Anime Gen returns to give you the low down on Anime Expo 2009! Benu and Dancing Queen of How A Girl Figures ramble on about Anime Expo 2009 and what they are looking forward to this year, the amazing guests, and The Indecent Otaku Comedy Hour! They also talk about some news and why you should go to The Indecent Otaku Comedy Hour! Ok to be honest this whole show is really about why you should go to The Indecent Otaku Comedy Hour! Grab your Ipods or other portable media device because Anime Gen is back!

If you have downloaded Queen’s Blade recently using Bit Torrent, you might be getting a Cease & Desist from your ISP. Anime News reports that people in the US have been getting Cease & Desist letters from their ISP’s from BayTSP acting on behalf of Media Factory, Inc. This is not the first time this has happened as not long ago, BayTSP was also acting on behalf of Aniplex and had ISP’s sending out Cease & Desist as well. BayTSP was also involved in the whole Odex situation awhile back as well. This is interesting because it seems like it’s a new company every time this happens, and these are the Japanese companies taking action against fansub downloaders.

This seems to be happening more and more recently. More companies in Japan may also jump on the BayTSP bandwagon and start taking action as well. While no one is being sued like Odex was doing or the RIAA, ISP’s are threatening to shut off your connection if they receive more then one of these Cease & Desist letters from BayTSP. As more legal alternatives and simulcasts become more frequent, and the more Japanese companies become active in protecting their content, the more likely it is that the days of fansubs are numbered.

Have you got a Cease & Desist from BayTSP? Are you worried about getting a Cease & Desist now? Do you think the days of fansubs are finally numbered?

Source: Anime News

Sponsored In Part By:

Toylet

Hobby Search

HobbyLink Japan

Yes K-On fever has hit Anime Gen! This time it’s the K-On OP given the Kinetic Typography treatment. Kinetic Typography is a really cool effect and there have already been a couple of anime OP’s that have been given the treatment such as Haruhi and ToraDora. I also love the K-On OP song but I like the ED song much more!

Are you absolutly sick of everyone talking about K-On?

Love or hate K-ON, I came across this cool 8-bit rendition of the K-ON ED. I wish the song was actually an 8-bit cover of the ED as well. I can imagine that an actual 8-bit cover of the ED is not too far off though. This 8-bit animation is still pretty cool though. This ED song has been one of my favorites recently as I’ve been playing it non-stop almost since last week! As for the actual show I’ve been loving it so far!

Are you loving or hating K-ON?

[Source]: Japanator

Sort of a follow up to the Gurren Lagann Goes Jazz post, now it’s Touhou that goes jazz this time around. Sent to me by Moritheil over at Anime Diet and The Mortheil Review. This Touhou jazz/swing song and animation is done by the masters of flash animation and doujin music themselves IOSYS. It’s quite amusing and the song will get stuck in your head after awhile. >_< People get drunk and there is dancing and singing and that’s about all I understand about the crazy animation. I don’t know much about Touhou though only that I played one of the games before and that’s about it. Click Here to see the high quality original flash animation in all it’s high res glory!

Are you a fan of Touhou and if so why?

Check out the following online stores to find Figma Mikuru and Figma Yuki.

J-list
beNippon
Hobby Link Japan
Hobby Search
Kid Nemo Company
Otaku Fuel
Play Asia
Toylet

If you didn’t get a submission in for this part of the anniversary special I am now accepting submissions for the second part! Please send your mp3 submissions to: animegen@gmail.com

This was posted on twitter and I though it was too funny. Enjoy the Zatch Bell Very Melon song en Español! See the English and Japanese versions after the jump!

The English and Japanese versions are quite different as well. This is also a pretty good example of how things are edited and how translation differs between languages.

What do you think of the differences between the different versions of the clip?

This video made me laugh so hard. In this video Viral can’t stop dreaming about Kamina and hillarity ensues! If your a Gurren Lagann fan this will make you laugh!

Do you have sweet dreams? Does Kamina show up in your dreams?

Via: Japanator

Anime Gen is back with an all new episode! Dancing Queen joins Benu to talk about the news, the Anime Genesis & How A Girl Figures Panel at Anime LA, and all the happenings that went down at the first con of the year! It’s a jam packed episode so grab your Ipod and throw on those earbuds because Anime Gen is back and ready to rock!

News

Gainax Animates Video For CES

Is Shoko-tan Done For?

Crunchyroll Simucasts Shugo Chara and Other Anime

And if you still haven’t seen it yet here is our panel from Anime LA in it’s full glory!

Click here to see it in HD!

I was shocked to see today that ADV’s The Anime Network had a twitter account. I wasn’t shocked because they just had a twitter account. I was shocked by some of the tweets that were written on the account. I really do hope that this is a fake account by someone pretending to be an ADV employee, or someone hacked the account. If this is really an ADV employee writing these tweets, ADV has some explaning to do!

Do you think the twitter account is legit or fake? If it happens to be legit what do you think of ADV for having an employee that would write stuff like that?

This is a hillarious live action Mario parody from Japanese TV. I thought it was hillarious and random. Why does President Obama come out of nowhere and why are they in New York? It reminds me of the Japanese ping pong matrix video that came out awhile back. This is a similar concept except its Super Mario.

Do you think its hillarious?

Well after Funimation and alot of other American distributors started laying off staff and restructuring it seems Bandai has finally followed suit as well. Unlike Funimation’s cutbacks which will not affect production, Bandai’s cutbacks will. With Bandai only having a staff of 19 people this doesn’t look good. They say even though production will be affected there will be no release delays in anything they are working on at the current moment. They even look to keep licensing titles but they say it looks like it will be alot fewer. I can’t believe I missed the Bandai panel at Anime LA. I wanted to tell them how it was a huge mistake to not release Kurokami online. Come on Bandai, do the right thing, digital distribution! If you don’t jump on the digital distribution wagon, nothing will save you, not even Haruhi!

What do you think? Is it over for Bandai?

[Source]: ANN

What do you think? Did Johnny go overboard?

Click here to see the panel in full HD on You Tube!

Thanks to DJ Tama for doing a great job on the video and everyone who came out to the live show! Me and Dancing Queen can’t thank you enough! Also a huge thanks goes out to Anime LA staff for giving us the panel space and making sure all the tech was working!

Anime Genesis & How A Girl Figures are going to be kicking off the new year at Anime LA 2009 with a live podcast! Benu and Dancing Queen will be hosting the first live recording of the year! We will even be giving away some awesome prizes! If you missed Anime Genesis & Anime Diet Live at Anime Expo 2008, you don’t want to miss this one! You never know what could happen live! So come on out to Anime LA 2009 and we will see you at the show! The show takes place on Saturday Jan. 3rd, at 4pm in LP2, at the LAX Marriott.

Anime Genesis kicks off season 3 with guest co-host Andrew Choi of Anime 3000! Brace yourselves for one heck of an episode, as Benu and Andrew disscuss narutards effect on the anime industry and why you should be scared silly! We also open up the phones for the first time ever and talk with an angry narutard who is more concerned about the karaoke subtitles in the fansubs then the actual shows.

NEWS

• TV Tokyo To Stream Naruto On Crunchyroll
• Dattebayo Finally Agrees To Stop Fansubbing Naruto
• Broccoli International USA Shuts Down
• Anime Studios Go After Heavy Downloaders

PROMOS

Weeaboobies

If you want your promo played on the show send an e-mail to: animegen@gmail.com

Give us feedback by leaving a comment below or by sending an e-mail to: animegen@gmail.com

Here is Anime Genesis’s exclusive interview with Shoko Nakagawa! Watch as Benu gives Shokotan an oversized AG T-shirt, and asks probably the most random question she was ever asked at AX!

Crunchyroll and Gonzo have just put out a press release for the Linebarrels Of Iron premiere. Linebarrels Of Iron will premiere this afternoon October 3rd at 12:45pm PST on Crunchyroll. Linebarrels Of Iron is the latest production by Gonzo and Pokemon director Masumitsu Hidaka. This is another Gonzo show on Crunchyroll that will be simulcast in the US and Japan. It will be streaming on Crunchyroll for free or you can download a DRM free episode for $1.99 or $2.99 if you want versions for your ipod or PSP.

More shows on Crunchyroll for download and free streaming recently are Time Of Eve and Catblue Dynamite. I actully checked out Catblue Dynamite last night. I thought it was ok. There were some cool action scenes but there was not much else that got my attention.

Will you be checking out Linebarrels Of Iron on Crunchyroll?

The Nokia Theater In LA

Anime Expo 2008 started a day early for me this year. I woke up early and took the train down to LA to attend Day Zero of Anime Expo 2008.  Day Zero was for pre-registered attendees to pick up their badges, but for the press it was the day the press junket was held. I got to the convention center a bit early so I waited around the Nokia Theater where the press junket was to be held. I met and chatted with some people from Henshin TV while waiting around for the press check in to open. The press check in finally opened and after I checked in I was escorted to a room somewhere inside the theater where the press were being held. I put my name down for the guests I wanted to interview and sat down and waited around till they called me to interviews the guests.

