Father Geek here, taking time off from Austin's little Tarantino Film Fest at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema to post up Scott Green's AICN Anime Report for this Wednesday morning. Quentin's keeping our entire Austin Headquarters crew pretty busy this week with as many as 9 fun feature films a day, but I still have a little bit of free time, soooooo here I am sitting at the ol' keyboard typing away at html and java codes, posting stories like this one for all you geeks around the globe to check out. As usual Scott's put together a great column for you... Enjoy...
FUNimation On Lupin III
Reports out of this weekend's Wizard World comic convention sugest that FUNimation may have acquired the rights to of Lupin III
Dave Moran of FUNimation replied to inquires with "Yes we do have Lupin the 3rd. And we are producing 10 movies. I don't have any further information for you as of today, but I will have more very soon."
Lupin III is the grandson of French literary gentleman thief Arsène Lupin. He is accompanied in the series by his accomplishes, the somber gunman Jigen, the stoic samurai Goemon and his love/rival Fujiko, as well as the Interpol agent tracking him, Zenigata. The series was a large influence on anime that followed it.
FUNimation also stated that they acquired the rights the third Dragon Ball series, Dragon Ball GT, which they hope to start airing in 2003. Dragon Ball GT was created without the involvement of the title's creator Akira Toriyama, and is not based on manga. The series takes place 10 years after the end of the Dragon Ball Z. Lord Pilaf, a foe from the original Dragon Ball wishes Goku back into childhood using the Dragon Balls, which then spread across the universe. The child Goku is joined by Trunks, and his granddaughter Pan on a search for the Dragon Balls.
New Ghibli Film on the way from Miyazaki
According to a Japanese interview with Hayao Miyazaki, the next Studio GHIBLI feature film will be supervised by MIYAZAKI but directed by Hosoda Mamoru, best known as director for the Digimon TV series and movies. The un-named film is scheduled for release in the summer of 2002 with a running time of about 100 minutes.
Ghibli is also working on a mid-length film (70 minutes) directed by a young freelance animator.
Sen To Chihiro Box Office Update
According to Sponichi, as of August 13th Studio Ghibli´s latest movie "Sen to Chihiro Kamikakushi" ("Sprited away") has surpassed the 10 billion Yen box-office mark. 25 days after its initial theatrical release in Japan the movie has grossed 10,154,271,880 Yen in total (about $ 83,382,000) and drawn nearly 8 million viewers to the pictures. "Princess Mononoke", by comparison, grossed 18 billion Yen after a showing period of 8 months.
Release Date for Cowboy Bebop Movie Announced
The date of September 1st has been announced for the Japanese theatrical release of Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door.
Status of Anime Sequels
After it was reported on Anime on DVD's forum that Kawamoto Toshihiro, the character designer of the series stated that a second Cowboy Bebop series would be created with new characters, Anime on DVD received an e-mail stated "Mr. Kawamoto has seen this website and claims this is false information (I did not attend his panel, so I can't say for sure). Perhaps this person misinterpreted what was said, or maybe the translator inaccurately spoke. Either way, I was told to have this thread corrected by Mr. Kawamoto."
According to A Fan's View's report of Otakon at here Masao Maruyama of the Madhouse animation studio responded to a questions about more of the post apocalyptic Western Trigun with "It's a difficult question...we're planning on making a new Trigun work but there are many issues to resolve. "Gundrive will be the name of the new work." A question about the validity of the stated was posted on on Yasuhiro Nightow's (creator of the Trigun manga) BBS at here
Nightow posted a response himself: here "Unfortunately, Madhouse has no plans for a new Trigun animation. It would be nice if someday, if the timing was right, they could make another fine film." here
Big Apple Anime Fest Announcements
The Big Apple Anime Fest (BAAF) in Times Square on October 26th-28th is shaping up to be a landmark anime event. The BAAF is hoping to become the "Cannes Film Festival of the Anime Manga Culture."
