Animanga in the News: 3/23/11

Here you will find a run down of today's anime and manga news! If anything major happened the anime and manga world today, you'll find it in this post! By the way, I'm saladesu, one of the translator-moderators of MH, and I'll be posting a post like this every day (as much as possible, anyway). Look forward to them ;)




Shueisha has decided to make issue 15 of "Weekly Shounen Jump", which went on sale on the 14th of March, available online for free. Areas affected by the earthquake were largely unable to get their copies on time, if at all, so the issue will be available for a limited period for their benefit.

It will be available between 23rd Marcha dn 27th April, and accessible only to users of Windows XP SP3/Vista SP2/7 operating systems, and users need to download a free viewer application.

Go here to read Shounen Jump for free.

original source





1734 video store staff hailing from all DVD and blu-ray rental and retail stores all over Japan voted for the movies they loved best and wanted to recommend the most to their customers for the "1st Video Store Staff Grand Prize". "Summer Wars", directed by Hosoda Mamoru clinched the glorious top prize.

These 1734 staff were allowed to vote for their top 10 movies among 45,000 titles released in 2010, and were to assign points from 1 to 10 to these 10 movies, with 10 indicating that the movie was their most favorite of those they were voting for. These points were totaled and the series then ranked.

Here are the results of the first ever Video Store Staff Grand Prize (in brackets are the points obtained, votes received and degree of partiality)

1. Summer Wars（798／247／3.23）
2. Toy Story 3（775／237／3.27）
3. Avatar（637／221／2.88）
4. EVANGELION：2.22 YOU CAN (NOT) ADVANCE.（475／137／3.47）
5. Inception（432／137／3.15）
6. District 9（405／197／2.06）
7. Golden Slumber（403／148／2.72）
8. ONE PIECE FILM STRONG WORLD（340／111／3.06）
9. Nankyoku Ryourinin（322／91／3.54）
10. Orchestra!（303／74／4.09）

The following also received special prizes.
Foreign Film/OV (not yet open): 12 Round
TVA/OVA: K-ON!!
Foreign TV Drama: FRINGE
Asian TV Drama: San Guo Zhi Three Kingdoms
Domestic TV Drama: Moteki
Variety: LONDONHEARTS
First BD: Back to the Future 25th Anniversary Blu-ray BOX

original source





We see it time and time again. Copyright is a double edged sword, and those who sharpen one side often get cut by the other.

In January, American anime distributor Funimation took action against 1337 alleged BitTorrent users, suing them for sharing episode 481 of the anime show One Piece. Funimation requested that the defendants pay damages and destroy all the content they’ve downloaded using BitTorrent.

Since the inception of BitTorrent there have always been very active communities where anime torrents are shared, but Funimation felt it was time to draw a line and sue their users. In the past they have have also been very critical of fansubbing sites, where anime fans create and share their own subtitles that often complement pirated copies.

In the light of the above it is a bit hypocritical, to say the least, that recent footage from the Funimation dubbing room revealed how the company itself was using ‘pirated’ subtitles.

This oddity was picked up by a member of the Anime News Network (ANN) forum and the evidence comes from an episode of America’s Greatest Otaku.

Although the actual translation of the show comes from the producers, the styling of the subtitles is clearly that of Horriblesubs, a site that provides subtitles for ‘pirated’ shows. With the many variables involved it is nearly impossible that this styling would have been replicated by accident, so it’s safe to conclude that Funimation is using subs from a ‘pirate’ source in their dubbing room.



But does this mean that Funimation broke any laws? Not necessarily.

After a lengthy discussion in the forums ANN CEO Temptest – who’s very familiar with licensing agreements – joined the discussion with a good summary of the situation. There is no doubt that Funimation is using ‘pirated’ subtitles, but it seems unlikely that they failed to secure the appropriate rights.

As most licensing deals include the right to use subtitles, and since the translations were done by the original owner of the content, Funimation has all the rights to use the Horriblesubs copy. The only question is whether the font used by Horriblesubs was properly licensed by Funimation.

But of course this revelation isn’t so much about the letter of the law, but more about the hypocrisy of an Anime distributor that is so critical of BitTorrent and fansubbing yet is using ‘pirated’ subtitles. Apparently they find value in a product that wouldn’t exist without the very community they are so committed to cracking down on.

original source





Actors Oguri Shun and Okada Masaki have been cast as the leads in "Uchuu Kyoudai" (Space Brothers), a manga by Koyama Chuuya serialized in "Morning" since January 2008. The series is about a pair of brothers who dream of going to space. Oguri will play the older brother, instantly recognizable with his tousled natural perm, Mutta, while Okada will play the younger brother, astronaut Hibito. The movie is slated to open in Spring 2012.

original source



Please note that there may be delays in the broadcasts or releases of certain anime and manga following the quake. You may see a list of affected publications here, here and here (new).



If you would like to help in finding and translating news of this nature, please contact saladesu via PM ^^ Feel free to PM me any interesting bits of anime or manga news you find floating around the internet, too.