The ninth Japanese DVD/BD volume of the current Fullmetal Alchemist television series, scheduled for release on April 21, will include an unaired bonus episode. The series’ first and fifth home video releases have included exclusive bonus short episodes. The show’s first domestic DVD/BD release will hit on May 25.
Source: Anime News Network
While the third Eagle Talon anime feature film, Himitsu Kessha Taka no Tsume The Movie 3 ~http://takanotsume.jp wa Eien ni~, premiered last month, the film will promote its successful ongoing theatrical release by giving away 10,000 free original DVDs to viewers that see the film beginning this Saturday. The DVD title “This Is Itto” (This is the Best), is a pun on the title of 2009 Michael Jackson documentary film This Is It, which has been highly successful in Japan. The DVD will contain exclusive content including an animated adaptation of the “0-Kan Mitainano” short manga that was given away to movie patrons when the film initially opened.
Source: Anime News Network
Square Enix has announced that Bones’ and co-creator Stan Lee’s shounen robot adventure anime television series Heroman will premiere in April. The manga version of the story by artist Tamon Ota has been ongoing since last August.
Source: Anime News Network
Question:
Why in action anime series when a military weapon has multiple missiles, guns, etc. do they all get fired at once? For example, in any Gundam series if a mobile suit, armor, etc. has multiple missile ports, machine guns, or beam weapons they are all fired at once?
FUNimation has confirmed its acquisition of domestic distribution rights to the current Dragon Ball Kai anime television series, which will be released in America under the revised title “Dragon Ball Z Kai.” The domestic release will debut in this fiscal year, which may be as late as spring 2011.
The ongoing Dragon Ball Kai, which premiered on Japanese television on April 5, 2009, is the 1989 Dragon Ball Z television series recut to adhere closer to the pacing of Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama’s original manga. Dragon Ball Kai includes remastered high definition video cropped to widescreen, digitally enhanced effects & select re-animated footage, newly recorded Japanese dialogue, new theme music and credits sequences, and select censored shots of graphic violence that were not censored in the 1989 broadcast.
I suppose new acquisitions are always a good thing, but after releasing the archival Dragon Box edition in America, I don’t see the advantage of following it with the censored version. Proof below.
Toei’s homepage for the upcoming Heartcatch Precure television series is now streaming a trailer for the series’ first episode. Heartcatch Precure, the seventh Pretty Cure series, will premiere on the 7th.
This really looks and feels like Ojamajo Doremi meets Pretty Cure. There’s also no fighting in the trailer at all, so I wonder if this will be an entirely new kind of Pretty Cure anime that emphasizes comedy over action.
Reportedly the March issue of Monthly Dragon Age Magazine will formally confirm the development of an anime based on writer Daisuke Sato & illustrator Shoji Sato’s popular horror/action manga series Highschool of the Dead. The ongoing manga that launched in 2007 is a story about high school students attempting to survive a zombie apocalypse.
Maybe I should finally get around to reading some of this.
Source: Anime News Network
The March issue of Jump Square magazine, which goes on sale in Japan this week, will formally announce that the fifth volume of Yamato Yamamoto’s manga adaptation of Kentaro Katayama’s light novel series Kure-nai will be released on July 2 in an optional limited edition version that includes a new Kurenai anime episode on DVD. The Kurenai light novel series was adapted into a 12 episode anime television series in 2008.
Source: Anime News Network
Japanese publisher Kodansha has announced that the 24th volume of Tomoko Ninomiya’s Nodame Cantabile manga series will be released on April 26 in a regular edition and a limited edition that will include an original anime episode on DVD and an audio CD of Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute, which is prominent in the story contained within the manga volume.
The 22nd volume of the Nodame Cantabile manga, released last August, included the series’ first OAD release.
Source: Anime News Network
The Shoka (Calligrapher) anime TV special will air on the Animax anime channel on March 27. The special is an adaptation of writer Kenji Saido’s story concept, which won last year’s 7th annual Animax Grand Prize competition for aspiring anime screenwriters. Each of the previous 6 winning entries has been animated as a TV special. Shoka is animated by Production I.G under the direction of Makoto Yamada (You’re Under Arrest OAV series).
Shoka is a supernatural action story set in feudal Japan revolving around a school of sumi artists whose secret drawing techniques cause them to become pulled into political power struggles in Edo, the pre-Tokyo capitol of Japan.
The previous Animax Grand Prize winning anime TV specials have been:
2003: Super Kuma-san, created by Hiromasa Tani & animated by Toei
2004: Azusa, Otetsudai Shimasu!, created by Yuuko Kawabe & animated by TMS
2005: Hotori ~Tada Saiwai wo Koinegau~, created by Maya Miyazaki & animated by Sunrise
2006: Lily to Kaeru to, created by Ikuko Yoshinari & animated by Toei
2007: Yumedamaya Kidan, created by Tsukino Akari & animated by Production I.G
2008: Takane no Jitensha, created by Hayato Takamaga & animated by A-1 Pictures
Source: Anime News Network
X Japan band leader Yoshiki has revealed that his group has agreed to perform during the Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago from August 6 to 8. The band will be the first Japanese group to ever play on the festival’s main stage. The appearance will be the 28 year old group’s first American concert appearance.
Phil, give me a call. Let’s start making travel plans.
Source: Tokyograph
Looks like Japan isn’t the only country to be developing an animated zombie apocalypse. A.D. comes courtesy of creator/writer Haylar Garcia, director Ben Hibon (director of of spectacular MTV Asia short Code Hunters), and Land of the Dead producer Bernie Goldmann. It’s being developed as a feature length film.
Zombie Info hosts an exclusive interview with the film’s creator and producers.
Question:
With the announcement of another Negima?! OAD to be released, I wonder if we will get to see any of them either with domestic manga releases or stand alone DVDs? What’s the possibility of getting the Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei and KissXSis OADs?
Crunchyroll has announced plans to begin officially streaming subtitled episodes of the current Phantom Thief Reinya (Kaito Reinya) anime television series this Friday. The series’ first 3 episodes will become available to all worldwide viewers (outside of Japan) on Crunchyroll at 8:50am PST this Friday. One new episode will debut on Crunchyroll every Friday thereafter.
Reinya, the cat burgler protagonist of the series is modeled after Morning Musume member Reina Tanaka, who also provides Reinya’s voice.
