Friends become rivals over what to do about the Dragon Torque and the young Haruka Kaminogi who carries it within her. Karasu is willing to lay down his life to protect Haruka, but would Yu do the same if he was there? La’cryma’s Dragon Knights are dwindling with each dimensional jump, Haruka is starting to understand just what power she has over reality, and Noein reappears and wants to take Haruka to Shangri-la. Director Kazuki Akane’s (The Vision of Escaflowne, Escaflowne the Movie, Heat Guy J) twisted vision of the past and future returns with Noein - to your other self: Volume 3 from Manga Entertainment. (more…)
As anyone who has caught a couple of minutes of TV time the past few weeks should know, Speed Racer from the Wachowski Bros. is in theaters starting today. I’m sure most of you will be doing the same thing I shall be doing, going to see Iron Man again and playing more Grand Theft Auto IV. At least a few of the classic volumes of the original animated Speed Racer series are on sale at Circuit City through Saturday.
El Siglo de Durango has been talking with DB movie producer Tim van Rellim about shooting in Durango, Mexico and some future plans of the film. Goku, who happens to die several times over in the animated franchise, is planned to head for the clouds once again during the second Dragonball film. The 100 million dollar film has been pushed back to 2009, but El Siglo has some behind-the-scenes pictures to get you ready for Goku & co.’s newest adventure.
Warner Bros. have finally opened an official website for their upcoming Batman: Gotham Knight DVD release. Six Japanese directors (including Yoshiaki Kawajiri) and six different stories are weaved together to fill-in some of Batman’s exploits while WB gets ready for The Dark Knight on the silverscreen. Kevin Conroy (the voice of Batman/Bruce Wayne for fourteen years) has been brought back to voice the famous title character, his first time since Justice League: Unlimited ended in 2006. Gotham Knight is in stores July 8th on DVD & Blu-Ray while The Dark Knight starring Christian Bale and the late Heath Ledger hits theaters on July 18th.
Forget waiting for the Dragon Ball Z MMORPG to be finished or spending hundreds of dollars on your World of Warcraft character because Hello Kitty is making the leap into online gaming with Hello Kitty Online. The website is currently accepting users for the closed Beta so you better sign up now because already 30,000 users have sent in their email address. Of course, I would imagine at least a few of them sent in more than one address to get in. Hello Kitty fans are hardcore for everything Hello Kitty. (If you don’t believe me, visit a Sanrio store!) Personally, I’m hoping to see not only Chococat inside, but also the roly-poly penguin himself: Tuxedo Sam.
Following up on the first set pics from the Dragonball movie, Mexico’s El Siglo de Torreon has posted up a set pic from a fight/training sequence in the film. Nothing says Dragon Ball like pink… err, light red uniforms.
HoyCinema has posted a few pictures taken by a fan while passing by the set for the new movie Dragonball. Justin Chatwin will play the role of Goku while the article mentions Emmy Rossum taking up the role of Bulma. While it’s too early to tell how it will turn out (you can guess my opinion), the fact that the writer/director is James Wong (famous for crap such as Final Destination, Jet Li’s The One, and Final Destination 3)… I think I’ll just see Iron Man, The Dark Knight, and Indiana Jones 4 a second time right now.
I bet you’re glad that the Evangelion movie is still stuck in pre-production funding hell right now, aren’t you?
Daisuke Ichijyo’s “Career Dramatic Practice” has been pretty popular with the students and faculty alike. However, his encounters with Nao, Mitsugu, and Ms. Touko in Lecture One are going to get him into some new trouble now. Nao is waiting for Daisuke at home and Mitsugu isn’t far behind on wanting another encounter with her teacher. Based on the popular Crossnet-Pie hentai game boin and animated by Milky comes Boin: Lecture Two from JapanAnime. (more…)
The trailer for the upcoming Speed Racer film from the Wachowski Bros. (the Matrix people) has been posted online as America’s possible attempt to out-camp Hideaki Anno’s Cutie Honey film. Go Mach GoGoGo so very far away because it’s way too early in the morning to see something this colorful.
Anime UK News recently published two new interviews - a podcast one with Johnny Yong Bosch, and a regular text interview with FUNimation’s Laura Bailey and Colleen Clinkenbeard.
