News

Manga artist gives demo in Hong Kong; images of software posted

Web radio show, Comic Market radio drama CD also revealed

Kitaro, Deltora Quest, Gundam manga to run in Terebi Mag spinoff

Four new titles in second issue of Square Enix's Zōkan Young Gangan

Hidamari Sketch x 365 high-school slice-of-life anime set for 2008

Seven Seas plans to translate boy-meets-fox-girl-and-wolf-girl novels

20 original designs offered, with optional customized layout

First season was previously announced for 25-episode run

Del Rey is previewing the first 21 pages of Shin Midorikawa's Aventura fantasy manga on the Comic Books blog on the MySpace social community website. The 2005 manga revolves around a boy who trains to be a hero at the Gaius School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The first volume will ship at the end of November.

William College assistant professor Christopher Bolton, DePauw University professor Istvan Csicsery-Ronay Jr., and Keio University professor Takayuki Tatsumi have edited Robot Ghosts and Wired Dreams: Japanese Science Fiction from Origins to Anime, a collection of essays on Japanese science fiction and the genre's connection to anime. The University of Minnesota Press will publish the book in December. Among other topics, the book will explore science fiction by Japanese women and the themes in Evangelion, Serial Experiments Lain, and Patlabor 2. Several of the contributors have previously contributed to Mechademia, the academic periodical on anime and manga that the University of Minnesota Press also publishes.

The official website for L change the WorLd, the Death Note spinoff movie that focuses on the genius detective character L (Ken'ichi Matsuyama), is streaming the first trailer with actual footage from the movie. (After the splash opening on the linked site ends, select the leftmost button.) Up to now, only three teasers with footage from the previous movies have been posted. The trailer was first shown last week in Japanese theaters. This movie opens in Japan on February 9, and the website also announced that the two earlier Death Note movies will simultaneously open in France on January 9. Source: MatsuKen

8 billion yen was spent via mobile devices such as phones

Japanese/Chinese production with locale shoots in Tokyo, Shanghai

Smith Micro Software has announced today that it will acquire the Manga Studio, Anime Studio, and Poser software from e frontier for US$6 million in cash. Celsys developed Manga Studio under the name ComicStudio in Japan, where it remains a popular tool for manga artists. A pared-down version is bundled in Wacom's Bamboo Comic tablet package for manga artists in Japan. Tokyopop had partnered with e frontier to promote Manga Studio, but has since licensed its brand to Planetwide Media's Tokyopop Manga Creator software. Anime Studio is a 2D animation program, while Poser is used by professional and amateurs worldwide to model the human form in 3D.

Yōichi Yonehata, a 23-year-old unemployed man, was charged in Tokyo's Edogawa Ward on November 14 for stealing 101 volumes of manga. The suspect reportedly said, "I'm in deep debt, so I was going to resell the books back to used bookstores." He is suspected of stealing Detective Conan, Hana Yori Dango, and other manga worth about 60,000 yen (US$500) from the Tsutaya's main Edogawa store on November 3 between 4:20 and 4:40 p.m. He allegedly took about 50 volumes out of the store in a plastic bag, hid them in a parking lot, and then went back to get more. He was caught when a nearby bicycle store's employee spotted him. Source: Jiji Press, Asahi Shimbun

The official website of Hakusensha's Young Animal manga magazine announced that Studio 4°C (The Animatrix, Genius Party) will animate a DVD based on Kiminori Wakasugi's Detroit Metal City rock parody manga. This DVD and the live-action film are the two adaptations of the manga that were announced last week. Source: Ultimatum

Main character to be a female otaku of boys-love manga in high school

L's actor to play death metal rocker in "rockumentary" parody

"Famous writer" tells L change the WorLd's story in advance novel

The media production company Starchild and the online video service Nico Nico Douga are streaming a 17-minute, 34-second video of the first episode of the Yawaraka Sangokushi Tsukisase!! Ryofuko-chan video series. Ryofuko-chan is the fictional anime, loosely based on the Chinese Romance of the Three Kingdoms historical novel, that the characters in Jiro Suzuki's I, Otaku - Struggle in Akihabara comedy manga "watch" in their world. Square Enix turned it into a real manga in Monthly G Fantasy magazine before Starchild completed its transformation into a real anime. The first video episode will ship in Japan on December 26. Source: Moon Phase