The complete first episode of Air is available for free on ADVFilms.com until September 6th.

Evangelion: 1.0 You Are [Not] Alone has been selected to be the closing feature at this year's Pusan International Film Festival.  This will be the first time that the movie, which premieres September 1st in Japan, will show outside Japan.

Bang Zoom! Entertainment has announced that Comcast will be offering the first season of AnimeTV on their on-demand beginning September 4th.  AnimeTV covers the anime industry in North America with reviews, interviews and event coverage.

4Kids Entertainment will launch Dinosaur King on Fox this coming season.  It will get a Saturday morning time slot.  The series is based on an arcade/collectivle card game from Sega.  4Kids has Americanized the names and redone the soundtrack for the release and Funimation will be releasing the dub on DVD.

The live action Speed Racer movie will contain the original theme song from the 1967 version of the series.  The Wachowski brothers have also gotten the sound effects that were used in the first dub of the series. 

Also, the whole movie is being in multiple layers using new high-definition cameras, so that the layers can later be put together so that everything is in focus and saturated to emulate traditional animation.

The 6th Annual Asian Film Festival in Dallas Texas has announced that it will be screening 5 Centimeters per Second on Thursday August 30th at 5:30PM CDT.  The license for 5 Centimeters per Second was announced this past summer by ADV Films.

The Sci Fi Channel has updated it's schedule for September and has replaced Tokko in it's AniMonday block with Virus Buster Serge starting October 1st.  Serge will be appearing in the 11:30pm EST block while Noein and Street Fighter II V will continue.

According to ANN, Heavy.com is to stream some of Manga Entertainments titles such as "Astro Boy, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Street Fighter II V, (...) Blood: The Last Vampire, Castle of Cagliostro, Dead Leaves, Ghost in the Shell, Ninja Scroll, Macross Plus, Macross II, Read or Die, Street Fighter Alpha, and Street Fighter II: The Movie" as well as remixes of anime titles by the Heavy staff.

Source: Anime News Network

Due to the large amount of spam appearing in posts in the Help Box and Suggestion Box, I have been forced to close the section to unregistered posters.  Originally I had intended these sections to be available to all users of the site so that they could let us know of problems, but unfortunately you now will need to register for an account with a valid e-mail to do so. 

Sony Pictures Television International has announced that it's Animax channel will be added to DStv satellite service in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Mozambique, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe.  Some of the shows that will appear on the channel are Blood+, Fullmetal Alchemist, and The Prince of Tennis.

It has been reported that ADV Films will be taking over the marketing, sales, and distribution of Geneon's titles beginning October 1st.  Geneon will still be licensing and producing titles, just ADV will now do the work to make sure those titles reach the masses.

IGN is streaming the first episode os Xenosaga for ADV Films for free. The first episode is also scheduled to premiere on The Anime Network on August 30th.  The first volume will be released on DVD on September 11th.

Viz Media has put a survey online about online manga downlaods.  Basically it asks fans about their preferences on pricing, selection and possible venues for downloads. 

Animate.tv is streaming the entire Air movie in Japanese in anticipation of the September 15th opening of Clannad.  The stream is split into three parts and require Windows and a recent version of both Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player.

Sci Fi announced a new weekly programming block featuring anime, Mondays from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. ET/PT, called "Ani-Monday."

Sci Fi says that Ani-Monday will have a "collection of movies, series and shorts from Starz Media's anime distributionarm, Manga, and marks SCI FI's first foray into original late-night programming" said the channel.

Sci Fi also said that "Ani-Monday will feature the exclusive premiere of Ghost in the Shell: Solid State Society. Other titles on the horizon include the feature films Ninja Scroll, Blood: The Last Vampire, Read or Die and Blackjack. The anime block will also be home to premieres of new genre series such as Tokko, Noein and classic series such as Street Fighter II V. "

Japanfiles.com has announced that they now have tracks from ketchup mania that have not previously been released in the US.  These tracks include their EP "Love Me Til U Don't" as well as three singles released on B-sides.  All of these new tracks are available on their website for legal download.

Oricon Style magazine has posted the promotional video for "Beautiful World" which is Hikaru Utada's theme song for Evangelion: 1.0 You Are [Not] Alone.  The video includes footage from the movie which is scheduled to hit theatres in Japan on September 1st.

MPD Psycho has been restarted in the 11th issue of Comic Charge magazine.  Originally the manga appeared in Monthly Shonen Ace, but that magazine's run was ended last year. 

PAL Entertainment Productions in Japan has confirmed that it plans to make a live-action version of the 1967 novella Grave of the Fireflies.  Perviously Grave of the Fireflies was made into an anime film by Studio Ghibli. 

The story is semi-autobiographical about two children who flee the firebombing of Kobe during the close of World War II.

The October issue of Monthly Comic Dengeki Daioh announced that the second season of Gunslinger Girl will be produced.

Source: ANN, Ultimatum

The New York International Children's Film Festival 2007 has annoucned that it will be screening Kiyoshi Nishimoto's "Laughing Moon" short as a part of it's Kid Flix Mix collection on August 25th and 26th.  The collection will show at 11:00 AM at the IFC Center in New York City on both days.

