Otaku Crave

The online anime distributor BOST TV has announced that the first episodes of The Tower of Druaga: The Aegis of Uruk and Blassreiter anime series from Gonzo are available for free streaming and downloads to all users. BOST TV had already offered those two episodes for free to users who registered before April 2. Both series premiered last last week on Japanese television and through three international video sites. The downloadable versions includes no digital rights management (DRM) and can be played on personal computers, video-capable iPods, PlayStation Portables, or other compatible devices. BOST TV will refund the points of people who already bought these episodes.

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Dyin’ for Dayan (Dai-On)

Akido Ikeda’s international sensation Dayan is finally available in the United States! The mischievous cat Dayan has already captured the hearts and minds of Japan, spawning over thirty books, a theme park, museums, and stores dedicated entirely to the fictional world where he resides, Wachifield! Discover the phenomenon this spring with the first four books, published by Dark Horse in handsome hardcover.

Wachifield is an enchanted, anthropomorphic world conceived by author Akiko Ikeda during her childhood—a mystical universe where plants and animals talk, and with their words teach classic tales of wisdom played out in fun, heartwarming scenes and through vivid artwork. Her whimsical and timeless illustrations have garnered international recognition, and her intricate world continues to expand due to her nearly limitless imagination.

Dayan, the central character and favorite resident of the town of Tachiel, is an adventurous cat whose curiosity often leads him into fantastical adventures. Luckily, he has the support and help of his friends, who include Marcy the dependable bunny, and the hard-drinking alligator Nbah. Follow Dayan and his courageous cronies as they outwit a coven of angry witches, a devilish forest nymph, and even their own shadows! Along the way they manage to make new friends, experience the snow magic of the Eurocka festival, and make a rainy Thursday into an event to remember!

Though originally written for children, adults and fans of Japanese culture will love these stories for their deceptively complex narrative, darker undertones, and alcoholic alligators.

Dark Horse proudly presents, for the first time in English, The Dayan Collection. The first four volumes—Dayan’s Birthday, Thursday Rainy Party, White Eurocka, and Chibikuro Party—will be released in the states on April 23, 2008, for a retail price of $9.95.

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Dark Horse Inherits the Rich Mythos of an Immortal Warrior in the Epic Tales of Blood+

Dark Horse is pleased to announce the addition of Blood+ to its ever-growing line of translated prose and manga. This already established work has found a new life and audience in the animated TV series airing on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim Anime Block. Blood+ will also soon make its slilver screen in a live-action theatrical film produced by William Kong (House of Flying Daggers; Hero; and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) slated for a 2009 release.

Blood+ chronicles the adventures of Saya, an amnesiac girl who discovers she is far from normal. Living with a foster family just outside an American military base in Okinawa, Japan, she soon comes upon the reality of her extraordinary past. She learns she is an immortal warrior whose lineage could even date back to Ancient Egypt or earlier. For centuries she has been locked in a battle against a race of vampiric creatures known as Chiropterans, monsters that are intent on destroying all life on Earth. In an epic tale that crisscrosses the globe, Saya battles to save the world while searching for the secret of her lost memories.

Saya has previously graced the Dark Horse catalogue in 2005 with the book Blood: The Last Vampire Night of the Beasts. The Blood+ universe will continue through Dark Horse in three spectacular manga story lines and two stimulating series of prose novels.

“Dark Horse is proud to continue championing one of the greatest-ever and most-celebrated properties ever to come from Japan: Blood the Last Vampire, as told through a host of new manga and prose novels,” says Michael Gombos, Director of Asian Licensing at Dark Horse Comics. “We are honored to bring three new manga and two series of prose novels to the English-speaking world, allowing everyone to further enter the world of Saya Otonashi and compatriots!”

Blood+ Volume One manga is available February of 2008 and Blood+: First Kiss Volume One prose novel is on sale March 2008.

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As previously announced, the BOST TV and Crunchyroll video-sharing websites have begun providing the first episode of Gonzo’s The Tower of Druaga: The Aegis of Uruk television anime series in streaming and downloadable formats. Both websites are providing subtitled versions without territorial restrictions outside Japan. Cya2 a Japanese video-streaming service, also premiered the series online within Japan. GDH, Gonzo’s parent company, announced that the series would be available on Google’s YouTube service on the same day as well, but Gonzo’s official channel on YouTube has yet to add the video, six hours after the broadcast premiere.

