Steve Blum's voiced some of the most iconic characters in anime (Spike Spiegel in Cowboy Bebop, Roger Smith in The Big O, Kuromaru in Naruto, and many others). In this Marvel interview, he talks about voicing Wolverine, and how it relates to his work on anime.
Sharp-eyed translator and editor Matt Thorn noticed an online auction for several original, signed Moto Hagio sketches. Since he actually helped bring one of Hagio's works, A Drunken Dream and Other Stories, to America, he contacted Hagio about it.
She replied that she never drew those sketches. They're fakes.
Hagio's planning to contact the police, and has asked the auction's winner to contact her.
So, if you're bidding on "original sketches," be careful! They may be fakes.
Last year, during all the brouhaha about the Tokyo Youth Ordinance Amendment, a bunch of anime and manga companies decided to boycott the big Tokyo International Anime Fair and set up their own, rival expo. It was called the Anime Contents Expo, and was planned for the same weekend as TIAF. Fans were settling in and making popcorn in anticipation of the fireworks.
Then, tragically, the Great Eastern Japanese Earthquake hit a week before both cons were scheduled. They were both canceled.
Well, it's time to plan for next year's expos, so now the rivalry is heating up again. Anime Contents Expo is back in the ring, and this time it's scheduled for one week after TIAF. Will one see huge numbers and the other crumble? We'll see after April 1.
According to Variety, Warner Bros. has green-lit a live-action Hollywood adaptation of the Akira manga. Some interesting tidbits:
It's an adaptation of the manga, not the film. So there's some story leeway there; it doesn't have to be exactly like the 1989 movie.
Looks like a heavy adaptation already; it's set in New Manhattan, not Neo Tokyo. Which, honestly is good -- they can tell the same story without having to find Japanese actors or make it "look Japanese."
Leonardo DiCaprio's still producing it. Would love to see him show up as Colonel Shikishima, wouldn't you?
RightStuf has just posted Aniplex's upcoming release of Madoka Magica. If you want to know how it felt to be an American anime fan in the 1990's, well, you're about to.
The series is being released on 3 separate discs. So, these are the prices for each disc.
Each Blu-Ray retails for US $50 ($40 on RightStuf).
Each limited edition box, with DVD, Blu-Ray, and soundtrack CD, retails for US $95 ($75 on RightStuf).
Again, that's for each volume. Minimum retail price for the entire series is $120; if you want the limited edition, you'll pay just under $300 (even on RightStuf, over $200).
On the other hand, this listing does not describe the contents of each release, so there may be some really cool swag included with those discs.
So. Aniplex will certainly sell a few copies. Come on; this is Madoka Magica. But will it sell enough to make the release worth it?
This implies to me that Aniplex is essentially saying: "Look, most 'fans' are going to watch it for free anyway. We might as well target the hard-core otaku who will pay any price."
Even so, this is an extreme price point. It's a big gamble, and one that I don't think they can win.
News
Sharp-eyed translator and editor Matt Thorn noticed an online auction for several original, signed Moto Hagio sketches. Since he actually helped bring one of Hagio's works, A Drunken Dream and Other Stories, to America, he contacted Hagio about it.
According to Variety, Warner Bros. has green-lit a live-action Hollywood adaptation of the Akira manga. Some interesting tidbits:
