News

Supernatural, Yumekui Merry, Showa Monogatari Promos Streamed

The official Japanese website for the Supernatural the Animation project began streaming a new 222-second trailer on Monday. (In the linked page, select the "New Trailer" icon on the righthand side.) The acclaimed anime studio Madhouse (Death Note, Paprika, Vampire Hunter D, Summer Wars) is producing the previously announced 22-episode anime for Warner Brothers. Shigeyuki Miya (Lupin III: Green vs Red, Aoi Bungaku Series, Buzzer Beater) and Atsuko Ishizuka (Aoi Bungaku Series) are co-directing the project. Warner Home Video will ship Supernatural the Animation on Blu-ray and DVD in Japan on one starter disc on February 23, 2011, followed by two boxes on March 9 and April 6. A television special will run on the BS11 digital satellite channel on January 1 at 24:30 (January 2 at 12:30 a.m.).

The original live-action series follows the Winchester brothers Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) as they hunt creatures and other supernatural phenomena across the American landscape. The series premiered on The WB network in the United States in 2005, and it entered its sixth season on The WB's replacement network, The CW, this past fall. Padalecki and Ackles will dub two episodes in the second box into English, along with their Japanese dubbing counterparts Yuya Uchida (Soul Eater's Dr. Franken Stein, Naruto Shippūden's Rinji) as Sam and Hiroki Touchi (Trinity Blood's Abel Nightroad, Bokurano's Kokkpelli) as Dean.

The Japanese broadcaster TBS began streaming the second promotional video for the anime adaptation of Yoshitaka Ushiki's Yumekui Merry manga on Monday. The action fantary revolves around a high school boy named Yumeji Fujiwara who has the mysterious power to see other people's dreams or nightmares. One day, he meets Merry, a beautiful girl who came from the world of dreams. The anime will premiere in Japan on January 6, 2011.

The YouTube website began streaming a 15-second trailer for Showa Monogatari (Showa-Era Story) film on December 14. THINK Corporation's original story follows the human drama of the Yamazaki family in Tokyo in the Year Showa 39 (1964) — the year that the city hosted the Summer Olympics. Tadahiro Murakami (Symphony in August) is directing the film at the studio Wao World, while Hiroshi Kugimiya (character designer of JAPAN, Our Homeland, Haré+Guu) is directing the separate television series. The film will open in Japan on January 29, 2011. The television series of 13 30-minute episodes will follow in April, although a television special will air at the end of 2010.

4Kids Entertainment has launched the official English website for the Yu-Gi-Oh! 3D: Bonds Beyond Time film with a teaser trailer. The stereoscopic 3D film marked the 10th anniversary of the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime film franchise in January by featuring the main heroes of all three TV Tokyo anime series: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters' Yuugi Mutou, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monster GX's Judai Yuki, and the ongoing Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Yūsei Fudō. The story brought together the three heroes to fight Paradox, a powerful new enemy who appeared for the first time in the film. 4Kids announced in September that it licensed the film. The film will run in 250 American theaters on February 26 and 27, and again on March 5 and 6.

The official website for the Wandering Son (Hourou Musuko) television anime series began streaming a documentary video on the making of the anime on Monday. The anime adapts a manga by Takako Shimura (Aoi Hana/Sweet Blue Flowers), and Fantagraphics Books plans to release the first manga volume in North America next February. The anime will premiere in Fuji TV's late-night Noitamina timeslot on January 13, 2011.

Thanks to Jesse for the Yu-Gi-Oh! news tip.

[Via Presepe News, Uri-Sure Matome R, Moon Phase]

Images © 2010 Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc.