Krazy – the delirious world of Anime + Manga + video games

KRAZY! will be New York’s first major show dedicated to the Japanese phenomenon of Anime, Manga, and Video Games—three forms of contemporary visual art that are exercising a huge influence on an entire generation of American youth. The exhibition, organized by the Vancouver Art Gallery, will be presented in an environment designed by cutting-edge architectural ….

Check out the live action Blood: The Last Vampire teaser trailer

The teaser trailer for Blood: The Last Vampire is online, and it looks good, although the video quality could be better. For the uninitiated, Blood: The Last Vampire follows the story of vampire and demon hunter Saya, who is part of a covert government agency in post-WWII Japan. She goes undercover in a military school ….

Mattel to create toy line for James Cameron’s Avatar – plus how amazing will the benchmark effects be?

Fox Licensing & Merchandising has selected Mattel to develop a toy line inspired by one of the most anticipated films of the year – James Cameron’s Avatar. Tapped as master toy licensee for the epic sci-fi film property, Mattel will create a line of action figures and vehicles scheduled to hit retail nationwide in October ….

Dragonball: Evolution collectible figures to premiere at Toy Fair 2009

As Dragonball: Evolution hits theaters April 8, Bandai and Twentieth Century Fox Licensing will launch a new line of action figures based on the film. The new movie line is expected to be highly detailed toys styled after the stars from the film. The Bandai America line will reflect the look and feel of Dragonball: ….

Astro Boy’s butt cannon concept art revealed at New York Comic Con

I saw footage from Imagi Animation’s upcoming computer-animated Astro Boy movie at New York Comic Con over the weekend, at the Summit Entertainment panel moderated by IGN Movies editor-in-chief Eric Moro. Also revealed were detailed concept designs for the film’s characters and technology. Based on the beloved Japanese manga by Osamu Tezuka, the adaptation will ….

World Record gaming event being held at New York Comic-Con

Guinness World Records is getting ready to celebrate the release of its latest video game book – Guinness World Records: Gamer’s Edition 2009 – and is urging all gamers to take part in a record-breaking event at New York’s Comic Con this weekend. This weekend convention visitors will attempt to break the Guinness World Record ….

Sci-fi goes global with new Japanese VIZ Media imprint

VIZ Media has announced the launch of a brand-new imprint called Haikasoru, which will publish an array of contemporary Japanese science fiction and fantasy stories for English audiences. This is the first time an imprint with a dedicated focus on Japanese sci-fi has launched in North America. Haikasoru is scheduled to publish twelve books a ….

Costumes from Takashi Miike’s “kid’s film” Yatterman revealed

Variety Asia and Japan Today posted some pics from Takashi Miike’s next film Yattaman, or Yatterman, based on an animation which first aired in Japan in the late 1970s. Miike, who has directed some of the most violent crime thrillers and bloody horrors in recent memory, is trying the teen genre. But this won’t his ….

Keanu Reeves will top-line Cowboy Bebop live-action film for Fox

It’s been reported for some time that Fox is overseeing a big-screen version of the popular Japanese anime series Cowboy Bebop. Variety has confirmed that Keanu Reeves in fact attached to star as the easygoing bounty hunter Spike Spiegel, who wanders through space in search of fortune and good times, in the year 2071. Cowboy ….

Ghost in the Shell director Mamoru Oshii to give intro at premiere of Sky Crawlers

This Friday, December 12th, New York-Tokyo and the Film Society of Lincoln Center present the New York premiere of director Mamoru Oshii’s (Ghost in the Shell, PatLabor: The Mobile Police) latest film, The Sky Crawlers, which is described as an engaging combination of philosophy and science fiction, featuring brilliantly executed aerial combat sequences. Oshii sees ….

Animation community site goes global

The Association of Japanese Animations, an industry organization consisting mainly of animation production companies, recently announced that its community website, called Open Post, now has an English-language section. Open Post acts as a forum that provides animation professionals with an opportunity to submit and publish their work online. The new English-language section allows submissions from ….

Trailer for Dragonball film

Dragonball is based on the extremely popular manga and anime series about a young boy named Goku who seeks out, upon his grandfather’s dying request, to find the great Master Roshi and gather all seven Dragon Balls (of which he has one) in order to prevent Piccolo from succeeding in his desire to use the ….