Month: March 2006

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We’ve got a great show this week. We review Kino’s Journey, Tokyo Drifter and RahXephon. Also, the long-awaited third installment of Mist Finer’s Whine Time.

Kino’s Journey – Download Now!
RahXephon – Download Now!
Tokyo Drifter – Download Now!

Show Notes

News

New P.O. Box

Anime Pulse
P.O. Box 2266
Boulder, CO 80306-2266

Trans World Bid for Musicland Approved
The US Bankruptcy Court in New York has approved Trans World Entertainment’s acquisition of 400 Musicland stores. After the transaction closes Monday, 65 stores will be liquidated. About half of the remaining 335 will be Suncoast, and half will be Sam Goody.

Digital Manga Fall, Winter Yaoi Releases
Digital Manga is releasing Cold Sleep on August 8, Kissing, Rin!, and The Man Who Doesn’t Take Off His Clothes on October 25; and Hero Heel on November 8. All the titles will be listed under their new June Yaoi imprint.
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/pressrelease.php?id=1621

Manga Hits Japanese Mobile Phones
A BBC article explains the growing trend of publishing manga on mobile phones in Japan, including how Yuu Yoshi’s Deep Love moved from mobile to print to theatrical film.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/4840436.stm

Voltron Finally on DVD?
Cryptic message on official site counts down to “V-Day”
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/article.php?id=8615

Seiji Mizushima Comes to AX
Anime Expo has announced Fullmetal Alchemist director Seiji Mizushima will appear at the convention, which takes place July 1-4 in Anaheim, California.
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/pressrelease.php?id=1625

Miyazaki Makes a Clock
Hayao Miyazaki is designing a big copper clock (33ft. x 59ft.) for the NTV tower in Tokyo. Sculptor Shachimaru Kunio, who created the robot on the roof of the Studio Ghibli Museum, will make the clock. It is scheduled to be done in mid-July.
http://www.ghibli.jp/10info/000389.html#more

Hiroshi Miyagawa Dies
Composer Hiroshi Miyagawa passed away Tuesday at the age of 75. Miyagawa was best known for his Star Blazers and Arrow Emblem Grand Prix no Taka scores.

Free Advent Children Screening in LA
Square Enix and Sony are sponsoring a free screening of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children at 7 p.m. on April 3 at the Cinerama Dome in Los Angeles. Key production staff and cast are scheduled to appear after the screening.
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/pressrelease.php?id=1624

IFC Anime Documentary Online
As part of Samurai 7’s April 1 premiere on the network, the Independent Film Channel has commissioned a documentary series on anime’s popularity in the US. It is available here by scrolling to “Anime in the USA.”
http://www.ifctv.com/ifctvflash/samurai7

Tokyo Anime Fair: Award Winners
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/article.php?id=8619

Pokemon Voice Actors Replaced with Sound-Alikes
According to several confirmed sources, the entire Pokemon voice cast is being replaced for the Tenth Anniversary Special and following seasons. “We who work on the show care very much about it and are heartbroken over the possibility of not continuing production,” says Veronica Taylor, who has played Ash since 1998. “Unfortunately we have no say in what is going on. We are simply forced to wait for the outcome.”

Adult Swim Acquires Eureka 7
Adult Swim has listed an April 14 online premiere for Eureka 7. The midnight Saturday/Sunday morning slot on April 15/16 is also listed as “TBD” on Adult Swim’s TV schedule.
http://www.adultswim.com/adultswimfix/

Eureka 7 Premiere Banner Pulled
Adult Swim has removed from its site a banner announcing Eureka 7’s April 14 online premiere.
http://www.adultswim.com/tools/img/cards/adultswimfix/premieres/eureka7.jpg

Howl’s Moving Castle Cracks Top 10
Disney’s release of Howl’s Moving Castle debuted at #9 on Video Business Magazine’s DVD sales charts two weeks ago. Last week, the DVD stayed strong at #11.

Reviews

Kino’s Journey
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kino%27s_Journey
http://www.kinonotabi.com/
http://www.kinosjourney.com/

Tokyo Drifter
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Drifter

RahXephon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RahXephon
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=849
http://www.neo-rahxephon.com/

Podcast Promo’s

Ninja Consultant Podcast
Happy House of Hentai

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Here is our second promo, with Podsafe Music. Feel free to use it.

