I'm a moderately big Indy fan and I'm quite excited for the release of the 4th flick in the series. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is set to fill up cineplexes May 22nd and is expected to be one of this summer's biggest hits. The film is a big deal in the U.S. but, surprisingly enough, it could be just as big across the globe. Japanese figure producer Kotobukiya is just as excited, you see, and as such has immortalized Dr. Jones and company with the cutest little figures you'll ever see from the films. These little Indy trading figures stand at approximately 2" (5cm) and will see release around June for about ¥500 apiece or ¥40,000 for the whole set of 8, which includes characters ranging from all four films.

 Hit the jump for the full sized images. (Click "Read More")

 Source: Slashfilm and IndianaJones.jp

Serious stuff...indeed. Keep watching until the end.

Source: Japan Probe  

The stand-up people at Cacom USA want to give us cool Street Fighter IV figures, but are unable to produce the ENTIRE cast of characters in beautiful pvc form. They can't decide which characters will get the figure treatment, so this is where we, the fans, come in. Capcom USA is asking the gaming community to vote for their top three favorite SF IV characters. That's right, We get to decide!  Who will you choose? Will you stick with classic Street Fighter stalwarts, or choose the new kids on the block? Let yourself be heard, drop your votes over at the  Capcom blog.

Source: Kotaku  

Here's a low quality scan (perfect for a low quality flick. I kid, I kid) of the Dragonball promo image featured in Shonen Jump #12. To view the full image, click "read more", or here . A few details can be glanced from the text on the promo:

"I’ll grant you a wish…!!

Rumor after rumor but [now] Dragonball live action movie finally comes true!
Director James Wong of Final Destination, and producer the revolutionary film maker Stephen Chow of Shaolin Soccer. Remarkable casts are Son Goku is Justin Chatwin who played Tom Cruise’s son in Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds, and Master Roshi is Chow yun-fat of Pirates of the Caribbean.

All Dragonball fan’s wish are granted now ! We will continue to offer new information to you on Jump Cinema Island !"

 Take from that what you will. I'll reserve further comments (save one: Chatwin Goku's hair doesn't look half bad) until we at least get a trailer. For more info on the Dragonball movie, check out its official movie blog . 

Source: Kotaku  

Speed Racer, the live-action adaptation of the classic pseudo-anime helmed by the Wachowski bros, closed it's weekend opening at a heartbreaking $20 million. In retrospect, it probably wasn't a great idea to attempt a coup against the juggernaut that is Iron Man just a week after that films' bow. Iron Man, in comparison, took in $50 million this weekend and succeeded in dominating the box office two weeks in a row (and sitting pretty at $150+ million domestically). Warner Brothers' $180 million nostalgia trip looks to be in trouble, especially when you consider the list of summer big-hitters releasing in mere weeks (*cough* Indiana Jones). While no one anticipated Speed Racer to overtake Iron Man, experts still estimated at least a $40 mil take in, so the results are made even more painful. So what is the reason behind the flop? Poor marketing? Crap reviews? Recession? Or maybe it's because live-action adaptations of old cartoons just don't work (Scooby Doo, Underdog, etc.). Who knows. 

If you still have an urge to watch Speed Racer, check out the first 7 minutes here before plopping down your hard earned green-backs. 

I love instant cup noodles. It's unhealthy, mostly unsatisfying, and let's be honest those seemingly innocuous little styrofoam cups aren't a boon to the environment. But I could care less because (stating it twice for absolute effect), I love me some instant cup noodles. You know what I love more than instant cup noodles? Cow juice Milk . You've heard of the slogans, it does a body good.  Now, you're probably pondering the arbitrariness of this post and trying to connect the dots between cup noodles and milk, but if you're anything like me, you may have already begun imagining what sorts of delicious would result in a fusion of said cup noodles and milk. Rejoice my fellow fans of end-result lactation and awesome in a cup, we needn't imagine any longer.

Nissin, instant noodle conglomerate and all around purveyor of 3-minute goodness, has introduced Milk Curry Cup Noodles, which joins Milk Seafood and Cheese Curry cup noodles in the dairy noodle soup line-up. I promise to have T-ono.net administer The-O serve as guinea pig errr...taste tester on this new find and will report the results to you, dear reader.

Hit the jump for more delicious Milk cup noodle images. (Click "read more") 

The official website for The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi anime has updated its homepage, and now features Yuki instead of Haruhi, who has recently "disappeared". Also updated is the staff list for the second series, which lists director Tatsuya Ishihara and assistant director Yasuhiro Takemoto (both of whom worked on the first season) as returning. Keep your eyes peeled for the July issue of Newtype, as it is expected to contain more info on the whereabouts of Suzumiya Haruhi.

Source: Haruhi update at Anime News Network [ANN]