Old news

From May 2004.


5/28/04 Am back now, me sorry not update.

Impress Corporation has announced that the full CG rendered Digimon movie "Digital Monster X-evolution" (pronounced "zevolution") will be released next year, along with new video game and toy tie-ins.

The Akihabara Oriental Comic Theater, a one screen movie theatre deadicated entirely to anime, opened in Tokyo's Akihabara district on May 21st. It is the only theatre of its kind in the world.

Production I.G's upcoming anime, Otogizoushi, will also be released as a manga series. The first installement of Otogizoushi will be in the August 2004 issue of Comic Blade.

Anime Crash has announced a second anime license, Shiden, a new production from Kimio Ikeda. The 26 episode TV series is currently in production. A preview will be shown in two weeks at the 2004 Licensing Show in New York (June 8 - 10).

Majesco Games, the company that produces GBA Video has announced that it has secured the rights to publish Dragon Ball GT Game Boy Advance Video products. Other anime series coming out on GBA Video include Sonic X and Yu Gi Oh!

Boomerang, the Certain Network spin off dedicated to older animation, started airing Battle of the Planets last week and will continue airing it every Sunday at airs at 9am, 5pm and 1am (Monday morning).

Tezuka Productions has announced (Japanese link) that a new TV series based on Osamu Tezuka's Black Jack will premiere this fall.

The Internet domain name Popotandvd.com has been registered by Geneon Entertainment (USA) Inc. As always, this does not necessarily mean that the registrant (Geneon in this case) has licensed the show.



5/19/04 Well, my updates have been anything but consistent, and keeping this in mind, I put up a much overdue Pen Thought to the Pen Penny section and moved an old one to Previous Pennys. Maybe this will throw me back into a consistent mode or something.

Production IG has announced that its latest production, Otogizoushi, a samurai anime TV series set in the Heian period (around 900 A.D.), will premier in July.



5/18/04 Planet Exile now hosts downloadable trailers for a number of anime-related games that Bandai promoted at the recent E3 convention: Cowboy Bebop, Inuyasha: The Secret of the Cursed Mask, Gundam Seed Battle Assault, Digimon Racing and Digimon World 4.

At last weekend's Anime Central convention, AD Vision announced its acquisition of translation and distribution rights to: Full Metal Panic! Fumoffu?
Peacemaker Kurogane
Gatchaman TV series
AD Vision Toys revealed plans to release 5 inch and 10 inch plush Menchi (Excel Saga) toys.
The limited edition version of the RahXephon movie will include a translated version of the 54 page booklet that came with the Japanese limited edition DVD, and a "hard" chipboard series collector's box that will house the entire RahXephon TV series plus the movie.

Geneon announced some new acquisitions at last weekend's Anime Central convention:
Burn Up Scramble
Masou Kishin Psybuster
Saiyuki Reload
Shingetsutan Tsukihime

FUNimation has opened its official English language website for Fullmetal Alchemist.

The official Japanese homepage for the Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children movie now hosts the new trailer first released at the E3 convention earlier this month.

The Japanese Hatena discussion board reports that a live action Cream Lemon movie is entering production for Japanese release this fall.

Multinational telephone and technology company IDT Entertainment, the parent company of Anchor Bay Entertainment and several special effects studios, has purchased Manga Entertainment.

Geneon has a trailer for the previously un-announced Submarine 707R on Heat Guy J volume 6.

Media Blasters has announced their anime and manga releases for September 2004. Included in the releases are two titles previously not know to have been licensed. URDA: Third Reich and Early Reins.


5/12/04 The new live-action Casshern film (based on the 1973 Robot Hunter Casshan anime series) may be on its way to the US. According to Akadot, several Hollywood film studios are currently negotiating domestic release rights. Also mentioned was the possibility of an American remake of the film, following the trend of Dreamworks' version of The Ring and the upcoming US remake of The Jyuon (scheduled for release this fall).

Ghost in The Shell: Stand Alone Complex episodes 1-4 will premiere in New York City, courtesy of the New York-Tokyo Organization, in screenings at the Tribeca Grand Hotel on Thursday, May 13th at 7:00 p.m. & 9:00 p.m.

The Gainax website has published a confirmation of development plans for Top wo Nerae! 2 (Gunbuster 2) and revealed the first promotional image. The first of 6 planned OAV episodes will be released this fall.

The homepage of Japanese artist group Loopcube states in its May 9, 2004 news entry that fan anime creator circle Ishikawa Pro, the animators behind the fan produced Magical Chocolate short, will produce a professional anime based on the character Binchou-tan, the mascot of adult PC game studio Alchemist.

