Anime Fans Online

Just a few bit of news I found on Anime News Network this week that I thought were interesting.

Tour Guides That Fit In Your Pocket. Pokégui?

Akihabara, the Otaku Motherland, keeps getting cooler. They’re testing out a system that will give you customized information. It uses RFID cards that can uniquely identify you. The cards are being given out for free in and around Akihabara. This could be a huge deal. Especially if the cards can identify and enable the data terminals to communicate with you in your native language. If that’s the case it sounds like an incredible innovation for the tourist industry. If tests go well I predict this will go global. Just think of all the cities around the world that have a huge international tourist trade. This would be invaluable to all of them.

First Japanese Animators Union Founded

It’s hard to believe this is the first union of it’s kind in Japan. Some recognizable names are included such as director Satoshi Kon. These people work their butts off for next to nothing. Why? Because they love anime. Even more reason for fans of anime to support anime by legally purchasing it.

Cosplayers Unite

Cosplayers are unionizing too. Apparently cosplayers get more than funny looks even in Japan. A non-profit organization by the name of Cosengokai has been formed to promote wholesome cosplay and help out cosplayers in trouble. Cosengokai is already co-sponsoring a cosplay event.

G4 in America Sucks.

That’s not news. The news is G4 Canada doesn’t. Well, not as much anyway. G4 Canada will be showing the animes Requiem from the Darkness and Black Lagoon. Do you think Canada is going to beef up their border patrols to control the influx of Otaku?

Anime, Otaku, News, Otaku News, Cosplay, Animators, Union, Satoshi Kon, G4, Akihabara

Just a few items I thought were interesting.

Another version of Grave of the Fireflies to be made.

While most of us will be familiar with the Miyazaki work, there has already been a live action version made for TV. The movie has been beset with problems, such as the death of the original director earlier this year. It’s scheduled for 2008 release.

It’s an incredible, though very sad, story. If you haven’t seen the Studio Ghibli version, you really should. Prepare yourself though, it’s a heartbreakingly sad film.

It’s official, Gunslinger Girl second season on it’s way.

I’m very happy to hear about this. I loved the first season of this show. I saw the manga at the store, but decided to postpone my purchase in favor of something entirely new to me. After hearing about this, I wish I’d gotten it.

If you haven’t seen Gunslinger Girl, do so A.S.A.P.. It’s completely and totally worth it. You will thank me.

Bleach DS game coming this fall.

According to N-Philes, the Nintendo DS game Bleach: The Blade of Fate will be timed to release with the new season of Bleach on Cartoon Network. Sounds pretty cool to me. Check their site, they have video of the game in action. The video of the game reminds me of some really good old school 2d fighters. I can’t wait to try that one out.

Anime, News, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Bleach, Bleach: The Blade of Fate, Grave of the Fireflies, Gunslinger Girl, Gunslinger Girl Second Season

PerthNow recently printed an article that said anime is porn. Not hentai, anime.

“Anime” is a Japanese form of animated pornography.

Those are the words used in the article. As a blogger who writes about anime I’m outraged that something so obviously false was printed by a news organization. As an anime fan I’m extremely angry that the article wasn’t corrected immediately.

The author of that article owes anime fans an apology. More importantly the author and the newspaper owe their readers an apology.

With so many sources of information answering the question “what is anime?“, the statement made in that article is inexcusable.

If you feel the same way, visit the article and demand a retraction of that statement. If you live in Australia visit their contact page, and let them know that you won’t stand for for such poor reporting.

Update: It looks like the article has been moved or removed. I tried to post a link to it on a forum and I keep getting a 404 error.

Anime, Opinion, Hentai, Australia, Porn, PerthNow, PerthNow.com, anime is porn

I was looking through the news on AnimeNewsNetwork and a few articles caught my eye.

Episode 6 of Moetan pulled.

The episode “Hajimete no Date”, “The First Date” in English, will be replaced with a clip show. It will still be on the DVD however.

