This October, you can once again watch the strange stories of samurai living in alien-conquered Edo. A magazine scan has revealed that Gintama is returning with another series after ending its previous run in March 2012. After 201 episodes of the first series and 51 episodes of the sequel series Gintama’, the fate of the anime franchise was undecided, with the final episode’s preview trailer literally showing the word “undecided.” Now we know for certain that Gintama is returning to TV on October 4, 2012. Read more…
In Japan Sharp is showing off two robot vacuum cleaners which have been given a Mobile Suit Gundam theme. Apparently these are variations on their existing Cocorobo robot cleansers which include a voice recognition system. Here they are on display: Read more…
The latest collaboration between Hayao Miyazaki & Studio Ghibli might lack the touch of fantasy or adventure we usually associate with their films, but that won’t keep us from appreciating the beautiful art or story. From Up On Poppy Hill tells the story of high-school romance set against the backdrop of a post World War II Japan in days leading up to the 1963 Tokyo Olympics. The film hit Japanese theaters a little over a year ago, but won’t be released domestically until next Spring. If you’re just curious as to how it looks, or what to expect, be sure to check out the trailer above. The film was directed by Miyazaki’s son, Goro, who had previously directed the 2006 Ghibli feature Tales from Earthsea based on the novels by Ursula K. Le Guin.
You may have caught the news from Comic-Con that VIZ Media’s catalog (via their new app Neon Alley) and the Crunchyroll app would be debuting on the Playstation 3 this fall. Great news for anime fans who want to watch their latest streaming shows on their HDTV, but that’s not what I wanted to bring up. IGN recently took a look at Crunchyroll’s app, and while the app seems to have all the necessary features, it lacks in one prominent area: it can only play video in 480p. Hopefully this will change before release! Read more…
Excited about that Mass Effect anime announced a little while ago? Here’s a good look at it, with a full-length trailer being released at Comic-Con this week. FUNimation is partnering up with Production I.G. and T.O. Entertainment to create the film and, well, it looks simply average. There are a few interesting shots in the trailer but for the most part it fails to excite me. Paragon Lost will be all about James Vega’s battle with the Collectors, so essentially this is something that will probably not grab most people unless they’re die hard Mass Effect fans.
If you aren’t familiar with Danboard he’s a cardboard action figure who is based on an issue of the Yotsuba&! manga. The original model kit that became popular in Japan was produced by Revoltech, but this newest kit caught my eye because it’s made out of plastic! What;s nice about this new kit is that the cover features an illustration by the japanese artist Hidetaka Tenjin who is famous for his beloved illustrations of Mobile Suit Gundam and Macross. Shown below are a number of examples from Japan of local hobbyists who had fun with this kit: Read more…
There was once a time when trying to find a decent looking shirt featuring your favorite anime was nearly-impossible. You could either settle for an over-sized beefy tee, or one of those awful lounge-shirts with a design that covered entire front side, and sometimes even wrapped around. Times have certainly changed, and fortunately enough, we have other options. Recently, our fellow fanboy.com writer, Ben Huber, recently designed this awesome Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann shirt. Once again, thanks to the wonders of the internet, you can choose a variety of sizes and colors — including a women’s fit — or you can even pick up a hoodie. Each shirt is made to order and is available for order directly from Ben’s Society6 store. Read more…
Great news for Sailor Moon fans everywhere! At a recent event celebrating the 20th anniversary of Naoko Takeuchi’s incredibly popular magical girl manga series, it was announced that a new Sailor Moon anime will be released in 2013. While details are vague, we do know it is a broadcast anime, and that they plan to release it around the world simultaneously. Momoiro Clover Z will perform the theme song, as well. Sounds like great news for fans everywhere! Read more…
Posted by Ben Huber on Jul 1, 2012 in Anime, Fandom
Looking for something to show off your love for Ghost in the Shell, all the time? Why not sneakers? Reebok has teamed up with MegaHouse to created a set of limited edition sneakers themed after the Tachikoma from Ghost in the Shell. They actually look pretty slick, and definitely evoke the feeling of the Tachikoma without literally making the shoes resemble the AI units. You better get ready to hunt if you want them, though: only 500 will be made. That’s a collector’s item right there. More images after the jump! Read more…
I’m a big fan of Mamoru Hosoda’s work – you probably know him from his popular anime films like The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Summer Wars. His films always have a very distinctive look, and this new trailer shows that his next film is no exception. The Wolf Children Ame and Yuki tells of a girl named Hana who falls in love with a werewolf and has two children, the Ame and Yuki of the title. When the father abruptly dies, Hana moves to the countryside with her children to provide a better place for them to live. The art and animation look to be great as before, so I’m excited to see what kind of a story Hosoda pulls off, to match it. The film will open in Japan on July 21st… let’s hope it travels across the pond sooner rather than later.
