Anime News Service - April 17-22 Anime News

4-22-02---- Onegai Teacher Extras Offer

Fans in Japan who purchase all seven volumes of the DVD release from Animate stores will receive a Quo card. Purchase volume one and one can be elligible to receive a card at the register. Collect the stamps with each volume to receive the Quo card with the seventh volume.

Source: Natsume Maya

4-22-02---- Anime References In Safety Museum

The Japanese Museum of the Institute for Fire Safety & Disaster Preparedness (http://www.bousaihaku.com) includes references to Gundam (and Tetsuwan Atom/Astro Boy) in its "Firefighting in the Future" section here and here.

Source: Natsume Maya

4-22-02---- NEC Japan's Earth Simulator Supercomputer Now World's Fastest

The Earth Simulator According to a New York Times report released Saturday, Japan's NEC now holds the world's fastest publicly acknowledged computer, with the computing power of the 20 fastest U.S. computers combined. The computer is nearly five times faster than the previous leader built by IBM.

NEC's machine was formerly launched in March upon the completion of its delivery of the ultra high-speed vector parallel computing system known as "the Earth Simulator," to the Earth Simulator Center (ESC, Tetsuya Sato, Director)".

The Earth Simulator system was installed in the simulator building (with floor space 50m x 65m) at Yokohama Institute for Earth Sciences (Yokohama, Kanagawa) of JAMSTEC. This is the world's fastest supercomputer configured with 640 nodes (64GFLOPS/node, 5,120 CPUs in total), each of which consists of eight vector processors (8GFLOPS/CPU), and achieves the peak performance of 40TFLOPS (40 trillion floating-point operations per second). The Earth Simulator creates a "virtual planet earth" on the computer by its capability of processing vast volume of data sent from satellites, buoys and other worldwide observation point. The system contributes to analyze and predict environmental changes on the earth through the simulation of various global scale environmental phenomena such as global warming, El Nino effect, atmospheric and marine pollution, torrential rainfall and other complicated environmental effects. It will also provide an outstanding research tool in explaining terrestrial phenomena such as tectonics and earthquakes.

4-22-02---- Maximum CNG Launches Majoko RPG

MajokoMaximum CNG has announced the launch of their Majoko (Witch-girls) RPG which is a comedic Anime style role-playing game. Players will have the chance to join in or create their own adventures found in many Japanese cartoons and comics. In Majoko, witch-girls zoom about on brooms, wand in hand. Soldiers in mecha-armor battle giant monsters. Immortal heroes fall in love and battle evil after doing their homework. Majoko (Witch-girls) is a world where imagination is allowed to roam free and where adventure lurks behind every corner. The player creates a character and then steps into the fantasy RPG world. Maximum CNG's official forums can be accessed here.

4-22-02---- Production I.G. 15th

You can see pics of the Production I.G. 15Th anniversary celebration at This Link. Thanks to Daniel for the details.

4-22-02---- Anime Central 2002 Acquisition Announcements

According to the Right Stuf:

ADV
Noir
Angelic Layer
Full Metal Panic
Mazenkaizer
Najica (full name Najica Blitz Tactics)

AnimEigo
You’re Under Arrest is coming to DVD

Right Stuf
Comic Party!

Comic Party? What’s Comic Party??
Jump straight into the world of doujinshi (Japanese fan manga) and explore its insanity with one poor high school sucker… er.. lucky fellow named Kazuki Sendo who is unwillingly sucked into the world of doujinshi by his otaku friend Taishi Kuhonbutsu. Little does he know that once he begins, he’ll never escape...

Directed by Norihiko Sudo with character design by Koichi Taguchi (SLAYERS GORGEOUS) and produced by KSS, the Comic Party TV series brings a new dimension of the Japanese otaku to American Fans.

Based on the dating simulation game of the same name from Aquaplus, this hilarious 13 episode series will have every otaku will be laughing and seeing a bit of themselves in the characters.

For those already familiar with the To Heart animated series – don’t miss out on the hidden jokes and cameo appearances of your favorite To Heart characters placed throughout this hilarious spin off series.

For more info check the official Japanese site

4-22-02---- Toonami Contest

According to info which has surfaced in the latest Toonami Flash newsletter Toonami is hosting a new contst with a grand prize trip to San Francisco's Bandai Entetertaibnment sponsord Metreon Festival of Anime. This week, special codes will be featured nightly on the Toonami Midnight Run, viewers then enter the codes online to enter the contest. A large Gundam merchandise assortment is also featured as a prize. 500 runner-ups will be eligible for Gundam action figure.

4-22-02---- Ghibli SFO Conference Info North American Exclusive

Akadot Editor Tim Law was in attendance at this past weekend's Spirited Away premier at the San Francisco Film Festival. Producer and longtime colleague of Miyazaki, Toshio Suzuki had some interesting tidbits to tell as well. It seems Miyazaki is (again) not straying as far from film as he's alluded to in the past. He's working on a 15 minute short of My Neighbor Totoro 2 and has plans for three more feature animated films. Mr. Suzuki revealed the basis for one of the films as the adventures of a caterpillar named Boro as he travels from a tree on one side of the street to a tree on the other.

The information was announced first in America last Saturday, April 20, and had not yet been announced in Japan.

4-22-02---- Cartoonist Event Changes

Touloun France's Cartoonist festival planned for 3 days this weekend has had some last minute guest changes. Ikezawa Haruna has been canceled for this season's fair but will reportedly be attending at the next Cartoonist in Paris this November. Replacing the seiyuu this round is Kawamura Maria (Ifurita ElHazard OVA 2 | Eudial - Sailor Moon S Movie).

