Takumi-kun Series Memorial 2009-2012 DVD Collection

Fans of the "Takumi-kun Series" [like me] may have noticed recently that the official website has been updated, and if you have and you do not live in Japan [like me], you may have went from extremely excited to completely heartbroken [LIKE ME!!].

It’s only expected that at some point all entries in a series will be combined into one collection and on September 19th distributors Pony Cannon will be releasing the Takumi-kun Series Memorial 2009-2012 DVD box set! Director Takeshi Yokoi's collection includes the dramatic and romantic films "Niji Iro no Glass", "Bibo no Detail" and "Ano, Hareta Aozora" that starred Kyosuke Hamao and Daisuke Watanabe, the quintessential pairing of Takumi and Gii. Ryouma Baba and Taiki Naito’s beautiful "Pure" is also here. Not included is the first movie "Soshite Harukaze ni Sayayaite" that starred Tomo Yanagishita and Keisuke Kato, so sorry to those who may have liked the original with its cop out kisses that weren't kisses and insanely bright, washed out love scene.

Fabulous as the romance of these four movies are, the added gems make this collection extra special, including a CD soundtrack (a long desired item amongst fans), bonus DVD, photo book and postcards, all wrapped up in a Shido High School blazer box.

Now the bad news: It’s technically ONLY available as a reservation item for those in the Pony Cannon Club! At this time it doesn’t appear that the collection will be released for general sales from the typical online shopping websites you frequent. And to add salt to my wound: those in Japan who are able to get their hands on this limited edition item will also have the capability of entering a postcard submission contest to attend a meet-and-greet with Kyosuke Hamao and Daisuke Watanabe in Tokyo on December 1st. @$&#@!!!

CD Japan has it listed as a special request item for $245.05. If you are a huge fan like me (long time Daisuke Watanabe crush over here!), cross your finger and hope for the best.

Shinsei Rock Musical Bleach REprise Cast

The rock musical remake of Kubo Tite's Bleach manga is returning to Tokyo this summer in Shinsei Rock Musical Bleach REprise. This is a revival of the musical that was performed in six locations nationwide last year.

The musical will run from August 30th through September 9th at the Shinagawa Stellar Ball. The cast includes several new cast members, including a new Ichigo actor from last year's Shinsei run.

• Masashi Ōyama as Kisuke Urahara
• Eisuke Tsuda as Jūshirō Ukitake
• Kōhei Norizuki as Ichigo Kurosaki
• Miki Satou as Rukia Kuchiki  
• Kōsuke Kujirai as Renji Abarai  
• Yūya Kido as Tōshirō Hitsugaya
• Motohiro Ōta as Byakuya Kuchiki
• Isamu Ishizaka as Shunsui Kyrōraku
• Kanami Ayano as Haruka (original stage play character)
• Shinya Niiro as Niiro Shinya (original stage play character)

Check out the official website here.  [Source: Natalie via ANN]

Sengoku Basara - Moonlight Party

CAPCOM's Sengoku Basara is getting its first live-action television show next month entitled "Sengoku Basara -Moonlight Party."

It will star actor/singer GACKT as Oda Nobunaga, as well as Kento Hayashi as Date Masamune and Kōhei Takeda as Sanada Yukimura.


In addition to his role as Nobunaga, GACKT will contribute the ending theme song "Hakuro."  The TV show will premiere on July 12th on MBS.  It will run every Thursday night at 1:25 am.   [Source: Cinema Today via ANN]

LEGO x INCEPTION

A brilliantly made video crossing the awesome world of Inception and Lego was created from an academic team project, spanning 12 weeks and representing about 1,000 hours of work.   This is too incredible for words and was absolutely time and effort well spent.  Check out the video below. You'll be sorry if you don't.  [Source: VFX via Kotaku]

LEGO 'INCEPTION' from VFX on Vimeo.

Game of Thrones Iron Throne Replica Statue

Prepare to call your home King's Landing this November. The moment this replica arrives on your doorstep your dolls and figures will be fighting to declare themselves King and sit upon The Iron Throne!
Dark Horse Deluxe is at it again, continuing their alliance with HBO and Gentle Giant Studios to bring the fans of the realm a 14" replica of the iconic prop. (If you haven't already seen their collaboration on the beautiful Daenerys bust, make sure you check out Third Impact's post here.

