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September 2007 Shojo Beat magazine features Yuu Watase cover

Date: 2007 August 14 16:41 | Posted By:

Category > Manga

The folks at Viz Media have sent us details about a special Yuu Watase Absolute Boyfriend cover for the September 2007 issue of Shojo Beat Magazine.

Read More... | Souce: Shojo Beat

Afro Samurai Limited Edition DVD out now in UK

Date: 2007 August 09 17:33 | Posted By:

Category > Anime > DVD

Our UK readers who caught Afro Samurai on Bravo, or perhaps even didn't catch it, but want to see it anyway, have a chance to get the Samuel L. Jackson anime title on DVD, known as the Afro Samurai Bravo Numbered Limited Edition DVD, it is an exclusive to Amazon.co.uk. The 18 rated DVD contains the following:

- Individually Numbered DVD Case
- Babes, Blades, Blood and Beauty trailers by GONZO
- RZA Soundtrack Promo
- RZA Music Production
- Spike US TV Promos
- Five Collectible Art Cards

The details don't say how many are being produced, only that they are individually numbered.

Souce: Amazon.co.uk

Tales from Earthsea UK Competition

Date: 2007 July 25 16:51 | Posted By:

Category > Anime

We've teamed up with Optimum Releasing for a chance for you to win some great prizes to celebrate the UK launch of Tales from Earthsea, we're giving away: Three Studio Ghibli DVDs of some of their finest work Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle and My Neighbour Totoro as well as a Tales From Earthsea poster.

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

Jaltour UK offer Tokyo Anime Fair 2008 holiday package

Date: 2007 July 24 15:58 | Posted By:

Category > Events

For anime fans in the UK who missed their chance to book for the London Anime Club 2007 Japan Trip, you should consider the package Jaltour are offering, being the tour section of Japan Airlines it means that they can have some very competitive prices. The package they're currently promoting at Japan Ex, is for the Tokyo International Anime Fair in March 2008, with prices from £882. Fans should note that they can also arrange package trips to places like the Ghibli Museum.

Read More... | Souce: Jaltour

Tomo-Dachi 2007 Guest Details

Date: 2007 July 17 15:15 | Posted By:

Category > Events

The organisers for Northern Irish anime convention Tomo-Dachi have sent us more details for their 2007 convention. Set to run at The University Of Ulster's Magee campus from Friday 24th to Sunday 26th August 2007. This year's guest of honour is Mike McFarland English language dub director of Full Metal Alchemist. Other guests include Stuart Claw, Hugh David, Sonia Leong and Emma Vieceli.

The convention is still open for registration, and we suggest you book as soon as possible to avoid any disappointment.

Read More... | Souce: Tomo-Dachi

Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales UK Nintendo DS details

Date: 2007 May 21 15:21 | Posted By:

Category > Gaming

Just a quick reminder for our Final Fantasy loving readers in the UK. The nice folks at Square Enix have sent us details for the new Nintendo DS game Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales, it's due out in UK this Friday 25th May 2007.

Read More... | Souce: Square Enix

More details on Naruto Uncut Boxset Volume 2 UK launch event

Date: 2007 May 16 17:22 | Posted By:

Category > Events

Following on from our article on the Naruto Uncut Boxset Volume 2 UK release details, we've received some more news from Manga Entertainment.We've been informed that Dave Wittenberg, the US voice of Kakashi will be making an appearancelaunch event on Monday 21st May 2007, at the Oxford Street, London, Branch of Virgin Megastore, where fans will be able to meet Dave and get their copy of Naruto Unleashed Series 2 Part 1 signed from 4.30pm onwards.

We've also go more details for Cosplayers and the prizes you can win.

Read More... | Souce: Manga Entertainment

Akira Club art book UK release details

Date: 2007 May 15 14:24 | Posted By:

Category > Manga

UK publisher Titan Books have sent us details about the UK release of the Akira Club artbook. It's one of those nice additions for fans of the movie and manga collection. It's due to hit the shelves on the 27th July 2007 and is priced at £24.99. Hunting around Play.com have it on pre-order for £14.99.

