The live-action adaptation of this classic known to many as “Samurai X” has been doing the rounds online. From mere cast and script description to actual photos and even a teases trailer to go with it all, but how is it coming up?

Well, the cast seems fine

This is due to the fact that they picked what seems to be the right guy for Kenshin, a man named Takeru Sato. Sure, he’s 22 and looks like a regular pretty boy, but then you have to consider the fact that he has done a good job of playing the part of a samurai in NHK’s historic film “Ryoma den.” Plus we have to take into account that he is a fan of the original manga, at least going by his original account, so can we rest at ease and give this thing a pass?

No, not yet

Kenshin looks as good as any human being will look playing the role in a serious fashion, but the other characters leave A LOOOOT to wish for, particularly Aoki who will be playing Sanosuke Sagara. We’ll give the guy credit for his acting chops (The Last Message Umizaru, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time) but the fact is that when he shows up in the trailer he looks less like Sanosuke, and more like a guy who threw on a robe before the big Halloween party and decided to call it a “Kung fu costume.”

Megumi is being played by Aoi who has shown her worth in Hana & Alice, Honey and Clover and she happens to pull off a very decent looking Megumi if truth be told, which makes it all the more depressing to see that Kaoru is being played by a not-so-similar Emi Takei. But enough of all this, there is one question that needs answering.

How does the teaser look?

Not bad, really. At first it seems like a really crappy cash-in on a beloved franchise that compromises on the violence more than the anime ever did (seriously, the sword play looks bad and Kenshi’s look doesn’t hold up too well) but then we see Kenshin jumping off a wall and everything is okay in the world!

Honestly, I see no real reason not to be excited about this even if it might turn to be a crappy movie.

Go check out the trailer on our FB wall if you wanna see for yourself.

Click here to do so!

No, not the craptastic movie by Daniel Sadek released in 2007. We are here to tell you about the anime, or have you forgotten that we are an anime site? This film is going to be hitting theatres in the US and neighbouring Canada pretty soon, so you ought to keep an eye out if you are interested in high production values, fast cars and stylish adrenaline-pumping anime!

Get your engines ready

There is a bit of history behind this title. It began as a project by anime powerhouse Madhouse, which in my personal opinion happens to be one of the better studios out there; a studio with such a great deal of dedication towards quality that they spent around seven years on this film, from the development of the concept to the actual production.

Redline is an interesting concept, not only because it has a rather unique art style, a style that might remind some of you of the game No More Heroes, mixed in with some Gurren Lagann and Speed Racer for good measure. It’s extremely unique, though, and that’s saying a lot for any anime that has come out in the past two years. Not to mention it was mostly done by hand, but what is it all about?

Redline follows a street racer known as JP, who owns a juiced up car and has a flashy retro styling as he enters the “Redline” race. A dangerous and wild event that takes place every five years, and here is the kicker, it’s in SPACE! Well, sort of….The movie is set in the distant future, so the cars and races play like a Hot Wheels fan’s greatest dream. It has explosions, conspiracies, romance and fast cars. What else could you ask for?

How about a release date?

The anime was released in Japan during the Locarno International Film Festival, and will be hitting US shores in Blu-ray and DVD by Anchor Bay around November 14th of this year, but there is more. Those of you lucky enough to be able to head over to the New York Comic Con taking place this October 13 to 16 will be able to find out a more specific and possibly final date.

And those who can’t wait to see an “official” subbed release of this title can assist the Toronto After Dark film festival, where the title will be screened as the only anime amongst eight films. This screening will take place between October 20-27 at the Toronto Underground Cinema, so now you know and are ready to go for next month!

You can look forward to a review of this title to grace our front page soon!

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Fate/Stay Night is kind of a big deal around here and most of the internet. It’s one of those licenses that stand out with original characters, plots and ideas that are wild enough to workm and show the world that anime goes a step beyond. This movie was a part of that, and yet…

And yet what?!

Let me give you a bit of a background here, also note that I’m writing this differently than my other articles. I guess you could say that’s how you can tell whether or not I cared for the source material, so here we go!

This movie came out last year one day before my (that’s Samshel, as in the guy who writes these) birthday. It should have been a gift from God seeing how I have a burning passion for all things Fate/Stay Night. I had to hunt down a copy online and wait a bit for a properly ripped and subbed one, yeah I know, can’t speak Japanese and an import would bankrupt my broken ass at the time so sue me (don’t).

I waited this long to review it simply because this was how long it took me to get around to watch it in all its glory. That being with a buddy who also loved FSN in an obsessive manner, that way we had two different opinions on the matter and we could work around a general idea.

At least we could have, if his time watching the movie wouldn’t have been spent going “Huh? Who…why….WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?”

This is for fans only

My buddy watched the anime so much of the stuff on the movie was completely new to him. I had the benefit of playing with the Visual Novel (which is also available in a kid-friendly version if the sight of mild hentai disgusts you) so I was familiar with all the scenarios, characters and plot twists. Yet the movie was still a mess.

Unlimited Blade Works deserved a show of its own, hell the franchise should reboot the anime and dedicate each season to events in the three arcs (And that’s how you milk a show, folks!). Why did it deserve a fully fledged anime of its own? Because it had some great twists that were amazing once you got to them, not to mention that the extremely awesome story made sense.

Saying that the movie was short would be cutting it too short. Characters and plot elements drop in and out through the entire thing, the third act is a mess that’s barely held together if you knew the story beforehand and the main twist of the story is painfully shoed in.

It fails as a movie

I am well aware that this film was for fans, but there’s a problem. It was for fans of the game and extended works, not just the anime. God help you if you only ever saw the anime (and I bet that’s the case for most western fans) because characters and their motivations are as alien to the viewer as it gets.

Having a, “You must be this well versed to enjoy this,” requirement ruins this. You can’t walk up to a friend who’s into Anime but not into FSN and hope he enjoys it, this is a shitty movie. The plot goes back and forth and ends so abruptly that there’s no time to build a link with characters, or even create a foreboding atmosphere that transmits the same vibe as the original material.

That’s why it ultimately fails, not only is it terrible at being a good way to introduce newcomers to the FSN mythos, but it also fails to please the fans! It says a lot about an action packed movie when reading a bunch of letters on a screen with soft music and a still frame of artwork is more thrilling.

It also fails for fans

Some frames and scenes are reconstructions of what was present in the visual novel, but they fail to impress you since at times the characters’ reactions, lines and even the way the scene plays out were different enough from the original to bother you and take away from the film.

