

Article provided by Daniel Zelter

Gamespot reports that Xseed Games has acquired the domestic publishing rights to SNK’s latest Samurai Spirits fighting game, Samurai Spirits: Sen. The Xbox 360 exclusive full 3D game, the third of the eleven Samurai Spirits games produced in 3D, will debut in America later this spring under the title “Samurai Shodown Sen.”

Article provided by Daniel Zelter

The opening animation sequence for Max Factory’s new adult PC game se.Kirara is now streaming. The original anime was produced by AIC (Sasameki Koto, Sora no Otoshimono). In a surprise move, Max Factory has announced that the complete, full length adult visual novel game will be released online for free on March 26. A limited edition that includes a Figma action figure will be sold for 2,800 yen. The game’s release will be supplemented by a variety of character goods and other merchandise.

Source: Canned Dogs & Rakugakidou

The cover of the April 2010 issue of Kiss Magazine has announced that Akiko Higashimura’s award nominated josei (young women’s) manga series Kuragehime (Jellyfish Princess) will be adapted into an anime television series. The 2008 and ongoing manga revolves around Tsukimi Kurashita, a jellyfish otaku who lives in a women-only apartment complex. When she meets a fashionable lady who rescues a jellyfish, Kurashita invites her new friend to become her room-mate, only to later discover that the “fashionable lady” is actually a man in drag. The Kuragehime anime will air later this year in the Fuji TV network’s late night Noitamina time slot.

Source: Anime News Network

The Tokyo International Anime Fair website has revealed word that Japanese based Korean animation studio Union Cho is developing an anime feature film adaptation of British author Eleanor Farjeon’s 1955 short story “The King’s Daughter Cries for the Moon.” The fantasy story about a princess who longs to reach the moon and disappears one night, and clamor her disappearance causes throughout the kingdom, first appeared in Farjeon’s short story collection The Little Bookroom, which won the Hans Christian Andersen Award and the Carnegie Medal. Union Cho’s anime adaptation, titled The Moon – Tsuki ga Hoshii to Ojousama ga Naita, will premiere next spring.

Source: Anime News Network

Exhibitor notes for this year’s Tokyo International Anime Fair reveal that Flash animation production studio Iyasakado Film (Kotatsu Neko, Unko-san) is developing a feature film based on Waka Sakamoto and L.A. Tomari’s hobby craft book Sock Monkey Loves You (Sock Monkey wa Kimi ga Suki). The 2007 book introduces Japanese readers to the Western convention of turning socks into stuffed monkey dolls.

The publisher’s page, linked above, offers a 3 page sample of the bilingual English/Japanese book.

Source: Anime News Network