AnimeNation Anime News Blog

Passing this along to collectors and/or hentai fans, JapanAnime just let us know of more licenses expiring, so grab them while they’re still available!

Expiring December 1st

Expiring January 1st

After animating the smash hit Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya television series in 2006 then following it with the equally successful Lucky Star television series the following year, the rapidly ascending Kyoto Animation production studio did what came naturally: a third consecutive anime series revolving around the daily lives of cute high school girls. The 2009 K-On! television series became a massive sensation in Japan, creating a legion of devoted fans, setting sales records, and even contributing to invigorated sales of affiliated products like guitars and high-fidelity headphones. After an excruciating two year wait, the beloved K-On! anime series is finally coming to America, courtesy of Bandai Entertainment. For eager fans, the wait will be rewarded. For the uninitiated, the event will allow an opportunity to see, and hear, what the fuss is all about.

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The folks at Aniplex USA kindly sent me a DVD sample of their upcoming domestic Durarara!! DVD release. I was eager to critique it until my anticipation waned slightly upon discovering that that sample disc included only the English dub. Rather than be a snob, I sampled the screener in the company of some friends that are more partial to dubbed anime than I am.

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Last year One Peace Books introduced itself to American manga readers with its English language publication of the essay manga So I Need to Lose 15 Pounds. Now the publisher deepens its relationship with its first conventional manga, the very unconventional romantic sci-fi fantasy adventure Tenken, by independent artist Yumiko Shirai. Fully ten years in development, Tenken is at once an epic and very intimate story of conviction, tradition, and the strength of humanity set in a recovering post-apocalyptic Japan. Winner of the Japanese governmental Agency for Cultural Affairs’ 2007 Japan Media Arts Festival Encouragement Prize, Tenken is a work ideal for readers seeking a manga that’s more mature and literary than conventional shounen ninja or shoujo magical girls, and an ideal graphic novel for readers attracted to sequential art but not necessarily attracted to stereotypical Japanese manga.

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American readers are, by now, familiar with manga and, naturally, familiar with the personal essay. But a combination of the two is something unusual and unfamiliar. New York and Japan based One Peace Books hopes to change that situation by introducing American readers to the popular contemporary Japanese “manga format essay” with Shiho Torii’s book So I Need to Lose 15 Pounds. The “manga essay” format that’s gaining popularity in Japan isn’t strictly educational manga like Shotaro Ishinomori’s Japan, Inc.: Introduction to Japanese Economics that first saw release in America in 1988. Nor is it exactly like the conventional narrative manga that American readers are most used to. The difference, however, is subtle.

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We’ve been working on adding more figures lately, and today they’re finally up. Over 400 anime figures added to the site today and marked at 10% off! Girls, Mecha, Final Fantasy, and much more. Whew… It’s time for a well-deserved drink. Cheers!

Japan Publications Trading’s 97 page glossy guide book The Akiba: A Manga Guide to Akihabara, much like Tokyo’s compact Akihabara district itself, packs much more into its small area than expected. Readers will find The Akiba informative, and prospective tourists will find it invaluable.

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Curious to know what other anime fans are collecting? Here’s our best selling mainstream and adult anime DVDs of the year so far. See what sells. Find out what other fans consider worth their funds.

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I’m not a cosplayer myself, but even I’m impressed by the debut volume of Cosmode USA. Despite being solicited as a domestic magazine, the premier volume of Cosmode USA is actually an archival photo collection and reference manual – 200 glossy full color pages in hardcover edition that will last a lifetime! If you’ve ever wanted to see what anime characters would look like if they were real people, an extensive photo gallery of Japan’s best costumers will show you. These folks get every detail exact, from the hair to the shoes, including even colored contact lenses! Photos profile costumers representing Gurren Lagann, Five Star Stories, Violinst of Hameln, Code Geass, Tsubasa Chronicle, Dino Crisis, Dragon Quest, Odin Sphere, and more!

But don’t feel left out! American cosplayers also get photographs and profiles. And aspiring & active cosplayers will appreciate this volume’s extensive illustrated guides to designing anime character wigs and hair styles, patterns and guides for creating anime footwear and form-fitting bodysuits, and even detailed instructions for the proper way to put on a traditional Japanese kimono!

This is a lot more than a mere monthly magazine. Cosmode volume 1 is a stunning, archival book that you’ll appreciate having on your shelf for years and years!

One of the pleasant perks of working for an anime store is always being surrounded by cool and fun stuff. But occasional something turns up that’s especially nice, and deserving of extra special mention. The new Okami Official Complete Works book from Udon is one such item that just arrived in stock yesterday.

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It’s lamentable that the 2006 American television broadcast of Sav! the World Productions and Hal Film Maker’s 26 episode Oban Star Racers animated series earned the respect of only a small cult following rather than the significant success and popularity it deserves. Now, hopefully, the release of the complete series on a pair of admirably crafted American DVD sets will bring more attention to this excellent show.
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Saving the best for last, the fourth of the four erotic anime DVDs that Adult Source Media provided for me to sample was Night Shift Nurses kranke 1, or, in its original Japanese title, “Yakin Byoutou: kranke Kodama Hikaru.”

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The next title up in my small stack of Adult Source Media sample DVDs to review is The Harvest Night volume 1; a title that turned out to be a qualified positive, but puzzling show.

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Sorry for the boring title. I couldn’t think of anything that would make a pun with the word “Dyogrammaton.”

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The folks over at Adult Source Media sent over a couple sample copies from their catalog of erotic anime for me to review. The first disc from the stack to get a spin was Night When Evil Falls volume 1. After watching it, I can’t call it flawless, but it’s not difficult to understand why it’s one of AnimeNation’s best selling adult anime titles.

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