New York Comic Con just announced that they will no longer have a side show which was called the New York Anime Festival. And adding insult to injury their press release no longer refers to cosplay, but instead uses the mundane term “costume contest”. It’s been hard watching what’s happened to the show over the last few years — but you just get the feeling that New York Comic Con is embarrassed by anime. Read more…
Nintendo has decided to promote the upcoming Japanese release of Pokémon Black & White 2 with a lengthy animated short. Like the Final Fantasy XIII-2 DLC trailer we posted earlier this week, the audio is in Japanese only, but the animation itself is pretty gorgeous and worth watching. Japan’s getting their hands on both sequels next month, but we’re stuck waiting till fall for own localized copies. Before you ask, no the game won’t feature any animated cut-scenes like this, but that’s alright since we’re getting to view this online free of charge. I just hope Nintendo of America takes the time to dub the short in the months leading up to our North American release later this year.
For the 30th anniversary of Macross this year, what better way to celebrate than with a life-size, 1/1 scale VF-25 Valkyrie? Yup, that’s right – and it looks amazing too, as if could actually lift off from that room. This elaborate model is on show in Ikebukuro, Tokyo till May 6th, and then in Nagoya June 1st to 3rd, along with the rest of a huge Macross exhibit. Full-size statues of Lynn Minmay, Sheryl Nome, and Ranka Lee are also featured. You can get your photo taken in the hand of the Valkyrie, but sadly I don’t believe you can sit in the cockpit. Still, it’s an impressive model and the exhibit seems packed with content! Read more…
If you haven’t had a chance to catch this brand new English trailer for Studio Ghibli & Level 5’s upcoming role-playing epic Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, prepare to be amazed. Initially, I was a bit worried when I heard the game had been delayed until 2013, but after viewing the trailer, I’m convinced they’ve done it for the right reasons. Some things are just worth waiting for, and I wouldn’t want anyone to rush such a wonderful looking game. It’s better they take their time and really make everything shine. The voice-overs, for example, fit so well, I’m convinced I wouldn’t want to settle for a Japanese language track, and subtitles. The game is still scheduled to ship sometime in the first quarter of next year for PS3. Hopefully someone plans to pick up its DS counterpart at some point.
