Learn Japanese @ Japancast.net

Even though they aren’t a sponsor, I always like to point out bargain anime when I find it.  Right Stuf has some awesome deals right now on anime on DVD.

Go here:  http://www.rightstuf.com/1-800-338-6827/catalogmgr/cBuyGqMr6ieJrAhUOS/browse/category/4/0/0

And then click on the button that says “Bargain Bin Blowout” - I saw Ergo Proxy DVDs for $5 and some really good deals on EVA Platinum Editions ($6).  Samurai Champloo DVDs are going for $10 too.

If you buy something, feel free to mention you saw this post here!  Maybe Japancast can pick up Right Stuf as a sponsor.  \(^-^)/

From AWN.com:

Original, uncut Japanese versions of NARUTO, BLEACH and DEATH NOTE animated episodes (subtitled in English) are now streaming on Web video service Hulu.com.

Hulu has more than 100 content partners and offers nearly 900 show and movie titles, including 200 full-length feature films and 400 television series with hundreds of videos added to the service each week. NARUTO and DEATH NOTE launched in the United States on Hulu this week. BLEACH and new episodes of each title will be added regularly on Hulu.

The launch with Hulu is the latest expansion of VIZ Media’s strategy to make available a variety of hit animated series through Web-based, video streaming outlets. Hulu, launched in March of this year, provides free accessibility and offers users the freedom to legally share full-length episodes or clips via e-mail or embed them on other web sites, blogs and social networking pages.

NARUTO, DEATH NOTE, and BLEACH have emerged as three of the world’s most popular Japanese animated series, each attracting millions of devoted viewers with a blend of stylish animation, multi-faceted characters and riveting story lines. Each series is based on a popular manga series and enjoys tremendous international popularity.

LINK to the anime category on Hulu.

If you’re a fan of anime figures, now’s your chance to easily purchase them.  Danny Choo has just announced the English version of the Good Smile Company website.

Danny is one of the most popular bloggers in Japan, covering anime, manga, toy shows and games.

I’ve always been impressed with the level of detail these figures have.

I will warn you, though.  Although many of the figures are quite tame, there are figures available in Japan that are from Ero-games, manga and anime.  They most certainly are rated R.

A quick check of the site and I found they do indeed give you a warning that says “mature content, 18 years or older” - so you are warned before going to a section that is NSFW.

Check out Good Smile Company.

If you’ve always dreamed of having huge eyes like the characters in your favorite anime, now you can!  Apparently this somewhat sketchy appearing site is now selling contact lenses that have a much larger colored area than normal colored contacts.  This gives the appearence of much larger eyes.

The site says:

Wanna get big watery shiny eyes without plastic surgery?  Always crave to get big eyes like Korean actresses and famous Ayumi Hamasaki?

I suppose if you’re really into cosplay, it’d be worth the $35.  Of course, personally I don’t stick anything in my eyes (but I’m a big chicken).

What do you think?

Over on the Japancast Social Site, I’ve asked everyone to make sure they have an avatar & upload a photo.  However, some people don’t want to use their photo for their avatar and don’t know how to make one.  I just found a site that will let you create your own avatar in manga style.  It’s easy to use and does a pretty nice job.  Here is an avatar of me.

So head over to http://www.faceyourmanga.com and create your avatar and then upload it to the Japancast Social Site!

From AWN News and Variety:

Paramount Pictures and Brad Pitt’s Plan B have purchased the rights to manga series MIKI FALLS, per VARIETY.

TV writer Sera Gamble will adapt the four-volume series from Mark Crilley. MIKI FALLS is about Miki Yoshida’s senior year in high school. When she tries to befriend handsome new student Hiro Sakurai she is met with resistance, but she stubbornly refuses to take no for an answer, leading to a surprising revelation about the secretive teenage boy.

Crilley is best known for the AKIKO young adult novels and comics. The first of the MIKI FALLS series, each of which is a calendar season, was published in May 2007 by HarperTeen.

Gamble is a producer on SUPERNATURAL on The CW and was a staff writer on EYES on ABC. She was a finalist on PROJECT GREENLIGHT for her screenplay CHEEKS.

I find it interesting that Spielberg is remaking Ghost in the Shell.  Hopefully he won’t wreck it the way he wrecked Indy 4….

From AWN News:

Two animated features from Japanese masters have been selected for the 65th edition of the Venice Film Festival: Mamoru Oshii’s THE SKY CRAWLERS and Academy Award-winner Hayao Miyazaki’s PONYO ON THE CLIFF BY THE SEA (GAKE NO UE NO PONYO).

The films are in competition for the Golden Lion award at the festival, which will be August 27-September 6 in Venice, Italy.

