While the weekend was busy with rumors of whether or not it was true, an official press release from ADV Films confirms that Geneon will be moving their sales, marketing, and distribution duties to ADV as of October 1st.

Personally, I’m rather disgusted with anime fandom at the moment thanks to many of the people I’ve seen posting online over the weekend. Those doing their own little happy dances that they might be able to get a Geneon title for a slightly bigger discount while ignoring the fact that real people who care deeply about this market are losing their jobs now. Wow, a whole friggin $1 to $3 dollars more off. Big whoop. Learn to shop better or don’t buy so much at once.

To all of those who have been with Pioneer and later with Geneon, thanks for all the hardwork and we wish you the best of luck from the staff at Crystal Acids.

Martha McIsaac (Haruko Akagi in Slam Dunk) and Marcella Lentz-Pope (daughter of the now deceased Tony Pope) can both currently be seen on the big screen in the smash hit comedy Superbad playing the lead’s love interest Becca and Becca’s friend Gabby respectively.

New Generation Pictures announced today that they are opening a new production office in Shanghai, China, aiming to provide both English and Chinese dubbing services at a “significantly lower cost”.

The full press release can be found here.

Masaki Kajishima (Dual!, Tenchi Muyo!, Masquerade) is back with another silly adventure across space and the bedsheets. Taiyo and his guardian android, Kei, travel through space onboard the Agga Ruter, a special ship not unlike some certain Jurai–related vessels. During their travels, Kei teaches Taiyo very special lessons in how to please women. Now that Taiyo has finally become a man, Kei can start their new adventure to find the Virginia and other key components her master has sent her out to locate. But the space pirates are hot on their trail to claim the ship and the secret components for themselves. The Space Opera hentai animated by AIC comes to DVD as Spaceship Agga Ruter from Anime 18. (more…)

Once, long ago, Wo and four other men used to be friends on the gang-controlled streets of Macao. However, a failed plot attempt on Boss Fay put Wo on the run and separated him from everything he knew. Returning to Macao to settle down with his new wife and baby, Wo finds two men who have been assigned to kill him and two more willing to protect him. The five comrades are together again and facing the issue of what to do when Wo’s life has already been spared once. Director Johnnie To’s (Running Out of Time, The Mission, Triad Election) tale of gangs and brotherhood, Fong juk, comes to America as Exiled from Magnolia Pictures. (more…)

Combining cutesy character designs, ’70s-style Go Nagai robots, and a rock soundtrack, Pan-Taron and the P-Z Lab try to defeat evil (or just accomplish daily tasks) in five-minute increments. Adopting title cards, dialogue is delivered just as it was during the silent film era, capturing only plot-related lines and leaving the characters to tell the rest of the story through their actions. From Bandai Entertainment comes the combination of Hello Kitty type characters trapped in a Go Nagai mecha dream with Robonimal Panda-Z: The Robonimation – Volume 1. (more…)

It started as a joke. Then the hints started to arrive. Is this madness? No. THIS IS COFFEE MAN!!!

By the way, if someone sees Wheeler tell him we’re sending a bill for all the advertising he’s getting. 😉 Not pictured are the issue of HELIO, Tick: Season 2 iron-on, Sneek Peeks of new manga (Viz, Dark Horse, CMX, MegaTokyo 5) and the Futurama Returns comic. The last one is particularly fun since I’m a Futurama/Simpsons fan. No wonder the box from Geneon was 5 pounds.

Next year let’s hope someone can swing me a ticket to ComicCon and a chance to meet Jessica Alba. Strictly for interview content purposes only, of course. (Or at least will be my excuse when the gf starts to ask…)

KappaMikeyFans.net has posted an interview with New York actor Sean Schemmel, who talks his work in anime and the American production Kappa Mikey.

And Active Anime has an audio interview with Alice Fulks, the star ADV’s 009-1.

Mixing the stunning visuals of Mamoru Oshii’s Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence along with full-length versions of the music from the soundtrack comes a unique second look into the Innocence film. The Innocence Music Video Anthology selects seven memorable (if not occasionally haunting) tracks from the film and sets them to the grandiose visuals of a future world. Bandai Entertainment brings Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence Music Video to America for a rare, deeper glimpse into the Innocence film. (more…)

Venus Versus Virus: Volume 2 contains episodes 3 and 4. The animated series hasn’t been released in America yet, so I’m watching the R2 DVDs. The first two episodes introduced us to Lucia and Sumire who each have their own powerful abilities for exterminating Viruses. Lucia has accepted her responsibilities, but Sumire is having trouble adjusting. So, what ways will Sumire find to screw up now? (more…)