Online anime streaming has slowly been getting better over the years, and we’ve been getting shows released closer and closer to their air dates in Japan. Back in January I mentioned the upcoming anime Kids on the Slope (Sakamichi no Apollo) from famed Cowboy Bebop director Shinichiro Watanabe, and how Yoko Kanno would be handling the music. Well, Crunchyroll has announced they’ll be streaming it online, and the first episode will launch April 12th. That’s less than a week away! Watch a new trailer for the show here. Read more…
The other day, Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim played a little April Fool’s joke by bringing back their Toonami anime blockfor an evening. They caught a lot of fans off guard, by marathoning classic Toonami programming like Astro Boy, Big O, Outlaw Star, Gundam Wing and more — they even had Steve Blum return as the voice of T.O.M. the robot, going as far as reviewing Mass Effect 3. When Toonami left the air a few years back, I remember fans calling it as an end of an era, well now it looks like they might get a chance to revive it. Adult Swim is asking its fans to voice their desire via twitter with the hash tag #BringBackToonami. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 25, 2012 in Anime, Fandom
Joe Vecchio has been working diligently to create a musical based on the romantic comedy manga Maison Ikkoku which was created by Rumiko Takahashi. When I first heard about this project I had my doubts, however at Anime Central in 2011 Joe managed to get a read through of his play for his fellow otaku. And now he’s on a quest to take his dream to the next level via the website Kickstarer: Read more…
Another creative giant has passed away: Noboru Ishiguro. He was 73. The famed director has had his hands in much of the beloved anime of the 70s, 80s, and beyond: Space Battleship Yamato, Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Do You Remember Love?, Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Megazone 23, and recently, Tytania. This is only his most well-known work – he’s had a lot of influence in other shows as well, as his studio, Artland, animated shows such as Mushi-shi and Demon King Daimao. Truly, he was one of the greats, and he will be missed. Read more…
If you’re a fan of giant robot anime, this trailer might make you wet your pants. It features footage from 2nd Super Robot Wars Z Saisei, a PSP game that features characters and mechs from practically every giant robot series to grace Japanese airwaves is like an otaku’s dream come true. Unfortunately, despite having developed a countless number of these Super Robot War titles over the years, not a single one has been localized outside of Japan. Why? The trailer speaks for itself, check out the list of copyrights at the end. Now imagine the nightmare of trying to secure those rights for an international release. It’s a shame, but who knows, maybe it’ll be a possibility someday… maybe… probably not.
Want to get excited for a new anime? How about a new Lupin III series? Starting April 4th in Japan, viewers will get to see Lupin III -The Woman Called Fujiko Mine- on the small screen. It’ll focus on Fujiko Mine in particular, and is said to want to recapture the “sensuality” of the series in a “daring interpretation” of the original series. Of particular interest? The staff! Sayo Yamamoto, director of the series Michiko to Hatchin (an excellent cult favorite), will be directing the series, and Takeshi Koike (director of the ridiculously awesome Redline – watch it) will be handling character design and animation direction. An excellent lineup! Read more…
Oh Warner Brothers, what are we going to do with you? Not content with the start-and-stop production process of it’s other live-action anime adaptions (namely Akira), the fine folks over at Warner have picked up another property to slowly never make a movie out of: Bleach. The popular and long-running Shonen Jump manga series by Tite Kubo has spawned an equally long anime and many video games, but no live-action films yet. Looks like Warner wants to change that! Read more…
Wow, it’s been good recently for anime fans. Not only did Kunihiko Ikuhara recently complete a new anime, we’re also getting a new Leiji Matsumoto show as well. And on top of all that? News came out today that Shinichiro Watanabe, director of Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo, will be returning to the director’s chair to lead a new noitaminA show called Sakamichi no Apollo. It’s about three students who come together over jazz music. Given the focus on music, you may wonder who is handling it for the show, and the answer is none other than Yoko Kanno. Yup, you’re officially allowed to get excited now. A trailer is included after the break. Read more…
Earlier this week Bandai announced that they would cease production of video and manga aimed at Americans: This is huge news as this is the company had amazing A+ titles like Cowboy Bebop which you could hardly say were niche. Is this the end for anime in America? No, but the era of dubbed anime titles and translated printed manga seems to be in very bad shape to say the least. Now you can argue that this is part of a larger transition from physical media to digital — and you can also question how good Bandai was or wasn’t at marketing — however to be fair one has to admit that piracy hasn’t helped the industry: And that’s exactly what Kyle Hebert is talking about in this video: Read more…
I’m not a big Dragon Age fan, but even I can tell that fans probably won’t be happy with this latest trailer for the Dragon Age anime film by Oxybot. Let’s face it: the CGI is terrible. The only things passable are the dragons, and even then that’s pushing it. It’s almost humorous when they’re treating it so seriously and the animation fails to help that in any way. Also, to help add legitimacy to the whole affair, GACKT is doing the theme song. Yup. Read more…
