Toei animation revenues on historic rise thanks to One Piece!

Great news for this company and the anime industry!

"The Japanese anime studio Toei Animation announced on Tuesday that it is revising its earnings forecast higher for the current fiscal year ending in March of 2012. Specifically, it is revising its estimated revenues for the second half of the year higher — and as a result, it projects that it will have the highest annual revenues in the company's history.

 Toei is raising its predicted revenues for the second half from 14 billion yen (about US$184 million) to 16.2 billion yen (US$213 million). Therefore, its predicted operating profits will also rise 30% from 2 billion yen (US$26 million) to 2.6 billion yen (US$34 million), and its predicted ordinary profits will rise 27.3% from 2.2 billion yen (US$29 million) to 2.8 billion yen (US$37 million). For the entire fiscal year, the predicted revenues will rise from 24.2 billion yen (US$318 million) to 29 billion yen (US$381 million) — a historic high for the company.

The resulting annual operating profits forecasted will rise from 3.1 billion yen (US$41 million) to 4 billion yen (US$53 million), and the resulting annual ordinary profits will also rise from 3.4 billion yen (US$45 million) to 4.2 billion yen (US$55 million). The company specifically credited the strong performance of the anime franchises One Piece and Suite Precure.

Projected revenues from One Piece character goods, events, and DVDs have increased for the second half. Toei Animation had already announced a revision to its earnings forecast on July 25. Between the two revisions, Toei has raised its projected revenues for the current fiscal year over 37% from the initial 21.1 billion yen (US$277 million) estimate. Last fiscal year, the studio reported annual revenues of 26.622 billion yen (US$349.6 million)."

Source: ANN

Junjo Mistake will get an anime!

The spin-off of Shungiku Nakamura's Junjo Romantica is also getting an adaptation to anime, according to an announcement by Ciel Tres Tres magazine by Kadokawa.

*sighs*

A Death Note live action movie by Warner Bros in the works too?!

X_X
The original Japanese version

This is still to be confirmed but director Shane Black indicated at his Long Beach Comic Con panel on Saturday that Warner Brothers' planned live-action film adaptation of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata's manga Death Note is still in the works.

However, Black added that the project was in jeopardy because the studio initially wanted to lose "the demon [Ryuk]. [They] don't want the kid to be evil…. They just kept qualifying it until it ceased to exist." Black said that "the creation of a villain, the downward spiral" of the main character Light has been restored in the script, and added that this is what the film should be about.

 Warner Brothers hired Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang; writer of the Lethal Weapon film series) to direct Death Note, shortly before Marvel Studios revealed that Black would also direct Iron Man 3.

Anthony Bagarozzi and Charles Mondry were slated to write the Death Note project's script. Warner Bros. had acquired the rights to the series from previous rights-owner Vertigo Entertainment in 2009. At the time, screenwriter brothers Vlas and Charles Parlapanides were attached to the project. "

Source: ANN

Oh, no... X_X First they want to ruin Akira and now Death Note, just for the sake of competing with Marvel movies?!?!


Madoka Magica Nominated for Nihon SF Taishō Award!


The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of Japan (SFWJ) announced that the Puella Magi Madoka Magica anime series is one of five nominees for the 32nd Nihon SF Taishō Award on Monday.

With this award, SFWJ honors the best in the fields of science fiction and fantasy during the past year. The Nihon SF Taishō Awards are the rough Japanese equivalent of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America's Nebula Awards.

Great news all around! :)

Black Rock Shooter anime will premiere on January

The eight-episode BRS television anime will premiere in the Fuji TV network’s Noitamina late-night timeslot in January.



hmm, only 8 episodes O_O? The quality should be stunning, then.

Interview with Alvin Lu: "We will miss the print magazine"

This is an interview conducted by ICvs2, in which they ask Alvin Lu, Senior Vicepresident and General Manager of Viz Media, about the reasons on why Shonen Jump USA will be digital only, starting on May 2012.

Also, some questions were directed at Hisashi Sasaki, who runs Shonen Jump at Viz co-parent Shueisha in Japan.

"After the stunning Viz Media announcement at New York Comic Con that it was canceling its North American Shonen Jump magazine in favor of a weekly digital edition, Weekly Shonen Jump Alpha (see “Viz Launching 'Weekly Shonen Jump Alpha'”), many questions remained.

