PingMag interviews illustrator Yoshitaka Amano, a name fans of anime and gaming should be be well familiar with.

In order to bring attention the issue of Japanese citizens who have been abducted by North Korea, the Japanese government has a produced a short animated film that tells the story of Megumi Yokota, abducted in 1977 at the age of 13. The shot can be downloaded here, and is available in Japanese, English, Chinese, and Korean. Via Imprint Talk.

What could have been. The above video is a test created by Hayao Miyazaki for an animated adaption of the classic strip ADVENTURES IN SLUMBERLAND STARRING LITTLE NEMO. Via AICN.

Update
Seems that the video was produced by Studio Ghibli, but not directed by Miyazaki.

NHK have posted all five shorts for the third season of their ANI-KURI series online (the first two seasons are available as well). The third season has quite the line-up of directors: Shoji Kawamori (MACROSS), Satoshi Kon (PAPRIKA), Mahiro Maeda (BLUE SUBMARINE NO. 6), Michael Arias (TEKKONKINKREET) and Makoto Shikai (VOICES OF A DISTANT STAR). Via Anime News Network.

What exactly was the importance of Akio Nakamori’s new column that appeared in a little-read weekly soft-core porno comic (MANGA BURIKKO) back in 1983? “Otaku no Kenkyu” marked the first use of a word in a context we now know so well. Matt Alt translates that column for Neojaponisme.

Looks like it’s suddenly going to be that much easier to follow new anime series that air here in Japan. GDH, parent company of Gonzo, are going to start releasing new series online (hosted on YouTube, Crunchyroll, and BOST) simultaneously with their Japanese TV air date, and including English subtitles. The first two series to be released this way are THE TOWER OF DRUAGA: THE AEGIS OF URUK (April 4) and BLASSREITER (April 5). Via Warren Ellis.

There’s a trailer out for the film KITE LIBERATOR, a sequel to Yasuomi Umetsu’s KITE. I’ve never seen the original film, but according to Imprint Talk, it caused a bit of a stir when it was originally released, back in 1998, getting censored or banned in a few countries. Umetsu was responsible for the visual effects of the AKIRA film.

What is TB.Pensar? Find out here.

How fitting that this is the lucky number 13 edition of this series of posts. Damn my stupid pollen allergies!!! Aarggghhhhh… Sorry for the loss of control, but it’s really been a rough week, with no end in sight. It’s sad, really, because this time of the year used to be my absolute favorite time to be in Japan. But a few years ago I finally started getting hit by allergy attacks — it started the year they said the pollen count was ridiculously high — and since then I haven’t been able to escape it. I seem to recall that last year wasn’t so bad, but this year has been awful. I’m writing this with itchy eyes that I’d just like to rip out of my head! And this is despite taking pills, as well as eye drops and spray for the nose. If I’ve had to miss out on various events, now you know why, and it’s taking everything just keep up with work.

One thing that I have been able to enjoy through all of this is the anime series BOKURANO. It originally aired last year, and for some reason that I can’t remember I passed on it (even though it was on my list of series to check out at the time), but Paul’s recent rave (well, he’s been raving about it to me for a while now) got me to finally give it a try. I’ve watched the first seven episodes now, and I can honestly say that this is one of the best series I’ve seen in a while, maybe since the end of MONSTER. At first it comes off as a riff off of Orson Scott Card’s ENDER’S GAME, but then it quickly becomes so much more. I don’t want to go too much into details of where it goes, since discovering the various twists is part of the fun of each episode, but it’s definitely not a giant robot series — the sequences with the giant robot are few, and but a punctuation to the rest of the story. I’ll probably end up watching all 24 episodes quicker than I imagined I would, which is good, since I need to finish before the new spring season starts with all of its promising new shows.

Work on the book for Kodansha International is proceeding at a good pace. I don’t think I ever mentioned it here, but since he announced it a while back, I can now say that my co-writer is Brian Ashcraft, editor at Kotaku, and regular contributor to tons of magazines (WIRED, POPULAR SCIENCE, METROPOLIS). It’s been a joy to work on the project with him, and I don’t think I could have found a better partner in this endeavor!

