Hunter x Hunter manga returns to Shonen Jump in August!

After a one year break, author Yoshihiro Togashi will resume his manga, according to an announcement in the 30th issue of Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, more details will be provided later!

The Sorcerer''s Apprentice review

This is the story of Victoria, a high school girl that loves history and arts. On a museum visit organized by her institution, she finds a mysterious ring with the initials A.M.I and picks it up to give it to the Missing Items Section.

When she meets a boy who is in charge of that department, the boy is suspicious of her motives and she wonders why. While she waits for him, she randomly tries the ring (who hasn't done that XD?) but gets stuck (call it Murphy's Law).

The situation complicates when a troll appears and wants to kill them. But with the power of the ring,Victoria transforms into a Sorceress and with her magic stick, she battles the monster and incinerates him. The boy is struck as Victoria reverses to normal and faints.

The ring is from the Rennaissance era (1300's) and is the kickstarter of this story by Barbara Willett at http://bwillettcomics.com/sorcerersapprentice/

One thing I will always find interesting with webcomics artists is that their capacity to mix Western and manga style is enhanced, if we compare it to traditionally established artists that work for a company. Maybe it's that they have more creative freedom because they're doing it themselves? Or because they have a bigger view?

In this case, Bwillett's comic wasn't afraid to use the 4-square style of panels with her own manga style and storytelling. The plot develops in a smooth, simple and harmonious way that looks to engage readers. It doesn't use absurd plot devices nor it just throws something out of the blue for the sake of doing so. The characters and situations flow naturally and doesn't disrupt the storyline at all.

The story is a great read and there's a established continuity with 15 chapters that are updating constantly as we speak, something that most webcomics or webmanga artists sadly lack in terms of consistence

Check it out!

Blood C third trailer!

This series created by the legendary group of authors known as CLAMP, will premiere on July 7.

This time we have more details and scenes!

Media Blasters will provide the English dub to Bakuman!

The North American anime distributor Media Blasters announced on Tuesday that it acquired the Bakuman. television anime series. Media Blasters' AnimeWorks label will start releasing the anime on DVD this November with the first seven episodes and an English dub.


The original manga that inspired the anime was written by Tsugumi Ohba and drawn by Takeshi Obata — the co-creators of Death Note. The story involves Moritaka Mashiro, a junior high school student, who is persuaded to work towards becoming a manga creator with the encouragement of two classmates. In the anime version, Moritaka is voiced by Atsushi Abe, whose other recent roles include the protagonist Akiyuki in Xam'd: Lost Memories.


Source: ANN

Finally!! This gives it more mainstream exposure!!

Uta no Prince Sama Maji-Love 1000% trailer

This is from Loveless author Yuu Kou's series, based on the PSP romance game.

If there's someone who can draw bishonen to the core, it's this creator:



The story is a reverse harem type in which a girl is enrolled in a school full of bishounen.

*faints*

Is Marvel getting ahead of DC with their anime series?

You know, there was always this question in the back of my mind over if ultimately manga and anime have taken over Western comics.

Nothing further from reality as Western comics still have the largest demand in the world and Manga style comics are a genre/niche that is growing as we speak, but it's still far from being mainstream.

The day we see a manga published in the United States by either DC or Marvel, that'd be the day we can say that manga is mainstream.

That being said, what is Marvel's interest in making X-Men, Blade and Iron Man anime series?







The answer can be in the fact that Marvel is looking to get the younger audiences or younger generations that are wayyy more interested in manga/anime than they ever will in Western comics.

Or they just want to experiment what could be the result of a crossover between these two radically different styles and approaches for diverse audiences.

Or even a simple wish to join creative forces for the sake of going beyond, such as Stan Lee and Hiroyuki Takei in their series Karakuridoji Ultimo, which is serialized in Jump SQ magazine and is being sold as a graphic novel on Amazon.

