Checkpoint: Tiger & Bunny, Mass Effect, Inazuma 11

A report seeping out of the pages of Tokuma Shoten's Animage magazine this weekend (via ANN) reveals that Tiger & Bunny: The Beginning - the first anime film in the franchise - will have story elements similar to those in last year's TV series. The movie is planned for a September 2012 premiere in Japan. However, the second film (currently planned for 2013) will tell an entirely new story, and the project as a whole will also have new characters.




As a follow-up to the recent announcement of an animated film based on BioWare's latest sci-fi RPG franchise, titled Mass Effect: Paragon Lost, some early designs for the project are being previewed by FUNimation in the video below - from this week's SXSW 2012 festival. The movie is animated by Production I.G, in collaboration with BioWare, T.O. Entertainment, and FUNimation. It serves as a prequel to Mass Effect 3, and follows the early career of Alliance Marine, James Vega.



The new Inazuma Eleven series is a "shocking time travel adventure", and the script recording of the first episode has already been completed, according to Akihiro Hino, the president of the game developer Level-5. But, wait... A new Inazuma Eleven anime series? What about the ongoing Inazuma Eleven GO?... Ah, well, do any of you actually care?




And to finish off with a good serving of unorthodox anime cocktail, Crunchyroll rounded up the newest Japanese independent anime shorts - part 6. The clear winner, I'd say, has got to be "Syake-chan" ("Salmon-chan"). It was directed by Yumiko Toyoshima, as the graduation work for Nihon Kogakuin College Manga Animation Department.