Earlier this week, the official homepage for Japanese singer May'n announced she will be releasing her third full album titled Heat on March 21, 2012. The album will include the song "Scarlet Ballet" which was used as the OP (opening theme song) for the anime adaptation of Aria the Scarlet Ammo (Hidan no Aria), "Brain Diver" used in anime Phi Brain: Puzzle of God and a new song, "Heat of the Moment".

Her site also announced that she will be going on a world tour later this year titled "Rock Your Beats" though no countries have been specified yet. We will update as more information is released.

May'n made her first American performance back in 2010 at Anime Expo held in Los Angeles.

Promo videos for some of the songs on album included inside.

_{Update: additonal information and minor corrections made.}

In a post-Apocalyptic setting where all human males have ceased to exist, what else do you have to do than form strong female-female “friendships” while injecting your nether regions with biogenetic altering devices? Apparently, not much as is shown in Yasushi Akimoto's original video animation, ICE. And yes, for those wondering, this is the same Yasushi Akimoto who created the all-female Japanese idol groups AKB48 and SKE48.

For many fans, Trigun was a very memorable series due to its lovable protagonist, Vash the Stampede, and its futuristic space western setting. Unlike another popular space western series, Cowboy Bebop, Trigun definitely had seemingly entrenched itself in the actual feel of an old-time spaghetti western rather than focus on the future. As Vash traveled in search of his long-forgotten past on the planet Gunsmoke, while being joined with cast regulars Meryl Stryfe, Milly Thompson and fan-favorite Nicholas D. Wolfwood, he was also being pursued by bounty hunters for the “60,000,000,000$$” price on his head as well as a more nefarious group. During his travels, Vash usually came off as a clumsy, foolish young man to many people but more often than not, he would display his exceptional skill as a gunman - particularly as he often employed non-lethal means of disarming his adversaries.

Way back during the Nineties when the VHS was king and not Blu-Ray/DVD, there were tons of classic and beloved anime that were released into the United States.  One particular series, Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040, holds a special place in my heart as one of the first anime series I really got into and one of my personal favorites. It is also perhaps one of the first anime brought over here to the West to incite the cyberpunk genre fandom for English speaking audiences.

If you had the power to delude anyone into seeing the world the exact way that you want them to, what would you make them see? Studio Madhouse's (the Girl Who Leapt through Time, Chobits) adaptation of Nitroplus' (Demonbane, Saya no Uta) 2008 visual novel Chaos; Head, the first entry into their dark-and-gritty science fiction visual novel line, attempts to answer this as well as other philosophical issues on existentialism and the nature of being. All the while mixing it up with a romantic subplot revolving around an otaku protagonist. Sounds a lot like your typical anime fan's dream philosophy class, doesn't it?

The event held by VIZ Media on Saturday, January 28th at the West Hollywood Library in Los Angeles was to introduce their brand-new digital manga website, Shonen Jump Alpha, to the public. The new format is going to replace the printed version of Shonen Jump Weekly.  With a mini-convention feel to it, it featured tons of cosplayers, raffles, snacks, goodie bags and of course a sneak preview of Shonen Jump Alpha. In Japan, the issues of Shonen Jump are weekly and for that reason most people in Japan don't keep them. They just read them and dispose of them like they would with any other newspaper-style format.

Fashion retailer Mobacolle is collaborating with anime studio Gainax to release cat eared parkas based on the hit Evangelion series. The parkas are based on each of the Evangelion units (00 yellow, 01 purple, 02 red) and will be reversible. Unfortunately the parkas are only currently available for preorder in women and kid sizes and will retail for 7245 yen from the Official Gainax store.

As a note, over the years, artists have created various fanart involving the series as hoodies. Probably the most popular are the hoodie adaptation of the plug suits that each pilot wears. Pictures of fan art and of the parkas inside.

Yes Atelier fans, NIS America has announced on Friday that they will be releasing the third Arland installment, Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland in North America and Europe this May. Full details as well as the prologue trailer inside.