Western comics are all about realism and being anatomically correct as possible, yet at the same time with a certain degree of styling of forms and figures, but manga is expressionistic and relies more in characters, but that doesn't mean that the story can't be equally complex. You can say that manga is realistic in its own way because of the expression it conveys in each panel.

Right now, a crossover of these two styles of visual storytelling (and cultural approaches to life, actually) have either proved to be succesful or simply a failure, as in the case of the Wolverine anime, so it is still an ambigous land.

And DC is doing nothing? 


DC is just not being as vocal, but series like 'Young Justice' and 'Teen Titans' show a certain shift towards anime style, without necessarilly abandoning the traditional animation style of 'Superman: TAS', or 'Justice League Unlimited'. They want to cater to younger audiences without compromising too much of themselves.



And don't forget about the 'Batman: Gotham Knight' animated shorts, that was already a mild insinuation towards anime style in 2005, with studios Madhouse, Studio 4 °C and Production IG working with David Goyer, Brian Azzarello and Greg Rucka.

As for the upcoming comics relaunch on September and the new character design? It may be only me but I'm already seeing mecha influences in Superman's new suit.

Who's not to say that with the upcoming Superman movie in 2012, directed by Zack Snyder, and assessed by the Nolans, we may get anime shorts of Superman?

The answers are still in the open for open minds.

Baka to Test to Shokanju Ni! will premiere on July 7

This fantasy magical series about a bunch of students that are always at the bottom of their class will premiere on Tv Tokyo, and is the continuation of the first season which was streamed by Funimation.

Saint Seiya Lost Canvas final promo!

This is the promo for final episodes of the second season, which correspond to episodes 24 to 26.

Exciting to say the least!

Good news for Toei Animation!! Finally!!

Toei Animation reported earlier this month that its operating income from overseas copyright licensing is increasing 66% or about 500 million yen (about US$6 million) during the fiscal year ending in March of 2012, compared to the previous year. In particular, sales of character goods are growing in China and Europe.

Sales in licensing are projected to rise 66% to the range of 1 billion yen (US$12 million) in the current fiscal year. Sales of Saint Seiya T-shirts are launching in China in collaboration with a local company, and these sales are expected to lift Toei's income from licensing. Similarly, One Piece, Precure, and other franchises are being merchandised as items such as toys and stationery in Europe.

President Hiroshi Takahashi added that the domestic licensing business is off to a good start this fiscal year, but the business is still feeling the unavoidable impact of the previous year's downturn.

Source: Nikkei, ANN

I think this has mostly to do with the success of the Lost Canvas series, how it's raising the awareness of the Saint Seiya franchise, as for One Piece, I think that speaks for itself with its millions of fans around the world that buy and collect the merchandise.

Steins Gate anime review

Steins Gate was originally a video game for the Xbox 360, developed by Nitroplus and 5pb. that got turned into a manga, and eventually the anime series premiered this year.

The quality of the animation is consistent and top-notch, and the story is, according to its creators, a hypothetical science ADV.

The story revolves around mad scientist Okabe Rintarou, a paranoic obsessed with time travelling experiments with a cellphone and a microwave, and calling himself Hyouin Kyouma. He is supported by a hacker named Daru and a girl named Mayuri.

Okabe and Daru live in a small rented room in Akihabara district in Tokyo.

Everything begins when he meets Makise Kurisu, a genius 17 year old girl scientist at a seminar, and a satellite that crashed with a building the moment she got murdered.

The main problem that this anime had was that the first two episodes, the key to introduce the story, were incoherent and didn't depict exactly what happened that Okabe Rintarou was able to save Makise Kurisu and Mayuri at the same time.

The antagonist is an organization named SERN, a fictionalized version of CERN, which are the developers of the particle accelerator that would recreate a black hole through one microparticle. Of course, in this story they are an evil behind the scenes organization that have been able to discover time travel and use it for their best interests, and Hyouin Kyouma gets in their way.

