The 2013 JAPAN FILM FESTIVAL OF SAN FRANCISCO PARTNERS WITH J-POP SUMMIT FESTIVAL TO PRESENT AN EXCITING LINE-UP OF ANIME FEATURE FILM PREMIERES AT NEW PEOPLE CINEMA

The First-Ever Dedicated Japanese Film Festival For The S.F. Bay Area Opens In Late July At NEW PEOPLE Cinema Featuring Exciting Premieres Of Hunter X Hunter, Naruto Shippuden, Resident Evil: Damnation, Tiger & Bunny, And Director Mamoru Hosoda’s Wolf Children

San Francisco, CA, May 22, 2013– The 2013 J-POP Summit Festival, the popular annual San Francisco summertime Japanese Pop Culture celebration, has just announced an exciting anime program to complement the launch of the Japan Film Festival of San Francisco, the first dedicated annual Japanese film festival for Northern California and the S.F. Bay Area.

VIZ MEDIA’S HAIKASORU IMPRINT DELIVERS THE LATEST NOVEL IN THE VAMPIRE HUNTER D SAGA WITH THE RELEASE OF NOBLE V: GREYLANCER

Witness The Beginning of The Three Thousand Year War Of Vampire Hunter D In This Exciting Novel By Famed Horror/Sci-fi Author Hideyuki Kikuchi

San Francisco, CA, May 22, 2013 – VIZ Media’s Haikasoru literary imprint delivers a bloodthirsty new chapter of the legendary Vampire Hunter D saga with the North American release of NOBLE V: GREYLANCER, now available in stores. The new fantasy novel by Hideyuki Kikuchi, carries an MSRP of $14.99 U.S. / $16.99 CAN. The release also includes a bonus novelette titled, “An Irreplaceable Existence.” An eBook edition is also available for the Amazon Kindle, Apple’s iBooks Store, and the Barnes & Noble’s Nook Books Store.

HOUSTON, May 21, 2013 — Sentai Filmworks is proud to announce their newest acquisition: This Boy Caught a Merman!  From rising star Soubi Yamamoto, creator of This Boy Can Fight Aliens, and the innovative CoMix Wave Films studios comes a tail of a different color.  Sometimes finding the right person is like searching for a single drop in the entire ocean.

Kinetic Anime Action Series About A Psychic War Between Seven Kings To Be Fully Developed For The North American Market

San Francisco, CA, May 20, 2013 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest publisher, distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, continues to expand its range of anime offerings for 2013 as it announces that it has become the North American master licensee for the anime series – K.

VIZ Media will manage the domestic home video, television rights, and online rights and distribution, as well as oversee the licensing and development of a range of new products and collectables based on the property.

VIZ Kids Launches Popular Series, Including POKÉMON BLACK AND WHITE, POKÉMON ADVENTURES: DIAMOND AND PEARL/PLATINUM And POKÉMON ADVENTURES: HEARTGOLD AND SOUL SILVER, In The Important British And Irish Markets

San Francisco, CA, May 20, 2013 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media) brings the fun and adventure of the popular POKÉMON manga (graphic novel) franchise to the United Kingdom and Ireland for the first time. Simon & Schuster U.K. is the official distributor of VIZ Media titles in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Exclusive Premieres Include Dreams For Sale, Himuzu, Lesson Of The Evil, Library Wars, Platinum Data, Space Battleship Yamato And More At First-Ever NorCal/Bay Area Dedicated Japanese Film Celebration; Festival Will Welcome Library Wars Director Shinsuke Sato As Guest of Honor

San Francisco, CA, May 20, 2013 – The 2013 J-POP Summit Festival, the popular yearly San Francisco summertime Japanese Pop Culture celebration, has announced the launch of the Japan Film Festival of San Francisco, the first fully-dedicated annual Japanese film event for Northern California and the S.F. Bay Area.

new provided by ANN

In collaboration with Tezuka Productions, French apparel company Lacoste is producing a special collection inspired by the works of prolific manga creator Osamu Tezuka (Mighty Atom/Astro Boy, Black Jack, Jungle Emperor/Kimba the White Lion, Phoenix). The company began accepting pre-orders for T-shirts and polos at its Lacoste L!VE Harajuku Olympia Annex store on Saturday. The manga-inspired apparel is also available through Lacoste‘s online shop.

