3rd Higurashi Series Planned as Rei OVA This Winter
The official website of the Higurashi no Naku Koro ni anime franchise has confirmed that the third series will be an OVA project called Higurashi no Naku Koroni Rei. It also confirmed that Studio DEEN, the same company that worked on the two television seasons, will work on the new project. While the site emphasizes that the release dates are not set yet, both the Mainichi Shimbun paper and Saishin Anime Jōhō report that the project will start this winter. As before, the story creator and supervisor will be Ryukishi07. However, the director this time will be Toshifumi Kawase; he oversaw the scripts in the second television season (Higurashi no Naku Koroni Kai) and directed Zettai Muteki Raijin-Oh, Pita Ten, and Shion no Oh. Higurashi no Naku Koroni Rei was the name of a 2006 software fan disc that included two story chapters based on the original murder mystery visual novels.
Source
ANN
ADV Relocates Downloads, Outsources Online Orders
Fans have recently pointed out that ADV Universe, ADV's website for DRM-protected digital downloads, has had no titles listed on its website. While ANN is unable to verify how long the website has effectively been vacant, ADV representative Chris Oarr tells ANN that ADV Films rolled its digital download offerings into the main advfilms.com website in January and February. All the digital downloads previously available from ADV Universe are now available from ADV Films.
In a related matter, ADV Films is outsourcing its online fulfillment to RIght Stuf. Oarr says, "ADV is really great at a lot of things and pretty good at most everything else, but when it comes to fulfillment, Right Stuf certainly is one of the best. We're getting out of the online fufillment business, and we're looking forward to improving the service received by our customers via this partnership with Right Stuf."
Right Stuf also handles fulfillment for Funimation products ordered from Funimation's website, and did the same for Geneon Entertainment before that company ceased its North American DVD sales.
Source
ANN
Astro Boy, Pokémon Lend a Hand in Baseball, Olympics
The Tokyo Yakult Swallows baseball team played this past weekend in vintage uniforms from their days as the Yakult Atoms. True to their name, the Yakult Atoms uniforms had manga pioneer Osamu Tezuka's most famous character, Mighty Atom (Tetsuwan Atom/Astro Boy), embroidered on their sleeves. The vintage uniforms were part of the team's promotional campaign for the Golden Week holidays.
During the Tokyo International Anime Fair 2008 in March, Japan promoted its bid for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games by having Astro Boy and Pokémon's Pikachu greet attendees with Shintarō Ishihara (Tokyo's mayor). Dr. Ichiro Kono, the Tokyo 2016 bid's CEO and chairman, said, "Tokyo 2016 is honored to have been able to appear at this festival with the anime stars, who are treasured national icons beloved by youth worldwide."
Source
ANN
Hiroshima to Host International Gundam Society
This August, the Japanese city of Hiroshima will host the International Gundam Society — a tentatively titled academic conference about the issues facing future cities, as presented in the Mobile Suit Gundam science-fiction anime series. The Gundam franchise will celebrate its 30th anniversary next year. Set in the fictional Universal Century calendar system, the story posits that most of mankind must emigrate to space colonies to deal with overpopulation. The "spacenoids" eventually wage war with each other and Earth through giant robotic mecha and evolved humans known as Newtypes. The gathering is part of the larger Hiroshima Animation Biennale event that also includes the Robot Anime Expo and the Hiroshima International Animation Festival. This August is also the 63rd anniversary of the first atomic bombing at Hiroshima.
* The feasibility of Universal Century (the possibility of space colonization due to overpopulation)
* The structure of human conflict between Earth and space (an inquiry into elitsim from a historical perspective)
* The social psychology of Spacenoids (the emergence of Newtypes)
* An inquiry into nostalgia for Earth and home (the ethology of cities that are not the original homes of their citizens)
* An inquiry into the Zeon revolution (concerning the perpetuity of fascism)
* The politics of the technocrats (Earth Federation)
* The possibility of reforming human consciousness on the battlefield
* The international spread and economic effect of Gundam
Source
ANN
Man destroys loud neighbor’s apartment
A man has been arrested after climbing from his own balcony to the balcony of the apartment above to wreaking havoc. He smashed windows, threw a refrigerator off the balcony, and set a fire, destroying the interior the interior of the apartment while his neighbor was away.