Read More... | Souce: Titan Books

Propeller TV to screen ADV UK anime

Date: 2007 May 14 15:04 | Posted By:

Category > Anime > TV

We've got some exciting news from ADV UK about a new anime slot on a Sky TV channel. From the 3rd June anime will air from 8pm to 10pm each Sunday. ADV UK have teamed up with Propeller TV (Channel 195 on Sky). The 2 hour slot's been dubbed Anime Network UK, after it's ADV owned American counter part. They'll be showing the following titles:

- Coyote Ragtime Show (8:00pm)
- Neon Genesis Evangelion (8:30pm)
- Guyver: The Bioboosted Armour (9:00pm)
- Elfen Lied (9:30pm)

It's nice to see that anime is getting more airtime in the UK, and we think it's great that ADV have put up an excellent selection of titles.

Read More... | Souce: ADV Films UK

US Naruto movie screening locations

Date: 2007 April 28 18:44 | Posted By:

Category > Anime > Film

Following on from our story about the US Naruto Screenings, we've obtained the list of theaters that will screen Naruto The Movie: Ninja Clash in The Land of Snow. Which will be for one night only on June 6th, 2007. Our North American Naruto loving readers better book soon to avoid disappointment.

Read More... | Souce: Offical Naruto Movie Website

Naruto Uncut Boxset Volume 2 UK release details

Date: 2007 April 11 14:37 | Posted By:

Category > Anime > DVD

We've received some details about the UK launch of Naruto Uncut Boxset Volume 2, from Manga Entertainment UK. On Monday 21st May 2007, fans should go to either the Virgin Megastore on Oxford Street, London, or Virgin Megastore in Arndale Centre in Manchester. Apparently there'll be tons of freebies and goodies for the first 100 people to arrive in costume! So get those costumes ready cosplayers! They'll also have a nice selection of goodies, give aways and prizes too. So get to the simultaneous launch from 6pm!

More details can also be found on the Official Naruto Unleashed UK Website.

Read More... | Souce: Manga Entertainment UK

Manga events at the Bristol Comics Expo

Date: 2007 April 11 13:34 | Posted By:

Category > Events

Following on from our earlier story about the Bristol Comics Expo (on 12th and 13th of May 2007), we've got some more details regarding their coverage of manga stuff. They'll have:

- Tokyo Pop
- Sweatdrop Studios
- Selfmadehero
- Yishan Li
- Umisen-Yamasen
- Siku
- Boychild Books
- Ilya
- Misako Rocks

They've bundled everyone together into a Manga Ally too, as always it's good to see Sweatdrop attending these events.

Read More... | Souce: Bristol Comics Expo

Sci-Fi-London 2007 anime all-nighter

Date: 2007 April 05 18:12 | Posted By:

Category > Anime > Film

We've got the details from the Sci-Fi-London regarding their anime all-nighter. The line up looks to be the best yet. The anime all nighter is set to run on Saturday 5th May from 11pm. The line up is as follows:

Ghost in the Shell: Solid State Society
Paprika
Le Chevalier D'Eon
Highlander: Search for vengence
Full Metal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa

We're excited to see the new follow up to Ghost In the Shell: Stand alone complex - Solid State Society, and it's worth going for that alone. However Paprika by Satoshi Kon (the director behind Tokyo Godfathers, Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress and Paranoia Agent) is another must see title. We're really impressed that they'll be showing them both on the same screening. The other titles are worth watching too. We suggest you make it a weekend of anime, go along to the anime all nighter, and then go to the London Anime Club the following day.

We also advise you book soon to avoid disappointment they sold out within 10 days last year.

Friday 4th May 2007, will show the UK Premiere of Ghost In the Shell: Solid State Society.