Get your pre-orders in over at BigBadToyStore.com while you can. Only 500 Iron Thrones have been forged. However, you might need to have the wallet of a Lannister to afford the $274.99 price tag.

[Editor's Note: And for those well-off Lannisters who laugh at the $275 price tag -- how about a life size replica iron throne. I say again, a LIFE SIZE replica of the Iron Throne.  The throne is constructed of hand-finished, hand-painted fiberglass and fire-proof resin.  At over 7' in height,  close to 6' in depth and 5.5' in width, this custom-made throne weighs a whopping 350 pounds with a whopping price tag to match.   The Life Size Replica Iron Throne will cost you $30,000! ]

Fujimi Orchestra on DVD

I like BL. I like Shota Takasaki. I like Yusuke Arai. That being said you can imagine that I have certainly been following the live action adaptation of Akizuki Koh’s Fujimi Ni-chone Kokyogakudan Series: Kanrei Zensen Conductor (Fujimi Orchestra Series: Cold Front Conductor).

Fujimi Orchestra’s concert master and first violinist Yuuki Morimura's (Takasaki) life becomes turned upside down when the amateur group surprisingly lands “musical genius” Kei Tonoin (Arai) as their new conductor. Strict doesn't begin to describe Kei’s style, but when the orchestra sees a mass improvement in their playing, the adoration of its members is off the charts… except for Yuuki, who feels like a failure as its stand-in leader. And it surely does not help when he begins to believe that his friend and long-time crush (played by An Assassin star Sayuri Iwata) is in love with the man who scrutinizes everything, including his violin playing. A defeated Yuuki believes the only thing left to do is quit his position in the orchestra. If everything Yuuki believes is true about hard ass Kei, it would stand to reason that the conductor would be pleased with the turn of events; however, much to Yuuki’s surprise, Kei is adamant that he not leave and confesses his love for him! This is only the beginning of our boy’s love story…

It’s not worth sugar coating the plot. As with the manga, drama CDs and novels, it can be hard to swallow the romance of our main couple at first, namely because of what can only be seen as rape during their first intimate moment together, even if brought on by what the characters would call "a misunderstanding”. Still, there are many elements to Fujimi’s story that have made the story a hit BL in Japan. Drama, romance, a touch of comedy and classical music desire to hit all the right notes for you viewers.
Fujimi will be available starting June 6th at CD Japan and YesAsia.

Meanwhile, sit back and relax to watch the movie’s trailer.

And if that wasn’t enough, you can watch a clip of the movie too!

Now everyone shout it with me.... "STOPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Assassin's Creed Movie Update

Let's keep the love for Assassin's Creed going today.  From the look of things, the Assassin's Creed Movie is a done deal.  Sony has already registered 16 domains for such a picture, all registered on Oct 20th, the day before Variety's story reporting that Sony Pictures is closing in on a deal to develop a film franchise based on the AC game.

"Through the division, Ubisoft wants to maintain more creative control over the development of its games for other platforms rather than broker traditional one-off licensing deals with studios, something that proved key during the bidding process with Sony."

The project will be overseen by Ubisoft Motion Pictures, so we can be sure (and hopeful) that they'll be scrutinous with the adaptation. [Source: Kotaku]

Akira Live Action Greenlit

After what has seemed like an endless loop of rumors (with names like Leonardo DiCaprio to Keanu Reeves being placed in the mix) and a massive developmental nightmare (with re-budgeting, for example), Warner Bros. has officially given its live-action remake of Katsuhiro Otomo's anime cult hit "Akira" the greenlight. Spanish director Jaume Collet-Serra (Orphan, Unknown, House of Wax) will helm the newly-budgeted $90 million movie about biker Tetsuo Shima, and his incredible psychic powers and the biker gang member Shotaro Kaneda, who tries to stop Tetsuo from releasing Akira. According to Variety, shooting will begin in late February/early March 2012. Garrett Hedlund (TRON: Legacy) seems to be the front runner for the lead role as Kaneda.