Shortly after my name was called for my first interview of the day with Jyukai.

Jyukai

I was the first in line to interview Jyukai and they seemed to be very happy about it. They were so happy that they personally gave me their newest CD/DVD that I also got them to sign at their signing during the con. I thought it was awesome that they personally handed me their CD. I gave them both Anime Genesis T-shirts in return. I would like to thank Geneon and Jyukai for letting me interview them and for being so incredibly kind and nice. After interviewing Jyukai I went back to wait in the press room till I was called for the next guest I was in line for. After interviewing Jyukai I ran into Stephanie Yanez in the press room and next thing you know I was being filmed for her show Anime Pop. Later my name was called again for the next guest I was to interview. That was none other then the legend Mr. David Hayter.

David Hayter

David Hayter was also an incredibly nice and down to earth guy. It was a bit nerve-wracking to interview him one on one like I did to be honest. The interview went really well though and it was fun. Thanks to Mr. Hayter for the interview and being a really cool guy. After that I hung out with Mike and crew from Anime Diet while waiting to be called for the last and final interview of the day. I was also interview by Mike which you can see the video here. The interview I was waiting for was the big one. It was the interview with the lovely, one and only, Miss Shoko Nakagawa.

Shoko Nakagawa

This was the big interview I was really excited about. I could hardly believe I got the chance to interview and meet Shokotan. I even gave her an Anime Genesis T-shirt and I shook her hand. A picture of her holding up the Anime Genesis T-shirt showed up on her blog later that night which totally shocked and blew me away. Thank you giza much Shokotan! I must have thanked her like a million times when I talked with her again during her signing. I also ran into Dale and Tim From Japanator. After that I headed to pick up my press badge and met up with Dancing Queen and Jenag on my way over to registration. After picking up my press badge I headed back home on the train. So much happened and the con really had not even started yet. What would Day 1 hold in store for me? You have to wait for the Day 1 post to find out.

Check out this episode of Anime Pop with Stephanie Yanez and keep your eye out for a familiar looking guy. More Anime Expo coverage coming!

This is the Anime Genesis/Anime Diet Live panel from Anime Expo 2008! Experience the madness in audio and video! Pay no attention to me saying this is Episode 5, it is Episode 4. Also it’s anime-gen.com not anime-gen.net. More Interviews, an Anime Expo wrap up episode, and pictures, as well as a day by day recap of AX coming soon!

Anime Genesis was lucky enough to sit down and chat with voice acting legend David Hayter at Anime Expo 2008. David Hayter is most well know for his role as Solid Snake in the popular Metal Gear Solid video game series.

Today was amazing, that link pretty much sums it all up. Got some amazing interviews! See you all tomorrow at the first day of the con!

• David Hayter
• Shoko Nakagawa
• Hiromi Kato
• Jyukai
• Masahiro Ando
• Masamitsu Hidaka
• Toshihiko Seki
• Akemi Takada

Please put any questions you may have for any of the guests below in the comments and I will try to get them answered. I need all questions in today! If you are going to AX I hope to see you there! Don’t forget to come to our panel on Friday!

Here is a reminder for all of you in the LA area. My interview on Ramen Revolution will be airing tonight on channel LA 18 KSCI-TV at 12:30 tonight! Make sure to watch to see my first ever TV appearance!

That’s right! Anime Genesis and Anime Diet will be rocking AX this year with the most amazing panel you are ever going to attend at AX! Come and see Benu, Mike, Jeremy, and Ray (will be there somehow…) live on stage! It’s all going to be on July 4th 2008 at 7pm in LP 4 (LACC 411), that’s the theater in the LA Convention Center. Check out the schedule on the Anime Expo website for more details. The panel is listed as Anime Genesis Live! on the schedule.

Feel free to play the promo on your podcast.

I Benu, am announcing my entry into the 2008 presidential race. Gendo “Mike” Ikari may offer a change you will believe in, but I offer change that will actually happen. I am very honored to be the chosen candidate for the Haruhiist party.

This guy just killed Akihabara the way Charles Manson killed the sixties. And we’re all under arrest now…

Patrick thinks this was the worst time for something like this to happen: there was already alot of tension over recent events in Akihabara as it is. But he also said he didn’t think the media would “peg this as a return of the Murdering Otaku archetype.” They recently found out, though, that the killer in fact liked anime, and his only possessions were some doujin manga they found in his apartment. Now many are scared that the killer will be pegged as a crazy otaku murderer and the media will start blaming anime and manga as the reason for the crime. Some even are claiming that this could be the end of anime, manga, and the otaku culture as we know it in Japan and the US and even suggest that it will lead to an eventual collapse of the industries on both sides of the globe.

My thoughts and prayers go out to those that were hurt by this horrible act of violence.

Do you think this is it for otaku culture? Or are people overreacting?

Anaheim, California (June 9, 2008) ‹ Love Jyukai? Fans of Yoko Ishida?  Want
to experience Kyoto?  Get wild in Osaka? See the all that is anime/manga in
Tokyo?  Attend the Tokyo Anime Fair?  Be part of the Tokyo Game Show?  Anime
Expo® 2008 and Intermixi Japan Tours will be giving away an ultimate trip to
Japan to a Jyukai Concert premium ticket holder at the Jyukai Concert with
special guest Yoko Ishida at Anime Expo® 2008!  The lucky winner will be
announced at the Jyukai Concert held at Anime Expo® 2008.  Anime Expo® 2008
will be held from July 3-6, 2008 at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los
Angeles, CA.  More information can be found on the website
www.anime-expo.org.

One (1) lucky Jyukai Concert premium ticket attendee will win an all expense
paid trip (including roundtrip airfare, hotel, excursions, some meals and
much more) courtesy of Intermixi Japan Tours.  Winners will be able to
choose from the following seasonal tours (as available):

·     Kame Hame Kansai Tour
·     Neo Tokyo Tour
·     Tokyo Game Show Tour

For full description of tours, please go to www.intermixi.com.

Current list of official Guests of Honor include up and coming director
Masahiro Ando, legendary American voice actor David Hayter, famed POKEMON
director Masamitsu Hidaka, the dynamic duo known as Jyukai, renowned
animator Hiromi Kato, celebrated veteran voice actor Toshihiko Seki, the new
Japanese ³It-Girl² Shokotan and the legendary character designer Takada
Akemi in Anime Expo® 2008¹s amazing line up of Guests of Honor.

Attendees that have pre-registered can also update their information and add
on orders for main event tickets via the Anime Expo® 2008 Online
Registration Area at www.anime-expo.org.

Free shuttle services for all hotel attendees will be provided. Regular
non-hotel attendees will have access to utilize the free shuttle services
during designated hours as well. All schedules and routes will be posted in
the lobby of each shuttle hotel. Frequency of service is pending local
traffic, road conditions and can change without notice.  Also, no shuttle
service provided to the Holiday Inn City Center and the Figueroa Hotel (both
are within walking distance of the Los Angeles Convention Center).

Attendees, Press and Industry Members are also encouraged to view the video
coverage site of the 2007 convention at www.AXBackstage.org.

This year¹s Red & Black Sponsors are FUNimation and ImaginAsian Television.
Platinum Sponsor is Imagi Studios.  Gold Sponsor is Digital Manga
Publishing.  Silver Sponsor is Gaia Online.  Patron Sponsors are Central
Park Media and COPIC Markers.

About Anime Expo®
Located in Los Angeles, California – Anime Expo®, the nation¹s largest
anime/manga convention, serves to foster trade, commerce and the interests
of the general public and animation/ comics industry.  This event serves as
a key meeting place for the general public to express their interest and
explore various aspects of anime/manga, as well as for members of the
industry to conduct business. AX 2008 will be held July 3 ­ July 6, 2008 at
the Los Angeles Convention Center in Southern California. More information
can be found at its website (www.anime-expo.org).

About Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation
The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA) is a non-profit
organization with a mission to popularize and educate the American public
about anime and manga, as well as provide a forum to facilitate
communication between professionals and fans. This organization is more
popularly known by its entertainment property ­ Anime Expo®.  More
information can be found at its website (www.spja.org).