The BAAF announced the Virgin Megastore Times Square as the fifth venue of the weekends events celebrating Anime Manga culture. In its role as a sponsor of the festival, the Virgin Megastore will become the Guest Appearance Venue where Big Apple Anime Fest VIPs will sign autographs as well as participate in "meets and greets" at the Times Square location. As of August 20, fifteen guests are to appear over the course of the festival weekend.
Anime Legends Rintaro and Katsuhiro Otomo will be making appearances at the event in connection with the release of "Metropolis". The new English language version of the film, distributed by Tri-Star Pictures, will have its North American release on November 9th. Rintaro has career ranges for directing episodes of Astro Box, to the recent X: The Movie
Katsuhiro Otomo directed Akira and created the classic manga (comic) it was based on. Otomo served as the screenwriter for Metropolis, a new anime movie based on the work of Osamu Tezuka. Tezuka's creations include Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion, but he was also instramental in shaping the formation of the Japanese anime and manga industries. Rintaro and Otomo are making a rare trip to America to be in New York City to personally introduce the U.S. premiere of Metropolis at the Directors Guild of America Theater on Friday, October 26th, at 5 pm.
From the press release "Set in the future, Metropolis is a grand city-state populated by humans and robots, the cohabitants of a strictly segmented society. Amidst the chaos created by anti-robot factions, detective Shunsaku Ban and his sidekick Ken-ichi are searching for rebel scientist Dr. Laughton, to arrest him and seize his latest creation, a beautiful young girl named Tima. When they locate them, Shunsaku quickly comes to realize that the eccentric scientist is protected by a powerful man and his fierce desire to reclaim a tragic figure from his past and therefore is beyond their reach. "
Other showings of Metropolis include:
The Japanese DVD release of Metropolis is schedule for December 7th. There will be two version of the release, a standard version for 3800 Yen with only the movie, and the Memorial box for 12,800 Yen with DTS 5.1, DD 5.1, second bonus disk with extra footages, trailers, a pilot feature created back in 1997 and extensive liner notes, a 120-pages booklet and a collection of original storyboard drawings created by the director .
ADV Films will be bringing the action movie Spriggan to appear at the festival on opening night. The movie will be appearing at the CN Anime Convention in Toronto, Canada.
The Big Apple Anime Fest 'Anime DVD Shoot Out' is a new awards ceremony to honor the best in U.S. anime releases on our favorite shiny disc format. They have 7 categories and 22 nominees votes can be placed online through their web site here Spriggan is based on manga released in the US as "Striker". The movie focuses on a chapter of the manga in which a super agent with muscle augmenting armor fights to keep Noah Ark's power locked away.
For more information see Big Apple Anime Fest.com
Cartoon Network News
Toonami Midnight Run will be running an hour long music videos special on Friday August 31st. According to CNX: Toonami Revolution the videos to be shown include four videos from the Toonami soundtrack Deep Space Bass, including Mad Rhetoric and Dreams (that's the one with the mostly Outlaw Star clips in it, the Daft Punk videos with the first three videos (One More Time, Aerodynamic, and Digital Love) and the world premiere of "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger", created exclusively for the band by famed Japanese animator Leiji Matsumoto (Galaxy Express 999 among others) and , the Gorillaz will have three videos (Clint Eastwood, 19-2000, and Tomorrow Comes Today).
The Daft Punk videos are viewable on demand from Toonami.com.
Cartoon Network's new Adult Swim block will premiere Sunday, September 2nd at 10:00pm. While half of the lineup (Home Movies, The Brak Show, and Space Ghost Coast To Coast) will be TV-PG, the remaining shows (a trio of original 15-minute shows plus an hour of Cowboy Bebop) will be TV-14. Adult Swim will be repeated on Thursday nights. For this weeks schedule see here and here
According to a press release almost one-third of Cartoon Network's audience is composed of adults over 18. For the April-June '01 ratings period, Cartoon Network showed a 25 percent in ratings and a 28 percent increase in delivery over the same period last year among adults 18-34. Cartoon Network's growth in total day for adults 18-34 was even more impressive, with ratings climbing 33 percent while delivery jumped 46 percent over last year. Cartoon Network attracts more adults 18-49 than many other basic cable networks, including E, TVLand, CNBC, and VH1. Adult Swim.com official opens August 31st.