The man said he did it because he was angry about the noise level coming from the apartment above.
Source
Japan Probe
The United States Navy has just confirmed that approximately 30,000 copies of a promotional manga they developed to explain their mission (along with nuclear aircraft carriers) have been printed and are ready for distribution.
The manga, called "CVN-73" is focused around a Japanese-American sailor named Jack Ohara who is on his first assignment on an aircraft carrier. The American military is hoping that it will ease the tension later this year when the nuclear aircraft carrier USS George Washington CVN-73 becomes the first nuclear-powered carrier based in the US naval base in Yokosuka. Japanese citizens groups have been testy over the ship's power supply, but the manga indirectly states that "the heart of the GW has a 50-year life span and doesn't need refueling."
Source
Anime News Network
So remember that podcast where Batou was all over how being a foreigner in Japan can just screw you over? Well, here's something kinda ironic about that statement (in retrospect).
The AFP has reported that Japan is trying to figure out ways to get gaijin to stay in Japan longer. The birthrate has decreased drastically to a thirty-four-year low of 13.5 percent of the population. (As a comparison, the US of A has a .97 percent growth rate, Canada's is .09, while Japan's is -.02.) Japan's Liberal Democratic Party has been making suggestions as to how to possibly keep gaijin in the country longer in order to beef up the workforce, which include language lessons and new training programs. This would not mean that Japan would be open to mass immigration (as the Japanese are severely creeped out about losing their national identity), but it would help curb the loss of workers in the slowly shrinking population.
Ironic MAX? I think so. *sighs* Then again, I doubt the Japanese government want to be over-run by silly otaku-gaijin. That would be bad, because then the stigma over foreigners would only strengthen.
Sources
JapanProbe
AFP... I guess
The Wikipedia
Tokyo Restaurants Offer Limited Evangelion Menu Items
On the menus: LCL drink, Eva Honey Toast, squid-ink Sachiel Pasta
The Cure Maid Café in Tokyo's Akihabara otaku shopping district is updating and reviving its Eva Cafe menu until May 18 to mark the April 25 DVD release of the Evangelion: 1.0 You Are [Not] Alone film in Japan. One of the restored menu items is the LCL Drink (pictured at right): orange juice served in a bonus Puka-Puka Rei-chan tumbler glass. It serves Sachiel Pasta (squid-ink pasta with a cheese angel head and a cherry tomato, pictured below) and a Dialogue and Character Name Cheesecake (cake with random dialogue lines and character names written on top). It also offers an Asuka cocktail (orange juice with pomegranate syrup) and a Rei cocktail (grapefruit juice with Blue Hawaii syrup).
The Pasela chain of Japanese restauants is offering a partly different Evangelion menu until May 25. For the Eva Honey Toast, the cafe takes its house specialty (a stack of honey-soaked toast, pictured below) and tops it with a crucified Lilith angel and NERV logo. It also offers Sachiel Pasta, Misato's Curry Ramen, and a pitcher of draft beer with the bonus Rei tumbler glass. The Akihabara branch of the chain replaces Eva Honey Toast with White Wing Honey Toast and adds "dessert of Zaruel."
I have always wanted to know what Lilith really tastes like.
SOURCE
ANN
Bandai Reissues of Macross Valkyries to be Imported to USA
Remake of classic Takatoku toys to be distributed by North America's Toynami
North America's Toynami announced that it will distribute Valkyrie robot toys that the Japanese company Bandai had based on Takatoku's classic Macross toy line. The defunct Takatoku company developed the first transformable toys for Studio Nue's Super Dimension Fortress Macross space war series (1982-1983). Takatoku's 1/55-scale VF-1 Valkyrie fighter toy were eventually remolded and recolored as the Jetfire toy for The Transformers line.
Toynami will start its Valkyrie toy release with the VF-1S (pictured above) and VF-1J (pictured below) variants this summer, and continue with the VF-1A variant with detachable Super packs this fall. These first releases will be sold under The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? name. Macross: Do You Remember Love? was the 1984 theatrical film adaptation of the first Macross series.
Toynami plans to release more toys from the first Macross series under the Robotech brand in 2009. The North American distributor Harmony Gold USA partially released the first Macross series on home video in 1984, before rewriting and editing the series with two other series to compile the Robotech project in 1985.
