Spirited Away ranked 16th for the week $1,605,000 for the weekend a boost of 31929.5% from the previous weekend's gross on 711 screens (704 more than last week) $2,257 per-screen average (the important number) $7,225,000 total gross $10,161 Culmulative Per-Screen Average (was $35K, prior to the rerelease)
“Japan-a-Radio has the multiple audio feeds we've long desired for Anime in the Limelight, and is positioned as a 24 hour J-pop and Anime music broadcaster. They are commercial radio people, and we’re excited by Japan-a-Radio’s outstanding audience share,” said William “Doc” Grant, Sales VP of Limelight Media.
“ They are also setting up the first FM Asian format broadcast venue in the United States. Since AitL started in 1997, this is one of the things we were aiming for. Now we’re seeing our aggressive expansion plans for 2003 already giving us exciting bonuses, like Japan-a-Radio.” said Grant.
Anime in the Limelight, hosted by the Legendary Anime DJ *MAX*, is one of the most widely recognized Japanese Animation music shows on the World Wide Web. Visit AitL’s home page at www.limepub.com/radio.html.
Through both his tireless efforts on behalf of classic titles like Kazuo Koike's Lone Wolf and Cub, and his integration of Eastern influences and styles in his original creations like Ronin, Dark Knight Returns and Sin City, Mr. Miller has been an important force in bringing Japanese creators, their art form and influences to a wider audience.
Mr. Miller will be accepting the award at our Momiji's Brunch Saturday, as well as participating in other events yet to be decided.
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In addition, Corus Entertainment will have a strong presence at Anime North as they have officially joined in as one of our supporters!
Corus Entertainment :
is Canada's largest radio operation in terms of revenue and audience tuning. is one of the most-watched group of specialty television services in Canada. is seen by 3 out of every 4 Canadian cable television viewers in English households. has close to 30 million subscriber households. owns one of the world's largest producers of animated children's programming and sells its programming in over 200 countries. produces some of the most-used entertainment Web sites in North America. is the leading Canadian publisher of children's books
Corus Entertainment will be broadcasting LIVE via their national station- YTV (Youth Television) whose special shows as THE ZONE and THE VORTEX will be covering the convention LIVE on May 16, 2003- Friday night and May 17, 2003- Saturday night.
Corus Entertainment will be covering the convention from the fans, to the guests, to the people who make it happen and this footage will be part of a 30 minutes special production/show that will air 2-3 weeks after the convention. As well, Corus Entertainment will be promoting Anime North through during YTV air time.
In addition- Nelvana- Canada's largest anime production company will be there to feature such shows as Beyblade, Metabots and more!
For further information, please visit our website: www.animenorth.com or our message board: http://pub43.ezboard.com/bteahouseofthemaplemoon for the LATEST updates of all the activities and surprises at Anime North 2003!
DATE: May 30-June 1, 2003
WHERE: Hyatt Regency Hotel at DFW Airport (International Parkway, DFW Texas, 75261), in Terminal C
HOTEL PRICE: $115 per night for 1-4 people (plus tax)
* NEW INFO * ROOM RESERVATIONS: As of March 1, the Hyatt is SOLD OUT of all rooms except a few they hold back called 'transient' rooms which they have to sell at their full price of $179 plus tax per night. Call the Hyatt directly at 972-453-1234 if you want these rooms. Mention A-Kon so at least we know it's 'our' people in them (normally these rooms are held back for stranded airline pilots, airline emergencies, cancelled flights, etc. and they can only sell them at their listed rate. Also we want to avoid noise issues, so let the hotel know you ARE with A-Kon, even if your NOT in the block) Otherwise, see overflow hotel info listed below:
FIRST OVERFLOW HOTEL: Ramada Limited, located at 2050 Highway 121 in Grapevine, TX. Their number is 972-304-9611. Be sure to mention Project A-Kon and Phoenix Entertainment when making your reservations, to assure the $115.00 per night rate. The Ramada will provide FREE 24-HOUR shuttle service to the Hyatt for your convenience. (We talked them into taking their shuttles DIRECTLY to the Hyatt this year, not just to Terminal C! Yay us!) Again, call the hotels directly to make reservations, as we're not sure their online national systems will work with our blocks and we don't want to see anybody get stranded. We are in negotiations with other hotels in the nearby area, and shuttle services, as we're sure we'll need them as con time approaches. There are only about 10 rooms left at the Ramada so we know we will need them. Stay tuned.
