Imagi Animation Studio has revealed details of their plans to release an Astro Boy “CG-animated feature-length motion picture” in 2009. From their press release:

“The new Astro Boy feature will be based on an original story developed by Imagi’s US studio. Physical production will take place at Imagi’s state of the art Hong Kong animation studio. Along with its current CG-animation productions Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Gatchaman, Imagi will continue its technical and creative leadership in bringing comic book heroes to the big screen.”

2009?! Why tell us now? It means we have to wait longer. Oh well, I’ve nothing better to do anyway.

Via Anime News Network

The BBC Motion Gallery is currently hosting some beautiful High Definition clips from NHK’s archive. From the site:

“A remarkable collection of pristine HD native content that offers insight into both traditional and contemporary Japan. With 96% of NHK’s general TV broadcast in HD, the scope of the material is breathtaking. From Japanese macaques in hot springs and the temples of Kyoto to sweeping shots of earthquake-shattered buildings; from noisy factories of the present day to the tranquility of time-honoured ceremonies.”

Check them out here.

UK readers and fans of Jonathan Ross’ documentary series, Japanorama, will be pleased to know that the show returns for a second series tomorrow (Thursday) night. The first episode according to the BBC will follow Jonathan as he “explores the meaning of kakoii, Japanese for cool.”

The series begins 7th September at 11pm on BBC3.

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya was originally a light novel written by Nagaru Tanigawa and illustrated by Noizi Ito. Two different manga series were created from this, and later an anime series. WikiChan hosts some great images of scenes from the anime, right next to real life photographs of the actual locations used as the inspiration. Unfortunately, WikiChan has been defaced, so hopefully they won’t mind us hosting some of the images here in the meantime.

(more…)

Late last year, the international news agency, Bloomberg, installed a giant 70×70 metre video screen in their Marunochi building in Tokyo. The Interactive Communication Experience (ICE) display appears as if a normal news and stock ticker, but has one very special feature - its interactivity; the screen reacts to touch. Watch this video to see it in action.