About Intermixi Japan Tours
Intermixi Japan Tours have been established to provide both the casual and
intermediate traveler an alternative, pop cultured look at the ³land of the
rising sun². While not ignoring the cultural history of Japan, Intermixi
Japan Tours shows you the side you will never see anywhere else. Intermixi
Japan Tours current yearly schedule will be the summer, fall and winter
season. Please contact for special tour inquiries. More information can be
found at its website (www.intermixi.com)

The statements made in this press release that are not historical facts are
“forward-looking statements.” These forward-looking statements are based on
current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and
uncertainties. The Company cautions readers of this press release that a
number of important factors could cause Anime Expo®/SPJA¹s actual future
results to differ materially from those expressed in any such
forward-looking statements. Such factors include, without limitation,
product delays, industry competition, rapid changes in technology and
industry standards, protection of proprietary rights, maintenance of
relationships with key personnel, vendors and third-party developers,
international economic and political conditions. The Company may change its
intention, belief or expectation, at any time and without notice, based upon
any changes in such factors, in the Company’s assumptions or otherwise. The
Company undertakes no obligation to release publicly any revisions to any
forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date
hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

For something a little more “manly”, be sure to check out the GURREN LAGANN,
also at the Bandai booth! Kicking off its US debut, Cosplayers from ACP will
be representing the cast of GURREN LAGANN and offering promotional goods to
attendees, as well as posing for pictures. There may also be “unexpected
surprises” in store for attendees, so be sure to show up! If you have a
GURREN LAGANN costume, ACP encourages you to show up for what is to be a
gathering of epic proportions.

About Lucky Star
LUCKY STAR is a 24 episode television series from Kyoto Animation, the same
anime production company that created the anime series for HARUHI. LUCKY
STAR¹s main character is Konata Izumi, a lazy high school girl who isn’t
interested in anything besides anime and video games. The series is
described as the ultimate “otaku anime” — it pays tribute to anime culture
and other series with in-jokes and hilarious references.

About Gurren Lagann
The 27-episode science fiction, comedy action series centers on Simon,
Kamina, and Yoko, youths who live in an underground village on a future
earth.  They become embroiled in a conflict with surface “Beastmen” who
pilot mech known as Gunmen, one of which they take for themselves and name
GURREN, and lead the battle against the Beastmen.  Recently the series won
“best television series” and “best character design’ at the 2008 Tokyo
Animation Fair (TAF)

About Bandai Entertainment
Bandai Entertainment Inc. is a subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings (USA)
Inc. and the premier distributor of Japanese animation on DVD and
programming for television broadcast in North America. Titles include THE
MELANCHOLY OF HARUHI SUZUMIYA, COWBOY BEBOP, OUTLAW STAR, ESCAFLOWNE, GHOST
IN THE SHELL: STAND ALONE COMPLEX, GUNDAM SEED DESTINY, MY HIME and many
more.

About American Cosplay Paradise
Founded in 2000, American Cosplay Paradise (ACP) serves as an extensive
database for cosplayers, people who dress up in costumes. Members contribute
pictures of their costumes, which are sorted by series and character for
easy searching. With live photo and video coverage of the various anime
conventions in the US, ACP is one of the leading resources for finding
costumes of your favorite anime, manga, and videogame characters. For more
information can be found at its website (www.acparadise.com)

About Anime Expo®
Located in Los Angeles, California – Anime Expo®, the nation¹s largest
anime/manga convention, serves to foster trade, commerce and the interests
of the general public and animation/ comics industry. This event serves as a
key meeting place for the general public to express their interest and
explore various aspects of anime/manga, as well as for members of the
industry to conduct business. AX 2008 will be held July 3 ­ July 6, 2008 at
the Los Angeles Convention center in Southern California. More information
can be found at its website (www.anime-expo.org).

About Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation
The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA) is a non-profit
organization with a mission to popularize and educate the American public
about anime and manga, as well as provide a forum to facilitate
communication between professionals and fans. This organization is more
popularly known by its entertainment property ­ Anime Expo®. More
information can be found at its website (www.spja.org).

I just saw this so called documentary on fansubs. I was expecting this to be something on the history of fansubs but instead it’s just an excuse to complain about how horrible modern fansubs are as opposed to fansubs back then. The host “Otaking”, apparently a professional translator, takes us through why he thinks modern fansubs are horrible by trying to point out how the translations are horrible and far from anything of professional quality. He does this by taking clips from various fansubs and trys to point out mistakes and things that fansubbers do that distract your eyes, such as drop down translation notes. Some of the points he makes about translation are also highly debatable but is right on with some of the things he says about them.

He makes some good points overall, but I don’t think we need a 30 min. video trying to tell us what most of us already know.

What do you think about subtitles in fansubs compared to professional ones?

[Via Japanator]

I never really got the point of these automatic Super Mario World videos. These are made by hacking a rom of the game and placing things in the exact place so Mario bounces, lands, and hits things exactly. Akasha posted this awesome video set to Nico Nico Douga on the fan site today. It reminded me that someone showed this to me the other day and I was going to post it here but I forgot. This video was so well done and awesome that I couldn’t ignore it.

Do you like these automatic Mario videos or do you think they are stupid and pointless?

http://www.ramenrevolution.com/ 

ORLANDO, FL, May 15, 2008 – The Anime World Order podcast is proud to present an audio interview with Noboru Ishiguro – the President of Japanese animation studio Artland, Inc. As a veteran of the Japanese animation industry for over 45 years, in this exclusive interview Mr. Ishiguro discusses some of his most famous science fiction works such as “Superdimensional Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love?”, “Megazone 23 Part One,” “Legend of the Galactic Heroes,” and “Space Battleship Yamato” which was adapted in the US as “Star Blazers.” Also, he talks about his creative influences, modern digital production techniques, the possibility of additional “Yamato” sequels, how Japanese animation has affected American animation and film, and the validity of animation as a medium for science fiction.

Visit http://animeworldorder.blogspot.com/2008/05/bonus-interview-with-noboru-ishiguro.html to download a podcast of this episode, Archives of all previous Anime World Order episodes and show notes are available at http://www.animeworldorder.com. Listeners may also choose to subscribe to the Anime World Order podcast via the iTunes Music Store, Podcast Pickle, Digg, or any RSS feed aggregator.

ABOUT ANIME WORLD ORDER
Anime World Order is one of the longest-running and most popular fan-produced podcasts targeted at dedicated enthusiasts of Japanese animation (”anime”) and comicbooks (”manga”), having received favorable mentions on websites such as Ain’t It Cool News and Anime News Network as well as print publications such as Otaku USA and the Japanese language publication Weekly ASCII.  Currently in its third year, each episode features listener feedback, news, reviews, and roundtable style discussion of titles both classic and contemporary. Additional material related to anime and manga fandom is also provided in the form of convention reports and interviews.

“Anime World Order is extremely informative and entertaining. The hosts are not only knowledgeable, they display a true love for good anime which is infectious to the listener.”
- User review on iTunes

Due to subject matter and language, the Anime World Order podcast is for mature audiences and is labeled as Explicit on iTunes.

It seems that someone over at Kyoto Animation heard me when I complained about the change of director for the second season of Haruhi. The offical Haruhi site has been updated with a change of staff for the upcoming sequel. Tatsuya Ishihara has been named as the “brigade chief representative” and the former confirmed director Yasuhiro Takemoto has been named “brigade chief assistant”. This is so awesome! Haruhi is now going to be just as awesome if not more awesome as the first series.

Source: ANN

Anaheim, California (May 9, 2008) ‹Anime Expo® 2008 announces the attendance
of Masahiro Ando as an official Guest of Honor to this year’s Anime Expo®
2008 held from July 3-6, 2008 at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los
Angeles, CA. More information can be found on the website
www.anime-expo.org.

Born in Hokkaido, Masahiro Ando has played a key role in the creation of
many popular animation features and TV series. He has also been involved in
production, mainly with BONES. Mr. Ando is most well known for his
involvement with such features as COWBOY BEBOP: KNOCKIN’ ON HEAVEN’S DOOR,
JIN-ROH, METROPOLIS and GHOST IN THE SHELL. He has also worked on the
storyboard and production of FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST (TV/Film).

Mr. Ando’s current work includes his debut as the director of SWORD OF THE
STRANGER-a historical action animation set in feudal Japan five hundred
years ago revolving around the friendship between two people with tragic
pasts, a fiercely powerful warrior “No Name” (Ronin) who has vowed to give
up his sword and a “boy” who has lost his parents and has a contract out on
his life.

Masahiro Ando joins legendary American voice actor David Hayter, famed
POKEMON director Masamitsu Hidaka, the dynamic duo known as Jyukai and the
new Japanese “It-Girl” Shokotan in Anime Expo® 2008’s amazing line up of
Guests of Honor.

Attendees that have pre-registered can also update their information and add
on orders for main event tickets via the Anime Expo® 2008 Online
Registration Area at www.anime-expo.org.

Free shuttle services for all hotel attendees will be provided. Regular
non-hotel attendees will have access to utilize the free shuttle services
during designated hours as well. All schedules and routes will be posted in
the lobby of each shuttle hotel. Frequency of service is pending local
traffic, road conditions and can change without notice. Also, no shuttle
service provided to the Holiday Inn City Center and the Figueroa Hotel (both
are within walking distance of the Los Angeles Convention Center).

Attendees, Press and Industry Members are also encouraged to view the video
coverage site of the 2007 convention at www.AXBackstage.org.

This year’s Red & Black Sponsors are FUNimation and ImaginAsian Television.
Platinum Sponsor is Imagi Studios. Gold Sponsor is Digital Manga
Publishing. Silver Sponsor is Gaia Online. Patron Sponsors are Central
Park Media and COPIC Markers.

