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Animax Launches in the UK

Date: 2013 October 25 17:43 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The first day of the MCM London Comic Con has just ended, we know people are partying into the night, but we're stopping to tell you the latest news from the event.

A new UK streaming / video on demand service has just launched Animax UK. The division of Sony are showing anime on a model similar to BBC iPlayer. The shows are simulcast for everyone to watch for free for 2 weeks. After that they go into the archive where paid subscribers can access the shows. Subscriptions cost £5.99 a month, and will also remove ads from any shows.

Depending on how much anime you watch a month, this could be a good way of catching up with titles without paying for a boxset.

What makes them a bit different, is apart from offering simulcasts they also have movies for paid subscribers, and also offer viewers the choice to watch shows dubbed in English where available, or in Japanese with English subtitles.

If you're going to the MCM London Comic Con this weekend (Friday 25th to Sunday 27th October 2013), you should pop over to their stall for a chance to win a big Sony TV.

It seems along with other legal streaming services Wakanim.co.uk and Crunchyroll, there are lots of ways to watch anime on-line now.

New UK streaming service announces Kill La Kill for UK/Ireland

Date: 2013 October 04 09:37 | Posted By: Eeeper

Category > Anime

Anime Limited announces UK branch of French based anime streaming service, also announces Kill La Kill as first title.

Anime Cels for sale and free Otaku News Postcards at the MCM London Comic Con May 2013

Date: 2013 May 22 15:36 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Retail

The good folks at the Japanese Gallery have sent us news that they'll be at the MCM London Comic Con from Friday 24th to Sunday 26th May 2013. They'll be there with cels from anime for sale. They've got cels from Hunter x Hunter, Dragon Ball Z, Transformers, Pokemon, and 2 from Studio Ghibli films!

They've also got some free Otaku News Postcards to give away at their stall. We normally only give these out at anime conventions so they're rare and hard to get. Just head over to their stall and ask for one! If you can't get to the comic con, you can always download our wallpaper which features designs from our postcards.

Update: The details in the Comic Con book aren't exactly clear. The Japanese Gallery can be found at booth 302.

Osamu Tezuka's The Crater goes live on Kickstarter

Date: 2013 May 19 10:28 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

The good folks from the Kansai Club have sent us details of their Kickstarter to get Osamu Tezuka's The Crater published in English. They intend to publish it as a limited edition run of 2,000 high quality copies.

This is not the first of Tezuka's works to be crowd funded for an English release. Last year DMP ran a successful Kickstarter to get Unico funded.

Johnnys' World: Top of the J-Pops

Date: 2013 January 25 15:36 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Culture

J-Pop fans who can access NHK World will want to tune in for Johnnys' World: Top of the J-Pops.

The documentary focuses on Johnny Kitagawa of talent agency Johnny's Entertainment. The talent agency represents Tsuyoshi Domoto of Kinki Kids and Hey! Say! Jump!.

It'll be broadcast on NHK World on:
Saturday 26th January 2013 - 23:10 (UTC)
Sunday 27th January 2013 - 3:10/ 7:10/ 11:10/ 15:10/ 19:10 (UTC)

NHK World broadcasts content in English and is free to access. It's available in many countries.

In the UK if you have Sky you can access NHK World on Channel 507. If you've got FreeSat you can access it on channel 209.

Failing that, you can also watch the show on-line on the NHK Website, JIB TV, or on the NHK World App on iOS Devices (iPhone, iPad, etc) and Android Devices.

Souce: NHK World

Play.com to end first party retail sales

Date: 2013 January 10 16:58 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Retail

We've just heard that popular on-line retailer Play.com will stop "first party retail sales" by the end of March 2013. They intend to focus on it's Marketplace business. Play.com were sold to the Rakuten Group in 2011 for £25m. With the price reflecting the close of the tax loophole that allowed them to sell their DVDs from the Channel Islands, without paying VAT.

This basically means they will not directly distribute goods, but instead act as a market place to allow third party companies to sell stuff.