It goes by too fast for its own good and requires that you call back to the novel to fill in the MASSIVE gaps it leaves. I could only make the experience better by thinking, “These are animated cutscenes from the game that some strung together on youtube,” and that ain’t right.
Another thing that bothered me greatly was that they spent little energy in the story itself, it was as if they broke down the bits and pieces from the game that were awesome and strung them together without the in-between.

Also (SPOILER WARNING) they included the sex scene between Tohsaka and Shirou, yet it wasn’t a sex scene or behaved in any way similar to it…it kinda just looked like it, and as much as I thought the sex scenes kind of ruined the game, this struck me as “Why bother with reconstructing this scene without at least going the whole way’”

TL;DR

Watch it if you like FSN, have low standards and lots of time to spare. It wasn’t a horrible movie, but it was bad enough to kinda bum a fan out. It was still fun, though…I guess.

Join me in the forum if you feel like ranting on this for a bit, whether you are a fellow fan who was underwhelmed by it or you disagreed with me.

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Let’s set something straight: Hollywood will do some damage to this title and there’s no way around that. People will associate the name Akira with what’s out to be a bland and spiritless cash-in. We are not here to discuss that, though. Other sites have already taken up arms to explain why it’ll suck to see it made into a live-action adaptation, but we won’t do that.

We simply want to tell you that you can’t go wrong with Akira as far as anime goes, and that’s basically it. Sure there are several opportunities to make a long winded article on how a live action adaptation of the film wouldn’t work, but you need to be familiar with the original in order to understand why.

Akira is a classic. It has aged very well and it boasts some amazing animation, character design and a trippy soundtrack. It has aged so well that you could dare say that it looks smoother than some recent titles. The styling and themes may seem clichéd and out of place to young Otaku, but there’s a reason for that….this was made in the 80’s baby!

The film was released mid-way through 1988 and it can still put some modern day films to shame. The plot is a bit messy (more on that later) but it’s still good enough to keep your ass on its seat. It also helps that the action is pretty sweet too; having an entire city vanish into oblivion is pretty rad, man.

TETSUUUUOOOO

The storyline followed by the film differs from the manga greatly and yet it manages to reach a similar conclusion. The setting is the same though, so let’s get that set in stone:

The world of Akira is set in alternate universe where a devastating explosion wipes out most of Tokyo on December 6, 1992 (July 16, 1988 for the film). The devastation is chalked up to a nuclear weapon and this in turn serves to kick-start World War III. The story itself takes place nearly 40 years later in Neo-Tokyo, an artificial island built away from the epicenter of destruction, where gang violence and terrorism wreak havoc upon the populace. The bustling metropolis is a crime ridden hell-hole ran by an oppressive and heavy militarized government that faces off against groups of insurgents fighting not only for freedom, but to reveal the truth behind Tokyo’s destruction.

It is here that a gang of teens led by Shotaro Kaneda live their lives, fighting rival gangs on their motorcycles and committing petty crimes for the hell of it. One fateful night, Tetsuo Shima, one of Kaneda’s gang members, and a close friend of his, run into a strange kid while riding the bridge that connects Neo-Tokyo to the old city. This kid displays the features of an old man and makes use of a strange power, causing Tetsuo to crash.
The incident awakens a latent power within him that sets forward the events of the story, as a simple teenager finds himself trusted beyond humanity and into a state of transcendence akin to Godhood.

KANEEEDAAAA

The protagonist of the animated film is Kaneda, who sets out on a quest to find Tetsuo after he’s taken away by the military. He meets up with Kei, a girl siding with the insurgents and one of the key players in the story. It’s through her contacts that Kaneda comes to learn that Tetsuo’s captors have a shady agenda that’s in his best interest to stop. Not only because of his friend, but because he might get a shot with Kei if he succeeds.

So in one hand you have Kaneda, who’s trapped within a conflict that he chose to make his own in order to save his friend, while in the other you find Tetsuo, who has let his newfound powers corrupt him and is using them to his own gain and pleasure. Going as far as to turn on his former friends and putting the whole world on the brink of disaster. For you see, the destruction of Tokyo was no mere accident, but the work of a very powerful child with psychic abilities, just like the one Tetsuo met.

It’s up to Kaneda and Kei to put an end to Tetsuo’s madness before he causes a new tragedy by awakening the dormant Akira, the most powerful of those with the gift and the one behind the incident that started it all.

Sounds nice!

The film gets a tad jumpy as it tries to fit the massive manga (Six volumes with an average of 300 pages each) into two hours, so it has to skip over some plot lines and even characters in its entirety. This is painfully obvious when it comes to the eponymous Akira, who only gets a passing glance in the film as plot device rather than becoming a central character of the story, as he did in the manga.

The story itself is really compressed to the point where after the first hour or so you are still wondering how it’ll end, then the insanity takes over. And you know what? It’s awesome, the climax of the film is a simplified version of the manga’s and yet it feels like it had a fair share of action and enough unique elements going for it as to make it a pleasant surprise for those who read the manga.

This film gets a good recommendation due to its animation, music (and general sound) as well as the character design; the only down-side is that it feels like an overly simplified version of the manga. Some scenes feel as if they had to be shoehorned in to satisfy readers, while others twist the characters around in a such a way that the manga’s followers might be turned off from it.

So, where’s the overall comparison?

This is the first article in a series three (a Trilogy if you will). We will review the manga next and then compare the differences between the two, which is not to say that you skip on one and favor the other. The Akira story is filled with enough elements to create a thought inducing action packed title. We plan to honor that before it’s obliterated in the realm of popular culture by the upcoming Hollywood adaptation.

Details as say, the differences in the plot (specially the ending) will be saved for the third article so hey, hope we write them in quick succession.

Stay tuned for more!

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Well it certainly has been a long while since our last article and we apologize for that. Our one (and only) writer caught a bad case of Chickenpox and that “kiddie” illness sure beats the crap out of adults. So as a means to apologize to you all and jump back on track we are giving you a review of Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance, now available in theatres!

Let’s get straight to it

We mentioned a long while ago this movie would hit theatres in the US and it just did. It’s not a wide release, though, but some lucky otaku will have a chance to be within walking distance of one of the showings and…. well, this being the era of the internet you can now hope to grab a dubbed or subbed copy and be happy with. There’s one big question, though….

Is it worth it?

When it comes down to it I would say kind of, and that’s not a good sign. I have thrown so much of my time and money at Neon Genesis Evangelion since it first came out in the 90’s I’m pretty sure I could call it “my new religion” and no one would mind. So saying the movie is “kind of worth watching” should be nearly impossible for me.

