Popular online Manga reading site, One Manga.com, has been brought offline by the recently formed Manga Publisher Coalition/Group. Made by Viz, Tokyopop and Yen Press and some 36 Japanese Manga Publishers. The Message on the site is as follows: …Continue Reading

The New Code Geass Anime project has been named! It is known as Code Geass Gaiden: Boukoku no Akito (Code Geass Side Story: Akito of the Ruined Nation). …Continue Reading

…Well, maybe not anime completely, but basically what so many individuals in Japan were recently attempting to do. Anyone possessing images of a child or “references to an image of a person include references to an image of an imaginary person,” shall be tried under the “Coroners and Justice Act (2009)“/”Dangerous Cartoon” Act.

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Source: Anime Vice, Backlash-uk, Office of Public Sector Information

An Online commercial for the May Issue of the Monthly Comptiq magazine has revealed that an anime based on the eroge “Fortune Arterial” (By Studio AUGUST) has been green-lit for production. No other details have been announced, but we’ll definitely keep you updated on this. …Continue Reading

A sequel was confirmed on the official website for anime Baka to Test. No word on when the sequel will be aired, but it’s been green-lit! Good news for you Baka To Test fans. …Continue Reading

According to ICv2, Warner Bros. Pictures is in the process of acquiring the rights to make a live action Bleach movie. The news via the Hollywood Reporter indicates that Peter Segal is the one that’s working through the negotiations to produce the show along with Viz Media via his Callahan Filmworks production company.

Warner is being aggressive with some anime/manga acquisitions with Akira in the works via Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company. Rival studios Fox and DreamWorks are producing live action adaptations as well of anime properties with Cowboy Bebop and Ghost in the Shell respectively.

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Source: Mania

Viz will release the first volume of Bakuman, a Shonen Jump title by the Death Note team (Tsugumi Ohba, writer, and Takeshi Obata, who’s also well known for Hikaru No Go, artist), in August. The series was very popular in Japan, where it has spawned an anime series premiering this year. The story concerns two 9th graders who want to be manga-ka.

Two other manga are also set to be released: Dengeki Daisy, by Kyousuke Motomi and Seiho Boys High School, a shojo manga by Kaneyoshi Izumi. You can expect Dengeki in July and Seiho in August.

Source: ICv2

Funimation has announced that they will be releasing a handful of titles on Blu-Ray along with a few others that do not have a specific date at the moment.  The list is as you will see below:

Guyver: The BioBoosted Armor Complete Series on 6/22/2010
Rin ~Daughters of Mnemosyne~ Complete Collection on 07/20/2010
Black Cat Complete Collection on 07/13/2010
Desert Punk Complete Collection on 07/13/2010

On the other side with titles that have no release dates planned but are tagged as coming soon:

Afro Samurai - The Complete Murder Sessions
Black Blood Brothers Complete
Casshern Sins Part 1
Casshern Sins Part 2
Eden of the East Complete
Fullmetal Panic! Season One
And more Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood as well.

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Source: Mania: Beyond Entertainment

For those of you who have been waiting for the Trigun movie, wait no longer!

Sakura-Con has announced that it will hold the world premiere of the Trigun: Badlands Rumble film during the April 2-4 convention in Seattle, Washington. The convention is three weeks before the April 24 opening of the film in Japan.

Like the television anime series that came before it, the anime studio MADHOUSE is basing the film on Yasuhiro Nightow’s popular Trigun manga. Director Satoshi Nishimura, character designer Takahiro Yoshimatsu, mechanical designer Noriyuki Jinguji, and musical composer Tsuneo Imahori are returning to the franchise after having worked on the television series. Nightow and Nishimura conceived of the story concepts which Yasuko Kobayashi (Claymore, Shakugan no Shana, Witchblade anime) turned into a shooting script. Masaya Onosaka, Sho Hayami, Hiromi Tsuru, and Satsuki Yukino are reprising their roles of Vash the Stampede, Nicolas D. Wolfwood, Meryl Stryfe, and Milly Thompson, respectively.

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Source: Anime News Network

“In a separate development, MTV.com posted a clip from a video interview with Appian Way’s Leonardo DiCaprio regarding his next project. When asked if DiCaprio’s next project will be the live-action film adaptation of Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira manga or Twilight Zone, DiCaprio said, “You know, you never want to say anything is going to happen in this town, because everything gets thrown out the window one day and is green-lit the next.”

DiCaprio, whose Shutter Island film will hit theaters this Friday, explained why neither films are his top priority right now, saying, “It’s all about the material at the end of the day, that’s why [Shutter Island] is something of a godsend. When you get good material, you have to jump on it and try to make it as best you can, because it is few and far between.” ~ANN

I find his quote to be interesting. Usually when an actor give you a half-assed “I’m-not-sure-but-I-probably-will-be-involved-with-the-film-in-some-way-I-just-can’t-tell-you-yet” answer, it means there’s a good possibility they will be. Who knows, though.

From another source, it seems that DiCaprio is being considered, among two others, as a producer.

“Talks began again as Warner Brothers signed on to produce the movie with Stephen Norrington (writer) and Jon Peters (producer).[16] Akira was to be developed into two live action films; the first was to be scheduled for a summer 2009 release.[17] Warner Brothers and Appian Way planned to adapt the two movies from the manga, with each one covering three volumes. Ruairi Robinson signed on as director, Gary Whitta wrote the script and Andrew Lazar, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Jennifer Davisson were to produce the film.” ~Wiki

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Sources: Animenewsnetwork, Wikipedia, Akira2019