Speaking of games, another form of relief for the allergies — since I’m not going out much or even cycling — as been gaming. About a week ago I got some games for my PSP, which I had to dig out (probably hadn’t played it in close to two years) to find that the cover on the analog stick was missing! I’ve ordered a replacement, but despite this, I’ve already played through GOD OF WAR: CHAINS OF OLYMPUS, which I think is the best game I’ve ever played on the PSP. I enjoyed it so much that it even made my take out my PS2 to play the original game again. The other game I got was PATAPON, a quirky rhythm game that I’m having lots of fun playing. It starts off easy, but later becomes surprisingly — but not ridiculously — challenging. The week before, I played through PROFESSOR LAYTON AND THE CURIOUS VILLAGE on the DS (which I also had to dig out, not having used it since the release of Zelda last year), which was extremely satisfying. I usually don’t really like puzzle or riddle games, but the setting and storyline turns into something so much more, and I’m already looking forward to playing the sequel. On the 360, I’m blasting through BIOSHOCK, which I’d say is the second best first-person shooter I’ve played (following HALF-LIFE 2). The sound design is outstanding, as is the setting, made deliciously creepy by using field recordings to tell the story as you explore the sunken world the game is set in. Lastly, also enjoying NO MORE HEROES on the Wii, and excited to no end that some of designer Suda 51’s older games, FLOWER, SUN AND RAIN and THE SILVER CASE, are going to be ported to the DS this year. We’re only 3 months into 2008 and it’s already turning into a stellar year for gaming!

OK, time to spray the nose and drop some liquid in my eyes — death to pollen!

BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHT is what happens when you get Japanese anime studios (Studio 4C, Madhouse, Production I.G) and directors and let them loose on the Batman mythos. Think ANIMATRIX, but done for Batman, and it’s coming out on DVD in July. Warner Bros. has launched a teaser site that features a trailer — you may have seen this a while back on YouTube when it first leaked, but here’s your chance to see a nicer version. Via Anime News Network.

Last night I started watching the sequel to 2004’s beautiful cell-shaded CG film APPLESEED, 2007’s EX MACHINA, and I’m loving it. They’ve managed to one-up the original film by creating a look that’s more detailed, yet still uses cell-shading (can’t say yet if the story will match the original though). I’m also rather happy to see that the previously announced (back in 2005) TV series is still on track, also to be CG, and will be directed by Romanov Higa, who created that cool URDA web animation from a few years back. Anime News Network has more on the new series.

The extended trailer above is for EX MACHINA. The music at the start is by Sketch Show, who created the soundtrack for the film.

The official site for Mamoru Oshii’s upcoming animated film, THE SKY CRAWLERS, is streaming a new trailer. It also announced the release date: August 2. Via Anime News Network.

A new TV season is just around the corner (end of March, early April), and so it’s time to start looking over the new anime series that are scheduled to start, and see what is worth checking out. Big thanks to Paul Baron for pointing me to the “Spring Season Preview” post on the Star Crossed Anime Blog. Looks like the author does a good job of separating the junk from the maybes, as well as the “looking forward to” seeing. Me, I’ll be checking the first episodes of the following (see full descriptions in Star Crossed Anime’s post):

• BUS GAMER: “It follows the story of three young men hired by a mysterious company to participate in a business game, a way for companies to gamble against each other for corporate secrets.”
• HIMITSU - TOP SECRET: “The story takes place five decades from now, when brain scanners have been perfected to the point that the government can retrieve up to five years’ worth of memories from people’s minds — even if they are dead.”
• LIBRARY WARS: “In the year 2019, the explosion of information and misinformation became a direct threat to society. In a daring decision, it was decided to create a new government agency dedicated solely to information management. Now some thirty years later, the government still monitors and controls information, suppressing anything they find undesirable, but standing against their abuses of power are the libraries, with their special agents called ‘the book soldiers.’”
• CRYSTAL BLAZE: “Adult-oriented mystery-story set in New York.”
• REAL DIVE: “The story takes place in 2061, 50 years after humanity developed the “Net society” that depended on information networks despite their security issues. To improve security, a new network called Meta Real Network — or “Metal” for short — was developed. People`s personal memories are reduced to information and placed within “protected virtual stand-alone organic cyber enclaves called bubble shells” online.” It’s from Production I.G, based on a story by Masumune Shirow (GHOST IN THE SHELL).

Update
Let me add KAIBA, a new series directed by Masaaki Yuasa (MIND GAME), and set to start April 10.

Matt Alt takes on the Macross saga over at Neojaponisme.

Japan’s NHK broadcaster has just posted 2 seasons of their ANI-KURI series. Each season comprises of 5 animated one-minuted shorts from a who’s who of the anime world (a 3rd season is currently airing, but not yet online). The site is in Japanese, but you can see the full rundown in this Anime News Network post.

I’d never heard of Reiko Shimizu’s philosophical sci-fi manga series HIMITSU - TOP SECRET (or any of her other works, like MOON CHILD and KAGUYA HIME), but the news that it’s being turned into an anime series for the spring 2007 season sounds good to me, especially after having read this description: