Nozomi Entertainment has announced that it is releasing a line of casual wear called Otaku Collegiate.  The first items in this line are a T-shirt and a hoodie.  Both of these items will be available on July 31st and the T-shirt will cost $16.99 and the hoodie will cost $39.99.

Cannes Film Festival has named Wolfie the Pianist as an Official Selection of the Short Film Corner.  The 15 minute short was directed by Toshiki Iwahori and produced by Studio 4°C.  It's about a wolf who receives a letter begging him to play the piano.  Wolfie jouneys across the world to find the sender, and plays his piano throughout the trip.

Bandai Visual Japan has announced plans to enter the rental industry.  Beginning on July 25th they will be renting Char's Counterattack on Blu-Ray.  Following that, they have announced 9 titles that they will rent on Blu-Ray.  They are:

Wings of Honneamise
Patlabor the Movie
Patlabor 2 the Movie
Patlabor
Jin-Roh
Avalon
Gundam F91
Cowboy Bebop Knockin' on Heaven's Door
Escaflowne the Movie

JapanFiles.com announced today that Budo Grape has added two new dates to their US tour.  After making their US debut at A-Kon 19 on May 30th, they will then appear in San Antonio and New York City.  They will be at Sam's Burger Joint in San Antonio on June 3rd, and then at the Knitting Factory in New York City on June 5th.

Bandai Visual has announced that beginning this fall, it will begin releasing Blu-ray discs of it's titles simultaneously throughout the world.  They announced that Freedom would be one of the first titles released under this new strategy.  The discs will include subtitles in Japanese and English among other languages. 

They also announced that Bandai Channel plans to begin selling downloads of its content.  They want to sell downloads for specialized devices, instead of streaming, to protect their material.

Megumi Hayashibara announced on her official site that she will be singing both the opening and ending theme songs for Slayers Revolution.  She has already been confirmed as returning to voice Lina Inverse, along with most of the original cast.

ComiPress has posted an authorized English translation of Manga Zombie.  The book was originally posted in 1997 and is about underground manga artists.  The online translation only covers part of the book, but the writer, Takeo Udagawa, and translator, John Gallagher, said in an interview on the site that they hope a publisher would be interested in publishing a full english translation.

OverDrive has posted the first full preview issue of Cosmode Online.  Registration is required, but is free.  The online magazine is based on the original Cosmode which is the leading magazine devoted to cosplay in Japan.  The first non-free issue will be posted on Cosmode's website on May 25th.

In addition, Broccoli Books will ship the first print issue of Cosmode USA to bookstores in July.

Aurora Publishing has listed the first two volumes of Hitohira for October and December release.  Deux Press, Aurora's boys-love imprint, has also announced four titles via the May issue of Previews.  They are Heavenly Body, Maid in Heaven, Ruff Love, and Two of Hearts.  All four titles are slated for July/August release.

IGN has posted four clips of the English dub of Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion.  In addition, Adult Swim's website is streaming the first full episode.  The first episode aired on Adult Swim this past weekend.

Right Stuf has started a new sale and released a list of brand new deals.  You can see their new Weekly Specials Here.  This week some of the highlights include the Read or Die (ROD) TV DVD Box Set (1-7, Ltd Book) for $99.99 (regularly $199.98) and Saiyuki Reload DVD Box Set for $84.99 (regularly $159.98).

Also this week, Right Stuf is continuing the Stock Up for Spring sale which gives you 40% off all DVD's and other items from Media Blaters, Tokyo Shock, and Kitty Media.  You just have to use the coupon code "springstock" when you check out to get the discount.  The sale runs from now until April 27th.

Nozomi Entertainment is teasing a new licensing announcement at comingsoon.rightstuf.com  The announcement will be made at 3 PM EDT on May 1st.  The last time they did this, they announced Maria Watches Over Us, so it wiill be interesting to see what they have this time.

Otakon has announced that Madhouse studio's co-founder Masao Maruyama will be returning as a guest to the convention.  Maruyama has been the producer for most of the work that Madhouse has done, including Trigun, Perfect Blue, Black Lagoon, NANA, Beck, Monster, and Death Note.  This will be his sixth appearance at the convention. 

Otakon will take place August 8th - 10th in Baltimore, Maryland.

Viz Media has announced that it will be releasing a season 1 box set of Buso Renkin on April 29th, 2008.  This will be a 3 disc set thta will contain the first 13 out of 26 epsiodes as well as interviews with the English cast and director.  The box will have a foil slipcase and feature exclusive art prints.  It will be priced at $49.98.

Buso Renkin is based on a 10 volume manga series by Nobuhiro Watsuki, the creator of Rurouni Kenshin and Gun Blaze West.

GDH, the parent company of Gonzo, has announced that it will be taking Fujio Akatsuka's Hennako-chan manga online with a limited animated version.  It will be distributing it online with both English and Chinese subtitles via YouTube.  The animated version will take the manga and add motion, dialogue and sound effects to make a weekly series of six 3 minute shorts.  The first episode will debut on April 25th and will be found here.

ICv2 announced at New York Comic Con that it has found that the American retail graphic novel market in 2007 grew 5% to $210 million US.  This is a slower rate of growth than in past years.  It is attributed to Bookstore sales growing as they found that direct market sales in comic book stores actually dropped.

Broccoli Books has posted previews of Koi Cupid and sola.  The first volume of Koi Cupid shipped in March and the first volume of sola will ship on June 18th.  Both titles are two volumes long.

A 21 year old anime fan has disappeared while traveling in Japan.  Skye Lynn Budnick, a student at Central Connecticut State University and member of the anime club, purchased a one way ticket to Japan and left without informing her family.  She was last seen April 7th at an inn in Noboribetsu, on the island of Hokkaido.  Her family has traveled to Hokkaido and is working with the US Embassy, the US Consulate in Sapporo, and local police.  So far they have been unsuccessful in finding clues to her whereabouts. 

The Record-Journal in Meriden, CT reports that Budnick left her home in Southington with just her laptop and about $800 in cash.  The family found her itinerary in her email a couple days after she disappeared along with a suicide note that she had written but never sent.  The United States Consulate in Sapporo has asked anyone that might have information on Budnick's whereabouts to call (011)641-1115 (from overseas call 81-11-641-1115)

Vexille is scheduled to play at the Independent Film Festival of Boston on April 25th and 28th.  The CG movie is by Fumihiko Sori who also worked on the production of Appleseed.  Viz Pictures has announced that Maiko Haaaan!!! will also be hitting a few major cities.  It will play in New York until April 24th, then move to Seattle, Washington from May 2nd - 8th.  It will then end up in Los Angeles from May 23rd - 29th.

We received a press release today announcing that a new site Save Our Anime.com has opened to the public.  There has been a lot of talk recently about the troubles that the anime industry is facing due to illegal distribution.  Save Our Anime's purpose is to help educate fans about the problems and unite them to help save the industry that has brought us all together.  They will be bringing news related to this issue to the public as well as offering tips for helping to combat the problem. 

Tokyopop announced at New York Comic Con that it has licensed Tomo Takabayashi and Temari Matsumoto's original novel, Maru-Ma.  Maru-Ma is the novel series that spawned Kyo Kara Maoh.  They also announced that they will be publishing 22 more titles based on Warcraft and Starcraft between now and 2010.

CMX Manga announced at the New York Comic Con that it has licensed several new titles.  They include Classical Medley by Sanae Kana, Astral Project, Suihelibe! by Naomi Azuma, Fire Investigator Nanase, Venus Capriccio, Jihai, and Ballad of a Shinigami.

Bandai Entertainment revealed more details of their planned release of Gurren Lagann.  They are going to start releasing the series subtitled only in July of this year.  They will release the entire series like this between July and September of this year.  They plan to release a dubbed version sometime in the first quarter of 2009.  The dub will be started over from scratch and not use any of what was already done by ADV Films.  Possible online distribution is in the works as is a Blu-ray release.

Funimation has announced that Robotech: Shadow Chronicles will be released on Blu-ray on September.  The disc will contain a new special edition that will contain twenty minutes of additional extras not found on past releases.

Viz Media announced at NYCC that it will be releasing the Hunter X Hunter anime in season box sets beginning in the fourth quarter of this year.  Other season sets will follow at two month intervals.  They also confirmed that Blue Dragon will hit DVD in September.  Full Moon wo Sagashite, Hikaru no Go and Prince of Tennis are all on hold for the forseeable future.

