First a doujinshi manga, then a couple of anime adaptations, not to mention that PS3 / X360 video game... and now, a live-action film of Afro Samurai is officially on the way, as well, with actor Samuel L. Jackson producing it alongside The Indomina Group (a U.S. / Dominican Republic company) and Gonzo Studios - who of course adapted the 2007 TV anime series and its 2009 anime film sequel Afro Samurai: Resurrection.



Although Indomina's press release doesn't explicitly mention this, we can safely (...)

 Continue reading 'Afro Samurai Gets Movie, With Samuel L. Jackson'...

A Holy Knight OVA adaptation was announced to be in the making, as the first anime project created by Cammot (whoever they are), based on Maya Miyazaki's vampire-hunting manga. As summarized on ANN, "the "dramatic school (romantic) fantasy" centers around an ordinary orphan named Mizumura, who goes to a missionary school in Tokyo. His seemingly normal life changes when a beautiful half-Romanian girl named Lilith suddenly transfers into his school. This timid boy is actually a vampire hunter and the successor of the Romyuarudo lineage". No release date yet, but it sure looks promising...



A Brave10 TV anime series is in the works, based on Kairi Shimotsuki's manga sequel Brave10 S (Spiral). "The story reimagines the legendary adventures of the 10 brave warriors assembled by the warlord Sanada Yukimura in the year 1600, in the middle of Japan's tumultuous Sengoku (Warring States) era", ANN explains, though without mentioning a release date at this time. (...)

 Continue reading 'Checkpoint: Holy Knight, Brave10, High Score, Akira'...

Last update - 18:34 GMT (13:34 EST, 10:34 PST)

A Suite Precure anime film was announced yesterday, as the 11th movie in the Pretty Cure magical girls franchise (following the Precure All Stars DX3 anime film that premieres in Japan this March 19). As always produced by Toei, this new film - titled Eiga Suite Precure - should open there in October 2011. Like the TV anime series that's starting this February 6, it will feature two new heroines: the pink-haired Cure Melody and the blonde-haired Cure Rhythm, who "save the world with music!" (when they're not busy spicing up our gallery).



Pre-orders for Nintendo's new 3DS handheld have opened today at Japanese retailers, and among recent rumors of launch-day shortages, people have been lining up in typical otaku fashion (e.g. queues of up to 260 people have been reported), trying to secure their pre-order. The 3DS launches on February 26, at which time there will only be about 400,000 units available according to unconfirmed retail reports. Nintendo's official story is (...)

 Continue reading 'Checkpoint: Precure, 3DS, Kojima, Pedobear'...

Waking up on a Sunday morning with no overdue anime news? That's new... Well then, I'll take this time to touch upon the upcoming movie hawtness that is Sucker Punch. Just because it's hawt. And because this week saw the release of two new posters - which, as you may have guessed by now, are hawt. I'm not repeating myself, am I?



March 25 is when Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen) will unleash his latest epic tale of pewpew and CG abuse, featuring six deadly chicks: Amber (Jamie Chung), Baby Doll (Emily Browning), Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens), Madam Gorski (Carla Gugino), Rocket (Jena Malone) and Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish). Above is the latest Sucker Punch poster that surfaced yesterday, and below is the other huge banner from a few days ago. Also, if you somehow missed the earlier trailers and featurette, you can watch them over on TVkon. (...)

 Continue reading 'Sucker Punch New Posters, Old Trailers'...

Last update - 06:27 GMT (01:27 EST, 22:27 PST)

As I was going over the latest happenings in the "Tiger Mask" saga (see below), it occured to me that I never got to mention Tiger & Bunny, since our comeback. It's a mecha-themed TV anime in the works at studio Sunrise for an April 2011 debut. And, as it happens, its official website was renewed this week with some info and visuals - including the image below, and some sexy character sheets. Well, one more sexy than the others...




The "Tiger Mask" / "Naoto Date" explosive chain-reaction keeps growing at an accelerated rate: as of this Wednesday, over 290 donations have been reported, with some new anime references joining in on the fun, and pushing the grand total of gifts at over 350 backpacks and 10 million yen (about $120,000) in cash. This is madness! THIS IS JAPAN!

Speaking of madness and anime references, (...)

 Continue reading 'Checkpoint: Tiger & Bunny, Tiger Mask, Babes'...