The truth is that the movie takes some wild liberties with what fans know and like, it pays off during a couple of scenes but it sometimes seems to impact the rest of the film rather negatively. Besides, if you are a fan of the show and saw the first one then you HAVE to see this one because then you’ll miss out on the new shiny stuff, but if you are a newcomer to the show (which should be impossible at this point in the game) then it’s all based off the first movie, did you like it enough to watch the sequel? And trust me, you should watch the first one first.

Mandatory background info

The plot to Evangelion is rather well known to the point of being infamous, so you can skip the following bit of background info if you feel we are insulting your intelligence as an Otaku by telling you about it:

The Evangelion universe revolves around the ongoing battle between humanity and the Angels, otherworldly creatures responsible for a near-mass extinction event known as “The Second Impact,” that caused the dead of most of humanity and scarred the earth forever. Humanity’s only hope for survival comes from NERV an organization based on the fortress-city of Tokyo-3 that uses the Evangelions (Also known as Evas), which are living mechanical weapons that resemble giant robots, to defend the remnants of humanity from the Angel menace.

Evangelion 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance picks up after the first movie, further down the line in the battle against Angels and it comes with a few surprises, including the appearance of popular characters and even new ones.

Well, that should do for a shamelessly simplistic summary of the basics. Feel free to ask any questions you may have in the forums and enjoy the review.

The review itself

The movie is based on that plot-line with major changes coming basically as “twists,” so discussing the entirety of it would ruin the experience, both for fans and new comers. We’ll stick simply to what you should expect from it.

A little note before we get things going: there are mild spoilers ahead, so be warned.

The movie itself starts off with one of its biggest problems: the introduction of Mari Illustrious Makinami, a new female character who spends most of the movie fumbling awkwardly between the established leads and steals a few scenes away from them. The entire way in which her character is presented will get on many a fan’s nerves. Rather than feeling fresh and adding up to a tired formula, it feels confusing and obstructive.

The basic plot continues to be there with the greatest changes happening halfway through the movie, especially in the personalities of the cast and the way they interact with each other.

Sadly, this leaves any rugged Evangelion fan with the feeling this movie was a simple bridge between the first movie’s fairly loyal take on the story and the third movie’s radical changes. Newcomers that saw the first one as their very-first interaction with Evangelion will be suitably confused. There are many moments where your suspension of disbelief will be strained beyond hope (which is saying a lot for this anime) and you will find yourself asking, “What the hell just happened?”

The movie is a clear tribute to the original show, teasing fans with symbolisms that were common throughout the series and it goes as far as to imply that this is in fact a sequel. It’s a really good movie to tickle the discerning otaku’s brain cells when it comes down to it. The plot has lots of little wink and nudges to the previous works related to the franchise and it’s there to please fans. And that’s why I had to say “it’s kinda worth it”.

This was clearly engineered with fans in mind

If you strip it down to the core, this film is great. It has enough action and is violent enough to get your blood pumping and it’s so well animated and full of color it makes the original show look like indie art that came from Eastern Europe. The film interesting enough to keep your ass on the seat through its entire length and it actually gets your mind going with little theories that keep you entertained for a while after watching it.

And yet it feels incomplete. Fans of Evangelion are used to this feeling even though the show has been changed, ret-coned and twisted around so much that the only consistency comes from the cast, which is in a way, the moving force behind the entire story-line. That’s my biggest problem with this movie. It was a chance to right wrongs and set the good things in stone as to lean the franchise towards perfection but it only managed to make the same awkward mistakes, switching the main storyline to accommodate a character that has no reason to be there.

There’s a long running-joke between fans that the crew behind the anime hates Asuka, and boy does this movie lend credit to that idea.

The bottom-line

It does many things well and many more wrong, yet it’s worth taking a look at it if you enjoyed the first one or if you are a long time fan. The big issue with this movie is that it lingers and will leave you feeling incomplete and with a thirst for answers.

It attempts to switch the story enough to make it fresh but it comes too short of that and puts a lot of weight on its upcoming sequel, making this movie nothing but a stepping stone between the known Evangelion mythos and the new uncharted lands of crazy that are sure to lay ahead.

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[wordbay]Evangelion[/wordbay]

Fans of Gantz can rejoice as the Washington Post has given confirmation that we are bound to see the English dubbed film adaptation. The Japanese film is will no longer restricted to shady websites and crappy subtitles as of January 20, 2011; it will come to theaters near you (or well, far away from you depending on where you read us from).

A Summary isn’t Necessary

Gantz is so massively popular that a summary of the story is hardly needed; just know that it’s gruesome and very adult. It deals with a heavy subject matter such as sex, romance, death, the value of life, human nature and other classic staples of dark storylines in a great way, not feeling hamfisted or over done at every turn like most would…And it does it all in the middle of a plot involving alien and futuristic looking weapons, which says a lot about the quality of the story writing since it never falls on clichés.

Truth be told, a movie adaption of an anime is mostly bad. That’s a rule pretty much set on stone, though it has exceptions just like every other rule, “unless it’s from Japan”. So guess what? It shouldn’t suck!

The Hollywood Laws of Film Making Don’t Apply

This bit of good news is all thanks to Viz Pictures’ New People unit and the digital theater distributor NCM Fathom, who will be behind the distribution of the first film out of two to be made after Gantz. The movie will be dubbed over in English and its world premiere will count with the unique appearance of the film’s stars, anime film adaptation fans will be familiar with one such star, Matsuyama known for his roles in Death Note, Detroit Metal City and The Legend of Kamui.

The film’s being premiered in the US as part of a one-night event, although it’s reported that around 300 other cinemas will be lucky to be graced by the film. The schedule for the screenings can be found on NCM’s site (on the overwhelmingly blank piece of it dedicated to Gantz) but the hours for the premiere are already set, starting at 8:00 p.m. EST, 7:00 p.m. CST, 6:00 p.m. MST, and 8:30 p.m. PST.

The Japanese original won’t be massively released into theatres until January 29. The second film will be released on April 23, so it’s fair to say that there shouldn’t be much of a delay between the two releases.

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It has been confirmed that FUNIMATION is currently busy filling out forms in order to submit Mamoru Hosoda’s Summer Wars as a nominee for “Best Animated Feature”. The Academy Awards would count Summer Wars as the 14th film running to enter as a nominee, maybe that make the Oscars something worth watching this year. Read on after the jump.

The Quest for a Shiny Golden Man

FUNIMATION’s pressing hard to meet the required deadlines and bring Summer Wars into the pool of nominees. The company is working with GKIDS, the distributor responsible for taking Secret of Kells to its Academy Award nomination last year.

