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Gackt Stars in Shiki, Noitamina Anime Details Confirmed

The Japanese entertainment figure Gackt has announced on Sunday that he will play the role of Seishirō Kirishiki in the Shiki anime series. Gackt appeared in a pre-recorded video message during the Sunday press conference for Fuji TV's Noitamina late-night timeslot's lineup in 2010. The Shiki role will be Gackt's first role in the regular cast of atelevision anime series. The 22-episode anime adaptation of Fuyumi Ono and Ryu Fujisaki's manga will premiere in July.

The same press conference also provided more details of the previously announced titles that will run during the expanded Noitamina timeslot. (The timeslot is expanding from a half-hour to one hour this year.)

The anime adaptation of Natsume Ono's House of Five Leaves (Sarai-ya Goyou) manga will premiere on April 15 during the last half (25:15 Thursday or 1:15 a.m. Friday) of the expanded Noitamina timeslot. The artist immi is singing the opening theme song "Sign of Love" while rake is performing the ending theme song "All I Need Is…." The cast membersDaisuke Namikawa and Takahiro Sakurai made personal appearances at the press conference to introduce the anime and present a promotional video.

The 11-episode anime adaptation of Tomihiko Morimi's Yojō-Han Shinwa Taikei novel will premiere on April 22 during the first half (24:45 Thursday or 12:45 a.m. Friday) of Noitamina. Shintaro Asunuma will play the unnamed protagonist "Watashi" ("I"), and Maaya Sakamoto, Hiroyuki Yoshino, Keiji Fujiwara, Junichi Suwabe, and Yuko Kaida fill out the rest of the main cast.

Since the anime adaptation of Akiko Higashimura's Kuragehime women's manga will not premiere until October at 24:45 on Thursdays, the press conference did not announce Kuragehime's voice cast. It did confirm that Takahiro Omori is directing the animators at Brains Base. Jukki Hanada is supervising the series scripts, and Kenji Hayama is designing the characters.

Fuji TV ended the press conference by confirming the staff and cast of the live-action drama adaptation of Masayuki Ishikawa's Moyashimon manga. Akira Iwamoto is directing off scripts that are being supervised by Natsuko Takahashi. Shirogumi is handling production and visual effects, including Moyashimon's signature super-deformed germs. (As part of the press conference's "AR" theme, the conference used augmented-reality technology to give live, albeit short, demonstrations of Shirogumi's special effects.)

Yuichi Nakamura will star in the Moyashimon drama when it premieres in July at 24:45 on Thursday, and Chisun, Koji Nishida, Akihiro Kimura, Natsuki Katō, Yuri Hane, and Toshio Kurosawa round out the cast. All of the actors except Hane and Kurosawa appeared at the press conference to introduce their characters and the drama's promotional video.

Update: In an unrelated "Sengoku Basara Fes. 2010" event on Sunday, the Sengoku Basara anime's second seasonpremiere was confirmed for this July. Source: Presepe News

Devil Creator Torajiro Kishi, Viz's Kit Fox & Leyla Aker Interviewed

Comic Book Resources posted an interview with manga creator Torajirou Kishi (Maka-Maka, Colorful) on February 4. The interview covered Kishi's new Western-style comic title Devil, which is a collaboration between the North American publisher Dark Horse Comics and the Japanese animation studio MADHOUSE.

In the interview, Kishi discussed the challenge of creating a full-color, western-style comic, his opinions on the differences between manga and comics, what western-style comics he has read, the plot of Devil, and the theme of human evolution in the new comic.

Electric Playground posted a video interview with manga editor Kit Fox. In the interview, Fox described the plot of Kiminori Wakasugi's Detroit Metal City heavy-metal comedy manga and what makes it unique.

Publishers Weekly posted another interview with Viz Media's editorial manager Leyla Akerregarding Viz's Signature line of manga. Aker outlined the history of Viz's Signature line and its SigIKKI website, the sales of its Signature manga, and Aker's history as an editor.

Mag: Live-Action Vampire Hunter D, More Anime Planned

The January/February issue of Marrs' Canadian horror magazine Rue Morgue reports that 60-year-old author Hideyuki Kikuchi "is busy working on a [Vampire Hunter D(VHD)] live-action film with the producer of the Biohazard video game (a.k.a. Resident Evil in North America), writing a new novel about vampires, entitled Yashakiden, and planning a new VHD anime series in Japan."

Kikuchi created the character of D as a half-human, half-vampire hunter of vampires in a desolate far future. Digital Manga Publishing has been releasing Kikuchi's originalVampire Hunter D novels in North America, and it is also publishing a manga version bySaiko Takaki as well as the first novel volumes of Yashakiden. Streamline Pictures andUrban Vision both released the 1985 anime video adaptation of Vampire Hunter D in North Amercia, while Urban Vision also released the 2000 movie version, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust.

Source: AnimeVice