Twitch reports that Gary Oldman has been offered the role of Colonel; while Helena Bonham-Carter has been offered Lady Miyako. This, at the very least, has me intrigued simply because you just happen to have two of my all-time personal favorite actor/actress!

With a smaller budget, and the mere fact that I hate seeing my beloved anime titles in the hands of Hollywood, I don't know if this movie could be a hit. There's a reason why specific titles, such as Akira, have taken the mediums of manga and anime. There are things that only anime can do. Can a live action movie adapation capture the violence, the gritty, the supernatural, gruesome nature of Akira and leave us in complete awe of all the epicness? I am clinging on to the fact that Otomo will exec produce Akira. But does doing an awesome job, mean that instead of making a movie that closely resembles the anime we all love, it will instead be a recreation -- another way of telling the story...

Grave of the Fireflies Live Action

Released back in 2005, Nippon TV produced a live-action version of the acclaimed 1988 animated feature, Grave of the Fireflies (Hotaru no Haka) directed by Studio Ghibli's Isao Takahata, and based on a book by Akiyuki Nosaka. The heart-rendering story was recreated as a live action movie for TV to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II.

Hotaru no Haka remains to be a profound and powerful movie, even in comparison to non-war movies. To quickly recap, the story takes place toward the end of World War II in Japan, and follows a young boy, Seita, and his younger sister Setsuko who end up on their own struggling to survive.

If you've seen the anime, or read the book, then you already know what kind of state you'll be left as you watch the movie. Beautiful and tragic, this might be why I'm so late in finally watching the live action movie. What's most obvious from the live action is that it closely follows its original source. The casting for the movie is spot on. We definitely get more context behind Hisako Sawano, Seita's aunt, character and her back-story. But I'll have to admit, even knowing that, it still didn't stop me from yelling curse words at the screen.

As I said, the live action closely follows the book, so there are various differences if you compare it to the anime. I wouldn't say one is better than the other. Rather, I see it as another take of the source. The anime starts the movie with an already dead Seita as he flashbacks to tell his story. The storytelling in the anime is unprecedented, leaving viewers in tears with a simple shake of Setsuko's fruit drop can. In the live action, we follow Seita and Setsuko as the events are occuring. We get a larger focus on other characters including the aunt and their cousin, as well as other individuals they meet. Beautifully paced, and nicely done in all categories.

Hotaru no Haka, in all forms, is a definite must-see. So grab that can of fruit drops, and some kleenex and engulf yourself in this incredible story once more.

New "An Assassin" Trailer

My October movie watch list is quite long and near the top of said list is Director Go Ohara’s “An Assassin”. The action film noir premiering in Japan on October 8th is led by one of my favorite Japanese actors, the talented Ryoma Baba (star of such films as “Crazy-izm” and “Takumi-kun: Pure”) in addition to Sayuri Iwata (“Lupin no Kiganjo”) and Yuki Kubota (“Local Boys!”).

Story summary translation from Official Website :

Ryo Hanaki (Ryoma Baba) was raised to be a professional assassin. During one mission though, things go horribly wrong after an attractive high school girl named Rio (Sayuri Iwata) accidentally gets in the way. Hanaki has always spent days as a heartless assassin, but his life starts to change after he helps Rio. By a twist of fate, Rio, who was a complete unknown, suddenly becomes a target overnight. A single mistake from his decision to save Rio has seemingly decided the destiny of the masses...

The promotional theme "Heroine" by Sindy can be purchased at CD Japan.

Catch the new 90-sec trailer below or visit the movie’s Official YouTube Channel page for this and previous entries.

Messiah Gets Live Action Adaptation

One of the most recent live action adaptions I’ve been keeping an eye on is Akira Hiyoshimaru's “Messiah.” The manga currently seralized in Kadokawa Shoten’s “Gekkan Asuka” magazine tells the story of SAKURA, an elite intelligence group for the Fifth Unit of the Special Police Bureau with a license to kill. Like any good undercover operative who erases their past and dons a secret identity, the movie version follows SAKURA candidate Eiri Kaido (played by D2 Member and “Pole Dancing Boys” star Atsushi Arai) and his assigned partner Haku (played by "Tenimyu" alumni Masahiro Inoue), who pose as students at a high school to protect and monitor the activities of a student whose brother is a terrorist. However, no mission is ever simple and that is when Eiri and his fellow teammates must rely on their Messiah, which within their cirlce are their partners to protect them from danger and possible death. Who doesn’t like handsome guys who wear high school blazers by day, long black coats at night, pack heat and can kick your ass? Other stars in the film include "Tenimyu" and “Kamen Rider” series actors Syo Jinnai and Minehiro Kinomoto.