KON PRICES: $35 until April 1st, $40 thereafter until mail-in cutoff of May 5. Credit Card Cutoff is May 10th. This price includes the Duel Jewel AND Camino concert on Friday night. Price at the door for 3-day membership will be $45. All memberships will include program book, and all pre-reg will get a bag of goodies filled with whatever we can get to stuff in'em! (might be CDs, shirts, comics, bookmarks, posters, whatever we can find!) We may have enough special edition A-Kon promo posters to include one with all pre-reg as well (we're working on that now)
SINGLE DAY PRICES AT-THE-DOOR: Friday Only (includes TWO concerts!) $27, Saturday Only $27, Friday Only $20. If purchased separately, the 3 days would be $74! The Pre-Reg price of $35 right now is more than HALF the at-the-door price for comparable memberships! Pre-Reg NOW!
CHILDREN PRICE: 0-5yrs-FREE, 6-12yrs-$15, 13 and above, full price. At-the-door prices for kids remains the same.
GROUP PRICE: 10 or more people registering together gets $5 off the current membership price for all people in your party (children excluded-those are already discounted)
BANQUET TICKETS: $28 (includes brunch, seating with the star of your choice, awards ceremony, concert from the Sun String Quartet doing selections of anime music, video presentations and giveaways) Seats are Selling Out Fast! Get In NOW
T-SHIRT PRICE: $18 (M, L, XL, 2XL, 3XL will be available. IF demand warrants, we can get 4X shirts for $3 more)
DEALER PRICES: Room is SOLD OUT. Contact pre-Kon dealers liaison, Laura Morris at lmorris2@twu.edu to get on a waiting list in case of cancellations. (It does happen sometimes, but the list is already pretty long)
KOMIK MARKET: (our Artists' Alley) is SOLD OUT NOW. We are processing the last of the ones to come in, and if you cannot be accommodated, we will contact you to see if you still want your Kon membership before returning your payment. Contact Mike Crocker at mothoc@tamu.edu for more info.
NEW BRIAN STELFREEZE - Renowned Comic Artist, cover artist, anime fan, co-founder of Studio Gaijin, and all around darn cool dude!
NEW GREG AYRES - Voice actor, lead role in Saiyuki, and has been in Steel Angel Kurumi, Neo Ranga, Full Metal Panic and more. His first guest appearance at A-Kon (thanks to Monica Rial)
TADASHI NEGISHI - former editor of Shonen Jump, he will be doing art portfolio reviews - Take this opportunity to have your art assessed and tips given by one of the editors of the largest comic in the world!
BOB BERGEN - his first visit to A-Kon, Bob is the current voice of Loony Tunes (Marvin the Martian, Porky Pig, Sylvester, Tweety, and others), and the Oscar winning "Spirited Away" (the frog, the faceless spirit), Lupin III, Akira, and has a voice credit list as long as anything we've ever seen! We're going to talk real nice to him and SEE if he will run a short version of his voice acting class, which he's been doing for the past 16 years. We are honored to welcome Bob to A-Kon for his first anime show. Check his website (with voice samples even!) at www.bobbergen.com
FRED PERRY - very popular comic artist/author, a longtime A-Kon guest and we're happy to have him!
ROBERT DEJESUS - Well-known artist of comics and badges, we welcome Bob back as an official A-Kon Guest!
From Orange County Register courtesy Daniel
Net revenues in the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2002, were $25,901,000, compared to $10,250,000 in the year-earlier period. Fourth quarter net income was $2,246,000, or $0.16 per diluted share, compared to $2,200,000, or $0.16 per diluted share, in the same period from the previous year. Commenting on the results, Al Kahn, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, "2002 was a transformational year for 4Kids. While our margins and net income were negatively impacted by costs associated with the new ventures undertaken in 2002, significant progress has been made. We successfully launched FoxBox, 4Kids' four hours of programming on Saturday mornings on the Fox Network and developed several new and promising business initiatives in the areas of home video, music publishing and technology for kids. In 2002, Yu-Gi-Oh! emerged as the top children's network television program for boys and Yu-Gi-Oh! related merchandise helped drive strong revenue growth, especially in the fourth quarter. In 2003, we expect continued strength from Yu-Gi-Oh! and for our new business initiatives to contribute to the Company's results."
