Stone Bridge Press has announced Satoshi Kon: The Illusionist.  This will be the first English book length profile on Satoshi Kon, best known as the director of Perfect Blue, Paprika, and Paranoia Agent.  It will be an analysis of the films and television series that Kon has worked on.  The book will be 96 pages long and is due out on August 1st.

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 Utawarerumono DVD Savings Bundle for $79.99 (regularly $189.94) and Xenosaga Kos-Mos of Savings DVD Bundle (Hyb) for $44.99 (regularly $89.94).

Right Stuf's sale this week is the Accessorize Your Summer sale, offering 25% off all Apparel and Accessories. No coupon code is needed and the sale runs from now until June 29th.

Supercon Conventions has announced that they will be holding a Super Anime Day and Super Comic Day on September 6th and 7th at the Davie P.A.L. in Davie FL.  Admission is free on both days to everyone who has registered for Anime Supercon.  Otherwise, admission to Super Anime Day is $8 in advance or $10 at the door and is good for both days.  Admission to Super Comic Day will be $5 in advance or at the door.

"Super Anime Day will be a one day festival for Anime, Manga, Cosplay and Video Game fans and will feature anime voice actors, guest artists, anime, manga, cosplay, video games hosted by Gamerz Paradise, indoor and outdoor photo shoots, music, games/contests, costume and cosplay contests, panels, AMV's, late night dance party and more! Guests for Super Anime Day are being lined up and will be announced in the coming weeks. The hours for the show will be 11:00am - Midnight.

Super Comic Day will be a one day festival celebrating Comic Books, Toys, Collectibles, Anime and Video Games fans. The show will feature comic book artists, vendors, panels/Q&A's, games/contests, costume contest and more! Guests for Super Comic Day are being lined up and will be announced in the coming weeks. Currently announced guests include Allen Bellman (Golden Age comic book legend), Terry Cronin and Pat Martin (Independent comic creators of Students of the Unusual), Manny Aguilera (artist of Snappy Stories), Greg Kirkpatrick (artist of Living in Infamy), Deleon Walters (artist), Rose Thompson (Fusion Bellydancer) and Brittney Morrow (Fusion Bellydancer). The hours for the show will be 10:00am - 5:00pm."

The Fantasia Film Festival has plans to show several Japanese animated and live action films.  They are ALWAYS: Sunset on Third Street 2, L change the WorLd, Genius Party, Be a Man! Samurai School, Shamo, and Tamami: The Baby's Curse.

Chris Oarr, the sales manager of ADV Films, has confirmed that a recent auction for surplus furniture that the company held was brought about by a recent cut back on staff.  Chris Johnston has also posted on the ANN Forums and revealed that Kadokawa pulled the Newtype license from ADV Films, causing the death of Newtype USA.  Finally, Kevin Gifford, former editor of PiQ has posted an article explaining what led up to it's demise.

Brigid Alverson has done an article for Publisher's Weekly looking at the state of ADV Manga.  While they don't have anything new in the works, they are continuing to print their existing catalogue and still filling orders for retailers and consumers.  The article doesn't say much about what will happen in the future however.

Suncorp has announced that Leiji Matsumoto, best known as the creator of Space Battleship Yamata, Galaxy Express 999, and Space Pirate Captain Harlock, is starting an original online comic project.  His new work will appear on the Nintendo Wii's WiiWare service in Japan this summer or later.  Plans to distribute the manga overseas have not been announced yet, however it was noted that his work has fans all over the world.

Satoshi Kon will be appearing at a free screening of Paprika at The ImaginAsian theater in New York City on Monday.  He will be discussing the film at a talk at 7 PM before the actual showing.  An RSVP is required for the showing and can be submitted using the form at the bottom of this page.

Newsarama.com has posted the first part of a 3 part series of articles which focuses on Tokyopops restructuring.  The articles will focus on the creators reactions, experiences, and plans for the future as many of them have been left without a place to publish their work.

