Goro Miyazaki (Tales from Earthsea, From Up On Poppy Hill) will direct a television anime adaptation of Swedish author Astrid Lindgren’s Ronia the Robber’s Daughter children’s fantasy book. The series, titled Sanzoku no Musume Ronia in Japan, will air on NHK and BS Premium this fall. POLYGON PICTURES (Knights of Sidonia, The Sky Crawlers) is animating the 3D CG series in collaboration with Studio Ghibli. The show will mark the first time that Miyazaki is directing a television anime series.
Posted by Anime News Network (Page 23)
Mainichi Shimbun’s Mantan Web began streaming the second full trailer on Monday for the live-action film of Eiko Kadono‘s fantasy novel series Kiki’s Delivery Service (Majo no Takkyūbin). The trailer previews Mai Kuraki‘s theme song “Wake Me Up,” and also shows the first footage of Kiki’s black cat Jiji (played by K-ON!‘s Minako Kotobuki).
Ichirô Nagai, the voice actor of Sazae-san‘s Namihei and Ranma ½‘s Happōsai, was discovered after he had collapsed in a Hiroshima City hotel on Monday morning. He was taken to a hospital, but he passed away. He was 82.
Yes, you read that correctly. Sanrio has a line of Evangelion merchandise. Naturally, it’s all adorable.
Called “Eva Micro Macro,” the line was announced late last year, and already includes smartphone cases, with t-shirts to come in April 2014.
Japanese mobile game publisher Mobage began streaming a promotional video for its Shingeki no Kyojin ~Jiyū e no Hōkō~ (Attack on Titan: Howl Toward Freedom) game for smart phones on Wednesday. The promotional video tells players that they must fight against enemies outside of the Wall Rose using forbidden weapons.
Martin Hsu and Bigshot Toyworks have teamed up to create a limited run of “Miya-san” figures modeled after acclaimed director Hayao Miyazaki.
Namco Bandai Games began streaming the fourth promotional video for its J-Stars Victory Vs.”team battle action” video game on Tuesday. The 158-second video features the new theme song “Fighting Stars.”
Some diligent animators took Banpresto‘s “One Piece Cry heart ~Fuyujima ni Furu Sakura~) (One Piece Cry heart ~The Cherry Blossoms That Fall on Winter Island~) line of crane game prize figures and created a five-minute stop-motion short last month. The “One Piece: Cry heart~” short recreates the famous “Hiluluk’s Cherry Blossoms” scene from Eiichiro Oda‘s manga and anime:
Looking for some style inspiration? How about Barnaby Brooks Jr. and Kotetsu Kaburagi from Tiger & Bunny? Premium Bandai’s Bandai Fashion Net has started selling clothing inspired directly by the characters’ duds from the upcoming Tiger & Bunny The Movie -The Rising- film (check out all the new character wardobes and designs at the official website).
Website Crank In!! posted six new images from the live-action film of Eiko Kadono‘s fantasy novel series Kiki’s Delivery Service (Majo no Takkyūbin) on January 4. The images feature Kiki (Fūka Koshiba) and various other characters, including Tombo (Ryōhei Hirota, above) and Osono (Machiko Ono, below).
Cuteness sells, even if what you’re selling is recruitment for the Japan Self-Defense Force (JSDF) and the National Defense Academy (NDA). Since last July, the JSDF’s Okayama Provincial Cooperation Office has been using three adorable mascot girls to raise awareness for the JSDF. The girls represent each military branch of the forces, sporting the uniforms for each. Momoe Kibi represents the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (Army), Mizuho Seto represents the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (Navy), while Airi Bizen represents the Japan Air Self Defense Force (Air Force). If the design aesthetic looks familiar, it’s because the girls were created by Humikane Shimada, the original character designer behind such military-inspired moe series like Strike Witches and Girls und Panzer.
Real estate brokerage Movoto generally focuses their interests on, you know, real estate, but every now and again, they’ll also post their estimates on fictional properties. Most recently, they turned their interests to Naruto Uzumaki’s apartment in Hidden Leaf Village. Factoring in location, furnishings, size, and market, they came up with $100,000.
Here’s the listing they whipped up: