What Am I Watching - It's Up To You!!!!

So, I'm at that time where I've been thinking about which series to watch and review. But no luck. Then I realized that I have 800+ people who visit this awesome site, and I came up with an (unoriginal) idea! How about the anime community recommend me on what to watch and review? After thinking about it, the idea sounded like a good one, so now's the opportunity for some creative juices to flow! Oh, and don't worry, I won't be doing this all of the time. This is just a nice bit of fun for you guys. Click here for the Facebook pa...

Read more »

Anime News - Toei Funded Live-Action U.S. Pilot of Starzinger/Spaceketeers Anime

American producer William Winckler revealed, in an interview posted on Saturday on the website SciFi Japan, that he wrote, produced, and directed a nine-minute live-action pilot "based very, very loosely" on Toei Animation's Science Fiction Saiyuki Starzinger television series. (A shorter 3-minute pilot was also produced.) Jim Terry Productions had dubbed the 1978-1979 Starzinger anime into English and aired it as Spaceketeers as part of its syndicated Force Five package in the United States. The original anime centered around a princess and her three android companions who embark on a journey to the Great Planet and save the universe. The Toei-financed live-action pilot of Starzinger used Red Digital Cinema Camera technology along with...

Read more »

Anime News - Bandai Entertainment Adds Nichijou, Gosick Anime

The North American anime and manga distributor Bandai Entertainment announced at its Otakon panel on Saturday that it licensed the Nichijō (My Ordinary Life) anime and Gosick anime. Bandai Entertainment also announced its license of the Nichijō manga and Code Geass: Shikkoku no Renya (Code Geass: Renya of the Darkness) manga. Nichijou Keiichi Arawi's original Nichijō manga revolves around a group of female students living what would be a normal high school life, except that it also includes a talking cat, a robot, deer-wrestling, and other strange anomalies. (!) Crunchyroll has been streaming Kyoto Animation's ongoing television adaptation outside Japan since it premiered in April. Gosick The Gosick anime adapts Kazuki Sakuraba's mystery...

Read more »

Anime News - ICv2: North American Manga Sales Fell 15% in 2010

The retail news source ICv2 reported at its ICv2 Comics, Media, and Digital Conference last week that North American sales for manga fell from (US)$140 million in 2009 to (US)$120 million in 2010, a decrease of 15%. This is awful news because according to ANN.com, manga sales in 2007 and 2008 were (US)$210 million and (US)$175 million, respectively, which means that manga sales have actually decreased by aroung 43% between 2007 and 2010. That's not the end of it there; The sales drop in 2010 is actually smaller than the 20% assum that ICv2 estimated last October! And converting this to yen doesn't help due to the fact that the dollar has weakened, as sales have dropped from 2007's ¥25 billion to the ¥10.5 billion reported for 2010. But every...

Read more »

Anime News - Astarotte's Toy! EX Video Anime's Promo Streamed

The YouTube channel of the Astarotte's Toy! (Astarotte no Omocha!) anime began streaming a promotional video of footage from the upcoming EX Blu-ray Disc and DVD volume on Saturday. However, the official blog for the anime acknowledged that the volume has been delayed from August 26 to September 7. The EX original video anime will feature side stories not shown during the recent television anime seriesadaptation of Yui Haga's original Lotte no Omocha! manga. The limited first edition of the EX volume will include a box illustrated by Haga for all seven volumes of the series, as well as a special CD and other bonus extras. Crunchyroll streamed the television series outside Japan as it aired. (animenewsnetwork.com)  Here's the vid, folks....

Read more »

Anime News - UK High Court: BT Must Block File Indexing Site

A judge in London's High Court of Justice ruled on Thursday that BT, the United Kingdom's largest Internet service provider (ISP), must block users from the file-indexing website Newzbin2. The plaintiffs were representatives of the Motion Picture Association (MPA), the industry group that includes movie studios such asWarner Bros., Fox, Disney, and Paramount Pictures. The verdict set the precedent for forcing ISPs to block websites that share or index copyrighted material overthe Internet in the United Kingdom. The defendants, Chris Elsworth, Thomas Hurst, and Lee Skillen, started up and managed Newzbin, a Britain-based website that indexes Usenet discussion groups with posted files. Users on Newzbin (and later on Newzbin2 on servers relocated...