Hopes are high to bring such a rich film to the international spotlight, and creating greater exposure for Mamoru Hosoda’s rich and unique work. Summer Wars has already proven its worth as a film that deserves an Oscar, having won several awards (and being nominated for many more) after its original run when it released in 2009. Here’s a little sample of just how well this film did after its release, by listing the different festivals and organizations that recognized the film’s quality:

Awards or Nominations:

• Asia Pacific Screen Awards
• Anaheim Film Festival
• Animation Kobe Awards
• Association of Media in Digital (AMD) Agency for Cultural Affairs.
• Japanese Digital Content Awards
• Japan Media Arts Festival
• Japan Academy Awards, the Mainichi Film Awards
• Japan Sci-Fi Con
• Montreal Fantasia Festival
• Sitges Film Festival

Winter Wars

Summer Wars complies with most of the Oscars’ rules to be eligible for nomination, the only detail missing is a run in Los Angeles, a small detail that FUNIMATION will fix by screening the film this December, so readers in California would do well to go check it out this winter…even if California is a big long summer. The dates as well as the theatres for the film to be screened are yet to be announced.

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Fans of the Resident Evil game series are sure to have enjoyed the last CGI installment. The reason for that being that it didn’t butcher the games as badly as the live-action films. Those left craving for more “decent” or even “good” Resident Evil movies are in luck. A sequel to the amazing (by comparison to the other films) “Resident Evil: Degeneration” has been green-lit.

Degeneratively Good

Fans of the Resident Evil canon are sure to cringe awkwardly during the live-actions films, which for a time where our only real source for movies outside of the games’ cut scenes. All of this changed on December 26, 2008. That date marked the day when Resident Evil: Degeneration made its debut on Japanese cinemas, and was met with enough success to be carried ‘round the world for all the fans of the series to enjoy its CGI goodness.

Degeneration was set within the same universe as the games and followed Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield through what’s probably the best adaptation of the franchise to date. But now there may be a contender in the way. No, it’s not the newest live-action film since hell would have to freeze over before those were anything more than campy-fun, (and, hell may very well be a ski-resort since Duke Nukem forever was announced) we are talking about a new film in the same vein as Degeneration.

Damn Good?

The new CGI film in question has been christened “Resident Evil: Damnation” and so far it has been confirmed to star Leon S. Kennedy and to open in Japanese theaters in full 3D sometime around 2012.

If its predecessor’s success is of any indication, we can be sure to look forward to a 2013 release of the film in the western world. Unless the Mayans were right, in which case getting to watch a movie would be the least of your worries.

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Those of you with nothing better to do this summer should go now in search for a newspaper because Ghibli’s Earthsea hit theatres this Friday, and so far it’s going strong. Read on for a list of theatres in case you feel like catching it yourself, and a short review for those who feel like getting the DVD and checking it out.

C’mon, It’s Ghibli!

Studio Ghibli is pretty much like the Pixar of anime (more like Pixar being the Ghibli of CGI) they never screw up and all of their films are memorable blockbusters. They somehow manage to integrate everything that makes an animated film great, art, good story-telling, direction, a strong plot and an amazing cast, all without ever coming short with one of these elements. The final product of studio Ghibli’s films is always great and you don’t even have to be into anime to appreciate it, just as Earthsea has proven with its opening weekend.

Earthsea opened Friday the 13th (yeah, we know) on a very limited release of five theatres located in New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, Honolulu and San Francisco. The film managed to draw in around $20,500 on its opening weekend, which may seem a little disappointing considering that the rest of studio Ghibli’s films have raked in truck-full’s of cash even with a limited release. Truth be told, this one may seem like the financial black-sheep. But it’s not bad, oh boy, it’s completely far from that.

The film’s relatively weak (by Ghibli’s standards) opening weekend can be easily attributed to several factors such as having been released deep in the digital era and being available on the internet (not a matter of piracy folks, some very “official” sites have it up) as well as having a widely released DVD. Earthsea comes to us by the hands Goro Miyazaki, the son of Hayao Myizaki, the man responsible for many of studio Ghibli’s greatest films. The question here is, does the apple fall far from the tree? The answer is a simple: no, it doesn’t.

Tales of Earthsea, or Gedo Senki as it’s known in Japanese, is an adaptation of a series of fantasy novels by Ursula K. Le Guin. So you can be sure that the film is in line with the likes of Princess Mononoke, having huge mythological creatures and some violence here and there for good measure (the film is the first animated film distributed by Disney to receive a PG-13 rating.)

Those of you living in the cities mentioned above should check the following theaters:

New York (Angelika/Manhattan)

Honolulu (Victoria Ward)

San Francisco (The Kabuki)

Seattle (Harvard Exit)

Los Angeles (The Landmark)

The rest of you should think of going to the DVD store to pick it up and here’s the reason why you should spend your money; Earthsea is from studio Ghibli, so you know it at least deserves a rental but it can be taken as a good movie in its own right as it presents to you an unique yet familiar story. The parallels with Princess Mononoke are plentiful, the styling and feel of Earthsea makes it seem like it would be at home in the same world where the events of Princess Mononoke take place. The visuals are warm and colorful, even when showing off such sights as a stormy sky or a slave market.

The film takes us to a land where pestilence and disease are wreaking havoc amongst the populace, and where bad crops are forcing farmers away from their homes and slavers are running rampant, but there’s more to it than that. The balance of life in the land seems to be breaking as a consequence of direct human interference, so we join Ged, an Archmage traveling the land to find the reason behind it and Arren, a young prince who fled his homeland and wanders alongside Ged to escape from his past, as well as a dark presence that lurks within him.

The plot itself is very basic but it still manages to draw the viewer in, save for a couple of moments where everything comes to a halt and we are taken into some plot exposition. There’s a peculiar point where the main characters become awkward and seem to get out of place with what was previously established about their personalities. But this gets integrated later on in a way that makes sense. In a way, this movie is one of those were you can’t stop watching it halfway through or it’ll seem bland and boring, but once you watch the whole thing and the little bits and pieces come together you can be sure to say “Wow” just as the credits roll.

The English dub manages to be far from cringe-worthy. I would even dare say it’s good, since there are times when it seems like Earthsea was made in English instead of simply dubbed. The voice actors really put some work into it this time around and if you look at the back and see the voice cast you’ll understand why.

