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Quote: *** ANIME NEWS & INTERESTING TID-BITS ***
+Bandai Takes On the Pirates - Sues Some Dealers At Anime Expo
Bandai Entertainment has announced the filing of lawsuits against several
retailers
charging them with engaging in the duplication, importation, distribution,
and/or
sale of unauthorized merchandise infringing on copyrighted and trademarked
properties
at this year's Anime Expo. Defendants named in Bandai's complaint include:
Otaku
Entertainment, Inc. EJ International, Inc., Anime Combo, MTWC Group, Inc, and
John Lo,
Inc. Ken Iyadomi, Bandai Entertainment's Executive VP explained the company's
action:
'The time has come to take a stand against the flood of cheap knock-offs and
blatant
bootlegs. The vendors who sell pirated merchandise, CDs, and DVDs are causing
huge
economic losses for legitimate businesses and must be stopped.' Bandai is urging
consumers and retailers to contact Bandai Entertainment to report dealers and
distributors suspected of selling counterfeit DVDs and merchandise. Bandai's
actions
are in line with what is happening in Japan where the Mainichi Shinbun reports
that
38 Japanese entertainment companies have agreed to use a new 'Made in Japan'
trademark to help counteract piracy of anime titles, video games, and licensed
merchandise.
+Rave Master DVD Release Will Be Edited
Tokyopop has confirmed to us that their upcoming release of Rave Master, will be
the
edited for TV version and will only contain the English dub. Due on October
12th,
the first volume will contain the first four episodes. When we asked if a
future,
unedited release was planned, Tokyopop responded, 'Not sure yet.'
+Genshiken & Kujibiki Unbalance Trailers Now Online
Trailers for companion series Genshiken and Kujibiki Unbalance have been posted
online.
Genshiken is a parody anime about anime otaku, while Kujibiki Unbalance is a
fictional
show watched by the characters of Genshiken. The former will premiere on
Japanese TV
in October, while Kujibiki Unbalance will premiere sometime in the fall. Here
are links
for the Genshiken trailer, Kujibiki Unbalance trailer and the combined trailer.
Each
trailer is made for 500k broadband and uses Windows Media. For more information,
check
out the official websites for Genshiken and Kujibiki Unbalance:
http://www.genshiken.info/
http://www.kujian.info/
+Shonen Bat Coming Soon
Geneon Entertainment has just confirmed to us that they will be using the Shonen
Bat
name in the subtitles for Paranoia Agent. Previously there had been talk of them
using
the "Lil Slugger" name in the subtitles as well as the English dub. The decision
to
stick with / revert to Shonen Bat was made today.
+Takehiko Inoue taking a break from Vagabond
The following excerpt from Takehiko Inoue's website explains that he will be
taking a
break from working on the Vagabon manga series:
'Manga isn't much like a fight, but if I were to take a fight as an example, I
felt
like I won, but I also sustained deep injuries. But it would be going too far to
say
that I took such a beating that I can't stand up and recover, but that's what I
feel
like. The fact that I can write about it here makes me think that I'm recovering
little
by little. Every time I come out with a new volume, I always believe that the
cover
for it is the best. But this time, I really have to say that even among those I
like
this one the best! I'm currently taking a break from Vagabond. Once I regain
some of
strength and energy, Musashi and Kotaro will be involved in some new chapters. I
think
that will also be a big challenge for me. I'm grateful for the situation that
I'm in.'
Volume 20 of Vagabond was published in Japan on July 20th.
+MIT Technology Review Article on Anime and it's Market Origins in the US
The MIT Technology Review has an article discussing the emergence of fansubs in
North
America and compares the way North American distributors regard fansubs with the
way
Japanese companies regard doujinshi.
http://www.technologyreview.com/arti...kins081004.asp
+Shoujocon 2005 Has Been Cancelled
Shoujocon chairperson Angela Washington announced that, due to the losses
incurred by
Shoujocon 2003, the 2005 convention has been cancelled. This comes a few months
after
the cancellation of Shoujocon 2004. Although no further Shoujocon's are
currently planned,
Washington has not ruled out the possibility of future Shoujocons, providing
sufficient
funds can be raised.
+Naruto Dominates Graphic Novel Sales - Number One for Two Weeks in a Row
Naruto Volume 4, published by Viz LLC, dominated the BookScan chart of graphic
novel
sales in bookstores for the second week in a row. With sales of over 5,000
copies for
the week ending August 10, Naruto nearly doubled the sales of its closest
competitor
(Fruits Basket #4 from Tokyopop). The strong performance of the Naruto manga
demonstrates
why the long-running Naruto anime series remains the most tantalizing anime
property yet
to be licensed for North America.
+Geneon Acquires 'Gothic Lolita'-Style Anime Plus 'Kyou Kara Mao'
At Otakon Geneon announced a number of new acquisitions, several of which are
quite notable.
The Petit Cossette OAV series (Cossette no Shozo in Japanese) is a prime example
of the
so-called 'Gothic Lolita' style, which is now quite popular in Japan. In Petit
Cossette an
art student who works at an antique store develops an unhealthy fascination with
the image
of a pretty girl, with blonde hair and blue eyes, whose reflection he sees in an
antique cut
glass vessel. The object of his affection is small, but well developed and
dressed in black -
the epitome of the 'Gothic Lolita' style, and her effect on his life is hardly
salutary. Kyou
Kara Mao, another new Geneon property, is equally adventurous and trendy, though
its basic
premise is one of the most outrageous in anime - a teenage boy who is being
given a 'swirlie'
by a gang of toughs finds that the toilet his head is immersed in is actually a
portal to
bishonen middle European fantasy land populated by all sorts of beautiful male
characters.