4-22-02---- New At Midnight Eye

Midnight Eye has updated this week with an exclusive interview with director SHUNICHI NAGASAKI on his film A Tender Place. The site's movie of the week THE CHASE, a little-known film noir gem from the 50s is included plus a review of Sion Sono's SUICIDE CLUB. Finally the site goes inside the FAR EAST FILM festival in the Italian city of Udine with a daily report.

4-22-02---- Gamera Preview Disc In UK

Go to Cinescape to read a review of a region 0 Gamera dvd that comes with a free British magazine. Thanks to Daniel for the link.

4-22-02---- Last Samurai Updates

"Right now the biggest star in the world is gearing up with swordplay and Japanese history tutorials for his role in the period epic THE LAST SAMURAI, for director Ed Zwick (THE SIEGE, COURAGE UNDER FIRE). In the film, Cruise will play an American brought in to a 19th century samurai war by a Japanese emperor. "He's looking forward to the fighting. As Cruise recently gushed, "You don't do a movie called THE LAST SAMURAI to sit around a table and talk. You do it for the carnage!".."

Source: Cinescape via Daniel

4-22-02---- THEM At Phoenix Leprecon

From he message board post:

"THEM will be attending LepreCon 28 next month. If you are in the Phoenix area, and do not wish to drive six hours across a burning desert for an anime convention, LepreCon will be featuring a 24-hour anime room (run by yours truly), dub-your-own-anime, karaoke, and a THEM-sponsored track of programming devoted to anime, fanart, fanfiction, and fanworks in general. Yes, this includes a meet-and-greet with THEM Anime Reviews. ^_^ "

Thanks to Daniel for the news

4-22-02---- Audition DVD Details

Daniel has done some detective work and decided to check out Amazon's DVD listing for Takeshi Miike's Audition to see if there are any extras on the Audition dvd and found the following:

. Interview with director Takashi Miike from the American Cinematheque Theatre - conducted by Dennis Bartok and Chris D.
. Biography/ filmography of Takashi Miike
. Tour of Egyptian Theatre (9 minutes)
. Photo gallery
. Liner notes by Chris D.

4-22-02---- Anime Screenings At Metreon

As a reminder, this weekend will see 3 days of anime screenings at San Francisco's Sony Metreon, according to the latest listing at Metreon's Events Page:

Action Theatre Anime Screening - presented by ADV Films and Bandai Entertainment. Join us for a fun-filled weekend of FREE anime screenings of your favorite titles from ADV Films and Bandai Entertainment.

Friday, April 26 G-Saviour, the Movie from 5 to 6:30 pm Bubblegum Crisis Vol. 2 from 6:30 to 8 pm

Saturday, April 27 Spriggan from 8 to 9:30 pm

Sunday, April 28 Jin-Roh, the Wolf Brigade from 12 to 2:30 pm Martian Successor Nadesico Vol. 1 Chronicle from 3 to 5:30 pm Ronin Warriors, the Call from 6 to 8:30 pm

These selected features are recommended for ages 13 and older. Guests under the age of 13 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

4-22-02---- MVM Launches UK Magazine Anime Connect

Major Anime Licensor / Distributor MVM has officially launched their UK scene Anime magazine Anime Connect along with it's website at http://www.animeconnect.co.uk. There one can find information on how to sign up for the UK anime club and get the magazine.

4-22-02---- Enix At Sakura Con

A poster at Enix.com's forums gave the following schedule for when Enix would be at SakuraCon: Sat. April 27th, LP3 (Glacier/Horizon), 2-3 PM.

4-22-02---- Akitaroh Daichi And Taro Maki Annonced For BAAF

From the Big Applen Anime Fest release:

BIG APPLE ANIME FEST CONFIRMS ANIME NOTABLES AKITAROH DAICHI AND TARO MAKI AS GUESTS OF HONOR

April 22, 2002—New York (NY): The Big Apple Anime Fest (BAAF), a weekend long celebration of Anime Manga Culture announced that anime director, Akitaroh Daichi and famed anime producer, Taro Maki, have been confirmed as guests of honor at BAAF 2002. Daichi and Maki will be appearing at both BAAF 2002 and Anime Expo NY (AXNY) events in Times Square, August 30 ~ September 2, 2002.

As the Red & Black Sponsor of AXNY, its highest level sponsor category, BAAF, which has been called $B!H(BThe Cannes Film Festival of Anime Manga Culture$B!I(B, will be overseeing a variety of activities during the labor-day weekend festivities, including many Guest of Honor appearances, the BAAF Film Festival, and the BAAF Symposium.

Fan-favorite director Akitaroh Daichi has garnered a large following among American otaku, due to his work as an anime director since the 1980's. After studying at Salesian Polytechnic's Graphic Division as well as Tokyo Institute of Polytechnics, he worked at Tokyo Animation Film. Working on such anime as $B!H(BDoraemon$B!I(B and $B!H(BUrusei Yatsura,$B!I(B he also honed his talent creating music videos for J pop stars Senri Ohe, Singer, and many more. His more recent work includes many of the most popular anime from the last several years, from the hyperactive comedies $B!H(BKodomo no Omocha (Child's Toy),$B!I(B $B!H(BJubei-chan the Ninja Girl,$B!I(B $B!H(BFairy Princess Raine$B!I(B and $B!H(BAnime Runner Kuromi-chan,$B!I(B to the shoujo anime hits $B!H(BNurse Angel Ririka SOS$B!I(B and $B!H(BFruits Basket.$B!I(B Breaking the mold is his most recent work, the masterful post-apocalyptic drama $B!H(BNow and Then, Here and There,$B!I(B a current bestseller and critical success.