Oshii is the only Japanese animation director who has had their work selected for competition at both Cannes and Venice. Production I.G.’s THE SKY CRAWLERS will be released in Japan on August 2. Oshii’s 1995 film adaptation of famed manga GHOST IN THE SHELL is being remade by Steven Spielberg in the U.S.

THE SKY CRAWLERS is set in another possible “now” — a world that has eradicated war. Private war contractors enlist fighter pilots known as Kildren to perform in an endless “war as a show” that people watch on TV and read about in the papers. Kildren don’t age, and live in a state of eternal adolescence until they die in the sky. When pilot Yuichi Kannami arrives to his new airbase, the only things he recalls are that he’s a Kildren and how to operate a fighter plane. Base commander Suito Kusanagi behaves as if she’s been impatiently waiting for him. What does Suito know about Yuichi’s past? What are the secrets behind the Kildren?

PONYO is the reclusive anime director Miyazaki’s latest feature animation; Miyazaki will be making an appearance at Venice. PONYO’s hand-drawn animated story follows a 5-year-old boy and his relationship with a goldfish princess who wants to become human. It was released in Japan on July 19.

Miyazaki’s SPIRITED AWAY won the 2002 Best Animated Feature Oscar and 2004’s HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE was nominated for the 2005 Best Animated Feature. SPIRITED AWAY was the first anime film to win an Academy Award.

Looks like we’re going to see a flood of new movies based on Naruto, Bleach, Death Note and more.

From AWN News:

Japanese manga and graphic novel publisher VIZ Media is starting a production company to create films from their catalogue, including NARUTO, BLEACH and DEATH NOTE, per VARIETY.

Jason Hoffs, former production exec at Amblin and DreamWorks, will head up the company, based in Hollywood.

Japanese publishing houses Shogakukan, Shueisha and Hakusensha are the parent companies. Those three publish almost half of all manga that comes to the U.S.

Hoffs will be a mediator between the creative licensors in Japan and Hollywood, with VIZ Prods. to develop some titles in house.

“Properties like NARUTO, BLEACH, DEATH NOTE, VAMPIRE KNIGHT and MONSTER are just a few properties that show the massive appeal of manga to many different demographics, and we have an almost endless pool of titles to draw from,” Hoffs said to VARIETY.

VIZ is just one of many publishing companies taking the Japanese example and setting up production pipelines for their own content. Newspaper giant THE NEW YORK TIMES and videogame company Capcom have also recently announced film projects.

Until watching this video, I had no idea that France was the 2nd largest consumer of manga in the world.  Omoshiroi!

RIGHT STUF & NOZOMI ENTERTAINMENT Announce
GAKUEN ALICE, TOWARD THE TERRA Movie & Upcoming Releases
Anime Expo 2008: New license announcements, preview of 21st year

GRIMES, IA, July 4, 2008 – Anime producer and distributor Right Stuf, Inc. and Nozomi Entertainment started the company’s 21st year with a bang by making several announcements during its July 4th panel at Anime Expo 2008. Right Stuf President and C.E.O. Shawne Kleckner revealed the acquisition of theGAKUEN ALICE television series, the first-ever North American DVD release of the classic TOWARD THE TERRA movie, a remastered re-release of THE IRRESPONSIBLE CAPTAIN TYLOR, and additional details about future releases for several ongoing series, including EMMA: A VICTORIAN ROMANCE, MARIA WATCHES OVER US and ARIA.

GAKUEN ALICE

Right Stuf and Nozomi Entertainment announced its license for GAKUEN ALICE, as well as plans to release the series in a single DVD box set – with Japanese audio and English-language subtitles – during 2009. A comedy with supernatural and magical elements, the series chronicles the adventures of Mikan, a spunky and excitable 10-year-old, as she runs away from home and follows her genius best friend to a mysterious Tokyo school for students with exceptional abilities and gifts.

This 26-episode adaptation of Tachibana Higuchi’s ongoing manga features direction by Takahiro Omori (Baccano!, Hell Girl) and aired on Japan’s national NHK television network. (Savvy fans will also notice “Mikan,” the series’ pig-tailed heroine, is portrayed by Kana Ueda, the voice of “Yumi” in Maria Watches Over Us, “Rin” in Fate/stay Night and “Hayate” in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A’s.)

The original manga is currently serialized in Japan’s Hana to Yume girls’ manga magazine, where it has appeared alongside titles including Fruits Basket, Hana-Kimi, Skip Beat! and Special A since its 2003 debut. The Gakuen Alice manga is published in North America by TOKYOPOP.

Visit gakuenalice.rightstuf.com for more information about Gakuen Alice and to pre-order the box set.

