Animanga in the News: 9/11 - 9/16

Sorry for the lateness! This week, we've got two new anime trailers, Shueisha's shojo-manga magazine gets an extended release date, 'Berserk' live-action film confirms their music composers, an anime-designer reports fake drawings of supposed art work, 'Futari Ecchi' gets a live-action movie, a new 'Pokemon' anime movie in December, and Japanese & Chinese publishers uniting! Enjoy!~


For those who've dropped the anime because of the fillers, the anime is resuming back to the manga saga next month. Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine is announcing on Saturday that the Bleach anime series will enter the Shinigami Daikō Shōshitsu Arc from Tite Kubo's original manga on October 11. The arc will feature new characters and their cast members:

Hiroki Touchi as Kūgo Ginjō
Daisuke Ono as Tsukishima
Atsushi Ono as Giriko Kutsuzawa
Atsuko Yuya as Jackie Tristan
Megumi Toyoguchi as Riruka Dokugamine
Mitsuhiro Ichiki as Yukio

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Kodansha, Ltd. announced a plan to move into the Chinese comics market by publishing a magazine for young male readers. According to sources, the agreement puts Kodansha in China by way of a joint venture with Guangxi Publishing & Media Group Co, based in southern China's Guangxi Province. The monthly anthology will publish its first issue in March 2012. Kodansha will hold a 49% stake in the venture.

Interestingly, the creative responsibilities will be divided between the Japanese and Chinese publishers: Kodansha will advise on marketability, from story writing to the more pressing tangibles of character licensing and comics and animation adaptation and production. Their China-based counterparts will handle recruitment of talent plus all of the red tape: paperwork with local authorities, physical printing services and costs, and sales.

Considering the China animation and comics markets' difficulty in managing piracy, surface observations view a joint publishing venture as a halfway sensible, if ultimately quick fix.

"We hope to grow original Chinese comics and provide these not only in China's large market but to the rest of the world," Yoshinobu Noma, President, Kodansha, commented.

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The staff and cast of the live-action film adaptation of Aki Katsu's Futari Ecchi (Futari H) romantic comedy manga announced on Sunday that a film sequel has been green-lit. The announcement was made at the event marking the release of the first film's DVD. The manga follows an inexperienced couple and their comic adventures as they explore intimacy with each other.

Yūri Morishita starred in the first live-action film as the wife Yura alongside Riki Miura (Here is Greenwood), and she appeared at Sunday event to announce that she will reprise her role in the sequel. The film will begin shooting in October.

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The October issue of the 'Monthly Shonen Sunday' magazine began serialization on Monday on a new manga by Hosana Tanaka (who created 'Ninja Girls' & 'Code Name wa Baby Face'). The manga, titled Tokisaka-san wa Boku to Chikyū ni Kibishisugiru (Tokisaka-san is Too Harsh Toward Me and the Earth), revolves around a dutiful high school student named Sōya who is living separately from his parents. One day a beautiful girl named Koyomi Tokisaka transfers into Sōya's class. Koyomi reveals to Sōya that she is on a mission to harm the Earth.

Del Rey Manga licensed Tanaka's Ninja Girls for North American release in 2008, and released four volumes before Kodansha took over Del Rey's manga titles in 2010. Kodansha Comics is releasing the seventh volume of the series this month. Tanaka was the former assistant and protégé of Takashi Shiina (who created 'GS Mikami Gokuraku Daisakusen!!' & 'Zettai Karen Children').

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This year's 19th issue of Shueisha's You manga magazine for women announced on Thursday that the semi-monthly magazine will switch to a monthly schedule on November 15.

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The official website for the Berserk film confirmed on Friday that Susumu Hirasawa will compose the theme song for the film, while Shiro Sagisu is composing the soundtrack. Hirasawa scored the previous 1997-1998 Berserk television anime series. Sagisu also composes for the Evangelion and Bleach anime franchises.

Berserk Film is slated for release in Japanese theaters in January.

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KenIchi the Mightiest Disciple manga creator Shun Matsuena is launching a two-part Waza no Tabibito manga in this year's 43rd issue of Shogakukan's Weekly Shonen Sunday magazine on September 21. The manga ties into to the original 3D anime of the same name that Matsuena created, wrote, designed, produced, and directed himself. The high fantasy action story centers around Tekuni Depagaa, a girl who embarks on a journey to train and become a fighting master known as a "wazabito."

The DVD for the anime will be released in November.

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This year's 43rd issue of Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine is announcing on Wednesday that an anime adaptation of Hiroaki Igano and Kaya Tsukiyama's The Knight in the Area (Area no Kishi) soccer manga has been green-lit.

The story centers around Kakeru Aizawa, the younger brother of the Kamakura School soccer team captain Suguru. While Suguru is so talented in soccer that he has been made part of Japan's national under-15 team, Kakeru is so weak at the sport that he is nicknamed "Mr. No Goal." Kakeru's life changes however, after a tragic accident.