Toynami was founded in 2000 after Harmony Gold USA asked for compensation on the toy imports for the animated Macross Plus sequel by Toynami's predecessor, Toycom. The issue grew into a larger dispute with two lawsuits and led to the recent impasse in Macross releases outside Japan. Before importing the upcoming Valkyrie toy line, Toynami produced its own line of 1/55-scale toys as well as lower-priced 1/100-scale toys. Both of these in-house Toynami designs had less die-cast metal than the Takatoku toys.
Yamato Toys, the former Japanese partner of Toycom, produced a recent 1/48-scale line of VF-1 Valkyrie toys. This June, it will start a 1/60-scale line (pictured at right) that matches the scale of the toys from the other Macross projects in Japan. Both Yamato toy lines use less die-cast metal than Takatoku's toys of the 1980s, but are more faithful to the original mechanical designs.
Bandai is reissuing the Macross toys in Japan to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the first Macross series and the 2008 launch of the Macross Frontier television series.
SOURCE
ANN
Newsweek Japan Lists Kon's Paprika Among 100 Best Films
Mag's critics include surreal anime with Lawrence of Arabia, Godfather, Star Wars
The Japanese edition of Newsweek magazine lists Satoshi Kon's Paprika anime in its 100 Best Films list. The magazine's critics selected their top films for the expanded Golden Week issue (April 30/May 7 issue). Only a few titles produced in Japan, such as Paprika, Letter from Iwo Jima, and Tampopo, were included in the list.
Other titles on the list from the 1960s and 1970s include Lawrence of Arabia, Godfather, American Graffiti, All the President's Men, Star Wars, and Apocalypse Now. From the 1980s and 1990s, the Newsweek Japan critics listed E.T., Stand by Me, Out of Africa, The Last Emperor, Gung Ho, Sex, Lies, and Videotapes, Dances with Wolves, Silence of the Lambs, JFK, Magnolia, and Being John Malkovich. The list also included more recent titles such as Monsoon Wedding, City of God, Whale Rider, Finding Nemo, 21 Grams, and American Splendor.
While movie critic David Ansen did not list Paprika and the French/Iranian animated film Persepolis in his 2007 top-ten list for the American edition of Newsweek, he did include them in his ten runner-up films.
SOURCE
ANN
Just a moment ago, I happen to stumble upon an article from The Wall Street Journal about how Kraft has changed the formula and appearance to Oreos, so they can market them better in China.
It is off topic from the usual news that is delivered here, but I found it extremely fascinating.
“Kraft is the world's second largest food company by revenue.” “With its’ international business representing 40% of Kraft's revenue.”
In“1996, Kraft introduced Oreos to Chinese consumers.” They were not very successful though, as “Chinese Oreo sales represent a tiny fraction of Kraft's $37.2 billion in annual revenue” (WOW, that’s a tiny revenue *insert sarcasm here*).
Chinese found the cookies way too sweet and odd, that they did not catch on in China. So Kraft went to the drawing board and tinkered with the Oreo formula. They put a lot less sugar in them, making them not as sweet, and changed the shape to a longer wafer. They also took advantage of the growing demand for milk in China and advertised the Oreos being dunked in milk.
Click on te link below to the video that describes how they changed the Oreo for China. Watch it, it is really good and sums it all up in a nice package.
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid452319854/bctid1531249449
“In 2006, Oreo wafer sticks became the best-selling biscuit in China, outpacing HaoChiDian, a biscuit brand made by the Chinese company Dali. The new Oreos are also outselling traditional round Oreos in China, and Kraft has begun selling the wafers elsewhere in Asia, as well as in Australia and Canada."
The article also talks briefly about Kraft’s business history and how they have changed other products to fit international tastes. For example Kraft noticed “European preference for dark chocolate. Kraft is introducing dark chocolate in Germany under its Milka brand. Research in Russia showed that consumers there like premium instant coffee, so Kraft is positioning its Carte Noire freeze-dried coffee as upscale by placing it at film festivals, fashion shows and operas. And in the Philippines, where iced tea is popular, Kraft last year launched iced-tea-flavored Tang.”
Here is the link to the article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120958152962857053.html?mod=yhoofront