GEN Manga Issue 16 out now

Date: 2012 November 27 13:04 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

The good folks from GEN Manga have just release their latest Issue GEN 16.

This issue continues the instalments of Psycho, Android Angels, Stones of Power, Anomal and Alive.

Read More... | Souce: GEN Manga

NHK World at Hyper Japan Christmas 2012

Date: 2012 November 19 17:42 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

It's getting closer to Hyper Japan Christmas 2012, which is set to run from Friday 23rd November to Sunday 26th November 2012.

The international arm of Japanese broadcaster NHK will be there to promote their international channel NHK World.

The station broadcasts content in English and is free to access. If you have Sky you can access NHK World on Channel 507. If you've got FreeSat you can access it on channel 209.

Failing that, you can also watch the show on-line on the NHK Website, JIB TV, or on the NHK World App on iOS Devices (iPhone, iPad, etc) and Android Devices.

Fans of Kawaii will be pleased to hear that the station will be looking for people wearing Kawaii Fashion at Hyper Japan for their Kawaii International show. Some stylish attendees to Hyper Japan might be added to the show's Facebook page, or even featured on the show itself!

At the NHK World booth (C6 at Hyper Japan), they'll also be showing Itadakimasu! Dining with the Chef, so you can learn about Japanese cooking techniques.

So if you're going to Hyper Japan this weekend, swing by the NHK World World booth C6.

Anime and Manga event for Japanese Language Learners in London and Edinburgh

Date: 2012 September 12 17:49 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Culture

Readers who are in London or Edinburgh and are keen to learn Japanese will be interested in the Japan Foundation's new initiative. They've just launched a new website using Anime and Manga in Japanese to help you get to grips with the language.

They'll be running special workshops on the subject -

"This workshop, hosted by Ms Nanae Kumano (Developer of the Japanese in Anime & Manga website and Language Education Specialist at Japan Foundation Madrid), will introduce learners to the Japanese in Anime & Manga website, and explore how the site can be used to enhance your own Japanese language studies and enjoyment of Japanese culture."

On Thursday 4th October 2012 from 4pm to 6pm at the University of Edinburgh.

Levels: Basic – Advanced (JLPT N5 – N1/Level 1); English explanations will be given. This event is supported by the University of Edinburgh and is free for all participants. The event is free, but you do have to register in advance in order to attend.

On Friday 5th October 2012 from 6:30pm to 8:30pm at The Japan Foundation - Russell Square London.

Levels: Intermediate to Advanced (JLPT N3/Level 3 – N1/Level 1); The workshop will be in Japanese.

Fee: £3.00 (to paid on arrival on the day, cash only accepted)
Limited to 40 participants – First come, first served. Click here to register.

Souce: The Japan Foundation

GEN Manga Issue 14 out now

Date: 2012 August 21 16:02 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

The good folks from GEN Manga have just release their latest Issue GEN 14.

This issue continues the instalments of Psycho, Android Angels, One is Enough, Stones of Power, Anomal and Alive.

GEN will be giving away a short preview version of GEN 14 for free this month.

Read More... | Souce: GEN Manga

GEN Manga releases Kamen Volume 1

Date: 2012 March 14 16:58 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

We've just been sent details from the good folk at GEN Manga about their latest release - Kamen Volume 1. The title will be available across the US through all good Diamond Comic Distributors and on Graphicly. You can also download the title from the GEN Manga Website.

Fans of comic books will be interested to hear that Marvel artist Harvey Tolibao did the cover for Kamen.

Read More... | Souce: GEN Manga

JManga.com celebrates going global with a second sign-up promotion

Date: 2012 March 09 16:20 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

The good people from JManga.com have just gone international. To celebrate the on-line manga service have launched a sign up promotion for new members.

From the Thursday 8th March 2012 to Wednesday 14th March 2012 if you sign up for a paid subscription you'll receive 5 books worth of bonus points with a $25 monthly subscription and 2 books worth of points a $10 subscription.

