Pokemon Causes Cancer

According to Anime News Network:

Scientists at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) have
identified a new gene that, when aberrant, can cause cancer. They've named the
gene POKEMON or POK Erythroid Myeloid Ontogenic factor. Details about the
cancer-causing Pokemon gene can be read on the MSKCC website or in the
January 20th issue of Nature magazine.

The really funny thing is that in the whole article, the researchers never mention the Pokemon anime (at least not that I could see). I'm not sure if the researchers just don't know about the show and the name is just a coincidence (not likely) or if they are just trying to keep a professional tone.

Of course, now that people will be saying that Pokemon causes cancer, it makes that whole seizure-causing episode seem like not such a big deal.

Another Trailer for Howl's Moving Castle

The novelty here is that this one's in french! Muy bien! (or is that Spanish?) Anyway, to access the trailer you will need to go into the site and click on Film-Annonce. Then enjoy.

Paranoia and Champloo on Adult Swim

According GATV.tv, two hip, over-agressive weapons experts will be making their way to Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block this summer. The first is the break-dancing samurai Mugen in Shinichiro Watanabe's hip-hop samurai series Samurai Champloo; the other is the bat-weilding roller-blader Shonen Bat in Satoshi Kon's psychological thriller Paranoia Agent. Both shows kick ass so watch them when they make their way to TV, or if you are the impatient type (like me) go out and buy the DVDs now.

Manga Tops Graphic Novel Sales

According to ICV2, manga has topped sales of all graphic novels in the first weeks of 2005. Ken Akamatsu's followup to the Love Hina series, Negima was the top selling novel. According to the article, Negima was labelled as a children's novel. The funny thing is that when I bought my copy of the initial Negima graphic novels as Media Play, it was shrink-wrapped with a parental advisory sticker on it.

Go figure.

Battle Angel Trilogy ???

From a Yahoo Movies article:

His next project will be shot with a new generation of the Cameron/Pace Reality System 3D camera. The film, "Battle Angel," is based on a series of Japanese graphic novels.

"It takes place in the 26th century, and it's the story of a young girl who has an organic human brain and an entirely synthetic body," he said. "She's a cyborg warrior, it turns out, although she doesn't know that initially, due to amnesia. It's a hero's journey, ultimately."

Cameron has conceived "Battle Angel" as the first of a three-part series. "If we're successful, we'll make the other films. If we're not, we won't."

Most science fiction, says the director, has wandered away from its roots ever since "Star Wars."

"As much as I love 'Star Wars,' and as much as it's really revolutionized the imaging business, it went off the rails in the sense that science fiction, historically, was a science fiction of ideas. It was thematic fiction. It stopped being that and became just pure eye candy and pure entertainment."

"And I miss that. With 'Battle Angel,' I'm going to flirt with that darker, dystopian message as much as I can, without making it an art film," he said.

Well if he doesn't make a movie that sucks, then it'll be successful. If it bombs, it sure won't going to be the fault of the original material. [Edit: Or maybe I'm just being too protective.]

Interview with the Miyazaki Interviewer

The New York Post has published an interview with Hayao Miyazaki. Unfortunately, the interview itself is not online, but as a consolation prize they do have a Q&A with the woman who interviewed Miyazaki. (I guess that would be considered a meta-interview.) The article is an interesting read, especially for those who may not be very familiar with the legendary animator.

On a related note, Box Office Mojo is reporting that Howl's Moving Castle is scheduled for release in June 2005.

Dark Horse Translates Original Vampire Hunter D Novel

According to AnimeNation:

Dark Horse Comics has announced plans to release an English translated version of Hideyuki Kikuchi's first Vampire Hunter D novel, originally published in Japan in 1983.

The 300 page novel will include its original 8 interior illustrations by Yoshitaka Amano and retail at $8.95 beginning May 4th.

Although I am not a huge fan of vampire stories in general, the original Vampire Hunter D anime -- while definitely not among my favorite anime -- was relatively enjoyable. I think the last time I saw it was way back when it had aired on the Sci-Fi channel (which was what? 1995?), so I probably never even saw the fully unedited version.

Although it visually pales in comparison to the more recent Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust; I think I still like story of the original better. Call me crazy.

Cameron Talks about Battle Angel Alita

Scifi.com has posted an interview with James Cameron about the live action Battle Angel Alita movie. In it he makes some interesting comments on the content of the movie. Apparently it will be a mish-mash of the first 3 volumes. He also mentions that he is aiming for release in 2007.

A Sincere Promise and (sheepishly) More Appleseed

Yeah, I know you are probably sick of hearing about the same titles over and over again (Ghost in the Shell, Appleseed, Ghibli, and Sin City) so I am going to say right now that I promise to expand my horizons in the future. My most ambitious hope is that I will start writing some anime DVD reviews which should work to provide more useful and varied information. I'll also try to find a wider range of sources other than Animenation, Anime News Network, ICV2, and Yahoo Movies. So having publicly announced as much, I will hopefully be that much more motivated to actually follow through with my promise.

Having said that, I am going to quickly say that some movie clips and photos as well as the trailer for the Appleseed movie are now available on Yahoo Movies.

Okay, I'm going to be more diverse starting...now.

FullMetal Alchemist Movie Trailer

I'm still trying to get into this series, but I for those who are as in love with FullMetal Alchemist as the rest of the world seems to be, here's a trailer for the upcoming movie.

Cities for Appleseed Movie

The Appleseed website now lists release theatres for cities in Illinois, Florida, Hawaii, California, and Pennsylvania. Where's Michigan, damn it?!

US Casshern Website Now Open

GoFish Pictures has opened the official website for the North American release of the live action Casshern movie. There isn't much there yet other an a link to a story synopsis and another link to the Japanese trailer. It says 2005 release, but hopefully they'll post a more specific release date and release cities soon.

BTW, the picture to the left is actually from the original anime (oooo, aaah).

New Sin City Trailer

Yahoo Movies is now hosting the official Sin City trailer. Looks like some things have changed since the previous trailer. Most notablely is the fact that some of the scenes have a bit of color added to them (notice the part where Nancy is dancing on stage). It's subtle and it does look pretty cool, so I'll look forward to seeing how the effect plays out in the movie as a whole.

Again, the release date is April 1, 2005. I'll be at the midnight showing for sure!