According to The Nightmare Room's conversation with WB representatives the Samurai Jack will be shown on Kid's WB September 1st at 9:00 with "Don't Forget Me" and "Scareful What You Wish For".
Toonzone.net has reported in their news and schedule section that starting September 3, Sailor Moon will air weekdays on Kid's WB at 3:00 PM for two weeks.
US Release Details
According to Right Stuf the Ah! My Goddess the Motion Picture streets on 11/27/2001 for 29.99$ with no features listed yet.
Pioneer's release of Gatekeepers volume 2 will be on 11/13 with three episodes of the series. The series Studio Gonzo's (known for their CGI working on series such as Blue Submarine no 6) morality tale of super powered children and strange invaders in the 1960's.
Volumes 1 and 4 of the DVD release of El Hazard: The Wanderers will be released with 7 episodes while volumes 2 and 3 will have six episodes. The discs will be released on October 16th, November 6th and December 11th respectively. El Hazard the Wanderers is an extended retelling of the original seven episode OAV about three students, an innocent and inquisitive boy, entrepreneurial girl, a Machiavellian boy, and their alcoholic, chain smoking teacher. They choose sides in a war between a collation of human kingdoms and a group of semi-intelligent insects. The TV series changes a few of the characters from their OAV personifications. The princess in charge of the coalition of humans, Rune Venus and now the age of the students, and the demon goddess Ifurita is not the cold woman she is in the OAV. The reduced quality of animation does not capture the strange majesty of the setting as well as the OAV.
Also being released on 12/11/2001 Hand Maid May 3: Memory Failure which brings the series to a close with 4 episodes at 29.99$ and Niea Under 7 Vol. #3 arrives on this day as well, bearing another 3 episodes. Hand Maiden May is about a hard working student who acquires a short robot maid. Niea Under 7 is a strange comedy by Serial Experiments Lain character designer yoshitoshi ABe about an odd couple of a responsible girl and her flighty alien roommate. Pioneer Entertainment has been forced to push back the release date of the samurai drama Hakkenden: Legend of the Dog Warriors DVD to be pushed back to 10/9.
The AnimEigo site has updated this week with the standings of various titles that are in production. The third box set of the Rumiko Takashi (Ranma ½) romantic comedy Urusei Yatsura has been sent to the replicator. The second volume of the Vampire Princess Miyu OAV will be finished by the end of August. The second volume of the Oh My Goddess OAV is in the final stages of authoring, and will likely be completed between the end of August and mid September. The menu design for Macross is nearly complete. First disc is nearly ready for testing. Video for the first 12 episodes have been re-mastered. In replication in September, release late September. Baoh is still delayed due to difficulties with authoring house. Bubblegum Crash's menu design has begun. Subtitle work is in progress. Targeting for completion in October, replication and release in late October/early November.
LADV will be releasing the fourth volume of Nadia on ADV on November 6th with four episodes. The street date for the thoughtful mecha series Gasaraki Vol. #7 has been set for 11/27/01. Robotech volume 7 & 8 and the fourth boxset have been assigned a street date of 10/30/01. This is the first of the Robotech Masters (Southern Cross) episodes. Each volume contains 6 eps and the boxset includes a disc of extras.