Hyper Japan - Cosplay Christmas Competition

Date: 2011 December 21 16:08 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

Cosplayers looking for some fun and games this Christmas will want to enter London's Hyper Japan's Christmas Cosplay Competition. To enter all you have to do is upload a photo of you cosplaying to the Hyper Japan Cosplay HQ Facebook page between 9th December 2011 an 15th January 2012. The 3 photos with the most likes on Facebook will make it through to the Hyper Japan Cosplay Team. The team will judge the photos and select a winner.

The winner gets a load of goodies from Tofu Cute, worth £50 along with 2 tickets to Hyper Japan Spring 2012 (for all 3 days). The 2 runners up will also get tickets for all 3 days at Hyper Japan Spring 2012.

United Publications November 2011 Sale

Date: 2011 November 04 16:41 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Retail

Popular anime, manga and related merchandise retailer United Publications have sent us details of their explosive 5th of November clearance sale. There are many bargains to be had, with up to 80% off some Manga/Anime books, DVD and figures! We've asked and they've confirmed they're not going mad. It's to clear out their inventory to make room for new stock for the new year. They've got some hard to find items up on the listing too.

Also if you're looking for something exclusive, remember a while ago we interviewed Japanese figure sculptor Momiji? Well the good folks at United Publications are now selling his exclusive Ms Fan Stand figure.

Play.com sold to Japanese group Rakuten

Date: 2011 September 21 16:55 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Retail

Popular UK on-line DVD retailer Play.com have been bought by Japanese group Rakuten. Play.com is the UK's biggest seller of DVDs online with estimated annual sales of about £500m. It has 14 million registered users and a staff of 500.

It was sold to Rakuten for £25m. Play.com have been successful due to a tax loop-hole that allows purchases under £18 to be VAT free when shipped from the Channel Islands to the UK mainland thanks to EU rules drafted almost 30 years ago. In November 2011, the government will reduce the amount for VAT free purchases to £15 and intend close this loop-hole totally by March 2012. The sales tax issues along with declining DVD sales is why Play.com was sold for £25m and not considerably more. The Guardian article states that DVD UK sales dipped 6% last year, while downloading and streaming rose 18%.

Play.com is popular with the UK anime fans and is often the first port of call along with Amazon.co.uk when buying DVDs and Blu-rays.

Rakuten are keen to increase their global presence, which is why they've purchases Play.com along with the French site PriceMinister and German site Tradoria.de.

Souce: The Guardian

AmeCon 2012 UK registration opens Sunday 25th September 2011

Date: 2011 September 10 07:02 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

The UK Summer Convention season is coming to an end, but fear not as AmeCon will be opening their 2012 registration on Sunday 25th September 2011.

AmeCon 2012 is set to run 10th - 12th August 2012, at Keele University, Newcastle-under-lyme. Registration will be on-line using the standard first come first served basis.

GEN Manga Issue 4 out now, plus download free indie manga

Date: 2011 August 15 15:55 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

GEN Manga the company bringing us indie manga from the Tokyo underground have sent us reminder that issue 4 is out today.

They've also released issue 2 for free. They're even extending their subscribers discount. What makes GEN Manga interesting is that each issue is published on PDF, so you can download it and read it on any device that'll handle PDF documents. There's no nasty DRM to worry about, or installing extra naggy software, just one file per issue.

Read More... | Souce: GEN Manga

Emma: Victorian Romance streams on-line for free

Date: 2011 August 10 16:55 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The excellent folks from Right Stuf/Nozomi are now streaming the anime Emma: A Victorian Romance on YouTube. They'll be showing one new episode of Emma per week for the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. They're showing the episodes subtitled. So if you fancy an anime series set in Victorian England, now's your chance to watch it for free.

You can get Series 1 and Series 2 from Amazon.com. You can also pre-order The Complete Series Limited Edition Bundle, which features Season 1 and Season 2, it's out on September 13th 2011.