That peaked my curiosity. Why was it pulled? Something to do with the story? Was it a bit of animation that the production company refused to edit out? Was it to create a response like mine and drive up DVD sales?
If you know the answer, please leave a comment and let us know.

Free English manga on Popteen.com.

A Japanese teen magazine is posting free manga on their web site, translated into English no less. I read the first part. It’s not too bad. Very targeted to the magazine’s audience though, so unless you have a subscription to Seventeen or a similar magazine, Gal Samurai may not be for you. It’s about a very stylish young girl, who happens to be very good at martial arts.

Toei will open “All You Can Watch” anime buffet.

An anime subscription service from Toei Animation will start up on September 1st. It’s supposed to have 15 titles and over 1,000 episodes. Pretty good for under $15 a month.

If only they’d release an English version, that’d be sweeeeeeet. Is it just me or do the American distributors seem like they’re way behind the Japanese companies with things like this?

In other news…

IK Comics open for bidness.

Online comic distributor opens IKComics.com. You can preview comics then buy them. I’m not sure about their methods. Windows downloads are .exe files, programs in other words. Since the previews are just .jpg files, I can’t really tell you about their software.

On the upside, there are a few good points. The comics are priced about the same as traditional paper comics, though personally I think that’s kind of high for a digital comic that has no printing costs. Comics are rated either “All Ages” or “Mature”, so you know what’s what.

Some interesting sounding titles like Infiniteens and Wildseed.

Anime, News, Anime News, Moetan, Moetan Episode 6, Popteen, Popteen.com, Gal Samurai, Toei Animation, anime subscription, IK Comics, online comics, Infiniteens, Wildseed

Cutey Honey is going to be a live action show. That just blows my mind. I can’t wait to see how it turns out. I’m looking forward to seeing how they handle the transformation sequences. There was a live action movie. Movies and tv shows are different though.

The lovely lady playing the Lovely Warrior is Mikie Hara. I don’t know much about her, but she looks like a great choice.

For those who are wondering WTF a Cutey Honey is, here’s a brief description. Cutey Honey has been around for decades, so there are a few different versions. These are just the basics. I highly recommend the show.

Cutey Honey was an early transforming hero, much like the magical girls that abound in anime today. She not only transformed into her super hero mode, she could transform to disguise herself or to use a different set of skills. So transforming wasn’t just a costume change for her, it was one of her powers.

The show used plenty of fan service. In addition to the transformation scenes, the costumes were sometimes a bit skimpy and prone to ripping. That was part of the humor. I’m wondering if the TV show will be as blatant.

The English opening to one of Honey’s incarnations.

And just for fun…

A trailer for the live action Cutey Honey movie.

Anime, News, Anime News, TV, Cutey Honey, Lovely Warrior, Live Action, Youtube, Video

From AnimeNewsNetwork, adult swim will be running 2 Inuyasha movies online. The third movie goes online July 27th, and the fourth goes online August 3rd. They’ll play for a week.

Inuyasha, The Movie 3 -
Swords of an Honorable Ruler

That’s pretty cool. I like Inuyasha ok, so I might watch. What I’m more excited about is that they’re showing movies. Adult Swim is pretty hit and miss with their online streaming. Sometimes they have great stuff, other times it’s all crap. If they start showing anime movies then there may be hope for ‘em yet.

It’ll probably just be movies of the shows they play on the Cartoon Network. Still, they have some good shows on there between Adult Swim and Toonami. Naruto, Bleach, Full Metal Alchemist and Ghost in the Shell would all be good choices to put online.

If they expanded to movies that don’t tie in to the shows on TV, that’d be even better. There are tons of anime movies that’d draw people in.

What do you think? Would you sit at your computer and watch a full length movie?

anime, anime online, anime movie, anime movie online, adult swim, adult swim fix, Inuyasha, Inuyasha movie, Inuyasha movie 3, Inuyasha movie 4,

Yep, it’s gonna happen. MegaTokyo visits the motherland. So I guess this will answer once and for all the question of calling Non-Japanese works manga. If it’s published in Japan, and if they call it manga, what could be the argument against it? For the sane report, check out AnimeNewsNetwork. For the insane report, keep reading.