The six shirts feature designs from Astro Boy, Black Jack, and The Mysterious Underground Men science-fiction manga. T-shirts will sell for 7,875 yen (about US$78), and polos will sell for 16,800 yen (US$165).

Sonic Lost World (Credit: Sega)

By Derrick J. Lang, Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sonic the Hedgehog is rolling with Nintendo.

Sega says it will exclusively release the next three games starring the popular blue critter on Nintendo platforms. The first title will be called “Sonic Lost World” and is set for release on the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS later this year.

“With ‘Sonic Lost World,’ we’re going to introduce new gameplay and enemies, which is always fun,” said John Cheng, president and chief financial officer of Sega of America Inc. “In terms of Sonic and his friends, he’ll have his same friends there, and I think there’ll be some new ones as well. It’s not a reiteration. It’s going to be all new.”

news provided by bonappetit.com

Hot on the heels of the news that it has stolen Burger King’s second-place throne, Wendy’s brand-new store in one of Tokyo’s fanciest neighborhoods has introduced the Premium Menu, featuring square patties topped with foie gras and truffles.

Topped with an intent-to-sell-in-California-sized slab of gavaged goose liver, the Foie Gras Rossini Burger can be yours (assuming you’ve made it to Japan) for the Premium Price of $16. If your wallet’s a little light, or you prefer your foie gras to come from more reputable kitchens, you can order the Truffle and Porcini Grilled Chicken Sandwich, which clocks in around $12.50. It’s hard to tell how much they’d cost as a combo meal, but onion rings and Diet Pepsi have been the preferred pairings for foie gras in haute cuisine circles since the mid-60s or maybe not.

news provided by Deadline London and Otaku USA

As something of a follow-up to last week’s news that Monster would be getting the live-action treatment courtesy of Guillermo Del Toro, the Weinstein Co. announced it has obtained worldwide distribution rights to a live-action adaptation of Yasuomi Umetsu’s 1998 OVA Kite.

When “anime” meant going to a small aisle in the back of Blockbuster Video and perusing a motley collection of VHS tapes from publishers like Central Park Media and Streamline Pictures, Kite had something of a reputation for being crazier than its contemporaries, which were already plastered top to bottom in “ABSOLUTELY NOT FOR CHILDREN” stickers.

news provided by Otaku USA

It seems like not a week goes by when we don’t feature an article about some new Evangelion merchandise. Hey, we’ll stop reporting on it just as soon as they stop making the stuff (but considering it’s been coming out in a pretty much constant stream since 1994, don’t expect that to happen anytime soon).

This week, we decided to get down and dirty in the Tokyo trenches and try out some of the latest Eva-branded merch, which involved an artery-clogging, nine-patty hamburger, stale coffee, and putting some pretty strong liquid directly into our eyeballs. Don’t say we never did nothin’ for you, dear readers.

Today is Mother’s Day, and we’ve made some very special Mother’s Day cards for you to share with the mothers in your life.

Hana, from Wolf Children, is a fierce, protective, and loving mother. Check out this heart-warming movie on our official site:http://wolfchildrenmovie.com

synopsis:
Wolf Children is a staggeringly beautiful animated feature film from director Mamoru Hosoda (Summer Wars). This epic cinematic achievement follows Hana, a woman who falls in love with a Wolf Man and gives birth to two half human, half wolf children. After the tragic death of her beloved, Hana seeks refuge in rural town where she attempts to build a life for herself and her children.

Anime Expo proudly announces voice actor Kazuhiko Inoue as a Guest of Honor for AX2013! Mr. Inoue has a prolific and memorable body of work extending from the 1970s through today, including seminal anime series like Candy Candy and Space Battleship Yamato, to contemporary hits like Naruto and Fruits Basket.