 One was why Viz was canceling a comic title that’s the bestselling comic in North America many months of the year. ICv2 had the opportunity to ask additional questions about the company’s plans. We spoke to Alvin Lu, Senior Vice President and General Manager at Viz Media, and Hisashi Sasaki, who runs Shonen Jump at Viz co-parent Shueisha in Japan.

- Why are you canceling the print version of Shonen Jump in North America?
Alvin Lu: Once we had the possibility of doing a weekly publication digitally, it made the print magazine, not obsolete, but the content is not as fresh. We feel that manga in its native form is a periodical, a sort of live performance, as it were. We went with the print magazine in the first place because it was the closest we could get to that given the limitations that we faced at the time. Once the possibilities of digital came into play, doing something much more live and fresh came into play, having a print magazine lagging behind that became less essential.

-What’s the circulation of the print magazine?
Alvin Lu: About 125,000 right now. Wow, that’s a lot.

-Have you done any research on how those readers feel about migrating to digital? 
Alvin Lu: We have. Obviously there will be a segment of the readership that will miss the print magazine; we will miss the print magazine. We also understand that some of the subscriber base and the readers won’t want to move to a digital format. At the same time, I think what we saw here was the potential for something much larger. We want to give the current readers every opportunity to try out the digital magazine. If they don’t, we’re definitely respecting that. In some sense, our subscribers to Shonen Jump magazine are our most treasured fan base and we want to give them all the respect we can.

-What’s the relationship between print and digital Shonen Jump in Japan? 
Hisashi Sasaki: We don’t do it in Japan digitally; it’s print only.

-Why?
Hisashi Sasaki: We don’t think it’s necessary in Japan.

-Why is digital more necessary in the United States than it is in Japan?
 Hisashi Sasaki: In Japan there are about 20,000 bookstores in such a small area. There are more so-called convenience stores everywhere. People are so used to reading Shonen Jump magazine weekly, weekly, weekly--just go out of the home and just buy it. At the kiosk at the station, at the convenience stores, book stores, it’s much easier. That’s their kind of lifestyle. Instead of turning on the computer, starting up the Web browser, Japanese people are so used to reading paper print magazines.

-We understand the digital market for manga there was about $600 million dollars last year, so some must have a computer. 
Hisashi Sasaki: The $600 million dollar market was for graphic novels, not magazines. We don’t see the necessity to introduce magazines digitally in Japan.

-Are you hoping this will have an impact on illegal downloads? 
Alvin Lu: Yes, definitely. I think having the price point, the convenience of use of the platform we’ve developed (which I don’t think should be understated, with our ability to reach younger readers online, I actually think with that 99 cent price of entry it’s easier to get your favorite Shonen Jump titles every week this way than to go out of your way to an illegitimate source.

-How, if at all, does this affect your strategy for graphic novels here in the states, the collected editions? 
Alvin Lu: It’s complementary. Our digital and print strategies are moving toward a complementary model, but this in particular allows us, again, through the combination of the convenience, the breadth of reach, the price point, to really reach a larger potential base of new fans than we’re currently reaching. We’re hoping it will serve as a converter to get people hooked on the stories and for the ones that they really like they can get the permanent versions in the graphic novels which are available in print or in digital.

-As you know, 125,000 copies of Shonen Jump makes it one of the best-selling comics in the United States. You said you expected to do better in the digital form; what are your sales goals for the digital edition? 
Alvin Lu: They are quite aggressive. We’ll have to watch and see, but one of the immediate goals is to hope that we can bring along as many of the current readers of the Shonen Jump magazine as we can.

 -How are you going to get new readers? You said you expect it to be bigger ultimately than the print edition; what kind of marketing other than social media and PR and so forth are you doing? 
Alvin Lu: We have a number of marketing options. We’ve developed our online marketing capabilities in a number of ways. The Viz family of Websites itself draws a very significant amount of traffic. That will be one of the major entry points, and from there we will build a base. We’ll basically grow our marketing strategy from there.

-Are you going to do any free sampling? 
Alvin Lu: We’re doing some free sampling right now for a lot of the graphic novel titles. We feel that the 99 cent price point, that first introductory point of entry, that’s pretty close to a free sample. We’ve also found when people pay for that first taste we get a much better conversion down the road. That’s something we’re also hoping for as well. There will be free content as well. The basic package is paid for, but like any magazine publication we’ll be explaining more details as we go along. There are other components to the digital, to the magazine publication, a large part of that will be open to the public.

