On September 24, 2007, studio BONES co-founder, Hiroshi ÅŒsaka passed away from cancer at the age of 44. He had worked as a character designer (Clockwork Fighters Hiwou’s War, Mobile Fighter G Gundam, & Mobile Suit Victory Gundam), key animator (Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade & Macross Plus), and animation director (Escaflowne: The Movie, Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, & Rahxephon: Pluralitas Concentio). ANN has posted a full obituary.
Recently, the Suginami Anime Museum (SAM) in Tokyo has announced that it will be hosting a memorial exhibit in ÅŒsaka-san’s honor. It will feature original art from Clockwork Fighters Hiwou’s War (right), Mobile Suit Victory Gundam, and other works. The exhibit will run from November 27 through December 9.
ANN Story:
Hiroshi ÅŒsaka Memorial Exhibit Announced
SAM Announcement (Japanese):
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(literal translation from Google: Emergency announcement! The animator Hiroshi Ousaka memorial exhibition, held)
SAM General Information Flier (in reasonably good English)
There is not much information so far, but it looks like another North American anime licensee is going into limbo. Illumitoon Entertainment appears to have suspended its titles. According to ANN, retailer Right Stuf International has “reclassified the DVDs of B’tX Volumes 3-5, Beet the Vandel Buster Volumes 2-5, and Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo Volumes 2-8 as ‘discontinued’.” They have also listed AM Driver as being “not available for purchase”. So far, Illumitoon has not commented.
There is some good news, however. A new North American licensee has appeared…New Galaxy Anime, based in Humboldt, California. According to their press release, they will:
“…specialize in family-friendly fare, particularly of the shoujo genre. Releasing rare, vintage titles with high nostalgic value will also be a priority.“
Their first title will be The Fantastic Adventures of Unico (1981), directed by Osamu Tezuka. Here is a synopsis from the ANN Encyclopedia:
“Unico the Unicorn has the amazing power to make anyone he meets happy. Whether it’s because of his personality or the powers of his horn, no one knows. However, the gods become jealous of Unico, thinking that only they should be able to decide or allow people to be happy. Unico is banished to the Hill of Oblivion, and the West Wind is ordered to take him there. She can’t stand giving this fate to Unico, so Unico’s adventures begin, as the West Wind takes him from one place and time to the next, in a neverending journey to escape the wrath of the gods.“
New Galaxy’s “coming soon” page also lists Unico in the Island of Magic as a future release.
Image of VHS cover is from an Amazon.com customer.
ANN Stories:
Illumitoon’s B’tX, Beet, BoBoBo-Bo DVDs Discontinued (Updated)
New Anime Licensee Announced with Unico as 1st Title (Updated)
In the 1990s, Takashi Okazaki fused his love of Japanese samurai movies with the musicians he watched on old Soul Train shows (US music/dance TV series). The result was a manga called Afro Samurai. However, it attracted only a modest readership.
In 2001, it caught the eye of Eric Calderon, an American executive working at the Japanese animation studio GONZO…he is now in charge of GONZO’s creative international business development. Mr. Calderon provided support for the adaptation of the manga to anime. The project got a big boost when actor Samuel L. Jackson agreed to be the voice actor for Afro and when musician/producer RZA agreed to provide the music. The result was a 5 episode TV series which aired on the US cable network, Spike TV in January 2007.
In an interview posted by the Mainichi Daily News, Okazaki-san commented on the surprising success of Afro Samurai:
“I never expected Afro Samurai to get this huge. It started out as doodlings I made in college. Now, I have Samuel doing Afro’s voice, and lots of black kids thanking me for creating an awesome hero,” he said. “I just can’t believe it.”
The show has even won a following in Japan. After airing on the Japanese satellite channel WOWOW in May, a movie version opened in Tokyo on October 27. Afro Samurai has also been shown on MTV Australia and Britain’s Adult Swim channel.
In the works is a video game for the Xbox 360 platform.
A second season has been green lighted and is expected to air on Spike TV in early 2008. As to what the season will be about, Okazaki-san explained in the interview:
Having finally slayed Justice at the end of series one, Afro “loses his way, gets tired of all the killing,” Okazaki said. The series, he said, follows Afro as he finally “wakes up to his destiny, which is to be the world’s No. 1 warrior.”
