Anime News 4/30/08......Higurashi 3rd anime series info, Eva 1.0 film record dvd sales, English Cosmode Mag free preview, Genshiken creator new work, Doraemon stage play?! & more

News source: Anime News Network

3rd Higurashi Tentatively Slated as Rei Video Series
The June issue (released on April 30) of Gakken's Megami Magazine has revealed that the previously announced third Higurashi no Naku Koroni anime season is tentatively titled Higurashi no Naku Koroni Rei and planned as an original video anime series. 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, but it is not necessarily the basis for the third anime project's plot. The producers are still determining the final release schedule, but plan to preview some footage this year.

The two previous anime seasons were broadcasted on Japanese television. Geneon Entertainment released part of the first season in North America in 2007 before it ceased in-house production and distribution of anime. The first live-action film adaptation opens on May 10, and a film sequel is already in the works.

Source: Moon Phase Comments

Library Bars 43-Year-Old from Manga Club Meeting
An adult resident of Bluffton, South Carolina is considering a lawsuit against his local public library after its employeees barred him from attending a manga club meeting that the library had organized. 43-year-old C.J. Palmer planned to share old anime and manga from his personal collection at the meeting. Flyers for the club did not indicate an age limit, but according to the library, it was meant for teenagers only.

Palmer has filed a complaint with the library and has contacted the local American Civil Liberties Union branch to discuss a possible age discrimination lawsuit. The director of the local county library system has apologized for what he called a "slip-up on our part" and mentioned that if there is sufficent interest, he would look into starting a manga club that would be open to adults.

Source: The Island Packet (Hilton Head Island, South Carolina)

Shogakukan to Open Site for User-Generated Content
The Japanese publisher Shogakukan and its sister company Shogakukan Production are planning to open a free "Dream Tribe" website for user-generated comics, four-panel manga, illustrations, novels, music, and anime on June 19. Shogakukan hopes to attract and recruit talent that it can debut in its publications. For now, the initial focus of the site will be on amateur manga. Until the full site opens, a preview site is accepting users via a free (Japanese-language) registration process. The website plans to display the nominated entries from Manga Kōshien, the annual national high school manga competition that is patterned after the popular Kōshien baseball tournament.

Thank you to Kumi Kaoru for the news tip.

Anime Adapts Child Emperor's Life After Supposed Death
An association in the southwestern Japanese town of Ōchi has completed a 100-minute anime feature that recreates a local legend: the life of a child emperor after his supposed "death" by drowning. The Taira and Minamoto clans fought an epic war for control of Japan at the end of the 12th century. Taira's defeat marked the beginning of the Shoguns' rule over Japan and Japan's unification under two national colors: red for Taira and white for Minamoto.

History books also say that the Taira clan's dethroned child emperor Antoku drowned when his grandmother took both their lives after the war. However, the local legend of Ōchi says that Antoku survived and escaped onto the southwestern island of Shikoku. Furthermore, the legend says that he secluded himself in the town's Yokogurazan hills and established a hidden imperial refuge.

The anime is split into two parts: a 40-minute chapter about the theory of Emperor Antoku's seclusion on Shikoku island, and a 60-minute chapter about his coming-of-age in the legend's remote "capital." The "Remote Capital" ("Harukanaru Miyako") is actually based on a play by Hiroko Shōno. The Ōchi Taira Association approached Shōno over a decade ago about turning the legend into a manga, and the plans eventually evolved into a novel, then the play, and now the anime. The local residents contributed to the 3.2-million-yen (about US$31,000) budget, and about 30 citizens and elementary schoolchildren volunteered to voice the character roles. The anime was shown on April 29 during the Emperor Antoku's 808th Anniversary Festival at the town.

Source: Asahi


Eva:1.0 Film Sells Record 219,000 DVDs in First Week
Evangelion: 1.0 You Are [Not] Alone, the first of Hideaki Anno's four theatrical remakes of the Evangelion science-fiction anime series, has sold 219,000 DVDs in less than a week of sales. That makes it Japan's best-selling DVD release so far this year. It also marks the best record in initial sales of any Evangelion DVD release to date. The two-disc "Special Equipment Edition" package in particular sold the most copies, and even the bonus film strip bundled with this edition is in high demand.

Source: Oricon

English Cosmode Online Mag's Free Preview Issue Posted
The magazine publisher OverDrive has announced that it posted the first full preview issue of its Cosmode Online magazine. Registration is required, but free for this 66-page issue. The venture is based on the original Cosmode, the leading Japanese magazine devoted to cosplay galleries, tips, and news. The first non-free issue will be posted online on May 25, and the company is offering both single issues and one-year subscriptions. Unlike other Japanese magazines that have gone abroad by translating almost all the Japanese text into English, OverDrive's online Cosmode version will retain all the Japanese text; it will have a piece of English translation appear when the cursor hovers over a piece of Japanese text.