Media Blasters President John Sirabella has announced four new titles for the companies Kitty Media adult imprint.  They will be releasing Yakata Jukujo and Ikusa Otome Valkyrie Shinsho in September under the titles MILF Mansion and Ride of the Valkyrie, respectively.  They will also be releasing Cleavage and Papa to Kiss in the Dark at a future date.  Each of these titles have two episodes.

JapanFiles.com has announced that they have launched a new category on their site, Japanese Hardcore.  They have added 6 hardcore rock and punk bands to their site as part of their collection of 200 Japanese artists now available for legal download.  The new bands to join the site are ampcharwar, ensavagement, inchworm, MYPROOF, NAMAZ, and ZODIAQUE. 

You can get more information about each band on the Press Release

Media Blasters has announced that it has licensed Torajirou Kishi's Maka-Maka yuri manga.  The manga is a series of vignettes following Jun and Nene.  Frank Pannone, the Managing Editor, has emphasized that the release will include the features from the Japanese edition including full color-pages for the entire work, dust jacket, "belly band" and a miniature poster.  The original edition of this manga are larger than the typical manga volume and the dust jackets can be reversed to reveal a nude version of the cover art.

Bandai Entertainment has announced that their block, "The Block Fueled By Bandai Entertainment", on iaTV on Wednesdays will include Planetes, Scrapped Princess, Toward the Terra, Mars Daybreak, Rocket Girls, and My-Otome.  These are in addition to the previously announced series.  The block will begin August 6th and run from 8 PM to 11 PM EST.

The IATV channel in NOrth America has announced plans to show Bandai Entertainment titles every Wednesday night as part of a revamp of it's former ImaginAsian TV brand.  Beginning the week of June 30th, the new schedule will run My-HiME and Ghost Slayers Ayashi on Wednesday evenings.  It will also show The Great Horror Family and Bloodhound live action series.

The New York Anime Festival has announced that it will host Yoshitaka Amano during it's convention September 26th - 28th at the Jacob Javitz Center in New York City.  Amano has designed characters for Gatchaman, Shinzo Ningen Casshan, Time Bokan, Yatterman, Vampire Hunter D, and Genesis Climber Mospeada among others.  He was also involved in creating conceptual artwork for various Final Fantasy video games and drew the original illustrations in the Vampire Hunter D novels.

Gonzo has announced that Strike Witches will premiere on TV in Japan on July 3rd and will also premiere on YouTube and Crunchyroll.  Strike Witches is scheduled to run for 12 episodes.

Miyuki Kanabe, best known as the third Sailor Moon in the Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon musical as well as Kyoko Kakei in Battle Royale II: Requiem died suddenly of heart failure on June 18th.  She was 24.  In February of 2007 she stepped down from her upcoming role of Eponine in Les Miserables due to poor health.

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 Guyver Bioboosted DVD Bargain Bundle for $84.99 (regularly $219.93) and ShinChan (Crayon Shinchan) DVD (D): Season 1 Part 1 for $23.99 (regularly $39.98).

Right Stuf's sale this week is the Super Savings sale, offering 33% off all DVD's and Box Sets from YA Entertainment. The coupon code is kdrama and the sale runs from now until June 22nd.

The first season of Aria is scheduled to be released on September 30th.  The season will be released as a complete DVD collection, containing all 13 episodes, subtitled in english. The set will consist of 4 discs and has a suggested retail price of $49.99.

Big Tent Entertainment has announced that it will premiere a series of 20 shorts starring Domo.  Domo is the fuzzy brown mascot of NHK, a Japanese broadcasting network.  The series will premiere on the Veoh online video service on June 20th.  The 20 shorts will premiere over the course of five weeks.

The New York Asian Film Festival will open Friday and will show several manga inspired films.  Among them are Always: Sunset on Third Street 2, Warau Michael, Dororo, Shamo, Strawberry Shortcakes, and the much anticipated L change the WorLd.  The festival will run from June 20th to July 3rd at the IFC Center and then from July 3rd to July 6th at the Japan Society in New York City.

