Show Biz Japan
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Page 2 of 6 Top StoriesTop 9 Comic Magazines on 'Female Readers' Favorites' in Japan Weekly Jump became the number one comic magazine on the "Japan's Female Readers' Favorites" list, according to Orikon Style, which conducted an anonymous questionnaire covering a total of 2,933 individuals that included readers and members of the Orikon Research Panel. The statistics show that the top 3 comic magazines are Weekly Jump, Monthly Cookie, and Margaret (additional volume). People pointed to its beautiful drawings and fascinating stories as the reason they selected Weekly Jump as their favorite. With an increase in its female readers, the era of Weekly Jump's dominance is far from an end.
**Reference: Orikon Style March 29th, 2006 Enjoy Manga on Your Cell Phone A service that allows consumers to purchase and read manga on their cell phones, at a low price, has been popular in Japan for years. While most of male users tend to download manga on their computers, the majority of consumers for cell phone downloads consist of women. In particular, women in their twenties who favor romance manga reading before bed. Due to this situation, providers have increased their romance offerings at a faster rate than their overall catalogs. "Guilstein" Comes to Mobile Comic Format Wowmax Media! and uclick mobile announced an exclusive mobile licensing agreement that will make the awesome power of manga and anime hit "Guilstein" available for mobile phones. "Guilstein" will be the first manga work introduced for mobile before appearing in print. uclick mobile will be at the forefront of "Guilstein"s North American launch, offering a wide variety of mobile content, including wallpapers, videos and mobile comic book readers. Toei Co., one of the oldest and most prestigious movie companies in Japan, was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by MIPTV at its 55th anniversary celebration. Established in 1951 as a motion picture and distribution company, Toei has led the way in many areas of Japan's movie business, including producing the nation's first widescreen film in 1957. Toei also introduced karaoke videos to Japan and remains the largest producer of clips for the nations' ever-popular karaoke industry. Globalization of Japanese Anime Anime is now seen on TV in over 70 countries, and over 60% of TV anime programs worldwide are made in Japan. The number of anime programs on TV networks in the US jumped from 13 in the early 1990s to 37 in March 2006. "Yu-Gi-Oh!" and "Pokemon" made it into the nation's top-five rated primetime animated programs of 2005 in the US. The size of the US anime market, including revenues from character licensing, home videos and theatrical screenings, reached $2,940 million in 2004, which exceeds the value of US imports of Japanese steel. Managed by the Japan Anime Association and Shogakukan Production, the "Tokyo Anime Center" opened on March 15th, 2006 in Akihabara, Japan, to create a comprehensive portal facility for the anime industry. It is funded by twenty-five companies that are members of the Japan Anime Association, Tokyo City itself, and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. FUNimation Entertainment has picked up the media rights to an animated mini-series in production called "Afro Samurai". Created in the mind of a Japanese anime writer and with help from other media groups, "Afro Samurai" follows an African American samurai who, in a dangerous and futuristic environment, must seek revenge for his deceased father and find a name for himself. Full of action and adventure, many animation fans anticipate the release of this franchise in 2006 and 2007. Aksys Games, a publisher of interactive entertainment software announced its first game for the PlayStation®2, "Eagle Eye Golf (tentative)" for release in the fall of 2006. Designed with the casual golf fan in mind, "Eagle Eye Golf" delivers a fun and fast game of links, yet deep enough to challenge even veteran video game golfers. Play up to 4 players on 7 challenging courses in a variety of game modes such as Mission, Tournament, and even team-based games. The game also features a robust course editor where you can recreate some of the world's most famous courses with incredible accuracy, or you can let your imagination run wild and design your own "out-of-this-world" fantasy courses. Fox Holding 'Grudge' Guy to New Deal Twentieth Century Fox has signed Taka Ichise, producer of "The Grudge" to a three-year, first-look deal. The agreement, which covers English language projects, is the first overall studio deal for him, and it also allows Fox to finance Ichise's Tokyo-based production company, Oz Co. Also running Los Angeles-based OZLA