Anime News Service - January 4 Anime News

1-4-05---- ADV Kids Releases Megaman: Upon A Star

ADV Kids is proud to announce an exciting addition to its lineup of fun-filled and educational titles made especially for kids, Megaman: Upon a Star. Look for the fun to commence as Megaman hits the shelves TODAY! Based upon the ultra popular Nintendo and Playstation video games and featuring the characters and storyline created by gaming powerhouse Capcom, Megaman’s popularity has led to a huge fan following. In addition, Megaman has launched an extensive lineup of licensed products including toys, action figures, collectibles, soundtracks and video games created for virtually every platform available.

The evil mad scientist Dr. Wily has escaped from the video game world and it’s up to Megaman to stop the fiendish scientist from destroying Japan as we know it! Can Wily be stopped in time to save Children’s Day, prevent the worst typhoon in history, and keep Mount Fuji from erupting again? Get ready for fun-filled adventure as Megaman jumps into action! Megaman: Upon a Star (SRP $19.98) is a DVD-only release featuring three complete OVAs presented in English 2.0 and Japanese 2.0 with English subtitles. Extras include: ADV previews.

1-4-05---- Dreamweave Productions Closes Doors

Dreamwave Productions announced today that after eight years in the comics industry, four of which they were self-published, they will be ceasing operations. Established in 1996 by brothers Pat and Roger Lee, Dreamwave infused a stagnant comic book market with art and design that effortlessly combined the then dominant “American” art style with the newly emerging Japanese “Manga” art style. Since then, the company had grown to become one of the comic book industry’s premiere publishers, producing a variety of original titles.
In 2002, Dreamwave firmly established itself in the comic industry as a force to be reckoned with when it launched an all-new Transformers comic’s line. The return of the 80’s icons shattered industry sales records, skyrocketing the book to the number one sales slot for an impressive six months. The Toronto-based company’s other successful licenses included Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Duel Masters from Japan, as well as properties like Devil May Cry and Mega Man from video game giant Capcom Entertainment. President of Dreamwave Productions, Pat Lee stated “there are a number of reasons for my decision to close Dreamwave”, citing that “the shrinking comic book market combined with a weak U.S. dollar and unsustainable monetary commitments has finally proven to be too financially taxing.”

As the only Canadian independent comics publisher, Dreamwave Productions has struggled in recent years to maintain its status within a relentlessly shrinking comic book market. Unfortunately, consistently diminishing sales totals over the last several years have taken their toll on the small publisher and made it impossible to continue. The specific details for closure have not yet been released but Lee assures both fans and clients alike that “although this is the end of Dreamwave as a comics publisher, I will still be penciling a number of new exciting projects in conjunction with other studios in the upcoming years.”

1-4-05---- SoulKool On AppleSeed Promotion

ANS has learned the marketing firm SoulKool has been added to the promotional resource cache for Geneon Entertainment in it's campaign on the AppleSeed film release in the USA. A dedicated section of their website now features content for the film. SoulKoul was investigated by CBS News' 60 Minutes in a segment on "undercover marketing". When the highly rated news magazine visited the firm for their 2003 report, "Soulkool operatives were going undercover on the Internet, promoting the movie "Cowboy Bebop," an animated feature. Soulkool employees, all of them barely in their 20s, boost the promotion by flooding Internet chat rooms and message boards with rave reviews for the movie."