Read More... | Souce: Sci-Fi-London

Gunslinger Girl UK DVD boxset release details

Date: 2007 April 03 16:22 | Posted By:

Category > Anime > DVD

We've been sent some details from Revelation Films about the UK DVD release of the Gunslinger Girl boxset. All three volumes will be released in a collectors boxset on 21st May 2007, Catalogue Number FUN72700. It retails for around £29.99, but if you hunt about Play.com are taking Preorders for £23.99.

Souce: Revelation Films

Hokusai's Mount Fuji

Date: 2007 April 02 16:11 | Posted By:

Category > Art

The nice people at Abrams have sent us details of a new book they're publishing Hokusai, the artist who created one of the most famous bits of Japanese artwork, often called Tsunami by Hokusai or The Under the wave off Kanagawa. The book is printed excellent quality paper. At £15.95 it's superb value for money especially considering it's all in colour. It's due out 30th April 2007. We only wish the book was bigger so that they could print the artwork larger, but I guess we've been spoiled by looking at anime artbooks all these years. The book has some great examples of Japanese culture in the period and come highly recommend by the Otaku News crew.

Read More... | Souce: Abrams Books

Hokusai: First Manga Master

Date: 2007 April 02 15:38 | Posted By:

Category > Art

The good folks at Abrams have sent us details of a new book they're publishing about the groundbreaking artist Hokusai. The book contains lots of lovely selection artwork from Hokusai and is a great example of the variety of work he did. The book is well worth £10, for curiosity or academic interests. It hits the shops on 30th April 2007.

Read More... | Souce: Abrams Books

Viz US DVD release dates until August 2007

Date: 2007 March 19 16:30 | Posted By:

Category > Anime > DVD

The good folks from Viz Media US have sent us their DVD release schedule for titles up until August. If you like Inuyasha, Bleach or Naruto on DVD, then check these release dates.

Read More... | Souce: Viz Media

Oh My Goddess! Manga hits the UK

Date: 2007 March 15 14:57 | Posted By:

Category > Manga

We've got news from Titan Books that they'll be releasing the hugely popular Oh My Goddess! manga in the UK. On April 27th 2007 Volume 1 and 2 should be released. We think it's great that Titan Books are doing this, we just hope they pick up the rights to What's Michael? too.

Read More... | Souce: Titan Books

MegaTokyo Volume 4 UK release details

Date: 2007 March 14 17:06 | Posted By:

Category > Manga

We've been sent a press release from the folks at Titan Books, detailing the release of MegaTokyo Volume 4 in the UK. Why should we care when volume 5 is almost out in the US and most bookshops stock it volume 4 already? Well this is actually great news as some places like libraries and their book suppliers will only deal with books that have an official UK release. Now that MegaTokyo has an official UK release you should be able to pester your local librarian to get a copy in. ^_- This also applies to the other Titan books we've put press releases up for as they've already had US releases, but would be hard to stock in some places.

MegaTokyo Volume 4 is due to hit the bookshelves on 27th April 2007.

Read More... | Souce: Titan Books

Anime Encyclopedia UK release details

Date: 2007 March 14 16:43 | Posted By:

Category > Anime

We've been sent a press release from the folks at Titan Books. They'll be releasing a new updated edition of the Anime Encyclopedia for the UK on 27th April 2007. This edition has a black cover, along with over 40% new material. The Anime Encyclopedia is a must for otaku, as it's a accurate and well researched guide to the subject unlike a few other books which are nowhere near as good. Jonathan Clements and Helen McCarthy know their stuff and we highly recomend this guide. Hunting around on Amazon.co.uk will produce a bargain price below the suggested retail price. You'll save money by reading about the type of anime you'd want to avoid, but the only trouble is you'd want to watch more of the titles you've discovered by reading it.

Read More... | Souce: Titan Book

Eden: It's An Endless World - UK release details

Date: 2007 March 14 16:27 | Posted By:

Category > Manga

We've been sent a press release from the good folks at Titan Books. They've aquired the rights for the Dark Horse version of Eden. It's due to hit the bookshelves on 27th April 2007.

