HiHi Great People of theOtaku.com I am back with some great news bit for your enjoyment and so Ichigo and Batou have something to talk about this week ^_^
I am happy to report the news but not all news is good news.
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Manga Does Not Rule U.S. Graphic Novel Sales in July
The ICv2 retail news source reports on the BookScan Top 20 Graphic Novels for July in the American retail market, and for the first time in recent months, Japanese manga titles do not dominate the chart. Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto volumes 30 takes the #2 spot as Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen classic rises to #1 on the strength of the movie trailer that is attached to The Dark Knight film. That film's success also pushed five Batman titles into the top 20. Natsuki Takaya's Fruits Basket series nears its end as the 20th volume ranks at #3. Naruto volumes 29 and 28 take the #5 and #9 spots, respectively, while Queenie Chan's In Odd We Trust interpretation of Dean R. Koontz's Odd Thomas character stays in the chart at #7.
Only 9 manga where in the top 20 for the month of July is this a sign that things are going south or is it just a dump in the road only time will tell.
Namco Bandai Reports 66% Drop in Q1 Profit
The American business magazine Forbes reports that Namco Bandai Holdings (the parent company of Sunrise, Bandai Visual, Bandai Entertainment, and Namco) announced on Wednesday a 66-percent drop in operating profit in the first quarter of the current fiscal year compared to last year. Namco Bandai blamed this drop in the April–June quarter on less business in Japanese arcades due to increasing gas prices, the launch of new game consoles, slowing business in its entertainment franchises, and lower toy sales. However, the company says that this year's earnings guidance remains unchanged.
In the music/video areas of the company that include anime, Namco Bandai recorded a operatng loss of 234 million yen (US$2.1 million), compared to an operating profit of 1.1 billion yen (US$10 million) in the same quarter last year. Namco Bandai president Takeo Takasu attributed the loss to a slump in DVD sales, as the Namco Bandai group companies waited for the end of the high-definition disc format war before shifting more resources to Blu-ray Disc. The format war effectively ended in February.
Namco Bandai was formed in 2005 as a result of a merger between Namco and Bandai.
Madhouse Still Working on Ninja Scroll 2 Plans
Masao Maruyama, the co-founder of the Madhouse anime studio, revealed at his Otakon 2008 panel today that his company is still working on plans for a sequel to the Ninja Scroll action anime film. However, he noted that Ninja Scroll 2 project still needs a script that is acceptable to himself and franchise creator Yoshiaki Kawajiri.
(yay good news wait they haven't started yet aww now I am sad again)
Time For Some Good News
Fox has official aired the teaser to one new Fall game shows this week "Hole in the Wall" yes odd name but its based on the Japan Game Show Human Tetris or that at less what I think the name is anyway if you never seen the show I put some a piece of a show from japan below if you never seen it give it a watch. Finally Fox got it right for once. I say get rib of American Idol and put 2 hour block of Hole in the Wall.
well thats it for me ttfn
-fallenangel8
