November 2010

NEWS!!!


L.A. Animation Festival to Screen Redline, Midori-ko

New works by Iron Man pilot's Koike, Winter Days' Kurosaka on December 5

The second annual Los Angeles Animation Festival will screen the Los Angeles premiere of the anime film Redline and the American premiere of the anime film Midori-Ko on December 5.

Takeshi 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. The film will be screened at 12:15 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. on December 5.

Redline has been acquired for North American release by Manga Entertainment. It has also been screened in Austin, San Francisco, Minneapolis, Honolulu.

According to the festival, Keita Kurosaka (Winter Days) spent 10 years rendered his latest film, Midori-ko, entirely in colored pencil. The story revolves around a young woman attempting to make a "dream-food" to save the world from famine. The movie will screen on December 5 at 4:30 p.m.

---

Artist Takashi Murakami to Exhibit in Madrid, Spain

"Superflat: New Pop Culture" to follow controversial Versailles exhibit

According to the Europa Press, superflat artist Takashi Murakami will exhibit at the Centro Cultural Moncloa in Madrid, Spain from November 17 to January 9, 2011. The exhibit will be titled "Superflat: New Pop Culture."

Murakami is currently exhibiting in the Chateau of Versailles in France, a showing which has caused controversy for the artist due to the sexual nature of some of his past works. Murakami also created an anime for the exhibit titled "Six Hearts Princess."

Murakami has acknowledged the influence of anime, manga, and otaku culture on his art, and he himself has directed several anime projects. Time magazine named Murakami as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2008. Murakami has worked with Luis Vuitton to design a print for its handbag lines, and with rapper Kanye West to design an album cover and animate a music video. In 2009, Murakami created a music video titled "Akihabara Majokko Princess," directed by Terminator Salvation director McG and starring actress Kirsten Dunst.

---

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Movie Teaser Streamed

Fullmetal Alchemist: Milos no Sei-Naru Hoshi to open next summer The official website for the Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood movie began streaming a teaser trailer on Sunday. The teaser confirms that the title of the movie is Fullmetal Alchemist: Milos no Sei-Naru Hoshi and that the movie will open throughout Japan next summer.

The website states: "Edward Elric and his younger brother Alphonse — tossed by the waves of destiny, the two are still on their journey…." According to the teaser's tagline, the movie will "finally tell the story of forbidden bonds."

The teaser and the website list the following staff:

Creator: Hiromu Arakawa Director: Kazuya Murata (Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion episode director) Script: Yūichi Shinpo (Whiteout novelist, Doraemon: Shin Nobita no Uchū Kaitakushi) Character Designer/Chief Animation director: Kenichi Konishi (Tokyo Godfathers) Animation Production: BONES

The website lists the following cast:

Edward Elric: Romi Park
Alphonse Eric: Rie Kugimiya
Winry Rockbell: Megumi Takamoto
Roy Mustang: Shinichiro Miki
Riza Hawkeye: Fumiko Orikasa
Alex Louis Armstrong: Kenji Utsumi

Advance tickets will go on sale at participating theaters on November 22, the same day that the 27th and final volume of Hiromu Arakawa's original manga goes on sale. The first round of advance tickets will come with a bonus Edward Elric rubber strap. People who bring the final manga volume when they buy the advance ticket will receive the rubber strap, a special board (shikishi) illustrated by Arakawa, and the opportunity to have their manga volume's "Memorial Stamp Page" imprinted with the "Hagaren Memorial Stamp."

The manga ended in Square Enix's Shonen Gangan magazine in June, and over 50 million copies of the manga have been published.

---

b>Sentai Filmworks Adds Clannad Anime Film with Dub, Sub

North American distributor to also dub Clannad After Story, offer exchange

David Williams of the North American anime distributor Sentai Filmworks confirmed on the AnimeOnDVD forums that his company will release the Clannad anime film with English dubbing and subtitles next March. Sentai Filmworks will also dub the Clannad After Story series for release next April. For people who already purchased the series in its subtitled form, Sentai Filmworks will offer an exchange program. The company originally made these announcements at Izumicon this weekend.

---

Satoshi Kon's Last Film Officially Resumes Production

Character designer Yoshimi Itazu serves as Yume-Miru Kikai's "acting director"

The anime studio MADHOUSE officially announced on Friday that it resumed production on Yume-Miru Kikai, the unfinished last feature film from the late director Satoshi Kon (Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers, Paranoia Agent, Paprika). Character designer and chief animation director Yoshimi Itazu (Dennō Coil) is now serving as "acting director," while Toshiyuki Inoue (Blood: The Last Vampire, Blue Submarine No. 6, Dennō Coil, Magnetic Rose, Paprika) is now serving as joint animation director. Susumu Hirasawa (Millennium Actress, Paprika, Paranoia Agent, Berserk) will compose the music. MADHOUSE has not set the release date for the film.

Kon passed away on August 24 while he was working on his fifth feature film. Kon said in his final online message that he talked with MADHOUSE founder Masao Maruyama about his last film being incomplete. Kon said that Murayama assured him, "It's fine. Don't worry, we'll do whatever it takes."

Source: Anime News Network

NEWS!!!


Makoto Shinkai's Hoshi o Ou Kodomo Film Dated for 2011

The Cinema Today website confirms that Hoshi o Ou Kodomo: Children who Chase Lost Voices from Deep Below, the latest film by Makoto Shinkai (Voices of a Distant Star, The Place Promised in Our Early Days, 5 Centimeters Per Second), will open on 2011. As previously revealed on Tuesday, the Yahoo! Movies Japan website will stream teaser footage from the project on November 9 at noon.

