Arata Vol. 1 Copyright VIZ Media

Let’s start off this update with something for the ladies with the newly released Shojo manga, “Arata: The Legend”. Shojo, for those who don’t know, are manga specifically geared towards women, so you can expect plenty of pretty girly-men and romance throughout. VIZ has been kind enough to summarize the plot for us, here:

In a world where humans and gods coexist, Arata is the unfortunate successor to the matriarchal Hime Clan–unfortunate because if he’s not cross-dressing to hide his gender one minute, he’s fleeing for his life the next! When Arata winds up in the modern world and switches places with a boy named Arata Hinohara, it’s a wonder which Arata is actually better off…
In Volume 1, Hinohara is the spitting image of Arata, so he suddenly finds himself fighting people after his life! As he navigates through this foreign world filled with power-hungry warriors, who will come to his aid? One thing’s for sure–it’s not easy being Arata!

Yes, that’s right. It seems to be a cross-dressing take on “The Prince and the Pauper” where the male Arata is forced to dress as a woman to keep his position in line as the clan’s next matriarchal ruler. Expect plenty of shenanigans as a result, and a fair share of  Yoai undertones in this teen manga.

Next up, the very hot-button issue surrounding “Dance in the Vampire Bund” and Funimation. For those not familiar with this, basically Funimation acquired the rights to show Bund and announced they would censor said anime for some more questionable content. Of course, there was a huge backlash against this decision, and Funimation was bombarded with rage until yesterday they made the announcement that while the stream would still be censored, DVD and Blu-ray releases should be able to remain uncensored unless the last episode of the series really cross taste borders. (Source: Anime News Network)

So there is a ton of issues on both sides of the fence. On one side, censoring is bad, and really shouldn’t exist with private DVDs for home use. On the other hand is Bund, which is pretty intense. The main character pictured here. (Sorta NSFW), while being about seven-hundred years old, has a very young appearance. With scenes depicted of not so family-friendly behavior, this could further drive those people we’re trying to convince that anime is a valid, moving form of expression. It’s a tough debate, but at least we’re seeing some kind of compromise.

That’s it for this week, but don’t forget to leave your thoughts on censorship in the comments below.

This seems to be the time for big anime news around the world. From the always great source Anime News Network, we get info on the screenings of several choice anime names in Dublin:

The Irish Film Institute in Dublin will be screening Hideaki Anno and Khara’s Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance (Evangelion Shin Gekijōban: Ha) movie and Mamoru Hosoda and MADHOUSE’s Summer Wars movie during a two-day festival next month. Evangelion: 2.0 will run on March 20, and Summer Wars will run on March 21.

Other films to be shown at the festival include Anno and Khara’s Evangelion: 1.11 You Are (Not) Alone (Evangelion Shin Gekijōban: Jo), Makoto Shinkai’s 5 Centimeters Per Second, Hosoda and MADHOUSE’s The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, and Hiroyuki Kitakubo and Production I.G’s Blood: The Last Vampire. Blood: The Last Vampire will share a double-billing with a “mystery film.” Jonathan Clements (author of Schoolgirl Milky Crisis and co-author of The Anime Encyclopedia) and industry guests Hugh David and Andrew Partridge will host a panel on the future of anime during the festival.

Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance is the second film in the theatrical film remake of Anno and Gainax’s Neon Genesis Evangelion television
anime series. The film continues the story of a group of 14-year-olds entrusted with giant biomechanical units to protect Earth from mysterious Angels. It opened in Japan in June 2009. It then ran in Spain’s Sitges, Scotland’s Glasgow
Film Festival, Canada’s Waterloo Festival for Animated Cinema, and France’s Lyon Asian Film Festival. Funimation had released versions of the first film, Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone, in North America in 2009 in theaters and on home video.

The light-hearted “action entertainment” story of Summer Wars revolves around a modern-day family on a midsummer adventure. The project reunites many of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time’s staffers, including scriptwriter Satoko Okudera (Angel, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Miyori no Mori) and character designer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto (Evangelion, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, FLCL). The film opened in Japan on August 1, 2009, and has since been scheduled in Spain’s Sitges, England’s Leeds Film Festival, Germany’s Berlin International Film Festival, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and in the New York International Children’s Film Festival.

