The upcoming CGI Science Fiction thriller, Vexille - 2077 Nippon Sakoku, is scheduled to open in Japan on August 18. It is directed by Fumihiko Sori (Ping Pong). However, its world premiere will be on August 1 as the opening film of the 60th Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland. It will be screened at Piazza Grande, Europe’s largest open-air theater. In case you don’t know the story, here is a synopsis of Vexille. Incidentally, the last Japanese work to open the festival was another CGI film, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within in 2001.
On a related note, the Japanese media retail chain, Tsutaya, is offering a preview of Vexille. They are streaming the first 10 minutes of the film at bandwidths of 1Mb and 500Kb. The good news is that there is no geographical restrictions…but, of course, there is no dub (or sub either).
Anime News Network (ANN) story:
Vexille Opens Locarno Fest, Streams First Ten Minutes
Japanese Source:
animeanime.jp
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By December 1, 2007, animation studio Production I.G and publishing company Mag Garden will complete a merger. According to a Production I.G announcement (pdf)…translation provided by ANN…the reasons for the merger were:
“…the sluggish animation DVD market, the nonviable DVD-only business model, the decline in the sales numbers of comic magazines, and the shift of comics to online services for the changing business environment.”
Production I.G is known for works such as Ghost in the Shell and Tsubasa, while Mag Garden is known for works like Aria and Tactics. The merger will be formalized with a stock swap of one I.G share to a half Mag share.
ANN Story:
Production I.G Announces Mag Garden Merger
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Besides the recent announcement of the “Nobel Prize of Manga” winner, there is another competition which looks for new manga talent outside of Japan. This is the Morning International Manga Competition sponsored by “Weekly Morning” Kodansha. Their first contest opened in December of 2006 and closed May 31, 2007. The winners will be announced in August on their “e-morning” website, with the grand prize winner having their work published in “Morning 2″ (mid-October).
If you’re an artist but missed the first competition, don’t worry. Kodansha has already opened the second Morning International Manga Competition. The deadline is December 31, 2007. Look here for details and rules.
ANN Story:
Kodansha Launches 2nd International Manga Competition
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Mitsuteru Yokoyama was the manga-ka who created Giant Robo, Magical Witch Sally, and (perhaps best known for) Ironman #28 (aka Tetsujin 28-go and Gigantor). He died at age 69 in 2004.
His hometown of Kobe will be erecting a monument in his honor. Instead of a statue in his likeness, the Kobe Nagata Town Management Organization will be erecting an 18-meter tall, 70 ton statue of Tetsujin 28-go. They hope to finish the statue by Golden Week of 2008. TMO had received many questions about the statue and, in response, they say that the monument will not move; its eyes will not light up; and visitors cannot go inside it. In the future, TMO would also like to build a memorial hall for the artist.
For those of you who are not familiar with Tetsujin 28-go, you may want to read Rachel’s review of the recent anime remake.
There is another 18-meter model. Instead of being a monument to its creator, this model is the centerpiece of an amusement park attraction. The model is a 1:1 scale RX-78-2 Gundam. It is part of an attraction called Gundam Crisis for the Fuji-Q Highland amusement park… the grand opening is scheduled for July 21. Unlike Tetsujin 28-go which will be standing, the Gundam will be lying on its back. Here is an excerpt from an ANN article with a description of the attraction’s story:
“The story takes place during the first Mobile Suit Gundam series’ One Year War, when the title Mobile Suit robot RX-78-2 Gundam is hangared at the Solomon space fortress for an upgrade. The Earth Federation engineer Dr. Mosk Han is applying magnetic coating to Gundam’s joints to improve its maneuverability. The attraction visitors play Han’s team members as they are given mission objectives on “VQ Divider” handheld digital tablets and ordered to rush the Gundam’s upgrade in time for the battle “outside.” Only the visitors who complete the upgrade mission can enter the Gundam’s cockpit.”
Gundam photo originally posted on Yahoo! Japan.
ANN Stories:
18-Meter Robot Statue to Stand at Creator’s Birthplace
Life-Size Gundam Attraction’s Details Revealed Online
Japanese Sources:
Asahi Shimbun
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Nagase & Co. Ltd. has voluntarily recalled 23 models of portable DVD players, one model of an LCD TV with a built-in DVD player, and a digital photo frame. The reason is that the company received reports that the LCD panel frame overheated and caused the frame to deform and in some cases to start smoking. According to the Nikkei Business Publications website:
“The causes of such malfunctions are inappropriate condensers and insufficient soldering. The inappropriate condensers are those that have smaller capacities than necessary. Such condensers are products of a Chinese manufacturer, according to Nagase.”
This is, of course, serious. However, there is an amusing side to this story as well. It seems that Bandai Visual had licensed Nagase to remold its Axion AXN3808 portable DVD player in red. Bandai then released this player as its official Char Model Portable DVD Player named after the Mobile Suit Gundam antagonist…red being Char’s trademark color. You can imagine the comments the recall generated on the ANN forum…for example:
“I bet it catches fire three times faster than normal DVD players.”
“The Red Comet indeed”
“At last - a device that lives up to its name”
Nikkei Business Publications Story:
Nagase to Recall 460,000 Portable DVD Players at Risk for Catching Fire
ANN Story:
Gundam’s Char DVD Player Recalled Due to Fire Hazard
Japanese Source:
RBB Today