Media Blasters has announced release dates for some of the titles they announced this past summer.

The Complete Collection of Goldenboy - November 6th
Simoun Vol. 1 - November 13th
Step Up Love Sotry (Futari H) - November 27th

All three will be priced at $19.95.

They have also announced a thinpak release for Shura no Toki on November 13th and a box set of the first season of Ah! My Goddess TV on November 27th.  Both boxes will be priced at $59.95.

Viz Media has announced in the September Issue of Shojo Beat that it will be releasing Lovely Complex.  The live action movie is scheduled for spring 2008.  The Lovely Complex manga is released in Graphic Novel form under the Shojo Beat label.

ADV Films has launched a redesigned company website and has posted the first episodes of Innocent Venus.  The episode will be available on the site until next Thursday.

I have posted my review of Gon Volume 1 from CMX.  It's a unique graphic novel that I really enjoyed.  You can find my review here

The website for Del Rey Manga has been relaunched and now as online previews for upcoming titles as well as an improved release calendar and forums.

Both of the Death Note live-action films have been added to the Fantastic Film Fest at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Austin Texas from September 20th - 27th.  The festival will also be showing The Girl Who Lept Through Time.

Illusion On-Demand, the first VOD channel dedicated to sci-fi and fantasy content, will be launching October 1st with the 13-episode Now and Then, Here and There as part of their catalog.  Illusion promises to bring more anime to the lineup as they continue to grow and expand.

Koyuki, best known for her roles in Ikebukuro West Gate Park and The Last Samurai, has joined the cast of the live-action Blood: The Last Vampire movie.  She will be playing a new character that wasn't in the original anime and will end up fighting Saya, the hero of the story.

Robert Woodhead, Co-Founder of AnimEigo, has announced that a free Yawara preview disc is now available on their website.  The disc contains the first 4 complete episodes for free with any purchase on it's site, or you can get the disc itself for $5.00 shipping and handling.

Odex Pte, a Singapore-based anime licensor, has gotten a court order requiring two Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Singapore to release the names of customers who have been downloading Odex licensed series lillegally.  StarHub and SingNet have both been ordered to identify 1,000 subscribers each.  Odex is already planning to take action against Pacific Internet to get more names released.

Mayu Shinjo, best known as the creator of Sensual Phrase, has announced that she has started a new manga called Midnight Children which will be appearing in the September issue of Bessatsu Margaret in Japan.  She has also announced that she is illustrating her own column for the mobile version of the official Mobile Suit Gundam Seed club.

Anime Supercon has announced via Press Release that Carey Means and Brittney Karbowski have been added as guests to their convention November 30th - December 2nd, 2007 in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.  Carey Means is best knwon as Frylock in Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Thundercleese in The Brak Show.  Brittney Karbowski is best known as Franca in Coyote Ragtime and Himeko Katagiri in Pani Poni Dash. 

You can see a full list of works by these two as well as a full list of guests on the Press Release

Viz Media has announced that it has gotten the rights to offer Bleach via Direct2Drive.com and Totalvid starting on August 31st.  Both services require recent versions of Microsoft Windows, Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player to download and watch the videos.

JapanFiles.com has announced via Press Release that the debut album, "Make Your Head Down" from Japanese rock trio, Motor Mustang is now available on JapanFiles.com.

"Since they were kids they have longed to be rock stars. With a sound that has been compared to JET, The Datsuns and Wolf Mother, MOTOR MUSTANG's shouting vocals and guitar riffs will give you goosebumps. MOTOR MUSTANG continues to run wild and dangerous on stage in Japan."

You can get more information from JapanFiles.com or the Press Release.

A new xxxHolic television series has been oked for production in Japan using the same staff and cast as the original.  Also Ah! My Goddess: Fighting Wings will be a television special  that will air this winter on the TBS network in Japan.  The special will commemorate the series 20th anniversary and will use story installments that have not yet been animated into the television series.

Dark Horse has announced via Press Release their acquisition of the "highly requested" GANTZ manga.  This was originally announced at Anime Expo but the release confirms the license and announces that it is tentatively scheduled for a summer 2008 release.

Toei Animation will be launching a monthly "All You Can Watch" subscription service in Japan on September 1st.  4th media will be in charge of the service and will be hosting 15 titles and over 1,000 episodes with two new titles and 100 episodes being added each month.  Titles will include Fist of the North Star, Gegege no Kitaro, and Sailor Moon.  the "All You Can Watch" package will run 1,554 yen (US $13) per month.

ImaginAsian is once again delaying the first two DVD volumes for it's TMS Classics series.  The first volumes of Cat's Eye, Nobody's Boy - Remi, and The Super Dimension Century Orguss were all originally to be released in July but were delayed until August.  No new date has been set.  Justin Sevakis has said that the continued delays is being caused by the DVD Copy Control Association not authorizing the copy protections used on the DVD-Rs.  However, ImaginAsian is currently exploring other copy protection options instead of waiting for authorization on the current one.