Souce: Right Stuf

Anime on Demand to simulcast [C] - Control - The Money and Soul of Possibility

Date: 2011 April 19 15:48 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The good folks at legitimate anime streaming service Anime On Demand have sent us details about there latest stream to hit the UK. [C] - Control - The Money and Soul of Possibility. The show will start streaming Thursday 21st April 2011 at 17:45 BST (British Summer Time), just one week after it's Japanese debut. Each week a new episode will be added to the site in the future.

AmeCon seek Events Officer

Date: 2011 March 02 17:54 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Fandom

The great folks at UK convention AmeCon have sent us details of a volunteer role that needs filling. They're looking for a new Events Officer.

Apart from being able to pay something back to anime fandom, this is a great opportunity to participate in a large UK convention, see it's inner workings and meet others who are passionate about anime, manga and all other things otaku love.

Hyper Japan 2011 Details

Date: 2011 February 28 16:33 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

The good folks from Hyper Japan have sent us the details for their 2011 event in London. It's set to run from Friday 22nd July to Sunday 24th July 2011 at Olympia Two.

Multi-National Manga Anti-Piracy Coalition Formed

Date: 2010 June 08 16:47 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

Multi-National Manga Anti-Piracy Coalition Formed

We've received some very interesting details from VIZ Media about the formation of a Multi-National Manga Anti-Piracy Coalition.It seems that the industry has grown tired of Scanlations - manga scanned into a digital format and distributed without the copyright holders consent. The coalition include the 36 members of Japan's Digital Comic Association, Square Enix, VIZ Media, TOKYOPOP and Yen Press.

Originally scanlations were manga translated by fans into their native language from Japanese. This can be seen as the manga equivalent of anime fansubs. Some scanlation sites branched out to scans of manga that was already official translated and licensed outside of Japan.

This has cost the manga publishing industry significant amounts of money, not just in lost book sales, but lost opportunities in the relatively new market of eBooks and mobile devices.

The coalition intend to target scanlation sites and aggregators of scanlation sites. They've drawn up a list of 30 sites to targeted for action. First they will ask the sites to cease distributing scanlations. If the sites fail to cease distributing further action will be taken depending on the jurisdiction of each site. Actions include legal injunctions against the sites, reporting the sites to governmental anti-piracy units of law enforcement, including the US Justice Department, local law enforcement agencies and the FBI.

Fans curious about piracy in the anime and manga industry should read the Pirate Anime FAQ.

This is not the first time the anime and manga industry has attempted to stop piracy in the industry, but this is the biggest and most coordinated international effort so far. With many companies in the industry forced to make cut backs, closing down offices, laying off staff, we wonder if this is the start of a new approach? Will more companies pursue legal options? Are fansubbers next?

Crunchyroll streams Haruhi

Date: 2010 April 09 19:44 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The good folks at Crunchyroll have sent us details of their latest streaming deal. They've started to show The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Fans looking for aliens, time travelers, and ESPers will be most pleased to hear that they intend to stream the second series later this year too. Crunchyroll's licence covers the Americas, the British Isles, Scandinavia, the Middle East and Africa.

Preview the first 7 minutes of Gundam Unicorn

Date: 2010 March 02 15:20 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > DVD

The good folks from Beez have sent us details about the upcoming release of Gundam Unicorn on Friday 12th 2010 on Blu-ray disc. The release will be worldwide simultaneously in the 7 territorial areas of Japan, US, Canada, UK, France, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

You can view the first 7 minutes of the OAV on the Beez Website.

Bandai Entertainment launches new manga website

Date: 2010 February 16 21:31 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

The good folks at Bandai Entertainment have sent us details about their new manga website.

NHK World TV in the UK

Date: 2009 September 20 16:11 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > TV

UK based readers who are keen to watch Japanese TV in English, will be pleased to hear that NHK World broadcasts on Satellite. Viewers should tune into Sky Channel 516 or Freesat Channel 209. The channel is included in all Sky Packages.