Read more »

Anime News - Hulu, Crunchyroll, Crackle to Stream Star Driver

The North American anime distributor Aniplex of America announced at its Otakon panel on Friday that the Hulu, Crunchyroll, and Crackle websites will begin streaming the Star Driver Kagayaki no Takuto anime with English subtitles on August 17. The first two episodes will stream on that date, with a new episode every Wednesday after that. (animenewsnetwork.com) Looks really cool. I honestly have never heard of this show, but judging from the style and the logo (reminds me of Gunbuster), this series looks like another one for the torrent list. Opening's nice t...

Read more »

Anime News - Aniplex USA to Dub Puella Magi Madoka Magica

The North American anime distributor Aniplex of America confirmed at its Otakon panel on Friday that it will dub the Puella Magi Madoka Magica anime series into English.Aniplex of America added that it is in "negotiations" for the new Rurouni Kenshin anime project and a Blu-ray Disc release of the anime film Welcome to THE SPACE SHOW. (animenewsnetwork.com) I'm pretty confident that this will end up a positive. Aniplex USA, as far as I remember, has a pretty solid track record when it comes to this kind of stu...

Read more »

Anime News - Aniplex USA to Release Oreimo on DVD in October

The North American anime distributor Aniplex of America announced at its Otakon panel on Friday that it will release the Oreimo (Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai) anime in a DVD box set in October. The box will include all 12 television episodes plus the four video episodes with English subtitles only. The box will include a 16-postcard set and a 24-page booklet. (animenewsnetwork.c...

Read more »

Urgent Message To Readers

I apologize if you see some things that don't quite seem right, like the missing search button jpg, but I am on the process of fixing the HTML of this page, and I wanted to notify you guys of that. Another thing that has been bugging me is the article images in the home page. I don't like stretched images, as I'm sure you don't either. If anyone knows how to fix this annoyance, it'd be great not just for me, but all of the users who visit this site. Thanks, and keep readi...

Read more »

Anime Festival Orlando 12

So, Anime Festival Orlando is coming soon, folks, and if you haven't pre-registered, I'd recommend you get a pass anyway. The convention is arguably my favorite because of the fact that A) it isn't cluttered, and B) the focus is 100% on anime. Granted, Megacon is great for the DC half of me, and their venue is fantastic considering the amount of people coming in. Anime Sushi (one of the best clubs in Orlando) are also great guys to work with, and their experience definitely shines through.  But Anime Festival Orlando just fits the perfect convention for me, as a staff member. Let me tell you guys something: I HATE International Drive. Now, for those of you who have never been in Orlando, you shouldn't be concerned too much. But...

Read more »

Anime News - Negima, Hayate the Combat Butler Films' Trailer Posted on 2011-07-29 13:30 EDT

The official website for the double-billed Negima! Magister Negi Magi: Anime Final and Hayate the Combat Butler! Heaven is a Place on Earth films began streaming a combined trailer at midnight on Saturday. Unlike the previous teaser trailer, this full trailer has animated footage. The films will open together on August 27. Akiyuki Shinbo (Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei) is returning to direct the Negima! film at Studio Pastoraland SHAFT with character designer Noboru Jitsuhara of the recent Negima! video anime projects. Manga creator Ken Akamatsu is credited with the original story, and Deko Akao (Arakawa under the Bridge, Astarotte's Toy, Pretty Rhythm Aurora Dream) is scripting. First-time director Hideto Komori...

Read more »

Anime News - Barefoot Gen's Hiroshima Documentary Trailer Streamed

The Cinema Today website began streaming a 136-second trailer for this year's Hadashi no Gen ga Mita Hiroshima film on Wednesday. The Japanese-language documentary depicts the city of Hiroshima through the eyes of Keiji Nakazawa, the atomic bomb survivor who created the semi-autobiographical manga Barefoot Gen (Hadashi no Gen). Yuko Ishida's directorial debut will open in Tokyo on August 6. At the age of 6, Nakazawa survived the 1945 Hiroshima bombing, but lost his entire family except for his mother. He drew Barefoot Gen from 1973 to 1985, based on his experiences during the bombing and of his struggle to survive in the aftermath. The resulting 10 volumes of Barefoot Gen have since sold over 10 millon copies and have been translated...

