http://www.animetalk.com/ Aroms.com feed. All the latest Anime News and Reviews. Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:00:03 -0500 en-us anitalkhttp://feedburner.google.comSubscribe with My Yahoo!Subscribe with NewsGatorSubscribe with My AOLSubscribe with BloglinesSubscribe with NetvibesSubscribe with GoogleSubscribe with Pageflakes http://www.animetalk.com/news/adv-voice-actor-mike-kleinhez-passes-away/ http://www.animetalk.com/news/adv-voice-actor-mike-kleinhez-passes-away/ Fri, 18 Jul 2008 01:39:17 -0500 ADV Films' dialogue director Kyle Jones has confirmed on the AnimeOnDVD forums that veteran voice actor Mike Kleinhenz died on July 11 of a heart attack. He was 56. Kleinhenz played Kalinin in all four versions of the Full Metal Panic! anime. He also played The Raven in Princess Tutu, Friday Monday in Madlax, Kabapu in Excel Saga, and dozens of other roles. Thank you to Jack Cox for the news tip. Anime News http://www.animetalk.com/news/ghibli-film-from-takahata-more-definite/ http://www.animetalk.com/news/ghibli-film-from-takahata-more-definite/ Thu, 17 Jul 2008 01:32:01 -0500 Studio Ghibli President Koji Hoshino revealed to the Nikkei Waga Maga website that studio co-founder Isao Takahata (Grave of the Fireflies, Only Yesterday, Pom Poko) is proceeding with his preparations for a new film. While he cannot discuss the contents of the film yet, Hoshino said the plans are now more "definite" compared to one year ago. Hoshino first mentioned that Takahata and Goro Miyazaki (the son of studio co-founder and Oscar-winning director Hayao Miyazaki) are developing new works in February. While it has been nearly a decade since Takahata directed his last film, 1999's My Neighbors the Yamadas, Hoshino said that Takahata has not stopped animating or writing on other works. Hoshino added that Takahata is in very good spirits, so he hopes audiences will look forward to the next film. Anime News http://www.animetalk.com/news/bleach-deathnote-naruto-added-to-itunes/ http://www.animetalk.com/news/bleach-deathnote-naruto-added-to-itunes/ Wed, 16 Jul 2008 01:55:31 -0500 The American distributor Viz Media has announced that it added the Bleach, Death Note, and Naruto television anime series to Apple's iTunes online download store in the United States today. English dubbed versions of the first 41 episodes of Bleach, all 37 episodes of Death Note, and the first 25 uncut episodes of Naruto are now on the service. The three series are the first offerings in the new Viz Media studio section. Except for the later episodes of Bleach and the last four episodes of Death Note which just ran on America's Adult Swim television network, these episodes are also available on the Direct2Drive and TotalVid services. Funimation, Manga Entertainment, and Tezuka Productions have also added anime to the iTunes store in America. Anime News http://www.animetalk.com/news/free-japanese-manga-iphone-ds/ http://www.animetalk.com/news/free-japanese-manga-iphone-ds/ Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:18:27 -0500 Red Planet Media's JumpInMobile.TV video service began offering three anime series � MoonPhase, Gunslinger Girl, and Galaxy Railways � on its own version of the FUNimation Channel on America's Sprint and ATandT Wireless phone networks this week. It costs US$4.99 a month to watch any number of episodes from the MoonPhase or Gunslinger Girl package, and either package will include Galaxy Railways for free. Red Planet Media already began offering MoonPhase and Galaxy Railways on a pay-per-clip basis on the ATandT Wireless network on May 23. Funimation announced the new JumpInMobile.TV offerings at Anime Expo 2008. At the same event, Funimation also announced that Aquarion and Witchblade will be added to the iTunes Store in late July, and that the YouTube online video service will be streaming Blue Gender, Slayers, Peach Girl, Mushi-Shi, and Kiddy Grade. Anime News http://www.animetalk.com/news/japan-says-jojo-issue-regrettable/ http://www.animetalk.com/news/japan-says-jojo-issue-regrettable/ Sat, 24 May 2008 17:15:47 -0500 Kazuo Kodama, a Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, issued a statement on Friday that expressed regret for Muslims' feelings that were hurt by images deemed inappropriate in the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure anime. The original manga's Part 3 ("Stardust Crusaders," pictured at right) has a scene in which the main villain, Dio, vowed to kill the main character Jand#333;tarand#333; Kujand#333; while looking at illegible book pages. The staff of the anime version unknowingly inserted reproductions of pages from the Qur'an, the main religious text of Islam, in the corresponding scene of the sixth anime episode ("The Mist of Vengeance"). Anime News http://www.animetalk.com/news/school-rumble-promo-streamed/ http://www.animetalk.com/news/school-rumble-promo-streamed/ Wed, 21 May 2008 01:27:37 -0500 The official Japanese website for the School Rumble anime franchise is streaming a promotional video for School Rumble: Third Term, the newest anime adaptation of Jin Kobayashi's