Director Shunsuke Kaneko, who helmed “Death Note”, will see his finished product on the screen in Japan on October 15th.

For our Japanese-reading followers out there, pick up the most recent issue of “Neo Actor” magazine for an interview with stars Atsushi Arai and Syo Jinnai.

Check out the trailer:



Official Messiah Website

Tenimyu Single: Jumping up! High touch!

Seeing as I’m back on my "Prince of Tennis" musical (or "Tenimyu") kick lately, I bring news from this autumn’s volume 15 issue of "Neo Actor" magazine, which includes an interview with Yuki Ogoe, Daiki Ise and Kazuhiro Okazaki (performing as Echizen Ryoma, Wakashi Hiyoshi and Shinji Ibu respectively). The folks in Japan can catch the "Dream Live 2011" concerts on November 5th and 12th, but we all don’t have to wait to enjoy the 2nd Season tunes. Just when I thought I got the chorus from "F.G.K.S" out of my head, this energentic diddy comes along...

Four editions of the musical anchor single “Jumping up! High touch!” are set to release on September 28th. Fortunately CD Japan will "serve" up all four!

• TypeA: [Limited Editon] CD featuring All Members version and Seigaku Members version, karaoke, and Voice Collection, including DVD bonus of the single's promotional video filmed on July 26th at Tokyo Dome City Hall and "Making Of" special.
• Type B: [Regular Edition] CD featuring All Members version, Fudomine Members version, additional track, karaoke and Voice Collection.
• Type C: [Regular Edition] CD featuring All Members version, St. Rudolph & Yamabuki Members version, additional track, karaoke and Voice Collection.
• Type D: [Regular Editon] CD featuring All Members version and Hyotei Members version, additional track, karaoke and Voice Collection.

Castlevania Movie Update

Looks like things are brewing for the movie adaptation of the incredibly massive video game series "Castlevania." James Wan, the co-mastermind behind the Saw franchise, and director of Dead Silence and Death Sentence, will be co-writing and directing Castlevania. (Sylvain White was originally slated to direct.)

In an exclusive interview with Bloody-Disgusting, James Wan goes to say:

"I'm very fresh on this project, so its early stages and I'm still trying to work things out, but the producers love my vision for it. I'll be working on the script with a writer to give it a new spin, different to the previous versions. This will have my stamp on it which Konami is very excited about.

The thing I love about what Konami did with Castlevania, was taking the iconic Dracula mythology and Eastern-European setting, and retelling it with a Japanese pop-cultural sensibility. That’s the East-meets-West tone I want to visually expand on for the film. I’m thrilled by the opportunity to make a highly stylized, fantasy, action film that focuses on the gothic storyline and the cool, anime-like characters. For once, the human hero is as sexy and dangerous as the vampire villain, and his weapon of choice was what attracted me to the project in the first place – The Vampire Killer Whip.” [Source: Bloody-Disgusting]

All I can say is the artwork is absolutely striking and impressive, hopefully it will translate well.

FUNimation at Otakon 2009

FUNimation announces several recent acquisitions over the course of Otakon weekend. One in particular has got me excited, so let's get down to it.

First up is four "Detective Conan" movies - The Last Wizard of the Century; Captured in Her Eyes; Countdown to Heaven; and The Phantom of Baker Street. FUNimation will release each movie individually beginning Winter 2009. On the live action realm comes "Daytime Drinking," a comedy produced by StONEwork Film Production. This is set to be released sometime in 2010.