Taro Maki, President of GENCO Inc., broke into the animation industry with the production of $B!H(BPatlabor$B!I(B for Tohokushinsha Film Corp. in 1989. A talented producer, Mr. Maki has been involved in both anime and motion picture projects, and is responsible for several of the best selling titles in the genre. His skills and abilities are showcased in many animated features, such as $B!H(BTenchi Muyo in Love (1996),$B!I(B $B!H(BTenchi Muyo: The Movie 2 (1999),$B!I(B $B!H(BSuper Doll: Rika-chan (1999),$B!I(B $B!H(BTree of Palme (2002),$B!I(B and many others. GENCO is one of Japan's leading anime production companies, winning double awards last year at the Canada Fantasia Film Festival for $B!H(BMillennium Actress."

4-22-02---- G-Gundam At AX

According to Newtype Asylum Bandai will screen the Mobile Fighter G Gundam TV series at 'Anime Expo 2002' in Long Beach, California July 4-7. G-Gundam recently made it's USA premiere at an event at Sony Metreon, Anime Expo will offer a far wider event audience.

4-22-02---- Anime Prime Second Anniversary Offerings

In conjunction with Anime Prime's second anniversary, site webmaster Jim Lazar has announced running a site survey to learn more about the site's visitors. Two lucky visitors that fill out the survey will win their choice of one of three different prizes. For details check here Contest is scheduled to end on April 30th, 2002.

4-22-02---- Tenshi no Shippo PS Game - New Anime Announced

According to Famitsu the production team behind Tenshi no Shippo held an event recently where a Playstation game based on the anime was announced. To be released by Bandai, the price and sale date are still undetermined. The production of a second part to the anime was also formally announced, although whether it will take the form of a TV series or OVA series is unknown.

Source: Natsume Maya

4-22-02---- Ranma 1/2 3rd Ranma Box Set Review

"Ranma 1/2 Perfect Edition" (http://www.furinkan.com) has posted the release date and price for the 3rd Ranma boxset "Hard Battle".

4-22-02---- Uniform Copy Control Stickers Unveiled

With recent moves into new copy protection protocols by the larger Japanese record labels including Avex Trax, the RIAJ of Japan has unveiled a logo of stickers that will be used to label audio CDs that incorporates copy-control (anti-copying) technology. The RIAJ's motive is to make it easier for consumers to see whether or not they'll be able to copy the music CDs they buy. The full article can be found at AsiaBizTech by Nikkei BP

Thanks to Anjiro-san for the link

4-2-02---- Britney Spears Receives Barbie Award 2002

Britney Spears was awarded a Barbie Award 2002 for 'the woman most Japanese girls long like to be'. Spears will be performing her 1st concert debut in Japan on Thursday and her new movie, Crossroads, will open nationwide in Japanese theaters on May 18th.

Source: Japan Today, Thanks to Anjiro-san for the link

4-22-02---- Spirited Away / Ghibli Film News

Courtesy to Anime Nation:

At a questions and answers session with Disney and Studio Ghibli representatives at this past weekend's American debut of the English language version of Spirited Away, Disney will theatrically distribute both a subtitled and a dubbed version of Spirited Away in American theaters tentatively beginning September 20th. American producer and personal friend on Hayao Miyazaki John Lasseter will be supervising the American release of Spirited Away, hopefully assuring the most credible and artistically sound release and support of the film in America as possible.

There are plans to release 2 Ghibli films on American DVD later this year and 4 next year. The delay is mandated by the Studio Ghibli requirement that particular films be released on Japanese DVD before they are released on American DVD. The forthcoming American Ghibli film DVDs will be in Japanese with optional subtitles. English dialogue tracks will be included if they exist, but Disney will not be recording new dub tracks specifically for the American DVD releases. All of the American Ghibli film DVDs will be mastered in Japan to maintain the superb image and sound quality typical of Japanese produced anime DVDs.

Source: Aint It Cool News

4-21-02---- Diamond Preview Listings

According to the post to rec.arts.anime.misc by Alan Peters:

DVD titles from Previews sheduled to ship around July

Mobile Suit Gundam Movie: Char's Counterattack
Marmalade Boy Vol. 1
Orphen Vol. 6: The Third Talisman Episodes 20-24 FINAL VOLUME
Princess Nine Vol. 5: Bases Loaded!
Ranma 1/2 TV Series Hard Battle Season 3 DVD Box Set ($119.98)
Soul Hunter Vol. 6: The One That Got Away Episodes 22-26 FINAL VOLUME
Steel Angel Kurumi Vol. 2: The Trouble With Angels
Vanilla Series: Campus DVD and Dub VHS (adult title)
DC Comics appears to have a Samurai Jack comic book coming out.
Top Cow's Battle of the Planets comic book issue 1 will be released with 4 different covers.

4-20-02---- Medabots Season Finale Next Saturday

Fox Kids will air a special 1-hour "season finale" of Medabots this coming Saturday. Ikki and Medabee will fight Dr Medaevil will be focused upon.

4-19-02---- Anime Gamers Launches

Formerly Omocha Box, Anime Gamers has launched their retail site with at totally new look at http://retail.animegamers.com.

4-19-02---- New At Akadot

Akadot has a new article this week on pop artist Yoshitomo Nara who's talent is taking today's Japanese modern art scene by storm. Nara-sensei is purported to take cues from Anime in his work. Also new on the site is an interview with game developer TriLunar who offers a quick glance into their first title, Dragonkind, and how the lines between film and game are blurring. You can view that here.