About Anime Expo®
Located in Los Angeles, California – Anime Expo®, the nation’s largest
anime/manga convention, serves to foster trade, commerce and the interests
of the general public and animation/ comics industry. This event serves as
a key meeting place for the general public to express their interest and
explore various aspects of anime/manga, as well as for members of the
industry to conduct business. AX 2008 will be held July 3 ­ July 6, 2008 at
the Los Angeles Convention Center in Southern California. More information
can be found at its website (www.anime-expo.org).

About Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation
The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA) is a non-profit
organization with a mission to popularize and educate the American public
about anime and manga, as well as provide a forum to facilitate
communication between professionals and fans. This organization is more
popularly known by its entertainment property ­ Anime Expo®. More
information can be found at its website (www.spja.org).

The statements made in this press release that are not historical facts are
“forward-looking statements.” These forward-looking statements are based on
current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and
uncertainties. The Company cautions readers of this press release that a
number of important factors could cause Anime Expo®/SPJA’s actual future
results to differ materially from those expressed in any such
forward-looking statements. Such factors include, without limitation,
product delays, industry competition, rapid changes in technology and
industry standards, protection of proprietary rights, maintenance of
relationships with key personnel, vendors and third-party developers,
international economic and political conditions. The Company may change its
intention, belief or expectation, at any time and without notice, based upon
any changes in such factors, in the Company’s assumptions or otherwise. The
Company undertakes no obligation to release publicly any revisions to any
forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date
hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

When:

May 17th, 2008 @ 6pm

Where:

The Granada Theater

303 No. Euclid Ave.

Ontario, CA 91762

Tickets:

$15 Online

$20 @ The Door

If your in the area, come out to the taping. You don’t want to miss out on this! The first episode premiers this Saturday night at 12:30 am on LA 18 KSCI-TV. You can also watch the show at the Ramen Revolution website. I hope to see you at the show!

Get your tickets now!

Are you ready for the revolution?

Aya’s Unnamed World single is absolutely her best yet. It surpasses Neophilia on many levels. I agree with Hashihime that Aya’s best music is being ignored. Aya rocks harder then she had rocked before. Its no surprise that her best musical effort yet is being hated on by the otaku once again. At least they think her performance in Nijuu-mensou no Musume is good for once. Her new hair cut makes her look ten times more cute in the video. This single is totally worth importing. Also, Nijuu-mensou no Musume is an awesome show.

If you are wondering why there haven’t been any updates in a while, It’s because I’ve been preparing Anime Genesis for it’s move into…video…that’s right video. Also I have two huge announcements to make that you are not going to want to miss. Really these are two really big announcements. I should make first announcement by the end of the week, so keep checking the site for updates.

Anaheim, California (April 18, 2008) ‹The Emmy Award winning and popular
stop-motion animation sketch comedy show, Robot Chicken, which airs on
Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim is slated to appear at this year’s Anime Expo®
2008 held from July 3-6, 2008 at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los
Angeles, CA. More information can be found on the website www.anime-expo.org.

Attending Anime Expo® 2008 via an official Robot Chicken panel will be cast
and crew members:

Cameron Baity
Cameron was born during a heat wave in Richardson, Texas. He has been
drawing and writing ever since he figured out how his hands work. At eight
years old he wrote and illustrated his first story about a confused wombat.
Cameron attended the Arts Magnet High School in Dallas where he co-produced
a half-witted cable access show called Fabrication Avenue. He won accolades
for his early art including First Place in Painting at the 1996 Visual Arts
Guild Exhibit in Dallas.

His obsessions with art and story collided when he discovered animation at
Pratt Institute and School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. He finished his
animation degree at CalArts and with a couple films under his belt, he has
screened at festivals around the world and won several awards including Best
in Animation at the Angelciti Film Festival and Vuze Audience Favorites at
Cinequest. Cameron has worked creatively in film and animation for the past
nine years on a wide array of projects such as Spongebob Squarepants,
Willard, Team America, and Robot Chicken. Cameron will sleep when he is
dead.

Mike Fasolo
Mike Fasolo is a Writer, Voice Actor and Co-Creative Director on Adult
Swim¹s Robot Chicken where he¹s been since its inception in 2004. He began
his illustrious writing career as a staff writer at Wizard Magazine back in
1994. He enjoys dog sledding, curling and Revolutionary War reenactments
where he always plays Benedict Arnold.

Chris McKay
Picking up a Super-8 camera at age 10, Chris McKay has been making movies
with toys for most of his life. In addition to his co-producing, directing
and editing duties on Adult Swim¹s Emmy Award-winning Robot Chicken, he is
also a writer, director and co-executive producer on Adult Swim’s Moral
Orel.  Robot Chicken is currently in production on its fourth season.

McKay studied Film at the “Harvard of the Midwest”: Columbia College. He was
once beaten up for wearing Luke Skywalker’s Tatooine outfit to school.

Jeanette Moffat
Jeanette Moffat has contributed to Robot Chicken from the first season as a
Puppet Fabricator, creating many memorable characters including “The Nerd &
Unicorn,” “Composite Santa” and “Twinkie the Kid & Celery,” to name few.
More recently she has been working as the Costume Designer and Supervisor
for Robot Chicken and Moral Orel.  Her talents in the visual arts became
apparent at an early age when she began designing clothes for her Barbie
dolls, which makes her current position a childhood dream come true. A
CalArts alumni, she combines her fine art background with her love of
puppets to create costumes for stop-motion and live-action puppets.  Besides
shows featured on Adult Swim, her puppet costumes have been seen on the My
Name Is Earl episode, “Robbed A Stoner Blind” and in Norwegian band Maika’s
music video for their song, “Desert Gold.”  She currently resides in Los
Angeles with her husband and two rabbits that eat their furniture.

Tom Root
Tom Root is co-head writer and co-producer of Adult Swim¹s Emmy
Award-winning Robot Chicken, as well as a frequent director and recurring
voice talent.  Robot Chicken is currently in production on its fourth
season.

Root was also writer and associate producer on Robot Chicken’s predecessor,
Sweet J Presents, a series of 12 animated episodes which ran from 2001-2002
on Sony Entertainment’s Screenblast.com.

From 1997-2001, Root was a staff writer at Wizard Entertainment Group, where
he wrote for publications including Wizard: The Comics Magazine, ToyFare:
The Toy Magazine, InQuest Gamer, Anime Insider and Toy Wishes. ToyFare’s
³Twisted ToyFare Theatre² comic strip, which Root co-wrote for 90 issues,
has been collected into several trade paperbacks available worldwide.

As a freelance writer, Root has also authored PPV: Pay-Per-View, a
three-issue comic book mini-series for Antarctic Press. His first book,
Writers on Comics Scriptwriting 2, a collection of interviews with comic
creators he co-wrote with Andrew Kardon, was published by Titan Books in
2004.

Root holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Central Michigan
University

In addition, exclusive anime/manga related Robot Chicken skits will be
played along side other original Anime Expo® programming during the I-Show
at the convention and at official Anime Expo® 2008 convention hotels on the
official AX Dark Channels.

Attendees that have pre-registered can also update their information and add
on orders for main event tickets via the Anime Expo® 2008 Online
Registration Area at www.anime-expo.org <http://www.anime-expo.org> .

Free shuttle services for all hotel attendees will be provided. Regular
non-hotel attendees will have access to utilize the free shuttle services
during designated hours as well. All schedules and routes will be posted in
the lobby of each shuttle hotel. Frequency of service is pending local
traffic, road conditions and can change without notice.  Also, no shuttle
service provided to the Holiday Inn City Center and the Figueroa Hotel (both
are within walking distance of the Los Angeles Convention Center).

Attendees, Press and Industry Members are also encouraged to view the video
coverage site of the 2007 convention at www.AXBackstage.org
<http://www.AXBackstage.org> .

This year¹s Red & Black Sponsors are FUNimation and ImaginAsian Television.
Gold Sponsor is Digital Manga Publishing.  Silver Sponsor is Gaia Online.
Patron Sponsors are Central Park Media and COPIC Markers.

About Anime Expo®
Located in Los Angeles, California – Anime Expo®, the nation¹s largest
anime/manga convention, serves to foster trade, commerce and the interests
of the general public and animation/ comics industry.  This event serves as
a key meeting place for the general public to express their interest and
explore various aspects of anime/manga, as well as for members of the
industry to conduct business. AX 2008 will be held July 3 ­ July 6, 2008 at
the Los Angeles Convention Center in Southern California. More information
can be found at its website (www.anime-expo.org).

About Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation
The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA) is a non-profit
organization with a mission to popularize and educate the American public
about anime and manga, as well as provide a forum to facilitate
communication between professionals and fans. This organization is more
popularly known by its entertainment property ­ Anime Expo®.  More
information can be found at its website (www.spja.org <http://www.spja.org>
).