FUNimation has acquired home entertainment, broadcast, digital and merchandise rights to the first season (24 episodes) of the post-apocalyptic sci-fi anime series "Casshern Sins" from Tatsunoko Productions! This sci-fi series is directed by Shigeyasu Yamauchi (“Blood+”, “Digimon”, “Dragon Ball Z”) produced by Tatsunoko Productions (“Speed Racer”, “Robotech”, “Gatchaman”) and animated by Madhouse (“Claymore”, “Hellsing Ultimate”, “Death Note”, “Gungrave”). FUNimation Entertainment will release the first season of the series in two 12 episode sets fall 2010.

Casshern Sins is a revisioning of the early seventies series “Neo-Human Casshern” presented with a unique animation style. This sci-fi android series begins in a time when humans are subjugated by androids. Desperate for freedom, humans summon a mysterious girl named Luna in order to save mankind. Braiking Boss, leader of the androids, fears what this girl may do, and sends three assassins to remove her. The strongest of these assassins, Casshern, manages to track down and kill Luna. This triggers a cataclysmic event which sets in motion the end of the world.

Hundreds of years later, the world is in ruin and both humans and androids fear for their lives. Casshern, who has disappeared since Luna’s death, returns to the world with no memory. Thus starts his journey of self discovery and redemption that will determine the future of both humans and androids.

Changing gears a bit,...listen up all you diehard original Dragon Ball fans...the next acquisition is a big one. FUNimation Entertainment has got their hands on the original masters for the ENTIRE Dragon Ball Z anime series, episodes and films. They plan on releasing all as the Dragon Box for the very first time in the U.S. The Dragon Box will be produced from the original Dragon Box masters after a frame by frame restoration and will span the entire 291 episode television series and all 13 of its movies.

You can grab the first of seven Dragon Boxes nationwide on November 10, 2009 and is retailed at $79.98. Dragon Box One will include the first 42 episodes, uncut, on 6 discs. It will feature the original Japanese audio (with options for an English track or English subtitles), the original episode previews, complete opening and closing credits and a collector’s booklet.

Other FUNimation announcements include the cast lists for "Nabari No Ou" and "Spice and Wolf."

Ponyo and Blood U.S. Theater Dates

According to Frank Marshall, one of the producers for the U.S. release of Hayao Miyazaki's latest film "Ponyo," the movie "will be opening on 800 screens in August, by far the biggest opening for a Miyazaki film…." He had previously revealed that the American Ponyo trailer will premiere during the 4th of July weekend. The film itself will open on August 14 after advance screenings in Los Angeles and Berkeley, California.

An another note, Samuel Goldwyn Films revealed 11 of the theaters where Chris Nohan's live-action film adaptation of Production I.G's Blood: The Last Vampire anime will open on July 10. The film will play in the American cities of Berkeley, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Chicago, Cambridge, Dallas, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. [Source: ANN]

Live Action Blood: The Last Vampire Teaser

With increasing talks of Hollywood Live Action adaptations of our favorite anime titles, it's hard to remove the unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach. But just like I agree that despite being pro-sub there are some good english dubs out there, I have to believe that there has to be some adaptations that do justice to the original work. When I first reported on the live action adaptation of "Blood: The Last Vampire," there was something about it that told me not to judge ahead of time - that this adaptation shows promise. It's months later now, and a 31-second teaser is now streaming and I have to say, my first impressions are positive.


South Korea's Jeon Ji-hyun (under the credited name of Gianna Jun) plays the main character Saya, a 16-year-old sword-wielding girl hunting down supernatural creatures. Japanese actress Koyuki plays her opponent Onigen. The film will open in Japan on May 29 (under the title Last Blood), in the United Kingdom on June 12, and then in France on June 17. No American release plans for the movie have been officially announced yet. The Korean news website Star News reported last August that Universal Pictures acquired the domestic distribution rights, but the reported 2009 American release date is unconfirmed. [Source: ANN]

JICC Hosts "The World of Anime Fandom" and "Honey Clover"

There's always something brewing at the Japan Information and Culture Center. Since the first time I discovered them, they have never disappointed with their continuous flow of live action, anime, and inspired exhibits.

To celebrate their one-year anniversary of JICC's monthly anime series offerings, the DC Anime Club will give a presentation on "The World of Anime Fandom," including the cosplay phenomenon. As a special treat, you can win a prize by attending in costume. The event takes place on Friday, January 16th at 6:30 p.m.