They also announced that VIZBIG editions of the Dragon Ball and Vagabond manga.  They also announced upcoming releases of Cowa! and One-Pound Gospel.  Finally they announced that there will be more Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, Black Lagoon, and Oishiinbo coming.  They do not intend to publish all of Oishinbo however, the 101st volume of which just shipped in Japan.

Digital Manga Publishing announced at NYCC that it will be releasing Swallowing the Earth by Osamu Tezuka.  The series was originally published from April 1968 to July of 1969 in Big Comic magazine.  Swallowing the Earth was one of Tezuka's first stories intended for an adult audience.

Yen Press announced at NYCC that it will be releasing Soul Eater, Nabari no O, Sumomomo Momomo, Bamboo Blade, and Higurashi - When They Cry.   It will initially run all five in the Yen Plus anthology magazine.  The first issue of the magazine will be rleased on July 29th.

Del Rey Manga announced that it's New York Comic Con panel that it will be releasing Gakuen Prince, Samurai 7, and Sayonara Zetsubo manga titles.  All three are scheduled to begin in the Spring of 2009.  They also announced that they will be releasing The Case of the Dragon Slayer novel by Kouhei Kadono, author of Boogiepop.

Bandai Entertainment has announced, via it's New York Comic Con panel, that it has licensed Mobile Suit Gundam 00, Ghost Slayers Ayashi, and Gurren Lagann.  Gurren Lagann was originally announced by ADV Films, but was removed from their site and never returned.

They also announced at Kawaii Kon that they will be re-releasing Ghost in the Shell: Innocence on DVD and Blu-ray with an English dub.  DreamWorks originally released the movie on DVD in 2004, but it was subtitle only.  The dub will be done by the same studio that did Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: Solid State Society.

Right Stuf has started a new sale and released a list of brand new deals.  You can see their new Weekly Specials Here.  This week some of the highlights include the Naruto Uncut DVD Box Set 6 Special Edition for $41.99 (regularly $69.98) and Super Gals Season 1 DVD Box Set Thinpak for $19.99 (regularly $49.98).

Right Stuf's sale this week is the Stock Up for Spring sale which gives you 40% off all DVD's and other items from Media Blaters, Tokyo Shock, and Kitty Media.  You just have to use the coupon code "springstock" when you check out to get the discount.  The sale runs from now until April 27th.

Nozomi Entertainment has announced that they will be releasing the Maria Watches Over Us - Season 1 DVD Collection on July 29th, 2008.  This is the first of several season box sets that Nozomi has scheduled for release in North America.  Each set will include the specials that depict the characters in chibi form that were originally part of each season. 

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers has announced that it has the rights to publish the Haruhi Suzumiya light novels in English.  The first of the nine novels, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya will be released in April of 2009 and be priced at $8.99 US for the paper back and $16.99 US for the hard cover.  The first novel is the main inspiration for the anime series.  The rights to the novels were obtained in a joint venture with Yen Press, who just announced their acquisition of the manga rights.

NCM Fathom has announced that Bleach the Movie: Memories of Nobody will be run in American theaters on June 11th and 12th at 7:30 PM.  Tickets will go on sale to the general public on May 9th.  The screenings will include a behind the scenes feature and an interview with Noriyuki Abe, the director of Bleach.  You can find locations here

Anime North has announced that voice actress, singer, and songwriter Halko Momoi will be a guest at their convention this year.  Momoi sang and co-wrote the Under17 duo's theme songs for Genshiken and DearS.  Since the leaving Under17, she has done music for D.C. ~Da Capo~ and Shool Days.  She has also appeared as Komugi in The SoulTaker and Nurse Witch Komugi, Chika in Ai Yori Aoshi, and Maromi in Paranoia Agent. 

Anime North will take place May 23rd - 25th in Toronto, Ontario.