FUNimation has announced its acquisition of American distribution rights to the popular Fullmetal Alchemist anime TV series. Furthermore, the Cartoon Network will air the 51 episode series beginning this October.

GameSpot reports that the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex game for the Playstation 2, recently released in Japan, will be released in America later this year.

Showing that Capcom hasn't entirely discontinued support for 2D sprite animated games, the tentatively named "Capcom Fighting Jam" will be released to the American PS2 this winter. The game features characters from Street Fighter, Darkstalkers, Breath of Fire, Red Earth, and more.

Vocalist Ritsuko Okazaki died May 5th of sepsis shock resulting from a blood infection. She was 44 years old. Ozaki's performances included opening, ending and theme songs for Fruits Basket, Princess Tutu, Stratos 4, UFO Princess Walküre, and Sister Princess: Re Pure.

Gonzo Studios has announced plans to produce an anime adaptation of the 12 volume Sunabozu samurai manga series.

Sunrise has a website for the Z-Gundam Movie up at Z-Gundam.net. According to the caption, the movie will be released in 2005

Also serialized in Dragon Age, the final chapter of Chrno Crusade will be published in the June 2004 issue of the magazine, which should be on sale in Japan next week.

Atari has announced their lineup of DBZ games for 2004, including three new games: Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 for the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system, Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors and Dragon Ball Z: Buu's Fury for Nintendo's Game Boy Advance.



5/3/04 The Anime Network has sent out their press release talking about their upcoming 24/7 linear deal that's been picked up by Insight Communications. Of interest is in the list of titles that will be show, they mention "Peacemaker", presumably Peacemaker Kurogane. This title is so far not officially listed as licensed, though there's some given speculation that ADV currently has it due to their manga deal with the Japanese publisher and various ties related to it. It's mentioned in context with a mix of ADV, Geneon and Right Stuf titles.

5/2/04 I added a Pen Thought to the Pen Penny section and moved an old one to Previous Pennys. Been missing some updates, sorry about that, I'll refrain from doing it this week.

The following will be released this Tuesday on DVD:
BASToF Syndrome
Boys Over Flowers Vol. 5
Kiddy Grade Vol. 3
Legend of the Mystical Ninja Goemon Vol. 4
Project Arms Vol. 9
Sugar Summer Special (also Limited Edition)
Yu Yu Hakusho Vol. #23: Dangerous Games

Viz has officially announced that Pokemon Advanced DVD volumes 1 & 2 will debut in America on July 20th.

ICv2 News has reported TOKYOPOP's announcement of a new line of "NBA Sports Manga" that have nothing whatsoever to do with actual Japanese comics. The latest line in TOKYOPOP's "cine-manga" line of books will add word baloons to photographic images of NBA basketball stars to create full color graphic novel books. According to TOKYOPOP, the use of word balloons and captions constitutes "manga-style."

According to Moon Phase, the Musumet RGB anime TV series will debut on June 13th. The series will be directed by Kimiya Shigeru, director of Hand Maid Mai.

Six years after the conclusion of the Flame of Recca anime TV series, Konami has announced a revival of the series as a Playstation 2 "anime battle" adventure/fighting game. Recca no Honou ~Flame of Recca Final Burning~ will go on sale on June 10th. The official site offers game screenshots and a streaming trailer in Windows Media and Real Media formats in broadband (ADSL) and narrowband (ISDN) sizes.

Comics One has announced plans to release the first English translated volume of Shinsuke Kurihashi's Maniac Road manga series in July.

Animerica Magazine (published by Viz, the domestic distributor of the Inuyasha manga and anime) has reported that the first Inuyasha movie will be released to American DVD this summer, with the second film to follow this fall.

Majesco has announced plans to publish an American Xbox version of Sammy's Guilty Gear X2 #Reload this summer. Bandai Japan has announced plans to release a Saiyuki Reload: Gunlock game for the Playstation 2 this summer.

Buena Vista Home Entertainment has announced a June 1st release date for the 6th Pokémon movie, Jirachi Wish Maker. In additon to the film (not seen in US theaters), the DVD will include a new "Gotta Dance" short film, the "Make a Wish" music video, movie artwork, and a note from director Kunihiko Yuyama.

Japanese website Comic Toranoana states that Masamune Shirow's Intron Depot volume 4 Bullets will be released in mid-June for 2940 yen (US$26).

Kids WB announced earlier this week that a second season of Megaman NT Warrior would start this Saturday, May 1at, at 10:30 a.m. ET/9:30 a.m. PT.

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