Anime:
- VIZ has announced the Canadian theatrical premiere of the first live-action Death Note film: Monday, September 15th, at 9pm at a variety of locations throughout Canada (see here to find out where). A bundle including both the DVD and an advance ticket is going on sale August 29th as well, for $29.99 CAD (not bad for a theater ticket AND the film).

- SaiAni reports that Tetsuwan Birdy DECODE will see a second season– not bad for a show based on a manga from ‘85, eh?

- A couple of items from ANN: hints about a new Production I.G project that may be a 3D movie, and seiyuu Tomoko Kawakami– best known for her role as the titular Utena, or maybe as Athena in Air, or Soi Fong in Bleach, or Sayuri in Kanon…you get the idea –has been hospitalized for undisclosed reasons. Let’s wish her a speedy recovery!

Manga:
- Okay, it’s NSFW and a couple of days old, but Sankaku Complex has a great article on how poorly To-LOVEru is censored these days.

- Oh, and Broccoli has a twenty-page preview of Nui! up.

- Keizo Tsukamoto has earned the Guiness record for “having the world’s longest continuous career illustrating one magazine”, drawing the cover of the Weekly Manga Times every week for 38 years– his next goal is to hit the big 5-0. Yipe.

- The Hugo Awards for sci-fi and fantasy fiction are going to add a graphic novel category, as a temporary category in 2009 and (presumably) as a permanent one in 2010 after the decision is ratified at next year’s WorldCon.

Posted by gia in Features, Roundups • Comments (5)

ICv2 reports that Svetlana Chmakova, the creator of the popular TOKYOPOP global manga Dramacon (pictured left), as well as Yen Press’ upcoming Night School, is moving on to a new frontier: animation.

The show is being marketed to 8-12 year olds and will feature certain manga-style visual elements, and follows a quartet of tweens in their daily lives. It’s called My Life Me (pictured right) and 52 11-minute episodes will hit Canadian and French TV in fall ‘09. No word on whether there’ll be a US release.

Posted by gia in New Series, News, OEL, Western News • Comments (3)

Okay, Canadian anime fans no longer get to complain about missing out on stuff that’s made available to American ones. Why? Because G4 Canada is airing Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage. Which, by the way, Geneon never managed to put out on DVD. I don’t know how that works, but damn. Because BL:TSB is freakin’ awesome. And its awesomeness can be summed up in eight words: twin gothic lolita assassins with slight incest complexes.

Or in four words: Revy goes to Japan.

So awesome.

Original source: Zannen, Canada

Posted by gia in Anime, News, Western News • Comments (3)