Read More... | Souce: Titan Books

Slam Dunk adapted into Live-Action

Date: 2007 March 11 03:47 | Posted By:

Category > Anime > TV

According to Akadot the popular anime and manga Slam Dunk by Takehiko Inoue will be adapted into a Live-Action movie by Taiwan's Chang Hong Channel Group and Shanghai's Film Television Group. Cast will be headed by Taiwanese pop star, Jay Chou, Charlene Choi, Chen Bo-lin, and Yee Chung Man. The movie will be released in winter 2008.

The manga sold more than 100 million copies in Japan and received various awards as well.

Souce: Akadot

AmeCon 2007 registration and guest details

Date: 2007 March 01 02:59 | Posted By:

Category > Events

The good folks from Leicester UK convention AmeCon 2007 have sent us more details regarding registration and guests at the convention. Following our earlier story about the convention being open for registration it seems that a lot of people have now registered with more than 673 fans registering for the convention, this means that half of their capacity has been filled in 4 days! They have a total capacity of 1,300 which once filled will not be extended due to insurance and tax issues. We suggest you book now to avoid any disappointment.

Guests this year are voice actors Monica Rial and Chris Patton, who also attended last years AmeCon and proved to be popular guests.

Read More... | Souce: AmeCon

The Manga Bible release details

Date: 2007 February 26 09:21 | Posted By:

Category > Manga

We've received a details from publishing house Hodder and Stoughton regarding the Manga Bible. We're not talking about some sort of ultimate must have guide to manga, but the New Testament produced in a manga style. Using the TNIV (Today's New International Version) as the basis, London based artist Siku, who is best know for his work on 2000AD.

Read More... | Souce: The Manga Bible

Geneon Spot audio podcast

Date: 2007 February 24 18:58 | Posted By:

Category > Anime

We've just got an e-mail from the pioneering folks at Genoen who'd like to let us know that they've posted up the latest Geneon Spot audio podcast, featuring an interview with Taliesin Jaffe (the ADR director of R.O.D -The TV-, Hellsing, Hellsing Ultimate, BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad, etc.), who talks about script adaptation work and the realities of being an anime voice actor.

Souce: Geneon Spot audio podcast

Nintendo composer Koji Kondo to perform in San Francisco

Date: 2007 February 20 12:55 | Posted By:

Category > Events

For a special event of the closing night ceremony of Video Games Live, Nintendo composer Koji Kondo will be making an appearance at the event and is set to perform one of his favourite melodies from his career with Nintendo. Tickets for the March 9th event are priced from $38.50 to $65, and are now available at LiveNation.com.

Read More... | Souce: Video Games Live

Udon release Megaman and Street Fighter artbooks

Date: 2007 February 20 12:41 | Posted By:

Category > Manga

Capcom fans will pleased to hear about Udon Entertainment's new artbooks, one for Megaman Zero and another on Street Fighter.

Read More... | Souce: Udon Entertainment

Final Fantasy XII UK launch details

Date: 2007 February 16 13:23 | Posted By:

Category > Gaming > Consoles

We've been sent a press release from Square-Enix about the official UK launch of Final Fantasy XII. It'll be at the Oxford Street Branch of HMV in London. The first lucky 100 people to buy a copy of the game at the event will also be given an exclusive moogle soft toy and a CD with five specially selected tracks by Hitoshi Sakimoto. The next 200 people to buy the game will also be given the CD which has been produced just for the launch event. Gifts can be secured by getting a wrist band from the store at 9am on February 23rd.

The best cosplayers will also be awarded goodies at the event. Plus there is a chance to win a trip to Japan for everyone at the event.

Read More... | Souce: Square Enix

Tomo-Dachi 2007 details

Date: 2007 February 07 08:41 | Posted By:

Category > Events

The Tomo-Dachi committee have sent us a press release about their next convention in Northern Ireland. It's set to run from Friday 24th to Sunday 26th of August at the University of Ulster’s Magee Campus in Londonderry. This years guest of honour is ADR director, scriptwriter and voice actor Mike McFarland, who's done ADR work on Fullmetal Alchemist, Trinity Blood and Dragon Ball, as well as a selection of voice acting roles. Too-Dachi is now open for pre-registrations, so book early to avoid disappointment.