Earthsea is good. It may not be the greatest from Ghibli (not that you can judge a film in such a view, since all preferences are subjective) but it sure stands out on its own two legs. The movie has some unresolved plot points that kind of sit there picking at the back of your head, some simply linger too long through the film to be treated quickly and taken out of the story in an awkward fashion, but others just remain sitting there. But at the end of the day this is a decent movie, not exactly action-packed but not too slow, perfect for a date or a calm, lazy day.

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Not doing a retrospective of this classic would be a bad mistake! Even if these days it seems pointless due to the show’s most recent “reboot” in the form of the films. Neon Genesis Evangelion is as influential as it is popular and some would even go and call it over rated; others would call it a masterwork….there’s no middle ground here, folks. Hate it or love it.

The Second Impact:

Neon Genesis Evangelion (otherwise known as Evangelion) came during a time when many saw anime as an obscure form of entertainment clawing its way out of clichés and bad dubbing. It was the year 1995 when a giant purple monstrosity took the anime viewing world by storm. A year when the SNES wasn’t retro, and the internet was not the never ending fountain of fan dubbing it is now a days.

Evangelion was regarded as ground breaking and imaginative due to its presentation of philosophy and how it managed to give us scenes of bloody carnage that could be analyzed as food for thought as they were presented in the same frame of interpersonal conflict and emotional issues that the main cast was.

The concept of the anime can be discussed long enough to dedicate several websites to it, but keeping it simple was an idea born from its creator, Hideaki Anno’s, struggle to deal with depression that turned into solid gold at the hands of Gainax (a studio many anime fans probably wouldn’t know much about if it wasn’t for Evangelion.)

Evangelion was different and wild, mixing in Judeo-Christian imagery along with action and a cast plagued by a series of mental diseases and issues. It was simply unexpected to see something like this at the time; it catered to teenagers that liked action, young adults who loved either drama or deep thoughtful analysis, but most of all it had the key elements to become memorable.

Welcome To The World Of Tomorrow! (As Seen From The 90′s)

The back setting for the story takes us to a post apocalyptic earth in the future and the ‘far away’ year 2000 (that’s right kids, there was once a time when you could call that the future, now get off my lawn) where the appearance of beings identified as “Angels” triggered a cataclysmic event known as the “Second Impact” which caused the northern polar ice cap to be obliterated. That led to major flooding as well as changing the global climate and nearly causing the extinction of the human race.

The world has changed and so has Japan (being a part of the world and all) which is now a land that is almost completely underwater and home to the location where the bulk of the show takes place; Tokyo 3, a fortress city built as a defense against the Angels and NERVs headquarters, but what good is a defense without the ability to strike back? That is where the EVAS jump in the mechas of the show that were created to stop the Angels that (as per an ancient prophesy) will come individually with the objective of starting off the third impact and finally whipping out humanity…or so it seems.

More Than Meets The Eye

Evangelion is a hate it or love it show for various reasons. Chiefly amongst them is the fact that the dysfunctional cast seems to be strongly developed and filled with colorful characters and yet we get stuck with a whiny uncomfortable and somewhat weak lead, Shinji Ikari, who in retrospect serves as a nice contrast to the strong willed Azuka Langley Soryu (we are well aware of the name change, but this wasn’t the case in the show) and the deadpan Rei Ayanami.

The one problem with Shinji is that when compared to many a male lead or even the rest of the cast he seems to get in the way too much. Perhaps it’s as simple as saying that he was designed to be hated (a point he is sure you get by the end of the show) but in spite of this, the rest of the characters, EVAS, and Angels included are nothing less than excellent.

Evangelion can get confusing sometimes, as the episodes went from being a simple mecha show to move deeper into the philosophical issues that linger in the back of the main character’s mind. This is not necessarily bad, seeing how there was never a straight mecha show to begin with; the EVAS are an element of the plot that fall into the “gets increasingly confusing” bunch, but they are detailed and they were exceptionally great for their time. Bio-mechanical mechas that…well, let’s not spoil it too much for those three people that haven’t seen it yet, shall we?

Evangelion is a good show. Some may say the anime is over rated but in reality it is just because it hit the mainstream culture really hard and jumped into the spotlight and allowed us clear view of its flaws. Yes, flaws. The show was flawed because of many budget cuts and production hiccups and these flaws become increasingly painfully clear as the show reaches its ending. This may seem a bit nit-picky nowadays because of how there’s a “true” ending, about three different editions of the show and even a reboot, but back when Evangelion was brand-spanking new there were no such thing, and so this was really infuriating to some viewers.

Evangelion is an anime that may have gone a bit over its head. The many editions and the reboot show how it’s creator could never convey the story he saw in his head properly. But nothing that has been said so far points out to it being “bad”…it’s just that once you take off your nostalgia glasses you can really appreciate its flaws. The anime may seem overly elaborate and sometimes drawn out, but the story hits some key notes and many of its characters have gone to become anime legends. Simply put, Neon Genesis Evangelion is an anime that you will either hate or love with a passion.

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For those not familiar with Bleach, although its popularity would bet that majority of the anime community has watched or read the story, or at least knows the general plot, follows fifteen year old Ichigo Kurosaki who becomes a Soul Reaper (Shinigami or God of Death) who protects humans from enemies known as “Hollows,” spirits that prey on mankind. Bleach’s fame is noted by its run in Weekly Shonen Jump in Japan, the anime adaptation by Studio Pierrot, as well as the North American showings of the dubbed episodes by Adult Swim in the United States and Canada’s YTV.

As reported last summer, Warner Bros. already has acquired the rights to adapt Tsugumi Ohba’s and Takeshi Obata’s Death Note, Yoshiaki Kawajiri’s Ninja Scroll and Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira.

I don’t know what other any fans think of this, but I’m starting to get pretty annoyed with American film companies gobbling up the rights to Japanese anime and then not doing anything with them. I watch anime, partially because it’s a cartoon, not a two hour movie. It’s a series, multiple episodes that allow a long, compelling story to take place, whereas trying to tell any story arc from Bleach in one movie just won’t work. Better yet, anime is beautiful; art colored and brought to life, keeping the essence of the original product, which a movie does not do when casting living people.

Live-action versions of anime, more often than not, frustrate me. I enjoyed the Japanese Death Note movies, I did, but they weren’t astounding. Hollywood is just going to pump a bloated budget into a mediocre adaptation of an entire series and attach some questionable guys in the industry to the project and let loose. While, yes, Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company is involved with Ninja Scrolls and he is certainly a man to trust when it comes to movies, but Peter Segal, really? The guy who worked on Anger Management is going to successfully produce an American live-action version of Bleach? Somehow I just don’t see that happening.

