Anime Zen Blog

This is a series that I had started, and unfortunately, never got around to finish. I think it is a good anime and I  wanted to share this article with you guys. (originally posted on Animation Insider) :

‘Solty Rei’ Anime Coming Soon

Mecha Action Anime

Bringing to the front of the mind of animation fans the wonderful character dynamics of an innocent android of untold power and with an aging man who configures his own justice in an unlawful society, Solty Rei is a science fiction and action anime. Taking place in the sort of dystopic, futuristic society that fans of Japanese animation are so often familiar with, this series is about loss: the yearning for that which one no longer possesses and the fighting off of the sting of dementia that inevitably follows. Distributed in the west by FUNimation Entertainment (Moon Phase, Dragon Ball Z Remastered), the animated television series Solty Rei will be a one of the distributor’s core titles for the 2007-year. 

Roy Revant is a former cop turned bounty hunter. He lives and does his work in the before mentioned dystopia and while he has only one or two real worries, Roy’s character often lets the dangers of his occupation dictate his mood. Due to the fact that Roy lost his biological daughter only a few years ago, a little girl for whom he is still obsessively searching, the violence and intrigue of the surrounding culture is only of secondary concern. The city around which Roy does most of his work suffered a great deal of an atmospheric phenomenon that resultantly killed or brutally maimed some 100,000 citizens. Some citizens have mechanized prosthesis while others do not; some people live with the assistance of Resembles, cyberized individuals, while others do not; some have hope while others, like Roy, do not.

Solty, a Resemble, falls from the sky one day and comes into Roy’s possession. The bounty hunter thinks little of the mysterious android whose memory is gone, and finds more comfort in the violence of the culture than in his patience for what seems to be just another, innocent, mechanized girl. However, once Roy catches a glimpse of the raw power of this robot girl, he’s quick to change his mind.

But the girl’s untold past and Roy’s knack for getting into a deep rut is bound to catch up to the two. Solty Rei will be a key anime release for 2007, and is a title anime fans should be well conscious of as the months pass.

Distributed by FUNimation Entertainment, the first DVD volume of Solty Rei will be available on store shelves beginning January 23rd 2007 for $29.98.

This title was announced for acquisition at the 2006 Anime Expo Convention during the summer of last year [related A.I. news: “Complete AX 2006 Con Report“]. Due to the average otaku’s familiarity of robot girls ill-defined futuristic societies, Solty Rei will make for good purchase for most anime fans. This first DVD volume will contain the first six episodes of the animated television series; combining action, drama and science fiction.

Solty Rei was produced by GONZO Studios; whom is also known for producing the riveting action anime Speed Grapher, the remarkable character drama Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo as well as the recent international co-production Afro Samurai. Twenty-six episodes in length, Solty Rei is a confident anime whose characters’ inner strength is the key to their survival. “

Producer Tom Gray talks about the Highlander anime - Highlander: Vengeance, directed by Yoshiki Kawajiri - in this interview. Highlander: Vengeance will be released straight to DVD internationally, and receive a limited theatrical release in some European nations.

As many people have deducted, Geneon Entertainment has licensed Rozen Maiden. The first volume, with four episodes, will be released in spring 2007. On Monday Anime News Network will announce the winners of the “Guess the Geneon License” contest.

Viz Media will release the Death Note anime on DVD in addition to its previously announced series of downloads.

“We look at Download to Own as a means to satisfy fans who are at the forefront of these properties released in Japan and want to see the properties in the U.S. closer to Japan’s release, and also as a means to broaden that audience by allowing viewers to try a single episode of a property before they purchase the physical product,” a Viz representative told ICv2 on Friday.

“We do not see these two distribution areas as mutually exclusive and believe that fans who want to catch the official version via download to own (subtitled version) closer to Japan’s release date will also collect the home video (dubbed version) to have the physical product for their shelves and their collections.”

Viz has not yet announced specific release dates for either the downloads or DVDs.

Animation Magazine reports (January issue, page 97) that Hayao Miyazaki’s next project, currently unnamed, will be based on a Chinese story called “I Lost My Little Boy.” Incidentally, Miyazaki turned 66 on Friday. Source: Nausicaa.net

1. Tales from Earthsea (7.65 bil. yen)
2. Umizaru 2 - Test of Trust (7.1 bil. yen)
3. Suite Dreams (6.08 bil. yen)
4. Death Note: The Last name (5.5 bil. yen)
5. Sinking of Japan (5.34 bil. yen)
6. Yamato (5.09 bil. yen)
7. Pocket Monster (3.4 bil. yen)
8. Doraemon (3.28 bil. yen)
9. Nada Soso (3.06 bil. yen)
10. Meitantei Konan (3.03 bil. yen)

Foreign films:

1. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (11 bil. yen)
2. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (10.01 bil. yen)
3. Da Vinci Code (8.9 bil. yen)
4. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (6.86 bil. yen)
5. M:i:III (5.2 bil. yen)
6. Mr. and Mrs. Smith (4.7 bil. yen)
7. Flight Plan (3.12 bil. yen)
8. Chicken Little (2.68 bil. yen)
9. World Trade Center (2.4 bil. yen)
10. King Kong (2.35 bil. yen)

Luc Besson’s Arthur and the Invisibles has been disqualified from the list of films eligible to be nominated for the Academy Award (Oscar) for Best Animated Feature Film. “Les Invisibles” was disqualified because animation accounted for less than 75% of the film’s running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) requires that, to be eligible for the Best Animated Feature award, films must be more than 75% animated. Arthur and the Invisibles was a mixture of live-action and 3D CG.

As a result of the disqualification, only 15 titles are eligible to be nominated. According to AMPAS rules, 5 movies will be nominated if there are 16 or more that are eligible, and only 3 will be nominated if there are less than 16 eligible. There must be at least 8 movies eligible in order for the award to be given out.

Satoshi Kon’s Paprika is one of the remaining 15 films eligible to be nominated for the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film. The other 14 are: Cars, Ice Age: The Meltdown, Happy Feet, Over the Hedge, The Ant Bully, Barnyard, Curious George, Everyone’s Hero, Flushed Away, Monster House, Open Season, Paprika, Renaissance, A Scanner Darkly and The Wild. . The nominations will be announced on January 23rd, and the winners will be announced on February 25.

ADV has announced its acquisition of Shotaro Ishinomori’s 009-1 anime series (unrelated to his Cyborg 000-9). No release date has been set.

A full length trailer for One Piece: Episode of Alabaster - Sabaku no Ojou to Kaizoku Tachi is now online. The film premieres March 3 in Japan. Source: Anime Nation