Broccoli’s Shizuki spent some time lamenting on the Broccoli Books blog that she didn’t get to announce much during convention season, but hints at at least three new titles and another four possible acquisitions. She gave out some fakey names for the first three (or I assume fake, since I can’t find anything useful on ‘em), and the names may be hints but if so I’m too braindead to try and work them out at the moment.

Did I miss something on the ‘net? Odex is somewhat obsessed with proving that they aren’t “profiting” off of their recent lawsuits. They now say that they’re hiring an independent auditor to prove it, and any profit s/he finds will go to charity. Which is groovy, but let me make a couple of points:

1. If you’re hiring an auditor, he or she works for you, and is no longer independent. Nyah!

2. I’m not sure if “we’re not trying to make money off these lawsuits! We’re getting all of these people into a shit-ton of legal and financial trouble OUT OF THE GOODNESS OF OUR HEARTS!” is really the message you want to send.

Now, the charity thing is cool, but I suggest taking it a step farther: find the downloaders, and instead of presenting them with a giant bill for the stuff they snagged, give them the option to pay only half of it– and to the charity you’ve chosen instead of to you. (By the way, I notice your charity wasn’t named; if it turns out to be the “Victims of BitTorrent” fund I’m going to have to, as the kids say, “choke a bitch.”)

Alrighty, I know you guys are from all over the place, but if any of you are local to my own hometown of Portland Oregon, you should already know that KumoriCon is this weekend. I’ll be wandering around, probably not in full cosplay but in my Yoko scarf/sunglasses/hair clip. So come up and say hi. My friends are mostly just working the con this year so I may be bored =P (Kumori is too small for much by way of industry panels and announcements.)

I just stumbled upon this article from Australia’s Daily Telegraph, in which a bunch of parents complain about, of all things, some Naruto figures. The figures hold the usual deadly weapons and admittedly, Naruto’s face doesn’t exactly scream “friend to puppies and small children.” The complaints appear to be led by the Homicide Survivors Association.

Meanwhile, Mattel’s stance is that “it was up to parents whether they wanted their children to own a doll based on the ninja ethos of weapons and defence.”

To translate: we just make the toys. You raise your own damn kids.

As predicted, Odex is fighting the ruling that they were not the appropriate party to seek a court order forcing PacNet to divulge the names of anime downloaders. And also more or less as I figured, they’re making use of the fact that they have the support of the true copyright owners– who, by the judge’s decision, ARE the appropriate party. At the very least, they have the support of GDH (a.k.a. Gonzo) and Toei. A Toei rep even said they’d come to Singapore if they had to.

So, while this decision was a nice reprieve, I’m going to make another prediction– that Odex will get its way in the end. I was actually really surprised at the judge’s decision, but I honestly don’t think Odex is in the wrong from a very technical, legal perspective. I DO think they’re doing a fantastic job at alienating customers, though.

You may have heard of Black Snake Moan, the movie in which Samuel L. Jackson chains a nymphomaniacal Christina Ricci to a radiator or something, also known as my favorite dream. Anyway, the film is rarin’ to go in Japan, and Japan Probe has shots from a little promo in Shibuya, which they say may be a sign that the film will do well.

Let me just say it again: Christina Ricci as a nympho. Samuel L. Jackson as anything. Of course Japan’s going to eat it up!

Apparently China is using cute anime-style SD cops to alert citizens that Big Brother is watching them surf the ‘net, according to CNet (though the news is making the rounds).

Which leaves me thinkin’, maybe Dubya should just borrow Pikachu or Doraemon to make warrantless wiretapping more palatable to U.S. citizens.

Okay, I know I wrote this asking Kanye West whether he’s “just another otaku,” but I wasn’t actually expecting him to be a real anime fan.

And yet, now we know for sure that Kanye is honest-to-god anime otaku. How? Because he apparently “loves anime porn.” Or at least, hentai scenes were reportedly shown along with “hyperviolent Korean cinema” when his new album was playing at a party in his honor.

He also said that blogs “fuel his insecurity.” So, allow me to contribute: Kanye, do you really wank to hentai? OR ARE YOU FAKING?

Have I mentioned that I’m in Atlanta at the moment?

Those of you who ventured here via animeOnline no doubt haven’t already forgotten my partner-in-crime cohort colleague Dale North. If any of you were wondering what he’s been up to, here’s a hint: he’s at PAX. And he’s not just there as an attendee. (He’s performing– see here.) GO blurry DALE!

(P.S. Yes, I do totally have google alerts up for most of my aO coworkers. You guys may all consider yourselves thoroughly stalked. ♥)