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Dec.
6, 2002
Frito-Lay
anime advertising: Frito-Lay is using Beyblade to promote their
various chips internationally. The advertising campaign is to appear on
TV, in print and in in-store ads and has already shown up in Spain and
Portugal where promotional Beyblade merchandise is being placed in potato
chip bags.
Spirited
Away named Best Animated Feature: Award-winning Japanese animated film
"Spirited Away" (Sen to
Chihiro no Kamikakushi) was chosen Thursday as best animated feature of
the year. The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures, a U.S.
film review board, said it will present its awards for 2002 at a ceremony
in New York on Jan, 14, 2003.
Initial
D coming to Playstation 2: At a press conference this morning, Sega announced that Initial D Special Stage, is in development for the Playstation 2. Initial D Special Stage plays similarly to the Tokyo Xtreme Racer series with gamers riding around the streets at night flashing headlights to initiate races. Sega AM2 will be handling the Playstation 2 game and the title will also be compatible with the GT Force Wheel. Unfortunately, no release date has been announced at this time.
SES's
Eugene sues Japanese massage parlor:
A certain Japanese masseuse company has used Eugene's image illegally in
advertising their 30 minute 6,000 yen massages. Apparently Japanese
companies have used faces of unknown porno stars before illegally, however
it is a shock to most Koreans that this company would use Eugene's image
when she is part of one of the most popular Asian female dance groups, and
even released albums in Japan at one point. SM Entertainments
official statment: "It's illegal to use someone's face without their
permission, but it makes it worse when the advertisement is of the shady
nature." The article continued to state that SM Entertainment and
Eugene will be pressing charges against this company.
ADV
launches Noir website: In
the wake of their long-awaited announcement of a release date for NOIR:
Shades of Darkness (the first volume of the series), ADV Films today
announced the launch of the title’s dedicated phase-one website.
The website includes a thrilling, subtitled ADV-original Noir trailer, and
the “REPORTS” section of the site also includes a handy code name
generator. Visitors should remember their code names, as they’ll be
crucial for upcoming site functionality. The site also includes a form
allowing visitors to enter their email contact information for
notification of updates to the site.
New
rules for anime on Italian TV: Italian broadcasters have agreed to new
rules aimed at keeping sex and
violence off the country's television screens during hours when children
are more likely to be watching. Under the so-called self-regulatory code
all programming, including advertising, aired between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m on
TV, will have to be devoid of sex and violence, unless absolutely
necessary for news purposes. Furthermore, between 7 p.m. and 10.30 p.m.
broadcasters will be required to issue warnings before programs that may
not be suitable for children. The code, announced Monday, was established
by the Italian communications ministry, was signed on Saturday (Nov. 30)
by top commercial networks RAI, Mediaset, and La 7. A committee made up of
broadcasting executives, members of children's advocacy organizations, and
government representatives will be in charge of making sure that it is
applied.
Broadcasters violating the code will be fined up to $250,000.
Last
Samurai news: the Last Samurai is headed for a Dec. 5, 2003 release.
The film will have a mix of
English and occasional Japanese subtitled into English.
AYU
meets Thailand princess: Singer
Hamasaki Ayumi met with Princess Ubonratana (52) at Bangkok, Thailand.
This is the first time the Princess has met a Japanese entertainment
person. Ayu was selected as ambassador to promote the Thai ruby because of
her popularity there. Ayu also donated 3,600,000 yen to the Princess for
the anti-drug cause. Check out http://www.yimsiam.com/club/board/topicRead.asp?wbID=thewboard&id=003867
for pictures.
Yuki Uchida break up fanclub: Recently married to an actor Yoshioka
Hidetaka (32) in Furano, Hokkaido,
Uchida Yuki (26) announced the breakup of her official fan club
"Yuki-gumi" on 11-28-2002. She proclaimed that she will
concentrate on her job as a housewife. In addition, she will be resting
for a period of time from the entertainment business. She will return to
the scene when the time is right. She vowed to revive her fan club
in the future. See pictures of Yuki and her husband, Hidetaka http://www.sanspo.com/geino/top/gt200211/gt2002112905.html
University
Students cheating with cell phones: Hitotsubashi University, one of
Japan's prestigious universities,
said Tuesday a group of students cheated in an end-of-term exam last year
through the use of mobile phone emails. Twenty-six second- and
third-year students taking an "e-commerce" course were involved
in the scam at the final summer exam held in July last year, university
officials said. Hitotsubashi Vice President Takehiko Sugiyama said
an instructor marking the exam papers found out the cheating after
noticing more or less identical answers in a number of papers. The
instructor summoned the students involved and promised they would not be
disciplined if they confessed. The students then admitted cheating
by using emails exchanged through mobile phones. University
authorities withheld the course credit to the exam cheaters but spared
them of disciplinary action. Hitotsubashi officials said about 550
students from the Faculty Commerce and Management and the Faculty of
Economics were enrolled in the e-commerce course. Sugiyama said so
many students were taking the exam that university instructors failed to
notice the cheating at the time. "Some students even had mobile
phones placed on their desks using them as clock," Sugiyama said.