Urban Vision has announced that they are brining Tekkaman Blade II to DVD on 10/30. The company is planning to put the entire 6 episode OAV (direct to video release) series on a single "collection" DVD. Extras will include Fan Art Gallery, Digitally Remastered in 5.1 & Pro-Logic, and the usual UV Trailers. The first Tekkaman series appeared as Technoman on American TV. The series, which was never complete in the US was about a mysterious young man who could transform into an armored warrior capable of stopping he monstrous aliens invading Earth. Tekkaman Blade II starts off continuing to deal with the alien threat with more humans capable of transforming into armored warriors. Tekkaman Blade II has some interesting animation, mecha design and fight scenes, but it is weakened by a story that changes focus too often and too quickly to resolve anything.
YTV News
Canadian YTV started showing all three season of ReBoot on August 7th. The new ReBoot movie, Daemon Rising will be shown on YTV this November.
According to YTV's FAQ YTV currently holds the rights to 167 episodes of Dragon Ball Z, which they will continue to air. They may license more this fall, but are not able to purchase as many episodes as they would like. There are currently no plans to license the other Dragon Ball series, the original, Dragon Ball GT, or the Dragon Ball Z movies. Starting September 10th it will air Monday to Thursday at 8:00 pm.
New Information on the Sakura Taisen Movie
The upcoming Sakura Taisen (Wars) movie will be based on the third Sakura Taisen RPG game. Lieutenant Ôgami Ichirô has previously lead groups of psychic girl in steam power mecha to repell invasions of Japan. Lieutenant Ôgami Ichirô is in Paris looking to form a new Flower Troop(this is Sakura Taisen 3) while the Tokyo brigade is facing some controversy with it's new commander and is under the threat of being disbanded. Lieutenant Ôgami is called back to Tokyo to help out the the Imperial Flower Division located there.
Viz Remarkets Tezuka Manga
It is hard to read about manga (comic) creator Osamu Tezuka without seeing the title "God of Manga" attached. The robust nature of the Japanese manga industry, the diversity of its topics and its heart owe much to Tezuka's work. Viz is reintroducing two of his works in collect graphic novel format. Adolf is the five volume take of three men named Adolf: Adolf Hitler, Adolf Kaufman, a half Japanese, half German, and Adolf Kamil, a Jewish resident of Kobe, Japan. The following the twists in the lives of the three from Berlin's Olympic games of 1936, and ends in 1983 with the date of the last of the Adolfs. Black Jack is a two volume medical thriller about an unlicensed mercenary doctor capable of medical miracles.
Sales Success of Anime, Especially Shoujo
ICV2 has recently produced a number of articles about the sales success of anime projects in the US, with focuses on shoujo (girl's) titles. Many comic shops receive their merchandise through Diamond Distrobutors. Diamond has released some general mid-year category information, and while the shifts between categories are substantial year-over-year. On the upside, graphic novels and trade paperback editions of comics rose 39% as a category vs. the year-ago period. Anime was up around 35%, and toys were also up around 25%, with Diamond's Japanese import business as an especially strong contributor. Large numbers of graphic novels sales include Dark Horse's release of collected editions of Akira, and Lone Wolf and Cub.
Shoujo is a growing market for the comic industry. Shoujo refers to anime aimed marketed to girl in Japan, as opposed to shonen titles, which are marketed towards boys. The shoujo genre includes adventure, such magical girl titles in which the heroine changes form to fight evil (Sailor Moon), or drama, or comedy. The distinction between shoujo and shonen is that shoujo more often focuses on character relations. Take for example Fushigi Yuugi (Mysterious Play) and El Hazard for examples. Both involves students being trust into a strange world where they become the center of conflicts between the nations of that place. Both feature a protagonist who receives the attention of a number of unusual members of the opposite sex. Fushigi Yuugi is a shoujo focuses on the relationship between a quirky school girl who becomes a priestess of one of the world's gods. It focuses on the relationships between the girl and the seven warriors of the god, one of whom she falls in love ! with, another of whom believes he is meant to be with her, a third believes she is in the way of their relationship with the second. The story has a large amount of action, but more time is devoted to the build up to that action, and the results of it, than the action itself. El Hazard is not a strictly shounen title, but it tilts towards that ends of the scale. Events are setup for action schemes. A love triangle is more for comic material than it is for emotional impact.