The last page of the online preview indicates that Broccoli Books will ship the first print issue of Cosmode USA magazine to bookstores in July. Cosmode USA was first announced at last year's Anime Expo. The first sample pages from the online version were posted earlier this month.

http://www.cosmodeonl...

Genshiken's Shimoku Kio to Start Digopuri Manga
Shimoku Kio, the creator of the Genshiken otaku club manga and anime series, will start a new manga called Digopuri in the July issue of Kodansha's Afternoon magazine, which goes on sale on May 24. The announcement was made in the current issue, which was released on April 25. "Digopuri" is apparently the diminutive abbreviation of "jigoku no purinsesu" ("princess from hell"), and the story will be about the trials and tribulations of raising this princess. The advertisement for Afternoon's next issue promises that the setting of the new work will be different from Genshiken and its Kujibiki Unbalance spinoff. Del Rey completed its North American release of Genshiken last November and will release the first volume of the Kujibiki Unbalance manga adaptation in July. Media Blasters' AnimeWorks label released the first Genshiken television anime series and the Kujibiki Unbalance video series, and it licensed the Genshiken video series, the second Genshiken television series, and the Kujibiki Unbalance television series.

Afternoon's next issue will also launch three other series: the Kōhī Jikan (Coffee Time) anthology by Tetsuya Toyoda (Goggle, undercurrent, Slider), the Moe-tai high school boxing manga by Iqura Sugimoto (Variante, Tales of Destiny, Cradle), and Tetsuya Imai's Hacks! ? a story of a high school anime club's attempt to create its own anime.

Source: Muhyojo

First Doraemon Stage Play Announced in Japan
The first stage play based on Fujiko F. Fujio's robot cat Doraemon was announced in Japan last week. The production will adapt the 1990 film Doraemon: Nobita's Animal Planet (pictured at right) and travel to cities across Japan starting in July. The current anime voice of Doraemon, actress Wasabi Mizuta, will reprise her role for the play version, while Makoto Sakamoto (Liar Game, Nodame Cantabile) will play Doraemon's hapless owner Nobita. Reiko Suhō (Wangan Midnight) will play Nobita's female friend Shizuka, and Tomohiro Waki (Gokusen) will play Nobita's pal Jaian.

Source: Oricon

Manga Publisher Viz Hiring Editors, Managers, More
Viz Media, the San Francisco-based publisher of manga including Bleach, Naruto, and One Piece, is hiring to fill openings in various editorial and support departments in the company. They include a job as editor of fiction and non-fiction books; another as an editor on the Viz Kids line of manga, chapter books, junior novels, and other products aimed at beginning readers; and a third as an assistant managing editor working with Viz's manga anthologies. There is also opening for an animation production assistant which calls for one to two years of experience and knowledge of video production tools, and two open positions in marketing for an associate and a senior manager. Additionally, there is a position available for an accounts payable associate, and another opening for an experienced manager of retail development who would help create Viz's overall marketing strategy.

In Paris, Viz Media Europe is looking to hire coordinators for animation production, approvals, and licensing, as well as a publishing licensing manager.

Kare Kano's Tsuda to Start New Chotto Edo Made Manga
Masami Tsuda, the creator of the Kareshi Kanojo no Jijō (Kare Kano or His and Her Circumstances) manga and anime series, will launch the Chotto Edo Made manga series in the July issue of Hakusensha's LaLa manga magazine, which will go on sale on May 24. The announcement was made in the June issue, which was released on Thursday. The comedy story is set in an ultra-prestigious middle school at the height of Edo-era Tokyo, over 150 years ago. It will center around a son of the ruling Tokugawa clan's Mito family and a daughter of an elite Tokugawa shogun.

This series will be only the second major manga that Tsuda has created since Kare Kano ran from 1995 to 2005. Her last series that lasted longer than one magazine installment was the two-volume Eensy-Weensy Monster. Tokyopop published Kare Kano in North America.

Broccoli Books Posts Koi Cupid, sola Manga Previews (Updated)
The American publisher Broccoli Books posted manga previews (in PDF format) of Mia Ikumi's Koi Cupid and Chako Abeno's sola last week. The first volume of Koi Cupid shipped in March, and the first volume of sola will ship on June 18. Both titles are two volumes long. Ikumi, the creator of the Tokyo Mew Mew manga and anime, tells the misadventures of three cupids-in-training in Koi Cupid.

Abeno based the sola manga on a multimedia project from story writer Naoki Hisaya (Kanon) and the original character designer Naru Nanao (D.C. ~Da Capo~, ef - a tale of memories). The slice-of-life story pairs a boy named Yorito Morimoto whose hobby is taking photos of the sky and a girl named Matsuri Shihou with a lifelong secret. The story was also animated as a 13-episode television series last year.

Update: Broccoli Books has clarified that the first Koi Cupid volume will ship on May 26, not March. While Broccoli Books has posted information for two volumes of this series, it is still an ongoing series in Japan's ComiDegi+ magazine.