The official site for the upcoming live-action film adaptation of Naoki Urasawa’s 20TH CENTURY BOYS (out August 30) is now hosting a teaser trailer. Nice to see the use of T.Rex’s “20th Century Boy” as the title rolls up! Via Anime News Network.

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.

The Flux site has a post up featuring Kozyndan writing about a visit to the Yokohama Ramen Museum. I’ve always been curious about the place, but have never taken the time to go. I guess I’m in no need of good ramen shops, living in Ikebukuro and all.

Flux is one of the projects that Jonathan Wells has been involved with ever since moving on from RES. They’ve just produced their first Flux screening at the Hammer Museum in LA, and I’m told they hope to bring it to Tokyo!

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.

You want to create some animated work but just don’t know where to start? No worries, as this video — awarded a Green Ribbon award at the Itami Film Festival in 1993 — will show you how. You can also watch parts two and three. Via Motionographer.

From the PiKAPiKA and So-net (and internet provider) project, it’s the PiKAPiKA THE MOVIE. Via Imprint Talk.

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.

I don’t really know anything about this film, but one of the actors in the film, Jun Matsuo, sent me a link to this trailer, and so here it is. The film, ACROBAT, is by Daniel Lavin, but there doesn’t seem to be much info online for it. There are two more trailers on YouTube here and here.

Anime News Network has plenty of details on an upcoming live-action adaption of Naoki Urasawa’s terrific 20TH CENTURY BOYS manga. I love this series — I really don’t know if I prefer MONSTER or not — and so I’m personally really excited to see how it’ll come off. It’s planned as a trilogy, with the first film coming out in August of this year. There is also an animated TV adaptation that is set to air sometime this year (I think in the spring).

Update
My wife just pointed out to me that the director of the film is also the man behind the TRICK TV series, starring Yukie Nakama and Hiroshi Abe, of which we’re both big fans. Definitely some good news!

CLOVERFIELD, J.J. Abrams’ (as a producer) upcoming monster film, gets a manga prequel by Yoshiki Togawa that leads into the opening of the movie, and that you can read online here (Japanese-only). Via io9.

VIS, a “Tokyo Video Magazine” that covers the works of Tokyo-based creators, has just launched in beta, and currently includes 109 clips from 12 directors. A very nice way to keep up on the latest videos, especially with the sudden disappearance of my favorite annual digital film festivals — R.I.P. Resfest and Onedotzero (the latter was still held in Japan this year, but only in Sapporo).

What’s so great about the SHIFT-produced DOTMOV digital film festival is the fact that all selections are shown online, so anyone can get in on the screenings. You can also catch screenings in various physical spaces, with Tokyo’s location being at COMBINE in Nakameguro (November 1-30, with a special live event on November 21).

I haven’t heard or seen anything about the OH! MIKEY series in what seems like ages, and then this morning I see this post by Patrick Benny about a theater screening in December of new episodes! Even better, it’s called OH! MIKEY FEVER! If you’ve never watched the show, do try to pick up one of the DVDs, which all feature English subtitles.

Momus points us — accompanied by commentary, of course — to “The Japanese Tradition,” a series of nine shorts, available on DVD, by comedy duo Rahmenz (you may better know them as the duo in the Japanese “PC/Mac” commercials from Apple) and Japan Culture Lab. To view all of them, just go to the YouTube page of the one I’ve posted, and look through the “Related Videos” sidebar.