The story centers on Asuna, a girl who spends her solitary days listening to the mysterious music emanating from the crystal radio she received from her father as a memento. However, she embarks on a journey of adventure to meet a boy again, and thus comes to know the cruelty and beauty of the world, as well as loss.

---

Jiro Taniguchi Wins Italy's Highest Comic Award

A Distant Neighborhood creator named "Maestro del fumetto" at Lucca Comics & Game fest

Italy's Lucca Comics and Game festival gave manga creator Jiro Taniguchi the honor of "La Giuria dei Premi Gran Guinigi 2010 assegna il riconoscimento come Maestro del fumetto" ("Master of Comics" recognition) on Sunday. It is the highest award given at the festival, which has been running since 1966. A judging committee of artists, editors, and other professionals decides the recipients.

Taniguchi's A Distant Neighborhood (Harukana Machi e) manga had already received an award for "Il premio Gran Guinigi 2003 per la miglior storia lunga" ("Best Long Story") in 2003. However, this year's award is not for a particular work, but for Taniguchi himself. Taniguchi has also been officially invited to next year's festival at the end of October 2011.

Fanfare / Ponent Mon has published such Taniguchi works as The Walking Man, The Ice Wanderer, and A Distant Neighborhood in English, and these three particular titles have been nominated for America's Eisner Awards. Viz also published his Benkei in New York manga.

A live-action film adaptation of A Distant Neighborhood opened in Germany in May. The original manga deals with a 48-year-old salaryman who returns to the town he grew up in, and is transported back in time to his youth. The film, which is a production of Belgium, Luxembourg, France, and Germany, relocates the story's setting from Japan to Paris.

---

Studio Ghibli to Announce New Work on December 15

Not yet clear who will direct next work

Studio Ghibli President Koji Hoshino revealed at the Rome International Film Festival on Thursday that his company "will announce Ghibli's new work on December 15. I cannot say anything beyond that yet." Hoshino was responding to a question about studio co-founder Hayao Miyazaki, who said in the September issue of Cut magazine that he considered a hypothetical sequel of Porco Rosso. However, the entertainment news source Cinema Today emphasized that it is currently unclear whether Hoshino was referring to a new work directed by Miyazaki or another creator.

---

VIZ Media Confirms Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Manga License

Senior editor Joel Enos discusses upcoming Shonen Jump renewal

Joel Enos, Viz Media's Senior Editor of Shonen Jump, has confirmed with ANN that the publisher has acquired the license to the manga version of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, which will begin serialization in the magazine in January. Enos also confirmed the license of Toshiaki Iwashiro's Psyren, which will also begin serialization in January.

With regard to the recently announced digital supplement for the magazine, Enos stated that "the entire series" of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan will be posted online at a monthly rate. Nura will be available to any magazine subscriber with a personal computer; the newly launched Viz Media application for the Apple iPad device is a separate venture and will not be required for Nura.

When asked about VIZ's digital and print strategies in general, Enos explained that with Shonen Jump magazine is nearing 10 years old — its first issue was released in December 2002. "It was time for a new look and feel," he said. "The world of reading, magazines, and manga have changed a lot in the past two to three years." He stated that Shonen Jump will integrate both digital and print distribution as much as possible rather than shifting focus away from print.

---

Namco Bandai of America Lays Off 90 Employees

Part of game development in California moved to Japan The game company Namco Bandai of America is laying off 90 staff members and relocating a part of game development from San Jose, California to Japan. The cuts are a result of the merger between the company's mobile and online game businesses into a single division. "We are partnering with external development studios out there because that is where the game business is going," Namco Bandai Vice President of Marketing Carlson Choi said to the VentureBeat website. As the industry shifts away from traditional game consoles only to developing for phones and other devices, Choi added, "our goal is to move into digital games and broaden to different platforms."

---

Anthony LaMolinara Directs Live-Action Bubblegum Crisis

Spider-Man animation director to begin shooting in China in 3D next May

The Screen Daily industry news source reports on Wednesday that animator and director Anthony LaMolinara will helm Bubblegum Crisis – Knight Sabers, the live-action film adaptation of the Bubblegum Crisis anime franchise. The defunct ARTMIC studio created the original 1987-1991 video anime series about four women who protect a cybernetic future Tokyo with powered armor. LaMolinara will begin shooting the new film in stereoscopic 3D at China's Hengdian World Studios next May.

LaMolinara directed the animation sequences in several films, including Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, and Hollow Man. He was also an animator on Toy Story and Stuart Little, and he wrote and directed a 2005 short called "Lonesome Matador."

Australia's Arclight Films, Canada's Wizzfilms, the Infotainment China Media Company, and the United Kingdom's Latec International agreed in May of 2009 to produce the live-action film. Japan's Anime International Company (AIC) had previously signed a basic agreement with Singapore's Cubix International PTE Ltd. (Zodiac: The Race Begins) for the adaptation in October of 2008.

The producers had originally planned to shoot the film in Australia on a US$30 million budget. The project also had a early 2012 release date slated, but that is no longer the case.

The original anime sold over 600,000 copies on laserdisc and video tape. It already spawned the AD Police Files prequel video anime series and the Bubblegum Crash sequel video anime series. The Bubblegum Crisis: Tokyo 2040 television anime series remade the original story in 1998 and spawned its own AD Police television series spinoff and the Parasite Dolls video series.

AnimEigo released the original video series along with AD Police Files and Bubblegum Crash in North America, while ADV Films released Bubblegum Crisis: Tokyo 2040, AD Police, and Parasite Dolls. Funimation just confirmed on Wednesday that it has since picked up the North American license for Bubblegum Crisis: Tokyo 2040.

Source: Anime News Network