Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Report: Ashita no Joe Boxing Manga Goes Live-Action and So-Ra-No-Wo-To's BD/DVD #4, #7 to Add Unaired Episodes

Report: Ashita no Joe Boxing Manga Goes Live-Action

posted on 2010-02-16 19:18 EST
Tomohisa Yamashita of idol group NEWS said to star in film remake of classic

The Daily Cyzo web magazine reports that Asao Takamori and Tetsuya Chiba's classic boxing manga Ashita no Joe will be adapted into a live-action film. According to Daily Cyzo's source who is connected to the film plans, Tomohisa Yamashita (Ikebukuro West Gate Park, Kurosagi) of the idol group NEWS will star as an orphan named Joe Yabuki who rises from the Tokyo slums under the tutelage of a former boxer. Filming will reportedly run from the end of March to May.

Takamori and Chiba's original 1968-1973 manga is among the most critically acclaimed stories in Japanese popular culture, and Dezaki's television series added to the story's iconic status. It would later influence two generations of sports and shōnen manga, including Hajime no Ippo (Fighting Spirit). A crucial twist in the Ashita no Joe television anime's plot made headlines in Japan as people marked the occasion with public ceremonies.

Tai Seng licensed the first Ashita no Joe anime film for North America in 2008. A relatively new anime distributor named Animewho also released the Joe vs. Joe video anime series that same year. There was an earlier live-action film directed by the late Yasuharu Hasebe.

Yamashita is currently starring in the live-action television drama series Code Blue Doctor Heli Kinkyūkyūmei, which premiered with a 18.8% rating in Tokyo's Kantō region and has averaged a 16.9% since. He also starred in the live-action television and film adaptations of the Kurosagi manga and the live-action television version of Ikebukuro West Gate Park. The Kurosagi film earned 1.7 billion yen (about US$19 million).


So-Ra-No-Wo-To's BD/DVD #4, #7 to Add Unaired Episodes

posted on 2010-02-16 10:42 EST
Limited episodes to ship on June 23 & September 22

The official website of the So-Ra-No-Wo-To anime series has announced on Tuesday that production on limited episodes for the Blu-ray/DVD releases has been green-lit. The unaired episodes will be included in the fourth and seventh Blu-ray/DVD volumes on June 23 and September 22, respectively. (The first volume, which ships on March 24, is pictured at right.)

Source: Saishin Anime Jōhō

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