With respect to Pokémon, Mr. Kahn noted, "Pokémon continues to be among the top rated network kids television series. The new Pokémon Ruby and Pokémon Sapphire videogames that were released in mid-March are already top sellers, demonstrating the continued vitality of the Pokémon brand." With regard to the FoxBox, Mr. Kahn commented, "The Company's fourth quarter results reflect a significant share of the FoxBox fee for the 2002-2003 broadcast season and FoxBox ad revenues. Fourth quarter results, however, do not reflect any meaningful contribution from merchandise licensing, home video sales, international broadcast licenses and other ancillary revenues from properties appearing on the FoxBox. For example, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has attracted worldwide interest from licensees. The recently introduced Playmates toy line for the property is already a top seller at retail. We expect that many of the revenue streams from FoxBox properties will begin to benefit the Company in 2003 and beyond."
Mr. Kahn stated, "FoxBox ratings for the fourth quarter were at the lower end of the Company's projections. However, in the first quarter of 2003, new series such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the Cramp Twins have improved the FoxBox's ratings. We remain optimistic that the ratings improvement can be built upon as our newest shows gain traction with kids." "We are optimistic that 2003 will be a strong year for 4Kids Entertainment," concluded Mr. Kahn.
Audio CD Catalog#: AT9330 ISBN: 1-57032-933-8 UPC#: 7-42617-9330-2-8 SRP: $14.98
The soundtrack from one of the best known ninja anime titles in the US is finally available domestically!
From renowned composer Masamichi Amano (SiN: the Movie / Giant Robo / Princess Nine TV / Ruin Explorers / Urotsukidoji) comes the Original Soundtrack to Ninja Resurrection! Performed by the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Masamichi Amano himself, this wonderful soundtrack contains 16 tracks of hauntingly powerful melodies that will tear at your soul!
Graphic of this CD jacket is located at: http://www.rightstuf.com/outgoing/sleeves/at9330.jpg
Injured by budget cuts imposed by parent AOL Time Warner, Turner Broadcasting's The Cartoon Network has seen its ratings fall 15 percent from last year and will likely see ad buys during the current upfront market decline by about 10 percent, the New York Daily News reported today (Thursday). The kids channel has failed to launch a new hit series since 1998's Powerpuff Girls, the newspaper observed, and no longer represents a strong challenge to kids leader Nickelodeon. "The wind's gone out of them," Nickelodeon's Executive Vice President and General Manager Cyma Zarghami told the newspaper.
CONTENT-RICH SITE, DEDICATED TO THRILLING ANIME SERIES, INCLUDES NEWS, BACKGROUND ON THE STORY, CHARACTER PROFILES, ARTWORK, DESKTOPS AND MORE
HOUSTON, March 28, 2003-ADV Films today announced the launch of http://www.advfilms.com/favorites/saiyuki, a brand-new, content-rich site dedicated to the long-awaited anime series Saiyuki. The first volume of the series, Saiyuki: The Journey Begins, will be available through retailers beginning April 29, 2003.
The newly launched site includes news about Saiyuki releases, detailed character profiles, background on the Saiyuki story, downloadable artwork (including desktops and character art) and a trailer. Naturally, the ADV Films web team has also added some omake hidden special features-happy hunting!
Saiyuki: The Journey Begins Special Edition Available! ADV's release of Saiyuki: The Journey Begins will be available in two versions: as a DVD in its standard case, or as a special edition, including the DVD, a t-shirt and a custom series art box, sized to hold the first six volumes of the series.
Saiyuki: The Journey Begins (SRP $29.98; special edition $44.98) is a DVD-only release, including both English- and Japanese-language versions of the title. Extras include clean opening and closing animations; historical background; production sketches; a Saiyuki trailer and ADV Previews.
Otakon Bulletin Board to http://www.otakon.com/board
That's correct. Organization can now exist in your anime lives. (Which is
to say, "real lives", right?) Staff, Gofers, and Members gather together
for discussion and debate. (And big, squishy group cyber-hugs.
*Awwwwww!!!*) Multiple forums, categorized sections, and an interface that
is clean and quick. We run the board from our own servers and have our own
Staff maintaining it. Among the things you'll be able to do:
1. Meet & learn about our Staff.
2. Discuss topics in a friendly environment.
3. Have a history of notes/topics to refer back to.
4. Put all your anime online interaction into one place.
5. Create and maintain a profile about yourself, sharing only the
information you want.
6. Be privy to Otakon 2003 announcements.
7. Get occasional peeks into how Otakon is run.
And to be certain we continue offering the best possible service, the Mailing List will remain active.
To become a member of the board, you must first sign up and have your
account activated; a process usually completed within 24 hours. After
activation, you will have full time access to Otakon 2003. A dream come
true!
