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 Anime Briefs: December 2001
By Chris Foster, Ever Cheung, and Ridwan Khan
The Reason for the Dark Horse Manga Delays
Fans of Dark Horse series have undoubtedly noticed that a number of series including Blade of the Immortal, Oh My Goddess!, and the Gunsmith Cats Special have met with delays that are just now being corrected. Animefringe had a chance to question one of the Dark Horse representatives about this matter and here is the reply:
"Unfortunately we ran into some problems getting the necessary files
from Kodansha (the Japanese company from whom we license our manga)
and a few other production glitches. However, we're catching up! [December] should see the release of two issues of Blade of the Immortal and Oh My Goddess!"
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Ghibli Rumblings
Hayao Miyazaki's Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (Sen and Chihiro, Spirited Away) became the highest grossing movie in Japanese history and internationally, the highest grossing non-American movie. It has garnered 26.2 billion yen in box office sales. Perhaps in light of this news, Ghibli is shopping around for an American licencee for the American theatrical release of Sen to Chihiro. Up for consideratoin are Disney (via it's subsidiary, Buena Vista) and DreamWorks. Disney decided not to release more Ghibli films after the release of Mononoke Hime, citing poor sales of that disc.
Ghibli is also gearing up for several new productions. First among them is Ghibli Episode 2 the second part of a semi-fictionalized account of the history of Ghibli. Ghibli's other productions include two movies, Hauru to Ugoku Shiro (based on Diana Wynne Jones' Howl's Moving Castle). It will be directed by Mamoru Hosoda (director of the Digimon movies) and overseen by Miyazaki. Also in production is Baron, directed by Mamoru Hosoda and set in the same universe as Whisper of the Heart. Baron will also see release in manga form.
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Love Hina from Bandai
Bandai has announced that the first Love Hina DVD will be released in February of 2002. The romantic comedy, involving the exploits of a student who fails to enter Tokyo University and manages a women's dorm, has had a cult following in the U.S. through fansubs and the bilingual manga. For Bandai's release, each disc will contain four episodes.
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Love Hina Again in Japan
Just over a year after the television series came to a dramatic climax (^^), Love Hina is set to hit the shelves again, this time with the release of new OVA series Love Hina Again to VHS and DVD. The first volume will hit the streets on January 26th and will make Otaku hungry for weeks due to saving lunch money equivalant to 3800 yen. The story introduces another thorn in Keitaro's side, with the rumored fancier being none other than his own sister!
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Toonami Reactor Shows
The latest news from Cartoon Network's Toonami is that it's Reactor site is now streaming Record of Lodoss War and the Captain Harlock saga, following a bizarre riddle that was posted onto the site. Although these programs are only avaliable to high bandwidth users, CN has not ruled out broadcasting either program on the televised Toonami.
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G-Gundam Details
Rumors have been confirmed that a casting call for voice actors in the Vancouver area for G-Gundam. Though G-Gundam ran for 49 episodes (1994-1995) on this side of the Pacific, it is widely considered the weakest Gundam series. The series more resembles a martial arts film than it's fellow Gundam franchises, as it revolves around an international Gundam fighting tournament.
A website for the new Turn-A-Gundam movies has gone up. Featured on the site are the latest news on the films, images, story and character information. It also houses a Real Video trailer. The movies themselves are a retelling of the story from the 1999 Turn-A-Gundam television series. The first movie (Earth Light) will debut on February 2. Moonlight Butterfly, the second movie, will follow on March 9.
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Animatrix Details
Information concerning The Matrix anime has surfaced on The Matrix Revisited DVD and shows that the series will be called Animatrix and will be a 5 part movie series scheduled for release after the second film and will all be produced by Micheal Arias. He is a new producer to anime but certaintly not the movie industry, having produced some of the Halloween films. The 5 movies are to be directed by different people. Yoshiaki Kawajiri (Ninja Scroll, VHD), Mahiro Maeda (Blue Sub. 6) and Square are all on board for the project. Kawajiri-san is to make 2 films, the first takes place in a Ninja training simulator that leads to Matrix action. The second tells the story of a man who breaks through The Matrix by will-power alone. Maeda is directing a 'Prequel' to The Matrix film, with his story showing the appearance of the war between man and machine. Square's part is expected to utilize the ground breaking techniques used in the Final Fantasy movie. Expect to see these films in around a year on a regular basis.
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Rockman GBA Bundle Pack
Capcom announced that they will release a new Battle Network Rockman EXE 2 & GameBoy Advance bundle pack in Japan on December 14, for 14600 yen. The GBA will have a special vivid blue color and Rockman sticker labels beside the GameBoy Advance logo, this limited bundle pack will be available only at the Ito-Yokado TV Game stores in Japan.
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