Best DVD Release
Innocent Venus DVD #1 [ ADV Films ] - I overlooked this anime when it debuted in Japan, but with relatively uninteresting releases this week, I’ll give it a try.

Best Manga Release
Monster Volume #10 [ VIZ Media ] - What do you expect? Every volume of this masterpiece will reach the top of my weekly suggestions. If you have not read or watched this series, what the hell is wrong with you?

Best New Series
Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service Volume #4 [ Dark Horse ] - Not particularly a “new” series, but this manga is unique for stateside audiences and will hopefully gain the attention of older comic fans.

Fate/Stay Night DVD #5 [ GENEON ]
August 21, 2007 | $29.98 | 100 min.

In the aftermath of the last battle, only four Servants remain. Two of them inhabit Ryudou Shrine, making the next fight a dangerous one, as Shirou will have to face Assassin and Caster within their domain. Unfortunately, Shirou doesn’t have time to strategize when one of his closest friends is taken there to be a sacrifice. Even with Saber and Rin by his side, Shirou rushes into battle at a great disadvantage while another Servant from Saber’s past emerges onto the scene…

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Innocent Venus DVD #1 [ ADV Films ]
August 21, 2007 | $29.98 | 100 min.

A mass of violent storms ravages the planet, and over 60 percent of the world’s population is wiped out in an instant. What remains of life on Earth is a broken and barren existence - but in Japan, there is an exception. Here, the wealthy rule. They own the war machines, they suppress the masses, and they have a very dark secret. Caught in the middle of this conspiracy is an innocent child, a girl, codenamed Venus. The military has her in their crosshairs, but the rebels are determined to protect her. What is her purpose? What are her powers? Can she offer new hope for a world so drastically changed?

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Solty Rei DVD #6 [ FUNimation ]
August 21, 2007 | $29.98 | 100 min.

Roy Revant is living the hard life of a bounty hunter in a broken city, a city where thousands have died in a mysterious event called the Blast Fall. Such lessons learned in the void left behind weigh heavy on the battered souls that have fought for humanity’s survival. Yet a devastating new threat has arisen, for even in the face of victory mankind’s final destruction looms just beneath the stars.

Now Solty must save them all. Daughter, sister, machine… Humanity’s only hope. As she rises to confront the menace, armed with an appreciation for life, death, love and compassion, an entire population watches the sky, united by trembling hope. A time for the greatest of sacrifices has arrived.

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Fullmetal Alchemist Volume #14 [ VIZ Media ]
August 21, 2007 | $9.99 | 200 pages

Ed and Al come face to face with the “father” of the homunculi, who just so happens to be a dead ringer for their own father, Van Hohenheim - a resemblance too uncanny for coincidence. And later, when the allure of immortality proves to be too much for Prince Lin of Xin, he lets Greed take over… literally!

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Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service Volume #4 [ Dark Horse ]
August 22, 2007 | $10.95 | 224 pages

A small country town’s got more than the usual crop circles to claim aliens drop by… they’ve got the extraterrestrial’s body! It’s going to be a different kind of alien autopsy when the Kurosagi crew investigates their oddest client yet. And there’s more strange visitors from afar when an American entomologist drops in - blond, buxom, and an expert on maggots - not to mention a crossover appearance by Reiji Akiba, the gun-toting exorcist of Mail!

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Monster Volume #10 [ Viz Media ]
August 21, 2007 | $9.99

“Cedok Bridge, the three frogs… The mother of the twins is in Prague.” A cryptic message from wealthy financier Schuwald sends Tenma to the city of a hundred spires. There, he meets Grimmer, an investigative reporter tracking down the former director of the infamous 511 Kinderheim orphanage. Could it be that the horrific experiments of the past are being recreated in Prague?

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A live-action drama adaptation of The Prince of Tennis series is slated to begin production in China this October. The release is scheduled for June 2008, just before the 2008 Olympics, which is expected to increase the popularity of this drama.

