Urban Vision told fans at San Diego Comic Con last month that while some titles will certainly see a DVD release, a few have hit road blocks in their production. Tekkaman Blade II series is still partially owned by Saban, and therefore won't see a release, nor will DNA Sights 999.9, which was an extremely expensive license that sold very poorly.
According to Film Score Monthly, Milan Records will be releasing the Princess Mononoke original soundtrack. We will be making more information available as we get it.
A few more film festivals will be showing the English version of Princess Mononoke, including the 24th Toronto International Film Festival (which begins 9/9), where Miyazaki himself may be in attendance. (http://www.bell.ca/filmfest/99/index2.asp) Previously announced was the New York Film Festival later this month.
Viz Communications has dropped the price on its Pokemon cardboard standee set from $19.95 to $14.95. The book-sized set contains 20 standees altogether, all of them in full-color, and will go on sale November 12. Also set for a late 1999 release are a year 2000 Pokemon 2'x3' calendar and a graphic novel of the Pokemon animation comic series serialized in Nintendo Power. To make room for the new products, some Viz video products will see slight delays, and Viz is now reworking its schedule to accomidate them. In their monthly press release, Viz also announced the Pokemon movie film art book, as well as film comics of both Mewtwo Strikes Back and Pikachu's Vacation. Other non-Pokemon material announced includes a Heartbroken Angels graphic novel (oversized and hardcover), the second Fushigi Yuugi graphic novel and the third Banana Fish graphic novel.
With the licensing of Card Captor Sakura by Nelvana, fansubber Studio Hooseki officially closed last week. The scripts from Hooseki's tenure are still available at the group's web site at http://anime.jyu.fi/greyhawk/hooseki/.
UCLA Film and Television Archive announced Monday their newest film festival, the works of Studio Ghibli, including the films dirrected by Hayao Miyazaki (Nausicaa, Totoro, Mononoke, Kiki), Isao Takahata (Grave of the Fireflies, Omoide Poro Poro, Pon Poko), and Yoshifumi Kondo (Whisper of the Heart). To begin on September 30, the screenings will take place at the UCLA James Bridges Theater and will be shown in their original 35mm format. More information is available from the archive hotline (310) 206-FILM and the web site (www.cinema.ucla.edu). The Museum of Modern Art in New York City event announced earlier will also be touring to the Cambridge Brattle Theater in Cambridge, MA from September 19 to October 17.
My Neighbors, The Yamadas has now dropped to 6th place this weekend, taking in only 5,372,000 yen. Japanese cinema magazine Kinama Junpo expects the film to end up taking in less than 1 billion yen total. Production costs were 2.4 billion, making this the only Ghibli film to ever fail financially.
Encore Media, owner of pay-cable channels Starz!, Encore!, and Encore Action, has signed a 10-year agreement with Disney and its theatrical subsidiaries (includign Touchstone, Hollywood, Miramax, and Dimension) that will allow them to show all theatrical releases from each of these labels, according to Kevin Cook of Animania DVD. Since Disney owns the rights to all Studio Ghibli films and has a track record of showing anime in both subtitled and dubbed formats, many fans are considering what this could mean for the works of Miyazaki on US cable.
Lauren gets up close and personal with all five robot lions in Bandai's elaborate, fully-transformable Voltron model kit that provides a pretty solid challenge.― Model kit provided by Bluefin Distributors. Never has my impression of a kit changed so dramatically before and after assembly as with Bandai's new Voltron kit. It's the same quality and difficulty level as a Gundam kit from Bandai's High G...
JJBA Part 5 has a more infamous reputation with Western fans, but many Japanese fans consider it to be the best. Nick and Steve call their own shots on this radically radiant new adventure.― Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind has a more infamous reputation with Western fans, but many Japanese fans consider it to be the best. This week, Nick and Steve call their own shots on this radically radian...
This slice-of-life drama about a Japanese college student and her new hijabi roommate succeeds in both its cultural accuracy and heart. Rebecca Silverman has the details.― The world is a big place, and that means that there are many different kinds of people in it. That may sound elementary and maybe even a bit ridiculous, but for those who live in largely homogenous cultures or areas of any given c...
VIZ Media is giving away something cool for you. You may be one of the 19 lucky winners of a one-of-a-kind signed volume of Banana Fish!― VIZ Media is giving away something cool for you. You may be one of the 19 lucky winners of a one-of-a-kind volume of Banana Fish! What's more awesome? Each winner will receive the ONLY signed copy of Banana Fish volume in existence. Yes, you've read that right: A...
Paul endures the baffling doldrums of this peculiarly titled romance anime, breaks down all this week's new home video releases, and features a manga-heavy new Shelf Obsessed!― It sounds like Funimation and Crunchyroll are wrapping up their streaming partnership, so it might be time for some last-minute marathons if you only subscribe to one or the other. I'm just hoping this doesn't make life more...
This mystery melodrama mashes the VRMMO craze up with the plot of Anohana, but is this blend harmonious or just confused? Theron Martin has the answers.― At first, this light novel-based series seems to be a blend of the premises from anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day and .hack//SIGN. This series never entirely moves away from that parallel, as many of the character relationships and romantic tens...
While not quite essential viewing, this movie provides a welcome reminder of everything Garo: The Animation did so well. Nick Creamer has the details.― Garo: The Animation was a welcome surprise when it came out a few years ago. Combining the classic live-action Garo franchise with a fanciful narrative set in an alternate inquisition-era Spain, it offered an action spectacle full of colorful charact...
If you're a little weary of the scary games you've played, here are seven new ones that might just reawaken your sense of fright.― The last two weeks I broke down some of the best new horror manga of the year as well as new spooky anime to stream to kick off a Halloween marathon. This week I'm delving into arguably one of my favorite genres: horror video games. Interactive horror comes in just as m...
Yaichi realizes just how much his brother's husband has become part of the family in this touching finale to Gengoroh Tagame's family manga.― It is something of a shock to realize that the entirety of My Brother's Husband, of which this is the final omnibus volume, takes place over only three weeks. That's probably because they are such full weeks for the three main characters of Gengoroh Tagame's f...
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