Read more »

Anime News - Ben-To School Comedy TV Anime's 1st Promo Streamed

The official website for the television anime adaptation of Asaura's Ben-To"school serious/gag action" light novel series began streaming the anime's first promotional video on Friday. The story revolves around a poor high school student named Yō Satō. Satō goes to the supermarket one day and discovers a bentō (boxed meal) on sale at half price. Just as he reaches to grab it, he ends up on the floor unconscious. Satō has just entered the fierce, no-holds-barred "supermarket survival battle" for half-price bentō. The anime will premiere in Japan this fall. Shin Itagaki (Devil May Cry, Mayoi Neko Overrun!) is directing the anime, and he is also responsible for story editing (with Kazuyuki Fudeyasu of Bleach, Monster and Gunslinger Girl) and...

Read more »

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

Sorry for the size and everything, but I wanted to mention that our blog is now on Facebook and Twitter.    So, yeah, leave a question, comment, whatever. It's always good to keep in touch with the community...

Read more »

Anime News - Gokicha/Cockroach Girls To Be Serialized In Magazine

Yet another 4-Koma getting recognition. =D As far as I know, Gokicha (Cockroach Girls) is a story about an anthropomorphized gokiburi (cockroach) who is looking for a human buddy in Hokkaido. Rui Tamachi just launched the series in the September issue of Manga Time Kirara Carat magazine Thursday. A dōjin series, this manga's creator now has plans for a mobile anime soon. [full story her...

Read more »

Anime News - NY Anime Fest to Host Fairy Tail Creator Hiro Mashima

The organizers of New York Anime Festival announced on Thursday that it will host Fairy Tail manga creator Hiro Mashima on October 14 and 15 in New York City. He will appear at his own Q&A session and in a larger Fairy Tail panel with voice actors Todd Haberkorn, Colleen Clinkenbeard, Cherami Leigh, and Newton Pittman. He will then appear at a premiere screening of Fairy Tail. In addition to creating Fairy Tail and drawing the manga since 2006, Mashima created the Rave Master manga and anime, Monster Hunter Orage manga, and Monster Soul manga. The venue is the Javits Centre in Manhattan (map). The Anime Festival is a part of October's New York Comic C...

Read more »

Anime News - Novelist Sakyo Komatsu Passes Away

Influential science-fiction novelist Sakyo Komatsu passed away in an Osaka hospital on Tuesday, July 26 at 4:36 p.m. due to pneumonia. He was 80 years old. Komatsu wrote a number of novels that gained recognition not only in Japan, but around the world. Perhaps his best known novel is Japan Sinks!, which inspired two live-action films and a live-action television series. His stories also inspired the Komatsu Sakyo Anime Gekijō television anime series. Komatsu was born in Osaka and he graduated from Kyoto University in Italian literature. After working as a magazine editor and a factory foreman, he became a comedy scriptwriter. He then made a name for himself in large-scale science-fiction epics with historical and literary themes with...

Read more »

Anime News - Princess Mononoke Is No Longer a Buena Vista Title

Responding to a query by ANN, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment confirmed on Tuesday that Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli's 1997 film Princess Mononoke is no longer a production of its Buena Vista Home Entertainment label.Walt Disney Studios suggested contacting Lionsgate Films for further information. However, Lionsgate told ANN that there was "no current information on the release of this title." Disney's former subsidiary Miramax released the film theatrically in the United States, and then released it to DVD in 2000 (cover pictured). After Miramax's founders Bob and Harvey Weinstein left the company in 2005, Disney sold the company to Filmyard Holdings in 2010. In February, Miramax licensed the home video release of 550 titles...

Read more »

Anime News - Totoro Marks 500th Week in Top 300 DVD Chart

The DVD of Studio Ghibli's popular anime My Neighbor Totoro marked its 500th week on Oricon's DVD sales ranking chart this month. During the July 18-24 week, it landed at #33 by selling 2,184 more copies for a grand total of 1,084,134. The DVD first went on sale nine years and 10 months ago on September 28, 2001, and it has been a unprecedented "long seller" since then. It sold its 1-millionth copy last May after 440 weeks on the chart. It is only the fourth million-copy anime title; Studio Ghibli's Howl's Moving Castle sold over one million copies since 2005, while Spirited Away sold over 2.3 million copies since 2002. On Japan's all-time DVD sales ranking chart, My Neighbor Totoro is #9. The DVD tends to double its sales during summer...