3-31-03---- Otaku Unite First Public Screening
A test screening of Otaku Unite!, the highly anticipated
feature-length documentary on the history of Japanese animation
fandom in the United States, will be taking place at Kosaikon in
Villanova, PA on May 31, 2003. Two and a half years in the making,
Otaku Unite! features interviews with anime-related celebrities,
die-hard fans, studios, distributors, plus a full year of anime
convention coverage.
Just a few of the familiar faces that appear in this documentary include Steve Bennett and I.C. Entertainment (formerly Studio Ironcat), Carl Macek (creator, Robotech), Fred Patten (co-founder, C.F.O.), Carl Gustav Horn (anime scholar, Viz Communications), Trish LeDoux (writer, Viz Communications), Gilles Poitras (author, The Anime Companion), Frederik L. Schodt (author, Manga! Manga! and Dreamland Japan), Helen McCarthy (co-author, The Anime Encyclopedia), Dave Merrill (chairman, Anime Weekend Atlanta), Kaiju Big Battel (anime/kaiju inspired monster wrestling)...the list goes on and on.
The director of Otaku Unite! as well as OU! crew members will be on hand for a question and answer session following the film and will be handing out free OU! goodies to all in attendance. Once again, this is a TEST SCREENING and will be used by the filmmakers as a forum for feedback from the anime fans in attendance. Look for the official premiere of OU! to take place later this year.
For More Info: http://www.otakuunite.com
eigoMANGA, a comic book publishing company in San Francisco, CA, is producing a live anime concert (first-time production of its kind in the United States) and convention on the campus of San Francisco State University on Friday, April 18, 2003. The concert starts at 12:00pm. The concert is called eigoMANGA CAMPUS INVASION, which is used to spread the awareness of anime and manga to a larger community outside of typical comic book/anime demographics.
“Comics and anime have an unjust stigma of being for ‘geeks’ and ‘nerds’ but that’s not clearly the case, claims, eigoMANGA CEO Austin Osueke. “Comics and anime can appeal to all people; it just has to be shoved in their faces, in a good way of course. Most college audiences listen to rock and pop music so that’s going to be the perfect bridge because anime uses the same music.”
Japanese animation has always been connected with pop music, which they call either J-rock or J-pop. There’s even J-hip/hop. Many Japanese bands and record companies have been formed simply because of the saturated demands of the anime industry. J-rock or J-pop is often used to help convey or amplify storyline. Japanese anime fans have spent billions of yen on anime soundtracks alone. eigoMANGA CAMPUS INVASION has invited various anime theme artists and rock bands like Oval to perform at the event. Rising pop star Natalise will headline the concert. She will be performing her hit single 'Wonderful' at the event. “Natalise has a large Asian-American audience in California and her music which is a mix of dance and pop is very appealing to the anime audience as well.” Austin explains.
eigoMANGA CAMPUS INVASION is a free outdoor concert event but it will still have the anime/comic book convention feel because there will be retail dealers, anime screenings, free giveaways, anime/comic fans, custom dress up and cos-play contests(the winner will appear in future eigoMANGA comics).
eigoMANGA CAMPUS INVASION is also featuring an anime fashion show (also an innovative production of its kind in the United States). The fashion designs are from Kayo Street Anime Gear and the designs are directly inspired from anime clothing. “Anime is huge now, and everybody knows how large Cos-play is (dressing up as anime characters). I strongly feel that a fashion line of anime-inspired clothing will be very successful when the awareness is out.” Austin explains.
eigoMANGA CAMPUS INVASION is also a forum for eigoMANGA fans and new artists hopefuls alike to meet with the executives and creators of eigoMANGA. "Our core fans are very important to us. CAMPUS INVASION is like an open-house event where, anyone and everyone can come meet with us about anything," asserts Osueke." It's always great to meet with fans in person; seeing the pure enthusiasm about eigoMANGA is a feeling that's indescribable. And sometimes they know more about the comics than I do."
Whether the students at San Francisco State University are anime fans or not, the simple exposure to the best that the anime and manga industry can offer will be a real eye-opener for them and make them think twice of it being 'geeky'.
Although there are no plans for further installments of "Cowboy Bebop" at this time, Watanabe concedes that Spike's adventures "will probably continue at some time in the future, although I'm not sure in what form. When the original 26-episode series concluded, a lot of fans and sponsors wanted me to continue. That's why I made this movie."
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