It’s true folks! The rumors have been floating around for a while, but there’s now confirmation that there will be a brand new Full Metal Alchemist TV series. Elric fans everywhere, rejoice!
According to Anime News Network:
The wraparound jacket band on the 20th volume of Hiromu Arakawa’s Fullmetal Alchemist manga will confirm on Friday that a new television anime series is in the works. A new anime series was a topic of much fan discussion for several months, but it was thrust into a more public spotlight last month when a management document was purportedly leaked from the BONES anime studio. The document listed Fullmetal Alchemist animator Yasuhiro Irie as “Hagane 2 kantoku” (Iron/Fullmetal 2 director).
Anime News Network has more of the FMA news
Technorati Tags: anime, full metal alchemist
Popularity: 11% [?]
The New York Anime Festival (NYAF) announced today that the short story Vampire Hunter D: The Wanderer’s Ship by legendary author Hideyuki Kikuchi will be published inside the festival’s Official Guide Book. Vampire Hunter D: The Wanderer’s Ship has never been printed before in any language anywhere in the world. The New York Anime Festival, an anime, manga, and Japanese pop culture convention from the creators of New York Comic Con, takes place September 26th through the 28th at the Jacob Javits Center in New York, NY.
From the Press Release:
Vampire Hunter D: The Wanderer’s Ship, a story of D and his encounter with a blood-red battleship, dates back to one of the author’s “Talk Live” events. Each year, Mr. Kikichi hosts several “Talk Live” gathering in the Kabukicho section of Shinjuku. At these events, he introduces a younger generation of fans to a wide variety of horror and sci-fi films and brings them face-to-face with guests from the worlds of publishing, animation, and film. The events conclude with drawings that give the audience chances to win signed books, artwork, and other exclusive prizes. The very best is saved for last — short stories handwritten by Mr. Kikuchi with exclusive publication rights.
To date, three tales set in the Vampire Hunter D universe have come into the possession of lucky fans. Only the first has been published. The third — Vampire Hunter D: The Wanderer’s Ship — was won by Ms. Hitomi Yasue, a longtime fan of Mr. Kikuchi and a regular attendee of his events. As someone who knew D from the novels before ever seeing the anime, she was surprised to hear the opposite was true overseas. Ms. Yasue has graciously agreed to share this short story with fans at the New York Anime Festival in the hopes of exposing more people to the literary incarnation of her favorite Vampire Hunter.
This is the first time I’ve heard of this kind of publishing scheme, and I have to say it’s kind of cool. As an aspiring author and book fan myself, I can really appreciate new methods of publishing, and this one is sure to get a lot of exposure for Kikuchi’s story and make the NYAF Guide Book a must have item for all attendees.
Read the entire press release at AnimeCons.com
Technorati Tags: anime, new york anime festival, Vampire Hunter D, Hideyuki Kikuchi
Popularity: 4% [?]
TokyoPop is teaming up with iaTV, the Only 24/7 Network in the U.S. for Asian Pop Culture, for broadcast of its properties and some advertising opportunities.
From the press release:
Programming acquired by iaTV from TOKYOPOP includes two popular Japanese anime series – Initial D and Psychic Academy – and anime film Spring and Chaos have also been acquired, with Initial D being televised Monday through Friday, beginning September 1, at 5:30 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. PT and Psychic Academy joining the network’s Tuesday primetime A-Pop lineup at 10:30 p.m. PT on September 9. Also coming to iaTV are several short-form (three- to four-minute) ‘iManga’ series: bite-sized programs based on TOKYOPOP’s top manga titles, combining animation with still art, music and English voiceovers. In addition, iaTV has acquired the hardcore FMW Wrestling, which will air Fridays at 10 p.m. PT starting September 12, leading out of Pancrase: Legends of Mixed Martial Arts, and creating of a two-hour primetime block of male skewing sports entertainment.
The bit about the iManga shorts is interesting. TokyoPop has been pushing their iManga (a hybrid of manga and still animation with voiceovers) on their official YouTube channel, with some rather disappointing results according to the view numbers. Maybe they’ll do better with the iManga on broadcast TV.
TokyoPop’s been having a lot of trouble recently, as I described in detail in my IGN Anime article, TokyoPop’s Challenges. This seems to be another new tactic in their overall strategy to recreate their business. Hopefully it works out for them.
You can read the entire press release for the TokyoPop-iaTV venture here
Technorati Tags: iaTV, anime, TokyoPop
Popularity: 6% [?]
Variety.com has a new article called “History of Anime”. While I always appreciate anime getting more exposure in mainstream publications like this well known Hollywood rag, they really missed the mark with this one.