Icarus Publishing has noted that Diamond Comic Distributors have cancelled numerous July solicitations from Tokyopop.  They are:

    * Atelier Marie and Elie - Zarlburge Alchemist volume 5
    * Blazin' Barrels volume 11
    * Legend of "Zipangu" BLOOD SUCKER volume 8
    * Dragon Voice volume 11
    * Forget About Love volume 2
    * Gakuen Heaven-Nakajima
    * Gosick volume 2
    * I Wish… volume 3
    * Kat & Mouse volume 4
    * Liling-Po volume 9
    * Love Mode volume 11
    * Missing (Novel) volume 4: The Hanged Man
    * Mobile Suit Gundam: Ecole du Ciel Volume 9
    * Nosatsu Junkie volume 7
    * Pick of the Litter volume 5
    * Planet Blood volume 9
    * Poison Candy volume 2
    * Rure volume 4
    * Saver volume 7
    * Shin Megami Tensei: Kahn volume 3
    * Snow volume 2
    * Sorcerer Hunters — 100% Authentic Format volume 11
    * Suppli volume 4
    * That Guy Was Splendid volume 1
    * Trinity Blood - Reborn On The Mars volume 3
    * Zig·Zag volume 4
    * Star Trek: The Next Generation volume 1 (postponed until Spring 2009)

Tokyopop has also cancelled Lagoon Engine volume 6 which was scheduled for June.

Funimation has announced that it has licensed Big Windup! (Ookiku Furikabutte in Japan).  The 26-episode series is based on the manga by Asa Higuchi. 

It has been announced that Lawrence Kasdan is on board to pen the live action adaptation of Robotech.  Kasdan is best known for writing the screenplays for The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, and Raiders of the Lost Ark.  Warner Brothers' has previously announced that Toby McGuire is on board to be part of the adaptation.

Viz Media will be setting up an office in Hollywood this month.  The office will be in charge of promoting Viz properties to Hollywood interests.  Several of Viz's manga properties have already been shopped around for possible American film projects.  These include Death Note and Monter.

Tokyopop will continue to publish Gakuen Alice which it began releasing at the beginning of this year.  However, volume 3 of Gyakushu! will be going online only.

IMAGI Studios has announced that Summit Entertainment will be releasing the computer graphics adaptation of Astro Boy worldwide except in Japan, Hong Kong, and China in 2009.  They also announced that Nicolas Cage, Donald Sutherland, Nathan Lane, Bill Nighy, and Eugene Levy have joined the cast for the movie.  It was previously announced that Freddie Highmore would be playing Astro Boy.

Tsubasacon has annuonced that Robert Axelrod will be a guest at their convention.  He is best known as the voice of Lord Zedd and Finster from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.  He has also done Wizardmon and Armidillomon from Digimon, Rico in Robotech, and Movor in Transformers: Robots in Disguise.

Tsubasacon will take place Sept. 26th - 28th at the Riverfront Ballroom and Conference Center in Huntington WV.

The four man rock band, Glay will perform for the first time in the United States in August.  The concerts will be:

8/12 (tue)The Fillmore(San Francisco)
8/15 (fri) House of Blues Sunset Strip(LA)
8/16 (sat)House of Blues Sunset Strip(LA)

They are best known for performing songs for Sensual Phrase, Survival 2.7D, Yamato Takeru, and the theme for the live action NANA2 movie.

PiQ Magazine has announced via their website that the July issue (currently on sale) is the final issue of the magazine.  PiQ started in March after Newtype USA was cancelled and July marks it's 4th issue.  They have cited "a combination of low advertising revenue, poor business management and a lack of proper marketing and promotion all  hamstrung the magazine from the start" as the reason for the publications failure.

