The official Japanese website for the upcoming Strait Jacket OVA series has posted the original English presentation video used in 2005 at the Tokyo International Film Festival’s Tokyo Project Gathering. It was shown by T.O. Entertainment, Inc. to interest overseas producers in becoming co-producers for the OVA. I don’t know if it influenced their decision, but Manga Entertainment announced at their Anime Expo panel in July that they would co-produce the series.
At the Manga Entertainment panel, the series was described as “Leon the Professional meets Blade Runner…but steampunk.” According to T.O, the show is a “gun/action/fantasy story†set in a world where magic and industry coexist. In this world, demon tribes do battle, magicians protect humans from those battles, and the humans who overuse their magic powers become evil creatures.
The series is based on a very popular “light†novel series written by Ichiro Sakaki (Scrapped Princess) and illustrated by You Fujishiro. The Strait Jacket OVA will have three episodes and will be directed by Shinji Ushiro from a screenplay by Sakaki-san. The animation production will be handled by the studio Feel (Futakoi Alternative - TV & Nagasarete Airantou - TV). It is set to air in Japan next April. Manga Entertainment tentatively plans an American release for August 2008.
ANN Stories:
Original Strait Jacket English Pilot Video Streamed
Manga Entertainment to Release Strait Jacket
Japanese Source:
Moon Phase
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The re-imagining of Eva continues. This time there will be, what the Bandai Channel calls, the “first official super-deformed series” based on Neon Genesis Evangelion. This spin-off is called Petit Eva ~Evangelion@School~. According to ANN, the series:
“…spoofs the psychological science fiction drama by reimagining the characters as classmates in Tokyo-3’s Nerv School, headed by Principal GendÅ Ikari and Misato-sensei. The student body includes three different Rei ’sisters,’ the EVA-01 mobile weapon reimagined as the school bully EvanchÅ, and the ill-fated Jet Alone robot as JA-ko, a “hidden character” in the form of a shy android girl.“
The series will actually be three shorts (directed by Shunichi Miki). Two of the shorts, “Hiru Yasumi” (”Noon Recess”) and “SÅji” (”Cleaning”) will be “nonsensical gag pieces about daily life at the Nerv School” and the third, “TaizÅ” (”Exercises”), will feature the characters as they perform a rhythmic dance. The shorts will be distributed on the internet and will be shown at certain event venues in mid-August.
The character designs are by Ryuusuke Hamamoto and has inspired 4-koma manga serializations in four different magazines…Monthly ShÅnen Ace, Newtype, Dengeki Hobby Magazine, and Figure Oh. An example is shown on the right…including an ad for super-deformed figurines (not surprisingly there is other mechandise available including limited edition Doritos). You can see this and more from this 4-koma series at the evangelion.co.jp site.
Image © Gainax, Khara
ANN Stories:
Petit Eva Super-Deformed Series to Be Made into Video
Petit Eva Computer-Graphics Video Details Revealed
Japanese Source:
Moon Phase, Moon Phase update
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In my article, Anime & Manga News: July 21st 2007 Edition, I had noted that “Weekly Morning” Kodansha was sponsoring a second manga contest…The 2nd Morning International Manga Competition. The article also mentioned that the winner of the first contest would be announced in August on their “e-morning†website.
Kodansha decided to let the cat out of the bag early and announced the winner at Comic-Con International 2007 in San Diego. The announcement was printed on a flyer promoting the second competition:
“The grand prize winning work of the first competition ‘Kage no Matsuri’ will be published in Issue #6 of ‘Morning 2′, slated for mid-October. It will be the opening manga of the magazine, with the cover also drawn by the winner.”
rem, the winner, confirmed this on her personal blog and posted an image of the flyer (above). As grand prize winner, she will also receive a cash prize of $5,000. Incidentally, she was a winner of Tokyopop’s Rising Stars of Manga contest in 2003.
Note: Anyone interested in entering the second competition, the deadline is December 31, 2007. You can read the details at the “e-morning†website.
ANN Story:
Tokyopop Artist Wins International Manga Contest
Source:
ComiPress
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Serious fans of the space opera Legend of the Galactic Heroes can look forward to the release by Japanese distributor Happinet and publisher Tokuma Shoten of the 73 hour, 46-DVD Legend Box. It will be released on December 21st in honor of its 20th anniversary. According to ANN:
“The aluminum-alloy case will include the three feature-length works, the 110 main series episodes, and the 52 side stories for a total of 165 installments (plus a booklet, an extras disc, and commemorative goods) for 262,500 yen (about US$2,212).”
ANN Story:
73-Hour, 46-DVD Galactic Heroes Box Offered in Japan
Japanese Source:
animeanime.jp
On a related note, the November issue (on sale September 19) of Monthly Comic RyÅ« (a Japanese manga magazine) will include a DVD of the first Legend of the Galactic Heroes project, “My Conquest is the Sea of Stars”, for free. This also will be in honor of the upcoming 20th anniversary of the anime as well as mark the first anniversary of Tokuma Shoten’s revival of the Monthly Comic RyÅ« magazine. The original RyÅ« was published from the late 1970s to the mid 1980s. Besides Yoshiki Tanaka’s Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Mamoru Oshii’s Kerberos & Tachiguishi and Masaomi Kanzaki’s Xenon have been serialized in the magazine.
ANN Story:
Japan’s Comic RyÅ« to Include Free Galactic Heroes Film
Japanese Source:
Chuosha