Viz Media has announced it's plans for the New York Comic Con, including an appearance by Stan Lee.    They will be at Booth #1365 on the main floor and will have a Manga Lounge available for people to check out various series.  The rest of their plans include:

- A press event with Stan Lee, Takanori Asada, and Marc Weidenbaum talking about the new series ULTIMO.  This will take place April 18th in Room #1E09.
- Participation by Sr. Vice President Liza Coppola in the "State of the Manga Industry" Panel on April 18th at 1 PM in Room #1E16.
- A Viz Media Panel to preview upcoming releases on April 19th at 11 AM in Room #1E03.
- A screening of two episodes of Bleach on April 18th from 4 - 5 PM in Room #1E15.
- A screening of two episodes of Death Note on April 18th from 7 - 8 PM in Room #1E07

Del Rey Manga has announced their plans for the New York Comic Con.  They will be located at booth #1920 and have the following events scheduled:

Women in Fantasy and SF
Friday 4/18, 5-6 PM, Panel Room 3 (1E15)
• Naomi Novik, Empire of Ivory

Del Rey Manga
Saturday 4/19, 12-1 PM, Panel Room 2 (1E03)
• The Team From Del Rey Manga: Dallas Middaugh, Mutsumi Miyazaki, Tricia Narwani, & Ali T. Kokmen

Science Fiction Roundtable
Saturday 4/19, 3-4 PM, Panel Room 3 (1E16)
• Peter David, Tigerheart
• Peter F. Hamilton, The Dreaming Void

Terry Brooks Talks Shannara
Saturday 4/19, 1-2 PM, Panel Room 3 (1E07)

Terry Brooks Autograph Signing
With Robert Napton
Saturday 4/19, 4:30-6:30 PM, Autograph Room
• Ticketed signing: Tickets are free and available at the NYCC Variant Stage.

New York City Through Its Authors
Saturday 4/19, 2-3 PM, Panel Room 3 (1E08)
• Nina Harper, Succubus in the City
• Alissa Torres, American Widow

Flight panel
Sunday 4/20, 11 AM-12 PM, Room (1E08)
• Kazu Kibuishi, Amy Kim Ganter, Jake Parker, and Phil Craven

Bandai Visual's President, Mr. Konno, has posted a new blog that talks about their plans for Blu-ray as well as simultaneous releases.  He mentions that Bandai Visual Japan is concentrating on releases on Blu-ray in North America and should be announcing their fall release schedule soon.  He also mentions that they have been accelerating their conversion from DVD to Blu-ray in Japan.

He goes on to talk about the fact that thigns are moving quickly toward their goal of simultaneous releases in Japan and the US, and mentions that they are also working toward simultaneous broadcast and digital distribution.

Yen Press has announced that it has licensed the manga adaptation of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.  They plan to release a volume every four months starting in October.  They have the rights to the first 4 volumes.  They will be promoting the series at New York Comic Con this weekend by giving out posters.  They will also be doing this at Comic-Con International San Diego this July.  Kurt Hassler, Yen Press' Co-Publishing Director, emphasized that they are not planning to censor the release.

Funimation Entertainment has announced their plans for New York Comic Con 2008.  They will be at booth #1607 where they will be holding various events.  They include:

Shin chan: Behind the scenes!  Come peak behind the scenes of Shin chan and hear more about this undiluted animated comedy at our panel on Saturday, April 19 at 5:00 pm, Panel Room 1E03.  Sit down face to face and cheek to cheek with Jared Hedges and the rest of the Shin chan comedy writing team. What exactly is inside their heads when they are writing this series? And do you really want to know? Find out the answers to these questions and more.

PLUS – you are going to want to get their autograph at the FUNimation booth on Friday, April 18 at 5:00 pm or Saturday, April 19 at 2:00 pm.

One Piece – The epic tale of the Straw Hat Pirates sets sail…..

See the NYC premiere of three episodes of One Piece, starting with episode #1!

Episodes 1 through 3 will be screened for the New York Comic Con crowd on Friday, April 18 at 5:00 pm in Screening Room 1.

Find out more about the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy and his crew, starting with the first season, at the One Piece panel featuring OUR pirate crew: director Mike McFarland and producer Justin Cook, on Saturday, April 19 at 2:00 pm, Panel Room 1E03.

Both will be at two autograph signings at the FUNimation booth: Friday, April 18 at 5:00 pm or before the panel on Saturday, April 19 at 11:30 am.

Goku or Cell? Discuss.