Rivkah, a creator from World Manga, has announced that Tokyopop will release the third and final volume of Steady Beat only on the web, they will not be publishing it.  She also said that other World Manga titles will be receiving similar treatment.  Rivkah is discussing the possibility of Tokyopop returning the publishing rights for Steady Beat for publication elsewhere. 

Bettina M. Kurkoski has also confirmed that the third volume of My Cat Loki will not be released.

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 Fruits Basket DVD Set (Thinpak) for $39.99 (regularly $69.98) and Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. Season 2 (2nd Gig) DVD Set for $47.99 (regularly $99.98).

Right Stuf's sale this week is still the Dive Into Savings sale offers all DVD singles and CDs from Geneon for $5/$10/$15 each. The sale runs from now until June 15th.

Lianne Sentar has said that the English editions of Fruits Basket, Saiyuki, Tactics, and Rave Master will not be cut during the restructuring of Tokyopop.  However, she also said that almost all the editors she worked with have been let go.

Anime Expo has teamed up with Bang Zoom! Entertainment to offer free voice acting workshops at Anime Expo 2008.  These will be 1 hour free classes that give participants a taste of voice acting with tips, general discussions, and chances to dub with an audio engineer.  Pre-registration will be required as space is limited.  To do so, you will need to visit Bang Soom! Entertainment's booth (#811) at Anime Expo 2008.  Several people that preregister may be able to perform live.

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

IGN Entertainment has posted the first episode of the original Fist of the North Star series with English Subs for free.  Toei is offering the first 15 English subtitled episodes of the series via Direct2Drive.

Manga and Exotic Worlds LLC has announced that they will be holding a convention December 30 - January 1st in Vancouver Washington.  It will take place at the Red Lion at the Quay.  Guests will include The Slants and A-Key-Kyo.  Events will include a New Years Eve dance with the previously mentioned bands, costume and cosplay choreography competitions, black light karaoke, an AMV contest, interactive panels, artist and writers workshops, and gaming.  There will also be an art show, exhibitor's hall, and artists' alley.

More information can be found at www.mewcon.com.

JapanFiles.com has announced that ketchup mania's new cd "F.L.A.G" has been released for download.  The 11-track CD features their songs "Bad! Bad! Bad!" and "Pink Water".  The legal download of the album from JapanFiles costs $9.99.  You can get more information from JapanFiles.com

Tekkoshocon has announced that it will take place April 3rd - 5th at the David L Lawrence Convention Center and the attached Westin in Pittsburgh, PA.  They will be releasing detailed maps and instructions in the coming months to help both their current and new attendees learn the area.

AnimeSuki has received cease and desist notices from Kadokawa Pictures USA for 11 recent titles.  The are Canvas2 ~Niji-ifo no Sketch~, Wagaya no Oinarisama, Spice and Wolf, Shuffle! Memories, Rental Magica, Mushi-Uta, Mamoru-kun ni Megami no Shukufuku wo!, Junjou Romantica, H2O ~Footprints in the Sand~, Goshuushou-sama Ninomiya-kun, and Demonbane.  Kadokawa Shoten has begun offering these titles, along with others, exclusively in Japan on the commercial BitTorrent DNA service between June 9th and 13th.

Media Blasters head John Sirabella has announced on Anime on DVD.com that the company has acquired the rights to Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan.  The series consists of 8 13 minute episodes.  He did not mention whether they also got the rights to Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan Second which consists of 8 more 13 minute episodes.

The latest issue of Weekly Shonen Sunday has confirmed that the next issue (which goes on sale June 18th) will contain the final chapter of Inuyasha by Rumiko Takahashi.  Takahashi has spent 11 years and 7 months working on Inuyasha.  It covers 558 magazine installments and 54 volumes, making it Takahashi's longest regularly serialized work.

The Norther Anime Festival has announced that Hoshi*Furu and Enchanter will be guests at their convention.  They will join Spider's Kiss to create a full day of live performances on June 28th, 2008. The convention itself will be held June 28th and 29th at Durham College in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada.