 -Are you going to sell this to any other platforms other than the Viz proprietary platform? 
Alvin Lu: We want to be in as many channels as possible. We’re starting with the Viz proprietary platform. We’d like to get the Viz Manga platform onto as many channels as possible. Same as with our graphic novels. Expand that in a way that makes sense. We want to be able to have the app and the experience of buying directly through the Viz store as much as possible. We’re also looking at distributing our content through other avenues as well.

-A year from now, how will you evaluate the success of this program? If it sells less than the physical Shonen Jump is now, will you regard that as a disappointment? 
Alvin Lu: The immediate goal is to get the circulation to the point that it is now. We’ll have to see what the adoption rate is before we can decide how quickly we can get there."

Kreasi dari Kardus Bekas

Part #6

Album Photo


Sekarang, mari kita memanfaatkan kardus bekas dan karton bekas. Jadi, ceritanya ini project lama yang sempat terbengkalai karena mati ide. Dan akhirnya finish juga album photo ini.

Bahan-bahan :
- Kardus bekas 2 buah
- Kertas kado
- Karton warna warni bekas (jumlah terserah)
- Ring dua buah

Caranya :
Kardus dilapisi dengan kertas kado (majalah juga boleh) untuk dijadikan cover. Kemudian, karton dipotong sesuai selera, boleh rapi boleh asal. Karena aku dapatnya karton-karton bekas yang potongannya nggak rapi, ya udah sekalian aja kubikin asal potongannya. Karton-karton tersebut ditempeli sama foto-foto, kemudian dihias pake tulisan-tulisan dari majalah atau bikin sendiri. Terakhir, lubangi karton dan cover dan pasang ring. Jadilah album photo made in dewe (sendiri)


Penampakan cover


   
  

Bagian dalam cover sengaja nggak aku lapisi kertas kado, biar tau kalo ini adalah produk daur ulang.

 

Karton yang ditempeli foto-foto dan dihias









Cute School Buses in Japan


Japanese kindergartens in order to reduce stress for the children, they made the school bus will be very cute and colorful decoration. The kids very enjoy the cute bus. Some adults also wanna try to take the cute school bus.























Zetman anime will premiere on April 2012


Osamu Nabeshima (D.Gray-man, Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas) will direct the show at TMS Entertainment (Cardfight!! Vanguard, Devilman Lady). The series will premiere next April!!!

(!!!!!!!!)

source: ANN

Yokai Watch Anime will be produced by Level 5

Video game developer Level 5 has confirmed that its new game project “Yokai Watch” will get a manga and anime TV series adaptation. The story revolves around young boy Keita who becomes friends with the ghost Whisper and obtains a “yokai watch” that allows him to see ghosts.
  .

This looks very interesting, the yokai theme is in vogue  :)

Source: ANN

New Section: Anime Discussion Corner

Ok, this is not a new section per se, but a direct link to my colleague Patrick Stoeckel's blog, who has wonderful and detailed reviews of current and classic anime series, episode by episode.

 So, if you want to read a sinopsis or a detailed account of what happens in each episode of each series, this is a guide like no other!

Just click on the link aside Webcomics Reviews section!

If you have any comments or inquiries, you can always find us on Twitter and Facebook!

Recent Developments on the Akira live action movie...

The live action project is alive again in Warner Bros. Studio after a new team decided to take on the project.

Lots of diffuse information right now, but Twitch entertainment news site has reported that Gary Oldman (Sid and Nancy, Harry Potter films, Dark Knight trilogy) and Helena Bonham-Carter (A Room with a View, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, The King's Speech) have been offered the roles of Colonel Shikishima  and Lady Miyako, respectively.

Also, Variety has reported that Garrett Hedlund, the star of last year's Tron: Legacy film, is a frontrunner for one of Akira's two male leads, although he has not been formally offered the role.




Production is set to begin in late February or early March 2012. According to the magazine, the film's current story goes as follows: "Set in New Manhattan, the cyberpunk sci-fi epic follows the leader of a biker gang who must save his friend, discovered with potentially destructive psychokinetic abilities, from government medical experiments."
The estimated budget has been projected as a “$90 million blockbuster.”
 >-<    Fan expectation is less than enthusiast regarding this project, given the failure of Dragon Ball and Speed Racer films.


Kreasi dari Karton

Part #5

Pembatas Buku


Gara-gara baca-baca buku di gramed, aku jadi dapat ide buat bikin pembatas buku. Bahan-bahannya gampang dan tersedia. Jadilah, aku bikin pembatas bukunya dan malah keasikan.







Mau tau cara bikinnya?? :D

Gampang kok, bikin polanya dulu di kertas trus jiplak ke karton.



Setelah itu lem kertas kado atau origami di karton-karton tadi dan dilem lagi bagian-bagiannya.
Kalo mau disematkan pita, lem dulu pitanya, ya baru lem bagian-bagian lainnya.
Kalo mau di lubangi juga bisa untuk masukin gantungan kunci.
Jadi deh!! Gampanglah pokoknya :-D

Dari hasil karya-karyaku yang belum banyak ini, yang ini paling kusuka.




Simple dan lucu kayak aku hihihihi.... :P





List of new manga titles added by Yenpress

For now, the definitive list is, according to their information in New York Comic Con:

Puella Magi Madoka Magica 
Soul Eater Not! 
The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan (Nagato Yuki-chan no Shōshitsu) 
Until Death Do Us Part 
Alice in the Country of Hearts

As you may know, these titles once belonged to TokyoPop.

Kaichu! web anime is available now!


The first episode of the second Kaichu! web anime series is now streaming. The adaptation of Yuki Hayashi’s school archery club comedy manga revolves around a cross-dressing male archery prodigy. Kaichu! got its first two-episode web anime adaptation last year.

The link to watch the episodes is here: http://yj.shueisha.co.jp/web_comic/kaichu/movie1.html

Great premise!

Sailor Moon reprint is a total success, more than 50,000 copies sold out!!

It is even in the NY Times bestseller list!!

Kodansha USA Publishing, the American arm of the Japanese publisher Kodansha, announced on Friday that the English version of Sailor Moon manga volume 1 will get a second print run after the first print run of 50,000 copies "sold out in just four weeks." Kodansha USA did not specify if the 50,000 copies of Naoko Takeuchi's magical girl manga sold out at the distributor level or at the retailer level. 

With the second print run, the volume will have 100,000 copies in print. Kodansha noted that the first volume of Sailor Moon has stayed on top of The New York Times manga bestseller list for a third week in a row since it debuted on September 13. Takeuchi's related Codename: Sailor V volume 1 had two weeks at #2 after debuting on September 13.

Shonen Jump USA will be digital only starting May 2012!

This is quite unexpected, didn't think it would happen so soon.

North American manga publisher Viz Media announced at New York Comic Con on Friday that its Shonen Jump magazine will end publication next March with a "farewell April 2012 issue." Viz announced the print magazine's end in conjunction with the unveiling of its successor — the digital anthology Weekly Shonen Jump Alpha.

At least three of the manga titles in Shonen Jump's most recent print issue (October/November 2011) will continue in the digital Weekly Shonen Jump Alpha next January: Bleach, Naruto, and One Piece. Shonen Jump has been publishing Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan, Toriko, and Bakuman. online since 2010 with a supplement only available to print magazine subscribers.

Wow I really loved to collect the print version :-(

Shonen Jump USA edition started in 2002, due to the growing popularity of anime and manga series outside of Japan.

At least the advantage I see is that its format will be weekly instead of monthly!

Fairy Tail Adventure Manga Gets Film Next August!!

About time!

The email newsletter for Kodansha's Comic Plus members revealed on Wednesday that a film adaptation of Hiro Mashima's Fairy Tail manga will open next August.

More details will be provided in future postings of the newsletter. The manga and the ongoing television anime follow the adventures of world's most notorious mage guild, Fairy Tail.

In addition to the television series, three original anime DVDs have been bundled or will be bundled with the manga. Del Rey published the 12th volume of the original manga in North America last September, and Kodansha resumed publishing the manga in English with the 13th volume this past February. Crunchyroll streams the television anime into several countries as it airs in Japan, and Funimation will release the first DVD/Blu-ray set in November.

Source: ANN

Manga Creator Kei Aoyama Passed Away at 32

The television station TBS reported that manga creator Kei Aoyama was found dead, hung from his neck, in the bathroom of his Tokyo apartment on October 9. He was 32. There were no visible signs of wounds or a struggle in the bathroom, and the last posts on Aoyama's Twitter account, dated October 6, discussed mortality, including a final post that said: Well, I have much left to do and much I dreamed of doing, but I hardly have any "regrets." I am content with the 32 years I have lived.

The police are investigating Aoyama's death as a possible suicide. The police had received an emergency call around 9:00 p.m. on October 9 from a person at the Japanese publisher Kodansha, who said, "We haven't been able to contact Mr. Aoyama."