About Robot Chicken
Robot Chicken airs on Cartoon Network¹s Adult Swim and is created and
executive produced by Green and Senreich under their own Stoopid Monkey
Productions, in conjunction with ShadowMachine Films.  The series uses
stop-motion animation to spoof both retro and current pop-culture icons and
events in a modern take on the variety/sketch show format.  Past parody
targets have included Lance Armstrong, Quentin Tarantino¹s Kill Bill, an
array of superheroes and most recently, George Lucas¹ Star Wars.  Rated
TV-MA.  On July 22nd, the show¹s ³Robot Chicken:  Star Wars² special will be
released on DVD.  The special earned Seth Green this year¹s Annie Award for
directing.

The statements made in this press release that are not historical facts are
“forward-looking statements.” These forward-looking statements are based on
current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and
uncertainties. The Company cautions readers of this press release that a
number of important factors could cause Anime Expo®/SPJA¹s actual future
results to differ materially from those expressed in any such
forward-looking statements. Such factors include, without limitation,
product delays, industry competition, rapid changes in technology and
industry standards, protection of proprietary rights, maintenance of
relationships with key personnel, vendors and third-party developers,
international economic and political conditions. The Company may change its
intention, belief or expectation, at any time and without notice, based upon
any changes in such factors, in the Company’s assumptions or otherwise. The
Company undertakes no obligation to release publicly any revisions to any
forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date
hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

Anaheim, California (April 15, 2008) ‹Anime Expo® 2008 is proud to announce
the attendance of Jyukai-the musical duo consisting of Manami (vocals) and
Dewa Yoshiaki (composition) to this year’s Anime Expo® 2008 held from July
3-6, 2008 at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, CA. More
information can be found on the website www.anime-expo.org.

Jyukai, formed in the summer of 2004 and began performing live around Osaka.
On March 15th, 2006, they had their TV anime debut with the ending theme for
“Fate/Stay Night.” Their song, “Anata ga Ita Mori” (The Forest in Which You
Were), ranked 16th on the March 27th Oricon Chart in its first week of
release. Since then they have released songs for various anime and movies
including the opening song for “Ah! My Goddess: Flights of Fancy,” the
ending theme for “Buso Renkin,” and the opening theme for the live action
movie “Shin – Onna Tachigui Retsuden” directed by Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the
Shell: Innocence). Last fall they released “Ai no Hoshi” (Love Star) and
“Hanamuke no Melody” (Farewell Melody) as well as a cover of the opening and
ending themes for “Ah! My Goddess: Fighting Wings,” a special commemorative
program for the 20th anniversary of “Ah! My Goddess.” They recently
released their second album, “Harvest,” on December 12, 2007. Their album
has received favorable reviews for having such high quality songs.

Jyukai’s songs are usually composed and arranged by Dewa, while the lyrics
are written and sung by Manami. With his policy “never forget the pop parts
in any song,” Dewa creates delicate music with a sense of sorrow. His songs
are easy to listen to and fascinate people time and time again. Manami’s
lyrics possess their own realistic and unique vision, often unlocking
stories and memories deep within everyone’s heart. Manami’s emotional vocals
strike a chord in the hearts of the listeners, touching them deeply.

Jyukai joins legendary American voice actor David Hayter, famed POKEMON
director Masamitsu Hidaka and the new Japanese “It-Girl” Shokotan in Anime
Expo® 2008’s amazing line up of Guests of Honor.

Attendees that have pre-registered can also update their information and add
on orders for main event tickets via the Anime Expo® 2008 Online
Registration Area at www.anime-expo.org.

Free shuttle services for all hotel attendees will be provided. Regular
non-hotel attendees will have access to utilize the free shuttle services
during designated hours as well. All schedules and routes will be posted in
the lobby of each shuttle hotel. Frequency of service is pending local
traffic, road conditions and can change without notice. Also, no shuttle
service provided to the Holiday Inn City Center and the Figueroa Hotel (both
are within walking distance of the Los Angeles Convention Center).

Attendees, Press and Industry Members are also encouraged to view the video
coverage site of the 2007 convention at www.AXBackstage.org.

This year’s Red & Black Sponsors are FUNimation and ImaginAsian Television.
Gold Sponsor is Digital Manga Publishing. Silver Sponsor is Gaia Online.
Patron Sponsors are Central Park Media and COPIC Markers.

About Anime Expo®
Located in Los Angeles, California – Anime Expo®, the nation¹s largest
anime/manga convention, serves to foster trade, commerce and the interests
of the general public and animation/ comics industry. This event serves as
a key meeting place for the general public to express their interest and
explore various aspects of anime/manga, as well as for members of the
industry to conduct business. AX 2008 will be held July 3 ­ July 6, 2008 at
the Los Angeles Convention Center in Southern California. More information
can be found at its website (www.anime-expo.org).

About Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation
The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA) is a non-profit
organization with a mission to popularize and educate the American public
about anime and manga, as well as provide a forum to facilitate
communication between professionals and fans. This organization is more
popularly known by its entertainment property ­ Anime Expo®. More
information can be found at its website (www.spja.org).

The statements made in this press release that are not historical facts are
“forward-looking statements.” These forward-looking statements are based on
current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and
uncertainties. The Company cautions readers of this press release that a
number of important factors could cause Anime Expo®/SPJA¹s actual future
results to differ materially from those expressed in any such
forward-looking statements. Such factors include, without limitation,
product delays, industry competition, rapid changes in technology and
industry standards, protection of proprietary rights, maintenance of
relationships with key personnel, vendors and third-party developers,
international economic and political conditions. The Company may change its
intention, belief or expectation, at any time and without notice, based upon
any changes in such factors, in the Company’s assumptions or otherwise. The
Company undertakes no obligation to release publicly any revisions to any
forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date
hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

What do you think about ai space?

Source: ANN

The sequel to Appleseed is out with Appleseed Ex Machina, based on the Masamune Shirow manga series of the same name. The story follows Deunan Knute and Briareos Hecatonchires as they are combating a cyborg terrorist group with unknown intentions. Deunan Knute and Briareos Hecatonchires search for clues from different characters and travel through the streets of Olympus to a zero gravity factory for the final confrontation.

The introductions of the new character Tereus offers character conflict and a love triangle to the movie. The character development is paced well as we see Deunan and Briareo’s relationship is under strain. The film’s use of motion capture actors has helped greatly with gaining a connection to the characters and making the characters feel real. This helps especially with Briareos who can’t show facial expressions due to being a cyborg. The combat scenes are much eye candy since John Woo is the producer. If you’re familiar with John Woo’s work you will see exquisite gun play throughout the film, with dual wielding of guns. And a brotherhood moment between Briareos and a supporting character. The unfortunate side is that we don’t learn enough about the antagonist’s back-story, which I would have liked to see. The last action scene reminded me of the Matrix Revolutions movie which I didn’t enjoy too much, maybe its just me.

Overall the movie is well done with the help of the motion capturing and John Woo action scenes. This is a good watch and must see for anyone who follows Appleseed.

Anaheim, California (April 7, 2008) ‹ Traditional Main Events (including
Opening/Closing Ceremonies, Masquerade, Anime Music Video Contest, AX Idol,
Charity Auction and concerts) are all accessible free of charge to
registered attendees at this year¹s Anime Expo® 2008 held from July 3-6,
2008 at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, CA.  More
information can be found on the website www.anime-expo.org.

All Main Events will be held at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live (Past, current and
future events include the Grammy Awards, American Music Awards, American
Idol Finals and a host of concerts including Mary J. Blige, John Fogerty,
Kanye West, Duran Duran and many more) a 7,100-seat venue which offers
attendees event intimacy with no seat further from the stage than 220 feet
with exceptional comfort and amenities never before offered to guests at
other concert/event venues.  Due to Nokia Theatre L.A. Live policies, high
attendee interest and limited seating, all Main Events will be require
tickets for entrance. Tickets will be handed out to attendees during a set
time frame each day with each individual ticket applicable towards one event
in the venue.  Attendees will have the opportunity to pick up tickets to
multiple shows based on availability.

There are three ways to obtain tickets:

·     Reserve a hotel room within the Anime Expo® hotel room block through
our online hotel reservation service (www.anime-expo.org) by Sunday, June
15, 2008, 11:59 PM, PDT and obtain one (1) guaranteed event ticket of choice
per registered guest (up to a maximum of four (4) tickets per room), based
on availability
·     Purchase a Reserved Seating ticket ($20.00 U.S.) for the desired
event(s)  (events only include Masquerade and Concert Events) before Sunday,
June 15, 2008, 11:59 PM, PDT. Reserved Seating tickets are considered prime
seats within the ³floor²/orchestra area and allow attendees to be up close
to the event stage for maximum viewing pleasure. Attendees are limited to
one (1) ticket per event per unique registration ID for a maximum of three
(3) unique tickets
·     Line up in the Standby Line at the east entrance of the Nokia Theatre
L.A. Live three (3) hours before show time on the day of the desired event.
The number of tickets given out is based on availability. Please note that
queuing for tickets at this time does not guarantee entrance into the event

Attendees that have already pre-registered can update their information and
add on their tickets via the Anime Expo® 2008 Online Registration Area at
www.anime-expo.org.