The story and the pacing of the episodes picks up after episodes 3 and 4, that finally give light to what the series is about.

The characters are unique and funny in their own way. Okabe Rintarou (Hyouin Kyouma) has this tick of talking to an imaginary voice over his cellphone, Makise Kurisu has her unique style of clothing, Mayuri is a sweet and moe girl that makes this 'tururu' sound everytime she enters. Daru the hacker has this inferiority complex about being fat.

There is an important presence of female characters, such as Shining Finger, a beautiful 30 year old woman that only speaks through text messages, rather than her own voice.

The opening and ending are memorable with the songs Hacking to the Gate by Itou Kanako and Tokitsukasadoru Jūni no Meiyaku by Yui Sakakibara.

I really hope that this anime is given a chance for more than 26 episodes!

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Tim review

This is a fun story that parodies the classic Zelda game in a Shrek fashion. It is really refreshing to see Link as a tempered hero like Kurosaki Ichigo, and Saria as his groupie. Hyrule suddenly transforms in a land where comedy ensues and slice of life stories happen.

The style of the pencils is simple, yet is similar to that of Inuyasha, a romance and comedy type of story, and it suits this story well. Nothing complicated that looks to entertain and convey the message that the authors want to get across. The composition often used is the six squares per panel

H2YK, is the pseudonym chosen by authors Saotome Yoshimi and Haruka, who come up with these stories filled with all-ages humor that are meant to go beyond our established ideas on how classic characters are.

The webcomic can be read at their official site: http://www.artofkoden.com/H2YK-.html

Gott Gauss review

When I started reading the first pages of this manga at webcomicsnation.com what really stood out is the 'European' outlook of life, and with further research I find that in fact, the authors are German, Bruno Cotting with the story and Viviane with the pencils and ink.

I really recommend reading this webmanga at its original site http://gottgauss.viviane.ch/, for a better visual experience.

This is the story of Selt Brander, a depressed man in his mid-twenties. Barely living in an appartment the size of a room, he is a forensic scientist that gets fired because he suspects too much of a series of corpses that die for the same cause: poisoning. There's a conspiracy brewing around him and he's not even aware of it.

His only contact with the world is through a computer, and that's how he knows Garla, his love interest, only that he's also not aware of it since Garla presents herself as a man in that chatroom and he presents himself as a woman.

Garla is a prostitute that also functions as a drug dealer for her pimp boyfriend, who constantly abuses and beats her, she finds herself in a turmoil, and her only consolation is the computer.

One day, something incredible happens as Brander is in his bed about to sleep. The computer starts talking to him despite being turned off. The chat dialog says that it is Gott Gauss, the God of Probability. He can't believe it and thinks that he's losing his mind due to his depression. The very same happens to Garla, who doesn't know what to think or do.

Days after, a mysterious medallion appears before each one's computers. The medallion speaks and confirms that it is in fact Gott Gauss, the God of Probability who is there to protect them.

I don't know if it's done intentionally or not, but the story reflects perfectly the times we're living in, almost as Kafka did with The Process and the Pre-War Germany. We can identify with a depressed protagonist with a job that he feels he can go beyond that, and the same goes for Garla, who I'm sure has much potential but she can't get out of her own abuse cycle.

The style of the lineart is compelling and beautiful, the backgrounds are relatively vague, but help create a depressed times atmosphere. We get the feeling that this is an alienated, cold society with no space or opportunities for anyone, unless you are in the rat race, of course.

This webmanga is the proof that the European style of storytelling is perfectly compatible with the manga style, despite the claims of the naysayers that the manga style is just too superficial.

The comic is available in English, German and French.

New R-15 trailer

The anime will premiere on July 9, and it is the story of Taketo Akutagawa, a student with a secret: he is a talented pornographic novelist with a newspaper-serialized work. He enrolls in a school that only accepts geniuses, and the fun ensues naturally.

