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!

Disney Releases Trailers for Ghibli Films

From AnimeNation:

Buena Vista Home Video now hosts a streaming trailer for its upcoming American DVD release of Nausicaa, Porco Rosso, and The Cat Returns. The trailer includes spoken English dubbed dialogue from all three films, featuring celebrity voice actors including Patrick Stewart as Yupa in Nausicaa, Michael Keaton as Porco in Porco Rosso, and Cary Elwes as The Baron in Cat Returns. The trailer is available on all three product pages. [Source: Nausicaa.net]

On a side note, The Cat Returns is actually a sequel to Whisper of the Heart -- another Ghibli film which, so far as I know, has never been released in the US.

Search for Anime Video

Yahoo! has a new Video Search Function (beta) that looks for video on the web (duh). I'm not sure if you could find full-length anime episodes (you'd be better off with BitTorrent), but at least you can browse for some cool clips if you have nothing better to do.

More Appleseed?

According to AnimeNation:

Variety Magazine has announced that Los Angeles-based Axis Entertainment has contracted Japanese production company Micott & Basara, one of the main sponsors of the full digital animation Appleseed movie, to extend the Appleseed franchise. According to Rotten Tomatoes, the follow-ups may come in the form of a television series and one or more film sequels. Coming Soon reports a possible live-action feature. [Source: Jagged Team]

This is somewhat surprising considering the lukewarm reviews I've read thus far [review 1, review 2]. They basically say that the visuals were awesome, but the story was somewhat lacking. (Of course, that's not to say that I won't be one of the first ones in the theatre when the movie does eventually reach Michigan.) My guess is that the producers are going to try to capitalize on the popularity of the Ghost in the Shell movies and TV series (since Masamune Shirow was the author of the both original manga).

The Appleseed movie is scheduled for theatrical release in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Miami on February 14, 2005.

Mobile Suit Gundam Live Action Movie

According to Ain't It Cool News a "big Hollywood studio" has a deal with Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino to produce a live action version of the popular Mobile Suit Gundam anime series.

I have never really gotten into the series myself (mostly because there is just so much of it with all the spin-offs, that I just didn't want to get so caught up in a single series), so I don't have much more to say. But if you want find out more about what the series is all about, try out the Gundam "Official" site.

So there's going to be a Watchmen Movie too?

More big news! Alan Moore's phenominal superhero comic Watchmen which some argue is the greatest graphic novel of all time, is on it's way to becoming a new film produced by Paramount Picutres.

According to ICV2, the movie was first announced back in July. The first I heard about it was an artile today stating the the original director, Darren Aronofsky, has pulled out of the project and been replaced by Paul Greengrass of The Bourne Supremacy. Greengrass will be working with scriptwriter David Hayter of X-men and X2.

So what is Watchmen?

Here's a summary from Wikipedia:

The title is a reference to the Latin phrase "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes", often translated as "Who watches the watchmen?". The story postulates a world, parallel to ours, in which superheroes actually exist; Alan Moore explores their impact on this society, and postulates a situation where unaccountable supermen arrange the lives of common people...

Plot: A right-wing extremist vigilante, Rorschach, investigates the murder of The Comedian, another costumed adventurer. This triggers another investigation that causes him to track down and interview his former associates, whom he believes are being targeted by an enemy who is out to eliminate the superheroes. In a world that has been drastically changed (Nixon is still President, the Vietnam War was won by the U.S., etc) by the superhuman powers of another adventurer, Dr. Manhattan, the team members start to reconsider who they are in the midst of a complex situation that seems to push events even closer to the brink of an impending global disaster.

It would suck if this movie turned out like the hack-jobs done to Moore's other graphic novel works -- From Hell and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Considering how complex and detailed the novel is, Paramount really has its work cut out for it.

And just in case any of you are wondering how this all connects to anime/manga (not that that stopped me from posting about the Sin City movie), Darren Aronofsky -- the guy who was originally supposed to direct Watchmen -- is set to direct a Lone Wolf and Cub movie.

OMFG!! James Cameron finally confirms BATTLE ANGEL ALITA movie!!

As far as I'm concerned this is bigger -- yes I said BIGGER -- news than the Sin City movie. After years of rumors and speculations, James Cameron finally publicly confirmed to NPR that he will in fact be directing a live action movie version of Yukito Kishiro's awesome manga and my all-time favorite comic/manga/story ever: Battle Angel Alita!

"The film will feature a fully CG rendered protagonist and the film itself will be filmed in 3-D." What the difference between CG and 3-D is, I am not entirely sure, but hopefully it will not be an entirely CG movie like Final Fantasy. To me, it just seems like having a CG character would minimize the emotional impact that the story should have.

