A new press release is making the rounds announcing that TOKYOPOP and iaTV, the imaginAsian TV channel, have struck a deal: TOKYOPOP gets ad sales for TOKYOPOP.com, and iaTV gets Psychic Academy, Initial D, and the anime film Spring and Chaos. iaTV will also air TOKYOPOP’s iManga shorts and FMW Wrestling, which is, of course, a Japanese wrestling show.

Now, an interesting tidbit here: it looks like all three of the anime will be shown subtitled, not dubbed– even though both Initial D and Spring and Chaos have been dubbed in the past (I don’t think Psychic Academy ever was).

For airdates and times, check the press release.

Bandai Entertainment has sent out a press release announcing a new alliance with ImaginAsian TV titled THE BLOCK, which will feature a lot of BEI’s anime– Mai HiME/My-Otome, Planetes, Scrapped Princess, Toward the Terra, Ghost Slayers Ayashi, and Mars Daybreak –as well as some of their live-action: The Great Horror Family (pictured left, and yes, it really is live-action in spite of the cover) and Bloodhound: The Vampire Gigolo (pictured right, and yes, that really is the title).

THE BLOCK will air on Wednesdays from 8pm-11pm, premiering on August 6. And yes, you SHOULD note that Haruhi and Lucky Star aren’t part of the block; I wouldn’t be surprised if Kadokawa is holding out for a better deal…although I suppose it’s possible that something’s already in the works, too.

So I am now in the hot and humid realm of the greater Dallas, TX area, and hey look! A-Kon starts tomorrow. They just got their schedule up, and I can’t help but notice that it’s entirely bereft of near next door neighbor FUNimation– I’ve got an e-mail out to events manager Adam Sheehan to see if it’s just a scheduling snafu or if they’re really not having a panel– I’ll update if I need to add them to the list.

That said, here are the panels I’m planning on (or could) attend….

- “Industry Panel” featuring Nabeshin, Jake Tarbox, and Steven and Megumi Cummings.
- The above panel is unfortunately at the same time as Radio Comix, but if you had questions for Radio I could try and track down the reps afterwards.
- Bandai Entertainment industry panel (hey, soon I won’t have to specify, I can just say “Bandai.” Or at least “Bandai USA.” Hmm!
- ImaginAsian TV
- Antarctic Press

There’s a whole series of panels that seem to revolve around trying to get laid at a con: “How to Talk to Girls” (which is 18+), “Girls at Cons,” “Boys at Cons,” and then the finale, “Sex at Cons.” I have a feeling that the Jtor guys and I may crash that last one if our schedule permits…

I’ll also be attending the video game cosplay record-breaking attempt (or at least most of it…it runs 1-4pm, and I have a panel from 1-2pm and then 4-5pm, it looks like…but I think I only have to be there 15 minutes for it to count, so it should be a good time). I also hope to cover the maid events and stuff.

Ganbarimasu~ And as always, feel free to leave questions for companies and/or guests– A-kon’s list is here, and I figure at least a handful of you will be interested in asking Nabeshin a few things, right? –in the comments here and I’ll do my best to hunt people down and get you answers!

Uh-oh– ANN reports that TitleMatch, the DVD supplier for ImaginAsian, has halted production of ImaginAsian’s classic anime trio, Nobody’s Boy Remi, Orguss, and Cat’s Eye(!). The network is still airing all three, however, and is working on getting it back out on DVD.

Okay, I need to get a shower before I head out to the airport for Anime Matsuri, but before I do that: the first live-action Nana flick is going to be visiting LA’s ImaginAsian center March 21st-27th, playing at 1:30pm, 4pm, 6:30pm, and 9pm. Tickets are $10 general admission, $7 students/seniors (and children under 13, but only for the 1:30 showing). Monday through Thursday, the 1:30pm show is also matinee price ($6).

In other words, most of you can arrange to see it for as much or less than first-run flick at a standard theater. So GO DO IT.

So far it’s mostly been a lot of babble about who the company is and what they do, but interestingly, they seem to be talking a lot about trying to get through to the Japanese companies about getting a faster turnaround time for top anime titles. Which makes since, since the author of the open letter to the industry re: subbing was ANN founder Justin Sevakis, who is also the manager of strategic development and programming for ImaginAsian.

I’m probably going to scoot out of here in a second to hit up the Go! Comi panel, but I am out of power and these rooms don’t have power outlets. (I asked a guy who worked here about it, and he said no one wants to pay for the power. I’m like, I just paid $70 to use your internet, what the hell are you talking about not paying? *grumble*)