4-19-02---- New Bandai Visual Announcements

From the Bandai Digital Beat Press Updates as translated by Natsume Maya:

Due On August 25th:
Jungle wa Itsumo Hare nochi Guu deluxe volume 1 (the DVD was originally released in August 2001 for 2,100 yen; this new "deluxe" version has an eight page booklet - the original version was four pages - and a Hokute strap, price 3,800 yen, Dolby Digital stereo)
Sentou Yousei Yukikaze volume 1 (Dolby Digital 5.1, price 5,800 yen, comes with 15 minute making video and reversible DVD jacket)
Dominion volumes 1 and 2 (three episodes per volume, Dolby Digital stereo, price 3,800 each, includes four page booklet)
Fushigi Yuugi OVA series volume 1 (three episodes, Dolby Digital stereo, price 3,800, includes the bus trip omake clips)
Macross 20th Anniversary Premium Collection (price 3,800 yen, a limited edition item))

4-19-02---- Korean Work Kifuaita-Teran Airs In Japan

The MBC Network begins airing the Korean animated work Kifuaita-Teran from the 20th of this month. NHK satellite will also air the popular and highly detailed and uniquely Korean styled anime from July 1st this year. International Export consultation for the series has began within Taiwan, China and India, and in America with Warner Brothers.

4-19-02---- Play Magazine Article With ADV's John Ledford

Anime Nation reports:

The April cover-dated issue of Play Magazine includes an interview with ADV Films' John Ledford, Marvin Gleicher, and John O'Donnell, the operating presidents of AD Vision, Manga Entertainment and Central Park Media respectively. When asked about future releases, John Ledford is quoted:

ADV has an extensive list of titles that we have acquired but not yet announced for strategic reasons. What I can mention are some of the anime titles that I am personally looking forward to in 2002: "Excel Saga," "Saiyuki- Paradise Raiders," "Full Metal Panic," "Spriggan," "Lady Death," and "N..." (I'll have to let readers figure that last one out.)

While this is not quite the same as an official acquisition announcement, this comment from the President of AD Vision seems like a reliable announcement of AD Vision's English language distribution license to Gonzo Studio's current mecha action TV series Full Metal Panic and last year's cult hit Noir.

4-19-02---- New Ghibli Film Music Confirmed

The song "Kaze ni Naru (I Become a Wind)" by Ayano TSUJI will be used as a theme in "Neko no Ongaeshi," the next Ghibli film to be released this summer in Japan. The singer uses the Japanese folk style playing the ukulele, more info on her cna be obtained here at JVC Music.

Source: The Hayao Miyazaki Discussion Group

4-19-02---- Cinema Info

You can see the teaser trailer for the Ring re-make here and a review of Tuxedo is available at Corona here.

4-19-02---- Kannon Trailers

Animate.tv has uploaded preview trailers for all episodes of the Kannon anime, view them here.

4-19-02---- Japan's Klockworkz Moves Into International Film Production

Screendaily.com has info on Japanese film distributor making a stride into international film production business with the unveiling of its first project, Meher Grougian's Citizen Zero, due to start shooting in Los Angeles in December.

Budgeted at $1m, the SciFi thriller about a man who has lost his identity, will be the director's first feature, shot in a combination of animation and live action. Klockworx spotted Grougian's short film Plug, also a SciFi thriller, about a man who falls in love with a computer, which was screened at the Slamdance festival in 2000. "Plug was shot in a combination of animation and live action. It had a freshness and uniqueness of style with a touch of Japanese animation and had the sparkle of the director's talent in its story. We are convinced that his feature film will be great entertainment," said Kanako Koido, one of the Klockworx producers on Citizen Zero.

Coming up for sumer release is the wrapped and ready Alive, set for a summer release in Japanese theaters. Klockworx co-produced the project with Skyworx Films, direction is by Ryuhei Kitamura of Takeshi Miike's Versus. Klockworx will also release Stephen Chow's Shaolin Soccer.

The full article can be read here

4-19-02---- Sega Sets Up Mobile Phone Division In America

Sega's North American branch has announced plans to organize a division dedicated to developing game software for mobile phones and PDA's. A wireless port of Super Monkey Ball is due this summer.

4-19-02---- NTT DoCoMo And Sharp Team On Mobile Phone E-Books

In Japan wireless giant NTT DoCoMo has announced plans to develop an infrastructure for distributing electronic books that can be viewed on mobile handsets. Set to debut in autumn the format of the e-books will be in XMDF format. Electronics firm Sharp will be collaborator in the project. The e-books will be primarily text in nature with some multimedia facets such as vocal instruction and the prospect for imbedded animated illustrations.

4-19-02---- Studio Proteus At Fanime

Studio Proteus will have a booth at FanimeCon 2002. According to the announcement on their site, Proteus will be selling everything at cover price, no matter how old. This year's con will be the last chance for fans to get copies of back issues of single comics from Proteus. Next year only Graphic Novels and Collections will be available.

4-19-02---- Anime / Manga Gaming

Konami has announced a new PlayStation 2 RPG called GetBackers: The Stolen City of Infinite. This is a 3D dungeons adventure type RPG, the story is based on the popular anime GetBackers. The dungeons in the city are randomly generated, a new Comb Interactive battle system is used in the game, which allows you to mix attacks of the two main characters to create new kinds of combo attack and special attacks. GetBackers: The Stolen City of Infinite is scheduled for release in June

Tecmo of Japan has announced Rygar: The Legendary Adventure for PlayStation 2, a new sequel to the classic NES Greek mythology action adventure game.