The upcoming Death Note live-action film - the "made in Hollywood" one, that we've been hearing inconclusive stuff about for well over two years - has finally got itself a director: Shane Black, who made his helming debut with the 2005 movie Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and... umm... nothing else since. But he did do quite a bit of very well paid screenwriting in the late '80s and '90s, such as for the Lethal Weapon series.



Deadline broke this news, adding that Anthony Bagarozzi and Charles Mondry are writing the script for this new Death Note movie. As it happens, they're also working with Shane Black on his other current project, a drama flick titled Doc Savage. He hasn't decided yet which of the two he'll do first, although he sounds passionate enough about Death Note, (...)

 Continue reading 'Death Note To Be Directed By Shane Black'...

Last update - 23:41 GMT (18:41 EST, 15:41 PST)

The end of Bleach might be closer than expected, if a certain rushed blog post by the Japanese rock band ROOKiEZ is PUNK'D turns out to be true. They are the ones singing the anime series' latest ending theme song, and their post originally said that their tune "is perfect for the final season's climax" (implying that the anime will end by April). The message has since been edited to no longer include that remark, either because it was an untimely revelation, or they simply got it all wrong. Update: The rumor has been denied by Morita Yosuke, the anime's assistant recording director, who stated: "The airing schedule has been fixed far in advance and it won't be ended soon".



Realistically speaking, the worst-case scenario would be for the TV anime series to take a temporary break, and allow for more material to build up in the ongoing manga that it's based upon (since it's been catching up rather fast with the manga's story). The Bleach anime is currently at its 304th episode, which just came out today, as a matter of fact. And here's a freshly uploaded trailer previewing episode 305.


The "Tiger Mask" / "Naoto Date" charitable trend has finally reached critical mass, resulting in an explosive chain-reaction all over Japan, (...)

 Continue reading 'Checkpoint: Bleach, Tiger Mask, Live-Actions'...

Last update - 21:22 GMT (16:22 EST, 13:22 PST)

How much would a replica of Yui's guitar from K-ON! be worth, one that's signed by all five of the anime's seiyuus? 3 million yen? 20 million yen?... 9,999,999,999 yen?! All these are actual (albeit dubious) bids for such a guitar that's being offered at an online auction, on the Yahoo! Japan website. The latter one - obviously a dupe - would be about $120 million. But since then, the auction has been re-listed, in hopes for more serious bidders. Fat chance!



The two lead actors from this month's live-action Gantz movie - Ken'ichi Matsuyama and Kazunari Ninomiya - will appear in person at the film's January 20 premieres from both Japan (in Tokyo) and the U.S. (in Hollywood). Indeed, that very same day! Brrr, have fun with the jet-lag, guys.

A new Patlabor-related book by Mamoru Oshii is being listed for release (...)

 Continue reading 'Checkpoint: K-ON!, Gantz, Patlabor, Tiger Mask'...

More Resident Evil? Yes, please! Rather than easing our zombie-like hunger, this month's live-action film Resident Evil: Afterlife - again starring the perpetually-hot Milla Jovovich - has only left us drooling for more. Then again, she always has that effect... And when she ultimately won't anymore, her little girl will hopefully follow in her hollywoodian footsteps... Nnnghhh... Where was I?



Right, Resident Evil: Damnation. It's a newly announced 3D CG animation film coming in 2012 from Sony Pictures, as always based on Capcom's survival horror games franchise otherwise known as Biohazard. As the sequel to the 2008 CG film Resident Evil: Degeneration, this new one will see the return of Leon S. Kennedy as the main character.

Aside from this irrelevant detail, the only other thing revealed (...)

 Continue reading 'Resident Evil: Damnation CG Film Announced'...

A Japanese manga and anime franchise... spawning a Taiwanese live-action TV series... starring a cute Korean actress in the leading role... is fine, too! The manga / anime in question is Hayate no Gotoku!, the Taiwanese production company is irrelevant, and - more importantly - the cute Korean actress (soon-to-be loli tsundere Nagi) is Park Shin-Hye. Did I mention she's cute? Damn cute! And only 20 years old.



ANN's report doesn't reveal any solid release plans for this upcoming live-action TV series, so we might as well move on to the less relevant details. Joining Park Shin-Hye for the main duo will be 28-year-old actor George Hu, who of course will be playing Hayate the combat butler / bodyguard / boxing bag or whatever else is required of him, by his loli master Nagi.

As an addition to the project's national diversity, it turns out that (...)

 Continue reading 'Hayate no Gotoku! Gets Live-Action TV Series'...