On September 30 pachislo (pachinko-slot machine) machine developer/manufacturer Oizumi will formally purchase a 95% share of anime production studio AIC (Anime International Company) for 530 million yen ($6.3 million USD). Opened on July 15, 1982, AIC has produced popular anime including Gall Force, Bubblegum Crisis, Tenchi Muyo, Sora no Otoshimono, Strike Witches 2, and Asobi ni Ikuyo.
Source: Anime News Network
28 year-old former adult video actress Mihiro will star in a live action film adaptation of Ryokuji Yoshizawa’s single volume 2008 manga Zannen na Ko, Non-chan (Unfortunate Girl Non-chan). The manga series revolves around junior high school girl Non-chan. She’s cute, has good friends, and seemingly has nothing to be unhappy about. Except unfortunate things constantly happen to her. The movie will go straight to home video beginning this winter.
Source: Tokyograph
ICv2 has published an interview with Bitway General Manager of International Business Strategy Masaaki Shimizu. Bitway is one of Japan’s leaders in digital manga distribution and has partnered with San Francsico based Crunchyroll to develop new digital manga monetization and distribution software.
To refresh your memory or introduce you to an interesting opening animation sequence, I offer the opening for the 2007 television series Mononoke. The theme song is “Kagen no Tsuki” performed by Ryouta Komatsu and Charlie Kosei.
Question:
In mid-2009 Gonzo’s stock was finally delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange when the company’s total liabilities were revealed to exceed their total financial assets. From a business perspective, are most animation studios publicly traded? Aren’t most studios simply subsidiaries of larger parents, and was this the case with Gonzo? Is this situation unique to Gonzo, or is this common among animation studios? Finally, is this the end of Gonzo, or will they be back soon?
Anime production studio ufotable (Manabi Straight!, Kara no Kyoukai) has announced its participation in the commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the Animate specialty store’s mascot character Anime Tenchou. The 10th anniversary celebration will consist of 10 projects. Ufotable will produce at least two of them: the first and third.
Project 01 is an “Anime Tenchou Gekijouban” (Anime Manager Movie) commercial. Project 03 will be a short “Anime Tenchou Collabo 10-ban Shoubu Round 1″ anime featuring both Anime Tenchou and characters from the massively popular doujin shooting game franchise Touhou Project. This will be the first Touhou anime produced by a major commercial anime studio. Both short anime will premiere on November 20 at the ANIMATE Ichioshi Bishoujo Matsuri publicity event in Tokyo.
Touhou Project creator ZUN has responded to the announcement saying that the Anime Tenchou/Touhou anime cross-over is a “derivative work” which he recognizes and allows but has no involvement in.
Hideaki (Evangelion) Anno & Hiroyuki (Gurren Lagann) Imaishi created the original 2002 Anime Tenchou promotional video – seen below – based on Kazuhiko Shimamoto’s manga.
Source: Anime News Network
Next week Monthly Comic Dengeki Daioh magazine will formally reveal that an anime adaptation of kashmir’s surreal gag comedy manga Yuri Seijin Naoko-san (Lesbian Citizen Naoko-san). The manga, which premiered in 2005, stars Misuzu, a girl who thinks her older sister Naoko is coming from from studying overseas. However, who appears isn’t Misuzu’s older sister Naoko, but rather Naoko-san, an alien girl from the planet Yuri who is enamoured with lolicon & lesbianism.
Apparently the anime adaptation will be an OAD animated by ufotable (Manabi Straight!, Kara no Kyoukai) and released on December 10th with limited edition copies of the third collected volume of the manga.
Source: Anime News Network
Shukufuku no Campenella television series director Shinji Ushiro and voice actress Asami Imai (Chelsea) formally announced yesterday that they’re now working on a forthcoming OVA for the series. The 12 episode TV series ended last week.
Source: Anime News Network
To refresh your memory or introduce you to an interesting opening animation sequence, I offer the only-used-once second opening for the 1986 Maison Ikkoku TV series. The theme song is Gilbert O’Sullivan’s “Alone Again.”
Question:
For a variety of reasons, I have long since lost all interest in anime and manga. I loved Maison Ikkoku and Kimagure Orange Road and wanted to know if there is anything even remotely similar to them in the recent past or present, though I suspect that kind of story and style died when the 80′s ended.
The homepage for the Toaru Majutsu no Index anime franchise has released a streaming 15 second edit of the previously released 2 minute trailer for the show’s upcoming second season. The Toaru Majutsu no Index II television series will premiere on October 8.
Comic High magazine has formally announced the development of a TV anime adaptation of Koichi Kusano’s online romantic comedy manga series Oniichan no Koto Nanka Zenzen Suki Janain Dakara ne!! (I’m Absolutely Not In Love With My Brother, So There!!). The manga stars junior high school girl Nao, who has a massive crush on her older brother Shuusuke. The situation becomes more complicated when Nao discovers that she may not be a blood related sibling to Shuusuke. Three collected volumes of the ongoing manga have been published since its 2008 debut.
ZEXCS (Chu-Bra, Rental Magica) will animate with Keitaro Motonaga (School Days, Princess Princess) directing.
Source: Anime News Network
To capitalize on director Takeshi Miike’s upcoming live action Nintama Rantaro movie, a new anime feature film is now in development. Gekijouban Anime Nintama Rantaro Ninjutsu Gakuen Zenin Shutsudo! no Dan (Theatrical Anime Nintama Rantaro: Ninja School Everyone Dispatch!) will open next March ahead of next summer’s live action movie. Tsutomu Shibayama, director of the current Nintama Rantao TV series, will direct the feature film. The Nintama Rantaro children’s adventure comedy adaptation of Soubee Amako’s manga premiered in 1993 and had a first anime feature in 1996.
Source: Anime News Network
The néojaponisme blog has published an interesting article examining the diminishing traditional trend of Japanese consumers paying premium prices for “premium” goods and price fixing in the Japanese consumer industry that establishes arbitrary price averages.
X Japan co-founder and leader Yoshiki has as special message for American fans:
The official North American X Japan webpage has now launched as well.
I’ll see you at the NYC show on October 11th.
