“Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit,” “Seirei no Moribito” – powerful story, amazing art – on Hulu and Cartoon Network

I just finished watching this series, which was beautifully done. It is based on fantasy novels by Nahoko Uehashi. She develops many characters that I respected and wanted to watch grow. Taking place in a fantasy world with many lands and races, the anime follows a bodyguard beauty, Balsa. She gets caught up in a royal incident that includes a prince, Chagum. She must protect the boy, who is fated to bear the egg bearer of a water spirit. It’s …

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Based on a manga by Hiroyu Oka, Gantz is a live-action feature-length film co-starring Kenichi Matsuyama, the very popular actor who played the eccentric genius “L” in Death Note: L Change the World, and equally famous actor/musician Ninomiya Kazunari aka Nino.  The anime adaptation is rated TV-MA and contains some pretty graphic violence and sex.  But the movie seems to have managed to veer away from at least some of those more extreme aspects as it was given a PG-13 rating.

Gantz is about these two guys who get killed and end up in an apartment version of limbo with …

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Stu Levy, the guy who founded Tokyopop, the American manga distributor who introduced titles like Cardcaptor Sakura, is hosting a reality series called America’s Greatest Otaku. In it, he’ll be traversing the United States, 20 cities to be exact, interviewing different fans of the subculture at cons and such. For those who might not know what an otaku is, the American definition is someone who is really into manga, anime, video games, etc. But not every fan of the popular culture can be considered an otaku; this person lives and breathes the stuff.  The term “otaku” doesn’t have any really …

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Warner Brothers Pictures has three live-action anime adaptations on the horizon to watch out for.  Rumors are swirling about these and they are all currently considered “in development” so a lot could change from now until they’re released.  But here’s what’s reportedly in the works so far…

 AKIRA – WB has been hard at work on a live-action adaptation of this legendary anime. It’s had all sorts of names attached to it at different times including the possibility of Zack Efron playing Akira and Morgan Freeman as the Colonel. Other rumors that Joseph Gordon-Levitt will be playing Tetsuo have also been …

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Banned Books Week was launched in 1982 to celebrate the freedom to read.  September 25 was the official launch and it runs through October 2.  Banned Books Week was created in response to an increase in the number of books which were banned or people attempted to ban that year.  Since then over 1000 books have been banned or “challenged” in the US.  Reasons for the uproar include profanity, slang, offensive representations of racial or religious groups, and positive portrayals of homosexuals.  Of course no book is immune to this scrutiny, even (and probably especially) Manga. 

The American Library Association gathers …

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You might already be familiar with the Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight series currently showing in the US.  Kamen Rider V3 was a live-action, superhero TV show that first came out in the early 70’s, around the same time as Kikaider. (See my Kikaida article for more info).  A guy named Toru Hirayama got together with Ishinomoto, the creator of Kikaider, and put together a TV show based on a guy who wore a mask and costume that somewhat resembled a grasshopper. It was called Kamen Rider (which means “masked rider”). 

The two shows follow a similar formula:  a cyborg …

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Before there was the Power Rangers, or any other Japanese-inspired, live-action, superhero television show on for that matter, two series aired in Hawai’i and briefly in various cities around the continental U.S. called  Kikaider and Kamen Rider V3.  

Anyone who grew up in Hawai’i in the 70’s and 80’s knows about Kikaida and Kamen Rider V3.  They were tokusatsu (live-action superhero) shows which aired on an all-Japanese channel and although many of the young viewers could not understand the Japanese language, they fell in love with these shows nonetheless.   Many could not even read English well enough to …

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When people think of Las Vegas today, images of slot machines, showgirls or club pools brimming with scantily clad fist-pumpers most likely come to mind. Over Labor Day weekend, Vegas came to be known for something else. Just off the strip and across from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, in a lesser known resort called Alexis Park, Anime Vegas 7 happened.

To say the convention was a success would be a modest understatement. It was smaller con than the more well-known gatherings in San Diego and Los Angeles, but for what the event was comparitively short on in volume …

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It was supposed to be an original proposal. But someone entered a line from the most recent installment of the Fullmetal Alchemist manga which came out last June. According to the Anime News Network, a travel pass worth the equivalent of $1,200. was up for grabs, all someone had to do was come up with the best marriage proposal. The contest was called “Words to Propose Marriage” and was held by the Ishigami-no-Oka Museum of Art.  Shortly after the winning entry was announced on the radio, calls began pouring in that the line was not original but was, in fact, taken …

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This year’s Anime Vegas convention will be held at the Alexis Park Resort in Las Vegas. Special guests include voice-over artists from anime such as Fullmetal Alchemist, Dragonball Z, Ghost in the Shell, Naruto, Bleach and Kamen Rider. Former Power Rangers Johnny Yong Bosch  and Jason David Frank will also be there along with musical guests Red Bacteria Vacuum, Eyeshine and anime otaku band Leet Street Boys.  This three day event will also feature a masquerade ball and costume contest plus numerous dealers and artists tables for browsing and perusing.  Cosplay and crossplay is encouraged throughout the event, of course, as …

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