Anime

Neon Alley's Viz'z free streaming media platform, is adding a bunch of choice Sailor Moon,  Sailor Moon Crystal, Bleach, Naruto Shippuden, and Ranma 1/2...

The Japanese government is taking matters into its own hands by spending 15.5 billion yen ($14.7 million) to launch its own TV network with an eye to foreign distribution.

As we mentioned a post or so back, Otakon, one of the biggest anime/manga shows on he East Coast was held this weekend in...

It's called Makankosappo, and it involves real life Japanese youngsters reenacting scenes from Dragon Ball Z and posting the results on Twitter.

by Lea Hernandez - My long-time friend Toren Smith has passed away after a protracted bout of ill health, and I'm heartbroken. I worked for him over the course of seventeen years as part of his elite Studio Proteus team; doing retouch on adult comics, and rewriting titles like 3x3 Eyes, What's Michael? And Oh! My Goddess!. If Toren had lived another year, I would've known him for exactly half my life.

Archer, the wildly successful animated show that surpasses even Mad Men in the number of drinks the characters consume in a single episode has...

Although their attempt to remake Akira as a movie about white people went down in flames, WB has not given up on manga source material—now they are planning a movie based on BLEACH, the hugely popular manga and anime by Tite Kubo. Will this be another, heh heh, whitewash? Probably—because Hollywood fears Asians as leads—but at least Masi Oka (from Heroes) is on board as a producer. Others involved are producer/potential director Peter Segal (GET SMART, THE LONGEST YARD), screenwriter Dan Mazeau (WRATH OF THE TITANS), and Oka and Michael Ewing of Callahan Filmworks. Viz Productions' Jason Hoffs and Branon Coluccio are also in the production mix.

Looks like we might not get that "New Manhattan" live-action version of AKIRA after all. I know you're all crying. Maybe Warner Bros. knows that too, as they shut down the Vancouver production office:

The long on-again, off-again life action Akira movie is decidedly on again at Warners, with Jaume Collet-Serra to direct the Steve Kloves script. Given that AKIRA is a worldwide classic of anime and Japanese film in general that hugely influenced both animation and the cyberpunk movement, it seems ripe for reinvention in that Hollywood way. And of course, also in that Hollywood way, despite the story being set in and infused with Japanese culture, because American moviegoers are all white and cannot be persuaded to pay money to watch Asian people on the screen, the film is being moved from New Tokyo to "New Manhattan " (essentially New New York) and replacing all the Asian characters with white people if casting rumors are true.

After many starts and stop -- an Albert Hughes directed version had the plug pulled after pre-production had already started earlier this year -- Warner Bros has greenlit a live action AKIRA remake again. This time Jaume Collet-Serra (ORPHAN) is set to direct. The movie apparently got new life after the budget was cut to a practically spartan $90 million.

Otakon, the anime/manga show held each year in Baltimore, drew a record 31,000 fans. Brigid Alverson runs down the announcements from Viz, Bandai, Funimation and Aniplex .

A growing body of comics observers have jumped on the bandwagon for Naoki Urasawa as the best genre cartoonist currently working with his layered, dynamic storytelling. But not everyone has gotten the religion! His 21st CENTURY BOYS is currently coming out from Viz, but with 15 volumes in print it could be a bit daunting to jump into. For those who prefer a video introduction, MONSTER, based on the manga of the same name, just began streaming from Netflix. The 74-episode series deals with Dr. Kenzo Tenma and his efforts to stop an insane killer whose life he saved as a boy.