slice-of-life manga. The mini-series will ship in Japan with limited editions of the manga's 21st and 22nd compiled manga volumes, which will be released on July 17 and September 17, respectively. The page linked above normally has the broadcast previews for School Rumble, but it is streaming the promotional video since there is no television broadcast planned. Anime News http://www.animetalk.com/news/bleach-movie/ http://www.animetalk.com/news/bleach-movie/ Fri, 16 May 2008 08:33:57 -0500 National CineMedia�s Fathom brings anime back to the big screen for two nights only in the U.S. debut of the epic action anime hit, Bleach The Movie: Memories Of Nobody in more than 300 theatres across the country on June 11th and 12th at 7:30 p.m. local time. Adapted from the popular animated television series and best-selling manga (graphic novel) series, the Bleach The Movie: Memories Of Nobody in-theatre event promises to be the ultimate anime experience and features an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the talent behind the characters and a first-time ever interview with acclaimed Japanese director Noriyuki Abe. Anime News http://www.animetalk.com/news/death-note-award/ http://www.animetalk.com/news/death-note-award/ Thu, 15 May 2008 00:57:12 -0500 The comic fans of the United Kingdom have given the 2007 Eagle Award for Favorite Manga to Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata's Death Note manga. The supernatural suspense title was competing against Koushun Takami and Masayuki Taguchi's Battle Royale, Hiroaki Samura's Blade of the Immortal, Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto, and Korean artist Min-Woo Hyung's Priest. Death Note was also nominated in 2006. Blade of the Immortal has been nominated five straight times since the category was added in 2000, and won in 2004, 2005, and 2006. Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima's Lone Wolf and Cub won the first ever Eagle Award for Favorite Manga award in 2000. Before the Favorite Manga category was introduced, Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira won the Best International Comic Book award in 1989. Anime News http://www.animetalk.com/news/honey-clover-dvd/ http://www.animetalk.com/news/honey-clover-dvd/ Wed, 14 May 2008 04:50:31 -0500 VIZ Pictures, an affiliate of VIZ Media, LLC that focuses on Japanese live-action film distribution, has announced the DVD release of HONEY AND CLOVER today. The live-action film, directed by Masahiro Takata and based on a best-selling manga series by Chica Umino, features English subtitles and will carry an estimated retail price of $24.98. Special bonus features on the disc include cast interviews, and a dedicated website about the film is available at www.honeyandclover.us. HONEY AND CLOVER is a romantic comedy that focuses on five college students and the art school they attend. Mayama, Morita and Takemoto (played by J-Pop star Sho Sakurai, who also appeared in HULA GIRLS) aren't necessarily living fancy lives, but they always manage to have fun. When a talented and pretty painter named Hagumi Hanamoto (played by HULA GIRLS star Yu Aoi) enrolls in the program, her presence and unique approach to art affects the entire school and her new friends, especially Takamoto. The plot thickens as Hagumi becomes embroiled in a complicated love triangle as she struggles to find her artistic voice. Anime News http://www.animetalk.com/news/file-sharing-arrests/ http://www.animetalk.com/news/file-sharing-arrests/ Mon, 12 May 2008 09:31:26 -0500 On May 9, the Kyoto Prefectural Police�s High-Tech Crime Task Force arrested three individuals on suspicion of illegally distributing anime video footage with the peer-to-peer program Share. These arrests mark the first time Japanese police have arrest anime uploaders using the Share network. While downloading copyrighted material for personal use is legal in Japan, uploading copyrighted material to the internet without authorization is a criminal offense. Reportedly the three individuals arrested are well known suppliers of new anime episodes which international fan translators use to create fansubs. It remains to be seen if these arrests will discourage Japanese Share users from uploading anime, or if these arrests will decrease the amount of new anime available to international fansubbers. Anime News http://www.animetalk.com/news/bandai-confirms-bluray/ http://www.animetalk.com/news/bandai-confirms-bluray/ Mon, 28 Apr 2008 21:49:08 -0500 The Japanese anime distributor Bandai Visual confirmed on Monday that it will start distributing popular anime on the Blu-ray Disc format throughout the world simultaneously this fall. The strategic shift will represent a new business model which attempts to solve the unauthorized distribution issue by doing away with regional differences in release dates and prices. It confirmed that the Freedom science-fiction anime series will be among the list of popular titles that will ship in staggered releases under this model. The discs will include subtitles in Japanese, English, and other languages. Anime News