In addition, one lucky AX Idol audience member will win a tour package to
Japan courtesy of Destination-Japan! Tour package includes round-trip
airfare from L.A. International Airport (LAX) to Narita (NRT), Tokyo
(Airline TBD), Hotel accommodations during the tour (Hotel TBD), all tax and
fuel surcharges and all standard tour activities and services detailed on
the tour itinerary (TBD).  All trip/tour prizes do not include tour
extensions, optional tour activities, or transportation to Los Angeles
International Airport.  All travel arrangements are to be handled by H.I.S.
International Tours (L.A.), Inc.  Winner will be announced during AX Idol
and will be based upon ticket/seat number (winner must be present and ticket
MUST be in hand and presented or prize is forfeit).

More information regarding tickets (i.e. pick up procedures, ³faqs², open
distribution, etc.) can be found online at www.anime-expo.org.  Attendees with special needs must inquire
about seats with our Disabled Services Coordinators located at the Anime
Expo® Information Desk located at the Registration Area (West Hall A).
Please note that there are a limited number of handicapped spaces available
in the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live. Space is limited, and tickets will be
distributed on a first come, first served basis. Tickets for these sections
cannot be obtained through the Box Office or through the open distribution
process.

All registered attendees to Anime Expo® 2008 with valid badges, with the
exception of ³Exhibit Hall only² passes are eligible to obtain tickets to
attend ticketed events.  Tickets are non-transferable.  Attendees will not
be allowed to apply their Room Block ticket and a Reserved Seating ticket on
the same event.  Lost or stolen tickets can/will not be replaced. All
attendees are subject to the Code of Conduct and are expected to adhere to
the policies set for the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live. Unlawful resale (or
attempt) is grounds for seizure and cancellation without compensation.  Any
person caught buying or selling any Anime Expo® event tickets will face
immediate ejection from the event and a ban of one year (minimum) from the
convention, effective immediately.

Attendees, Press and Industry Members are also encouraged to view the video
coverage site of the 2007 convention at www.AXBackstage.org.

This year¹s Red & Black Sponsors are FUNimation and ImaginAsian Television.
Gold Sponsor is Digital Manga Publishing.  Silver Sponsor is Gaia Online.
Patron Sponsors are Central Park Media and COPIC Markers.

About Anime Expo®
Located in Los Angeles, California – Anime Expo®, the nation¹s largest
anime/manga convention, serves to foster trade, commerce and the interests
of the general public and animation/ comics industry.  This event serves as
a key meeting place for the general public to express their interest and
explore various aspects of anime/manga, as well as for members of the
industry to conduct business. AX 2008 will be held July 3 ­ July 6, 2008 at
the Los Angeles Convention Center in Southern California. More information
can be found at its website (www.anime-expo.org).

About Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation
The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA) is a non-profit
organization with a mission to popularize and educate the American public
about anime and manga, as well as provide a forum to facilitate
communication between professionals and fans. This organization is more
popularly known by its entertainment property ­ Anime Expo®.  More
information can be found at its website (www.spja.org).

The statements made in this press release that are not historical facts are
“forward-looking statements.” These forward-looking statements are based on
current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and
uncertainties. The Company cautions readers of this press release that a
number of important factors could cause Anime Expo®/SPJA¹s actual future
results to differ materially from those expressed in any such
forward-looking statements. Such factors include, without limitation,
product delays, industry competition, rapid changes in technology and
industry standards, protection of proprietary rights, maintenance of
relationships with key personnel, vendors and third-party developers,
international economic and political conditions. The Company may change its
intention, belief or expectation, at any time and without notice, based upon
any changes in such factors, in the Company’s assumptions or otherwise. The
Company undertakes no obligation to release publicly any revisions to any
forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date
hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

GO LISTEN NOW!

Continue Reading >>

This is a really interesting idea but does it actually work? Are any Japanese studios actully going to use this or is it just an expensive toy? If this does ever come to America I wonder if any American studios will be able to use this to produce dubs faster.

Do you think this Afrec! machine has some real promise or is it just an expensive toy?

Source: ANN

Anime Genesis is back for another week full of anime goodness. Benu runs through the weekly news as usual and takes a look at a 1980’s remake of a classic anime Astro Boy.

Show Notes

News

• Media Blasters Gets A Geneon Title
• Clannad Gets A Sequel
• Clannad Sequel 18 Second Trailer Out
• Megumi Anime Has Been Posted
• Shokotan Draws Ayatan
• Shoko Nakagawa Is Coming To AX 08

DVD Review

• Astro Boy: Greatest Astro Adventures

Final Verdict: A

People Who Commented This Week

MiniRamen

Email me at: animegen@gmail.com

Visit the fan site at: fans.anime-gen.com

If you like what you hear please consider donating

Anaheim, California (March 27, 2008) ‹ The Society for the Promotion of
Japanese Animation (SPJA), the overseeing body of the nation¹s largest
anime/manga convention (Anime Expo®), announced the SPJA Industry Award
finalists for 2008 at the SPJA Symposium held at Tokyo International Anime
Fair held within Tokyo Big Sight¹s Special Theatre 2(Thursday; March 27,
2008; 16:30-18:00-Tokyo time). More information can be found on the website
www.spja.org.

Leading the pack, of top five (5) companies receiving nominations, is Bandai
Entertainment with thirteen (13) nominations including two (2) for Best
Voice Actor (English) followed by Viz Media with twelve (12) nominations
including two (2) for Best Voice Actor (English) as well.  Geneon
Entertainment follows with 11 nominations including two (2) for Best Voice
Actor (Japanese),  Bandai Visual with 9 nominations including two (2) for
Best Background Design and FUNimation with seven (7) nominations.  Other
companies receiving nominations include:

·     Anime News Network
·     Aniplex
·     ADV Films
·     BONES
·     Broccoli Books
·     Columbia Music
·     Dark Horse Comics
·     defSTAR Records
·     Del Rey Manga
·     Digital Manga Publishing
·     Gonzo
·     Infinity Studios
·     Kodansha
·     Ki/oon Records
·     Kudokawa Shoten
·     Lantis
·     Media Works
·     Otaku USA
·     Oxybot
·     Right Stuf
·     Shaft
·     Shogakukan
·     Sony
·     Sony Music
·     Toei Animation
·     TokyoPop

The public is invited to vote for their choices for the 21 categories via
the SPJA (www.spja.org) and Anime Expo®
(www.anime-expo.org) websites.

SPJA Industry Awards official criteria for eligibility, rules, procedures
and forms can be downloaded from the official SPJA website www.spja.org. Inquiries can be made to Awards@spja.org

SPJA Industry Awards Nominees

Category 01: BEST VOICE ACTOR (JAPANESE)
1. Jun Fukuyama ­ xxxholic ­ Kimihiro Watanuki
2. Mamoru Miyano ­ Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (Double O) ­ Setsuna F. Seiei
3. Joji Nakata ­ Hellsing Ultimate ­ Arucard
4. Daisuke Namikawa ­ Black Lagoon ­ Rock
5. Tomokazu Sugita ­ The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya ­ Kyon

Category 02: BEST VOICE ACTOR (ENGLISH)
1. Johnny Yong Bosch ­ The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya ­ Itsuki Koizumi
2. Crispin Freeman ­ The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya ­ Kyon
3. Alessandro Juliani ­ DEATHNOTE ­ L
4. Christopher R. Sabat ­ One Piece ­ Zoro
5. Jason Spisak ­ Zatch Bell! ­ Kiyo Takamine

Category 03: BEST VOICE ACTRESS (JAPANESE)
1. Aya Hirano ­ The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya ­ Haruhi Suzumiya
2. Ayako Kawasumi ­ Nodame Cantabile ­ Megumi ³Nodame² Noda
3. Rie Kugimiya ­ Hayate no Gotoku! ­ Nagi Sanzenin
4. Nana Mizuki ­ Darker Than BLACK ­ Misaki Kirihara
5. Mamiko Noto ­ sola ­ Matsuri Shihou

Category 04: BEST VOICE ACTRESS (ENGLISH)
1. Laura Bailey ­ Shin-chan ­ Shin-chan
2. Maryke Hendrikse ­ Black Lagoon ­ Revy
3. Shannon Chan-Kent ­ DEATHNOTE ­ Misa
4. Anna Morrow ­ The Third: The Girl with the Blue Eye ­ Honoka
5. Stephanie Sheh ­ The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya ­ Mikuru Asahina

Category 05: BEST CASTING DIRECTOR
1. Randi Riediger ­ Black Lagoon
2. Kaeko Sakamoto ­ The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
3. Hiroyuki Sakurada ­ Ge-Ge-Ge No Kitaro
4. Jamie Simone ­ Naruto
5. Kazuhiro Wakabayashi ­ Darker Than BLACK