Podsafe Music

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We’ve got a great epsiode for you this week. We review Gantz, Ayakashi, Shuffle and Karin. We also bring you the news and review Bleach and Naruto.

Gantz – Wait until it comes to the US and Netflix it. For the Manga-Download Now!
Shuffle – Wouldn’t kick it out of bed for Crackers.
Karin – Wouldn’t kick it out of bed for Crackers.
Ayakashi – Wouldn’t kick it out of bed for Crackers.

Show Notes:

News:
Jifty wins our first trivia contest
Congratulations to Jifty for correctly answering the questions.
Q1: What is the gun that Rally Vincent uses?
A: CZ-75 9mm Automatic
Q2: What is the main character of the spinoff series?
A: The main character of Riding Bean was Bean Bandit
look forward to the next trivia contest next week.

Ishikawa at CU-Boulder
Production IG founder Mitsuhisa Ishikawa will discuss the creation and proliferation of anime next Friday at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Thanks to Pythos for the heads-up.

JASDAQ release reveals new Ghost in the Shell details
host in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex – Solid State Society will run for 100 minutes and be released this summer, according to Production IG’s disclosure on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Anime Unleashed Unscheduled
G4’s anime block is “not currently being scheduled.” No word on when, or if, it will return.

Adult Swim Expands
Adult Swim is expanding four nights a week to begin at 10:30pm EST instead of 11, according to TV Week.

Naruto Trading Cards
Inkworks is releasing a 72-card Naruto trading card series on March 29. The cards will come in 9-card packs and retail at $1.99. Through May 12, Inkworks is also giving away free Naruto promo cards through its site.

KOTOKO at A-Kon
A-Kon has announced musical guest KOTOKO. The con runs June 9-11 in Dallas.

Ghibli co-founder Interview
Ghibli World has an interview with Studio Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata. The interview covers the themes of Grave of the Fireflies and Pom Poko, as well as Takahata’s upcoming plans.

Funimation Creates Syndicated Anime Block
Funimation has created a two-hour anime block for syndication. The first network to carry the block will be CoLours TV, which will run it 7 days a week from 10pm to midnight EST. Shows and starting dates are unknown; CoLours TV’s online schedule, which runs through April 9, currently does not show the block scheduled.

xxxHOLiC Nominated for Annecy
Production IG’s xxxHOLiC film has been selected for the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, joining Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and three other feature films. The festival, which runs June 5 to 10, accepted a total of 260 films and programs out of 1732 applications from 62 countries.

Trailer Watch: Prince of Tennis, Joshikousei Girl’s High
Trailers for Joshikousei Girl’s High and the Prince of Tennis movie are available here and here.

New Digimon Set for Summer 07 Debut in US
“Sources inside Bandai America” expect the Digimon Savers anime and its accompanying toys and card game to reach the US in summer 2007, ICv2 reports.

Shakugan no Shana Film Forthcoming
JC Staff will be producing a Shakugan no Shana theatrical film. No release date was announced.

Lots of New Anime Sites
Upcoming anime Chocoto Sister, Kemonozume, Le Chevalier D’Eon, Otogi-Jushi Akazukin Fairy Musketeers, Saint October, Taiyo no Mokushiroku, Tekkon Kinkurito, Tokimeki Memorial, Tokyo Tribe 2

Reviews

Ayakashi
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=6202
http://www.toei-anim.co.jp/tv/ayakashi/

Gantz
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=3641
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GANTZ%21
http://www.gantz.tv/
http://www.gonzo.co.jp/english/titles/0405.html

Shuffle
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=5375
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuffle%21
http://www.shuffle-tv.com/
http://www.wowow.co.jp/anime/shuffle/

Karin
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=5949
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karin_%28manga%29
http://www.kadokawa.co.jp/karin/
http://www.wowow.co.jp/anime/karin/

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We’re back with episode 20, we’ve got news, reviews, and all the anime love you’ve come to expect.

