Bandai Visual to Offer Freedom on BD Worldwide in Fall
April 29, 2008
Nikkei’s IT Plus news site reports on sunday that Bandai Visual will release Freedom and other anime titles on Blu-ray Disc simultaneously throughout the world this fall. The same packaged disc with subtitles in Japanese, English, French, and other languages will be sold in the different countries for about the same price. Bandai Visual USA has already released the first five of the seven Freedom volumes in the United States on a HD DVD/DVD twin format.
In his final blog entries as the president of Bandai Visual USA, Tatsunori Konno had explained that the overall Bandai Visual company will be moving towards “simultaneous broadcast & digital distribution in both” Japan and the United States. IT Plus goes further to say that this strategic shift will also affect Bandai Visual’s offerings in European and Asian countries. IT Plus notes that it is difficult to maintain the viewing restrictions and differences in prices and release dates between the various regions with current DVDs. While Bandai Visual USA is changing strategies, it delayed the releases of the Shigofumi: Letters from the Departed, true tears, and sola anime last month.
Director Shuhei Monita (Kakurenbo) and Namco Bandai’s anime studio Sunrise have been animating the Freedom anime series with the design work of Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira, Steamboy) and the sponsorship of Nissin CUp Noodles. Dai Sato (Cowboy Bebop, Eureka Seven, Ergo Proxy) and Katsuhiko Chiba (E’s Otherwise, Rune Solder, Turn A Gundam) created this story about a teenager on a lunar city who uncovers secrets that deal with the origin of Earth itself.
New Videocast - Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone
April 27, 2008
A review of the anime film “Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone” done by Douglas. Enjoy and please comment.
Otaku Crave TV - Episode One
April 26, 2008
This is the first episode of Otaku Crave TV. Enjoy and please comment.
Otaku Crave TV - Episode One
Manga, Anime Planned for Sega’s World Destruction RPG
April 25, 2008
The May 9 issue (released on April 25) of Weekly Famitsu magazine has announced that Sega is launching a World Destruction role-playing game for the Nintendo DS console, and the game developer is planning to start manga and anime spinoffs in July. The game staff features several staffers of the acclaimed Xenogears title, including scenario writer Masato Kato (Chono Trigger, Final Fantasy VII), character designer Kunihiko Tanaka (Xenosaga Episode 1, Key the Metal Idol, Ruin Explorers manga), and sound supervisor Yasunoria Mitsuda (Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, Mario Party, Xenosaga). The game centers on a youth named Kirie Irunisu who secretly possesses the power to destroy the world. He is forced to join a party that aims not to save the world, but to eradicate it and start anew.
Production I.G will produce the anime version with director Shunsuke Tada (The Prince of Tennis: The National Tournament, Tsubasa Tokyo Revelations). Mashiro Yokortani (Reideer) will supervise and co-write the scripts, and Kenita Matsumoto (Blood+, XXXHOLiC key animation) will adapt the Tanaka’s character designs. Yoshihiro Ike (Blood The Last Vampire, Karas, Flag) will compose the music. Maaya Sakamoto (Escaflowne, Tsubasa) will voice the main heroine Morute ?shera, and Mamoru Miyano (Death Note) Gundam 00) and Yu Kobayashi (Negima! School Rumble) will play her party members Kirie and Ri A, respectively. (Morute will play a bigger role in the anime version.) Hiroukiy Yoshino (Blood+, Gundam 00) and Daisuke Ono (AIr, Shina Dark) round out the cast as Agan M?doru and Naja Gurefu, respectively. The voice for the mascot character Toppi Topuran has yet to be announced.
American Manga Sales Rose, But at Slower Rate in 2007
April 25, 2008
At its Graphic Novel Conference at New York Comic Con last Thursday, the ICv2 retail news source announced its findings for the American retail graphic novel market in 2007. While the overall graphic novel market and the manga segment both grew in 2007, manga grew at a slower rate than in years past. The 2007 sales stood at US$210 million, which is 5% higher than 2006’s US$200 million. Bookstore sales of manga rose, but direct market sales in comic book stores dropped. ICv2 cited the saturation of manga titles for the comic book stores’ shift in priorities. The overall graphic novel market in the United States rose to US$375 million in 2007.
Megadeth’s Friedman Also in Detroit Metal City Film
April 24, 2008
Marty Friedman, a former guitarist for the Megadeth heavy metal rock band, revealed on his website that he will appear in the live-action film adaptation of Kiminon Wakasugi’s Detroit Metal CIty comedy manga. Friedman and his frequent drumming collaborator Jeremy Colson performed with Kiss lead singer Gene Simmons for a scene in the movie. Ken’ichi Marsuyama (Death Note, NANA, Sexy Voice and Robo) stars as a reluctant singer in a metal rock band.
Maid Cafe Mika to Open in San Francisco on April 26
April 24, 2008
A new location called Manga Cafe Mika is scheduled to open in San Francisco Japantown in California on April 26. It advertises a selection of over “20,000 Japanese comic books.” While it is not a cafe, a different restaurant called On the Bridge has been offering a smaller selection of manga magazines and books in the same neighborhood for over a decade. In Southern California, Chaya Manga Cafe in Costa Mesa offers manga, Internet service, tapioca tea, and other drinks.
Tetsujin Dakkan Sakusen 2 Manga Revives Tetsujin 28
April 24, 2008
This year’s fifth issue of Kodanshi’s Magazine Special announced that Kindaichi Case Files artist Fumiya Sato
will launch a new Tetsujin Dakkan Sakusen Manga featuring Tetsujin 28 (or Gigantor in English) in the next issue (on sale in May). The first Tetsujin Dakkan Sakusen (The Tetsujin Recovery Operation) manga, pictured at right, ran in the same magazine in 2006. That earlier story told a story about the evil PX Syndicate’s theft of the Tetsujin 28 robot, and Tetsujin 28 operator Sh?tar? Kaneda’s attempt to recover the robot.
The tentatively titled Tetsujin Dakkan Sakusen 2: Simeon no Gyakush? (The Tetsujin Recovery Operation 2: Simeon Strikes Back) has the boy detective Kaneda trying to take back the Tetsujin 28 robot again after another theft. The late Mitsuteru Yokoyama created the original Tetsujin 28 manga in 1956, and he would later create Mahotsukai Sally, Giant Robo, and many other classics.
Viz Plans Hunter X Hunter Release in DVD Season Boxes
April 22, 2008
The North American distributor Viz Media has revealed at its New York Comic Con 2008 panel on Saturday that it is planning to release the Hunter X Hunter anime in season box sets. The first box is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2008, with more box sets to follow every two months. The company also confirmed that Blue Dragon will be released on DVD in September, but acknowledged that further DVD volumes of Full Moon wo Sagashite, Hikaru no Go, and Prince of Tennis are on hold.
Viz Media confirmed its future manga titles that were pre-announced earlier this year by online retailers, including VIZBIG editions of Dragon Ball and Vagabond, Cowa!, the recently completed One-Pound Gospel, more Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, Black Lagoon, and Oishinbo. Viz Media indicated that it is not planning to publish all of Oishinbo, which just shipped its 101st volume in Japan in February. Finally, Viz Media hinted at more novel acquisitions for this year and the next.
Japan’s Jump Anime Tour to Show New Dragon Ball Anime
April 21, 2008
This year’s 21st issue (released on April 21) of Shueishi’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine has announced that a “Jump Super Anime Tour” will visit 10 Japanese cities this fall with new anime specials for Dragon Ball and One Piece. The tour is the eighth project that celebrates the 40th anniversary of the magazine. The magazine also hints that at least one other title will also be animated.