What’s even more frustrating is that none of these movies are even in pre-production! How annoying! What do all of you think of this situation?

The animation in the film was absolutely gorgeous, featured interesting and beautiful mech designs and impressive battles taking place in the sky. The movie also had a battle soundtrack that fit quite well with the overall tone and speed. The English voice acting was also one of the better dubs I’ve heard throughout my anime fandom, as Tony Oliver is a very good director who understands the need to keep the characters as close to their original Japanese counterparts as possible to appease the audience, but also creates a bit of room for the actors to experiment and grow as professionals, a tricky road to walk which I think he did very well. The movie also featured veteran anime voice actor, Crispin Freeman (Slayers, Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Movie, Hellsing, and Cowboy Bebop: The Movie) who has a wide range of vocal abilities and takes the time to understand his characters and shows. I am usually very against watching anime in English, as the dubbing is often absolutely horrendous, but every show that has Freeman as a cast member, I find I don’t mind and actually enjoy, a testament to his talent and respect for anime. In comparison to the awful Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone dubbing, this movie was genius.

What director, Kyoda wanted with this film was a retelling of Eureka Seven, featuring the same characters but set in an alternate time, different situations arising and causing characters to have to react and grow in different ways from the series. Kyoda said in his interview he hoped fans would appreciate his choice to make a movie that you didn’t need prior knowledge of the show to watch and enjoy and that they would realize, walking into the screening, this wasn’t going to be Eureka the series packed into two hours. It was Kyoda’s ability to change the story, again, unlike Evangelion: 1.0, that made me enjoy the movie and respect it. The audience seemed simply unable to accept the differences and many walked out frustrated or indifferent.

The only real weak aspect was that some of the translations were a bit strange, so when lines in a serious moment were said, we laughed, not because it was poorly acted, but because it was such an odd thing to say. For example, a very emotional and heavy moment featured a doctor saying, “I’m not a real medical doctor, but it is in my opinion…” The actors in the special after the movie even made fun of the translation, because of the English-speaking gag, “I’m not a real medical doctor, but I play one on tv.”

Overall, I think this is a film you should watch. If you didn’t enjoy the series, I say give it a chance and if you are worried about the movie ruining the show for you, remember, it’s simply a different telling of Eureka Seven, not some sort of continuation.

The film is a revamp of the anime show, working with a much larger budget that does show, as the animation value is absolutely beautiful and the Eva mechs, Tokyo-3 and my favorite, the Third Angel, are all something to be desired by any mech fan and creator, but watching a movie that is pretty can’t make up for one that lacked any sort of sympathetic characters or deviation from the original work. The movie really offered no growth or new concepts in regards to the cast, it spent too much time following Shinji, who did nothing but complain and whine, exactly like in the show, which I was hoping from the bottom of my heart would change. What I suppose, from a character creating point of view, frustrated me the most was that Shinji kept crying that he was no good at being an Eva pilot, but took out three Angels in a row and did so without any severe bodily harm or devastating mechanical destruction, so he had no reason to keep singing that same tune, which came to be nearly unbearable by the end.

The story suffered terribly from the telling and not showing, notion, where Misato and Ritsuko would just narrate large chunks of the film, filling in the viewer with information they don’t need, which I feel if they had cut back on and actually shown the characters doing, would have been much more interesting. Their monologues became white noise by the debut of the Sixth Angel.

Besides those weaknesses in the plot itself, the English dub was absolutely terrible. I’ve been told it was regarded highly by the audience at Anime Expo, but no matter how I tilt my head, I can’t see how the English cast ever deserved the praise it received. The dubbing sounded like it had no direction, more like some various people were just put in front of microphones and read lines with absolutely no feeling, emotion or interest in the project itself. From the moment Shinji spoke his first line, I knew it couldn’t go anywhere but down and boy did it. Misato was flat, boring, Ritsuko was worse, as was Gendo Ikari. Frankly, the only actress that got away with sounding empty was Brina Palencia as Rei, because Rei is an emotionless girl at her introduction.

My New York City audience was quite small but dedicated and as the credits rolled, we all seemed equally disappointed. As a side note, here’s a funny story about my personal viewing experience, which has no negativity directed at the film itself, but the actual theatre. They played the entire movie with the wrong color tint, so skin was blue, blood was purple, Rei’s hair was orange, Angel cores were blue, and classmates all had a green tone to them. If that couldn’t be more of a kick in the face to the audience who paid over twelve dollars per ticket, in the middle of one of battles, the projector shut off and remained off for several minutes. Finally, after one of the viewers had complained and got them to turn it back on, they didn’t even rewind so we could find out what was missed! Luckily, all of us were given free movie passes to make up for their huge fault.

Has anyone else seen the film? Consensus?

The movie, no doubt, will be huge with children, as it is very much like an innocent and sweet fairytale, but the adults there, those of us who have grown up on Miyazaki’s older films like, Castle in the Sky, Princess Mononoke and my personal favorite, Spirited Away, were honestly surprised by the ending of the film, and not in a good way.

The story is about Ponyo, a goldfish, who is rescued by a little boy named, Sosuke and then wishes to become a human.  Her father, Fujimoto, absolutely forbids Ponyo to go up to the surface and mingle with humans, as he hates them for destroying the ocean, but Ponyo uses magic and turns herself into a girl.  After a tsunami, Ponyo continues to cast spells of wonder as she and Sosuke must go in search of the boy’s missing mother, Lisa.

The movie, like all of Miyazaki’s films I’ve come to notice, had a very talented and well directed cast for the English dub, Liam Neeson as Fujimoto and Tina Fey as Lisa stood out the most for me.  I’m even giving props to Frankie Jonas as Sosuke- he was wonderful.

The problem with the film was the last half hour or so.  The story up until this point was coherent, steady and due to the protagonists being so young, the film was exceptionally cute.  However, after the buildup with Fujimoto’s character, the desire to rid the world of humans, the need to get Ponyo away from Sosuke and back into the ocean, all of this really heavy, emotional turmoil suddenly just dissolved for almost no reason and the story just ended.

Fujimoto initially had gone to find Ponyo’s mother to get help with his human problem, but upon her introduction, his decision changed like the drop of a hat, for reasons not really explained.  I felt she was a completely unnecessary character to the film and only frustrated the ending by having me leave the screening without one of Miyazaki’s messages rolling around in my head.

I did like being able to leave feeling cheerful and happy and so did the few children at the movie, but after watching such intense pieces of work from Miyazaki in the past, I felt sort of empty, even if the film was beautiful and as sweet as honey.