Shinigami no Ballad – Wouldn’t kick it out of bed for crackers
Cowboy Bebop – Download Now!
Kagihime Monogatari Eikyuu Alice Rondo – Wouldn’t kick it out of bed for crackers

Show Notes

News

Captain Tsubasa in Iraq
The Captain Tsubasa soccer anime will be dubbed into Arabic and donated to the Iraq Media Network, according to Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The dubbed version will be called Captain Majed and will be provided “within coming days.” Early last year the Ministry said it was considering a plan to subsidize anime broadcasts in underdeveloped nations as a way to foster understanding of Japanese culture and develop future anime markets.
http://www.infojapan.org/announce/announce/2006/3/0302.html

Viz Officially Announces Bleach Anime
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/article.php?id=8560

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex – Solid State Society
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/article.php?id=8575

Ishikawa at CU-Boulder
Production IG founder Mitsuhisa Ishikawa will discuss the creation and proliferation of anime next Friday at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Rising Star Finalist Accused of Plagiarism
Hendra Wahjudi has been accused of plagiarizing Hiroaki Samura’s Blade of the Immortal in Tokyopop Rising Star entry Samurai Zombie. Click here for a comparison of five frames. Samurai Zombie is currently one of 20 finalists for Tokyopop’s People’s Choice Award, in which the top 7 will be published in Rising Stars of Manga volume 6.

4Kids Fiscal 2005 Results
Profit Down 60% Compared to 2004
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/article.php?id=8562

Appleseed sequel, TV series in production
Production is underway for a sequel to the Appleseed film, as well as a TV series based on the franchise, according to an interview with Masamune Shirow in the latest Kikan-S magazine. LA’s Axis Entertainment first announced the plans in December 2004.
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/article.php?id=5836

Live-action Lovely Complex in August
Aya Nakahara’s Lovely Complex series is being adapted into a live-action movie. The film debuts in Japan in August.
http://www.lovecom-movie.com/

New Ghibli Movie
Studio Ghibli has announced that Ghibli background art director Kazuo Oga, will make his directorial debut on a new movie due out July 7, 2006. Taneyamagahara no Yoru(“Night of Taneyamagahara”) is based on a play written by Kenji Miyazawa in 1924. Miyazawa, a famous Japanese writer, wrote the play for his students when he was a 28 year old teacher.
http://www.ghibli.jp/10info/000360.html

Will Square-Enix remake Final Fantasy VII on PS3?
Even though rumors are flying, the official line is that the technical demo at E3 was only that, a demo, and not meant to foreshadow a redevelopment of the famous game on the PS3.

1st Ever Batou Trivia Contest
Answer the questions by email at animepulse@gmail.com first and you can win a nice figure of “Vicious” from Cowboy Bebop.

Naruto, Fullmetal Alchemist stay in Booklist top 150
Naruto volume 9 ranked #59 and Fullmetal Alchemist volume 6 ranked #117 in USA Today’s Booklist for the week ending March 12. Last week the titles ranked #48 and #105, respectively.

Not so Daily Link of the Day: The Six Finger Phenomenon
Japanese manga characters evolving a sixth digit.
http://www.manganews.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1708

Reviews

Shinigami no Ballad
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=6201
http://www.momo100100.com/
http://www.wowow.co.jp/anime/100100/

Cowboy Bebop
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowboy_Bebop
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=13
http://www.b-ch.com/cgi-bin/contents/ttl/det.cgi?ttl_c=130
http://www.adultswim.com/shows/cowboybebop/index.html

Kagihime Monogatari Eikyuu Alice Rondo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kagihime
http://www.kagihime.jp/
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=6027

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This week we review Last Exile, Lupin the 3rd, and Millenium Actress. We also accept a challange from the Ninja Consultant podcast regarding why we like Bleach.

Millenium Actress – Download Now!
Lupin the 3rd – Wouldn’t kick it out of bed for crackers
Last Exile – Wouldn’t kick it out of bed for crackers

Show Notes

News

WPHS 89.1 FM in Warren, MI raises money for kids
http://www.wphs.com/v2/index.php
his year, we intend to raise money for the Warren Consolidated Schools Health Council, a council of nurses that purchases medicine for children whose parents cannot afford it. The basic way it works is, Johny Otaku has asthma. Johny’s dad has been laid off and his mom’s job isn’t pulling in enough money to get him his inhaler. The parents ask the Council for help, and the nurses buy little Johny’s inhaler for the parents, this way Johny gets his inhaler and if the parents have substance abuse problems or anything that they would divert the medicine money to, they can’t. The money has been spent and Johny has his medicine.

