Archive for April, 2009

Meisa Kuroki not afraid to get naked in ‘Onna Nobunaga’ April 28th, 2009

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Meisa Kuroki not afraid to get naked in 'Onna Nobunaga'

Actress Meisa Kuroki, 20, will star in “Onna Nobunaga,” a play co-starring Shunichi Okamura and the first dramatic rendition of the historic novel by Naoki Award-winning author Kenichi Sato, in which the famous warlord Oda Nobunaga is depicted as a woman.

When asked about her role as Nobunaga, the actress declared boldly, “Okumura told me, ‘You’re going to have to take off your clothes!’ and I’m prepared for that and want to do my best.”

At a press conference promoting the play, co-star Junichi Ishida, 55, who plays the role of Dosan Saito, revealed that he recently met his daughter Sumire for the first time in 10 years. He commented happily that the 22-year-old model, whose mother is Ishida’s ex-wife Chiaki Matsubara, said, “She’s a huge fan of Kuroki, and I got a lot of points when I told her we’re acting in this play together!”

Performances will run from June 5-21 at Tokyo’s Aoyama Theater, and from June 26-28 at Osaka’s Theater Bravia.

All I can say is im happy she is not afraid of getting naked!!! Too bad i can’t go see the play because i would love too see this one because im such a connoisseur of the Performing Arts…. eh yeah that’s it!!!!

Source: japantoday

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Naruto ‘Broadcast’ Moves Online Among Top Views on Key Channels April 28th, 2009

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Naruto 'Broadcast' Moves Online Among Top Views on Key Channels

Although the anime based on #1 manga property Naruto is currently not airing on Cartoon Network (the first run to episode 209 was completed), it is getting high ratings on Hulu and Joost, two of the Websites that offer streaming Naruto episodes, according to comScore’s SAMS (Streaming Audience Measurement & Statistics) rankings of the most popular shows on those sites for February.

In February, Naruto was #20 and the top anime among “all shows/all channels” on Hulu (where a grand total of over 332 million videos were served), according to the SAMS rankings. A Hulu.com embedded player serves the Naruto videos on Naruto.com as well as on the Hulu site, so that accounts for some of that rating.

Naruto Shippuden and Naruto were the #4 and #5 most popular animated shows on Hulu in February, according to the ratings. Bleach was #9, and Death Note was #10, making anime four of the top ten most popular animated shows on Hulu.

On Joost, a smaller video site, Naruto Shippuden and Naruto ranked #1 and #2 among Joost’s channels in February. Bleach was the #5 channel, giving anime three of the top five channels on Joost.

Naruto Shippuden Episode #95 was the #5 program over-all on Joost in February.

Videos viewed on the Internet are garnering huge audiences. Around 146 million U.S. viewers viewed around 12.7 billion videos in November 2008, for example, up from 138 million and 9.5 million, respectively, in 2007.

Source: ICv2

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Kawa no Hikari Anime in Development April 28th, 2009

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Kawa no Hikari Anime in Development

The NHK television network has announced an anime TV special adaptation of Hisaki Matsuura’s serialized novel Kawa no Hikari (River’s Light). The environmental awareness story about a family of rats that set off in search of a new home after losing their habitat to human construction has been serialized in the Yomiuri Newspaper since July 2006. The anime adaptation will air on the NHK network on June 20 as part of the network’s “Earth Ecology 2009 Save the Future” project.

Voice actress Aya Hirano (Haruhi Suzumiya) has stated on her blog that she will play the role of a puppy in the anime.

Source: Anime News Network

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Weiss Survive Anime Announced April 28th, 2009

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Weiss Survive Anime Announced

Here is good news for all the Yu Gi Oh nuts since Kiba did’t really become popular in the states!

Manga creator Takuya Fujima has announced that her Weiß Survive (Weiss Survive) manga serial will be adapted into a series of sixteen 2:30 anime shorts broadcast beginning June 5 as part of the weekly late night Card Gakuen (Card School) card-game-tutorial program. The manga story follows teen boy and girl Takeshi and Michi as they get lost in the Card Battle world and have to win card battles to return home.

Source: Animenation

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Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood OVA Announced April 28th, 2009

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Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood OVA Announced

Japanese home entertainment news site AV Watch reports that the first Japanese DVD and Blu-ray volume of the second Fullmetal Alchemist television series, known in America as “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood,” will include a bonus original anime. The “Momoku no Renkinjutshi” (Blind Alchemist) OVA will be an adaptation of a short side-story that Fullmetal Alchemist creator Hiromu Arakawa drew for the Fullmetal Alchemist Guidebook. Furthermore, first pressing copies of the DVD & BD disc will also include the first episode of the “Arakawa Hiromu 4-koma Gekijou” (Hiromu Arakawa’s 4-Panel Theater), an anime adaptation of Arakawa’s four panel gag comics.

The first Japanese home video volume of Full Metal Alchemist second series will be released on August 26th.

Source: Animenation

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First Look at Sora to Otoshimono Anime April 28th, 2009

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First Look at Sora to Otoshimono Anime

Japanese anime news site Presepe now hosts the first key visual and a variety of character images for studio AIC ASTA’s upcoming TV series adaptation of Suu Minazuki’s manga series Sora no Otoshimono (”Lost Property of the Sky”).

Source: Animenation

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