An example of how shoujo has found success by reaching markets comics have been ignoring is Sailor Moon. Robert Boyd of LPC, the company that sells Tokyopop titles to bookstores, told ICv2 that Sailor Moon sells better than any of the other graphic novels his company reps by a factor of "at least" 1.5. Tokyopop estimates that the company has sold at least a million English language Sailor Moon books in North America. Since the beginning of this year LPC alone has sold over 25,000 copies of the bestselling Sailor Moon graphic novel, and five other Sailor Moon books have registered similarly strong performances during the same period. Book Scan, the professional service that tracks sell-through in the book market lists Sailor Moon books with juvenile titles where it has to compete with Harry Potter, Goosebumps, and Anamorphs. According to Boyd if Sailor Moon were listed with graphic novels, it would easily have topped Marvel's Ultimate X-Men collection, which did head Boo! k Scan's most recent list of graphic novel bestsellers . Tokyopop's Sailor Moon graphic novel series includes 10 volumes in print with number 11 due out in October. Tokyopop also publishes two other Sailer Moon series, each with four graphic novels so far, Sailor Moon Supers, and Sailor Moon Stars.
According to Boyd, Sailor Moon is Tokyopop's best-selling title but three other series of graphic novels are growing quickly in popularity. Gundam Wing is not a shojo title, but it is Tokyopop's second leading series in bookstore sales, followed closely by Cardcaptors, which is a true shojo saga, and is becoming increasingly popular thanks to its television slot on the Kids WB. Surprisingly Clamp's Magic Knight Rayearth, which has received anime, but not television exposure here in the states, is selling almost as well as Gundam Wing and Cardcaptors, both of which have had major TV exposure. A key point to remember is that not only are there a lot of Sailor Moon titles available, there are also other strong shojo properties that could form the basis of a real profit center in many stores.
Manga report
Anime on DVD Forum regular "lejun" attending posted a report from Wizard World in Chicago report about Manga Entertainment:
"One thing I had a chance to do was speak with Keith Burgess from Manga Entertainment.
Please excuse me if some of this info is known already. it's news to me I am also not stating anything as fact. I am only relaying the info from Keith's mouth.
I asked once again if they have plans to do a re-master on Wings of Honneamise. He stated that he would very much like to but the reason that they probably won't as of now is that they will be losing the license soon (IIRC he said March 2002). He is not sure if they will be renewing it.
Evangelion movies: 2-disc set Dub is completed. Sub is being properly timed. The full "red Cross Book" will not be included as an extra. A lot of it will though. Including other extras that they will produce. He said that the Red Cross Book was written by many different people besides Gainax and they could't license the whole thing.
And now for the bad news. Aside from the Macrovision that the movies will (mostly likely) contain of course. The movies will have overlay's. "
According to Anime on DVD Keith Burgess has subsequently denied the report received yesterday regarding comments on overlays appearing on the Evangelion movies. Overlays are a method of putting text over an image that many anime fans do not like It also looks like the date has changed again, with the VHS being released in January and the DVD's being released in March of 2002.
The two significant Evangelion movies are "Death and Rebirth", and "End of Evangelion". There are other movies, but they amount to re-cut versions of these two. The first half of "Death and Rebirth" is a summary of the first twenty four episodes of the television series with new footage for transitions. The second half of the movie the beginning of its new conclusion. Nerv, the organization that employed the mech Evas to battle invading angels in the series is assaulted by the Civil Defense Force. The first part of "End of Evangelion" is the second part of "Death and Rebirth." The second part of end of Evangelion is the conclusion to the series.
Wings of Honneamise is an alternate world tale of the first manned space fight. The movie has a noteworthy social and religious commentary in addition to being an excellent drama and having some breathtaking scenes. Unfortunately the DVD release was marred by severe video problems.
It also appears that the DVD release of Giant Robo will now be in April 2002 is the current schedule holds.