Read More... | Souce: Tomo-Dachi

Tanoshimi let fans vote for manga

Date: 2007 January 31 09:19 | Posted By:

Category > Manga

Random House UK imprint Tanoshimi have sent us some details about a nice fan oriented campaign. From February 7th Fans and vote on their website and select which title they want Tanoshimi to publish next, the people behind Tanoshimi have confirmed that it is likely they will only publish the winning title.

Fans can vote for the following:

Genshiken
Kagetora
Othello
Wallflower

All voters will go into a draw for a chance to win a Nintendo DS Lite.

Read More... | Souce: Tanoshimi

MaMoo, Letraset and NEO magazine T-shirt design competition

Date: 2007 January 31 05:50 | Posted By:

Category > Press Releases

Folks from the UK T-shirt company MaMoo have sent us some details about a competition they’re running with Letraset and NEO magazine. The competition gives you the chance to submit your design for a t-shirt and the winners design will be sold on the MaMoo site, along with a nice set of Letraset markers. So creative people get to work if you want your t-shirt design on MaMoo.

Read More... | Souce: MaMoo

Final Fantasy XII cosplay contest

Date: 2007 January 24 09:17 | Posted By:

Category > Gaming > Consoles

We've just been sent a very interesting press release from Square Enix, who are running a cosplay competition to celebrate the release of Final Fantasy XII in Europe and other PAL regions. Three lucky winners will each get a two night trip to London to show off their costumes on stage at the official launch event and they'll also get a Final Fantasy goodie bag.

This is a great chance for cosplayers to demonstrate their creative skills making Final Fantasy XII costumes and also meet some interesting people in the games industry.

Read More... | Souce: Square Enix

Tanoshimi UK February 2007 releases

Date: 2007 January 24 05:01 | Posted By:

Category > Manga

We've just been sent a press release from Random House imprint Tanoshimi detailing their releases in the UK for this February 2007. They'll be releasing the following titles:

Free Collars Kingdom Volume 1
Airgear Volume 3
School Rumble Volume 3 and 4
Guru Guru Pon Chan Volume 7

All are due to hit the shelves on 1st February 2007.

Free Collars Kingdom is a new title to Tanoshimi that should interest the furry fan readers with lots of catboy antics.

Read More... | Souce: Tanoshimi

Paprika misses out on Oscars

Date: 2007 January 23 08:23 | Posted By:

Category > Anime > Film

The nominations for the 2007 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards have been announced, no anime is running this year. Satoshi Kon's Paprika was on the shortlist of 16 animated features, but failed to be one of the three titles nominated.

Cars, Happy Feet and Monster House have been selected for Best Animated Feature Film of the Year.

Interestingly Paprika may have missed a nomination due to technical difficulties, five Oscar nominations for this category would have been allowed if all 16 films on the shortlist were screened in LA. Arthur and the Invisibles failed to get a screening when required, so the number of Oscar nominations were reduced to three in accordance to the rules.

Souce: Oscar.com

Manga Shakespeare

Date: 2007 January 16 16:17 | Posted By:

Category > Manga

We've been sent an interesting press release from SelfMadeHero about their Manga Shakespeare series. The bard's classic tales have been reinterpreted into a manga style. With Romeo and Juliet the action has relocated to Shibuya in Tokyo, with yakuza talking the place of the more traditional families in the original. Hamlet is still set in Denmark, but in the future cyber world of 2017. SelfMadeHero inform us that the series keeps true to the text of Shakespeare, but is specially abridged for use in the manga. Sweatdrop Studio's very own Sonia Leong illustrated Romeo and Juliet, while Emma Vicieli illustrated Hamlet.

