Since I’m actually trying to leave the house this weekend (zomg! Hey, it’s for the Degas/Toulouse-Lautrec exhibit at the art museum and the Cinco de Mayo fair at the waterfront), I figure I’d better knock this sucker out so I don’t forget anything.

Anime:
- USA Today has finally picked up on that whole anime being made into movies thing. Now with 100% more Answerman! (ANN’s Zac Bertschy gets a quote in the article.)
- Speaking of ANN, they have word that CoLours, the “multicultural network,” isn’t running their FUNimation channel block anymore. They originally ran a four-hour block, then two hours, and then there was none.

Manga
- Hey, did you know that Naruto sells well? Yeah, so did I.
- The Yomiuri has a special on Astro Boy, specifically the expansion of his franchise with the “fat Astro Boy” designs of Lily Franky.
- Aaand over at Comics Worth Reading, we have a nice State of Josei Manga address from Johanna, who talks about what titles out in the US might fit the bill; commenters have a handful more.
- P.S. FREE MANGA! (And other comics.)

Movies/OVAs:
- Variety tells us about the visualsof Speed Racer, which, as we all know, are sexy. (The question is whether the other aspects of the flick will match up.) Oh, and IGN has three minutes of the film online.

Music:
- Hashihime updates us on the chart status of seiyuu/songstresses Maaya Sakamoto and Aya Hirano (known to me for their roles as two different Haruhis: Sakamoto is Host Club’s tomboyish Haruhi, and Hirano, of course, voices Suzumiya Haruhi herself). But Sakamoto wins out on the sales charts, taking the #3 spot while Hirano is at #20.

Cons:
- Viva l’Obata! Takeshi Obata is hitting up Paris’ Japan Expo, according to anime!anime!.

In Japan:
- Ooh, new category! But Gunota Headlines has word that the Bandai Hobby Center is having a public viewing on May 17-18th, with a Keroro Gunsou stage show and a Gundam 00 seiyuu talk show, among other events.

Misc:
- Given the popularity of 2ch, I can’t imagine how anyone would be surprised that Japanese people favor anonymity when commenting online, but here’s the poll to prove it, from WhatJapanThinks. There’s information on a number of other aspects of Internet use, especially with mobile phone surfing.

Anyone who knows me well knows that I think Death Note is a bit overrated– all except the art, by Hikaru no Go artist Takeshi Obata. Obata is now also doing a manga based on the video game Blue Dragon, but now he has a new project: Hello Baby, with Masanori Morita as the writer. Morita is best known for the unlicensed 42-volume manga Rokudenashi Blues, which he did both writing and art for.

The new project will be serialized in Jump Square, the new anthology that’s replacing Monthly Shounen Jump. I don’t know anything about the plot yet, and I also don’t care, because Obata’s art is that awesome.