http://www.animetalk.com/news/new-dragonball/ http://www.animetalk.com/news/new-dragonball/ Mon, 28 Apr 2008 21:42:19 -0500 As anticipation for the live action Dragonball movie reaches boiling point, Japanese manga magazine Shonen Jump have announced that they intend to produce a brand new (albeit one-shot) Dragonball anime (as well as a new One Piece short film too). Though specific details are few and far between, it's known that the new anime will be shown all across Japan as a part of the �Jump Super Anime Tour�, making it the first Dragonball anime to have been produced since GT ended in November 1997. Anime News http://www.animetalk.com/news/bleach-300-movie-theatres/ http://www.animetalk.com/news/bleach-300-movie-theatres/ Wed, 23 Apr 2008 07:43:51 -0500 VIZ Media, one of the entertainment industry's most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced that it will partner with NCM FATHOM, the entertainment division of National CineMedia, to present the epic action anime hit BLEACH THE MOVIE: MEMORIES OF NOBODY in more than 300 theatres across the country on June 11 and 12. Adapted from the wildly popular animated series and a best-selling manga series (both distributed and published in North America by VIZ Media) by acclaimed Japanese artist Tite Kubo, BLEACH THE MOVIE: MEMORIES OF NOBODY will make its North American debut in this two-night theatre experience including an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the talent behind the characters as well as interviews of this highly-anticipated premiere with the Japanese Director, Noriyuki Abe, Producer Ken Hagino and Character Designer, Masashi Kudo. Anime News http://www.animetalk.com/reviews/street-fighter-2-review/ http://www.animetalk.com/reviews/street-fighter-2-review/ Mon, 21 Apr 2008 05:10:57 -0500 Based off the legendary video game, the film follows Ryu, a wandering, simple martial artist who scowers the world in search of street fighting and his soul. Also scowering the world is M. Bison, leader of the maniacal terrorist organization called Shadowlaw, bent on dominating the world by brainwashing the best street fighters into loyal killing machines for Bison. Ken, Ryu's best friend becomes abducted by Bison, and it is Ryu's mission along with the likes of US military captain Guile, Interpol agent Chun Li, and a host of other street fighters to defeat Bison and Shadowlaw. This was actually my very first expose to anime, I first came across this movie by buying it in my local video store for a cheap price. Needless to say after rewatching the movie on DVD, I'm quite happy this movie was my first exposure. Street Fighter the animated movie is a wickedly fun guilty pleasure for fans and newbies of the classic video game series and those who have never heard of it. Not every anime needs to electrify our brain cells and entice us with compelling complex storylines and philosophical life lessons. Street Fighter is a fighting anime movie and it does a damn good job of exploiting that point. The first thing you'll notice is the unremarkable masterpiece like quality of the animation. The explicitly detailed visual designs of the characters is incredibly exquisite, detailing water droplets from hair strands to even ankle bones in feet. Its hard to imagine what some would call "mindless entertainment" to house such top notch animation artwork. Anime Reviews http://www.animetalk.com/news/live-action-ghost-in-the-shell/ http://www.animetalk.com/news/live-action-ghost-in-the-shell/ Mon, 21 Apr 2008 04:39:32 -0500 What's next after Transformers? Steven Spielberg is moving on to more worldly properties. With the recent acquisition of rights to the Japanese manga "Ghost in the Shell," by DreamWorks is set to to make a 3-D Live-Action version of the cyberpunk crime thriller. Spielberg is said to have taken a personal interest in binging the project to DreamWorks who beat out two other competing studios, Universal and Sony, for the rights. 'Ghost in the Shell' is one of my favorite stories," Spielberg said. "It's a genre that has arrived, and we enthusiastically welcome it to DreamWorks." Published in 1989, "Ghost in the Shell" was Created by Masamune Shirow. Written as a post-cyberpunk drama, the story follows Motoko Kusanagi, a member of a covert operations team that work for the Section 9 arm of the Japanese National Public Safety Commission. Ghost in the Shell documents the team on technology-related crime missions that test their best fighting abilities. The original Manga story has been adapted into several anime films, a television series, video games and other products. Anime News http://www.animetalk.com/news/presenting-ultimo/ http://www.animetalk.com/news/presenting-ultimo/ Sat, 19 Apr 2008 16:18:42 -0500 Viz Media has announced a joint venture with comics legend Stan Lee. Along with one of Japan's biggest artists, Hiroyuki Takei, Stan has created his first magna title. This new title, featuring the hero known as Ultimo, was just published today in Japan. The Editor-in-Chief of Viz Media's Shonen Jump magna magazine, Mark Weidenbaum, lead the press conference today