Both Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet are due for release on 1st March 2007, priced at £6.99. The Tempest and Richard III are due to be published in Autumn 2007. Othello, Much Ado About Nothing and A Midsummer Night’s Dream are planned, but no release date is mentioned.

Our readers still in education might want to show this to their English and drama teachers, while our other readers might just enjoy reading a new interpretation of Shakespeare's works.

This is not the first time Hamlet has been made into a manga in English, our good friend Amethyst Angel has done a fan version using characters from Slayers, entitled Hamlet: The Manga.

Read More... | Souce: SelfMadeHero

The Taste of Tea US Screenings

Date: 2007 January 15 16:45 | Posted By:

Category > Anime > Film

We've just been sent some interesting news from Viz Pictures in the US, who will be screening a Taste of Tea across New York, Chicago, Seattle and Portland. It's a live action flick, from the writer/director Katsuhito Ishii, who directed Shark Skin Man & Peach Hip Girl, Party Seven and the animated section of Kill Bill Volume 1.
US readers can catch the screenings at the following venues:

New York
General opening: February 16-22, 2007
The ImaginAsian
239 East 59th St., New York 10022
http://www.theimaginasian.com

Chicago
General opening: March 2-8, 2007
FACETS CINEMATHEQUE
1517 West Fullerton Avenue, Chicago, IL 60614
http://www.facets.org/asticat

Seattle
March 16-22, 2007
GRAND ILLUSION CINEMA
1403 NE 50th St., Seattle, WA 98105
http://www.grandillusioncinema.org

Portland
April 6-12, 2007
The Hollywood Theatre
4122 N.E. Sandy Blvd., Portland, OR 97212
http://www.hollywoodtheatre.org

Read More... | Souce: Viz Pictures

London based anime convention for summer 2008?

Date: 2007 January 11 17:20 | Posted By:

Category > Events

We've received an e-mail from an "anonymous tip". As such we can't say how true this is, it could be a hoax, it could be a genuine anonymous tip, or on the other hand someone could be trying to do a spot of astroturfing for their anime convention, we don't really know.

It's about an anime convention called Kanacon. The e-mail mentions the MCM Expo and JapanEX, so which may imply that they are running it, on the other hand they may not be. It then states that London "has yet to have a full blown Anime & Manga convention", which is wrong, as London has had Shin nen kai before.

The release concludes suggesting that it might be intended to get some hype going. Is this hoax, or real? Who knows, I guess we'll have to find out in 2008, one thing for sure, running an UK anime convention anywhere is tricky and a logistical nightmare, with venue bookings to worry about, insurance, events, support from fandom and millions of other factors, choosing London to run a convention is a bold move because of cost implications. So lets wait and see. We've already spoken to representatives from two major anime companies who have not heard about this convention, we're wondering who in the industry has been contacted.

We hope the people who tried to launch the disastrous KyuuCON are not involved.

Read More... | Souce: Strange \"Anonymous Tip\"

Manga Force a new UK DVD magazine

Date: 2006 December 28 14:49 | Posted By:

Category > Anime > DVD

We've just discovered some interesting TV adverts in the UK for a new magazine publication called Manga Force. The magazine will be published fortnightly, with an anime DVD and the magazine will focus on that title. Manga Force is a joint effort between Manga Entertainment UK and Hachette Partworks. As usual for a publication from Manga Entertainment they insist on calling anime "manga", which has often led to confusion when people discover Japanese animation. The magazine states it's the perfect partner to your DVD collection, and will give you everything you need to build your manga knowledge (check our FAQ for recommend books which will really help you do that), each issue will have synopses, filmographies, writer bibliographies and behind the scenes footage. Issues will cover the following Manga Entertainment titles:

Evangelion (It's not clear which Evangelion movies will be released with the issue)
Blood The Last Vampire
Akira
Ghost in the Shell
Macross Plus

The first issue is priced at £2.99 with all subsequent issues priced at £8.99, which is reasonable considering that the average Manga Entertainment title sells for £12.99 without a magazine.

