USA Anime and Manga Report

For the full version of this newsletter see:

     http://www.koyagi.com/USAAnimeRelease.html

USA Anime and Manga Report

         October 2003 Volume 8 Number 10 Issue #94

Contents:

     Editorial:

     Press Releases:

   It's "Showtime" For TOKYOPOP'S GTO Anime!

     Release Information:

        Anime Releases by Date.

        Anime Releases by Title.

        Magazine and Translated Manga Releases by Date.

        Japanese Cinema Releases by Date

        Select Anime Related Goods Releases by Date.

        Short List.

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Editorial

Those who check the ³Number of New Entries in this issue² list below 
will recognize that the numbers are a bit high for manga. Well the 
reason for this is that a combination of one company not reporting newly 
scheduled releases and a lack of time led to some titles not making it 
into previous issues. Hopefully we are back on track now.

This month I am again asking for folks to volunteer to regularly report 
on specific companies. I¹ll probably be asking this again for a few 
issues until I build up a crew of regular contributors.

So if you would like to help out let me know.

Number of New Entries in this issue:

   Anime:   67
   Manga & Magazines:   191
   Cinema:  1
   Other:   18

Thanks for corrections and additional information go to:

Daniel A. Wilson - Regular contributor

Erin Michael Winking - Regular contributor

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Press Releases:

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IT'S "SHOWTIME" FOR TOKYOPOP'S GTO ANIME!

Successful Series Set to Debut on Showtime Networks' SHO Next This 
November

LOS ANGELES (October 8, 2003)-As the legendary Great Teacher Onizuka 
would put it... school's in session! TOKYOPOP Inc. is pleased to 
announce that it has entered into an agreement with Showtime Networks 
Inc. to bring the critically acclaimed and hilarious GTO anime to TV 
viewers. The 43-episode series begins airing on the Network's SHO Next 
channel on November 3rd at 9:00pm, with new episodes nightly Monday 
through Friday.

Based on Tohru Fujisawa's hugely popular manga, GTO is the story of 
Eikichi Onizuka-a 22-year-old ex-biker who becomes a teacher to make a 
difference. Unfortunately, he's also crude, foul-mouthed, and has a 
hair-trigger temper! Using his street smarts to deal with colleagues, 
students and troublemakers, Onizuka finds that he, too, has many lessons 
to learn as he strives to become the greatest high school teacher in the 
world!

A runaway hit in Japan, GTO inspired both a blockbuster movie and 
long-running live-action television series-Tokyo's equivalent to 
M.A.S.H. for its claim to the most watched finale in TV history. This 
real-life urban drama is loaded with enough comedy and action to make it 
a phenomenon here in the United States as well. In fact, TOKYOPOP has 
already exceeded sales expectations with its GTO manga and DVD series.

"GTO's comedic wit makes it the perfect fit for the SHO Next audience," 
said Steve Galloway, TOKYOPOP's Executive Director of Development. "The 
dialogue is sharp, and the series is filled with characters and 
situations that a lot of people will relate to-whether familiar with 
anime or not."

"Showtime is pleased to bring this hit series to an American audience," 
said Gary Garfinkel, Showtime Networks Vice President of Acquisitions. 
"With the increasing popularity of anime, we feel fortunate to have 
acquired this quality-driven series and view GTO as an ideal show for 
our SHO Next audience."

The series was brought into Showtime by Director of Acquisitions Larry 
Greenberg who negotiated the deal with TOKYOPOP's Steve Galloway.

This deal marks TOKYOPOP's third anime property on television -- Reign: 
The Conqueror aired on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim this year, and Rave 
Master is set to debut on Cartoon Network's Toonami block in 2004.

SHO Next is Showtime's "interactive playground," targeting Gen Y adults 
(ages 18-24). This channel is comprised of about 50 movies a month, 
including first-run theatricals and original pictures, plus short films 
and animation. With a corresponding website at www.shonext.com, SHO Next 
features content that lives both on the channel and the web.

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Each month when the new issue of this newsletter is uploaded to the web 
a notice is posted on the following newsgroups:
   rec.arts.anime.misc
    rec.arts.anime.fandom
    rec.arts.anime.info

referring people to the newsletter on my web page at:

     http://www.koyagi.com/USAAnimeRelease.html

Enjoy, & don't hesitate to send comments.

         -Gilles-
         [EMAIL PROTECTED]

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Whenever possible dates are from information supplied or published by 
the companies listed, via email, in their ads, Web pages or Usenet 
postings.

When information is not from the companies I have noted the source.

Information is organized by:
   Street Release Date [Year-month/day (if available)] TITLE IN CAPS
      Note: Titles from the following companies will likely be on the
      shelves later than announced.
         Viz - all dates are shipping dates
         CPM Manga
         Manga Entertainment
         Studio Ironcat
         Tokyo Pop
         
   Format (VHS, LD, CD-ROM, Magazine, Etc.)
   *Company Name*
   Any other useful information. (Unless indicated prices are in U.S. 
dollars)
   Verification [If I have seen the item on store shelves]

And by:
   TITLE followed by the release date for easy checking for items you 
are anxious to have.

DVD language information:
   DVD without further information means language unknown.
   DVD - Bilingual - Japanese and English voice tracks including 
subtitles
   DVD - Subtitled = Only Japanese with English subtitles.
   DVD - Dubbed = Only English only in English re-dub format,
   Jpn - Japanese
   Eng - English
   Fre = French
   Spa = Spanish

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"Hybrid CD-ROM" means CD-ROMs that run on both the Windows and Macintosh 
operating systems.

New & significantly updated entries have their date followed with a note.

Any errors I am notified of will be noted & corrected in the next 
release.

I include information for releases from the previous month's releases 
due to the fact that it sometimes takes far too long for titles to reach 
many localities due to distribution or production delays.

Permission is granted to re-post this list on any BBS or electronic 
service as long as no extra fees are charged for downloading it.

Web page duplication of this newsletter is not permitted, instead please 
link to:
     http://www.koyagi.com/USAAnimeRelease.html

If you have a store you regularly use you may wish to give them the URL 
of this document for their reference. I will also directly email this 
newsletter monthly to retailers upon request.

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-- 
Gilles Poitras
Profession: Librarian    Obsession: Anime
http://www.koyagi.com
[EMAIL PROTECTED]