Production I.G. News

Looks like Production I.G. has been keeping busy, considering all the new projects they have coming down the pipe. And this doesn't even include the upcoming Blood+ TV series.

From AnimeNation News:

The official Japanese website for Namco's PS2 RPG Tales of Legendia now hosts a streaming Windows Media trailer featuring gameplay footage and anime footage from Production IG and character designer Kazuto Nakazawa (Samurai Champloo).

The official Japanese website for the upcoming IGPX anime television series now hosts a 3:38 streaming Windows Media format trailer.

The official Japanese website for the xxxHOLiC movie now hosts a streaming Windows Media format full length trailer.

Production IG has added English language pages for the Tsubasa Chronicle motion picture, xxxHOLiC motion picture, and the IGPX television series. Production IG also now hosts the first part of an English language interview with Tsubasa Chronicle movie producer Tetsuya Nakatake.

Gally and Motoko's Esoteric Rumble

A recent "Ask John" article ponders the question "Are the Philosophical Qualities of Gunnm [aka Battle Angel Alita] and Ghost in the Shell Comparable?" The answer is a pretty insightful comparison and analysis of the similiar-but-different philosophies explored in two of my favorite anime/manga titles of all time. Enjoy.

Aeon Flux live action movie clips

The MovieBox has a clip and a couple of behind-the-scenes films from the upcoming live action Aeon Flux movie.

GTO Prequel Manga

According to AnimeNation TOKYOPOP is going to be releasing Toru Fujisawa's manga prequel to GTO, Shonan Junai Gumi. So when are they going to get around to releasing the prequel to that: Bad Company?

Tokyopop to publish Jim Henson-based manga

From ICv2:

Tokyopop announced an agreement with the Jim Henson Company at the San Diego Comic-Con International to publish original manga titles based on three of the Henson Company's fantasy properties including MirrorMask, the feature film from Dave McKean and Neil Gaiman, which is due for release on September 30 of this year. Gaiman suggested that MirrorMask be included in the agreement, which originally included just The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth, and Gaiman will be plotting the Tokyopop MirrorMask manga, which is due out in the fall of 2006. It will serve as a prequel to the MirrorMask film, explaining the princess' escape from the Dark Palace and how she came to acquire the MirrorMask.

The three Henson Company manga titles announced will all feature new original stories; they won't be Cine-manga screen capture versions of the original properties. Like the MirrorMask manga, The Dark Crystal manga will be a prequel to the film; while the Labyrinth manga will serve as a sequel to the 1986 film, following the 13-year-old Toby as he journeys back to the Labyrinth to assume his role as heir to the Goblin Kingdom.

Hey, I like the '80s as much as the next 20-something, but was the decade really that great that they have to re-hash every frigging title that holds even the least little bit of nastalgia? I feel sorry for kids these days who have to grow up with all this re-gurgitation and have very little original material to identify with the decades they grew up in. Or maybe I'm just becoming bitter and angry in my old age.

Live Action Anime Movie Reviews

Ain't It Cool News has published a positive review of the live action Tetsujin-28 (ie, Gigantor) movie and Godzilla: Final Wars. I don't really care about the Godzilla movie since...well...Godzilla is Godzilla and you pretty know what to expect already for the most part.

But as for the Tetsujin-28 movie, it looks like it will be something to look forward to...at least if you are into that kind of thing, which I don't know if I am, but I'm interested anyway.

In contrast to that positive review, Twitchfilm.net has posted a negative review of Tetsujin 28 which they call a "major disappointment".

In addition, they also have a positive review for the live action Cromatrtie High School movie which they say "crackles with energy from start to finish".

I don't know why I've been talking about Cromartie HS so much lately. I don't really like the anime all that much (thoughI've only seen one or two episodes). I'm actually surprised by my distaste for the show because reviewers kept comparing it to Excel Saga which I loved. (And for all of you people who hate Excel because of her annoying voice, that's probably because you watched the english dub. You have to watch it in the original Japanese in order to enjoy the show at all.) I probably liked Excel because I recognized a lot of the parody and satire (though I probably couldn't tell which was which). Whereas, if Cromartie HS has had any of either, I didn't recognize it so it just came off as a bunch of wacky but stupid short episodes.

