New LODOSS movie in the works

Kadokawa Shoten announced its decision to produce a theatrical release based on YOUKOZO LODOSS-TOU E! (Welcome to Lodoss Island!), a serialized manga penned by Hyakushiki Rei that is currently running in MONTHLY SHOUNEN ACE. This manga bases itself on the role-playing fantasy created by Mizuno Ryoh and Group SNE and features Parn, "Deedo," and the rest of original adventurers — only in super-deformed form. Hiaki Kouichi will direct and storyboard while production director Usami Kouichi will adapt the character designs for the movie.

World Masterpiece Theater ends 22-year television run

The finale of Fuji TV's IENAKIKO REMI (Homeless Child Remi) on 22 March marked the end of the World Masterpiece Theater's unbroken television run that spanned over 22 years. Beginning with FLANDERS NO INU (The Dog from Flanders) in January 1975, Nippon Animation has created a line of acclaimed television series (mostly based on Western children's classic novels) that ranged from ANNE OF GREEN GABLES (known as AKAGE NO ANNE in Japan) and TOM SAWYER (TOM SAWYER NO BOUKEN) to more recently, ROMEO'S BLUE SKIES (ROMEO NO AOISORA) and LASSIE COME HOME (MEIKEN LASSIE). The planned replacement in Remi's timeslot in April is CHUUKA ICHIBAN!, a work unrelated to World Masterpiece Theater.

EVANGELION fans must wait until summer for movie finale

Beset by production deadlines and creative concerns, Gainax decided to complete only the first half of the Rebirth segment of NEON GENESIS EVANGELION: DEATH AND REBIRTH (SHIN SEIKI EVANGELION: SHI TO SHINSEI) for the March 15 theatrical release. It promised to release the completed REBIRTH work (tentatively titled REBIRTH 2) this summer as a 70-minute film. DEATH summarized the majority of the original television series' episodes with 30 minutes of new footage while REBIRTH was to have offered a new ending with entirely reanimated footage. Only 30 minutes of REBIRTH was shown along with the DEATH segment in the current theatrical run.

VOTOMS, ESCAFLOWNE coming to PlayStation in 1997

Takara reveals more details of its upcoming Sony PlayStation title based on the classic Nippon Sunrise war story ARMORED TROOPER VOTOMS. ARMORED TROOPER VOTOMS SIDE STORY; THE STORY OF THE BLUE KNIGHT BERUSERUGA casts the player as an AT pilot participating in the "Battling," the mecha competition at Uoodo City that plays a signficant role in the larger war of the original anime series. The 3-D "AT-Customize Action" game can be played by one or two players and is set for release this summer. Banpresto confirms plans are still going forward for a PlayStation game based on another Sunrise anime, THE VISION OF ESCAFLOWNE. This adventure game is set for release this fall at a ¥6800 planned retail price.

CLAMP tests out official home page on WWW

CLAMP opens a test version of their own official home page, entitled CLAMP School Web Campus [CLAMP Gakuen Denshi Bunkou] on the World Wide Web this month. The URL address is http://www.clamp.f-2.co.jp/ for frames-capable browsers that support Japanese. Among the site's features are a message from from the four shoujo creators themselves, a background profile, listings of the their productions and related material, information on current works, and a survey.

NADESICO movie plans for 1998

After ending its television run on 1997 March 25, MARTIAN SUCCESSOR NADESICO [KIDOU SENKAN NADESHIKO or Mobile Battleship Nadesico] is set to continue in a theatrical release. Few details have been determined for this Xebec production with an anticipated 1998 release.