Blassreiter, the other anime series that GDH and Gonzo will post online internationally, will start on after midnight on April 5 (effectively April 6 in Japan). BOST TV and Crunchyroll are providing different options for their respective streams and downloads of both anime series.

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Registration has opened for the Providence Anime Conference, currently on track to be the only anime-related event in North America that is open only to attendees above 21 years old. It will run at the Rhode Island Convention Center and the adjacent Providence Westin Hotel on October 3-5.

The Providence Anime Convention (PAC) was founded by several staff members of Anime Boston who felt that the North American convention circuit needed an event that would be geared to the interests of older anime fans. Some of the convention’s features will include a keynote address instead of an opening ceremony, a costume fashion show rather than a contest, and live-action programming based around professional and academic panels. Industry guests who have already confirmed their attendance include ADV Film’s David Williams, Funimation Entertainment’s Adam Sheehan and Harmony Gold’s Kevin McKeever, and more names will be announced over the coming months.

Vendors looking to participate in the convention will be instructed to bring items that are not normally available at stores or online, while entries for PAC’s cosplay skit exhibition will be pre-screened to ensure high quality.

To accommodate older fans, the convention will not start until the evening of Friday, October 3. The price structure of the PAC is also different from most other anime events. The basic three-day pass is priced at US$65.00 for the first 250 people who register. The price will then increase until the convention’s attendance cap is reached. There will be a hard limit of 2,000 attendees, and the higher registration prices are set to ensure that it will still be able to pay for itself.

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Japan’s Toei Animation company has announced on its website that it is adapting its 2000 Mushrambo television series into two theatrical films for 2008. Toei describes this science-fiction work as its first original boys’ action-adventure anime. Director Kenji Nakamura (Ayakashi - Samurai Horror Tales “Bakeneko,” Mononoke) will supervise the renewal of the series into two 90-minute films, Kokoro o Chikara ni and Owaranai Chiky?. Tetsuo Imazawa (ayakashi’s “Yotsuya Kaidan,” New Gigantor) directed the original series. The story follows a cryogenically preserved human survivor named Yakumo, as she tries to make peace with the artificial race that destroyed its human creators. The series ran in the United States on the ABC Family and Toon Disney channels under the name Shinzo.

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Review of the film “Kite Liberator” by Douglas. Enjoy.

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Two 12-year-old sixth-grade boys were arrested in Gadsden, Alabama on Thursday for a notebook that allegedly listed their school staff and fellow students in a manner similar to the Death Note anime series. According to Etowah County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Lanny Handy, the supervisor for school resource officers, the lists were in a notebook that was discovered by school staffers on Wednesday afternoon. Handy said the students were inspired by the Death Note series on the Adult Swim network, but he also said there was no indication that the student were serious about planning an attack.

Etowah County Superintendent of Education Mike Bailey issued a news release that said that the students were suspended from the county’s schools, pending a juvenile court hearing. The students, their parents, and school officials had met with Handy and a junior probation officer.

There were at least two previous incidents in the United States where school officials linked Death Note directly to students being disciplined. One high school senior in Richmond, Virginia was suspended in December over a list of his classmates’ names that the school principal linked to Death Note. A middle school student in Hartsville, South Carolina was “removed” from school over a “Death Note” notebook in March. In neither case were there any arrests reported. In the fictional Death Note supernatural suspense story, a teenager finds a notebook with which he can put people to death by writing their names.

Popularity: 4% [?]

The North American retailer Right Stuf is listing a manga version of The Legend of Zelda from the publisher Viz Media and Simon and Schuster’s retail website lists the author of the release as Akira Himekawa, Himekawa is actually a pen name for two creators who drew over half a dozen manga works that were based on Nintendo’s popular fantasy game franchise. Their first Zelda title was a 2000 version of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The Viz Media release wil ship on October 7.

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Review of the Japanese Television Drama “LIFE” by Douglas. Enjoy.

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