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From Anime News Network, we have news about the premiere of the Trigun movie:

Sakura-Con has announced that it will hold the world premiere of the Trigun: Badlands Rumble film during the April 2-4 convention in Seattle, Washington. The convention is three weeks before the April 24 opening of the film in Japan.

Like the television anime series that came before it, the anime studio MADHOUSE is basing the film on Yasuhiro Nightow’s popular Trigun manga. Director Satoshi Nishimura, character designer Takahiro Yoshimatsu, mechanical designer Noriyuki Jinguji, and musical composer Tsuneo Imahori are returning to the franchise after having worked on the television series. Nightow and Nishimura conceived of the story concepts which Yasuko Kobayashi (Claymore, Shakugan no Shana, Witchblade anime) turned into a shooting script. Masaya Onosaka, Sho Hayami, Hiromi Tsuru, and Satsuki Yukino are reprising their roles of Vash the Stampede, Nicolas D. Wolfwood, Meryl Stryfe, and Milly Thompson, respectively.

Nishimura and Yoshimatsu are appearing as guests of this year’s Sakura-Con. In addition to Trigun, Nishimura directed Hajime no Ippo (Fighting Spirit) and Shin Cho Bakumatsu Shonen Seiki Takamaru, and he storyboarded episodes of Black Lagoon, Card Captor Sakura, Monster, Paradise Kiss, and Revolutionary Girl Utena. Yoshimatsu designed the characters in several Slayers and Future GPX Cyber Formula projects, Basquash!, Kiba, Desert Punk, and the two Jubei-chan – Secret of the Lovely Eyepatch television series.

Sakura-Con has always been the premiere anime convention in the country, and it seems this year, they won’t disappoint. For more info, or to register if you plan to make the trip from Salt Lake City, visit their main page here.

Star Ocean is an action RPG. It plays similarly to the Tales of Destiny games in that the level and battle systems are closely related. What I like about both of these series is that the high-action battles keep you involved in the game the entire time while giving you all the basic RPG elements. Star Ocean: The Last Hope is the fourth game in the series and is announced to also be the last. But don’t let that stop you from picking it up, because this is a prequel to the entire series and the story and world are easy to follow along with.

The other thing I like about this series is the science fiction elements.  You’re basically cruising through the Galaxy looking for new planets to colonize post World War III when the Earth was decimated. This is also where the game gets its title, The Last Hope. The main character ‘Edge’ becomes the captain of a SEED ship, and the rest of your party consists of the crew. You go from planet to planet, recruiting members, and saving the inhabitants of those worlds.

I thought the battle systems were done really well. You get four members at a time, and you choose any one of them to control yourself while the other three are controlled by an A.I. . They use an active battle system, that isn’t turn based at all. (You get to use special ability’s and attacks as often as you like provided you have the MP.) While this sounds really simple, there is still a lot of strategy required. (Especially on boss battles.)

Each of the characters has their own abilities and fights in their own unique way. For example, the main character is really good at close combat, whereas his second in command (A girl named Reimi) is an Archer and is better at fighting at a distance. The variations on how to use your party are virtually endless.

The first thing I noticed about this game is that it is incredibly vast. But with the active battle system, and going from world to world, it hardly ever gets boring, and it’s always a delight to look at. The models are some of the best I’ve seen, for both the characters and the enemies. I’ve mentioned in a review of Avatar recently that video games seem to be much more adept at populating new worlds with interesting creatures and environments. This video game was successful in filling many worlds with life and story, that I consider to be a much greater accomplishment.

The international version offers the ability to play in either Japanese or English, which as a Japanese language student I find to be be a really good feature. Also as a North American it’s refreshing to actually see the release of an International version in general because it is so rarely done. (I’ve been waiting for a FF7 international version since 1997.)

The voice acting was done better than some of the games I’ve played recently, and was completely acceptable. Which is saying a lot, because unfortunately now a days, bad voice acting can kill a game. Although I do have to say some of the characters mannerisms were slightly annoying, I am certainly willing to give it a pass. (Especially because the games sound-track was really good.)

Overall, this is a really good looking game that’s fun to play for many hours with a definitive ending point, and a cool story. I highly recommend it. It makes me want to pick up the other games in the series as well.
You can buy your copy from Amazon through this link!