Popteen, a Japanese fashion magazine for females, has announced that it will be translating and releasing Gal Samurai in English and posting installments monthly on Popteen.com (their American website).  Currently there are 34 installements and 1 compiled volume in Japan.  3 installments have been translated and posted on the American site so far.

Kinokuniya, which runs 61 stores in Japan and 23 in other countries, will be holding a grand opening in early October for it's new store on New York City's Avenue of Americas.  The grand opening will run for a week and include appearances by artists, editors, and translators from Viz Media.  There will also be an exhibition of the artwork of Osamu Tezuka, best known as the artist of Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion.

ADV Films has posted trailers for the second Kanon television series.  You can choose between a low and a high bandwidth version of the trailer.  ADV has not yet announced the license to the series, but has been hinting at it at various convention appearances.

JapanFiles.com has sent a Press Release announcing that Mothercoat's new album, "+birdless", is getting a simultaneous Japan and US release.  The album is being released on August 8th (today) and "features mothercoat's trademark eclectic style on eight all-new tracks, including a totally re-worked version of their early-era demo song 'yoghurt bus.'".

You can get more information about mothercoat and "+birdless" on JapanFiles.com and on the Press Release.

Viz Media and Cartoon Network have announced that One Piece, Dragon Ball Z, and Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo will begin streaming on Toonami Jetstream soon.  They will begin on August 13th, September 10th and November 5th respectively.  They also confirmed that Zoids Genesis will stream as part of the service, but have not disclosed when that will happen.

Otakop's secretary, Matt Smiechowski, has announced that 22,852 people attended Otakon 2007 as paid attendees.  This does not include guests, staff, dealers, press and other complimentary badges.  This shows an increase of 550 people over last year.  Animecons.com reports however that preregistration number have fallen for their second consecutive year, despite the fact that the overall number has gone up.

You may have noticed that there is a new button on the menu bar.  It is called Fun and Games, which I hope to be filling with fun toys to distract people.  The first of these distractions is Anime Hot Or Not.  You can now head over and help rate Anime characters.  You can even decide whether you want to just rate Females or Males. 

And if your favorite character doesn't seem to be there, you can add them using the link at the top of the Hot or Not page, or the link in the User Control Panel.  Please remember that all ages visit our site though and keep the pictures appropriate.  We do monitor what goes up and will remove any images that are truely inappropriate.  However we try to keep such removals to a minimum and hopefully won't need to remove any.

Also, if you like the game, please use the Digg button and/or StumbleUpon button at the bottom of the page to share it with everyone.

We have just recieved some information about the convention A&G Ohio.

Name: Animation & Gaming Ohio (aka.  A&G Ohio)
Date: February 8-10, 2008
Location: Hilton in Akron/Fairlawn, Ohio.
 
Some of you might be thinking, what exactly is Animation and Gaming Ohio?

Animation and Gaming Ohio is a new type of Convention in which Animation and Gaming
come together for 48 solid hours of uber craziness. It encompasses everything from
your favorite anime to your favorite childhood cartoon, and your favorite street
fighter game to your favorite collectible card game. If you can name it, this is the
convention for them!

The idea to create a convention like Animation and Gaming Ohio came shortly after
Cleveland's Colossal Convention 2006, in which a popular event called "Live Action
Gaming" took place. It's creator, Jason Taylor, decided that it was high time for a
new type of convention to arise. With the help of a few friends and the Random
Battle Group, new ideas were born, and Jason was starting to think that the idea of
bringing animation and gaming together would be great. Since then, many people have
come to the helm, including Josh Farley, who is responsible for the majority of the
advertising for the convention.

We here at Animation and Gaming Ohio (also dubbed "A & G Ohio") invite you to
come and see exactly what we are all about during the weekend of February 8-10,
2008. With a bunch of new panels and some very special events, we are sure it would
be very well worth your time and money to come see a new convention be born. So
come, join our forums and post what you would like to see! After all, this
convention is "by the fans, for the fans."

Welcome to A & G Ohio.
 
Guests: Michael McConnohie, Melodee Spevack, Mike McFarland, Spoony Bards, Random
Battle Group (RBG), Archaic Jump

Bandai has commisioned a Mobile Suit Gundam T-shirt to be made by Fashion Mastermind Japan for 200,000 yen (about $1600 US).  It will feature wither a Gundam robot or an enemy Zaku II robot and will be hand stitched in Swarovski crystals.  It will be available in select Japanese department stores with a budget version being available in Chania, France, Italy, Japan, Singapore, and the US.  The image on the budget version will be the same but only be stiched with glass beads.  The cost for the cheaper version will be 38,000 yen (about $320 US).

AQUAPLUS has announced that it has given approval to create OVA ToHeart2 ad, a sequel to the OVA ToHeart2 miniseries.  It will use the same staff as the first OVA and could come out before the end of the year.

The Bandai Channel has announced that Patit Eva ~Evangelion@School~ will be adapted for video.  This is the "first official super-deformed series" based on Evangelion.  The official announcement will be made in the September issue of Newtypw Japan. 

The story puts the characters from the series in school together at the Tokyo-3 Nerv School.  Gendo Ikari is the principal, Misato is a teacher, there are 3 Rei sisters, and Eva-01 is the school bully.