Last month, Mattel issued a recall for action figures with small magnets that could be swallowed by young children, including a One Piece figure. In the recall announcement, the world’s largest toy manufacturer blamed the Chinese production for these faults. Today in Beijing, Mattel officials made a stunning public apology to both the Chinese people and Chinese factories, stating the mistakes were US design flaws and in no way related to production problems.

The recall was reportedly 85% due to these small magnets and 15% due to high levels of lead paint. In unrelated news, 56,000 Chinese-made lunch boxes distributed to California children have been recalled today due to high levels of lead paint found in a July testing.

Asian entertainment convention Pacific Media Expo announced that Jrock bands LiN CLOVER and Three Out Mods will make guest performances at the November 9 to 11 Los Angeles event.

Bandai Visual announced the first DVD episode of the new Kimi ga Nozomu Eien OVA will be released in Japan on December 21.

A promotional trailer for the Mahou Sensei Negima live action series has been posted by the official website. The television drama is schedules to begin airing on October 3.

The official website for the upcoming Suisui! Fizi! anime has opened, announcing the series will premier October 4 on Japan’s NHK television broadcast network.

Shortly after releasing a censored airing schedule, Adult Swim has confirmed through its online forums that it will in fact begin premiering the Death Note anime on October 20 at 12:00am ET.

Media Blasters announced it has acquired the license for the North American release of Tweeny Wtiches, or Mahō Shōjo Tai Alice, an anime series best known for its extremely unique motion animation and character designs.

The Nucleus Studios Gallery announced that Junko Mizuno will make a guest appearance at the October 6 opening reception of the gallery’s Tender Succubus exhibition. Junko Mizuno is a mangaka and illustrator, involved with works such as the Cinderalla and Hell Babies manga. The Nucleus Studios gallery is located in Alhambra, California.

B’z, a Jrock band, will be inducted into the Hollywood Rock Walk, a rock-music equivalent to the Walk of Fame. The band is known for its music in such anime series as Black Jack, Case Closed, and Fist of the North Star. The induction ceremony will commence on November 19th.

Manga Entertainment has announced it has struck a deal with Microsoft to begin distributing its licensed anime episodes for download via the Xbox Live Marketplace. Such anime include the 1980 remake of Astro Boy, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Noein, Street Fighter II V, Tokko, and Virus. Manga Entertainment will also be offering the GITS:SAC episodes on Amazon’s Unbox video service.

With the incredibly rapid growth of Second Life, it should come to no surprise that a full seiyuu academy has been developed in the virtual world. TransCosmos, an advertising and marketing corporation, created the seiyuu training and teaching academy. Further details will be reported on when they become available.

The Minneapolis College of Art and Design has announced its guests for its annual Schoolgirls and Mobilesuit manga and anime workshop, to be held on September 28 - 30. Voice actor Crispin Freeman, anime writer Marc Hairston, Tokyopop director Jeremey Ross, and the co-author of The Anime Encyclopedia Helen McCarthy will all be making appearances throughout the event.

Tokai TV has announced they will preempt the episode 12 airing of Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni Kai, a murder mystery anime series involving young school-aged girls, due to “various circumstances.” The final episode of School days was also pulled off the air after a 16 year old girl murdered her father with an axe. Five other broadcasters run Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni Kai within a week of the original airing; these stations have not announced any cancellations as of yet.

Funimation has announced it will premiere its new One Piece dub at the Anime Weekend Atlanta convention this Sunday, September 23 from 2:00 to 3:00 pm. The first three episodes of season 3 are planned to be screened. One Piece is scheduled to reappear on Cartoon Network starting with episode 144 on September 29; DVDs will be released in 2008.

The official website for the Tower of Druaga anime is now online here, featuring a short introduction and initial cast details. The anime is scheduled to premiere in early 2008.

The London MCM Expo, held October 20-21 this year, will be featuring guest appearances of the renowned anime (dub) voice actors Laura Bailey and Colleen Clinkenbeard. Laura Bailey is best known for her roles as Kid Trunks in Dragonball Z and Tohru Honda in Fruits Basket. Colleen Clinkenbeard is known for her roles as Eclair in Kiddy Grade and both Roze and Hawkeye in Fullmetal Alchemist; she will also be the voice of Luffy in Funimation’s upcoming One Piece releases.

Johnny Yong Bosch was previously announced as a guest for the con as well. He is best known in anime for his lead roles as Ichigo in Bleach, Renton in Eureka Seven, and Vash the Stampede in Trigun.

All three Naruto manga volumes released earlier this month have remained in the USA Today Top 150 for the fourth week in a row.

Naruto Volume 18 - #50 (Last Week: #37)
Naruto Volume 17 - #72 (Last Week: #65)
Naruto Volume 16 - #86 (Last Week: #74)

Our latest review is of Naruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow, released by Viz Media on September 4, 2007.

Check out our first live-action film review, the Ping Pong DVD release.

We have a new review of Hikaru no Go DVD #10. Check it out and be sure to grab the DVD when it releases next Tuesday, September 25!