The channel includes Japanese News, TV shows about Japanese Culture, Business Shows, Tokyo Fashion and lots of other arts.

The full schedule can be found on the NHK World TV Website.

Anime Network Launches Video-on-Demand in UK

Date: 2009 August 06 12:57 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > TV

We've got some exciting news from the folks behind The Anime Network. They've just launched a UK beta version of their site. So now anime fans in the UK can watch anime streamed to their PC. For less than a fiver a month you can watch a great selection of ADV titles.

They also offer a yearly subscription too.

Invent your own ending to Guyver

Date: 2007 June 03 16:09 | Posted By: Voxie

Category > Anime

For anime fans with the animator in them, the online community site Bebo are inviting users to invent the ending to a volume of Guyver, the clip can be seen on thewir website.

Souce: Bebo \'U DIRECT\' Guyver Competition

Helen McCarthy interview on Resonance 104.4 fm

Date: 2007 May 09 17:24 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

Our readers who like podcasts or can tune into Resonance 104.4 fm, a radio art station in London will want to listen in Thursday evening at 10.30 PM BST (9th May 2007), to catch an interview with anime expert Helen McCarthy. She'll be talking on Alex Fitch's show "I'm ready for my close-up", where they'll be covering anime in general, Helen's current anime season at the Barbican and hopefully the Anime Encyclopedia too. The podcast will be put on-line on Friday 10th May.

Souce: Resonance 104.4 fm

AmeCon 2007 open for registration

Date: 2007 February 26 10:18 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

Anime fans will be pleased to know that Leicester based UK anime convention AmeCon 2007 is now open for registration. So book now to avoid disappointment. The convention is scheduled for 10th-12th August 2007 and is the third convention held by the AmeCon crew.

Souce: AmeCon

Learn Japanese on-line with Urban Japanese

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

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.

Bandai UK and Eire Online Shop: Now Testing

Date: 2006 July 25 11:24 | Posted By: Voxie

Category > Websites

Looks like Bandai have acknowledged the online fanscene and are having a go at running an online shop.

The shop features your usual host of DVDs, manga and toys under the Bandai/Beez licence. The popular titles include My-Hime, classic Gundam, SCRYed, Witch Hunter Robin, Wolf's Rain and Cowboy Bebop. There's pretty much a category for everything under the Bandai licence, including Tamagotchi and of course, the immortal Power Rangers brand.

Our source says the website is on trial for now, and if it goes well, Bandai will surely be adding more. Check out the trial website and tell your friends!

Souce: AnimeBoredom

Howl's Moving Castle Set For March 2006 DVD Release

Date: 2005 December 05 16:54 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > DVD

UK on-line retailer's Play.com and Amazon.co.uk have started to take pre-orders for Howl's Moving Castle, they both listing the release date as 13th March 2006. Otaku News had heard rumours about Optimum wanting to release Howl earlier, however in order to qualify for an Academy Award, they had to delay the release. What's interesting to note that the boxshots from Amazon and Play are different, which leads us to believe that both sites have produced mock-ups as they are missing vital details on the packaging such as the BBFC rating logo.

A quick check on Amazon.com reveals that they're taking pre-orders for two different versions of Howl's Moving Castle, which are priced the same, we suspect that Amazon will remove one edition nearer the launch date.

If Optimum and Buena Vista can release Howl's Moving Castle in March, they should be highly commended, since the Japanese DVD has just been released this November and Ghibli titles have been traditonally very slow to get US and UK DVD releases.

Souce: Play.com

Is KyuuCON a Scam?

Date: 2005 August 25 17:36 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

After posting the press release from KyuuCon yesterday, it's been brought to our attention by various members of UK anime fandom that there is something fishy about KyuuCON. Firstly it appears that the venue mentioned the Plymouth Pavillions has not heard of KyuuCON or the organisers in question. The second major alarm bell is where the payments are going, into a personal bank account and not a building society account/non-profit account in the conventions name.