Score:

• Graphics : 9
• Controls: 8
• Audio : 8
• Replay: 7
• Story: 9
• Overall: 8.2
  

It was recently announced that the adaptation of “Akira” would be handled by Allen and Albert Hughes for Warner Brother’s take on the now legendary manga by Katsuhiro Otomo about a post apocalyptic Tokyo.

The new film will be based in Manhattan in a similar setting, with the leader of a bike gang attempting to save his friend from a medical testing facility. No other set news has been revealed, but rumors abound of Leonardo DeCaprio playing the role of Kanada have yet to be confirmed. This news comes after this movie has been floating around since Legendary Pictures acquired the rights in 2007 from Kodansha Publishing.

The Hughes brothers are attached after finishing work on “The Book of Eli’ and of course, when any other info comes out, we’ll make sure to have it to you. So, what’s your opinion on this? Should we really have a live-action Akira?

Funimation and Cybergraphix are starting a collaboration on an animated film, “Guardians of Luna”. Why should you be excited about this? Well, this movie is written by Michael Reaves, famous for Batman: The Animated Series, Gargoyles, and other bits of 90’s nostalgia, with character designer Cindy H. Yamauchi (Naruto: The Movie, Black Lagoon, Akira) adding her unique look to it.

The movie tells a dark story which revolves around an ancient race of shape-shifters with the ability to change into powerful creatures. Four unlikely heroes descended from this once-great race are charged with protecting an ancestral power source from a ruthless mogul. If you want more details, subscribe to the updates here.

Stay tuned for more next week!

(source: Funimation)

Yamazaki’s Halo Legends episode, “The Duel,” goes back to ancient
times, at the dawn of the Covenant. A shamed Elite defies his role as
an “Arbiter” – an honored but suicidal role that would regain him a
shred of honor—to take a path of revenge against those that stole the
only thing that matters to such an amazing warrior: His true love.
This ancient Arbiter must fight his way through ever-growing groups of
his former allies (grunts, elites, hunters, etc.) until he finally
stands face-to-face with the elite who betrayed his trust.

The episode showcases the richness and depth of the Halo universe, and
gives fans a glimpse of one of their favorite protagonists, The
Samurai-style mythos of the Elites is framed in an animation style
that branches away from many of Halo Legends’ CG and traditional
animation approaches to present the anime via a unique filter – giving
the episode the look of a moving watercolor painting. Yamazaki and the
artists at Production I.G were responsible for this singular artistic
vision. So stunning and different are the tones and forms that
multiple viewings offer new insights on each pass.

A rising star in the anime community, Yamazaki has developed a loyal
following as he has grown his career from sound direction and
storyboarding to a celebrated run as an episodic director of
innovatively-blended visual action on the critically acclaimed hit CG
anime series KARAS. Similarly, Production I.G has been responsible for
numerous acclaimed feature films, television series and video games,
including the cyberpunk classic Ghost in the Shell, Jin-Roh, The Wolf
Brigade and parts of Batman Gotham Knight.

Warner Home Video will distribute Halo Legends on February 16, 2010 as
a Special Edition 2-disc version on DVD and Blu-Ray™, as well as
single disc DVD and available On Demand and Digital Download. The DVD
anthology of episodic films based within the mythology of the popular
game Halo is produced by 343 Industries, a unit within Microsoft Game
Studios.

Yamazaki answered a few questions in regard to his participation in
bringing Halo Legends to animated life. Here’s that Q&A …

QUESTION:
What made you think Halo would lend itself to anime/animation?

HIROSHI YAMAZAKI:
I believe that the suitability (of a property for animation) depends
upon each story. This story definitely worked well in animation, and
in this style.

QUESTION:
What was the inspiration for your artistic vision in your episode of
Halo Legends?

HIROSHI YAMAZAKI:
I have been a lover of viewing the Halo art /illustration collection
books and such for some time and the entire collection of Halo
properties inspired me.

QUESTION:
Were there any particular images within the Halo realm that helped
shape or drive your creative vision?

HIROSHI YAMAZAKI:
When I was contacted by I.G about the project, I imagined that the
project would be very Sci-Fi in taste. However, when I met Mr. Frank
O’Connor (of 343 Indutries, Microsoft Games Studios) for the first
time, his requirement was to create a Samurai episode featuring an
Arbiter, and I was considerably and happily surprised.

QUESTION:
What did you set out to accomplish in this episode, and why do you
think you achieved or exceeded your goals?

