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Cel Shaded
Jason Yadao
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Doors revolve on series
Here's what has set anime and manga fans a-buzz over the past few weeks.
Fans of the Ken Akamatsu manga series "Negima" will be pleased to know that FUNimation has picked up the U.S. license for the 26-episode anime series that aired earlier this year in Japan. A release is planned for next year.
Anime News Network (www.animenewsnetwork.com) reports that Greg Ayres has been tapped as the English-speaking voice of 10-year-old teacher/wizard in training Negi Springfield, while Luci Christian is listed as the voice of one of Negi's students and his roommate, Asuna.
Meanwhile, Seven Seas Entertainment, which has to date focused on publishing manga drawn by American artists, recently announced its first Japanese license: the "Boogiepop" novels and manga from which the highly underrated anime horror series "Boogiepop Phantom" were based. The first translated novel is due in February.
But while we're welcoming these series, two others are bowing out of the American market. One, "Flower of Eden," never even made it to store shelves after the manga's author, Yuki Suetsugu, admitted to plagiarizing art used in that series. Japanese publisher Kodansha pulled the plug, and licensor Tokyopop canceled the title.
An item in Zac Bertschy's latest "Hey Answerman!" column on Anime News Network confirms that another title, ADV Manga's "Aria," has gone "on hiatus" as of its third volume, which in the biz is a polite way of saying it's pretty much done for ...
In 'D&Q' Sunday
It's been said that mermaid flesh can grant eternal life ... but at what cost? "Project T," our monthly miniseries on the works of manga author Rumiko Takahashi, rolls on with Wilma Jandoc's look at the dark "Mermaid Saga," in Sunday's Star-Bulletin.
Cel Shaded, a look at the world of Japanese anime and manga, appears every Monday. E-mail Jason S. Yadao at
jyadao@starbulletin.com