Blood Reviews
The NY Times review Blood: The Last Vampire. See here
From the review: For my taste, "Blood: The Last Vampire," which opens today at the Village East, is much more effective at evoking a paranoid mood than at telling a coherent story, and the jerky action sequences are among the film's weaker visual elements. But then, I haven't been immersed in the movie's pop mythology. That mythology, developed by Mr. Oshii as a novel, a film and a video game, is deliberately enigmatic and inconclusive. According to her creator, Saya isn't a conventional heroine but an angry loner who loathes humans as much as she hates the monsters. If Saya's world is a deeply sullen one, some may still want to get lost in it. As for me, I'll take a pass."
The US magazine Newsday reviewed the PRODUCTION IG film in a recent issue. The movie received 3-1/2 stars out of a possible 4. Blood is an action movie about a mysterious girl who travels to a US military base in order to exterminate vampire-like creatures. The movies integration of computer innovated computer techniques has garnered a great deal of attention.
Ninja Boy Cartoon
In non-anime animation news according to Comics Continuum Ale Garza, creator of Ninja Boy from WildStorm Productions, told The Continuum that an animated version of the comic book continues to make progress.
"It's official, Ninja Boy is in the development stages at Warner Bros. Animation," Garza said.
"We should know possibly sometime within the next two weeks if it will be picked up by the network."
Warner Bros. Animation has yet to comment on Ninja Boy. Ninja Boy is the right comic of the new Asian inspired Pacific Rim line
More From Otakon
Anime News Network has posted a number of additional reports from the Otakon convention.
Bandai Movie News (Escaflowne and Jin-Roh)
The Escaflowne movie is expected in theaters starting the second week of January, with the subtitled version going to art theaters and the dub into wider release www.escamovie.com will launch around the middle of September. Bandai is considering showings in LA, New York, Boston, Chicago and Toronto. The DVD will be released between four and seven months after the conclusion of the theatrical run. The Escaflowne movie is a retelling of the anime series. Hitomi, a suicidal girl is brought to the war torn world of Gaia where the Black Dragon Tribe is attempting to crush the remaining resident and refuges. Hitomi meets a feral warrior consumed with the desire for vengeance named Van who is the leader of the White Dragon Tribe. Van is gifted with psychic powers, and with Hitomi he summoned the legendary Escaflowne armor.
Their dark totalitarian tale Jin-Roh will open in the Los Angeles area on 31 August and further release dates will be updated on www.jin-roh.net .
Bandai Release Schedule
The release schedule for other Bandai titles has been announced as follows:
August: MS Gundam (original series) v. 2 Crest of the Star v. 2 Crest of the Stars is an intricate science fiction tale about a boy who becomes nobility to a genetically engineer race when his father, the president of a colony world makes a deal with the invading race. It represents numerous interesting science fiction and cultural ideas.
September: Next volume of Gundam 08 MS Team
November 7th: Pilot Candidate/(Candidate for Goddess), to be released as 4/3/3/3 episodes
November: Cowboy Bebop DVD Collection box set, a very limited release with an MSRP of $199.98, to include a collector's box, the first OST and possibly other extras. The box alone will also be available for sale.
January: Gundam 0083 DVD Saber Marionette J Again DVD
February, approximately third week: Love Hina (at the rate of four episodes per DVD) and the Love Hina collector's box set. There is no news on the Love Hina manga or the Christmas and Spring specials. Love Hina is a romantic comedy about a boy who works and lives in a girls' residence while studying to takes his college entrance examines.
"Sometime 1st Quarter": Jin-Roh, released in both a "Special Edition" and "Regular" edition. More info about the Special Edition is coming up in a few weeks.
Early spring: Fancy Lala; Saber Marionette J to X.
Fancy La La is a magical girl series about a girl who gains the ability to transform into an older version of herself. She uses the ability to become a fashion model and idol singer.