Imagica has announced they will be releasing a Blu-ray series box set of Utawarerumono in Japan. An original high-def copy will be used for this release, and not a simple upconvert.

UDON has announced they will be distributing over 20,000 comics, including manga, at the Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle (August 24-26). They have stated said comics will not be samplers or promotions, but rather full length issues.

The heads of Viz Media and Bandai Entertainment will partake in an anime roundtable hosted by JETRO, Japan’s organization for business relationships with foreign countires, on September 12 in San Francisco. The agenda for this event includes the discussion on the anime and manga market in the United States, entitled “The Anime and Manga Business: Mass-marketing Pop Culture.” Tickets for viewing may be purchased from the Japan Society for Northern California website.

Bandai Entertainment has let their distributors know that the much anticipated Gundam SEED Destiny DVD 10 has been delayed. Citing replication problems, the release date is now set for September 25.

The 2007 Fantastic Film Fest has added the two Death Note live-action films to program screening schedule. The festival will be held in Austin, Texas from September 20 - 27.

Mattel has issued a recall on five of its action figures including the Riple Slash Zolo Roronoa One Piece figure. Magnets within the hands and the hilt of the sword Zolo carries; these magnets could be swallowed by young children after falling off the toys.

The Anime Network has announced new anime licenses it plans on airing in its lineup. B’tx will debut on the VOD service on September 6, AM Driver on September 9 and Red Garden (GONZO) will premiere on September 13, 2007.

Fullmetal Alchemist volume 14 has forged its way to rank 148 in the USA Today Top 150 best-selling books for August 6-12. Fruits Basket volume 17 has taken the 99th sot and Bleach volume 20 holds on in its third week, ranking in at 140.

Both ADV and Del Rey have relaunched their websites with new additions, features and news. ADV has an episode of Innocent Venus available for download and Del Rey is offering new and longer manga previews.

TV Tokyo has announced it will begin broadcasting the MapleStory anime adaption on October 7. No word on what type of genre or storyline the extremely popular MMORPG will follow.

New Review: Angel Cop

Cyborgs, motorcycles, psychic powers, entire boob slips, brain matter, who cares about plot development?

Viz Media has announced they will begin offering Bleach episode downloads starting August 31 on Direct2Drive and TotalVid. These episodes are rumored to have slightly higher quality than the similar Death Note downloadable episodes. Unfortunately, it’s doubtful the quality will rival good fansub rips and the Bleach episodes will only be viewable in Windows Media Player (copy-protection).

TokyoGraph has announced that the manga Mousou Shoujo Otaku-kei will be adapted into a live action feature film. This should get some of you excited as the manga depicts the life of a “fujoshi,” a female otaku devoted to yaoi.

Recent activity on the 2channel Japanese forums regarding Hunter X Hunter has begun to stir up. A few weeks ago a large-scale online petition for the return of the shounen manga was created; more recently, reports are coming in from multiple 2ch users that HxH will indeed be returning. I remind you that these reports should still be deemed as rumors.

Earlier rumors of a new anime channel in UK have been confirmed. Anime Central will debut September 10 on Sky Digital, broadcasting from 9pm until 6am with dubbed anime (occasional subs). Primarily aimed for the 16-34 year old demographic, the channel has yet to announce any advertisement sponsors, promotional methods have also not been confirmed, as this television channel shares the name with a large anime convention in the US.

Current anime titles expected to air include Bleach, Cowboy Bebop, Fullmetal Alchemist, GitS, Gundam Seed, Planetes, Scryed, Transformers and Wolf’s Rain. With such a solid lineup, the channel is sure to attract attention.

Hot off the heels of SDCC, Viz has announced the licenses of Switch, Record of a Fallen Vampire, and Nightmare Inspector. All of these maintain a fairly strong following in the scanlation community and should be solid titles for the company. Switch will see its publishing debut in March, Nightmare Inspector in April, and Record of a Fallen Vampire in May.