What's also interesting is their sudden change of heart, and the way they've just moved everything back a year. Plus this thread brought to our attention at the AyaCon Forum. At this current moment in time, based on what we have heard, we believe that KyuuCON is either very poorly organised or a cash grabbing scam, either way, we suggest you avoid KyuuCON for now.

Final Fantasy Music on iTunes UK

Date: 2005 May 12 13:56 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Websites

Discussions are underway to bring tracks from the 16 Final Fantasy Albums to the UK version of the iTunes website. The tracks would include songs from Final 1 through to XI as well as other FF themed CDs such as the ‘dear friends’ concerts and the 'Black Mage' albums.

Souce: Gamesindustry.biz

Otaku News Adds DVD Reviews

Date: 2005 May 08 18:45 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Websites

Here at Otaku News we listen to you, our readers comments and will always try to improve the site based on what we hear. The most common request we've had so far is for a review section. So the Otaku News Crew started to work away, writing reviews and also writing the code for you to navigate the reviews. At the moment we've put up some DVD reviews for you to read, over time we intend to add a lot more. Currently all editions of Otaku News will show all DVDs, regardless of their region. Eventually once we have a substantial number of reviews the UK and US Editions will only display reviews from their region.

We've also adopted a policy of being honest, so far one review already has a rating of 2 out of 10! We hope you find this addition to the site helpful and enjoying reading our opinions, of course if you don't like it and think you can do better, then by all means tell us, we are always looking for talented contributors to write news articles, reviews and anything else of interest to otaku!

Souce: Otaku News DVD Review Section

Dinkybox Cool Japanese Toys

Date: 2005 January 24 15:42 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Retail

Wil Overton who many of our readers will know was the artist for popular Super Nintendo Magazine SuperPlay published many moons ago (and also influenced a large amount of UK fan artists with his style), has sent us details of his latest enterprise.

Dinkybox is a shop selling you the very best in cool toys and goodies from around the world, it mainly focuses on the new wave of smaller designer group/artist toys. Why are Otaku News plugging it I hear you cry? Well Dinkybox stock anime related stuff like Dr Slump Kubrick figures, the parody show Panda-Z and also some nice Deleter Manga supplies like pads, pens and ink and also screentone.

We don't normally shamelessly plug companies here, but Wil's a nice guy and agreed to an interview when my first website Anime Digital was getting off the ground, so we owe him a favour or two. ^_-

Souce: Dinkybox

United Publications Price Cuts

Date: 2004 December 31 12:52 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Retail

We've just heard from Dragon, the webmaster for United Publications (a popular UK import anime and manga retailer) that they've slashed their prices by up to 20% on most US DVDs due to the strength of the Pound, our UK readers with multiregion set-ups should check it out!

Souce: United Publications

Strong Yaoi Sales on Amazon.com

Date: 2004 November 14 08:34 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

ICv2 are reporting an interesting trend with Amazon.com's manga best seller list. Apparently Yaoi is three of the top five, four of the top ten and six of the top fifteen manga titles. ICv2 point out that these sales are only on Amazon.com as the American Bookscan list doesn't not match with these sales figures, with only Del Rey's Tsubasa Volume 3 appearing at the top of both lists.

ICv2 speculate that people purchasing Yaoi prefer the privacy and relative anonymity that on-line reatilers offer and that the two main Yaoi publishers Digital Manga and CPM Manga don't have the marketing clout or number of titles compared to other publishers with titles at the top of the graphic novel lists.

Souce: ICv2

Otaku News UK DVD Reader Survey

Date: 2004 November 07 19:32 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Fandom

With your support Otaku News are keen to compile a definitive survey for 2004 about what anime titles our readers would like to see released onto DVD in the UK. This can include TV series, film, OAV old and new. We are not going to do a web based poll, since that would limit the options, we are going to do an open survey to hear what you really want to be released in the UK. To take part please email your suggestions to AnimeSurvey@otakunews.com

Your e-mail address will only be used for this survey and once the results have been collated your details will be deleted. They will not be passed on to a third party for any reason. This survey will run until the 24th of December.