"Hoshi*Furu is a Japanese variety style rock band hailing from every part of Toronto. If you haven't a clue of what "variety style" is, it is just the basic term for "we play everything!". Within the last 5 months in time, these boys and girls have drastically whipped up themselves into shape, and to create fun, original, hardcore music the rest of the world just has to get their ears hooked onto. Believe them; you're missing out on a whole lot if not. Band members include Mari on vocals, 'Nan on sound, Roma on bass, Okasan on the keyboard, and Peter on the drums. Although there are a few musical differences from each of the members, this doesn't mean they are incapable of working together to create a whole new vibe. No, because Hoshi*Furu can and is best known for continuing to strive for their dreams. Nothing can ever bring these buddies down!"

"Enchanter formed in 2004, is a group of lively, dynamic, dedicated, and talented individuals who share a passion for music. With strong musical backgrounds, each member brings their own unique flavor into each song and every performance. Drawing from their favorite genres, Enchanter's music is strongly influenced by Japanese Visual Kei, Cantonese pop and Western rock. The group is constantly striving for improvement and takes pride in their original compositions."

The New York Anime Fesitval has announced that Hideyuki Kikuchi will be appearing at this years convention.  Kikuchi is best known as the author of the Vampire Hunter D novels.  He will appear with his friend and translator Kevin Leahy as guests of the convention and Dark Horse Comics.

The New York Anime Festival will take place September 26th - 28th at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

FUNimation Entertainment will be releasing the first episode of their podcast on Monday, June 9th.  The episode will feature an in-depth look into the minds behind One Piece and Shin Chan, as well as a chance to view exclusive trailers and rare behind the scenes footage.  The podcast will be weekly.  You can find the podcast at http://www.funimation.com/podcast

FUNimation Entertainment has revealed that Carrie Savage will voice Kurakano Momoka and Eric Vale will play Toru Suzushimaid in Ouran High School Host Club.

X Japan has postponed it's international tour indefinitely as of June 8th.  This will affect concerts scheduled in Paris, Fance on July 5th, Taipei, Taiwan on August 2nd, and New York City on September 13th.  The postponement was because Yoshiki Hayashi's chronic herniated disc and tendinitis has worsened.  Doctors have ordered him to stop all his activities until further notice.  He was previously advised to wear a corset during X Japan's Tokyo Dome concerts in March, but he chose not to.

At least 10 people were injured and 7 killed after a truck collided with pedestrians and the driver stabbed people at Tokyo's Akihabara otaku shopping district on Sunday.  The man reportedly struck five or six individuals with a truck near the Japan Railways station around 12:35 PM.  He then left the vehicle and stabbed people in the street.  A 25 year old man named Tomohiro Kato was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder by "stabbing one person after another with a knife".

7 hours before the incident, a message was posted to a mobile phone bulletin board that said:

I Will Kill People in Akihabara

06/08 05:21

I will come barging in with a vehicle, and if I can't use the vehicle, I will use a knife. Farewell, everyone.

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 Super Gals Season 1 DVD Box Set (Thinpak) for $19.99 (regularly $49.98) and Zone of the Enders DVD Collection (Thinpak) for $19.99 (regularly $49.98).

Right Stuf's sale this week is still the Dive Into Savings sale offers all DVD singles and CDs from Geneon for $5/$10/$15 each. The sale runs from now until June 15th.

Toei pulled out of the North American DVD market a couple years ago, but has decided to try to enter the On Demand market.  They have posted a new On Demand Service that is currently running fifteen episodes of Slam Dunk and fifteen episodes of Fist of the North Star.  The episodes are English Subbed.

Tokyopop has cut production manager, manga editor, copy editor, graphic designer, sales, marketing, and public relations positions during it's restructuring this week.  The design and editorial departments lost the most people with 39 layoffs.  Two editors posted on ANN's forums to report that they also were laid off.