Based on Ryotaro Iwanaga’s ongoing manga series, the aftermath of the Great War has taken a huge toll on the citizens of the Royal Empire. Former soldiers have become bandits, poverty is widespread, and food is scarce. As a proud member of the Malvin house of nobility, Alice L. Malvin joined the military to continue the family’s tradition of serving in the armed forces of their homeland. But as Alice was graduating, a ceasefire had already been reached between the Royal Empire and the Republic of Frost. Cities and countrysides alike were ravaged by the war. Three years after the ceasefire, a new war relief unit has been formed within the military. Imperial Army Section III, better known as Pumpkin Scissors, is to investigate and assist with the problems reported across the nation. But for Second Lt. Alice L. Malvin, leading the field efforts of this unit is more than just a job. Animated jointly by GONZO (Hellsing, Last Exile) and AIC (Blue Gender, Armitage III) comes Pumpkin Scissors: 1 - Honor and Blood from ADV Films. (more…)
Geneon Entertainment’s Marketing Manager Chad Kime has sent out an email informing fans that the Geneon Spot fanclub has been closed down. Included is a PDF letter from CEO Eiji Orii concerning people’s comments on Geneon’s halting of production.
“At this time, we are internally discussing plans to explore all available options to continue distribution of Geneon titles, both old and new, at a later date. However, nothing is certain at this time. We will release more information to the public once we have concrete plans, if any.
Tatsuhiko Sato has found himself in the middle of the darkest plot in the world! Well, after Area 51, the Kennedy assassination, and American Idol. The twenty-two-year-old college dropout is a hikikomori, someone with acute social withdrawal, with a growing psychosis that there are conspiracies all around him. A cute girl named Misaki Nakahara is willing to save Tatsuhiko from being a hikikomori if he signs a contract to join her project, but is any of it real? Tatsuhiko Takimoto’s twisted look at Japanese subculture has transformed from novel to manga and now an animated series with Welcome to the NHK: 1st Conspiracy from ADV Films. (more…)
If you will recall an earlier report referring to comments from Epcar and several other sources, The Ocean Group was working on a Ghost in the Shell property that was believed to be the Solid State Society movie. Well, it was close. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - The Laughing Man cuts down the first GitS:SAC TV season into a 2 hour OVA and features a brand new cast from The Ocean Group.
Now before you go grabbing your pitchforks, keep in mind that The Laughing Man is a (greatly) shortened version of Season 1. So, you’re not losing your original English cast for an entirely new addition to the Ghost in the Shell saga. Instead, you gain an interesting second look at Season 1 and something on DVD that isn’t just TV episodes with a few new lines of dialogue added. The Laughing Man hits stores October 2nd in a 2-Disc set.
FUNimation has posted up the English dub version of episode 2 and 3 on their Glass Fleet website to check out. Simply follow the link and click on “Watch Episode” in the top menu. Volume 1 hits stores Oct. 16th in Single DVD and DVD with Box flavors.
ActiveAnime has added an audio response interview with Stephanie Wittels. Stephanie is a recent addition to the ADV roster with recent roles in Welcome to the NHK, Air, and Xenosaga the Animation as Shion Uzuki.
Just as I was getting ready to wrap up the Xbox 360’s Dynasty Warriors: Gundam for review, the friggin’ machine decided to go Red Ring of Death on me. WTF!? Don’t you know Halo 3 comes out next week!? The biggest game of the Fall season and the system chooses to up and die now!?!
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The ADV/Geneon deal that would have placed sales, marketing, and distribution of Geneon’s titles in ADV’s hands has been called off between the two companies. The press releases from ADV and Dentsu (Geneon’s Japanese parent company) don’t reveal many details other than the deal has been called off, but that won’t stop the rampant speculation this weekend by fans. Over the past couple of weeks Geneon has been letting go of its sales and marketing staff so the company will have to decide something soon as ADV was set to take control as of Oct. 1st.
Oh! And if someone sees Stephen Tang wandering around, tell him to email in. I’m not through with our Alba VS Kardashian conversation just yet. 
Something happened last night. Something awful which took the lives of four private high school girls. However, the next morning each of them wake up with no memories of what happened the previous day. As night falls, a flock of red butterflies appear overhead and each of the girls find themselves strangely beckoned to follow. Arriving at the same location separately, the girls are shocked to see each other. However, someone is waiting for them and has all the answers. GONZO (Gate Keepers, Last Exile, Hellsing) brings supernatural horror to New York City in Red Garden: Volume 1 - Live to Kill from ADV Films. (more…)
Continuing our coverage of the Wii game, GameTrailers has added a new Victorious Boxers: Revolution trailer featuring the same English voice cast from the Fighting Spirit TV series. Go check it out when you get a chance. Also, the new issue of EGM (Silent Hill 5!) features an ad for the upcoming game.