Category 06: BEST CHARACTER DESIGN
1. Shoko Ikeda ­ The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
2. Makoto Koga ­ sola
3. Shino Masanori ­ Black Lagoon
4. Ken Ueno ­ Ge-Ge-Ge No Kitaro
5. Makoto Uno ­ Witchblade

Category 07: BEST MECHANICAL DESIGN
1. Black Lagoon ­ (Staff includes Masahiro Kimura)
2. Eureka 7 ­ (Staff includes Shoji Kawamori)
3. Full Metal Panic! TSR ­ (Staff includes Kanetake Ebikawa)
4. Mobile Suit Gundam 00 ­ (Staff includes Kanetake Ebikawa, Naohiro Washio,
Takayuki Yanase)
5. The Third: The Girl with the Blue Eye ­ (Staff includes Naohiro Washio)

Category 08: BEST MALE CHARACTER
1. Arucard ­ Hellsing Ultimate
2. Hei ­ Darker Than BLACK
3. Ichigo Kurosaki ­ Bleach
4. Lelouch Lamperouge ­ Code Geass
5. Luffy ­ One Piece

Category 09: BEST FEMALE CHARACTER
1. Haruhi Suzumiya ­ The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
2. Matsuri Shihou – sola
3. Megumi ³Nodame² Noda ­ Nodame Cantabile
4. Nami ­ One Piece
5. Revy ­ Black Lagoon

Category 10: BEST MASCOT CHARACTER
1. Kanaka ­ Shigofumi: Letters from the Departed
2. Mokona ­ Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles
3. Mokkun ­ Shonen Onmyouji
4. Na-san ­ Kirarin Revolution
5. Shamisen ­ The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

Category 11: BEST BACKGROUND DESIGN
1. Mobile Suit Gundam 00 ­ Sunrise
2. Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei ­ Shaft
3. Shigofumi: Letters from the Departed ­ J.C. Staff/Bandai Visual
4. sola ­ Nomad/Bandai Visual
5. The Third: The Girl with the Blue Eye ­ XEBEC/Right Stuf

Category 12: BEST ORIGINAL VIDEO
1. Detective Conan: Detective Conan vs. Kid the Phantom Thief ­ Shogakukan
2. Hellsing Ultimate ­ Geneon Entertainment
3. I Luv Halloween ­ TokyoPop
4. Naruto: The Lost Story: Protect the Waterfall Village ­ Viz Media
5. Super Robot Wars Original Generation: The Animation OVA ­ Bandai Visual
USA

Category 13: BEST FEATURE FILM
1. Paprika ­ Sony
2. SOS! Tokyo Metro Explorers: The Next ­ Bandai Visual USA
3. Stranger ­ Mukoh Haden ­ BONES
4. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time ­ Bandai Entertainment
5. Vexille ­ Oxybot

Category 14: BEST TELEVISION SERIES
1. Black Lagoon ­ Geneon Entertainment
2. Darker Than BLACK ­ BONES
3. DEATHNOTE ­ Viz Media
4. One Piece ­ FUNimation Entertainment
5. sola ­ Bandai Visual

Category 15: BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
1. Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad ­ Beat Crusaders ­ defSTAR Records
2. Darker Than BLACK ­ Yoko Kanno ­ Sony Music
3. Naruto ­ Toshio Masuda & Musashi Project ­ Aniplex
4. sola ­ Hitoshi Fujima ­ Lantis
5. The Third: The Girl with the Blue Eye ­ Megumi Ohashi ­ Columbia Music
Entertainment

Category 16: BEST ORIGINAL SONG
1. ³Hare Hare Yukai² (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya) ­ Aya Hirano,
Minori Chihara, and Yuko Goto ­ Lantis
2. ³Hit in the USA² (BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad) ­ Hidaka Toru ­ The Beat
Crusaders / defSTAR Records
3.  ³Nagareboshi ~ Shooting Star ~² (Naruto Shippuden) ­ HOME MADE Kazoku -
Ki/oon Records
4. ³Red Fraction² (Black Lagoon) ­ MELL ­ Geneon Entertainment
5. ³Tsukiakari² (Darker Than BLACK) ­ Rie Fu ­ Sony Music

Category 17: BEST DIRECTOR
1. Sunao Katabuchi ­ Black Lagoon
2. Tomoki Kobayashi ­ sola
3. Mary Elizabeth McGlynn ­ Naruto
4. Hiroshi Nagahama ­ Mushi-Shi
5. Tensai Okamura ­ Darker Than BLACK

Category 18: BEST MANGA – ACTION
1. Black Lagoon ­ Rei Hiroe ­ Shogakukan
2. Gunsmith Cats Burst ­ Kenichi Sonoda ­ Dark Horse Comics
3. Murder Princess ­ Sekihiko Inui ­ Broccoli Books
4. Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles ­ CLAMP ­ Del Rey Manga
5. Vampire Hunter D ­ Hideyuki Kukuchi / Saiko Takaki ­ Digital Manga
Publishing

Category 19: BEST MANGA – COMEDY
1. Disgaea 2 ­ Hekaton ­ Broccoli Books
2. Dramacon ­ Svetlana Chmakova ­ TokyoPop
3. Hayate no Gotoku! ­ Kenjirou Hata ­ Shogakukan
4. Gintama ­ Hideaki Sorachi ­ Viz Media
5. Negima! ­ Ken Akamatsu ­ Del Rey Manga

Category 20: BEST MANGA – DRAMA
1. Blood Alone ­ Masayuki Takano ­ MediaWorks / Infinity Studios
2. Eden ­ Hiroki Endo ­ Dark Horse Comics
3. Eureka Seven ­ Jinsei Kataoka / Kazuma Kondou ­ Bandai Entertainment
4. Kitchen Princess ­ Miyuki Kobayashi / Natsumi Ando ­ Del Rey Manga
5. Lovely Complex ­ Aya Nakahara ­ Viz Media

Category 21: BEST PUBLICATION
1. Anime Insider ­ Wizard Entertainment
2. Newtype ­ Kudokawa Shoten
3. Otaku USA ­ Otaku USA
4. Protoculture Addicts ­ Anime News Network
5. Shojo Beat ­ Viz Media

About Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation
The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA) is a non-profit
organization with a mission to popularize and educate the American public
about anime and manga, as well as provide a forum to facilitate
communication between professionals and fans. This organization is more
popularly known by its entertainment property ­ Anime Expo®.  More
information can be found at its website (www.spja.org).

The statements made in this press release that are not historical facts are
“forward-looking statements.” These forward-looking statements are based on
current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and
uncertainties. The Company cautions readers of this press release that a
number of important factors could cause Anime Expo®/SPJA¹s actual future
results to differ materially from those expressed in any such
forward-looking statements. Such factors include, without limitation,
product delays, industry competition, rapid changes in technology and
industry standards, protection of proprietary rights, maintenance of
relationships with key personnel, vendors and third-party developers,
international economic and political conditions. The Company may change its
intention, belief or expectation, at any time and without notice, based upon
any changes in such factors, in the Company’s assumptions or otherwise. The
Company undertakes no obligation to release publicly any revisions to any
forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date
hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

Song Siren to Perform at Nation’s Largest Convention

Anaheim, California (March 26, 2008) — The new Japanese “It-Girl”,
television celebrity, blogger, voice actress and illustrator Shoko Nakagawa
(“Shokotan” as her fans call her) joins the hottest line up of Anime Expo®
2008 Guests of Honors for the highly anticipated 2008 convention July 3-6,
2008 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. More information can be found on
the website www.anime-expo.org.

Born in Tokyo in 1985, Ms. Nakagawa broke blog visit records in February
2008 when her blog, ‘Shokotan Blog’ received over one billion hits. Filled
with photos and entries written in her own unique slang, this blog is
arguably the most popular of the many celebrity blogs. The site, which Ms.
Nakagawa updates as many as 15 times a day, garners over 1,800,000 hits a
day.

Among many fields of Ms. Nakagawa’s activities, music has been one of her
most successful ventures. Since her singing debut in 2006, she has quickly
expanded her fan base. Her single ‘Sorairo Days’, released in June of 2007,
was chosen as the theme song to the popular TV anime TENGEN TOPPA GURREN
LAGANN. Her first ever rock song, it debuted at #3 on Japan’s Oricon weekly
single chart. Thanks to the ever-increasing popularity of fan events held
all over the country, Ms. Nakagawa had her first concert in Tokyo in
December of 2007. Tickets sold out in 25 seconds, and the show drew a crowd
of 2000 enthusiastic fans.

