Japan Entertainment

‘Bakuman’ Manga Series to End

Written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata, the “Bakuman” manga series will be coming to an end in this year’s 21st/22nd double issue of Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine on April 23.

The magazine asks their fans to anticipate their next work. The 18th compiled book volume will go on sale on May 2 and the 19th and 20th in June andJuly respectively.

The manga has been running since 2008. Viz Media will be publishing the manga’s 11th volume in North America in June. The manga has produced three anime seasons and the third one will premiere this fall or autumn for Brits. This means fans still have a chance to enjoy Bakuman for the last time with this upcoming third season.

JPOPASIA

Otaku House Top 25 Most Popular Anime Guys

Otaku House polled 2600 anime lovers as to who do they think is the Most Popular Anime Dude/Guy for 2012. Here are the results:

25 : Bleach – Byakuya Kuchiki 
24 : Vampire Knight – Kaname Kuran 
23 : One Piece – roronoa Zoro
22 : D.Gray-man – Yu Kanda 
21 : Hetalia – Gilbert Beilschmidt (Prussia) 
20 : Final Fantasy Fantasy VII - Cloud 
19 : Katekyo Hitman Reborn – Mukuro Rokudo 
18 : D.Gray-Man – Allen Walker 
17 : Naruto – Gaara 
16 : Soul Eater – Death The Kid 
14.5: Code Geass – Lelouch Lamperouge (tie)
14.4: Durarara! – Orihara Izaya (tie)
13: Bleach – Ulquiorra 
12: Kuroshitsuji – Grell Sutcliff
11: Fairy Tail – Gray Fullbuster 

10: Vampire Knight –Zero Kiryu

9: Ao No Exorcist –Rin Okumura

8: Death Note – L

7: Ouran High School Club – Tamaki Suoh

6: Howl’s Moving Castle – Howl

5: Inuyasha – Sesshomaru

4: Kuroshitsuji – The Undertaker

3: Naruto – Hatake Kakashi

2; Kaichou Wa Maid-sama! – Usui Takumi

1: Kuroshitsuji – Sebastian Michaelis

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How about you? Who do you think is the most popular anime guy character?

Approval Sought for Manga-Centric University in Osaka, Japan

In an inquiry held on Friday regarding the establishment of new educational institutions for the 2013 school year overseen by Hirofumi Hirano, Japan’s Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, approval was sought for a private university that would focus on manga education. The university would be named the the “Osaka Sōgō Manga Geijutsu Kōka Dai” (Osaka Technical Institute for Manga Art).

The different departments would initially teach manga, comic art, digital manga, and digital comic art to 90 students, then increase its size to 110 students three years later. The university’s goal would be to cultivate talented manga and comic artists that would be able to create work on an international level. According to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), it would be the first university with the word “manga” in its name. A decision regarding the approval of the school is scheduled to be made near the end of October.

Yamashita Tomohisa to Provide Theme Song for Anime Toriko

From April 15th onwards episodes of the anime “Toriko”, it will have a new ending theme song titled “LOVE CHASE”, provided by popular actor-singer Yamashita Tomohisa (YamaP) from Johnny’s Entertainment. A CD release of the song is not yet announced.

This will be YamaP’s first work involving in an anime since his solo debut and he has expressed his excitement about it. “I can’t wait to see how ‘LOVE CHASE’ goes with the ‘Toriko’ anime,” he said. 
Song producer and pop-rock band MONKEY MAJIK said the song also goes well with Yamashita’s image.
“It’s the perfect song for Yamashita-san, it’s cool and upbeat so I hope you all like it!”

Fans do be sure to check out his new song from the anime!

JPOPASIA

Voice Actor Takeshi Aono Passes Away

Voice actress Eiko Yamada reported on Tuesday that voice actor Takeshi Aono passed away.

Among many other roles, Aono played the grandfather on Chibi Maruko-chan, Shirō Sanada in the Space Battleship Yamato anime works, Rihaku in Fist of the North Star, and Kami-Sama and King Piccolo in Dragon Ball.

Aono passed away due to multiple cerebral infarction after an aortic aneurysm at 4:38 p.m. on Monday, April 9. He was 76.

Aono had stepped down from his Chibi Maruko-chan role in 2010 due to his declining health and long struggle with illness. Among other roles, he dubbed the role of Christopher Lloyd’s Doc character in the Back to the Future films and Joe Pesci’s films in their Japanese releases.