Souce: Otaku News

Channel 4 Viewers to Vote on 100 Greatest Cartoons.

Date: 2004 November 01 14:59 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

British anime fans will like to know that Channel 4 are currently running votes on the 100 Greatest Cartoons. Akira as always is present along with Pokemon, as is Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke, and (rather worryingly) Legend of the Overfiend. Each person gets to vote for their top 10 favourite shows, so head over there and vote!

This show should be interesting to watch I wonder who they will get in to talk about anime when it's broadcast, and who would admit to enjoying hentai on national TV?

Souce: Channel 4

Jonathan Clements Launches New Website

Date: 2004 October 16 13:26 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Websites

Jonathan Clements, writer, translator, co-author of the Anime Encyclopedia, The Erotic Anime Movie Guide, The Dorama Encyclopedia and I Love My Tamagotchi (under the name of Bronwen Komatsubara), has just e-mailed with some details regarding his new website -

"Don't know if this counts as news or not, but if it does, there is much anime goodness to be found at my website, including the English version of my Afterword to the deluxe edition of Akira, the unpublished Afterword to the Anime Encyclopedia, and several anime columns from Newtype and the Sci Fi channel."

Considering how much Jonathan Clements has done in the anime industry, I think it does count as news, so go on and have a look at his website. I'm off to find Schoolgirl Milky Crisis.

Souce: Jonathan Clements

UK Conventions Set For 2005 And 2006

Date: 2004 September 29 18:32 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

It seems at almost exactly the same time, both AyaCon and AmeCon have officially announced more details regarding their next conventions!

It was announced at AyaCon 2003 that there would be no AyaCon in 2004, but now they've updated their website saying that "We are currently planning to stage our latest event, AyaCon Five, in Summer/Autumn 2005. We're aiming to make AyaCon bigger and better than ever!" As yet, they haven't revealed a venue for the convention.

AmeCon have also just updated their website. Stating that "The Convention will not be running in 2005, but will be running at Aston University, Birmingham, in 2006. Registrations for 2006 will open shortly."

Read More... | Souce: AyaCon / AmeCon Websites.

Sweatdrop Launch Free Webcomics

Date: 2004 September 20 15:52 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Webcomics

Talented up and coming British manga artists Sweatdrop Studios have just launched a webcomics section. They've posted comics by Dock, Laura Watton, Emma Vieceli, Selina Dean, Fred and Sonia Leong.

Even if you're not in the UK, it's always nice to check out some of their lovely artwork.

Souce: Sweatdrop

Animejin Suspended

Date: 2004 September 19 09:12 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Websites

Successful UK anime website Animejin is to be suspended indefinitely.

Animejin is one of the oldest UK anime websites that is still currently running, it's been around since 1993 in print form and then in 1995 made the transition to a website. For a long while it was the primary news source of UK Anime fans on-line. Animejin also posts regular news bulletins on Usenet and to e-mail subscribers.

Mamoru Oshii to Answer Fan's Questions On-line

Date: 2004 September 03 13:57 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > Film

We've just had details in from the folks at Dreamworks.
Mamoru Oshii the director of Ghost In the Shell 2: Innocence will be answering questions posted to the offical Ghost In the Shell 2 Site's forum. Sign up and Join this thread - http://www.ghost2.com/board/showthread.php?t=62.

Fans will already know that Oshii was behind the original Ghost in the Shell Movie, and the first two Mobile Police Patlabor Movies.

Otaku News Launches!

Date: 2004 August 18 16:29 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Websites

18th August 2004. Otaku News, a new site dedicated to anime, manga and other cool Japanese things launched today. Yes, that's this site! We intend to bring you news for fans of Japan. From Anime to Zen, with a good dose of informative articles and laughs along the way.

Browsing Articles

Recent News

Recent DVD / Blu-ray Reviews

Recent Manga Reviews