I’m a graduate of film school and for four years, had it drilled into me to be able to pick up on story inconsistencies and weak points and while I hate to admit it, Ponyo definitely isn’t Miyazaki’s strongest film.  However, it is great for children and families and honestly, if you just want to enjoy breathtaking art and feel good about life, it’s a movie you’ll want to watch.  I was able to completely ignore the weak ending until after I seriously sat down to write about it because I was just so taken the rest of the film.

Clover is the story of a girl named, Su, who lives in a dystopian future. She is known as a ‘Clover’ one of many children who have the special ability to manipulate technology. Locked away by the government out of fear that she may be controlled by a human and used as a weapon against the country, Su is refused any sort of company or companionship because of her enormous strength.

James Cameron also spoke at Comic-Con this weekend about his interest in Battle Angel Alita turned into a live-action feature. However, when asked about when he planned to work on this project, Cameron did not have an answer. Due to his current film, Avatar and its serious amount of special effects, he said he was unsure if he wanted another large project like Battle Angel Alita, which has cyberpunk elements to it, right away.

Battle Angel Alita, known as, Gunnm, in Japan, was created in 1990 by Yukito Kishiro. Alita, a female cyborg was discovered in suspended animation by a cyber-medic named, Daisuke Ido. He saves Alita, only to discover that she has amnesia and recalls nothing of her previous existence. All she can remember is knowledge of a cyborg martial art and in order to learn and discover more about who she was, Alita must journey and fight her way through Scrapyard.

Lastly, a report from Comic-Con by Dark Horse announces that adaptations of both, The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service and MPD Pyscho are in development with Universal Films.
Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service is written by, Eiji Otsuka and drawn by, Housui Yamakazi. It is the story of five university graduates who open a business that specializes in the last wishes of the dead. Character, Kuro Karatsu has the ability to hear the recently deceased by touching their bodies, their desires carried out by him and his fellow friends.

Also written by, Eiji Otsuka, MPD Pyscho was drawn by, Shou Taijma and is the story of Detective Yosuke Kobayashi. He is on a case to hunt down and capture a serial killer who dismembers his victims and due to unfortunate circumstances, the killer mutilates Yosuke’s girlfriend. Yosuke develops dissociative identity disorder and becomes two different people, one a cool-headed criminologist called, Kazuhiko and the other is a reckless psychopath, Shinji.

The newest adaption of Osamu Tezuka’s famous Astro Boy will be hitting theatres in North America on October 23, 2009 and at San Diego’s Comic-Con International Panel, Summit Entertainment announced that Samuel L. Jackson would have a cameo voice-acting role. Further details regarding the self-proclaimed manga fan’s character were not released.

The cast is already an impressive, all-star group of talent and adding Jackson into the mix only raises speculation of how good this film may indeed be amongst the fan community. Some of the other actors include, Freddie Highmore as Astro (Finding Neverland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), Kristen Bell as Cora (Gossip Girl, Heroes), Nathan Lane (The Producers), Bill Nighy (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead), and Nicholas Cage as the voice of Dr. Tenma.

The movie is a feature length, CGI animated piece, set in the futuristic Metro City. Astro Boy, a robot created by Dr. Tenma, can fly, has super strength, x-ray vision, and incredible speed. Astro is trying to understand his place in life and what it means to be a human. When he discovers his family and friends in danger, Astro returns to Metro City to become a true hero.

Astro Boy has a long, rich history that was created by Osamu Tezuka, dubbed the God of Manga. In 1951, the first comic to feature Astro was released in Japan, followed by 193 episodes of a black and white Astro Boy cartoon on television, ending its broadcast in 1966. Astro Boy debuted a theatrical film in 1964 entitled, Tetsuwan Atom – Uchu no Yusha or, Astro Boy – The Brave in Space. After the film’s success, Astro Boy was back on television in the 1980′s, all new and in color. Again in 2003, Astro Boy was on television, this time in hi-vision color and all new animation.

In honor of Osamu Tezuka, a museum was opened in 1994, featuring a child-friendly gallery and exhibits devoted to Tezuka’s life. Astro Boy was also recently inducted into the Robot Hall of Fame in 2004, alongside such famous robots as C3PO and R2D2, from Star Wars. Astro Boy remains today in Japan, a vivid and popular figure, featured on t-shirts, bags, toys and dozens of everyday items. He has a statue in Hanno Saitama and has been ranked amongst the 50 greatest comic characters in history.

Astro Boy is fifty-eight years old and while some anime and manga fans do not like it, some radical in their opinion of how horrible it is, must remember that this was the first animated show to be produced in Japan and broke boundaries by becoming a phenomenon across the world. Without Tezuka and his Astro Boy, Japanese animation may have a very different history and popularity.

Space Battleship Yamato, or Space Cruiser Yamato or Star Blazers, as it has been translated in the past, is the story about Earth in the year of 2199. Humanity is living in bunkers far below the surface after the planet has been attacked by radioactive bombs, leaving it uninhabitable. The alien race, Gamilas, are trying to eradicate humans in order to take over and make the planet their new home. Contacted by Queen Starsha of the planet, Iscandar, humans are told she holds a device called the Cosmo-Cleaner-D, a system that can save Earth from the radioactivity. The humans race to restore an old battleship, the Yamato, and use the blueprints provided by the queen to install a wave motion engine, to help them get to her faster, in time to save Earth.

Space Battleship Yamato’s first season was twenty-six episodes and suffered heavy dubbing and editing when it had a limited release in the UK and the US. Names were changed, entire scenes cut and the general story was shifted from the battleship and the Japanese concept of ‘the honorable enemy’ to a study on the individual crew members. Since the original run, the show has had two more seasons, the third originally intended to have 52 episodes and was cut to 25, resulting in a weak story. There was also four movies and at one point, producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki tried to create a spinoff called, Yamato 2520, but it never got past four produced episodes after his company suffered bankruptcy.

The live-action will be based off the original show from 1974 and it has been said by Noboru that famous Japanese idol, Takuya Kimura from the group, SMAP, will be starring in the space opera. He did not specify which character Takuya would fill the role as, but it can be speculated he may play either Susumu Kodai, the hot headed young battle chief of the Yamato, or possibly Susumu’s friend, Daisuke Shima, the chief navigator and helmsman.

Though the multi-talented Takuya is thirty-six to date and perhaps too old to be presented as either of these characters, there has not been enough press release about the film to further contemplate beyond such a well known actor taking one of the leading roles.