Pictures, Ichise has produced more than 50 genre features for local, regional and worldwide markets. He is known for producing the Japanese horror films such as "Ju-on" and "Ju-on 2", as well as their Hollywood remakes "The Grudge" and "The Grudge 2". Sony will open "The Grudge 2" in October. We all watch the creative "Silence is Golden" clips telling us to turn off our cell phones every time we see our favorite Hollywood movies. In Japan, however, you will need to keep your phones on during one screening. This May, Twentieth Century Fox Japan has announced that they will release cell phone software that the audience can purchase online before they get to the theater to watch "X-men 3". Audiences need to keep their cell phones on during the movie and the phones will vibrate during each action scene, so they will feel the action right in their seats. The surround sound system is not enough anymore. Columbia Music Entertainment with Viacom International Japan announced on April 20th that they have created a new idol to boost their music business. Instead of traditionally finding a human artist to sing, compose and most importantly attract the fans, Ka and Me, CG animated singers, will attract fans with their virtual looks. Although they are not planning any CD releases, Columbia and Viacom will release Ka-Me's first single, "Koi no Fuga", through their website where consumers can download it onto their cell phones for about $3 per song. I Wanna Grow Up, I'm a Toys R' Us Adult! Just like Toys R' Us states in their song, toys are usually for kids. However, Tokyo Toy Show 2006, which took place at the Tokyo Big Sight on July 13th, consisted of toys that no longer target just children. With the birthrate decreasing and the anxiety of the toymakers worsening, Japan's toys have undergone a major transformation. The show introduced many new toys that, with telecommunication and computer technology, are something both children and adults can enjoy. With Takara-Tommy's iPod-like music player, Sega Toys' easy-to-use video and still camera, and TV dressing rooms personalized for the consumer, it's only a matter of time for Japan's toys are indistinguishable from gadgets. University Course for Manga and Video Games Tokyo Gakugei University will establish new courses for manga and video games next April in its Art Department. Their goal is to provide education that meets the demands of increasingly integrated manga and gaming markets. The courses include a variety of hands-on material such as sketching and manga production exercises. Professors are preparing lectures on manga theory and history, editing, publishing, intellectual property rights and other business-related topics. The school is also looking to internships and other ways of developing partnerships with publishing companies. To encourage robotics innovation, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Japan has initiated an official award ceremony to honor top caliber of robot making. Submissions for the first award began this July, and the selection will be announced at the end of the year. Japan's domestic market for robots is forecast to increase from its current value of approximately 500 billion yen to 1.8 trillion yen by the year 2010. As the largest licensing event in Asia with 80 exhibitors and 8,700 visitors last year, Licensing Asia introduces and exhibits brand logos, characters and other copyrighted properties from all over the world. Each property will have concrete proposals for use in commercial, advertising, and sales promotions. At the seminars organized during the show, trends in the licensing business and recent case studies in Asia and the United States will be discussed to spread and promote further understanding of the intellectual property business. This year's Licensing Asia will take place at the Tokyo International Exhibition Center in Tokyo Big Sight on October 18th - 20th. Emphasizing the realistic depiction of Japanese families, the Chanoma Film Festival began in 2003 to improve the understanding of modern Japanese culture, while also providing an exchange of cultures for Americans and Japanese-Americans living in Los Angeles. This year's festival will take place at Laemmle Sunset 5 on October 20th - 26th. TIFFCOM 2006 on October 23rd – 25th will be the birthplace of new Japanese and Asian enterprises in the entertainment field over a multitude of genres including live action films, TV programs, animation, comics, character merchandising and video games. Working hand-in-hand with TIFF (Tokyo International Film Festival), TIFFCOM, which aims to be the largest content trade show in Asia, will expand the market by bringing together Japan, Asia and the rest of the world. |
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