From the article:
Anime properties such as “Transformers,” “Speed Racer” and “Avatar” (the latter announced for M. Night Shyamalan to direct) may make for obvious tentpole fodder now, but the medium took decades to gain critical mass among U.S. auds.
The article loses cred right at the beginning by classifying Avatar as anime. Although I do enjoy the series, it’s not anime. Not even close. It’s a good American-made cartoon, let’s leave it at that.
The article then goes on to provide a brief timeline of the history of broadcast anime in America. It’s not a bad list, starting in the sixties and moving up to present day, but it does miss many important milestones in US anime history like the release of Evangelion, Ninja Scroll, and the introduction of the Gundam series. There’s also a notable gap from 2002 to 2005, where some of the best anime started to take off on DVD. There’s also no mention of the first air of Adult Swim in 2001, which brought us Cowboy Bebop (which aired on the network repeatedly for four years).
Again, despite some particularly big holes in the timeline, it’s still nice to see anime articles in mainstream sites. You can read the entire Variety article on the History of Anime in America here.
Technorati Tags: anime, variety, history
Popularity: 9% [?]
io9, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite places for all things sci-fi, has a post called 5 Manga Movies We Want to See After Akira Blows Everyone’s Mind. They are referring, of course, to the upcoming Akira live action movies that have been in development hell for about six years already. But io9, being the sci fi geeks they are, picked 5 more manga franchises they’d like to see on the big screen. You may find their picks interesting.
In other news, FUNimation announced the Fall lineup for their FUNImation channel on cable. It’s a great list if you’re in an area that offers it:
- Mushi-Shi
- Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
- School Rumble
- BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad
- Basilisk
Learn more about the FUNImation channel here
Technorati Tags: anime, manga, akira, FUNImation
Popularity: 14% [?]
The Napa Valley Museum in Northern California is opening a new anime and manga exhibit. If you’re in the area today (on a wine tour or something), you should go to the opening reception:
“The Napa Valley Museum announces its upcoming exhibition titled, “Manga and Anime: An Exhibition of Popular Cartoon Art.” The opening reception for the exhibition will be held Friday, August 15 from 5:30 to 7 p.m., and will feature a presentation by Jason Thompson, author of Manga: The Complete Guide, and a performance by the Napa Taiko Dojo drum group.”
The Museum is open daily, except Tuesday, from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Admission is $4.50 for adults, $3.50 for students/seniors and $2.50 for youth 7-17 (dirt cheap!).
Technorati Tags: anime, manga, napa valley, museum
Popularity: 19% [?]
I stumbled on this one while poking through some RSS feeds. There’s a site out there called FaceYourManga that allows you to supposedly create a cute digital version of yourself in manga/anime art style using their online interface. I’m not quite sold on it though. It doesn’t quite look like manga to me. it seems like an improved version of those annoying Zwinky things. It’s not a bad avatar creation system (though it has some bugs), but I think they, like many companies these days, are trying to use the word “manga” to take advantage of its popularity.
Anyways, you can judge for yourself at
FaceYourManga.com
Found via: Kiwipulse
Technorati Tags: manga, avatar, faceyourmanga
Popularity: 37% [?]
Here’s an interesting item that should be in every cosplayer’s arsenal. These are contact lenses that are tinted prominently in the extra-wide outer ring. The result is the appearance of a bigger, wider iris. Anime eyes FTW.
The lenses cost $30-$50 bucks and can even be made to fit your prescription. They’re made by at least two companies: G&G and Dueba. You can buy some at secreteyes.org
Via: inventorspot.com
Technorati Tags: anime, contact lenses, eyes, Dueba, G&G
Popularity: 50% [?]
CrunchyRoll announced at Otakon that they’re has acquired the digital-only-rights to distribute multiple series from MediaBlasters, ADV, and Gonzo’s corporate parent. These series include:
ADV:
* Angelic Layer 26-episode animated series
* BASToF Syndrome 26-episode animated series
* Best Student Council 26-episode animated series
* Chance Pop Session 13-episode animated series
* Lady Death animated feature
* Magical Play 22-episode animated series
* Martian Successor Nadesico: The Motion Picture - Prince of Darkness animated feature
* Nurse Witch Komugi 6-episode animated series
* Parasite Dolls animated feature
* Saiyuki 50-episode animated series
* Sin: The Movie animated feature
* Yesterday live-action film
Media Blasters
* Girl’s High 12-episode animated series
* Ramen Fighter Miki 12-episode animated series
* Kite: Liberator animated video
* Flesh For The Beast live-action feature
* Shadow: Dead Riot live-action feature
* Machine Girl live-action feature
via Anime News Network
Technorati Tags: CrunchyRoll, otakon, ADV, Gonzo
Popularity: 35% [?]