It is based on the light novels by Hiroyuki Fushimi and Takuya Fujima.

Aniplex will distribute remastered Rurouni Kenshin DVD/BD's!!!

This was one of the first series that I loved when I first got interested in anime, I'm so glad to see that it hasn't been forgotten.

Announced during FanimeCon in May, Aniplex of America will directly import the Japanese Blu-ray Disc edition for both OVAs and the film, but the company will add an English-translated booklet.

The first of the Blu-ray discs to be released will be the 1999 prequel OVA, Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal (Rurouni Kenshin: Tsuioku Hen). The four-episode collection is priced at US$64.98 and will ship August 24. Aniplex confirmed in April that the Blu-ray release will feature both Japanese and English subtitles with an option to switch the audio to the English dub created by the now-defunct ADV Films.

The 2001 two-part OVA, Rurouni Kenshin: Reflection (Rurouni Kenshin: Seiso Hen) and 1997 Rurouni Kenshin The Movie will ship September 21 and October 24, respectively. Both of these Blu-ray releases are priced at US$54.98.

An adaptation of the manga by Nobuhiro Watsuki that gor serialized in Shonen Jump from 1994 to 1999, the anime series was aired during that time. The manga has 28 volumes and the anime got 95 episodes, but it was cancelled and the story had to be ended through OVAS that sadly, had some continuity problems that didn't give the proper ending that it deserved.

Here's the trailer for the BD!

Naruto Shippuden's new film trailer released!

The film, titled Blood Prison, is the 8th movie in the series by Masashi Kishimoto.

It will open on Japanese theaters on July 20.





It looks impressive, with a different tone from that of the other movies.

Final trailer of Sora no Otoshimono movie!

The movie will open in Japanese theaters this Saturday, and it will introduce a new Angeloid character.

The movie is titled Sora no Otoshimono: Tokei Jikake no Angeloid, and is the third on the series.



It is expected to be a success this season, with special contest for repeat viewers!

The winner of the Ao no Exorcist Deviantart contest is here!

This artwork was the winner of the Blue Exorcist contest held at the Ao-No-Exorcist group at Deviantart.

It was done by user ToshaSquare from Russia, who resulted the winner :-)

It was done with watercolor pencils and I'll submit more information right away!!

I just love the use of contrasts and the characterization.



This is her Deviantart account, which features many great artworks!

ToshaSquare on Deviantart

Sekai-Ichi no Hatsukoi special episode promo!

This OAD, titled 'episode 12.5' will ship along the limited edition of the sixth volume of the manga by Shungiku Nakamura, along with the DVD that will come out in September.

Here's the promo, which lasts 17 seconds, is based on the story of Yoshino.



The series has had success and popularity among shonen-ai fans and it's one of the few series if its genre (if not the first) to make it mainstream, probably due to the wide bishonen appeal of all characters.

Kami-sama no Memocho anime trailer

This anime is based on the light novels that center around a shut-in "NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) detective" girl named Alice (Yui Ogura) and her assistant, a high school freshman boy named Narumi Fujishima (Yoshitsugu Matsuoka). Mel Kishida (So-Ra-No-Wo-To, Hana-Saku Iroha) illustrates the light novel volumes.

The anime will premiere with a 60-minute special in Japan on July 2.



A moe version of L from Death Note is always a plus :-)

I've decided to start a webcomics review section

I have noticed that many authors rely heavily on
 Manga Studio for their works and it really pays off

This new section will review webcomics and/or webmanga. I make emphasis on 'webmanga', even though all are the same thing (for me, 'manga' can define the style or genre, yet 'manga' in Japanese means comics, or 'the image sketched in the mind')

Through a great discussion and meeting people in LinkedIn, I got introduced to the fascinating world of webcomics.

Webcomics are not the same as self-publication, nor can both can be considered 'vanity publishing'.