Source: Details and Images At the Magic Box

4-18-02---- Rush Ticket Info For American SFO Premiere Of Spirited Away

Edited Excerpts From the 45th SFIFF Bulletin #6 as posted to The Hayao Miyazaki Discussion Group.

SCREENINGS FOR WHICH ONLY RUSH TICKETS (DAY-OF-SHOW) ARE AVAILABLE

There are a number of Festival screenings for which we are currently not selling any more advance tickets. Additional advance tickets may become available as we get closer to the screening date. Even if no more advance tickets become available, on the day of show, we are virtually always able to accommodate some additional patrons with RUSH TICKETS, which are sold on a first-come, first-served basis. A separate line for each "sold-out" screening will form outside the venue. Rush Tickets will go on sale approximately ten minutes prior to show time to individuals in line order, while supplies last. CASH ONLY; NO DISCOUNTS; ONE TICKET PER CUSTOMER. Rush Tickets are NOT available at the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley.

Sat 04/20 6:30pm Castro SPIRITED AWAY
Sun 04/21 11:00am Castro SPIRITED AWAY
Mon 04/22 9:00pm PFArch SPIRITED AWAY (*)
(*) Rush tickets will NOT be available.

Other screenings are filling up fast, so you are encouraged to get your tickets soon!

For information on Festival films, the screening schedule and more, visit: http://www.sffs.org/fest02
For information on purchasing Festival tickets, visit:
http://www.sffs.org/fest02/box_office/

It should be noted for fans planning to attend this weekend's festival that previously announced The Cherry Blossom Festival and Parade takes over the street surrounding the AMC Kabuki 8 Theatres in Japantown again this weekend. Parking will be very difficult near the Kabuki on both Saturday and, especially, Sunday.

Here are the details for that event:

[Courtesy - Wolrd Of Anime] Anime Costume Parade: April 21, 2002 Times: Check-in starts at 10:30 AM, with judging to begin at 11:00AM. The meeting place will be at the front of City Hall. The parade will start will begin at 1:00PM from City Hall and end at 3:00PM in Japan Center. Consolation prizes consisting of videos, posters, keychains and/or magazines will be given to all participants. All participants for the Costume Contest and Parade _MUST_ Pre-register with Japan Video prior to the event. Please contact William or Tak at Japan Video at 415-563-5220. The Anime Costume Contest and parade is sponsored by ADV Films, AnimEigo, Central Park Media, Pioneer, Tokyo Pop, Media Blasters, Digital Manga, Urban Vision & World of Anime. Organized by Japan Video and Media, Inc. 1737 Post Street, San Francisco, CA 94115.

The prize information for the anime costume parade has been broken down into the following: First prize: Totoro Plush Toy (see store for details; 1 winner); Second Prize: Your choice of the Evangelion DVD Box Set, Trigun DVD Box Set, Serial Experiments Lain DVD Box Set, or the Ranma 1/2 Anything Goes Martial Arts DVD Box Set (3 winners); Third Prize: Your choice of the Sailor Moon Movie DVD Box Set, Dragonball Z Movie DVD Box Set, Magic Knight Rayearth 1st Season DVD Box Set, Kiki's Delivery Service Gigi Plush Toy or My Neighbor Totoro Neko Bus Plush Toy (5 Winners). Consolation prizes will also be given out to all participants. For more information, stop by Japan Video or call 415/563-5220.

4-18-02---- Anime Event In Tampa This Weekend

St. Petersberg Times art critic Steve Lennie Bennet has an article this week on an anime event coming up in Tampa Bay, Florida. According to the piece "My Reality: Contemporary Art and the Culture of Japanese Animation" opens Sunday at the Tampa Museum of Art. The main components are comic book and cartoon images such as venus #2 by Masakatu Iwamoto, the event is mostly a family-friendly show expected to provoke thought and discussion.

Times film critic Steve Persall meanwhile has a review of Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis entitled "Visit To The Future". The piece is an overall positive review of Metropolis:

"Rintaro's Metropolis makes one understand why fans of Japanese animation (or anime) are so feverishly supportive of the genre, making it this country's most popular foreign cinema import. This is a gorgeous piece of work, with futuristic settings and special effects that live-action technicians only dream of creating. Plus, it features characters and a plot just taxing enough to seem pleasantly complex without suffering from tech-geek syndrom.

Metropolis also made the critic's number 1 movie pick of the week.

4-18-02---- Schedule Changes At Toonami

Thanks to Sailor Mech for the following:

According to a couple of posts in ToonZone.Net's news forum, Cartoon Network's anime lineup will be updated on June 3rd, 2002. They will be putting Sailor Moon back on the air, and they will showing the English version of Tottoko Hamtaro (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=22207) to American audiences for the very first time.

Hamtaro will be aired weekdays at 7:00 AM EST and 4:00 PM EST, replacing Bugs and Daffy and Ed, Edd, n Eddy respectively. Sailor Moon will air at 3:30 PM EST, replacing Johnny Bravo.