Sometime in '02: Gundam Char's Counterattack
In other news, both Gundam 0080 and Gundam 0083 will be shown on the Cartoon Network before the end of the year. There has been no air date set for Pilot Candidate announced. Finally, there is currently no news regarding the Cowboy Bebop movie, but Bandai is engaged in a bidding war with several other companies over it.
ADV Plans
ADV is calling several of the series that will be complete by the end of the year the company's "most successful yet." These include AD Police, Gasaraki, Nadia, Ark the Lad, and Shin Getter Robo. Several new series and OVA's are to be expected through the rest of '01 and all of 2002, including the OVA's Colorful, A.R. Kurumi, Zone of the Enders, the new Slayers movies and OVA's, the Nadesico movie, a re-release of the Dirty Pair OVA's, and others. New TV series include a CG Cutey Honey series, Eden's Bowy, Excel Saga, Rune Soldiers, Powerstone, the Sakura Wars TV series, the Zone of the Enders TV series, and Soul Hunters/Houshin Engi. The Spriggan movie will receive a sneak premiere at CN Anime, followed by a 'tiered' theatrical run later this year. In all, the company is currently engaged in six co-productions with various Japanese studios. Chance Triangle Session and the new Rurouni Kenshin OVAs are two of these titles.
The City Hunter TV series will be released as several DVD box sets, all put up for pre-order, with the one that receives the largest number of pre-order requests being produced first. The Robotech TV series is also being put out on DVD as several 12-episode (2 disc) box sets. Each set will include various extras, such as interviews, the Japanese openings and endings, the original English dub, the Robotech II: Sentinels series, as well as the Robotech Movie storyboards set to the vocal track. This movie will be in the 5th Boxed Set.
The first and second volumes of Neon Genesis Evangelion will also be re-released.
Other series announced include a two-DVD subtitled only release of Sakura Diaries collector's edition, the Princess 9 TV series, released on 6 DVD's which will be the new standard for series of that length.
Synch Point Plans
The release schedule for Synch Point's two current titles was announced as follows:
Tenshi ni Narumon/I Wanna be an Angel VHS:
- September: volume 2
- November: volume 3
- December: DVD volume 1
I'm Going to Be an Angel is a cute, bubbly comedy about a boy who accident wed into an Adams Family like group of monsters who move into his house, and repel attacks by a strange which. The series is very surreal and amusing even if you are not a fan of hyper cute anime.
FLCL (official English title: FLCL - Furi Kuri): Starting January '02, 3 DVD's using the original Japanese box art. In addition, Synch Point will be bringing out a limited edition autographed artbook for the Blood: the Last Vampire movie, as well as various unspecified Digi Charat character merchandize (however, the company does not have the distribution rights for the Digi Charat anime series or merchandize directly related to it.)
Viz At Otakon
Toshi Yoshida and Carl G. Horn, respectively of Viz's anime and MANGA arms, made the following announcements:
In the second week of December, the first 72-page montly issue of the Bastard! swords and sorcery manga will be released. Subsequent issues will be at least 64 pages. Chiho Saito, the artist on Revolutionary Girl Utena, now carried in Viz's Animerica Extra magazine, will be producing original covers for it, starting October. In addition, the anime director (and con personality) Scott Frazier will be writing monthly columns for Animerica Extra. Before the end of the year, two new manga, one of them an as-yet-unannounced Gundam title, will start appearing as monthly issues of between 64-80 pages. A third title, also unannounced, will start appearing in Animerica Extra. The next Galaxy Express 999 graphic novel will appear sometime in September. Pulp Magazine will start carrying the horror manga Uzumiki, and a graphic novel release is expected as well.
The theatrical release of the film version of Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis. Jin-Roh: the Wolf Brigade will continue its theatrical run through the fall, opening in Atlanta; Brookline, MA; Hartford, CT; Tampa, Gainesville, Orlando and Miami, FL; Nashville and Knoxville, TN. The first Ranma 1/2 TV series DVD box set will be released in November, with subsequent box sets coming out every two to four months.