And Afro’s new enemy is an alluring female warrior, according to Okazaki.
“Seduction and violence — those are musts for American TV,” he said.
Image of Takashi Okazaki: AP Photo/Koji Sasahara
Mainichi Daily News (English) story:
After US run, Afro Samurai returns to Japan
Earlier this year, David wrote an article about the Superflat Artists Panel at Anime Central 2007. One of the founders of the movement, Takashi Murakami, recently dove into the world of anime by directing his first animation, kaikai & kiki (two of his most recognized characters). The 10 minute episode premiered on October 29 at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA) as part of its © Murakami show. It was produced by Murakami-san’s own Kaikai Kiki studio in Tokyo. New installments of kaikai & kiki will be shown at future exhibition tour venues. You can find a link to watch a trailer of the episode on MoCA’s Murakami page.
The © Murakami show features selections of Murakami-san’s work to date. It includes painting, sculpture, and film. The show runs from October 29 through February 11. If you are there on November 8 at 6:30pm, Chief Curator Paul Schimmel will lead a free walkthrough of © Murakami.
The exhibit also has an embedded Louis Vuitton boutique where visitors may purchase Murakami enhanced Vuitton handbags…assuming they can afford to. In 2003, Murakami-san and Louis Vuitton’s Marc Jacobs (both shown here at the gala opening party for the exhibit) signed a deal for Murakami-san to provide Superflat artwork for several of the company’s bags. This, while a bit controversial, shows that Murakami-san is not shy about the commercial side of art. He has been known to peruse Bill Gates’ writings for management tips. He has recently written a book titled The Theory of Art Entrepreneurship.
His art shows do a brisk business of selling T-shirts, key chains, mugs, etc. all adorned with his artwork. For a more detailed look at Murakami-san, the commercialism controversy, and the validity/future of Superflat, you can read this LA Times article by Bruce Wallace.
Note: Besides Mr. Jacobs and Murakami-san, the gala which was held on October 28, also had a guest list including music producer Pharrell Williams (live-action Voltron project), actress Christina Ricci (Trixie on the live-action Speed Racer), & Rapper and anime fan Kanye West (who also performed a short set at the Vuitton boutique).
Image from kaikai & kiki: © Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd.
Image of Louis Vuitton Eye Love Monogram bag: © Louis Vuitton
Image of Takashi Murakami & Marc Jacobs: Brian Lindensmith/PatrickMcMullan.com…©Patrick McMullan
ANN Stories:
Artist Takashi Murakami to Premiere Anime Short in L.A. (Updated)
Murakami’s Los Angeles Opening Attracts Celebrities
Variety Story:
Murakami’s toon touch takes flight
Other Sources:
Museum of Contemorary Art’s Murakami page
Around Murakami’s Superflat world (LA Times article by Bruce Wallace)
Kanye West, neo-Pop star (LA Times Calendar review of Kanye West at the gala)
Style.com 1 (Brief review of gala)
Style.com 2 (Source of Vuitton bag photo)
Earlier, I had written about an Amusement Game Center which will be opening on November 11 with a theme centered around Crayon Shin-chan. Now, not only can children play in a Shin-chan environment, but they can also smell like Shin-chan…or at least smell like the newly released official Shin-chan Eau de Toilette, Body Fresh Spray, and Cologne products.
Spanish fragrance maker Air-Val International, has started selling the official Shin-chan products. On their website, Air-Val describes the aroma as:
- Notes: Fresh, citrusy, fruity, musky
- Top Notes: Bergamot, orange, grapefruit, lemon, mandarin, leafy green
- Heart Notes: White flower, lily of the valley, freesia, peach, apple, melon
- Down Notes: Musk, violet
The Eau de Toilette comes in a 50 ml bottle; the Body Fresh Spray comes in a 100 ml bottle; and the cologne comes in a 350 ml (in the shape of Shin-chan) bottle.
Images from Air-Val site: © 1990 USUI YOSHITO / © 1992-2007 SHIN-EI & TV Asahi / All rights reserved. Licensed by FUNimation & TV Asahi
ANN Story:
Official Shin Chan Cologne, Eau de Toilette on Sale
Dang. I really liked Bobobo.
@ Chris N.
It’s too early to say what Illumitoon’s plans will be for these releases. It’s possible, they will release them at a later date or that they will allow them to be re-licensed.
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