The post that first announced the schedule change can be found here:
http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=29666

The post which reports June 3 as the premiere date can be found here:
http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=29942

4-18-02---- Search Terms "Taxes" And "The IRS" Dethrone Dragonball On Lycos 50

PR Newswire reports for the week ending April 13, Dragonball which usually tops The Lycos 50 Top 10 Search Terms, being replaced #1 The IRS and # 2 Taxes. International readers will note April 15 as Fedral Income Tax day in the United States. Other anime notes for the list of 50 is Yugioh which ways in at #47, below is the discription of the listing in the Lycos release to PR Newswire:

What is Yu-Gi-Oh!:

Could Yu-Gi-Oh! (#47) become the next Pokemon? The new rising star on the Japanese anime front has been slowly rising in search popularity over the past few weeks. Searches for Yu-Gi-Oh! Suddenly doubled this week as the cartoon expanded from airing on the WB Network on Saturday mornings, to airing weekdays as well. Video games and action figures based on the show finally hit U.S. toy stores this month, to complement the already popular Yu-Gi-Oh! card game.

4-18-02---- Trigun Kubricks This August

New from Medicom are a Trigun Kubrick first announced last Summer. Diamond Disrtributors will be offering Yasuhirow Nightow’s popular anime characters: Vash the Stampede, Nicholas D. Wolfwood, and Monev the Gale to fans in North America. This set of 2 ½” tall figures is currently being offered for pre-order in the May issue of Diamond Previews for $15.99 and is scheduled to ship this August. Images and details can be seen at Figures.com

4-18-02---- Studio Tron / Kia Asamiya Happenings

Studio Tron has posted info to it's website indicating Asamiya Kia's new Silent Mobius Tales manga will begin running in Enix's monthly shonen manga magazine G Fantasy with the June 2002 issue (released May 18th). Seven instalments are planned and each will be character specific going through the AMP members one by one. After that, a new work Silent Mobius Neos is planned, also to be serialised in G Fantasy. The website also mentions the release of the Silent Mobius DVDs in June 2002 in the US and refers to a DVD special package and a special version of the manga, but suggests that these may be for promotional purposes, not retail sale.

Source: Natsume Maya

4-18-02---- Koei Confirms PS2 Nobunaga's Ambition Online

The latest in long line of historic military startegy titles has officially been announced with their first PlayStation2 MMORPG (massive multiplayer online RPG) Nobunaga's Ambition Online. This game will allow up to 3000 players to connect simultaneously to the virtual world of 16th century Japan. This game will support both narrowband and broadband connection, the game can be played with a 56K modem or the PS2 Broadband Unit. A beta test version of the game will begin this summer, and the game is scheduled to release in Japan sometimes this fall. In this game you can choose to play as one of the 7 jobs, including Samurai, Priest, Shinto Priest, Ninja, Blacksmith, Yun Yang Master and Pharmacist. Different job you have chosen will grant you access to different places in the world. For example, priests can access all services from the temples while the others cannot; certain job classes have access to the castle and government services. A party system called Clique is introduced in the game, the data of your party is stored in the server, and you can call your companions when necessary. The game uses a dramatic real time battle system, you party can attack the enemies simultaneously at the same time. Koei is considering to introduce the game in the North America and Euro market after the Japanese version is released. Yoko Kanno fans will note the prolific composer cut her professional teeth on the soundtracks of the early Nobunaga games.

Source: Details and Images At the Magic Box

4-18-02---- New Anime Video Clips

Short ads for Gatekeepers 21 (volume one of which is to be released on April 24th) are available for streaming download here. The Nakoruru website has updated with a 90 second promo now available for download.

A promo for the upcoming Sentou Yousei Yukikaze can now be downloaded here.

4-18-02---- Games News

The Tokyo Game Show will be at the Makuhari Messe Convention Center in Japan September 20-22, according to Gamespot. Gamespot also states Grandia Xtreme will be released here this fall through Enix. zanyvg.overclocked.org has quotes and pictures of Dragon Power, the "edited" version of Dragonball that came out for the U.S. NES

4-18-02---- Asian Cinema News

Daniel informs the Mialing List The Hollywood Reporter states Michelle Yeoh will be one of the jurors for Cannes.

New Times L.A. has an article on John Woo where he discusses his approach to film-making.

This is a recap of the previous information with some really cool new info depending on how you view it: 1.) Godzilla and MechaGodzilla are the only kaiju in the film. 2.) MechaGodzilla is a product of the military. 3.) MechaGodzilla will be a bio-mechanical weapon, comprised in part of Godzilla cells! 4.) The maser tanks/weapons will return. Source: Cinescape

www.sammohung.com has a new look for the site, an interview with Sammo on future projects, and a Windows Media Player clip of him speaking about the site.

4-18-02---- Opening Weekend: Spirited Away #3 Movie In French Theaters

Hayao Miyazaki's well recognized film Sen to Chihiro opened in France over the weekend in wide release, ranking #3 overall with an impressive 311,000 tickets sales showing. Both French Dub and Sub versions are playing with popular French anime dub voice actors filling the roles nof major characters. Le Voyage de Chihiro's debut represents the most successful opening for a Japanese film in French cinema history. French film critics have overwhelmingly been suportive of the film in the media and the release has attracted much press overall. The major French publication "Le Monde" has a pice on the film in French which can be read here. An interview with the director Miyazaki can be read also courtesy Le Monde here. The major France Newspaper Libération has an article on the film here followed by a mini-interview with Miyazaki here. and a short article on the Ghibli museum here.

Sources: Olivier | Nausicaa.net

4-18-02---- AGN Contest

Lorna Ly of the Anime Girl Network has informed us on their latest fanart contest dealing with Inu Yasha.

4-18-02---- ADV Films Press

From the releases:

RELEASE DATE SET FOR ORPHEN: THE SOUL STEALERS

ADV RELEASES FIFTH VOLUME OF THE POPULAR SERIES ON HOME VIDEO

HOUSTON, April 17, 2002 - ADV Films has set the street date of May 28, 2002 for the home video release of Orphen: The Soul Stealers, the fifth and penultimate chapter in the magical anime title. Orphen is based on Yoshinobu Akita's popular series of Japanese fantasy novels. The novels also served as the basis for a hit Playstation® 2 video game.

