Earlier I talked about various details of the new Slayers REVOLUTION anime, including mention of a mascot character named Pokota. Moetron provided the above image of the terrifying creature, and suggests that it’s appearing in the manga– but maybe not the anime.

In any case, yeah, I hope it either dies in a fire, or kills lots of people. Or is, y’know, really sarcastic and funny or something. Anything but adorable.

Today’s Moon Phase diary has some details on Slayers REVOLUTION, although it’s unclear where it came from (though other information has been hitting the web from Newtype and other mags today, so I’m guessing it’s one of the primary anime ‘zines). Moon Phase is generally spot-on, so take it as you will.

Anyway, they report that the anime will air in July on TV Tokyo in a late-night spot. Apparently the plot at least begins as a search for a replacement for Gourry’s Sword of Light. Characters that I think haven’t been seen in the anime before (but who are known in the novels) will appear, including Rook and Mirina. Some more familiar faces, as well: Prince Phil returns, as does Sylphiel. And apparently some kind of mascot character called Pokota, as well…no clue there.

Once again, no source cited on the blog, but it’s Moon Phase, so it’s up to you what to think.

Moon Phase has the word on an anime adaptation of Kurozuka, Baku Yumemakura and Takashi Noguchi’s 2002 manga about a pair of immortals named Kurou and Kuromitsu who fall in love and, over the course of a thousand years, fall apart again. (Apparently the manga is an adaptation of Yumemakura’s novel; he also wrote the Onmyouji series, about Abe no Seimei.)

The announcement was made on Animax’s website, which also mentions a date for Kurozuka and for the previously announced Ultraviolet: Code 044 anime: July 1st.

Aaaaaaaand in this corner, we have Slayers REVOLUTION! Moon Phase’s link has an image that tells us nothing about the new series (at first I was like, “Sylphiel’s coming back? Shit!”). The images are actually the first few covers for a re-release of the Slayers novels by Hajime Kanzaka. Do want! *scours Amazon for the Tpop releases in the meantime*

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!

The Anime Chronicle had word– but oddly, deleted it –linking to a report from Slayers News that notes that a manga of Slayers Revolution is in the works. The manga will be drawn by Issei Hyouju, best known for the manga Armored Core Tower City Blade, and it’ll run in Dragon Age starting in May.

Yipe, that’s soon! I think they mean the issue coming out in May, not the “May issue,” since the May issue just hit stands yesterday and there’s no mention of Slayers being in it.

More important than the website or the visual for the upcoming Slayers Revolution series is the cast list! Megumi Hayashibara returns as Lina, which is undoubtedly one of the most important parts for many fans.

For me, though, the biggest news is the characters that will be back and their returning seiyuu: Yasunori Matsumoto reprises as Gourry; Hikaru Midorikawa is back as Zelgadis, and Masami Suzuki will once again play Amelia.

As some of you know, my biggest concern was that it would be a TV series with nothin’ but Naga. (Eep.) Now that I know that the old crew is back, I am 150% excited about the show!

Though I can’t help but notice: Xellos appeared in a magazine spread, but his original seiyuu Akira Ishida isn’t on the list yet…

The hard-working AnimeSuki forum member NeoSam notes that the new Slayers TV anime will be titled Slayers REVOLUTION. Unfortunately he doesn’t cite a source, so I dug around and found it to be true according to an image posted by Slayers NEWS, which is, as you can imagine, a Slayers news blog. (Adding to RSS reader…now!) I’m not sure what magazine the image is from, but it seems pretty straight-forward about the title.

Perhaps more important than the name, at least to me: Xellos! Yes, our old pal, Xel(”Himitsu”)los is back, at least in the image in the magazine, and therefore presumably the show as well. I can’t read diddly since the image is rather blurry, but if Xellos is in, I feel slightly comforted. (Also, it’s kinda neat to see a peek at what the show might look like…although Xellos looks kinda young and girly. Or, younger and girlier. Hmm.)