- The World Cosplay Summit 2008 my comrade mentioned a few days ago is still another couple of months away, but for those curious about who is going to represent Japan this year, the answer is... a girl duo cosplaying as Nausicaa (and Grandmother) from Ghibli's classic Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. Cute, but boring. Mainichi has a gallery with all the other cosplayers. Or for some real pro cosplaying (unrelated to this summit), check out the galleries linked on Sankaku Complex. Win. Oh, hai.

- Is Tokyo the world's "hikikomori" capital? Probably not, since a recent study found just over 25,000 adult hikikomori in Tokyo. Which is an ironically insignificant fraction, considering its population of 8 million. For a funny take on the "hikikomori" issue, watch Welcome to the NHK. Or just watch it regardless, if you haven't yet.

- Speaking about Japan's timeless otaku sub-culture, Sankaku also has a list with the top manga magazines and their circulation over a one-year period. Weekly Shonen Jump wins with over 2.7 million prints - about 225,000 per month. Yeah, that's a shitload!

- On to more serious (aka boring) news, Right Stuf's Nozomi Entertainment announced the release of the To Heart DVD collection on August 26, comprising all 13 episodes of the first To Heart anime from 9 years ago. Yeah, almost a whole decade old. Way to go!

- But wait, how about the two-decade old Maison Ikkoku? Well, this one's not about the anime, but still: the series' live-action TV adaptation will get a final chapter this summer.

- If you can be in London between June 20-22, you'll be able to see a whole bunch of cool anime and live-action movies screened at the BFI Southbank: Makoto Shinkai's 5cm per Second and Beyond the Clouds (with Shinkai himself there!), Paprika, Tokikake, Vexille, Appleseed 2, Tekkon Kinkreet and a couple more.

- And to conclude this lengthy checkpoint, here are some recent screenings of our own: School Rumble 3 trailer, Gundam SEED TV movies trailer, Yes! Precure 5 GoGo! movie trailer, and some gaming clips for Tears to Tiara (awesome looking PS3 game), Infinite Undiscovery (likewise), and a couple of new Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit trailers. Phew!

- I need a drink.