The Story: When she arrives at the mysterious Summit of Moonlight, the dragon Azalie devises a sinister plan. And when the devious magician Flameheart makes his move, the young sorcerer Orphen's teacher finds himself the unwitting victim of them both! Orphen's last hope to change Azalie back into a human is to find the legendary magician Rox Roe-the only one who knows the spell to transform her. But Azalie has a few spells of her own up her sleeve, so she decides to stop Orphen any way she can. But with the sword-wielding Black Tiger, exploding volcanoes, and giant insects in their path, Azalie may be the last thing Orphen and his friends need to worry about!

ADV plans a concurrent day and date release of Orphen: The Soul Stealers on DVD and VHS formats. The VHS ($19.98 SRP) contains five episodes in the English language. The DVD ($29.98 SRP) contains five episodes in the English language, as well as the Japanese language with English subtitles. DVD extras include an original Japanese TV commercial, production sketches, textless open and close animation, and ADV previews.

ORPHEN: THE SOUL STEALERS Running Time: 125 Minutes Age Rating: 12+ Pre-Book Date: 4/30/02 Street Date: 5/28/02 Format SRP DVD $29.98 VHS $19.98

RELEASE DATE SET FOR BLUE SEED PERFECT COLLECTION

THE ENTIRE BLUE SEED SERIES NOW COLLECTED IN ONE COMPLETE PACKAGE

HOUSTON, April 17, 2002 - ADV Films has set a street date of June 18, 2002 for the Blue Seed Perfect Collection, a special collector's edition package containing the entire Blue Seed television series on four discs. Blue Seed is based on the popular manga by Yuzo Takada, creator of 3x3 Eyes.

The story: The countdown to extinction begins when the evil shape-shifting monsters known as the Aragami make their grand play to gain control of the earth. Humanity's only chance for survival rests on the shoulders of Momiji, a young girl carrying an unborn Aragami in her chest; and Kusanagi, a servant of the Aragami rebelling against his masters in order to ensure mankind's survival. Watch the battle for earth's survival unfold in the groundbreaking anime series, Blue Seed!

ADV Films' release of the Blue Seed Perfect Collection ($59.98 SRP) contains the entire twenty-six episode series on four discs in the English language, along with the Japanese language version with English subtitles. DVD extras include character bios, original series trailers, clean credit animation, "Omake Theater," and ADV previews.

BLUE SEED PERFECT COLLECTION Running Time: 650 Minutes Age Rating: 12+ Pre-Book Date: 5/21/02 Street Date: 6/18/02 Format SRP DVD $59.98

RELEASE DATE SET FOR MEDABOTS: MEDABOTS, ROBATTLE!

RELEASE MARKS THE HOME VIDEO PREMIERE OF FOX KIDS' TOP-RATED SATURDAY MORNING SERIES

HOUSTON, April 17, 2002 - ADV Films has set the street date of June 25, 2002 for the home video release of Medabots, Robattle!, the second volume of the popular animated series airing on FOX Kids and ABC Family, Medabots. ADV plans a concurrent day and date release for both the DVD and VHS formats of this successful children's franchise.

Medabots is a major franchise in Japan, with millions of comic books, toys, video games, and other licensed merchandise sold. In America, anticipation is running high for upcoming merchandise like Hasbro toys, Topps trading cards, clothing from NTD Apparel, CD Cardz from Serious USA, and more.

The Story: Ten-year old Ikki finally has his very own Medabot. But what a Medabot! Metabee talks back, won't do what Ikki tells him to, and worse yet, takes out the trash when Ikki's mom asks! Instead of fulfilling his dream of becoming a world-renown Robattler, Ikki is rapidly becoming the laughing stock of every Medafighter in town. With the city Robattle Tournament looming, Ikki and Metabee must learn to work together or face elimination. But the Robattle Tournament is the least of their problems. The Rubberobo Gang is new in town, and it's going to be up to Ikki and his friends to make sure that their evil plans are thwarted. Don't miss the continuing excitement in Medabots!

ADV Films' home video release of Medabots: Medabots, Robattle! includes four episodes of the highly-rated children's television series on FOX Kids and ABC Family. DVD extras include character bios, a Medabots A to Z special feature, and ADV previews.

MEDABOTS: MEDABOTS, ROBATTLE! Running Time: 100 Minutes; Age Rating: All Pre-Book Date: 5/28/02 Street Date: 6/25/02 Format SRP DVD $19.98 VHS $14.98

4-18-02---- AX 2002 Announces Kenshin Creator Nobuhiro Watsuki

From the announcement:

Anime Expo is pleased to announce Nobuhiro Watsuki as Guest of Honor for 2002. Mr. Watsuki is best known for being creator of the popular Rurouni Kenshin manga series that was first serialized in 1993 Weekly Shonen Jump. He received the 1987 Tezuka Award Honorable Mention and is also creater of Gun Blaze West first serialized in 2001 Weekly Shonen Jump.

Please visit the Anime Expo website at http://www.anime-expo.org/ for more details.

4-17-02---- UK Fox Kids Briefs

As reported by Animejin, all text in this item Copyright Jonathan Weeks:

Fox Kids News
=============

News has arrived of two new anime series coming to Fox Kids:

'Shin-chan', (also known as 'Crayon Shin-chan') will debut on Fox Kids on 22nd April (next Monday), showing at 4:00pm each day. Here is a description I found:

"Cartoon adventures with Shin Chan, possibly the naughtiest child on the planet. Living with his tough mother, his meek father and Shiro, his very stupid dog, Shin Chan's main purpose in life is to cause mayhem."