TOWARD THE TERRA Movie

In response to fan requests, Right Stuf and Nozomi announced the first-ever North American DVD release of the TOWARD THE TERRA movie. (Right Stuf had previously released the title on VHS and laserdisc.) This classic film adaptation of Keiko Takemiya’s ground-breaking, science-fiction manga was produced by Toei Animation and is a forerunner to the Toward the Terra TV series, soon-to-be released by Bandai Entertainment. Takemiya’s original manga, known as To Terra (Terra e…), is published for English-speaking audiences by Vertical, Inc. The new DVD release will feature Japanese audio and English-language subtitles.

The Toward the Terra movie depicts a future where mankind’s seemingly utopian society is strictly controlled by the government, which ruthlessly suppresses anything that threatens to disrupt the status quo. When 14-year-old Jomy begins to question the way the society is run, he suddenly becomes a target for both the government and the Mu, an outcast race that possesses extra-sensory abilities and has been fighting against the government for generations. Now, each group is determined to hunt him down – one to kill him and the other to save him.

Visit terra.rightstuf.com for more information about the Toward the Terra movie and to pre-order the DVD.

Remastered IRRESPONSIBLE CAPTAIN TYLOR

Nozomi Entertainment has plans to revisit another fan favorite from the Right Stuf catalog, with upcoming re-releases of THE IRRESPONSIBLE CAPTAIN TYLOR. The television series and OVAs (original video animation) each will be re-released as bilingual, thinpak-style box sets that utilize remastered video footage from the Japanese DVD release and feature “soft subtitles.”

As a service to fans who purchased the “Ultra Edition” versions of these releases, Right Stuf will offer a trade-in program, with details to be announced in the future.

Proclaimed one of the “50 best anime of all time” by Anime Insider, The Irresponsible Captain Tylor is based upon a series of novels by Hitoshi Yoshioka and features direction by Koichi Mashimo (Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE, Noir, Sorcerer Hunters). The English dub stars Crispin Freeman as “Captain Justy Ueki Tylor,” Lisa Ortiz as “Azalyn,” Rachael Lillis as “Yuriko Star,” Carol Jacobanis as “Harumi Nakagawa,” David Brimmer as “Lt. Makato Yamamoto” and Veronica Taylor as “Shia Has.”

Visit www.tylor.com for information about The Irresponsible Captain Tylor and for details about the re-releases and trade-in program, as they are made available.

Additional Release Dates & Info for EMMA - Season 2, MARIA WATCHES OVER US, ARIA & Merchandise

Finally, Kleckner revealed release dates and additional details for several ongoing and upcoming series:

- The EMMA: A Victorian Romance – Season 2 DVD Collection is scheduled for release on October 28, 2008. This second box set will include the 12 episodes of the series’ “Second Act,” plus “Episode 0: Intermission,” a recap/preview released prior to the start of the Season 2 telecast in Japan.

As with the first season set, the first 1,000 anime fans to pre-order the Season 2 box set from RightStuf.com will be recognized in a “special thanks” section of the DVD credits for the set.

Visit emma.rightstuf.com for more information about Emma: A Victorian Romance and to pre-order the Season 2 DVD Collection.

- The MARIA WATCHES OVER US (Maria-sama ga Miteru) Season 1 DVD Collection was previously announced to street on July 29, 2008, and while supplies last, fans who pre-order the box set directly from RightStuf.com will receive a Lillian Girls’ School/ Chinesis Family cell phone charm. (The box sets for future seasons will also have similar “pre-order direct” special offers.)

The Maria Watches Over Us – Season 2 DVD Collection, featuring the second television season, is currently scheduled for late Fall 2008. The third box set will follow in 2009.

Right Stuf and Nozomi will be collecting fans’ questions for an interview with Maria Watches Over Us creator Oyuki Konno. Look for details to be announced post-Expo.

Visit mariasama.rightstuf.com for more information about Maria Watches Over Us (Maria-sama ga Miteru).

- The ARIA THE ANIMATION DVD Collection is scheduled for release on September 30, 2008, and it will have a special “pre-order from RightStuf.com” offer.

Additional DVD releases for ARIA are scheduled for early 2009.

Visit aria.rightstuf.com for more information about Aria the Animation and to pre-order the box set.

- Nozomi also has plans to release new shirts and apparel featuring artwork from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, several FUNimation properties (Hell Girl, Mushi-shi, School Rumble and more), Gravitation and Ninja Nonsense (Ninin ga Shinobuden), plus a new line of original designs that includes the previously announced Otaku Collegiate and the soon-to-be-announced Sounds of the Samurai collections.