Read more »

Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok Manga to Resume Online

After seven years, Sakura Kinoshita will resume her Mythical Detective Loki manga in a new series that launches in Mag Garden's online manga magazine Beat's on August 25. The new manga series is tentatively titled Matantei Loki Ragnarok ~Shin Sekai no Kamigami~ (Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok: The Gods of the New World). The occult mystery story follows the Norse god Loki after he is exiled to the mortal world in the form of a human child. He must collect auras of evil in order to return to the world of gods, so he runs a detective agency to accomplish this. Kinoshita began the first Matantei Loki (Mythical Detective Loki) manga series in Square Enix's Monthly Shonen Gangan magazine in 1999. The manga then migrated to Mag Garden's Monthly...

Read more »

Tiger & Bunny Gets Manga Series (Updated)

So, Tiger and Bunny is getting a new manga series. I'm sure 98% of the anime community is gonna love this news as much as I am. Young Jump is going to announce that Hiroshi Ueda (of Full Metal Panic! Sigma fame) will be illustrating a Tiger and Bunny manga, starting in the 5th issue of Miracle Jump in October. Check out the link yourself! I also found out that Masakazu Katsura will be drawing a one-shot based on the series. Don't know Mr. Katsura? He only made Video Girl Ai, DNA2, and Zetman! Excited as hell for this, fellow reade...

Read more »

Kenji Kamiyama's Full Xi Avant Anime Streamed

The official website for the stereoscopic 3D theatrical release of Kenji Kamiyama's Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: Solid State Society movie began streaming the full version of Kamiyama's Xi AVANT animeshort on Tuesday. While the online streaming of Xi AVANT is in 2D, theaters in Japan added a stereoscopic 3D version of the anime to screenings of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: Solid State Society this past Spring. The short is a tie-in with the NTT Docomo's next-generation Xi data service. Kamiyama just established Steve N' Steven, a new consulting firm for planning and producing animation in advertising and other areas, with the ad firm Hakuhodo on April 1. Source: Saishin Anime Jōhō (animenewsnetwork.com)Here's a sneak...

Read more »

Persona 4 the Animation's New Extended Promo Streamed

The Mayonaka TV teaser website for the Persona 4 The Animationproject began streaming a new extended promotional video on Wednesday. (Like the previous videos, this one debuted at midnight in Japan or 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday EDT, and is only viewable for a limited time.) The anime will premiere on Japan's MBS, TBS, andCBC stations this October. Shihoko Hirata, the singer of the opening and ending theme songs for the original Persona 4 game, will also perform the anime's opening theme song "sky's the limit" and the ending theme song "Beauty of Destiny" (with Lotus Juice). The official Twitter account for the animeconfirmed that the anime will last two kūru or half a year, and the official site posted the second key visual image from the anime. Director...

Read more »

Baby, Please Kill Me! 4-Panel Comedy Manga Gets TV Anime

The September issue of Houbunsha's Manga Time Kirara Carat magazine isannouncing on Thursday that a television anime adaptation of Kaduho's Baby, Please Kill Me! (or Kill Me Baby) 4-koma (four panel) comedy manga has been green-lit. The manga follows Sonya, an assassin girl who goes to school between missions, and her fearless yet not-so-smart friend Yasuna. Joining them is Agiri, a ninja in Sonya's organization. The manga series launched in Manga Time Kirara Carat in 2008 after the magazine ran a one-shot early version of the story. The third compiled book volume shipped in February. [Via Yaraon!] I love reading 4-koma manga (Lucky Star, Suzunari!, SS. Astro, Shoulder-a-Coffin Kuro) because, like Calvin and Hobbes and Dilbert,...

Read more »

U.S. Nicktoons to Air Monsuno, Jakks Pacific to Sell Toys

The companies Jakks Pacific, Dentsu Entertainment USA, FremantleMedia Enterprises, and The Topps Company announced on Wednesday that the American children's television network Nickelodeon has picked up the worldwide broadcast rights to the Japanese-animated series Monsuno. The series targets theNickelodeon viewership of young boys ages 6-11, and tells a boys' action story centered around "re-awakened Monster DNA that finds its way into the unsuspecting hands of adventure-seeking boys." The 52-episode series was previously reported as an original product from Jakks Pacific, Dentsu Entertainment USA, FremantleMedia Enterprises, and The Topps Company. Jakks Pacific owns exclusive worldwide rights to manufacture Monsuno's toy products. "We anticipate...