I first caught wind of this 2 or 3 years ago when 20th Century Fox bought the www.battleangelalita.com domain name. Then, every so often, Cameron would hint at wanting to work on a BAA movie, but never actually confirmed when/if production would begin. Now, he says that production will begin this upcoming summer.

So what is Battle Angel Alita you ask?

Here's the word strait from Yukito Kishiro's official site:

Tiphares, the gigantic and mysterious mid-air city, covers the sky. Underneath, junkies and cyborgs live in the ruined city known as the "Scrap Yard".

Within the giant pile of ruble cast off from the city in the sky, begins the story of a girl.

One day in the Scrap Yard, and ex-Tipherean citizen and cybernetic doctor named "Ido" finds the partially destroyed body of a young cyborg girl. He names her "Alita".

Even after being restored by Ido, Alita has no memory, so she fights to recover her true self that is hidden somewhere inside her body. While helping Ido against a powerful enemy, Alita's ability to use the "Panzer Kunst", a long lost fighting technique, returns.

By fighting through various encounters in this sci-fi action epic, the cyborg girl, Alita, grows as a human being.

The original manga (known as "Gunm" in Japan) concluded after 9 volumes. Kishiro proceded to worked on a few decent projects including Aqua Knight and Ashen Victor. Then, in 2002, Viz released the english version of the sequel -- Battle Angel Alita: Last Order -- which is currently on the fourth volume. The sequel is actually a very extended alternate ending to the original series (as Kishiro was never fully satisfied with the original ending).

There is also an anime OAV called Battle Angel. The anime loosely covers the first 2 volumes of the manga. It is very good, and relatively popular in the US. But unfortunately what is popular in the US isn't necessarily so in Japan, so follow-up animation was never made.

As you might be able to tell, I am psychoticly in love with this series, so just like with anything else, I am praying to God that Cameron does this manga the justice it deserves.

Yet again...The Sin City Comic Con Trailer

Since the link to trailer that I posted before seems to be down, here is another link to the trailer which is hosted on another site. Plus, here's a cool little image [edit: changed image and description] from Sin City: That Yellow Bastard. As always, enjoy.

Stand Alone Complex Rocks the Cashba'

According to Anime News Network:

Saturday's premiere of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex ranked #1 against all ad-supported cable broadcasts among "persons & males 12-17, 12-24, 12-34 and 18-24." Cartoon Network saw an impressive jump of 294% among adult male viewers 25-49 during the broadcast, versus the same time slot the previous week.

If you missed out on Saturday and want to see if it's really as great as all that (which it is), the first episode will air again tonight at 1:00am.

New Howl's Trailer and Review

I'll make this one quick:

Dark Horizons has a new (XviD encoded) extended trailer for Howl's Moving Castle. And Ain't It Cool News has a somewhat positive review of the movie.

Enjoy.

Samurai Champloo Teaser Trailer

This is definitely a title that I am looking forward to: Samurai Champloo which is Shinchiro Watanabe's hip-hop martial-arts follow-up to the jazz martial-arts western sci-fi tv series Cowboy Bebop.

GATV is hosting a new teaser trailer for the show, and from the looks of it -- coupled with the latest early reviews (if that's not an oxymoron) of the show -- this is going to be a breakout hit when is reaches US shores. The first volume is scheduled for release January 11, 2005.

Broken Saints DVD Release

According to the Broken Saints website the DVD version of their 24-chapter ground-breaking flash-based internet epic will be on sale November 12.

If you have somehow not seen or heard about it, you can still view the entire series via their "classic" site. Otherwise, check out the very impressive trailer for the DVD.

Other than Casshern, more of the same...

IGN.com reports that Casshern, the live-action adaption of the 1970's anime Casshan: Robot Hunter, has been aquired for US distribution by Dreamworks. I've seen positive to mixed reviews for the movie. Regardless, after seeing at the beauty of the trailer, it's hard to not get excited about this one.

In other news, Anime News Network reports that the Appleseed movie will see limited theatrical release in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Miami on February 14, 2005.

According to it's official website, the Steamboy movie will hit US theatres on March 18, 2005.

Disney's February 2005 DVD release of Miyazaki's Porco Rosso, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, and My Neighbor Totoro has been delayed yet again until some date not yet known.

And last, but definitely not least, don't forget that Fullmetal Alchemist and Stand Alone Complex are going to be airing on Cartoon Network this Saturday, November 6, at Midnight and 12:30AM respectively.