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.
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 Pokémon 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 Pokémon 2'x3' calendar and a graphic novel of the Pokémon 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 Pokémon movie film art book, as well as film comics of both Mewtwo Strikes Back and Pikachu's Vacation. Other non-Pokémon 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 Kondō (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.
When beating the crap out of other people just isn’t enough, Baki turns to a giant ape for help getting stronger.― Narrator Disclaimer: Baki The Grappler is not intended to illustrate martial arts in any meaningfully realistic way. Check with your doctor before continuing physical activity with broken bones and ruptured limbs.Baki The Grappler is a primer in unrealistic bloodsports. It's both amazi...
From Akira to Tokyo Revengers, Jerome discusses how much is real and how much is a fictional trope.― Alex asks: "I've seen a lot of anime and manga that portray large groups of kids from middle school to high school in gangs that are affiliated with a particular school. Do such gangs exist, and how much impact do they have on society?" I love this question. Thank you for sending it in. You're not a...
This is the perfect moment to examine how Yūji Kaku built his dark fantasy on the bones of real Edo-period history.― With Season 2 of Hell's Paradise (Jigokuraku) now ongoing as of January 2026, this is the perfect moment to examine how Yuji Kaku built his dark fantasy on the bones of real Edo-period history. The Yamada Asaemon were real, and the irezumi kei was an actual criminal punishment—the ser...
Aoki also composed soundtracks for Akuma-kun, Patalliro!, more anime― The Nikkan Sports and Anime! Anime! news websites reported on Monday that composer and arranger Nozomi Aoki died on February 20. He was 94. Folk singer Chiharu Matsuyama first announced the news on the Matsuyama Chiharu On the Radio radio program on March 8. Aoki arranged many of Matsuyama's early songs in the late 70s. Aoki was b...
All in all, The Water Magician is proof that subverting clichés just for the sake of it does not make an entertaining story.― *Note: This review contains major spoilers for The Water Magician. As someone who has seen more isekai anime than they can count, watching The Water Magician is a uniquely baffling experience. At its most basic, it's built on the premise of an isekai genre-savvy protagonist, ...
This is not a series that will make it clear everything will be all right, as it doesn't offer solutions to its problems, even by the very end.― BEASTARS is such a fascinating series on paper, with themes and setups that are beginning to seem more commonplace. Using anthropomorphic, furry characters as an allegory for real-world issues can have mixed results, especially when the separation between s...
Short starring Asuka premiered at "Evangelion:30+;" festival on February 21― The website for the Evangelion franchise announced on Saturday that “Evangelion 30th Anniversary Special Screening,” the new anime short that premiered at the "Evangelion:30+;" festival on February 21, will officially stream on Sunday, March 8 at 12:00 a.m. (Saturday, March 7 at 10:00 a.m. EST). The video will debut on khar...
Steel Ball Run is easily Jojo’s most bizarre adventure yet.― Even by Jojo's Bizarre Adventure (JJBA) standards—which, to be clear, is an absurdly high bar to clear—Steel Ball Run (SBR) is absolutely, positively, aggressively, relentlessly, and lovably capital-W Weird. As vast as it is, the world of manga simply doesn't get wilder than this. Dare I say, SBR is easily Jojo's most bizarre adventure yet...
It's all Pokémon all the time as Jean-Karlo looks back on three decades of history and what we can expect from the game-changing franchise in the future.― Welcome back, folks! It's a hectic week, and as I type this, I'm fighting off a very stubborn head cold. One thing that disappoints me: it was Chun Li's birthday this past weekend! Normally, I like to dedicate a section of the column to discussing...
Kalai looks at Netflix's past and current reports to find what anime everyone is really watching.― 2025 proved to be a big year for anime, as global box office performance and streaming views compete head-to-head with Hollywood-produced content. Streaming giants, Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime Video have been investing in their anime library and even chasing those audiences in other avenues, suc...