The battle between Goku (Sean Schemmel) and Cell (Dameon Clarke) takes place at NYCC on Sunday, April 20 at 11:00 am, Panel Room 1E12, as they talk about their best moments together in Dragon Ball Z.

Both will be attending autograph signings at the FUNimation booth on Saturday, April 19 at 4:30 pm and directly after their panel on Sunday, April 20 at 12:30 pm.

These episodes can be seen in Dragon Ball Z Season Five, releasing on DVD May 27.

And of course, do NOT miss our Industry Panel on Friday, April 18 at 6:00 pm in Panel Room 1E09 and where we will update you with the latest news from FUNimation.

Anime Punch, which took place this past weekend in Columbus, Ohio, is the first anime convention in North America to experiment with radio-frequency identification to capture data about attendance at it's events.  An RFID transponder was attatched to the back of all badges and were scanned as individuals entered the gaming room, dealers room, or main events.  This type of technology has been used in the past at professional conferences but this is the first general admission event that it has been tested at.

Anime Expo has announced that the Japanese pop duo Jyukai will perform at this years convention.  They are best known for performing the ending theme to Fate/Stay Night, Anata ga Ita Mori.  They have also sung theme songs for Ah! My Goddess: Flights of Fancy, Buso Renkin, and Aa Magami-sama: Tatakau Tsubasa.  The duo consists of vocalist Manami and composer Yshiaki Dewa.

Anime Expo will take place July 3rd-6th at the Los Angeles Convention Center in California.

According to Giapet, up to 15 people from Gainax will be at Fanime this year.  This group will consist of voice actors and staff who worked on Gurren Lagann.

DreamWorks has announced that they have the rights to adapt Ghost in the Shell into a 3D live action film.  DreamWorks' won the rights over Universal and Sony when Steven Spielberg, co-founder of DreamWorks, showed his enthusiasm for the project.  He was quoted as saying "Ghost in the Shell is one of my favorite stories".  Avi Arad, Ari Arad, and Steven Paul are all set to produce and Jamie Moss will be writing the script.

The official website for the live action Speed Racer movie has posted a new 2 minute trailer.  The film is scheduled to hit theatres May 9th across the US.

The Nicktoons Network has announced that it will premiere a new American made version of Speed Racer to coincide with the release of the movie.  The premiere will be 90 minutes and show on May 2nd.

Viz Pictures has announced that it will screen the first of the live action Death Note films in 300 theatres in the US on May 20th and 21st at 7:30 PM.  The screening will be done through NCM Fathom.  Tickets will go on sale to the general public on April 21st.  You can find a list of theatres that will be part of the screening at http://www.deathnotefilms.com/

T.M. Revolution will be recording a live radio show for Japan's Tokyo FM station at Books Kinokuniya in New York City on April 20th at 3 PM.  T.M. Revolution is inviting all fans to come and watch the live radio show.  He will be performing in concert the night before as part of the New York Comic Con.

The ai sp@ce project, the 3D virtual world that will contain characters from Clannad, Shuffle!, and D.C. II: Da Capo II, has posted a video from it's press conference.  The video shows promotional models of the girls, but no actual in game footage.

DMP Platinum has announced that they will be celebrating Speed Racer's 40th Anniversary at their booth at the New York Comic Con.  They will be releasing the complete Speed Racer Mach Go Go Go series in a 2 volume hardcover set.  The set will include an introduction by Peter Fernandez, the voice of Speed Racer.  Peter Fernandez will be at the DMP booth to autograph this collection.  The sessions will take place Saturday, April 19th at 4:00 PM at Booth #1622 and Sunday April 20th at 12:30 PM at Booth #1541.  The book set will retail for $39.95 and is currently available in stores.

New York Comic Con will take place April 18th - 20th at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

Right Stuf has started a new sale and released a list of brand new deals.  You can see their new Weekly Specials Here.  This week some of the highlights include the Naruto Uncut DVD Box Set 5 for $32.99 (regularly $49.98) and Neo Ranga Thinpak for $19.99 (regularly $59.98).

Right Stuf's sale this week continues to be the The Savings You Seek sale which gives you 40% off all DVD's and 33% off all merchandise from Funimation.  You just have to use the coupon code "treasure" when you check out to get the discount.  The sale runs from now until April 13th.