Anime.com Adds “Anime Shrines”
http://www.anime.com
Anime.com is introducing “Anime Shrines” a new subsection to the website. Totaling over 200 unique web pages the Anime Shrines function by creating discrete “groups” that highlight a particular anime title or related subject.

Bleach Licensed ?
http://www.c21media.net/news/detail.asp?area=5&article=28732
There are currently reports going around, stemming from this article on C21 Media, that Viz has “licensed” Bleach (TV). Due to the fact that the article quotes staff at Viz Media BV in Europe and that Viz holds international rights for many titles that it has not decided to release in North America. We consider this just a RUMOR.

Funimation Films Launch Date
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/pressrelease.php?id=1567
Funimation has announced the launch date for the first Funimation Films theatrical release. Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn will screen in select Landmark theaters starting on March 17. Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler will show with Fusion Reborn as a double feature.

East Coast Correspondent Rangiku sends us fudge!
We got some fudgilicious fudge from Rangiku. Thank you!!!

Anime Boston Artists’ Alley Sells Out in 5 Minutes
5 Minutes and 25 seconds is all the time it took for Anime Boston 2006’s 84 artists’ alley spaces to sell out yesterday. 2005’s artists’ alley sold out in roughly 45 minutes, so for 2006 Anime Boston increased the ammount of space available by more than 60%.

Viz (Naruto) Scores Highest Ever Sales Ranking for a Manga in Booklist
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/article.php?id=8488

Naruto: Build-A-Ninja Sweepstakes Contest Deadline Extended
Due to overwhelming popular demand, the deadline for the Naruto Build-A-Ninja Sweepstakes has been extended to 12:01 AM PST on Friday, March 10th. Revised entries and new entries will be accepted until that date.

Japanese Courts Use Manga To Promote New Judicial System
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/article.php?id=8496

Eureka 7 Website
http://eurekaseven.bandai-ent.com/
Bandai Entertainment has opened the official website for Eureka 7. Contents include story outline, character bios, mech info and more…

CLAMP scheduled for US appearance in July
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/article.php?id=8513

New Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Details
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/article.php?id=8508

Nana website open
http://www.ntv.co.jp/nana/index.html
NTV’s Nana TV website is now open. The anime premieres April 5 in Japan.

Most Chinese, Korean high schoolers watch anime, read manga
73.3% of Chinese and 81.4% of Korean high school students read manga or watch anime, according to a new poll by Mainichi News.

Kazuo Koike Interview
http://www.darkhorse.com/news/interviews.php?id=1261
Dark Horse has posted an interview with Kazuo Koike, writer of manga such as Crying Freeman, Lady Snowblood and Lone Wolf and Club.

Reviews

Millenium Actress
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millenium_Actress
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=374
http://www.millenniumactress.com/
http://www.millenniumactress-themovie.com/

Lupin the 3rd
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=886
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lupin_the_III
http://www.lupinencyclopedia.com/

Last Exile
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Exile
http://www.lastexiledvd.com/

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This week we review REC, Kaze no Yojimbo, Kashimashi, Youth of the Beast and Mahoromatic. We also cover the lack of Bleach. We review Naruto and cover this week’s news.

REC – Wouldn’t kick it out of bed for crackers.
Kaze no Yojimbo – Wait until it hits the US and NetFlix it/Wouldn’t kick it out of bed for crackers.
Kashimashi – Download Now!
Youth of the Beast – Wait until it hits the US and NetFlix it.
Mahoromatic – Download Now!

Show Notes

News

ADV New York Comic-Con licenses
At their New York ComicCon panel, ADV announced two new licenses: This Ugly and Beautiful World and the Area 88 OVA series. Area 88 was previously released in the US on video and DVD by Central Park Media.

MegaCon: Fullmetal Alchemist Movie Licensed
Funimation announced at MegaCon this weekend that they have acquired the license to the feature-length animated film Fullmetal Alchemist: The Conqueror of Shambala.

Naruto Build-A-Ninja Contest
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/contest.php?id=74

4Kids script writer on edits, new Gonzo co-production
http://www.animeboredom.co.uk/anime-articles/80/

New CMX Manga Licenses
At New York ComicCon, CMX has announced the licenses to the following manga: Emma, Omakue Desu, The Recipe for Gertrude, and The Empty Empire. Also announced was Megatokyo, the popular webcomic, making CMX the third publisher to handle the license.

