Nick Simmons, occasional reality TV star and son of some bassist from a little known band, managed to unite the world of anime & comic fandom like no one else has in the last few years. Did he create the next Cowboy Bebop? No, but he might as well have lifted some of it since just about everything else popular from Japan in the last ten plus years has become a part of his homage in the series Incarnate — along with some Deviantartists and possibly others. While Simmons has released a response to the controversy, I wouldn’t expect this growing snowball of trouble to stop any time soon.

Remember kids: Stealing is bad.

If you’ve enjoyed reviewer rycz’s take on titles such as Venus Versus Virus Volume 1 & Volume 2 and Public Enemies, I suggest you wander over to see rycz’s recent review of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint. rycz breaks down David Yates’ vision of a PG-rated Harry Potter film and just how often the book & novel split ways. There’s a lot more going on than some simple Snape/Dumbledore thing.

Not to be left out, Madhouse (Ninja Scroll, Highlander) has their own pair of American properties with a Japanese touch coming out in 2010 for Marvel Entertainment and Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan. Iron Man and Wolverine feature independent stories for new and old fans alike to jump into. Iron Man will probably debut around the time Iron Man 2 begins its theatrical run while Wolverine may be held to fill in Marvel’s line-up in-between feature films (F4, X-Men, Hulk, etc.) and independent animated features (Hulk VS, Ultimate Avengers, etc.)

Game Trailers has posted the teaser trailer for Japan’s newest multi-studio collaboration: Halo Legends. Studio 4C, Production I.G., BONES, Toei Animation, and Casio Entertainment will each animate a short story in the same spirit of The Animatrix and Gotham Knight. Look for previews of it this Fall on Xbox Live and DVD release in 2010.

Conan O’Brien and sidekick Andy made their way to Bang Zoom! Entertainment to attempt to dub Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and the original film. Poor Tony Oliver was roped in to play ADR Director.

Debbie Rothstein’s A Faery Hunt theater show has been nominated for a Nickelodeon 2009 Parents’ Pick Award. We encourage you to go vote for the project from now until July 15th so Debbie and company can win.

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If you’ve enjoyed reviewer rycz’s take on titles such as Venus Versus Virus Volume 1 and Volume 2, I suggest you wander over to see rycz’s recent review of Public Enemies starring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale. rycz breaks down Michael Mann’s Depression Era picture revealing its strengthes, weaknesses, and accuracies to the real exploits of John Dillinger & FBI agent Melvin Purvis.

Apple has uploaded the official English trailer from Disney for Studio Ghibli’s Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea. Shortened to simply Ponyo, the movie will be in theaters on August 14th with the expected A-list of currently popular movie stars attached. Don’t be surprised to see a bilingual DVD come out around December/January.

Active Anime has posted an interview with FUNimation actress Brina Palencia about her career and taking over the role of Rei Ayanami in Evangelion 1.0.

FUNimation has posted the ninth full episode (subtitled) of their new series Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood in the video section. At the time of this posting, the server is constantly needing to pause and buffer due to traffic. If an ad begins at the start of the episode, you can click the ‘X” in the top right corner. You will skip the ad and get straight to the episode. The episode currently will not let you pause and load the rest of the episode into the player so viewing it — even on a high speed connection — is going to be a pain. You may want to hold out for the FUNi YouTube Channel version.