But anyway, I guess since Cromartie HS is so goofy and out there, I just can't help but be curious with how it would transfer to live action. Or maybe I'm just a sucker for anime adaptions in general.

Dark Horse to release Ghost in the Shell 1.5

According to ICV2, Dark Horse will be releasing Masamune Shirow's Ghost in the Shell 1.5.

Ghost in the Shell 1.5: Human-Error Processor [is] a series of stories originally serialized as part of Ghost in the Shell 2 but not included by Shirow in the Ghost in the Shell 2: Man-Machine Interface collection. The stories, which include "Fat Cat" from 1991, "Drive Slave" from 1992, "Mines of Mind" from 1995, and "Lost Past" from 1996 will be published by Dark Horse in the spring of 2006 in the authentic "right-to-left" format with the same mixture of color and black-and-white pages used in Japan.

This is a switch from the first two GitS titles which were released in the westernized "left-to-right" format. The change in policy probably has a lot (if not all) to do with Dark Horse's take-over of Toren Smith's Studio Proteus.

Studio Proteus originally translated the manga distributed by Dark Horse. Toren Smith, who ran the studio, was a huge and vocal proponent of "flip-flopping" manga to the westernized format and translating sound effects. After he retired and his studio was absorbed by Dark Horse, I'm sure they decided to go along with the current (and easier) trend of keeping the format in the original Japanese.

Of course, this begs the question of whether or not Dark Horse is going to do the same thing with Blade of the Immortal, which is now on it's fourteen volume in the US and is still published "left-to-right". I personally kind of like it better that way, though if keeping it in the original Japanese format allowed them to release the series quicker, I might be able to live with it.

Aeon Flux production photos

Yahoo! Movies has published a new set of production stills from the live action Aeon Flux movie. The movie, which will star Charlize Theron as Aeon and directed by Karyn Kusama (I'm not really familiar with what either of them has done before), is scheduled to be released this fall.

Cromartie lawsuit settled

From Anime News Network:

[T]he legal issues between Warren Cromartie and the producers of the Charge!! Cromartie High live-action movie have been resolved. At a Saturday screening of the movie at the Puchon International Fantasy Film Festival in South Korea Yamaguchi Yudai, the film's director, stated that a compromise was reached with Cromartie that would allow the movie to be screened.No details regarding the compromise, which was only reached yesterday, were provided.

Warren Cromartie is a former MLB baseball player for the Montreal Expos who spent several years playing professional baseball in Japan. Various high-schools in the Cromartie High School manga are named after famous baseball players. Cromartie did not aprove of his name being used to refer to a school full of delinquints and filed a request in Tokyo court to have the release of the movie delayed pending further legal action.

Yudai also stated that he never read the original manga before directing the movie. Applegate's full report from the festival screening is available here.

Live Action Transformers release date

According to E! Online children of the '80s will be sucked into a state of euphoric nastalgia yet again with the realease of the live action Transformers movie.

Dreamworks and Paramount have scheduled the movie for release on July 4, 2007. Michael Bay is lined up to direct and Steven Spielberg will be executive producer. (No actors or writers have yet been announced.)

"The diehard fans will like it as long as it stays true to Transformers roots and doesn't stray too far from the ideals that we grew up with," Brendan Reilly, co-Webmaster of The Transformers Archive (www.tfarchive.com), said in an email interview about the movie announcement. "The casual or un-familar fan will need to see something awesome to win them over, although a 40-foot robot is usually pretty cool."

Looks like the marketing machine already has its gears churning, as there is a new official website, a new animated series on Cartoon network called Transformers: Cybertron, a promotional deal with Burger King starting in August, and "an 18-wheel truck touting the franchise's considerable wares" to be displayed in the convention hall at the Comic-Con International in San Diego.

On a somewhat related note, the article also mentions that the only other movie scheduled for 2007 is Spiderman 3. James Cameron's Battle Angel was orignially scheduled to be released for that year but has presumably pushed that date back due to difficulty in adapting the script. Too bad since it would have made it quite a year to look forward to if all three movies were being released. Now it only somewhat kicks ass.