at the NYCC. On the panel were Ultimo's creators, Stan Lee and Hiroyuki Takei, along with a translator. One obsticle to the crafting of this comic book was the fact that Stan does not speak Japanese and Hiroyuki does not speak English. Stan sent his story idea to Hiroyuki who re-worked it to fit into Japanese story telling style and then sent it back to Stan who made further changes. This back and forth continued several times until Ultimo was ready to be unveiled to the world. This title then represents an amalgamation of American and Japanese styles, hopefully representing the best of both and offering great appeal to all audiences. Hiroyuki explained the principle difference being that Ultimo has a more narrative style than traditional magna, a medium he has risen far in. Anime News http://www.animetalk.com/news/dragon-half-added/ http://www.animetalk.com/news/dragon-half-added/ Thu, 17 Apr 2008 10:49:29 -0500 We have now added Dragon Half to our Anime List. Dragon Half is a 2 episode OVA which is short (obviously, only 2 episodes!) and funny, and features a rich cast of comical characters. There is a dedicated Dragon Half section in our forums and we have added a Dragon Half picture gallery which at the time of writing currently features 67 screenshots and artwork from the anime. Site Updates http://www.animetalk.com/news/viz-media-plans-nycc/ http://www.animetalk.com/news/viz-media-plans-nycc/ Thu, 17 Apr 2008 07:47:26 -0500 VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry's most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced its plans to participate in a variety of exhibits, special events, programming, panels and related industry roundtable discussions at the 2008 New York Comic Con, taking place April 18-20 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in Manhattan. New York Comic Con has emerged as the East Coast's biggest and most popular pop culture convention covering the latest in comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, toys, movies, and television. VIZ Media will welcome comics legend Stan Lee, creator of numerous iconic superheroes including Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, and the X-Men, for a very special press event on April 18 in Room#1E09 to discuss ULTIMO � the historic collaboration between Lee and with Hiroyuki Takei, the creator of the popular SHAMAN KING manga series, published in North America by VIZ Media. The event, attended by Stan Lee, Takanori Asada (Editor, Jump SQ.), and SHONEN JUMP Editor-in-Chief Marc Weidenbaum, will highlight the collaboration and shed further light on the development of ULTIMO and the partnership with Hiroyuki Takei, as well as announce exciting news not yet shared regarding this title. Anime News http://www.animetalk.com/reviews/dragon-half-review/ http://www.animetalk.com/reviews/dragon-half-review/ Tue, 08 Apr 2008 05:34:18 -0500 My brother always tells me I have a problem only picking OVA animes when I buy them. There almost always way too short and they lack the fan power most long running series has. I enjoy OVA because of the rich characters they feature without dragging them on for 200 episodes, that being said, does Dragon half an only 2 episode anime OVA even stand a chance of being good? Life is never easy for anyone, except for Mink its much, much worse, see she happens to be a Dragon half: half human half dragon, and its because of her dragon half that Mink gets into so much trouble. Mink's in love with the number one world pop singer, and dragon slayer, Dick Saucer. Unfortunately, because of her dragon nature, Mink fears he will never love her because it is Dick's job to slay dragons. So Mink and her friends go out on a journey to find a magical people potion to make her pure human. Only problem is, Mink's rival Princess Vina, her father the King and a slew of other crazy bad guys will do anything they can to stop and kill her before she finds the potion. Anime Reviews http://www.animetalk.com/reviews/desert-punk-review/ http://www.animetalk.com/reviews/desert-punk-review/ Fri, 28 Mar 2008 08:57:13 -0500 One of the hardest types of anime I find are ones about anti-heroes, about bad guys as stars opposed to the good guys. I've only come across 2 shows that have used this idea in my lifetime of anime watching and despite the fact selling (or writing for that matter) a good anti-hero show is insanely difficult, Punk has everything you thought would be in it, and everything you never thought would be in it. In the great Kanto desert, death and despair are the only things to look forward to in this war torn, criminal ridden landscape. Survival comes to those desperate enough to stab each other in the back for it, and treachery and thievery are the only profitable jobs around. Enter Desert Punk, a greedy, smart mouthed, boob crazy little jack ass whose God like gun skills have earned him the title "Demon of the desert". It's life through the sand stained eyes of Punk as he battles crazed mercenaries, handles insanely dangerous jobs, and does every dirty deed in the book all to make a cheap buck. Anime Reviews