December 2010

NEWS!!!


8th Naruto Film to Open Next Summer

Masahiko Murata to direct as he did for the last 2 Naruto films

The Japanese film distributor TOHO announced on its website on Wednesday that the eighth Naruto film will open next summer. TOHO just unveiled its 2011 movie lineup at a Wednesday press conference in Tokyo. Masahiko Murata will direct the film as he has already done for episodes of Naruto and Naruto Shippūden as well as the last two films, Naruto Shippūden: Hi no Ishi o Tsugumono and Naruto Shippūden: The Lost Tower. Junko Takeuchi, the Japanese voice of the title character, will head the new film's cast.

Naruto Shippūden: The Lost Tower, the fourth Naruto Shippūden film (and seventh Naruto film overall), opened on July 31.

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Voice Actor Takeshi Watabe Passes Away at 74

Roles included You're Under Arrest's Arizuka, Aquarian Age's Naoyuki Kamikurata, Gundam 0083 John Kowen The agency 81 Produce announced on its website that voice actor Takeshi Watabe passed away on December 13 due to pneumonia. He was 74. Watabe was undergoing treatment for lung cancer. His roles included Inspector Takao Arizuka in the You're Under Arrest franchise, Naoyuki Kamikurata in Aquarian Age - Sign for Evolution, Colonel John Kowen in Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, and Director Yachio Tokugawa in Strawberry Eggs.

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Funimation Confirms Disc Error in Kaze no Stigma Box Set

Offers replacement to affected users Funimation has confirmed with ANN that a recent print run of its Kaze no Stigma Complete Series box set, which was originally released on September 28, contains replication errors. According to Anime on DVD, the errors result in "skipping and blocking issues on some scenes in the first few episodes." Funimation says that the print run consisted of about 500 units, and that affected users can send an e-mail to productconcerns@funimation.com to arrange for a replacement to be sent.

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Ghibli Adapts Kokuriko-Zaka Kara Shōjo Manga posted on 2010-12-15 00:45 EST Goro Miyazaki to direct Summer 2011 anime about high school girl in 1963

The film journalist Hiroo Otaka reported on his Twitter account that Studio Ghibli announced its newest work, Goro Miyazaki's anime adaptation of Chizuru Takahashi and Tetsurō Sayama's Kokuriko-Zaka Kara manga, on Wednesday. The anime will open in Japan next summer.

The story is set in Showa 38 (1963, a year before the Tokyo Olympics) and follows the coming of age of an ordinary, pigtailed high school girl named Komatsuzaki in Yokohama, a harbor city near Tokyo. Her sailor father went missing after an accident, and her photographer mother is frequently going abroad for work. Her family now runs a lodging house The manga recounts Komatsuzaki's everyday life of "laughter and tears" with two boys — a school newspaper member and the student council president.

Goro Miyazaki is the son of Ghibli's co-founder, Hayao Miyazaki. The younger Miyazaki had previously directed Tales from Earthsea (Gedo Senki). The older Miyazaki is planning the Kokuriko-Zaka Kara film and co-writing its script with Keiko Niwa (Gedo Senki). Satoshi Takebe (theme song arranger on Deltora Quest, Romeo × Juliet, The Story of Fifteen Boys) is composing the music. Ghibli's former president Toshio Suzuki is producing the film as he has for almost every Ghibli project.

The original manga ran in Kodansha's Nakayoshi shōjo magazine in 1980. Studio Ghibli's publishing department and Kadokawa Group Publishing re-issued the manga this past July with a new wraparound jacket band that says that "Hayao Miyazaki recommends this!" Ghibli's sales blurb added that the studio was looking into whether the shōjo manga could be made into a movie.

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Del Rey to Continue Publishing xxxHOLiC, Other Manga

Del Rey likely to continue some Kodansha licenses; Kodansha not necessarily finished announcing titles

Del Rey Manga Associate Publisher Dallas Middaugh confirmed at a Kodansha Comics event in New York City on Sunday that his company will continue publishing CLAMP's xxxHOLiC and Tsubasa, RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE manga for the foreseeable future. He added that Del Rey is likely to continue publishing certain other manga titles from Kodansha until their licenses expire in a year or two. Del Rey will also continue to publish its own original graphic novels and manga.

Middaugh also spoke about Kodansha's publishing plans: While Kodansha did reveal the titles in its summer schedule on Sunday, those are not necessarily the only titles Kodansha will release; Kodansha's fall schedule is still being planned. Kodansha will publish most of its manga series every other month, and the company's website will launch early next year.

Del Rey Manga published the 16th volume of xxxHOLiC in October, and it published the 28th and final volume of Tsubasa in November.

Kodansha announced in October that it would take over the titles it had licensed to Del Rey Manga. However, Kodansha qualified that the process would be gradual, and that Del Rey parent Random House would continue to distribute the titles.

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Redline Wins Audience Award at LA Animation Fest

Sara Pocock's "7th" also wins; Oblivion wins Jury's First Mention at Expotoons

On December 5, Takeshi Koike's animated film Redline won the Best Feature audience award at the second annual Los Angeles Animation Festival. As a winner of the event, the film re-screened as part of the festival's International Winners Show on December 6. "7th," the animated short by ANN contributor Sara Pocock, won the jury award in the "Unfinished Masterpiece" category.

Koike (The Animatrix short World Record, Iron Man pilot) directed Redline at the studio MADHOUSE. The story revolves around characters participating in a racing event which takes place every five years. Manga Entertainment acquired Redline for North American release. It has also been screened in Austin, San Francisco, Minneapolis, and Honolulu.

In a separate development, Production I.G announced that its Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror film won the Jury's First Mention at the fourth annual Expotoons International Animation Festival. The festival was held in Argentina from November 30 to December 2. The anime was awarded under the feature films category where Garri Bardin's Ugly Duckling from Russia won first place. The festival also hosted Oblivion Island's premiere in Latin America.

Source: Anime News Network