Also, here are some edited quotes from a recent press release:

"Fox Kids Europe, today announced an agreement with Shogakukan Production and TMS Entertainment to acquire 52 episodes of the animated series Hamtaro."

"Hamtaro features the adventures of an insatiably curious golden hamster, his young owner, Laura and his bunch of quirky hamster pals, known as the 'Ham-Hams'. The gang gather daily in their underground clubhouse and have countless adventures trying to help out their owners and navigating their way through the human world."

"Hamtaro was produced by Shogakukan Music & Digital Entertainment, and the animation was created by TMS Entertainment. The series is based on the successful 'Tottoko Hamutaro' from Shogakukan's series of illustrated children's books by Ritsuko Kawai."

4-17-02---- Bandai Entertainment May Releases

Bandai Entertainment has sent out it's May 2002 releases which include the very special Mobile Suit Gundam Movie Trilogy - DVD Box Set. View the entire slate here.

4-17-02---- Akadot Retail Teaser

A teaser page for what is to come soon from Akadot's new retail division can be viewed here.

4-17-02---- Recent High Profile Anime Court Case Documents Released

Official Tokyo District Court records of recent anime-related cases have been released to the internet in Japanese. The lengthy documents give the account of 2 cases both presided over by judge Toshiaki Iimura involving The rights to Super Dimensional Fortress Macross and creation rights to Space Battleship Yamato.

As fans may recall in late Feb. Judge Iimura issued a verdict on the franchise copyrights to Super Dimensional Fortress Macross Monday. The ruling could leave far greater implications for the future licensing of character and series related materials in it's wake. The legal battle involved Tatsunoko Productions, who are celebrating their 40th anniversary this year and a re responsible for such classic anime as Speed Racer (Mach Go Go Go) and Big West who rounds out the interested parties, they are the Japan based copyright holders to the Macross franchise. According to Monday's ruling by presiding judge Toshiaki Iimura, Big West does indeed own copyrights to the Macross franchise. The official court account can be read here.

In March, a crucial ruling on credit for creating the hit animation series Space Battleship Yamato came down. According to the verdict, an injunction against Yoshinobu Nishizaki on the producer's claim to be co-creator, filed by creator Leiji Matsumoto was struck down. Judge Iimura mentioned Mr. Nishizaki did indeed engage in the whole production process from the planning stage to the film's completion, giving detailed instructions. The document from that case can be viewed here.

4-17-02---- AT&T Wirelless Launches MMode

N.Y. - AT&T Wireless Services Inc. stated Tuesday that it launched a new internet access service called the, 'mMode', in some cities of U.S. for mobile phone users. The rest of the details can be found at Japan Today. http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=4&id=211917

Thanks to Anjiro-san for the link

4-17-02---- Copy Protected Releases Confirmed For Toshiba EMI

Tokyo - Record labels, Toshiba and EMI said Tuesday that they will release a compilation of hit songs on copy-controlled discs on May 29 entitled, The Japan Gold Disc Award 2002. The album collection will feature award-winning songs by J-pop artists such as Hikaru Utada and Ayumi Hamasaki. Link: http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=4&id=211844 [link sources were originally reported by Kyodo News]

Thanks to Anjiro-san for the link

4-17-02---- i-Mode France Confirmed

Reuters News reports NTT DoCoMo has formed an alliance with France's number three mobile firm Bouygues Telecom on Wednesday to launch its i-mode Internet access service in France, industry sources said.

4-17-02---- Godzilla Merchandise From Bandai Creation

From Cinescape via Daniel:

"Cypress, Calif. (April 16, 2002) - Bandai Creation, a subsidiary of Bandai America Inc., announced today a license from Sony Pictures Consumer Products to release a line of collectible action figures based on one of the biggest movie franchises of all time, Godzilla. The 180-foot Godzilla will be immortalized in the toy line modeled after the characters from various Godzilla movies.

"The first set of toys will be available in fall 2002 and will include 6.5-inch and 2.5-inch action figures as well as 3.5-inch adventure sets. The action figures will feature five Godzilla designs along with six of his infamous signature rivals such as Rainbow Mothra, Anguirus and Destoroyah. Bandai Creation's Godzilla figures and adventure sets will be sold at specialty and select major retailers with prices varying from $5.99 - $19.99 (SRP). Bandai Creation will continue to add to the line with additional figures in spring 2003.

'We are thrilled to partner with Sony Pictures Consumer Products to bring this 180-foot treacherous terror to life with this new line of action figures," said Aki Nakanishi, senior vice president of sales and marketing, Bandai Creation. "The introduction of this toy line will produce a new generation of Godzilla fans while exciting current Godzilla enthusiasts and collectors." (Thanks to Chuck M.!)'

4-17-02---- Anime / Manga Gaming

The Magic Box has some first screen images of Biohazard 0 for GameCube.

4-17-02---- MechaGodzilla Director Rumors

From Cinescape courtesy Daniel: "Sometimes it happens here at MZ but the "word" yesterday that Taguchi is the new FX director is in dispute between two reliable sources. So that rumor is retracted completely until I find out what the error was, but the rest of the info still stands as is."

4-17-02---- ADV Films Rolls Out New Site

According to the Right Stuf, ADV Films has opened their newly improved and redesigned Flash enhanced website at www.advfilms.com. Trailers and links to their latest releases and upcoming shows have been added.

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