Gantz movie U.S. debut in January

According to Oricon and Cinema Today, the live action Gantz movie will premiere in the U.S. in Jan. 20.

The film will eventually reach 300 screens in the U.S. Gantz opens in Japan on Jan. 29, with the second to follow on April 23.

One of the film’s stars, Kenichi Matsuyama, said why should the film debut in Japan first? when asked why the releases would be almost simultaneous.

The film is adapted from the manga series by Hiroya Oku, which debuted in Weekly Young Jump in October 2000. An anime adaptation has also been made.

Gantz is the story of two college students killed in a train accident, but are forced to join with several other recently deceased people in order to fight aliens in a chance to regain their lives.

Check out a trailer for the film below:

Akamatsu manga site downloads surpass 1 million

J-Comi (Jコミ), Ken Akamatsu’s new manga site, surpassed even the creator’s expectations with more than 1 million downloads in its inaugural weekend.

Akamatsu started the site to feature online versions of out-of-print manga. The beta version of the site launched on Black Friday with all fourteen volumes of Love Hina available for download.

As of 11 a.m. Central time the site received a total of 1,349,611 downloads, and 86,967 online views. Most downloaded, to be expected, was the first volume of Love Hina with over 250,000.

Akamatsu has said in his blog that he was surprised it was as popular as it was, and expects the site will be profitable.

The site will launch in full Jan. 21.

New Freezing trailer posted

The official website for the manga adaptation Freezing has posted a new trailer for the upcoming series.

Created by a pair of Korean manga-ka, the story is set in futuristic world invaded by aliens. Standing in their way is an academy of female Pandoras and their male partners Limiters.

The series will premiere in Japan in January.

Check out the trailer here: (Freezing) *Warning: Not safe for work. Ecchi content.

Rantaro Nintama trailer released

A teaser trailer has been released for the upcoming film Rantaro Nintama.

The adaptation of the long-running children’s anime and manga series centers on Rantaro, an 8-year-old ninja in the Sengoku period of Japan. Rantaro spends his days happily in ninja school with his two clumsy friends. But when a fourth year student from an assassin clan appears, Rantaro’s ninja skills will be put to the test to save a friend.

The film is directed by Takashi Miike, director of

The film is scheduled to come out March 2011 in Japan.

Check out the trailer below:

Evangelion 2.0 coming to U.S. theaters

Funimation, Cinema Asia Releasing and Eleven Arts announced plans Monday to bring Evangelion 2.0: You Can (not) Advance to American Theaters in January 2011.

The companies haven’t said how many theaters or what locations the movie will play at.

Eva 2.0 was one of the five highest grossing films in Japan in 2009, taking in over $40 million in box office totals.

The film is the second in a four-part series adapting the original 90s anime, taking a slightly different twist on the story.

See the trailer below:

Akamatsu will launch new manga site

Ken Akamatsu, noted manga-ka behind Negima and Love Hina, will launch a new online manga site on Nov. 26.

Called J-Comi, the site will feature out of print manga users can download for free. Akamatsu will start with his hit series, Love Hina. He has also enlisted several artists with out of print works.

The November date is the soft launch of the site, which will feature PDFs of Love Hina. The full site will launch Jan. 21.

First impressions: Panty and Stocking

Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt

Studio: Gainax

Episodes: 26

You just don’t see characters using the bathroom in anime.

There are quite a few things in Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt that go beyond the ordinary realm of the anime canon.

Let’s start with our heroines, Panty and Stocking, charged with keeping the city of Detron safe. Named for their weapons, the two fight evil by stripping their undergarments, which turn into a gun and a sword, respectively.

Tofu Boy trailer released

The Tofu Boy official website released a new trailer for the 3D animated film.

The movie, called Tofu Kozo, is set in the Edo period of Japan centering on the son of the leader of all yokai (ghosts). His adventures revolve around carrying tofu to the Festival of Souls.

Actress Kyoko Fukada (Kamikaze Girls, Yatterman) will voice one of the key roles in the movie.

Tofu Boy will release during Golden Week in Japan, in late April, early May.

To see the new trailer, click here: (Tofu Boy).

Or watch the original below:

Vocaloid hologram selling out concerts

The Yamaha Vocaloid program avatar Hatsune Miku is selling out concerts, several news sources like the Huffington Post reported.

The hologram started her first concert in August 2009, and first solo performance in March, and enthusiastic audiences have been showing up since.

Her voice is synthesized off actress Saki Fujita, who is not a singer. Miku is the avatar for the Vocaloid software program, which allows users to make their own songs with her singing.

Check out a video of one of Miku’s performances, World is Mine, here: (Hatsune Miku).

New Full Metal Alchemist movie in the works

Fans of Full Metal Alchemist will have a new movie to look forward to, according to an announcment on Japanese station TBS.

Studio Bones is working on Full Metal Alchemist: Milos no Seinaru Hoshi, scheduled to come out sometime in summer 2011.

To see a short teaser for the movie, click here: (Full Metal Alchemist movie).