"ER"
actress creates Asian-American band: Ming-Na, the actress who plays
Dr. Jing-Mei Chen on "ER," is also producing a band.
Ming-Na says that as an Asian-American she's "never felt any
representation in popular music." The Asian-American pop vocal group
she is representing is called At Last. Ming-Na says their goal is
"to make music history and have the first Asian-American band make it
into the mainstream in the U.S."
TOKIO
member Hospitalized: TOKIO bass guitarist, Yamaguchi Tatsuya (30) was
hospitalized on December
4th (his temperature was at 39 degrees celsius). An interview for an
upcoming NHK drama was cancelled. It is not known if Yamaguchi will
be able to perform via TOKIO and J-FRIENDS in the upcoming Fuji TV 2002FNS
Special
to air tonight. According to Johnny's Jimusho, the musician/actor felt
started to feel ill (hot) around 11:00 p.m., at 10:00 a.m. the following
morning, Yamaguchi's temperature has not yet gone down. At
11:00 a.m., Yamaguchi was taken to the hospital, unable to walk and was
put on a wheelchair. He was given an injection and headed towards
NHK for his interview around 1:45 but Yamaguchi's condition began to
deteriorate, his face was pale and he was
staggering. The producer and others involved in the set felt it was
necessary for Yamaguchi to cancel the interveiw and he was rushed to the
hospital around 3:00p.m.
Honduras
bans violent video games: The Honduran Congress voted Wednesday to ban
the sale and distribution of
violent video games, the country's latest effort to halt growing crime and
lawlessness. The country's 128 lawmakers voted unanimously in favor of the
new legislation. The president was expected to sign it into law. The
proposal includes the prohibition of Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil, Turck,
the House of the Dead, Duke Nukem, Shadowman, Quake, Instinct Killer,
Doom, the Legacy of Kain, Street Fighter and Perfect Dark. The lawmakers
also banned the sale of any toy that resembles a gun, knife or other
weapon. The new legislation would take effect in June, giving business
officials six months to clear their shelves of the newly banned toys.
President Ricardo Maduro was elected a year ago on the promise to adopt a
New York City zero-tolerance against crime. Since then, he has sent 8,000
soldiers and extra police into the street to maintain order.
Shimatani
and Hikawa win at 43rd Japan Records Awards: Diva Hitomi Shimatani and
heartthrob enka singer Kiyoshi Hikawa were among the big winners at the
43rd Japan Record Awards, Japan's equivalent of the Grammys. Shimatani's
"Amashoku no Kami Otome" and Hikawa's "Kiyoshi no Zundoko
Setsu" were among the gold prize winners at the event, held Tuesday
at the Tokyo studios of the TBS network. Other top award winners
were w-inds, Every Little Thing, Miyuki Nakagawa, Sumi Tagawa, Rimi
Natsukawa, Ayumi Hamasaki, Yuri Harada, hiro, BoA and Yoshiko Moriyama.
Hajime Chitose picked up the Album of the Year Award for "Hainumi
Kaze." Best New Talent went to Sachiko Shiina and Miki
Nakajima. Conductor Seiji Ozawa, musical director for the Vienna
State Opera, was
awarded a special prize for his work, "Hello! Project."
New
Pokemon movie: the next Pokemon movie will be released theatrically in
Japan on July 19 2003. It'll be called "Gekijoban Pocket Monster
Advance Generation Shichiya no Negai Hoshi".
LEGO
to release anime-themed videos: in order to promote its Bionicle line,
LEGO will release a 70 minute CGI home video with anime inspired themes.
It is reported that the company Creative Capers will produce the film.
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