Thursday, April 18, 2024
Jason Vien

Jason Vien

Wednesday, 04 July 2007 16:14

ADV Panel

Long Beach, Calif. – Hot on the heels of the Geneon panel followed ADV’s time slot in Live Programming room 2 at Anime Expo 2007. While the waiting line for the Geneon panel was surprisingly long, those who stuck their backsides firmly to their seats afterward were spared the wait in another unending line. ADV heads and long-time (think fifteen years) anime fans Matt Greenfield and John Ledford took stage front and center to announce upcoming titles and answer attendee questions. The panel opened with a Q & A session, or was suppose to until it was decided that important announcements should be made first. No complaints.

In the moments before the first announcement, the panelists took a second to mention a shifting focus towards slow and steady releases throughout the year all the while providing fans with great deals of information. In brief: slow and steady wins the fans, indeed.

Without wasting anymore time, the lights dimmed and ADV unveiled its first upcoming title, Kyoshiro and the Eternal Sky. Slated for stateside release later this year, Kyoshiro tells the story of Kuu Shiratori, a young school girl who endures the doldrums of school life by fantasizing about her “prince” and the day when she is able to meet him. In a twist of fate, a new transfer student whose appearance uncannily resembles the prince from her dreams transfers into her class. His name is Kyoshiro Ayanokoji, and little does Kuu realize that his coming would set off a wondrous adventure filled with strange, mechanical creatures and magic to which the likes of are unknown to her young eyes.

The second announcement from ADV and an indifferent shrug from this writer followed quickly after the teaser trailer for the first announcement. The lights come back up then dim once again, and technical snafues aside, ADV shows off their second title, Gainax’s big hit series Gurren Lagaan. The show takes place in the distant future, in which humans are forced underground by oppressive beastmen and the hope of a bright future is laid upon the shoulders of a young driller named Simon and his cohorts Kamina and Yoko. With the help of a powerful weapon, the heroic trio fight back against the nefarious Beastmen and their Human Eradication Army to ensure the survival of mankind.

The currently running series recently met its halfway point of a total 26 episodes. No stateside release date has been announced.

ADV’s final announcement was Devil May Cry, a new series based on the popular videogame franchise published by Capcom. The show follows the game series mainstay Dante, a half-human, half-demon, and all-around badass demon hunter-for-hire. Through his business, “Devil May Cry”, services involving demon elimination may be contracted.

The Madhouse produced show is slated for American release in the winter of 2007, possibly to coincide with the release of the next installment of the game franchise, Devil May Cry 4, which sees release in the fourth quarter of this year.

Among the new announcements, ADV also mentioned some of its other upcoming titles such as Air Tv, Xenosaga, Welcome to the NHK, and 5cm per Second.

With the announcements over and done with, ADV opened the panel for questions and comments. The questions and comments ran the gamut from requests to do a certain project to queries about MIA projects long overdue (I.E. The 10th Anniversary Evangelion box set). However, there was one question that sparked interest in the audience - Will the U.S. Voice cast return for the upcoming Rebuild of Evangelion project? Matt Greenfield and John Ledford expressed their interest in the project and definitely seemed genuinely excited about its progress, but aside from that little tidbit, there was no official confirmation.
Monday, 14 July 2008 08:51

Final Fantasy XIII E3 2008 Trailer

The trailer looks great, but that's not much of a surprise. What really knocked us off our collective rockers was Square-Enix's announcement that Final Fantasy XIII is also headed to the Xbox 360 as well as the PS3. Yes, read it again: Final Fantasy XIII on XBOX 360. 

Video after the jump.

 
Source: 1up
 
Friday, 04 July 2008 17:47

AX08 - ADV Industry Panel

ax advWe now find ourselves within the company of Matt Greenfield and John Ledford as they take the panelists table and begin a general Q&A session, which will promptly cede to a viewing of the first 2 episodes of "Kiba." Read the whole thing after the jump.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Wednesday, 02 July 2008 06:52

Chrono Trigger DS Confirmed!

