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Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions Co., Ltd. (ShoPro) has announced an agreement with their subsidiary, VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest publisher, distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, for DORAEMON merchandise rights for the Americas. VIZ Media will become the North & Latin American master merchandise licensee for the celebrated anime property, overseeing the licensing and development of a range of new products in all categories. (more…)

Here’s a short trailer of Sword Art Online II streaming online July 2014 on Hulu, Crunchyroll & Daisuki. For more information, check out the Sword Art Online website.

According to ANN, new Initial D films are set to hit this summer. The films will be a retelling of the manga’s early chapters. Judging from the trailer, there isn’t much change to the animation and just by judging the few scenes shown in the trailer… was this project necessary at all? Guess we will all find out! For more information head over to ANN.

VIZ Media is proud to announce the acquisition of the SAILOR MOON anime franchise. VIZ Media’s North American rights cover digital streaming, EST (Electronic Sell Through) and all home media products in the U.S. and Canada. Tokyo-based Toei Animation Co., Ltd. is the producer and global licensor for the SAILOR MOON anime property. (more…)

Master musician Yoshiki played at San Francisco’s Davies Symphony Hall.  Take a look at our report here.

The galactic fairy May’n is also set to return to America with her Dots and Lines 10th Anniversary tour and we’ve got some info here.   If you live in Los Angeles or San Francisco, take note and mark your calendars.

Yoshiki Classical popped up in San Francisco on April 28 and it was one hell of a night.

Yoshiki is the drummer for legendary rock group X Japan and trained as a classical pianist when he was a wee boy.  Tonight he took a break from double bass rhythms and set up one of his Kawai Yoshiki Custom pianos on the stage of Davies Symphony Hall.  This is the home of the San Francisco Symphony and for this night became a hatching ground for hundreds of new Yoshiki fans to join the ranks of the thousands who were already there.

True to its name, the Yoshiki Classical World Tour consists of Yoshiki on piano and an accompaniment of six string musicians on violins, violas, and a cello.  X Japan’s vocalist Toshi popped up for a couple of cameos and even sang the song Tears on stage.  In the previous stop on April 25th bandmate Sugizo came out and played his own violin with Yoshiki.  This all hints towards X Japan’s new album which will hopefully come out this year.  A later announcement by Yoshiki marked October 11 as the next big Madison Square Garden show.

Here is the full setlist for the night:

Forever Love
Golden Globes Theme
Rosa
IV
Tears
Anniversary
(Intermission)
Amethyst
Swan Lake
Birthday Song
HERO
Without You
Kurenai
Art of Life
Endless Rain

As you can see there are many X Japan songs on this list.  They’re all adapted to the more delicate stylings of the strings and piano.  My favorite was Art of Life and it’s a great song in its own right, classical or not.  The original Art of Life is almost thirty minutes long and Yoshiki starts about halfway through with the haunting melodies of his piano.  Utilizing a laptop and soundboard he plays a piece and overdubs it with some more playing to make one hell of a performance.

By the end of the night there were many flowers thrown on stage and the cries of “We are X!” resounded through the room.  A US flag with some San Francisco graffiti made its way onstage and was held aloft by the superstar.  He may have been born in Japan but he’s made the United States his home all the same.

The next tour stop will be in a couple of weeks on May 21 in Moscow.  If you can go, I strongly encourage it.

May 21 (W), RU - Moscow - Crocus City Hall
May 23 (F), DE - Berlin - Tempodrom
May 26 (M), FR - Paris - Le Trianon
May 29 (Th), UK - London - Royal Festival Hall
June 6 (F), CH - Beijing - Beijing Exhibition Center
June 8 (Su), CH - Shanghai - Oriental Arts
June 10 (Tu), TH - Bangkok - Royal Jubilee Hall
June 13 (F), CH - Taipei - NK101 Taipei
June 16 (M), JP - Tokyo - Metropolitan Theater
June 17 (Tu), JP - Osaka - The Symphony Hall

Please check out yoshiki.net for more info and tickets.

Late last month May’n announced a concert in Los Angeles at the Musician’s Institute as part of her Dots and Lines 10th Anniversary World Tour.  Set for July 17, it marks her first return to the mainland United States since 2012 (concert report here).  I have to say I was a little bummed because the 17th happens to be a Thursday.  Considering that I’ve already taken a bunch of time off that month I would probably have to fly down day-of and take an early morning flight back in time for work.

Luckily for me that isn’t a problem because she later announced a second concert in San Francisco.  This one is set for July 20, a Sunday.  The venue of choice is Slim’s and it’s one I’m very well acquainted with.  We covered Stereopony’s concert there and I’ve seen many a metal show within those walls.  It’s a small venue but that just means you’ll be closer to May’n.  Maybe it’s just the fact that I’m in the press of the crowd that makes it feel small.

She’ll also be popping up at J-Pop Summit for a quick hello.  I’m a big fan of J-Pop Summit and have been going for the last four or so years.  They’ve had many a musical act ranging from Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, Kylee, the Akabane Vulgars, and LovendoR.  Best of all it’s free so head on over to Japantown for both Saturday and Sunday (July 19 and 20).

May’n’s first major debut was in 2008 as the singing voice of Macross Frontier’s Sheryl Nome  and she has continued to grow since then.  It’s almost hard to believe that six years have passed since then.  She’s most recently done songs for the anime series Blood Lad and Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha and she shows no signs of stopping.  Her 10th anniversary tour has been running since February and has dates through November.

Tickets are $45 in advance (buy it from the box office to avoid a fee), $50 at the door, and $100 for a meet and greet VIP ticket.  An autograph is included.

I’ll see you there.

A list of the global tour’s future stops is as follows:

May 25 - Ibaraki, JP - Mito VOICE
June 1 - Taipei, TW - Neo Studio
June 2 - Taipei, TW - Neo Studio
June 5 - Kyoto, JP - Kyoto FANJ
June 7 - Fukui, JP -  Fukui Hibiki no Hall
June 8 - Toyama, JP - Toyama MAIRO
June 21 - Chiba, JP - Kashiwa PALLOZA
July 5 - Iwate, JP - Morioka Club CHANGE WAVE
July 6 - Akita, JP - Akita Club SWINDLE
July 12 - Yamanashi, JP - Kofu CONVINCTION
July 17 - Los Angeles, US - Musician’s Institute
July 20 - San Francisco, US - Slim’s
August 24 - Tokyo, JP - Zepp Tokyo
October 4 - Seoul, KR - V-HALL
October 31 - Shanghai, CN - Shanghai Center Theater
November 2 - Guangzhou, CN - Guangzhou Bud Theater