Webmangas are revolutionizing the comic book and arts industry in the sense that you're not limited or have to depend on a publishing house, but you can do it yourself on the internet and if we cite the case of Penny Arcade, for example, it can be a very profitable business if you decide to see it that way.

You can publish webcomics either on a owned-domain website of yours that lives off Google Adsense or other companies that can pay you for ad space, or on a directory that features it, with your own terms in regards to ads. Other methods include Paypal donations and selling merchandising items of Zazzle, CafePress, Etsy and similar sites.

The key here is that you gotta keep in mind that your ability to sell and market your work is as important as the work itself.

Blue Exorcist anime review

This highly anticipated anime spawned happiness and worries over if the manga was too short and over if announcing the anime series was just too early.

Based on the series by Kazue Kato, originally known as 'Ao no Exorcist', the fact that it is a monthly series (published on JumpSQ by Shueisha) instead of weekly ones like Bleach or Naruto give more room to expand its contents and situations on the anime.

As we know, this is the story of Rin Okumura, a 16 year old orphan kid that discovers he's the son of Satan, pretty much in line with The Omen movie theme.

Damien in The Omen, 1976, directed by the great Richard Donner

The use of colors in The Omen

As an interesting fact, Tensai Okamura (Darker than BLACK, Wolf's Rain, Kikaider) is directing off scripts supervised by Ryota Yamaguchi (Cutey Honey Flash, Digimon: Data Squad, Sailor Moon Sailor Stars).

For starters, the soundtrack is what really stands out, from the popular opening song Core Pride by UVERworld, which is currently in top of Japanese charts. There is an unique, ecclectic sound that mixes Jazz, Blues, and Rock and Roll that creates the atmosphere for each scene.

You'd think that given the theme, the characters would wear obscure red, gray and black gothic colors, just like readers originally thought in the manga, but instead the author and the directors decided to avoid the cliche by dressing them in pastel colors that made contrast with darker ones, and it creates this supernatural, ethereal effect.

Just look at Amaimon, sure, he does come from Hell, but Hell seems to be a funky pimp dark place.

Credit to Axis33 from Deviantart

Girls in the academy wear mainly magenta and pale yellow.

Rin Okumura, the protagonist, wears dark colors with a touch of primary colors such as red and blue.

Father Fujimoto reminded me of a mix between Elton John and Father Merrin (of the Exorcist movie) the first time I saw him, both in the manga and the anime, because of the glasses, the use of accessories and demeanor.

As for the story itself, there have been complaints that the pacing was just too slow, but that was cleared out as this is a monthly manga, so yes, all episodes so far have contained filler material to some extent, either by adding more comedy or more exposition of a character.

The animation is superb quality, similar to Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas, however it's too early to judge the fight scenes as there have been few since this series is taking its time with the development of situations and characters, which also breaks a bit the shonen genre cliche in that there must be endless fights all the time. In that sense, this can actually be one of the few shonen series that take special note of character development rather than the constant fights.

So, this series feels like the fondly missed D.Grayman series, whose author hasn't recovered of
a problem in her hand that hasn't let her continue :(

As for the characters, Rin Okumura really stands out as a charismatic character just like Naruto is. The theme of being orphan and rejected, with a cursed legacy upon him makes you relate since you can see that he actually aims to do the right thing.

(by the way, I just can't wait to see Rin fight for real!!)

However, it isn't the same story with Yukio since he seems more aloof and even more arrogant than in the manga.

Also, people act more condescending towards Rin in the anime than in the manga.

But you probably wonder, well, are the differences between the anime and the manga relevant? And it's true, anime series often take their liberties and licenses since not everything can be exactly in the manga, but noticing the subtle differences makes you appreciate the same storyline in different mediums.