Old Anime News from Anime Expo

From Anime News Network:

Maki Terashima and other Production I.G staff discussed several of the company’s current projects. This summer, I.G is primarily working on the Blood+ TV series, the Tsubasa and XXXHolic movies, a Fafner OVA, and assorted commercials.

Responding to audience questions, she mentioned that I.G is working to put Otogi Zoushi on American TV and hopes that this can be accomplished by early next year. She also said that although I.G would like to produce a third Ghost in the Shell movie, Mamoru Oshii, the director of the first two GITS movies, is not interested in working on the project any further. There are no plans to produce any more episodes of the Stand Alone Complex TV series.

Also,

At the Gonzo Animation panel, it was confirmed that in addition to the Afro Samurai TV series, the property will also be presented as a videogame, manga, and live-action movie. Samuel L. Jackson, who will voice the main character in the anime, will play the same role in the theatrical feature. All of the Afro Samurai titles are scheduled for release late in 2006.

Four more projects Gonzo is currently working on are a Burst Angel OVA series, an anime based on the American comic Witchblade, and two anime theatrical features.

Live action Initial D beats Star Wars in Hong Kong

From Anime News Network: The associated Press reports that the new Initial D live-action movie earned US$3.6 million during the first ten days of its Hong Kong theatrical release. By comparisson, Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith and Mr. and Mrs. Smith, both currently showing in Hong Kong, earned $2.4 million in 45 days and $2.8 million in 25 days respectively. The movie features Chinese superstar Jay Chou and is directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak, the directors behind Infernal Affairs, one of the most successful movies ever released in Asia.

Evangelion on Cartoon Network

According to Anime News Network ADV Films has announced that Neon Genesis Evangelion will be airing in its entirity on Cartoon Network.

This won't be the first time that Eva has been shown on CN. I think it was like a year (or two?) ago when they aired the first two episodes as part of a special "Giant Robots week" theme on their toonami programming block. The experimental broadcast bombed in the ratings, which probably has something to do with the fact that it was only airing two episodes of a 26 episode series, which begged the question of "why bother watching at all?" It also was probably partially due to the fact that the episodes were horribly hacked and edited so as to appear kid-friendly for the time slot's younger target audience.

There was no mention in the article of whether or not Eva would air in the Adult Swim time slot, where -- if history is any indication -- little editing of the series content would be required. Also not mentioned was whether CN intended to air either of the two Evangelion movies, which were actually intended to replace (or arguably suppliment) the final two episodes of the series.

Either way, it has always seemed like just a matter of time before Eva saw extended action on Adult Swim. No doubt it's broadcast will be guarenteed to generate a new generation of obsessed Eva (and Rei Ayanami) fans as well as new rounds of intense debate over the show's religious symbols, philosophical themes, and controversial ending. I guess some things were never meant to end.

[Edit: The info below was added to this entry because for some reason I didn't think it warrented its own post.]

In other Eva-related news, Newtype magazine has ended its run of the Lagoon Engine Einzats manga (at least for now) and will be replacing it with the Neon Genesis Evangelion: Girlfriend of Steel manga (which be retitled Evangelion: Angelic Days). I'm guessing that the Girlfriend manga is based off of the Girlfriend of Steel video game (or maybe vice versa), which was released in Japan some years ago but was never released in the US.

And lastly, ADV has also signed deals to show Chrono Crusade and Peacemaker Kurogane on Showtime, and show Colorful G4.

Baseball Legend Seeks to Ban Cromartie High School Movie

From AnimeNation:

Warren Cromartie, a former professional baseball player for the Montreal Expos and Japan's Yomiuri Giants, has filed an injunction to prevent Japanese screenings of the live action Sakigake! Cromartie High School motion picture because Mr. Cromartie believes the film slurs his name. The film was scheduled to open in Japanese theaters later this month. [Source: Mainichi Daily News]

You might remember a similiar case way back when professional hockey player Tony Twist was suing Todd McFarlane over using Twist's name for a crime boss in the popular Spawn comic. Of course in the case of Spawn, the name was used intentionally; whereas in Cromartie, I think it's just a coincidence. [Edit: Actually many of the characters were intentionally named after basketball players. My bad.]