Read more »

Tekken Film, Game's Promo Video Streamed

Bandai Entertainment released two promotional video clips for the computer-animated movie Tekken: Blood Vengeance 3D after showing them at Comic-Con International on Saturday. The film will premiere in select American theaters this Tuesday. The videos feature the character Xiaoyu rushing to school late on a panda and battling Alisa. The film will run in over 375 American movie theaters on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., but it will not open in Japan until September 3. Bandai Entertainment's "Tekken Channel" account on YouTube also added a short trailer for the Tekken Hybridmovie/game combination pack that will ship on December 27. The bundle will include Tekken: Blood Vengeance 3D, playable on Blu-ray Disc players, and the PlayStation 3 games Tekken...

Read more »

Phi-Brain: Kami No Puzzle's 2nd Promo Trailer Released

The public broadcaster NHK began streaming the second special promotional movie for the Phi Brain: Kami no Puzzle television anime series on Friday.Sunrise is producing this original anime for the NHK Educational TV channel. The school adventure story revolves around Kaito, a puzzle-loving freshman at the private high school named "Root Academy." He is selected as a candidate for "Phi Brain" for his extraordinary mental skills. One day, he and his childhood friend Nonoha tackle the "unsolvable puzzle" hidden in the underground ruins near the school. They are guided by the mobile device given to Kaito by the student council president. The puzzle is the "philosopher's puzzle," a life-threatening creation of a mysterious intelligence group...

Read more »

GTO's Fujisawa, Iketeru Futari's Sano to Launch Manga

ASCII Media Works' monthly online seinen magazine Dengeki Comic Japanannounced on Monday that creator Tohru Fujisawa (GTO) and artist Takashi Sano(Iketeru Futari) will launch a new manga series called Black Sweep Sisters on August 25. The "thrilling dark action" manga centers around two dissimilar ("one large-breasted, the other small-breasted") sisters who are exorcists for rising evil spirits. The October issue will also launch the mysterious fantasy manga Suiheisen no Innocence manga by Taro Sekiguchi (Teioh, Get Sports, Wild Baseballers) and the four-panel manga Hitorijime Otōto Izumu by Kaname Uchimura. (animenewsnetwork.com) Tohru Fujisawa has a great track record with me. GTO was a classic, and its nice blend of comedy and real-and-hard...

Read more »

Anime Director Toyoo Ashida Passes Away

Animators Atsuko Watanabe and Hiroshi Koujina reported that anime director and character designer Toyoo Ashida passed away on Saturday, July 23. He was 67. Ashida served as the series director for the two Fist of the North Star television anime series,Kuso Kagaku Sekai Gulliver Boy, and Sōten Kōro. He also directed the Fist of the North Star Movie, the Vampire Hunter D video anime, and The World of Narue. His many character design credits include UFO Senshi Daiapolon, the 1979 Cyborg 009 television anime, several Fairy Princess Minky Momoprojects, the Ginga Hyōryū Vifam titles, the Chō Mashin Eiyūden Wataru anime franchise, and Gulliver Boy. In addition to his animation career, Ashida co-founded the labor group Japan Animation Creators Association...

Read more »

What Am I Watching - Urusei Yatsura

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; line-height: 21.0px; font: 15.0px Times} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; line-height: 21.0px; font: 15.0px Times; min-height: 18.0px} Bow down. Synopsis - Meet Ataru Moroboshi: he's the most perverted human being this side of Handbanana. (Okay not that bad) He was also chosen by the leaders of Earth to defend it from an alien race, the Oni Race, in a game of tag. Meet his opponent, Lum: She's the princess of said race. She can also fly and shock the holy hell out of people. Meet Shinobu: Ataru's bitchy (for good reason) girlfriend, who in the midst of this affair, promised to marry Ataru if he beat Lum. Well, Ataru ends up beating Lum and says something along the lines of "Now I can...

Read more »