I once wrote a sorta review of the manga titled 'Is Ao no Exorcist the next Bleach?', which you can find here: http://myanimemangafix.blogspot.com/2010/06/ao-no-exorxist-next-bleach.html

And looking back, I think that remains to be seen. Both series can't really be compared despite some similarities, but we can see that the anime is having great success in spite of the slow development. In that sense, the pacing of the first Bleach episodes were like a punch to your stomach, and both Tite Kubo and Kazue Kato have very different approaches to their craft, so I think it was adventurous of me to jump ahead and say 'it's the next Bleach', when it's obvious that Blue Exorcist can pretty much become its own thing. :-)

Himizu manga gets live action film

This is the story of a far stalker named Yūichi Sumida, who is a a third-year middle school boy who longs for a normal life, after being abandoned by his parents and left in control of their small boat rental shop but a certain incident sets him on a descent into darkness.

The film will be directed by Shion Sono, often known by the live action version of Suicide Circle.

18 year old actor Shota Sometani will play the role of the boy and 16 year old actress Fumi Nikaido will play Sumida's classmate.

The manga was serialized by Kodansha, in the original Young Magazine from 2001 to 2003.

New Guilty Crown series will be helmed by Death Note and High School of the Dead director

This seems to be the hottest development for the Noitamina block, as a new sci-fi futuristic adventure series called Guilty Crown, will be directed by Araki Tetsuro, who will lead the team of animators for I.G Production studio.

The series revolves around a young man with the psychic ability to extract weapons or tools from human bodies who decides to join a guerrilla resistance opposed to the private company that governs Japan in 2039, ten years after a devestating virus decimated the country. The series will tentatively premiere this October in the Fuji TV network’s Noitamina late-night time slot.

(the characters already look dreamy O-O, as I said before, we are getting a bishonen galore on new series now!)

source: Anime News Network, Moon Phase

Blood Lad will have its anime

The series by Yuki Kodama will have its anime, whose story is based on a vampire who falls in love with a girl, but when the girl is killed he fights to revive her,

Although it's still uncertain when it will premiere, the premise has a noir comedy twist given that the girl, Fuyuma, becomes a ghost that accompanies the main character, named Staz.

The manga is serialized in Young Ace magazine.

(I love how Staz is drawn)

New Blade anime teaser trailer

Yet another anime adaptation of a Marvel comic, the series is set to premiere on July 1. It is also produced by Madhouse.

Marvel is pulling a smart move by presenting its key characters in the anime styled world, but the clash between American style and Japanese style are what is creating these hybrids.

(it is a completely different story with manga, though, just look at Stan Lee and Hiroyuki Takei's Karakuridoji Ultimo and The Innocent)

Bleach fillerology June schedule

God, I want this arc to be over already!!!

The Kageroza arc continues, this time with reigais of the more powerful captains of Gotei 13, and Ichigo keeps losing his powers. What happened to Nozomi that has her so traumatized?

Episode 325 "For the Sake of the Believers! Byakuya vs. Hitsugaya!" (信ずるものの為に！白哉vs日番谷！) June 7, 2011

Episode 326 "The Two Hinamori, Hitsugaya's Resolution" (ふたりの雛森、日番谷の覚悟)  June 14, 2011


Episode 327 "Pride of the Kuchiki Family! Byakuya vs. Byakuya!" (朽木家の誇り！白哉VS白哉！) June 21, 2011


Episode 328 "Defeat Kageroza! Shinigami, All-Out War!" (影狼佐を倒せ！死神、総力戦！) June 28, 2011

Naruto Shippuden anime June schedule

Naruto finally found Sasuke and is going to fight him!!!! Sasuke in his rage and hatred almost killed Sakura! Sasuke's resolve is to destroy Konoha!

Episode 214 "The Burden" (背負うべき重荷) June 2, 2011
Episode 215 "Two Fates" (宿命のふたり) June 9, 2011
Episode 216 "Top-Class Shinobi" (一流の忍) June 16, 2011
Episode 217 "Infiltrator" (潜入者) June 23, 2011
Episode 218 "Nations on the Move" (動き出す大国) June 30, 2011