Ms. Nakagawa is also known for her extensive knowledge of anime and manga.
On her blog she posts her thoughts on works that catch her interest, along
with her own professional quality illustrations. In May of 2007, she chose 5
songs from over 1,500,000 requests, and released ‘Shokotan?Cover’ a cover
album of anime theme songs. In August of the same year, she was selected as
Japan’s good will ambassador at the ‘World Cosplay Summit 2007′, an event
for aficionados of cosplay from all over the world. Her live performance at
the event received rave reviews from guests, setting the stage for her
worldwide popularity. The next month she followed up her hit anime song
cover album with the release of ‘Shokotan?Cover 2’. The album became yet
another smash hit, ranking in at #11 on the Oricon album chart.

2007 was no doubt a huge year for Ms. Nakagawa. On December 31st, she
realized her dream of performing on the Kohaku Utagassen, Japan’s
traditional end of the year singing TV program. It was a fitting way to end
an impressive year. Ms. Nakagawa took her place on stage with other artists
representing the best and brightest of Japan’s music stars, and received
attention for her real time updates to her blog from backstage at the event.

On the first day of the New Year 2008, Ms. Nakagawa went straight from
Kohaku to perform at the prestigious Countdown Japan rock festival at 3 am.
Regardless of the time, more than 5,500 people turned out to see her perform
live. The same day a DVD of her 2007 concert, ‘Shokotan Donyoku Matsuri’ was
released, ranking at #5 on the Music DVD chart.

The ‘Shokotan’ fever shows no signs of stopping. The third book from her
blog sold over 10,0000 copies, and her 4th single, ’snow tears’, released on
January 30th, went to #2 on the charts. The ballad showing off her vocal
talents like never before, the song was selected as the ending song for the
TV anime HAKABA KITARO, for which Ms. Nakagawa also voices a character. She
was quite moved by this fateful collaboration as her late father, the singer
Katsuhiko Nakagawa had often said, ‘You can’t grow up without reading HAKABA
KITARO in her childhood.

On March 19th, her first full-length album “Big?Bang!!!” was released with
roaring support of her fans, the album debuted at #5 on the Oricon album
chart. In support of the album, Ms. Nakagawa will kick off her
much-anticipated Japan nation-wide tour in May.

Ms. Nakagawa joins legendary American voice actor David Hayter and famed
POKEMON director Masamitsu Hidaka in Anime Expo® 2008’s amazing line up of
Guests of Honor.

Attendees, Press and Industry Members are also encouraged to view the video
coverage site of the 2007 convention at www.AXBackstage.org.

About Anime Expo®
Located in Los Angeles, California – Anime Expo®, the nation’s largest
anime/manga convention, serves to foster trade, commerce and the interests
of the general public and animation/ comics industry. This event serves as
a key meeting place for the general public to express their interest and
explore various aspects of anime/manga, as well as for members of the
industry to conduct business. AX 2008 will be held July 3 – July 6, 2008 at
the Los Angeles Convention Center in Southern California. More information
can be found at its website (www.anime-expo.org).

About Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation
The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA) is a non-profit
organization with a mission to popularize and educate the American public
about anime and manga, as well as provide a forum to facilitate
communication between professionals and fans. This organization is more
popularly known by its entertainment property – Anime Expo®. More
information can be found at its website (www.spja.org).

The statements made in this press release that are not historical facts are
“forward-looking statements.” These forward-looking statements are based on
current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and
uncertainties. The Company cautions readers of this press release that a
number of important factors could cause Anime Expo®/SPJA’s actual future
results to differ materially from those expressed in any such
forward-looking statements. Such factors include, without limitation,
product delays, industry competition, rapid changes in technology and
industry standards, protection of proprietary rights, maintenance of
relationships with key personnel, vendors and third-party developers,
international economic and political conditions. The Company may change its
intention, belief or expectation, at any time and without notice, based upon
any changes in such factors, in the Company’s assumptions or otherwise. The
Company undertakes no obligation to release publicly any revisions to any
forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date
hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

Show Notes

News

David Hayter To Be At Anime Expo 2008

Crunchyroll Gets $4.05 Million In Capital, American Anime Industry Freaks Out

People Are Hating On Aya Hirano

How can you hate Aya after watching this video!

Aya Hirano Wins Seiyuu Award

Promo
The Anime Roundtable Podcast

Anime Expo 2008 Predictions

Blog Comments, Feedback, And Question Of The Week

Vist the fan site at fans.anime-gen.com

E-mail me at animegen@gmail.com

If you like what you hear, please consider donating.

Story From ANN

About 10 fans (whose translation abilities are high compared to professionals!) (*3) are said to put animated videos with foreign-language subtitles on YouTube, BitTorrent, and other file-sharing sites. If our country is to formally deal with YouTube and other services, it will be necessary to have some sort of approach to dealing with these individuals. Personally, I hope to resolve this by officially making use of their abilities.

This idea has been thrown around for awhile now and it seemed like a far off fantasy for Japanese and American companies to step in and actually work with fansubbers and use their skills. I don’t know how many fansubbers would be willing to work with the companies though, as most fansubbers are stuck up idiots who would see working with the companies as “selling out”. Do you think this is the answer to the fansub dilemma or is this just more talk from Japan that won’t go anywhere?

Also please join the fan site or Haruhi will cry.

Yesterday a horrible thing happened that almost burnt down my house as well as the AG Studio.

I was in the studio yesterday when the lights started flickering then all the power went out. I walked out of the studio to see if it was a power outage. The odd thing was that the lights in the dining room and the kitchen as well as the tv in the living room was still on. My little sister told me that she saw the ceiling fan in the living room cave in a bit. I then heard a bunch of noise coming from the garage. I started to smell smoke and opened the door to go into the garage. I then saw an orange glow of fire and heard crackling. I quickly shut the door and ran out of the house with my little sister and called 911. By the time me and my sister were out of the house we could see the smoke rising from all over the house and the garage. About 7 fire trucks came shortly after and the firemen got up on top of the roof and started cutting away with their chainsaws. I stood on the sidewalk with the rest of my family watching the smoke billowing up from the house. I was already expecting the worst as I thought about the studio and how was everything going to be replaced. Everything to deal with Anime Genesis was going up in flames and there was nothing I could do about it I thought to myself.

So the fire was eventually put out and the firemen walked us through the house. Amazingly the fire only spread and was contained within the garage and didn’t spread throughout the rest of the house like it had looked like it did at first. The studio and the rest of the house was spared. There is no power in the studio though as well as half of the house is without power. We are in the process of cleaning up and repairing. But I am going to be without power in the studio and without a good stable internet connection for awhile and there may not be another Anime Genesis episode for quite some time. The important thing is that me and my family are safe. If you want to see pictures I took of the damage go here.

I’ve missed two episodes in the past two weeks due to technical difficulties, so to make up for it here is an exclusive press panel interview from Anime Expo 2007. Mary Elizabeth McGlynn was one of the American guests of honor. She is most well know for being the voice of Motoko Kusanagi in Ghost In The Shell: Innocence, Solid State Society, and Stand Alone Complex. Mary is currently directing Naruto for Viz. Mary has also sang for the Silent Hill movie and sang for the games Silent Hill 3, 4, and Origins.

Thanks to Patrick Macias for reminding me about this song that I will have on a never ending loop for the rest of the day. This is a very catchy song that will get stuck in your head and drive you mad! Mad in a good way…I guess.

It’s finally here! Go and register and have fun! Remember to keep it clean and legal or else I’ll have to ban you. There was no episode last week because the program I use to edit decided to crash and rendered the just edited episode un-playable and useless. Anyways, click on the community button on the navigation bar above or go to fans.anime-gen.com

Anime Genesis makes it’s glorious return for 2008! In this episode of Anime Genesis Benu reads your comments in response to episode 62 and also reads Justin Sevakis’ interesting response to writing/podcasting about his open letter which showed up on the ANN forums. Also Benu takes a look back at the best of 2007 with the first ever Anime Genesis Awards and crowns the series of the year and the first ever podcast of the year and more.

Show Notes

Justin Sevakis’ ANN Forum Post

Anime Genesis Awards

Categories

Series Of The Year
Winner: The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya
Runner Up: Lucky Star

Movie Of The Year
Winner: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
Runner Up: None

Character Of The Year
Winner: Haruhi Suzumiya
Runner Up: Konata Izumi

Voice Actor/Actress Of The Year
Winner: Aya Hirano
Runner Up: None

Studio Of The Year
Winner: Kyoto Animation
Runner Up: None

Director Of The Year
Winner: Tatsuya Ishihara
Runner Up: None

American Company Of The Year
Winner: Geneon USA
Runner Up: Bandai Entertainment

Surprise Licensing Announcement Of The Year
Winner: Lucky Star
Runner Up: Kanon (2006)

Podcast Of The Year
Winner: Anime Diet Radio
Runner Up: Anime Pacific

Blog Of The Year
Winner: An Eternal Thought in the Mind of Godzilla
Runner Up: Hop Step Jump!

Webcomic Of The Year
Winner: Mistakes Of Youth
Runner Up: None

…And just because I can.

You know its the best anime OP ever! Don’t deny!

Hold on tight because the sparks will fly as Benu lays the smack down on Justin Sevakis’s letter to the industry.