JICC will also be screening, in association with DC Anime Club, "Honey and Clover" on January 23rd. Based on the best-selling manga series by Chika Umino, "Honey and Clover" is the touching story of five art school friends struggling to navigate the tricky transition from student to adult. Their ideas of life and love are forever changed when they befriend the talented young Hagumi, whose very presence seems to complicate their quest for personal and professional fulfillment. Honey and Clover received the Kodansha Manga Award in 2003 and is immensely popular in Japan.

These events are free, but requires your RSVP to Jiccrsvpwinter09@embjapan.org. For more information, visit JICC.

Priest Joins the Live Action Remake Squad

Tokyopop's graphic novel "Priest," written by Min-Woo Hyung, is set to be adapted to a live action. As stated in their press release: The story, set in a world ravaged by centuries of war between man and vampire, follows a warrior priest who turns against the church to track down a murderous band of vampires.

Screen Gems has just announceed that Scott Charles Steward, the director of the upcoming apocalyptic epic "Legion<" has signed on to direct "Priest," with a screenplay by Cory Goodman.

Keanu Reeves Hopes to Star in Cowboy Bebop Live Action

Actor Keanu Reeves (The Matrix, A Scanner Darkly, Johnny Mnemonic) is eager to play the lead role in Twentieth Century Fox's proposed live action film adaptation of Cowboy Bebop, according to the MTV Movies Blog.

Erwin Stoff, a film producer who worked closely with Reeves on The Matrix and A Scanner Darkly, told the IFMagazine.com entertainment website in July that a film development deal was signed. Stoff and Reeves both emphasized a desire to remain faithful to the original work.

Reeves said that Cowboy Bebop's "Western film noir aspect, […] that kind of Old West, bordertown, low-tech science fiction aspect" attracted him to the project. He added that Stoff and the development team have already hired a writer who is penning a scene outline. Right now, the outline includes a drug, developed by the military, that is partially based on an element from the anime. Reeves explained, "We're taking the Red Eye [story], the beginning part of the series." He acknowledged that the episodic nature of the story will be difficult to adapt into a feature-length work: "[…] It's got so much of an origin-story obligation; you've got to get people up to speed, but you don't want to do much of that. There are a lot of things to take into consideration, but we think we can do something good."

Watanabe's original Cowboy Bebop series follows the motley crew of the spaceship Bebop as it travels throughout the solar system in search of the next job. The anime distributor Bandai Entertainment and Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block released the 1998 television series in the United States, and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released the subsequent 2001 animated movie. The anime was also adapted into two separate manga series, and Tokyopop released both manga series in North America.

Update (12/19/2008): Well, it's official, seems like Keanu's wishes have been granted. He will indeed play the role of Spike. For obvious reasons, I am choosing not to make any comments. I will just sit here and observe. Hmm, maybe one comment - I have no "problems" with Keanu, it's the mere action of adapting this revolutionary anime title. [Source: ANN and ICv2]

Oldboy Remake

Apparently, Director Steven Spielberg and Will Smith have been brainstorming about a possible collaboration to remake Chan-wook Park's ingenious 2003 film "Oldboy." The film was adapted from Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi's manga published here by Dark Horse Comics. Okay, I just don't understand it. First of all, the movie isn't that old - by no means does its age warrant a remake. Secondly, as I try to contain my frustration, "Oldboy" was amazing, perfect, innovative, and incredible. Why, oh why, should we even be having this discussion? I don't get it.

All this talk about live action remakes is infuriating. Ghost in the Shell? Evangelion? Akira? Ninja Scroll? Need I bring up Speed Racer?? Arghh! And speaking of Akira and Ninja Scroll, Leonardo DiCaprio is in the ranks to produce these live actions. Sorry, perhaps I'm just being too narrow-minded, but if you're the big fan of anime as you say you are, wouldn't you be on "our" side? You're taking titles that has lend itself as the root and origin of anime and compromising its grandeur stature. You're saying there are die hard loyal fans that would support this, but here's one die hard fan that isn't jumping with glee. In fact, I wouldn't be this enraged if I didn't already have the highest respect, admiration, and devotion for these titles.