In his recent appearance on the Space Station Liberty internet radio show, Richard Epcar confirmed that he reprised his role as Batou in the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex follow up movie Solid State Society, with Animaze/ZRO Limit handling production. However information from several sources, including Epcar himself, make it appear as if Bandai was originally intending to release this with a dub by The Ocean Group, using an entirely new cast, and only changed their mind after it had completed.

Bandai has been known to change dub casts for sequels of shows they’ve previously released, most notably for the Universal Century Gundam and Saber Marionette franchises. Paying to dub a movie twice marks a pretty significant change for them, especially with the current downturn in the industry. If the alternate dub by Ocean will ever see the light of day remains to be seen.

CrystalAcids.com has learned that the English language version of Powerpuff Girls Z is being done by The Ocean Group. The show is a Japanese remake of the original American Powerpuff Girls cartoon, co-produced by Toei Animation, Aniplex and Cartoon Network.

According to reports from Sakuracon, New Generation Pictures announced at their panel that budgets offered to them by anime distributors had gotten so low that they felt they no longer could produce dubs for them without a significant drop in quality, and as such have had to pass on new anime projects. This follows similar statements from other industry members over the recent years, and was specifically mentioned by Marc Handler as the reason for ZRO Limit and Animaze losing the dominating position they had in the late 90s to early 00s, in spite of fan acclaim of their work.

With far fewer titles being licensed and dubbed now compared to previous years, and Singapore emerging as a low cost outsourcing destination, offering dubbing, subtitling and DVD authoring all-in-one, this trend will likely continue as competition between current dubbing companies grows increasingly fierce.

Hand Maid May, Steel Angel Kurumi, Chobits… we know the inanimate-turned-real female servant for a young, inept-master-type storyline very well without even touching titles beyond the level of “ecchi.” Yet give it a twist of live action and a tighter script that doesn’t have to fill 13+ episodes and you may just have something interesting to show for it. Following the shy otaku Ryouta, we see his life get turned upside down as a special figure given to him comes to life. Based in the famous Akihabara shopping district of Tokyo and first in a trilogy of films produced by Tetsuya Ikea (Shall We Dance?) comes Legend of the Doll from Asia Pulp Cinema. (more…)

I think of all the education that I missed. But then my homework was never quite like this. While the show may have nothing to do with a certain famous Van Halen song, the spirit is still the same in many ways. Drugged during a social gathering, teacher Yumi Hayama finds herself being molested by the school’s Vice Principal when she awakens. Yumi manages to escape but is haunted by the memories it brings up from a past relationship. Yumi hates aggressive men and her life is about to get even more complicated for it. RightStuf’s Critical Mass Video delivers the Vanilla Series hentai title Hot For Teacher for those seeking some higher education in ensnaring a teacher for a pet. (more…)

Aquaplus created a PC dating-sim game in 1997 called To Heart. Having inspired an animated series, two Playstation console versions, and a sequel game series, it’s easy to call To Heart a popular series in Japan. Just short of the 10th anniversary of the original game in Japan, RightStuf has released the first volume to the 1999 anime series featuring Akari Kamigishi and her childhood friend Hiroyuki Fujita. As we follow their high school days and growing number of friends, one can only reflect that you don’t see this kind of laid-back series very often in newer series from Japan. In the same vein as Boys Be…, get ready for an anime series about friendship and a little more in To Heart: Volume 1 – New Feelings. (more…)

Picking up with the cliffhanger at the end of Volume 1, Ichigo has his hands full as he battles Hollows, the painful memories of his mother’s passing, and a stuffed animal. Rukia is trying to assist Ichigo with his new role as a Soul Reaper, but not every problem can be solved by her years of knowledge with the Soul Society. Ichigo Kurosaki has never led a normal life and, since meeting Rukia, it doesn’t look like he’ll be having one any time in the near future either. And… wait a second, did I just say Ichigo is battling a stuffed animal!? Viz Media brings us the second volume in the ongoing spirit series with Bleach: Volume 2. (more…)

Serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump is the popular series Bleach which follows high school student Ichigo Kurosaki and his tumultuous life as a substitute Soul Reaper. Locked into a role he didn’t want, Ichigo takes on the evil spirits known as Hollows while Rukia, a true Soul Reaper from the Soul Society, assists until her powers return to her. But saving souls is going to take a true commitment if the pair are to be successful. Viz Media brings us the first look into the life of Ichigo Kurosaki and his ability to see spirits with Bleach: Volume 1. (more…)

Director Nobuhiro Yamashita brings together four Japanese High School girls for a tale of friendship founded by an event that will change each of them. The Shiba High Holly Festival is upon us and one of the acts to perform is already breaking up. Kei Tachibana and Rinko Marumoto got into a fight that ended with their guitarist Moe injured and Rinko too angry to continue. The band is on the verge of being left out of the festival when Kei decides that they will continue. Now Kei, along with Kyoko and Nozomi, are in search of a new direction to take the group before they have to perform in a few days. Viz Pictures continues to expand their live action line-up with the unique film Linda Linda Linda. (more…)

Illumitoon Entertainment has announced that is it offerings a trade-in program for its first three DVD titles (Volume 1 of BoBoBo-Bo BoBo-Bo, Beet the Vandel Buster, and B’t X). As we previously mentioned in our reviews of BoBo-Bo and Beet, the subtitles are actually closed captions (dubtitles) of the English dub script. The trade-in program will be available for a very short time so I suggest following the steps now to send off your DVDs (DVD case & artwork not needed) to get them swapped out before the May 30th, 2007 deadline.