 Well, that didn't take long. Square-Enix has just decided to make it official: The DS is getting an updated Chrono Trigger port! Coming to North America this holiday season, Chrono Trigger DS will take advantage of the system's dual screen and touch screen functionality. Square-Enix will also include a brand new dungeon and multiplayer battles. Here's hoping that the DS version will include the anime styled cutscenes from the Final Fantasy Chronicles edition of the game.
 There is a rumor floating around that there will be a Chrono Trigger release (in the form of a port, remake, sequel, who knows?) for the DS, and earlier today Kotaku posted a scan from the newest issue of Jump Magazine that almost nudges this rumor towards a full-blown confirmation - but let's not get ahead of ourselves...until now. There's now a countdown clock active on Square-Enix's official Japanese website. But that's not all - check out the website url:
 
"http://www.square-enix.co.jp/ctds/"
 
"ctds"? Chrono Trigger DS?  *Crosses fingers*
 
UPDATE: Looks like CTDS is U.S. bound - Check out the North American website , which looks about the same.
 
 
Kaiyodo Ena Kaiyodo is busy keeping little Yotsuba company with the youngest Ayase family sibling, Ena (from the manga Yotsuba&!, of course), making her PVC debut. Ena is a cast-off figure, allowing you to trade her regular clothes and teddy bear (Jularlmin, as Yotsuba would call it) for a bikini and towel. Standing 135mm tall (that's approx. 5 inches, for the lazy), this figure will see release on September 01, 2008 with the price point of 2,940 yen. Check out more pics over at Ami Ami, where you can also see pics of Kaiyodo's new Ayase Fuka Swimsuit version .
 
Isn't she the cutest little thing? I'd advise a bit of caution though - she looks like she wouldn't hurt a fly but I'm sure fish would say otherwise.
Sunday, 29 June 2008 19:41

Little Bits & Bobbles - Round-Up Time

ichigo
 A few things missed or glossed over during the weekend:
  •  Samurai Champloo 1/6 scale action figures by Triad Toys. Check out Mugen here , and Jin here. Fuu is coming soon.
  • Rock Band 2 announced . What new instruments could we expect? Full debut at this year's E3.
 Lots of new toys and plastic tchotchkes on display at the Singapore Toy and Comic Convention 2008. Check it out over at ToysREvil blog.
 
Source: Collection DX, ANN, and Kotaku
Sunday, 29 June 2008 18:56

Gurren Lagann Parallel Work 3

 
Alright folks, here's the third bow in Gainax's on-running series of Gurren Lagann themed music videos and ostensibly this one is a bit jazzier than the previous two, which isn't to say it's a bad thing in the least. Set against Yoko's aptly titled song "Boing vs. Boing", this video recalls the feverish openings of anime past, such as Cowboy Bebop, to name one. There's a theme here, hidden within the three minute montage of semi-related images, but I can't seem to find it -- maybe you'll have better luck? Enjoy, stay classy.
games-naruto-ninja-storm
 
The newest episode of Gamespot's weekly show On The Spot had Bandai Namco marketing rep Joon Hwang demonstrating the gameplay mechanics of Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm . Mr. Hwang also let us know that a playable demo will be available sometime in July. Ok, we've had our fair share of Naruto games in the past, so what makes this any different? Well, for one, it's the first Naruto game on the Playstation 3 (it's also an exclusive to this platform), and two, it's absolutely beautiful. Check it out for yourself, and watch another cool gameplay trailer after the jump.(Click "Read more")
 
Wednesday, 25 June 2008 19:05

ADV Manga Still Alive and Possibly Kicking

yotsubaADV is a bit tired of the internet's constant queries as to the status of their manga publication, inclusive of which is -- but not limited to -- Yotsuba&! volume 6. In an interview with Publisher's Weekly, Chris Oarr reaffirms us web denizens that ADV Manga is still very much alive - although they haven't anything coming down the pipeline in terms of new series or licenses and don't know when it'll start up again. However, they are at the moment fulfilling orders and pumping out books from their existing catalogue, so not all is sad in manga-land. 
 
How long can you nudge and poke someone until they get tired of it? I guess that's how ADV and Chris Oarr feel right about now. It's like this is a Zelda game in which ADV is Link and the interwebs is that annoying fairy sidekick Navi. Imagine going about your business while constantly hearing "Hey...Hey...Listen!...Hey...Listen!...Hey!" Yeah, I bet that's how ADV feels about now.
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