Their website has some introductory subscription deals, although we're curious to see what they could fill a full 50 issues with. No start date is published on-line.

Read More... | Souce: Manga Force

Watch Coyote Ragtime Show on-line

Date: 2006 December 13 17:28 | Posted By:

Category > Anime > DVD

The kind folks from ADV Films US have sent us details about the Coyote Ragtime Show. US readers can watch the full first episode officially here, while UK readers can watch it here. It's released in the US on January 16th 2007, while ADV Films UK inform us that they're planning a 16th April 2007 release.

Souce: ADV Films

Hellsing Ultimate website launches

Date: 2006 December 05 15:18 | Posted By:

Category > Websites

The nice folks at Geneon Entertainment have sent us news that they've launched a website for Hellsing Ultimate, the OAV incarnation of the fan favourite anime series. The website contains some details about the series, it's creator, DVD release dates, along with a host of downloads like desktop wallpaper and chat icons.

Read More... | Souce: Hellsing Ultimate Website

Learn Japanese on-line with Urban Japanese

Date: 2006 November 28 16:53 | Posted By:

Category > Press Releases

We've been sent a press release from Japanese video game and toy concept development company Gamewax, who have developed a interesting concept in learning Japanese remotely. They claim to be the UK's first fully interactive recordable on-line Japanese language school, Urban Japanese. Distance learning is nothing new, as universities and other education institutions have been tinkering with the concepts for years now, but this is certainly the first private company in the UK we're aware of that offer Japanese lessons.

Read More... | Souce: Urban Japanese

Farewell Ranma

Date: 2006 November 07 14:58 | Posted By:

Category > Manga

The nice people from Viz Media have sent us a press release detailing the conclusion of the long running fan favourite manga Ranma 1/2. Volume 36 of the manga ends the series with a letter to North American fans from Rumiko Takahashi, the author of Ranma 1/2 and another huge favourite Inu Yasha. The final volume is due out in North American on November 14th. So now's your chance to say goodbye to everyone's favourite gender changing comedy martial arts manga!

Read More... | Souce: Viz Media

ADV acquires Le Chevalier D'Eon for the UK

Date: 2006 November 02 16:58 | Posted By:

Category > Press Releases

The friendly guys over at ADV Films UK have sent us details of their latest acquistion from Production IG, Le Chevalier D'Eon. Currently they haven't set a release date which is a bit of a pain, not even a rough time frame is mentioned, however it does say that they have UK Video, TV and Video on Demand rights.

Read More... | Souce: ADV Films UK

Seven Seas Goes Yuri

Date: 2006 October 27 08:18 | Posted By:

Category > Manga

Seven Seas Entertainment will be launching a new publishing imprint for its library of manga titles. Called Strawberry, this new imprint will focus on yuri, or girl-on-girl, flavored romantic titles. The first titles of the new line are expected to be released sometime in 2007.

Read More... | Souce: ICv2

Pink and Blue - Double release from Sweatdrop Studios

Date: 2006 October 24 08:48 | Posted By:

Category > Manga

Sonia from Sweatdrop Studios the manga styled art group has dropped as a line about their latest publications. The books are supposed to be paired together and explorer the differences between shojo and shonen manga, apparently each book can be enjoyed alone or with it's partner book. The shojo book is called Pink is for Girls, while the shonen book is titled Blue is for Boys. We like the comparison of sparkles versus speedlines in their press release. The book is due for release on Saturday 28th October at the London MCM Expo at the Sweatdrop Studios stand.

Read More... | Souce: Sweatdrop Studios

Naruto Wins Quill Award

Date: 2006 October 15 13:04 | Posted By:

Category > Manga

The folks from VIZ Media have sent us details about Naruto winning the 2006 Quill Award for best graphic novel, apparently this is the first time a manga title has one the category. The Quill awards are unlike normal awards as they are more consumer orientated, so in other words it looks at sales figures rather than panellists decisions.