MegaTokyo is probably near the top of the list when it comes to big name web comics. It’s also probably the most sneered at. Fred Gallagher doesn’t fancy up his work with fripperies like color or ink, not often anyway. If pencil is good enough for him to draw it in then it’s good enough for us to read it in dagnabbit!

Read it, digest it, know it. Knowing is half the battle, and a battle it will be. Piro, as the creator is (sometimes)affectionately called, will be the Disney of the 21st century. He’s halfway there already. Half of his fans read it in secret and bitch about it in public.

Will you be ready when the ph34rbots come for you?

megatokyo, M3g4Tokyo, Fred Gallagher, manga, ph34rbot, Japanese, non-Japanese, webcomic, web comic

That the word from Anime News Network. I might have to see this series just for that. Hikaru Utada has a beautiful voice. If there were a chance I’d import any music from Japan, Hikaru Utada would be at the top of the list. In case you haven’t heard her sing, here are a few clips of Simple and Clean. Simple and Clean is the theme to Kingdom Hearts, one of my favorite games. It’s an incredible song.

Simple and Clean Remix.
This is the opening to Kingdom Hearts. This is an AMV of the remix using visuals from the Kingdom Hearts games. This version is much more upbeat than he original song.

Simple and Clean Live.
Here’s an appearance by Hikaru Utada on a show that looks similar to VH1’s Storytellers.

Simple and Clean AMV
This is the regular English version set to visuals from the Kingdom Hearts games.

Anime, News, Hikaru Utada, music, Simple and Clean, Kingdom Hearts, Utada Hikaru, youtube, AMV

The first Special Edition of Lucky Star is flying off shelves in Japan according to Anime News Network in this report. This follows a number 2 spot on the charts for the CD single of the television show’s opening theme.

Looks like Lucky Star is on a roll. I’m not too surprised, it’s a good show. Nothing ground breaking about it. It’s just a show with simple humor that is done very well. With the popularity in Japan as well as it’s reach into streaming media sites like youtube, it can’t be too long before a licensing deal is made.

I can’t wait to buy the American release of the show. I hope the CD single is included.

Special Edition, Lucky Star, Japan, Anime, News, CD single, opening theme

The city of Kobe is planning to build what could be the coolest memorial ever. The birthplace of Mitsuteru Yokoyama plans to honor the late manga-ka with an 18 meter statue of one of his creations. The 59 foot statue will be of Ironman #28, better known in the U.S.A. as Gigantor .

AnimeNewsNetwork has the details.

That’s a very impressive memorial. If anyone deserves it, it would be Mitsuteru Yokoyama. He created the giant robot genre with Gigantor, and helped to create the magical girl genre with Sally the Witch. His influence on anime and manga will be felt for a very long time.

Kobe, memorial, Mitsuteru Yokoyama, manga-ka, Ironman #28, Gigantor, Sally the Witch, anime, manga

The Daily Yomiuri Online has an interesting post about the rising crime rate in Akihabara. It’s a very interesting read. Is the otaku culture to blame for it though? Some of it sure.

Are otaku responsible for crime going up?

With the jump in weapon law violations, how much would you like to be that a good number of those were cosplay items? Oh I don’t mean cardboard swords. There are a lot of great replicas that are just as dangerous as the real deal. The incidents referred to as “otaku hunting” obviously involve otaku. The rise in stolen bags? I dunno. I know that where I live otaku tend to carry larger bags more often. That’s because we have a lot of crap to lug around. Anime magazines, manga and our favorite imported snacks. That’s a lot to keep up with without a bag. So yeah, otaku are contributing to the climbing crime rate, or at least influencing the type of crime in that area.

Are otaku responsible for crime going up? I doubt it. I think crime is probably going up for the same reasons otaku can be found there in larger numbers. Akihabara is undergoing a major change. The general focus of the area is shifting away from high tech gadgetry and is starting to sound almost like a permanent anime convention. Those are 2 different kinds of geeks, and as any con-goer can tell you, mixing your geeks can cause chaos.