1-4-05

- Chunichi Newspaper has a large article on the advancement of Broadband Over Powerline technology in Japan. Going by BPL in America, the standard is known as High-Speed PLC in Japan. In practice, PLC will allow users to enjoy high-speed Internet easily at home only by inserting the power supply plug of a personal computer into a wall socket. 15 Japanese power companies have been investigating the technology and some have conducted proof of concept tests around Tokyo. Radio signal leak from the power line over distance (10 meters) seems to be the only public concern. (Editors note: Some in the USA feel this "leak" and the subsequent radio interference generated could threaten some radio communication. ARRL Stance) 200megabits per second speed has been achieved in experiments. A telecom infrastructure technical group manager mentioned that correcting the loss issues was key in Japan VS Europe and America becuase the oppertunity of interference with competeing forms of radio transmission is a key concern for Japan with dense population centers and some of the greatest radio wave concentrations in the world. 2-30 megahertz frequency across the line was used for the test. Permission to begin testing of PLC was given at the beginning of 2004 by the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications. PLC could make even LAN unnecessary as the entire house would be networked via power outlets. The speed of the network communication would also be faster than radio LAN standards and any smart appliance plugged into the wall socket could communicate. PLC could also bridge the digital divide allowing broadband access into regions where stretching costly fiber optic cables may not be economically viable. Outside of Japan, PLC is currently being used in 2 cities in Italy where restrictions on RF leakage don't exist and 6 locations in Germany where the power lines are widely buried underground. Korea, Spain and Austria are in the midst of tests and in the USA PLC is only allowed when it meets harsh restrictions. After tests end in March the data gathered from the research will be put to developing filter protocols to try and curb the leakage issue (2-3 years out estimate at earliest) and developing better PLC modems.
- KBS reports the drama series, "Winter Sonata", will be broadcast in America and Canada in 2005. Japan's Nihon Keizai Shimbun said that TV Japan, a broadcaster currently providing Japanese language broadcasting service in the U.S., plans to air the South Korean soap opera in the U.S. and Canada starting January 15th. The 20-episode drama series will be broadcast every Saturday in a Japanese language dubbed version. The newspaper said the "Yonsama" frenzy in Japan, referring to the tremendous popularity of the series' star, South Korean TV actor Bae Yong-joon, would also likely hit the Japanese community in the U.S., citing current moves to set up a Bae Yong-joon fan club in the States. Meanwhile, Nikkan Sports has just posted a story stating that some of the dubbing actors for the drama had done a sit-down protest over the fact that the series is being rebroadcast in South Korea as part of the Saturday Masterpiece segment on KBS. The claim was that the actors were losing work by the rebroadcast.
- Daily Sports reports seiyuu, Nana Mizuki (24), is wrapping up her latest Japanese concert tour which started in December. The Tokyo performance, just completed drew 7500 people.
- SEGA posted clips and photos of two Sakura Taisen games, one which takes place in France, and the other in the U.S. at this link and this one respectively. Thanks to Daniel for the link.
- Some AppleSeed content courtesy Daniel: Rotten Tomatoes lists the film as being designated with an R rating by the MPAA "for some violence". Video Clips are available through Yahoo.
- The Japanese Digicamezine has released the results for it's poll asking 88 webmasters of sites dealing with digital imagery and digicam content to rank their favorite digital still camera released over 2004. The selection pool was boiled down from 46 of 145 cameras candidates. Their choice was the Konica Minolta a-7 Digital is an SLR camera featuring interchangeable lense. Runners up in order include the Olympus E-300 and Cannon EOS 20D. The full ranking can be viewed at the above link.
- Broccoli is listing an event coming up where fans can meet Rosen Maiden (DiGi Charat - Dejiko) seiyuu Asami Sanada. The event will take place at the Gamerz Hakata Branch / Fukuoka on Kyushu to comemorate the RKB Mainichi Broadcasting decision for the series on January 8, 2005 - 14:00-15:30. Sanada plays the voice of Jun Sakurada in the series.
- IT Media has a large article on the direction of Japan's mobile media will go from 2005. 2004 ended five years of i-mode and is described using the katakana for the English phrase "conversion period" for the medium. Mobile phone and plan subscribers has slacked, the diffusion rate approaching 70%. i-mode technology and mobile phone A/V hardware (such as camera) and software is described as having evolved completing the 1st phase of development. The new "902i" standard is expected rollout towards the end of 2005.
- Digital Chosun reports Samsung is guarenteeing zero defective pixels in LCD monitors and customers who discover defective pixels on an LCD monitor produced by the company less than six months after its purchase may have the panel replaced free of charge. An LCD monitor is made up of hundreds of thousands of tiny pixels. Manufacturers have classified products with 10 or less defective pixels as "normal" and refused to repair or exchange them, which led to complaints from customers. Samsung added, however, that the free exchanges do not apply to customers who purchased their LCD monitors before Jan. 1.
- A-Zone will market a new Stellvia doll in Japan.
- Geneon Japan has updated it's listing to relfect an upcomng single for it's TV series Futariha Purikyua Makkusuha^To which will broadcast from Feb. Featuring the DANZEN (Ver.Max Heart) C/W it's due on 02/25 at 1,260 Yen.
- Asahi's Japanese site reports Toshiba plans to market a portable music player which can record and reproduce animation by the end of this year. The goal is to counter market dominance by Apple's "iPod" etc. The device will be connnected to a HDD around 80 Gigabytes or less. A pricepoint north of 10,000 Yen is targeted and 10+ hours of animation can be recorded. Asahi mentions the feature of displaying a still image was incorporated in the latest release of Apple's varriant and due to the extreme competition within the portable media player market they have decided to make the first move and incorporate animation.
- The Korea Times reports co-productions open doors to overseas markets and refers to the company Character Plan who cooperated with a Japanese animation studio to produce ``Sinamhaengosa (Phantom Master _ Dark Hero From Ruined Empire).'' ``While we were making the animation with a Japanese company, we were able to learn their skills and technologies, which Japanese animations have maintained and developed in their long history'' said Yang Jee-hye, president of Character Plan. Based on a local comic book series popular in South Korea and Japan, ``Phantom Master'' was directed by Joji Shimura of Japan with about 70 percent of the work done by Japanese staff.
- Manga news makes it's way to MTV in a recent report:
Princess Ai, Courtney Love's comic-book alter ego, will make another appearance this summer. The second volume of Princess Ai's manga comic, to be called "Lumination," hits shelves in June, and focuses on a love triangle that turns into a media scandal.
- According to Indie Wire, the upcoming 20th Santa Barbara Film Festival in the American state of California January 28 - February 6, 2005 will have some Asian offerings on the slate. According to the press, horror, suspense and anime from Asia will be screened in the "Cult Asian" section. The official website can be accessed at www.sbfilmfestival.org.
- A Mercury News Piece By Mike Langberg has gone out in several newspapers in the USA today titled "Comcast's new services beat satellite". One of the items mentioned by the article that makes this cable service so appealing over it's high flying competitors is the recent addition of anime content courtesy The Anime Network.
- TN's The Janesville Gazette covers Rascal, Sterling North's "ring-tailed wonder" of a pet raccoon, the namesake of the bestselling book. In Japan, Rascal is more of a cartoon icon than a literary character. In 1977, Japan's Nippon Animation worked North's raccoon tale into a 52-episode Anime cartoon starring North as a young boy and a pudgy orange-brown raccoon.
- IGN Reviews The Korean animation movie Sky Blue.
- SF Station has details of the upcoming AppleSeed screaming in San Francisco, California.

1-4-05---- New At Vertical

Anne Ishii of publisher, Vertical Inc., writes in with a few noteworthy updates. WINTER SLEEP by award-winning KENZO KITAKATA of ASHES fame has just come out in print. WS is Kitakata's hard-boiled take on the crazed artist figure. Manga fans will be interested to know that BUDDHA 5 will be released soon. The official website has an account of author, Koji Suzuki's, recent appearances in New York And Toronto. Also, Sakurai & Samurai-grrrlz was a huge hit in NYC! T-shirts & signed books are available.

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