The police rushed to Aoyama's apartment, where they discovered him in the bathroom. Aoyama was serializing the manga Yoiko no Mokushiroku in Kodansha's Evening magazine from last year to the time of his passing.

He also created or drew the manga SWWEEET in Shogakukan's Monthly Ikki magazine, China Girl, and Strobe Light. According to the police investigation, Kodansha was not able to contact Aoyama since October 6.

Final Fantasy XIII-2: New Adventures Trailer


Final Fantasy XIII-2 released more than 7 minutes English trailer. This FFXIII-2 trailer reveals more gameplay and more action-packed battles. The game will be released in Japan on December 15, 2011, January 31 2012 in North America and February 3, 2012 in Europe.

Crónicas V Japan Weekend Madrid

HolaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAaAaAaaaaAAAAAAAAAaaaA

Aquí me tenéis de nuevo! ò_ó estoy en mode hype ++!, ya que este finde pasado fue la V Japan Weekend, me lo pasé increíblemente bien! voy a contar todo paso a paso.


Viernes 7 Octubre

A las 7 de la mañana cogí el AVE dirección Madrid para estar allí a las 9.45, vino a recogerme en la estación mi querido Ganoncito y nos fuimos dirección a casa de Julio, donde le tenía que hacer una surprise (ya que él pensaba que yo llegaba por la noche xD), esperamos a que llegara de sus clases y SURPRISE! xD! durante la tarde fuimos a comprar cositas cosplayeras y empezamos los guantes de Lili mientras él terminaba su coss de Kamina.


Sábado 8 Octubre

Primer día de JW, vinieron Taku y Rubén a casa para terminar con los preparativos cosplayiles, pintamos tatoos, peinamos pelukas, etc y sobre la 13.30 nos fuimos al evento.
No tengo fotos "decentes" de TTGL, ya que sobre las 6 de la tarde no pude más y me lo quité.. me hiper moría de calor =_=.

Foto by portal otaku

Foto by Auralblack (gracias guapisima)

Yurio hizo de jurado en el cosplay purista y sobre las 20 salimos fuera y se sacaron fotos de TTGL, yo no.. porque como he dicho antes.. no podía más x_X. En fin.. volvimos a casa y preparamos los cosplays del día siguiente.

Maldecí los dichosos guantes de Lili, aunque para ser mis primeros guantes me siento muy orgullosa T^T, gracias a la mami de Julio por tener paciencia conmigo y los dichosos guantes xD





Domingo 9 Ocrubre

Día del cosplay normal, fuimos a la Japan sobre las 15.30 ya que perdimos toda la mañana terminando cosas, haciendo tatoos one more time, etc. En esta ocasión llevé el cosplay de Lili Rocheford




Sobre las 16 empezó el concurso de cosplay donde Taku participaba, la actu me encantó *pelos de punta *_*, y yo como no,, morí de dolor de pies.. con los dichosos tacones U_u, me pregunto qué día llevaré un coss en el que TODO sea cómodo xD.
Después salimos fuera para que los de ONE PIECE se hicieran fotos, volvimos a entrar y me saqué un par de fotos con el móvil para como mínimo tener un recuerdo (ya que del día anterior no tenía ni una Y_y)







Y después nos fuimos para casa ^^-, hiper muertos de cansancio, parece mentira lo que llega a cansar un salón =_=.


Lunes 10 Octubre

La mañana la aprovechamos para comprar cositas por el centro y por la tarde a las 18.30 salía mi tren >.<, nos despedimos y para Barcelona~~


En resumen, me lo he pasado genial, es maravilloso poder ver a mi hombrecín, hacer guantes es una caca xD, Ganondorf me pone, la gente es majísimaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, Nere guapa! gracias por acompañarme todo el rato, aguantando mi sufrimiento y mi calor con el zentai, y por ser tan comprensiva y maja!, a la mami de todos, la madre de Julio que es un solazo! al papi también of course, a Rubén y Taku ^^-, y a toda la gente que conocí en persona *_*- guapos todos!!!!!!!!!!


Koibito ha hecho un video muy gracioso donde salimos la mayoría de cosplayers que había por allí =')




Muchas gracias Koibito! está muy chulo =)



Y de momento os dejo hasta aquí las crónicas de la Japan Weekend.
Gracias a todo@s!!


En la próxima entrada os explicaré como he hecho los accesorios de Lili ò_ó
Un besito! 
Cyaaa~~