The manga launched in Weekly Shōnen Magazine in 2006, and the 27th compiled book volume is shipping this month. Igano is another name for Tadashi Agi, the story creator of Drops of God, GetBackers, Kindaichi Case Files, Bloody Monday, and several other popular manga titles.

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The Japan Information and Culture Center (JICC), part of the Public Affairs Section of the Embassy of Japan, will screen Welcome to THE SPACE SHOW on September 30 at 6:30 p.m. Held at the JICC Auditorium in Washington D.C., the showing will include English subtitles.

The event is free and open to the public, but seating is limited. Guests must register for the event on the JICC website. Although registration does not guarantee guests a seat, registered guests will be seated first.

The story follows five children who gather in the mountains of rural Japan, far from the gaze of adults. During their explorations of their natural environment, they discover a dog-like alien. Pochi rewards them for his rescue by taking the children to an alien colony on the moon. A ban on space travel between Earth and the moon traps the children in space, and they must find their way home before their parents discover their disappearance.

The science-fiction adventure movie premiered at the Berlin Film Festival last year, debuted in America at Otakon 2010, and screened at the New York Int'l Children's Film Festival. Welcome the Space Show will be shown in London on October 8. Manga Entertainment announced its license of the film in July, and a DVD/Blu-ray release is slated for December 5.

JICC has screened various anime films since 2008 in collaboration with the DC Anime Club.

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Acclaimed anime character designer Akemi Takada reported on Saturday that there were two sketches forged under her signature that were auctioned on the eBay service overseas.

In particular, a person in Hong Kong purchased at least one Kimagure Orange Road sketch off an auction originating in Italy. As such, Takada noted that the auctions constitute international fraud.

In addition to Kimagure Orange Road, Takada worked on Urusei Yatsura, Magical Angel Creamy Mami , Maison Ikkoku, Mobile Police Patlabor, Fancy Lala, and many other anime.

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The Japanese publisher Shueisha is releasing a One Piece Kaizoku Chara Bentō Book (One Piece Pirate Character Box Lunch Book) with recipes inspired by the characters in Eiichiro Oda's manga on Monday. The book comes with a bentō kit of 10 items: two Straw Hat Gang silicone cups (of Luffy and Chopper), two Straw Hat Gang stamp-out molds (of Zoro and Sanji), two pirate ship symbol furikake (rice seasoning) stencil plates (of Going Merry and Thousand Sunny), and four pirate flag picks.

The book itself offers recipes for making Pirate King Bentō, Chopper Bentō, First-Class Cook of the Seas Bentō, and other box lunches. It also offers dessert recipes such as Zoro & Sanji Reconciliation Cookies, muffins, and roll cakes. The designer of the bentō is akinoichigo ("as taught by Sanji!").

The book will cost 1,380 yen (about US$18).

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A teaser after the final episode of the Steins;Gate television anime series announced on Wednesday morning that production on a film has been green-lit. 5pb. studio head/producer Chiyomaru Shikura had revealed the news before the announcement actually aired. Steins;Gate producer Yoshinao Doi had also indicated earlier on Tuesday that viewers should keep watching their televisions after the episode's ending animation sequence is over.



The Steins;Gate television anime is based on the second "scientific adventure game" by the studios 5pb. and Nitroplus, who also created Chaos;HEAd. The artist huke (Black Rock Shooter) designed the characters, and the studio WHITE FOX animated the project.

The story of the original game revolves around the eccentric college student Rintarō "Okarin" Okabe and his "Mirai Gadget Kenkyūsho" ("Future Gadget Laboratory") circle of friends in a realistic version of Tokyo's Akihabara district. The friends turn a microwave oven into a machine that sends email messages to the past, and that attracts the attention of a mysterious organization called SERN.

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If you grew up in the 90's, POKEMON was an intricate part of your life. The franchise has seen a downs swell in the past few years, but long time fans have reason to rejoice!!! Cinedigm, the behemoth behind Pokemon's most recent ventures, plans to release POKEMON THE WHITE: WHITE-VICTINI AND ZEKROM this holiday season, hitting theatres stateside on December 3, 2011. The film will begin in limited release at about 300 digital locations, and will expand to meet demand.

J.C. Smith, the head honcho at Pokemon's Consumer Marketing division, had this to say about the upcoming release:

It's going to be a lot of fun for the entire Pokémon community to get together and watch 'Pokémon the Movie: White—Victini and Zekrom'. We're excited to be working with Cinedigm to make this special engagement possible across the country.

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Ages ago Bob dropped some news that prequel movie to the hit anime series, Bakemonogatari, entitled Kizumomogatari was getting ready to be cooked. Well today we see some signs of life in the form of a site, and a trailer! Bakemonogatari really was a show that you really loved of hated. I'm firmly planted in the middle. I never could sit still and enjoy the show, but I loved the characters, design, and concept.

The movie, which is based on a light novel prequel, is due in theaters sometime in 2012.

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Since Saladesu is out for a while, if you would like to help in finding and translating news of this nature, please contact Asahina via PM, or any staff. ^^ Please, feel free to PM Asahina any interesting bits of anime or manga news you find floating around the internet, too.