The Hawaiian International Film Festival will be showing Fumihiko Sori's Vexille, ALWAYS -Sunset on Third Street-, Machine Girl, and Funuke Show Some Love You Losers! as part of it's festival.  The festival will take place April 18th - 24th on Oahu.

Newtype magazine has confirmed that Stan Lee, co-creator of Spider-Man and X-Men, and BONES, the studio that released Fullmetal Alchemist, are working together on a new anime series.  The series is tentatively called Hero Man and is about a boy who discovers a toy robot which transforms into a giant robot that he pilots.  The series will be directed by Hitoshi Nanba (Baki the Grappler), characters will be designed by Shigeto Koyama (Eureka Seven) and Toshihiro Kawamoto (Cowboy Bebop) will be the chief animator.

The May issue of Dragon Age magazine has announced that a Slayers Revolution manga will begin in the June issue (on sale May 9th).  Issei Hyoju, best known for Armored Core -Tower City Blade-, will base his art off of Hajime Kanzak's original novels and Rui Araizumi's original illustrations.  The magazine displays Lina and Amelia prominently, implying them as the main characters, but it also shows Gourry and Zelgadiss.

New York Comic Con has posted their interview with T.M.Revolution.  T.M.Revolution is best known as the singer of the themes from Gundam Seed, Rurouni Kenshin, Darker than BLACK, and Soul Eater.  The interview consisted of questions submitted by fans asking things such as hw he prepares for concerts, how he relaxes during his free time, and how the first Gundam influenced him.  He will be performing at the New York Comic Con on Saturday, April 19th in New York City.

The New York Anime Festival has announced that it has pushed the convention back from it's original dates of Sept. 12th-14th.  The convention will now take place on Sept. 26th - 28th.  The change came about after organizers continued discussions with the Jacob Javits Center.

OverDrive, the company responsible for bringing Cosmode to English audiences, has posted a preview of their new digital version of the magazine.  This version of the magazine will still have the Japanese text, but when you place the mouse over a block of text the English translation will appear.  The first official issue will be released on May 25th with a free preview issue being released on April 25th.

Headlock has announced that it is developing a 3D virtual world where users will be able to intereact with characters from games by Visual Art's (Clannad), Omegavision (Shuffle!), and CIRCUS (D.C. II: Da Capo II).  Each game's characters will get their own virtual island in the world.  Users will be able to create their own avatar as well as choosing one character as a personal character doll.  The two can then live together on one of the islands in a house that they buy.  Each character doll will be able to wear different costumes as well as memorize various motions.

Anime Central has announced the following guests:

Kenichi Sonoda - creator of Gunsmith Cats
Yuji Moriyama - co-creator of Project A-Ko
Mari Iijima - Lynn Minmay in The Super Dimension Fortress Macross
Shujirou Hamakawa - Designer for Solty Rei
Yoichiro Ono - Artist on the Brave Story manga
Jeffrey and Philip Moy - comic artists for DC Comics
Hiroshi Tada - Sonoda's Editor

Anime Central will take place May 16th - 18th in Rosemont Illinois.

Chris Beveridge, the founder of AnimeonDVD.com, has announced that he has decided to sell the site to Mania.com.  Chris and his staff will still be maintaining the site and the site will continue to operate has it always has, just it will have a different look as well as more support and infrastructure.

Crunchyroll has announced that they have removed Gonzo's The Tower of Druaga: the Aegis of Uruk from its website.  The owner of the site has said that it is not Gonzo's fault and that they are working to bring the rest of the series to their site.  Blasreiter is still available on their site however, and the first episode of Druaga is still available on BOST TV among other services.

BOST TV has announced that the first episodes of The Tower of Druaga: the Aegis of Uruk and Blassreiter are available for free streaming and downloading to all users.  Originally BOST TV was only offering the two episodes for free to users who signed up before April 2nd, but due to unexpected volume and technical problems they have decided to allow everyone access.  They are also refunding the points of people who already purchased the episodes.  The downloadable versions of the episodes are DRM free and can be played on computers, iPods, PSPs and other devices.