Read More... | Souce: VIZ Media

J-Pop Go Halloween Special Fright Night

Date: 2006 October 08 15:15 | Posted By:

Category > Events

The vampires from J-Pop Go have sent us the details for their next event, set for Saturday 28th October with a Halloween theme - Kowaiathon night. J-Pop Go will be held at thier regular venue of Cafe Manga, near the Westminster Bridge end of County Hall in London. Tickets will be £5 with discount for cosplayers at their discretion. We suggest Ring and Grudge based costumes for a frightning night!

Read More... | Souce: J-Pop Go

ADV Bring Wii to your Living Room

Date: 2006 September 30 18:14 | Posted By:

Category > Anime > DVD

Those busy folks at ADV Films UK sent us this some details of their lastest cross promotion, which is covered in Wii (Nintendo Wii that is).

In the first wave of titles for the Wii is Red Steel, a game with swords and guns is being approartely crosspromtoed with Samurai Gun, an anime title with swords and guns. Which makes a good tie in if you ask us!

In a nutshell the first run of Samurai Gun Volume 1 will contain an extra free bonus disc with a sneak peak of the Red Steel game.

While the first run of the Red Steel game will receive a Samurai Gun episode and some extra ADV materials on a bonus disc.

Read More... | Souce: ADV Films UK

ADV UK Release New DVD Sampler - Bento Box

Date: 2006 September 20 15:25 | Posted By:

Category > Anime > DVD

The nice folks from ADV Films UK have sent us the details of their lastest DVD release. Unlike the usual monthly release, they'll be releasing a DVD with selected episodes to sample. They're marketing it as a taster DVD, or to give it a more Japanese theme a Bento Box. The disc will have 4 episodes on a single DVD, retailing at a very reasonable £5.99, considering a normal anime DVD with 4 episodes on would retail for more than twice the price. It's due for release on 16th October 2006.

The DVD will contain:

- Area 88 - Episode 1
- Gilgamesh - Episode 6
- Get Backers - Episode 9
- Cromartie High School - Episode 9

This should prove a great way of sampling episodes, after all, splashing out £6 to find out if you like a selection of different series is a lot better than paying for a whole disc with the same series on and finding it's not your thing.

Read More... | Souce: ADV Films UK

Tomo-dachi 2007

Date: 2006 September 15 03:26 | Posted By:

Category > Events

We've been sent some details from the Tomo-dachi Crew about their next convention, set for Friday, August 31st - Sunday to September 2nd, 2007 at the UU Magee Campus in Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Bookings before March 31st are £25 and £30 after. As of yet, they've not released a guest list, however if the last Tomo-dachi is anything to go for they'll have some good industry guests.

Read More... | Souce: Tomo-dachi

Sweatdrop Release Two How To Draw Manga Books

Date: 2006 September 14 14:52 | Posted By:

Category > Manga

We've been sent a press release from the nice people over at UK manga inspired art group Sweatdrop. They're both aimed at beginners, Draw Manga By Sweatdrop Studios and Drawing Manga by Selina Dean. Draw Manga focuses on basics, with a series of tutorials on how to draw character elements such as eyes, hair, hand and clothing, along with step by step projects showing how to put individual elements together to create a manga style character.

Drawing Manga by the talented Selina Dean focuses more on character design with posing characters. It includes tips on drawing people monsters and mascots. In addition it includes comic creation techniques such as developing storyboards, creating layouts, scripting, including backgrounds and colouring and inking techniques.

Draw Manga by Sweatdrop Studios is due out on 15th October 2006, while Drawing Manga by Selina Dean was out on 4th September 2006.

We think it's great that some UK based artist are producing books on how to draw manga, however we're curious as to why they've released two books within the space of two months with the same purpose at the same price (an affordable £9.99), we wonder if the books are significantly different, would it have been better to combine the contents into one bigger book? Perhaps the writing styles are different allowing a potential artist to chose the style they prefer.

Read More... | Souce: Sweatdrop Studios

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