+Bandai to Release 'Planetes' Plus 'Avenger' & 'Fantastic Children'
Bandai Entertainment has announced the licensing of Planetes, the 26-episode
science
fiction anime series produced in 2003 by Bandai Visual and Sunrise. Set in the
year 2075,
Planetes is a realistic "hard" science fiction saga whose hero works on a space
station
sweeping up space debris and dreams of owning a space ship of his own. While the
carefully
extrapolated 'hard' sci-fi anime series like Planetes have never been as popular
as the
more fantastic and apocalyptic series such as Evangelion, Planetes is extremely
well
produced and should appeal strongly to both hardcore anime and science fiction
fans.
Bandai has also announced the acquisition of the 13-episode Avenger anime series
produced
by Bee Train, the studio responsible for Noir. In this bleak look at the future,
mankind
has been forced to live in deteriorating dome cities and animated "dolls" take
the place
of children. Though its narrative line is a jumbled mixture of science fiction
fact and
fantasy, Avenger gets by on pure style. Bandai's third new anime announcement is
the Shin
Megami Tenshi Devi Children anime TV series, which has been re-titled Fantastic
Children
for it U.S. release. The 50-episode series, which began its run on Japanese TV
in 2000,
is based on a video game franchise and is associated with another
card-collecting game
in the same vein as Pokemon, Digimon, and Yu-Gi-Oh in which kids collect trading
cards
that feature various monsters.
+Funimation Will Release 'Grappler Baki' And 'Gunslinger Girl' Anime
Funimation Productions has announced the acquisition of the 24-episode Grappler
Baki
TV series, which aired in Japan in 2001, as well as the 13-episode Gunslinger
Girl
produced by Madhouse in 2003. The Grappler Baki anime series is based on the
manga by
Keisuke Itagaki, which is published by Akita Shoten in Japan, where 21 volumes
are
currently available. The Grappler Baki TV anime is a classic sports anime series
which
should prove popular, at least with male anime fans. It is far better than the
Grappler
Baki OAV, which was produced in Japan in 1994 and released in the States by U.S.
Manga
Corps in 1996. Gunslinger Girl is a mega-action science fiction adventure about
a group
of brainwashed or 'mind-controlled' girls, who have been trained to be
professional
assassins. In its combination of girls with guns and bloody, high-body-count
action,
Gunslinger Girl resembles the popular Noir anime series released by ADV, though
if
anything, the Gunslinger Girl series is tinged with even more sadness and
regret.
+Another Company Gets Into The Act! - Bandai will Publish Manga
At the San Diego Comic Con International, Bandai Entertainment announced a new
line of
manga, which will debut in 2005. Bandai will join ADV, Media Blasters, Central
Park
Media, Viz and Tokyopop in combining anime distribution, which typically
involves the
production of an American adaptation of the original Japanese series, with the
publication of English language manga editions.
+And Yet Another Company Gets Into The Act! - Penguin To Join the Manga Fray
Calvin Reid of Publisher's Weekly is reporting that mainstream publishing
powerhouse
Penguin Books has signed a three-year agreement with Digital Manga to publish
manga
titles under a variety of Penguin imprints. Digital Manga will acquire the
properties
and provide preparatory translations for 8-10 volumes of manga for the first
year
of the agreement (2005). The agreement calls for 10-15 volumes in subsequent
years.
Many of the new manga titles appear to be headed for Razorbill, Penguin's teen
imprint.
Penguin appears to be looking to field a smallish line of high quality manga
titles -
a sensible approach to an increasingly crowded marketplace. Bandai's Jerry Chu
stated,
'We want to publish a limited line of books based on high profile properties.
We're
commissioning original stories based on established properties.' Chu was not
ready to
name any of the properties Bandai is considering for its manga line, but he did
indicate that Bandai was interested in cross-promoting anime and manga, adding
more
weight to the logical inference that Bandai will choose its manga titles (where
possible)
from its extensive list of anime properties. Bandai plans to commission artists
and
writers in both Japan and the U.S. to produce original stories for the new manga
line.
Chu also said that in an effort to distinguish its titles Bandai was considering
providing
dust jackets for its line of trade paperbacks (manga with dust jackets are more
common
in Japan than here in the U.S.). Although Chu wasn't ready to provide the
standard cover
price for the new manga line, he said that Bandai's manga would be 'priced
competitively.'
+Gundam Seed Anime Returns - New Series Debuts in Japan in October
Japanese anime magazines such as Newtype and Animage are reporting that a sequel
to the
highly popular Gundam Seed anime series is in the works and that it is expected
to debut
on Japanese TV in October. The original Gundam Seed production staff is
returning for
the new series, Gundam Seed Destiny, which takes place two years after the
conclusion
of the original Gundam Seed. Of course each new Gundam series requires new mecha
and
Gundam Seed Destiny is the ZGMF-X565, which relies on batteries that can be
replenished
from a distance by its mothership. The cockpit of the new mecha transforms into
a fighter
called the 'Core Splendor.' In Japan Gundam Seed has proven to be the most
popular iteration of the long running Gundam phenomenon in years with the series ranking near the top of the Newtype Reader Poll and four female and four male characters generally
ranking in their respective top 10 character polls. | Bah Ram You |
08-13-2004, 09:25 PM 
