Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Monday, May 7, 2012
Video: 20 minutes of Kônosuke Uda's New Movie
Between now and May 18th, Toei is offering a look at the first 20 minutes of Kônosuke Uda’s (one of the directors of the One Piece TV series, as well as the helmer of its fourth and seventh movies) new anime movie Niji-Iro Hotaru ~Eien no Natsu Yasumi~. The footage is in raw Japanese, but the film’s unique style is well worth a look.
The adaptation of Masayuki Kawaguchi’s nostalgic novel is scheduled to hit Japanese theaters on May 19th.
Japan Police cracking down on Anime file sharing
Japanese police didn't want to give Golden Week, a collection of four national holidays, to anime criminals. On April 26, Cyber Crime 
Section of Fukuoka Prefectural Police arrested a 40-years-old pharmacist from Kita-ku, Tokyo, on suspicion of using Share file-sharing software to upload the 49th episode of the TV anime series Heartcatch PreCure! and the 498th episode of ONE PIECE to the Internet without the permission from the copyright holder, Toei Animation, on August 11, 2011.
Section of Fukuoka Prefectural Police arrested a 40-years-old pharmacist from Kita-ku, Tokyo, on suspicion of using Share file-sharing software to upload the 49th episode of the TV anime series Heartcatch PreCure! and the 498th episode of ONE PIECE to the Internet without the permission from the copyright holder, Toei Animation, on August 11, 2011.
According to the police, the suspect had uploaded about 22,000 files of anime and obscene pictures to the Internet. The police searched his house on April 5 and seized seven PCs, 26 hard-disks, and 900 DVDs. The suspect has admitted his guilt and said that he wanted other users to download the files. He is also suspected of uploading one song to the Share network without the copyright holder's permission.
TakaraTomy are bringing back the Battle Beasts
Looks like TakaraTomy are bringing back the Battle Beasts, or Beastformers as they where known in Japan. The new franchise carries the name Beast Saga and is currently made up of a comic (that's what manga means) and a toy line.
We have no idea if this new incarnation is still part of the Transformers canon or if this is now separate like in the US.
We have no idea if this new incarnation is still part of the Transformers canon or if this is now separate like in the US.
That is however not all, you see site sponsor Robotkingdom.com has posted pre-orders for the toy-line that is slated for a September 2012 release, and as you'll see the figures are different from the ones Diamond Select is planing to produce and look more like the original Battle Beasts style wise.
Free GundamTry-Age cards with happy meal!
The McDonald's restaurant chain will begin selling its first ever Gundam Happy Meals in Japan on May 18. Sold as Happy Sets in Japan, the meals will include one of eightGundam Try-Age cards.
The cards will feature mecha from the Mobile Suit Gundam AGE and Mobile Suit Gundam UC anime series as well as other Gundam franchise titles. The trading card arcadegame Gundam Try-Age debuted in Japan last July.
Viz Media partnered with McDonald's to release toys inspired by the Naruto television anime and manga series in Latin America in 2010. McDonald's also offered Astroboyfilm and Bakugan Battle Brawlers toys in the United States in 2009. Previous anime-themed Happy Set prizes in Japanhave included Sgt. Frog (Keroro Gunsō) figures and exclusive Tamagotchi! anime DVDs.
Video: Power Rangers hits up japan
I am going to be perfectly honest with everyone, I have been out of the Power Rangers loop since Space. It was during February of 2011 that I decided to get back into the series by watching Samurai, since I was curious to see how Saban is going to handle the new series. And why am I bringing up Power Rangers again? Well, it turns out that Power Rangers Mystic Force is going to air in Japan on the Toei Channel in August.
Atsushi Hashimoto the guy who played as Kai Ozu aka Magi Red from Mahou Sentai Magiranger will be taking care of the dub for the narrator, and there is a chance the rest of the Magiranger cast will return to dub the other characters. Which is pretty common for any Power Rangers series that gets to air in Japan -- though it would be nice if Super Sentai received the same priveledge in the US. Heck, that is why Power Rangers was mentioned in that one episode of Akibaranger.
From what I've heard, Mystic Force is one of the worse Power Ranger series out of the ones that Disney worked on. Personally, the club music doesn't seems to make it any better, since it feel out of place for a Power Rangers theme song. It saddens me to say this, because the original series Mahou Sentai Magiranger is currently one of my favorite Sentai series.
I am fully aware that Power Rangers and Super Sentai are both different, but if you are going to utilize a majority of the story elements from the original, you might as well go all the way. Since one of Magiranger's strong points is the character development between the five siblings. Yet the family theme was removed from Mystic Force, which might have been one of the factors that held it back (Based on what I've been told about Mystic Force.). And most importantly, the show lacks a proper replacement for the cuteness that is Nai and Mare.
In order to undo the curse of hearing Mystic Force's opening, I have placed a rejuvenating spell in the form ofMagiranger's opening right after the jump.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Rosario+Vampire Was #1 April Manga in U.S. Bookstores~
The eighth volume of Akihisa Ikeda’s Rosario + Vampire Season II manga ranked #5 in Nielsen BookScan’s list of top 20..
The eighth volume of Akihisa Ikeda’s Rosario + Vampire Season II manga ranked #5 in Nielsen BookScan’s list of top 20 graphic novels in American bookstores for April. The American graphicnovel series The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman again held the top spot with its first compendium. Kirkman’s series also took the top four spots, and 12 of the top 20 spots.
The 55th volume of Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto manga fell from #3 in March’s rankings to #10, and the fourth volume of Naoko Takeuchi’s Sailor Moon fell from #2 to #18. The other two manga titles in the top 20 are the ninth volume of Yana Toboso’s Black Butler (#14) and the 39th volume of Tite Kubo’s Bleach (#19).
The BookScan rankings represent sales at Barnes & Noble and other book chains, independent bookshops, and online purchases — but not sales at comic book stores, Walmart, and some other venues.