The new anime film, being headed by producer, Nishizaki, is called Yamato: Rebirth, set to release on December 12, 2009, as told to the press. Nishizaki says the film will take place in 2220 and an expanding black hole forces Earth to be evacuated. The transportation fleets are attacked, but protected by the Yamato, now captained by Susumu Kodai.

On August 18th and 19th, they will have the American, theatrical debut of the second feature length Bleach movie, Bleach the Movie 2: The DiamondDust Rebellion. Tickets go on sale on July 31, 2009 at vizcinema.com and fans are urged to buy their tickets soon, as VIZ Cinema is expecting it to be completely sold out for each show. They will be showing the movie two times for both days, to accommodate as many viewers as possible.

Preceded by the first film, Bleach: Memories of Nobody which was released in Japan on December 16, 2006 and in America on June 11, 2008, Bleach the Movie 2: The DiamondDust Rebellion came out on December 22, 2007 in Japan. It is slated to be released on DVD in America shortly after its theatrical run, on September 8, 2009. The film has Toshiro Hitsugaya ordered to protect the King’s Seal and when it is stolen, he is ordered to go after it. When he doesn’t return, Soul Society brands him a traitor that must be executed.

The overall opinion of the second movie in the Bleach fan community is that it is far superior to the first, in animation, music and story. Toshiro is also one of the more popular characters in Bleach, with a mysterious past surrounding him, making a lot of fans happy when they heard the second film would focus on him so intently. The second movie did very well in the Japanese box office, coming in fourth in the ranks and holding the top ten position for five weeks.

As a side-note regarding Bleach, a third film has been released in Japan, called, Fade to Black, I Call Your Name, debuting on December 13, 2008. It held a top ten position in the Japanese box office for five weeks.

All three films have been directed by, Noriyuki Abe with the second film’s opening theme performed by rock band, Sambomaster and the third features opening music by the rock band, Porno Graffiti. There is no scheduled release of the third film in America or the United Kingdom yet.

Joshua Long, the executive producer of 20th Century Fox’s live-action Cowboy Bebop, has just announced at Anime Expo in California, that they are planning the re-make of another anime. This is a short film, twenty-five minutes in length called, Kakurenbo, literally translated as, Hide and Seek.

The original anime was created by, Shuuhei Morita, released on September 1, 2004 in Japan and later on October 30, 2005 in America, distributed by Central Park Media. The short is about a group of children playing a game called, otokoyo, which they play around the ruins of an abandoned city.

The story follows a young boy named, Hikora, who joins the game in order to search for his missing sister, Sorincha. It appears that whenever the children enter the city to play, they vanish, said to have been whisked away by the demons inside. Once inside the city, the children are pursued by four different demons and eventually by the oni, which translates as demon, but is used in the terms of whoever is ‘it’ in the game. This oni takes on the appearance of Hikora’s sister and wears a fox mask.

In 2005, Morita won Notable Entry at the Tokyo International Anime Fair. He also received Best Film Nomination at South Korea’s Seoul Comics and Animation Festival, and Best Short Film at the Fantasia Festival in Montreal, Canada.

Some fans of the short piece are frustrated over loose ends in the story, such as why some of the children are willing to play such a dangerous game. The only characters with motivation are Hikora, his friend who tries to help find the missing sister, and Noshiga, who is the leader of the gang and claims to not be afraid of demons.

The other boys of the group appear to have no real reason to join in a game where they are likely to be carried off by monsters. The concept of a feature length film opens the door for artistic liberties to be taken with such characters, perhaps flushing out their personalities and motivations more, so as to make a more poignant impact with the audience.

However, such changes made to anime that are turned into live-action pieces are known to not always please fans and recent polls amongst internet communities suggest many anime watchers would prefer to not continue seeing their shows turned into Hollywood pictures.

Mr. Long also suggested at Anime Expo, that Hollywood is looking to transform a work of Koike Kazou, but gave no details. Mr. Long’s most anticipated anime adaption is still Cowboy Bebop, starring Keanu Reeves as Spike. The film is a hot controversy with anime fans, as Cowboy Bebop is a famous piece of work and is held very dear by many. Some are upset with the live action, others wary but hopeful. The film is slated for 2011 release, while Hide and Seek has no set date or attached crew and cast.

Akira, a manga created by Katsuhiro Otomo, was released initially in 1982 and ran until 1990, during which time an animated film came out in 1988, based upon the original source, though shortened in plot for running time.

Set in the year of 2019, Akira is the story of a post-apocalyptic Neo-Tokyo where the police, politicians and scientists are not trusted by a motorcycle gang. Tetsuo, a member of this gang is soon pursued, after he receives supernatural powers and becomes an unstoppable and destructive force.

Talk of an American live action Akira has been floating around for some time, the most information recovered was that Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way and Warner Bros Pictures were working on the movie. Supposedly, Ruairi Robinson was going to make it his directorial debut and the massive story would have been split into two parts with talks of Joseph Gordon-Levitt(10 Things I Hate About You, Miracle at St. Anna) in the role of the psychotic and powerful biker, Tetsuo.

Now, with the movie apparently slated to release this summer, there is discussion that not only has Robinson left the production, but that there is no move being made to revive the project. Despite the silence on the fate of the film, some internet sources mention the film is now slated for 2011, but with no other facts mentioned.

Death Note

Another anime being tossed around the american production companies is Death Note. Written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata, Death Note was originally released from 2003 to 2006, at twelve volumes in length and with a thirty-seven episode anime following in late 2006. Three Japanese, live action films were made, Death Note and Death Note: The Last Name directed by Shusuke Kaneko, while the third, a spin-off called, L: Change the World, was directed by Hideo Nakata.

Death Note is the story of high school student, Light Yagami, who finds a dropped death note, from a God of Death named, Ryuk. With its powers of death, he begins to take justice into his own hands by ridding the world of criminals at his own volition, while he is chased by the Japanese police and the mysterious detective, L.

The original discussion of an American Death Note film was that Vertigo Entertainment had received the rights and had placed Charley and Vlas Parlapanides (Live Bet, War of Gods) as screenwriters and Roy Lee, Doug Davison, Dan Lin, and Brian Witten as producers. As of April 2009, news is that Warner Bros. Pictures acquired the rights and kept the screenwriters and producers already attached the project.

The American adaptation supposedly will draw from the manga, not the previously produced Japanese films, and will be based on the first three installments of the manga. A curious statement to make, considering that anyone who has read the manga knows that the story is far from resolved by volume three and leads one to wonder just how many liberties will be taken with the Hollywood version. The film is tentatively slated for 2011.