Crime will spike during times of change. The police seem to be on top of things though. I mean c’mon, bag theft rose to 29 bags. In a major city like Tokyo that sounds like a pretty good number for that amount of time.

crime, Akihabara, otaku, cosplay, Anime, manga, convention, geeks, Tokyo

He’s a demon on wheels. Warner Brothers has the Speed Racer movie site up. I’m starting to kinda almost maybe sort of want to see it. I thought the idea of a live action Speed Racer movie was ridiculous before, so that’s improvement. What changed my mind? I’m not really sure. There’s not too much on the site right now. It has actors bios, a little back story, some interview footage with transcripts and a picture of an incredible Mach 5. The mighty Mach 5 looks mighty fine.

If they stick as close to the characters as they have with the Mach 5, this will be something to see. I browsed through the actors bios, just to double check who is playing who. Some of the choices seem kinda iffy to me, but a couple jumped out at me as great casting. John Goodman is Pops Racer and Matthew Fox is Racer X. I don’t think anyone more perfect could have been cast in these two roles. Granted, we won’t know if anyone working on the movie will do justice to these classic anime characters until the movie is out, and by then it’ll be too late.

Check out the site and glean what tidbits of information you can, then come back and make wild unfounded speculations about the movie. Oh, and try not to drool on your keyboard when you see the mighty Mach 5. Ah, what the heck, keyboards are cheap right?

Go Speed Racer.
Go Speed Racer.
Go Speed Racer, Go!

Warner Brothers, Speed Racer, movie, actors, John Goodman, Pops Racer, Matthew Fox, Racer X, anime

More Gunslinger Girl anime is being developed. Animenewsnetwork reports a sequel is “in the works”. This is great news. Gunslinger Girl is a top notch anime that deserves to keep going. It ranks right up there with some of the best anime ever made in my book.

Gunslinger Girl tells the story of little girls who are given a second chance at life by the Social Welfare Agency. The Agency presents a humanitarian face to the world, while using the cyberneticly enhanced girls as counter terrorists and even assassins.

Each girl has a keeper, a “brother” who trains and directs them in the field. The relationships between the girls and their handlers varies. Some see the girls as killing machines, others see them as subordinates. Very few of them see the girls as people.

It’s a pretty sad story, but it is a good one. The story is well told with beautiful art. Some parts can be violent, but violence is what the girls are made for. Once they’re conditioned, they’ll kill when ordered without a second thought. They kill with cold precision and frightening skill and when it’s over they’re still emotionally starved children seeking approval.

Did I mention this was a sad story? Well it is. It’s sad because you will come to care for them. They’ve been through horrible experiences and the organization that claims to be rehabilitating them uses them as deadly tools. Underneath it all, they’re still children

If you haven’t seen it yet, rent it now. Once you do see it, you’ll be anticipating the sequel as much as I am.

Gunslinger Girl, anime, sequel, news, Social Welfare Agency, cyberneticly, enhanced

Apparently Death Note is pretty popular in China. A little too popular according to a news report in Daily Yomiuri Online. The Chinese government is confiscating the “harmful” manga as well as other Japanese and American horror stories.

One bit in particular caught my eye.

A popular student game is to write parents’ and teachers’ names on the notebooks that imitate “Death Note,” and educators consider this a problem.

Now that’s pretty creepy.

If I were a teacher and heard about this manga, and then saw my name in a notebook, I’d be kinda freaked by it. I don’t blame the teachers for thinking of it as a problem. If it’s causing a disturbance in classes, or distracting the students, then it is a problem for the schools.

Sounds like horror stories are what’s popular right now. If that gets nipped in the bud, it’ll be something else.

I am curious what other horror stories are getting the same treatment.

Death Note, China, news

Xbox Live will start to carry anime. Animenewsnetwork reports that ADV, FUNimation and Geneon have all hopped on board.

Now we finally have a reason to buy an XBox.

Oh yeah, DVDs.

Nah still no reason to buy an XBox.

Xbox Live, anime, ADV, FUNimation, Geneon