HIROSHI YAMAZAKI:
What I was aiming for in this project was to make audiences understand
there should be other styles of animation beyond the existing two
primary kinds of animation presented – precisely cel-drawing 2D style
and CG 3D style. I wanted to show that creators are not limited, that
they have many options for different (animation) styles to create
stories.

QUESTION:
Did you feel you had the proper Halo experience to to bring the world
to life in anime?

HIROSHI YAMAZAKI:
I have played Halo 1 and 2 all the way through to the end. As I was so
busy in this project, I could not play Halo 3 but instead I watched
the gaming movie many times from the beginning to end.

QUESTION:
Did you include any “Easter eggs” for the devout Halo fans in your episode?

HIROSHI YAMAZAKI:
I employed the phrase “Akuma-da!” (“He is a devil” in English) as part
of the dialogue of a grunt soldier for fun for game lovers. I’m not
certain whether everyone will get to enjoy that treat, though, as I
understand the English version and Japanese version differ
considerably and I am not sure how this dialogue by the grunt is
treated in the English version.

For more details, check out the website here.

Source: Anime News Network

Producer and former Studio Ghibli head Toshio Suzuki revealed on his Ghibli Asemamire radio program that the anime studio will announce its next film on December 16. He added that Oscar-winning director and studio co-founder Hayao Miyazaki is currently animating a television commercial.

Suzuki had previously confirmed in October that the studio’s next project is from a new director, and a July 10 entry in the official Studio Ghibli blog had already revealed the studio’s plans to open its next theatrical feature film next year. Suzuki predicted in October that Miyazaki’s next feature film might open in four years.

Studio Ghibli revealed during a February 2008 press conference that “directors [Isao] Takahata and [Hayao Miyazaki's son] Goro Miyazaki are both developing works” for release after Hayao Miyazaki’s Gake no Ue no Ponyo (Ponyo on a Cliff), which opened in Japan last year. Studio Ghibli President Koji Hoshino added in July of 2008 that there is a likely chance that Ghibli will promote one of its own animators to direct a film or recruit a director from outside the studio. Miyazaki himself told his studio’s staff in November of that year that they will start two feature-length works, with young staffers at their core, over the next three years.

Movies from both Takahata and Miyazaki? This is going to be a great couple of years.

This week, I present you with a preview of Tetsuwan Birdy Decode. As you may guess from this preview image, Birdy Decode is not here to make you ponder deep questions about humanity. Nor will it fundamentally change your life. No, sometimes every anime fan wants mindless violence, crazy storylines, and boobs.

Funimation is here to help you with that. Tetsuwan Birdy Decode’s plot line revolves around Birdy, an interstellar agent sent to investigate aliens seen on Earth. She of course conducts this under the guise of a pop idol. Sound crazy? Wait, I’m not done yet. A late night mission causes her to catch an innocent schoolboy, Tsutomu in her deadly line of fire. That’s bad, so Birdy uses some of her advanced medical technology to save the boy, by implanting his mind into her own. Now, they must share her body while Tsutomu’s body heals.

I think we all know where this will go from here, and admit it. We all love it. Funimation intends to release the episodes in half season box-sets starting 2010. So if you enjoy B-Movie plots and hormonal teens locked in sexually awkward situations, keep your eyes peeled for this title.

You want more anime updates? Follow me on Twitter here.

Evangelion Throw-back Toy Review
1/6 scale pre-painted figure
“Rei Ayanami”
Sculpted by Tsukuru Shirahige
Craftsmanship Kotobukiya Co.
www.kotobukiya.co.jp
www.kotoUS.com

A must-have for Anime collectors, toy hedz, & anyone who is looking to spice-up their displays.

Unlike most Anime figures, this female character is fully-clothed & in actual costume/dress from the popular series. What stands out most is her plug suit’s glowing-like properties. It’s white at first glance, but a closer look reveals perfectly placed blasted gloss. Her face & hair don’t take a back seat to this either. Adequate air-brushing to her hair enhances a look of innocence on her face.

The packaging is by far the most “display friendly” I’ve seen. Clear-cubed packaged with minimal graphics, centered, & posed. To make it even better, Rei’s also got a clear plastic shell around (but not touching) her more than “perfect” shape.

This figure will easily stand out from the rest of your collection & you will be very satisfied with your new addition.