ImaginAsian has announced that they will be holding a special one week showing of Maiko Haaaan!!! at The ImaginAsian Theatre in New York City.  The showing will occur on April 18th - 25th and tickets are available at the box office.  You can find a list of showtimes at www.theimaginasian.com

Sony Pictures Television International has announced that it will soon be offering the Animax channel in Spain via Imagenio IPTV.  At launch it will be showing series such as Nana, Peach Girl, Lupin the Third, Detective Conan, and Le Chevalier D'Eon.  It will also be showing movies such as Kai Doh Maru and Appleseed.

Online Registration has begun for the Providence Anime Conference.  PAC is currently the only anime-related event in North America that is only open to attendees 21 years old or older.  It will take place October 3rd - 5th at the Rhode Island Convention Center and the Providence Westin Hotel.

In keeping with the idea of being geared toward older fans, the conference will feature a keynote address instead of opening ceremony, a costume fashion show instead of a contest, and programming based around professional and academic panels.  David Williams (ADV Films), Adam Sheehan (Funimation), and Kevin McKeever (Harmony Gold) are the first guests to be announced for the conference.  The conference will also begin on Friday evening instead of during the day to accomdate those with full time jobs.  A three day pass is $65.00 to the first 250 people to register, $70.00 for the next 750, and $75.00 to the last 1000.  The conference has an attendence cap of 2000 attendees.

BOST TV and Crunchyroll have posted the first episode of Gonzo's The Tower of Druaga: the Aegis of Uruk in both a streaming format and as a download.  Both sites versions of the episode are subtitled and have no territorial restrictions.

The Japan Film Festival 2008, which will take place April 11th - 20th in Southern California, will be screening three anime films as well as three anime shorts.  The anime features announced for the festival are Appleseed: Ex Machina, One Piece: The Desert Princess and the Pirates: Adventure in Alabasta, and Atagoal: Cat's Magical Forest.  The shorts that will be presented come from Anime Innocation Tokyo and are Coluboccoro by Kenji Otoso, Taropicana by Drago Uno, and Love Rollercoaster by Hiromasa Horie.  The shorts will be all shown in a single screening.

The official website for Shueisha's Jump Square has revealed the first finalized image for Karakuridoji Ultimo.  You can see the images here (you will need to click on the two characters in the front center of the image).  Ultimo will be a collaboration between Stan Lee, creator of Spider Man and X-Men, and Hiroyuki Takei, creator of Shaman King.  The series will be officially previewed in the premiere issue of Jump SQ.II on April 18th. 

Tsubasacon has announced their first round of guests for their 2008 convention.  Jen Lee Quick and Ultraball will be at the convention which takes place September 26th - 28th at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena in Huntington, West Virginia.  Jen Lee Quick is best known for her manga, Off*Beat, which is currently being published by Tokyopop.  Ultraball is a synth-punk band whose goal is to create a unique song for each of the original 150 Pokemon.  The songs run a variety of genres from punk rock to reggae, and synth-pop to metal, which captures the unique spirit of each Pokemon.

You can read the full press release here

Right Stuf has started a new sale and released a list of brand new deals.  You can see their new Weekly Specials Here.  This week some of the highlights include the Hellsing Signature Series DVD Box Set for $35.99 (regularly $59.98) and Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya DVD 4 LE for $34.99 (regularly $59.98).

Right Stuf's sale this week is the The Savings You Seek sale which gives you 40% off all DVD's and 33% off all merchandise from Funimation.  You just have to use the coupon code "treasure" when you check out to get the discount.  The sale runs from now until April 13th.

The New York Comic Con has announced many of the anime events that are taking place at their convention.  The convention will take place April 18th-20th at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.  Among the events announced are a concert by T.M.Revolution, the AnimeNext Manga Library, and the CosClips.com Cosplay Contest.  The guests announced include Justin Cook, Rachael Lillis, Jamie McGonnigal, Sean Schemmel, Mike Sinterniklaas, Veronica Taylor, Tom Wayland, Sean Michael Wilson, Steve Yun, and Tommy Yune.  Finally, the premieres announced include Lucky Star, Emma, Code Geass, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, and Amuri in Star Ocean.

