Okay, I have approximately 2.6 million things to do before I fly out tonight, so here’s a quick round-up of the news currently circulating TEH INTARWEBS.

Anime:
- SaiAni is currently reporting on two new anime projects. One is another Tamagotchi movie (if you license it, Bandai Entertainment, I expect you to take us totally off-guard like you did when you announced the first one); the other is called Kikuchan to Ookami (Kiku and the Wolf), a tale by Grave of the Fireflies creator Akiyuki Nosaka, which will air as a TV special this August.

Required Reading:
- Patrick Macias announced that the website for Otaku USA has been redesigned, and it’s jam-packed with content to check out. I personally recommend Ed Chavez’s look at the works and style of Yamada Yoshihiro and Joseph Luster’s piece on the history of fast food-themed video games.

- Over at Anime Almanac, Scott has finally posted his much-anticipated article on his interview with Greg Ayres at Anime Next, along with Ayres’ panel. Make sure to check the comments too, as there’s been some good discussion (and there’s probably more to come).

- And finally, Publishers Weekly offers a new article in their “Life in Comics” series, this time about Creator Rights and Small Publishers. They talk about TOKYOPOP, and about why the comics industry treats its creators so differently from the way book publishers treat authors.

That oughta hold you guys for a few minutes while I get this stuff done…

Heavens to betsy, lookit all that news!

TV Anime:
- ANN has confirmed that Bandai Visual (that’s the Japanese one) is going to be releasing some of its titles globally on Blu-Ray, i.e. with subtitles in English and other languages.
- Meanwhile, Slayers REVOLUTION just looks better and better: Megumi Hayashibara has announced on her official site that she’ll be singing both the OP and ED themes.

Manga:
- ICv2 has released its Anime/Manga Guide, and Naruto remained the top property while anime sales continue to decline (although box sets seem to be doing well).
- An absolute must-read: Christopher Butcher goes way in-depth with VIZ’s original content line.
- God help us all, the 48-person girl group AKB48 is getting its own manga.
- A mysteriously unnamed set of “anime artists” (I can only assume they actually draw manga?) took part in a breast cancer fundraiser.

Movies/OVAs:
- An official trailer for Mamoru Oshii’s Sky Crawlers is up at the official website. Score!

Music:
- Anime on DVD has a press release from Jpop group Budo Grape, with two Texas appearances (including A-kon) and one in New York City.

Toys/Swag:
- Kotobukiya is a Japanese company, and Batman is getting made into an anime, so I can call this anime-ish news, right? ‘Cause it’s absolutely badass.
- In other toy news, Japan is working on a line of eco-friendly toys.

Misc:
- I finally have a good reason to hunt down a copy of Otaku USA– Japanator’s Zac Bentz is in the new issue.
- If my preview of Manga Cafe Mika wasn’t enough for you, here’s Deb Aoki’s coverage of the grand opening over at manga.about.com.

Weehaw!