Sony Music Festival
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/article.php?id=8424

Funimation Acquires Afro Samurai
Funimation has announced that it has acquired the rights to Afro Samurai. The Gonzo mini-series, which is set to premiere on Spike TV later this year, features Samuel L. Jackson is the voice of the lead character, Afro. Funimation’s DVD release is expected for early next year.

Cosplay-A-Thon Go in Irving, Tx
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/pressrelease.php?id=1557

Tenchi Muyo Dates
Funimation has announced, on the official website that Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki OAV 3 volume 2 will be released on September 12, and volume 3 will be released on November 7.

Shiawase Pantsu Includes Children’s Panties as Promo
The January volume of Shiawase Pantsu, an adult lolicon manga, included a pair of panties as a promotional extra. It is not uncommon for erotic manga to include article of women’s clothing as extras, however publisher Akaneshinsha proudly boast that the panties included with Shiawase Pantsu are for a 130cm tall girl, a size typically worn by pre-schoolers.

New Anime Airdates and Websites
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/article.php?id=8472

Miyazaki on Cartoon Network Air Dates
Cartoon Network announced at their upfront presentation today, the airdates for their upcoming Miyazaki films. Spirited Away will air March 18, Princess Mononoke on March 25, Castle in the Sky on April 1, and Nausica of the Valley of the Wind on April 8. They will all air at 7:30pm.

Mamoru Sasaki Dies
Mamoru Sasaki passed away on February 24, he was 69. The cause of his death was pancreatic cancer. He was one of the scriptwriters for the TV anime series, Heidi, Girl of the Alps. Other his works include the TV scripts for Ultraman, Itchokusen, Kaiki Daisakusen and Comet-san. He wrote scripts for manga too such as Otoko Do-Aho! Koshien drawn by Shinji Mizushima and Soldier Boy drawn by Yumiko Kawahara. Sasaki also worked with Nagisa Oshima and wrote the scripts for some of his films, including Ninja Bugeicho in which the original drawings by Sanpei Shirato for the manga with the same title were photographed.

Two New Negima Anime
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/article.php?id=8480

Case Closed Coming to Canadian TV
http://www.corusent.com/corporate/press_room/pressReleaseDetail.asp?id=1007

Cameron Discusses Battle Angel Plans
Ain’t It Cool News has reported that director James Cameron personally admitted that he’s still undecided whether his next film project will be Battle Angel Alita or his original science fiction film Avatar. Both movies will be shot back-to-back using state of the art digital 3D cameras, and Cameron has stated that his Lightstorm Studio has already produced full 3D CG models of Alita that he’s satisfied with. Cameron also confirmed again that he plans to make Battle Angel a movie trilogy.

Adult Swim Discusses Future Plans For Anime
The Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim has published a Q&A with programming director Kim Manning in which Manning reveals several of the network’s plans for anime:
Plans for Adult Swim to experiment with broadcasting subtitled anime have been canceled.
Adult Swim has no plans to license anime for original broadcast or distribution.
A third season of The Big O is unlikely due to less than stellar broadcast ratings and DVD sales of the second season.
Adult Swim has plans to expand its broadcast of American comedy animation, but anime must still be broadcast in late night hours, presumably due to its lesser popularity and success.
Adult Swim is currently negotiating with AD Vision for broadcast rights to another anime title.

Reviews

REC
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=6008
http://www.tbs.co.jp/rec-aka/

Kaze no Yojimbo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaze_no_Yojimbo
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=1809
http://www.ntv.co.jp/yojinbo/

Kashimashi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashimashi
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=5835
http://kasimasi.com/
http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/anime/kasimasi/

Youth of the Beast
http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=268

Mahoromatic
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahoromatic
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=428
http://mahoromatic.pioneeranimation.com/
http://www.mahoro-matic.com/
http://www.gainax.co.jp/anime/mahoro/index.html
http://www.madman.com.au/mahoromatic/index2.html

Podcast Promos

Anime World Order
http://animeworldorder.blogspot.com/

Happy House of Hentai
http://happyhouseofhentai.libsyn.com/

Ninja Consultants
http://www.ninjaconsultant.com/

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