Two 6th grade boys in Gadsden Alabama were arrested yesterday for having a notebook that listed their school's staff and students in a manner similar to that of a Death Note.  The students were inspired to make the list by the Death Note anime series, although there was no indication that they were seriously planning to kill the individuals listed.  The school board has suspended the two pending a hearing in juvenile court.

Right Stuf has begun taking preorders for The Legend of Zelda Volume 1 from Viz Media.  The series is reportedly done by Akira Himekawa, which is the pen name for the duo that has drawn more than a half dozen manga series based on Nintendo games.  Volume 1 of the series is set to ship on Oct. 7th.

Funimation has asked Cruncyroll to remove Re: Cutie Honey from their site.  They have listed the series as licensed, but Funimation has not made any official announcement about licensing it.

The Speed Racer live action movie will be the closing film of the Tribeca Film Festival in NYC.  The festival will take place in various locations in New York City from April 23rd to May 3rd.  The films world premiere will be on April 26th in Los Angeles and will open in theatres across the country on Friday, May 9th.

In connection with the premiere, a contest will be held which will involve commercials shown on MTV, VH-1, TV Land, and Comedy Central.  The ads will run from April 10th - 18th and will direct people to visit RaceForSpeedRacer.com.  Once at the site, people will be asked to enter a mobile phone number.  On April 18th, those people who entered their phone number will be sent a Speed Racer trivia question and will have two minutes to respond with the correct answer.  10 winners will be drawn from those that answer correctly in the two minutes and flown to LA for the premiere.  They will also participate in a remote-controlled car race using cars that are modelled after the ones in the movie.  The winner of the race will win a custom built car inspired by the Mach 5.

X Japan has announced that they will be performing at Madison Square Garden on September 13th.  This will be their first live concert in America.

X Japan is best known for their musical contribution to the X² music video collection and the X movie.

Nico Nico Douga has opened it's video streaming Nico Nico Anime Channel for original net anime series.  Candy Boy and Penguin Girl Heart are the first two series to take advantage of this.  Currently the first episode of Candy Boy is available, but each episode will appear on the site as it is premiered.  Penguin Girl Heart will be premiering on April 19th.

Free Japanese registration is required to watch the videos, but there are no regional restrictions on the videos themselves.

MVM Entertainment has announced that it has the rights to release Gravitation in the UK.  They will release the first volume on July 7th for £15.99.

Gravitation was released previously in the US by Right Stuf, now Nozomi.

On August 4th and 5th, a concert program of music pieces by Joe Hisaishi will be held at Tokyo's Nippon Budokan complex.  The pieces will all be ones that were created for films directed by Hayao Miyazaki.  Hisaishi will perform in the concert with a 200 piece orchestra and 400 chorus singers.  The event is titled "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea Movie Opening Commemoration" and will commemorate 25 years of cooperation between Miyazaki and Hisaishi.

It has been reported that Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has been named the exclusive ditributor of Manga Entertainment in markets outside of the US, Canada, Australia, and Great Britain.  Plans are already being made for Sony to distribute Ghost in the Shell and Street Fighter II properties in these regions.

The Yaoi Jamboree has announced that it will be hosting Aoi Futaba and Kurenai Misuba at it's inaugral convention.  The convention will take place June 20th - 22nd in Phoenix, Arizona.  Both artists are known for titles such as Contract Mistress, Secret Disk Trial Version, and Level C.

Urban Vision Entertainment has announced it's return to the North American market after a year and a half of inactivity.  It will be releasing Azumi 2 on May 6th for $24.95.  The film is the sequel to the live action adaptation of Yu Koyama's Azumi manga.  It is directed by Shusuke Kaneko who also directed the two Death Note movies.

GDH, the parent company of Gonzo, has announced that they will allow international customers to set their own price for downloads of Tower of Druaga: the Aegis of Uruk and Blassreiter on Crunchyroll.  The "pay-what-you-want" model is one of several options that GDH is testing.  GDH says that the open pricing model will allow direct feedback and that the revenue will be used to offset the cost of development of future projects. 

Tower of Druaga: the Aegis of Uruk and Blassreiter will also be released via BOST TV for $1.99 per episode (and the first two episodes for free).  The price for the episode will get you both a high-quality online stream and a downloadable, DRM free, copy.