Japanator has pointed out a pretty badass fan made live-action Dragonball Z video. Maybe these guys should be making the new Dragonball movie instead of Fox?

Singaporean ISP PacNet was today ordered to hand over subscriber data to six Japanese anime companies after a number of alleged copyright violations by said subscribers. The ruling, by Justice Woo Bih Li, is a result of an appeal by Singaporean anime distributor Odex who last year failed to secure the details themselves.

The good news is that Odex was again refused access to the data - as they only sub-license the material, with details going directly to respective Japanese copyright holders; this however is not much of a win considering these companies are clearly corroborating with Odex. Odex was also ordered to pay PacNet’s legal fees of ~$14,000 (US), hohoho.

Source: Straits Times, ChannelNewsAsia

According to ANN, ADV has removed references to a number of anime titles from its main website, store, and Anime Network’s website.

Amongst others, series removed included:

• 5 Centimeters per Second
• Devil May Cry
• Gurren Lagann
• Kanon
• Pumpkin Scissors
• Red Garden
• Welcome to the NHK
• Xenosaga: The Animation

When asked about the removals ADV declined to comment. Additionally, ADV also cancelled a screening of Welcome to the NHK and The Wallflower that had been planned to take place in Houston last Tuesday.

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Sunrise have just released a new trailer for the next installment of Code Geass, R2.

The trailer contains some spoilers, so if you were wandering what happens to Lulu at the end of season one then go ahead, else wait for the show to air in Japan this April.

Alternatively, check it out on the official website here (IE required).

Source: ANN

That’s right! According to a poster we just got from our favorite Spanish blog, there has been a casting call issued for the Dragonball Live Action movie. My understanding of Spanish is somewhat limited but from what I can ascertain, the target is anyone living near the filming area in Mexico whom can make it to the Best Western hotel addressed below at the dates listed below. According to the blog, they require a total 1,500 extra’s.

As of April 9th, 2008, Comcast will no longer be carrying the AZN channel.

Comcast, which is the largest cable provider in the United States, launched AZN in 2005 after acquiring the International Channel from Liberty Media. Since then, the channel has been used to display various Asian programming as well as many anime titles including: Yu Yu Hakusho, Street Fighter II, Patlabor, Last Exile, and others. It has also shown some Live Action titles including Initial D, Nodame Cantabile, and others.

Comcast has cited the following reasons for their decision to shut down the network:

• The network only garnered an audience of about 13.9 million viewers - much smaller than Comcast had anticipated.
• This number was also not increasing.
• Comcast found that it had difficulty in securing advertising for the channel.

Source: ANN

To gets fans more excited about the soon to be released PS2 game Suzumiya Haruhi no Tomadoi, Akihabara retailer Messe Sanoh have put a life-size Haruhi figure outside their store.

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Emmy Rossum, who plays Bulma in the upcoming Dragonball Movie, has made a post on her MySpace blog where she talks a little about the set, her fellow actors, and some other random stuff (like rabbits).

I’m happy to report I’m finding little bits of time on set in between takes to write you. Today we woke up in Torreon, a pretty big city in Mexico, at about 4:30am. We drove an hour to set, just outside Dunas de Bilbao. Our location is, what I can only describe as, a sand dune desert. I’ve been riding the motorcycle in 4-foot sand drifts since sunrise to get the shot just right. The wonderful, kind and talented Chow Yun Fat is hanging on for dear life in back. We’ve been doing about 40mph, and over bumpy sand dunes that is enough to make anyone a little queasey…

You can view the whole entry here.

Source: SuperHeroFlix

Anican, a Japanese magazine, have recently published a list of their readers’ top seiyuu (voice actors) for 2007. Fukuyama Jun came out on top in the top male listing, while Horie Yui topped the female charts.

The top five male and top five female seiyuu were as follows:

Top Female Seiyuu 2007

1. Horie Yui
2. Hirano Aya
3. Mizuki Nana
4. Tamura Yukari
5. Kugimiya Rie

Top Male Seiyuu 2007

1. Fukuyama Jun
2. Sugita Tomokazu
3. Houshi Souichirou
4. Miyano Mamoru
5. Sakurai Takahiro

Source: hashihime

Three users of the popular Japanese P2P application Winny were arrested today, 24th January 2008, charged with uploading anime images/video, in violation of Japanese copyright law.

In Japan it is legal to download copyrighted material, however uploading unauthorized copyrighted material - as was the case for the three arrested - is illegal.

Two of the individuals are charged with uploading episode 23 of Idolmaster Xenoglossia, while the third is charged with uploading images from Clannad (as part of a virus he was trying to spread).

Source: ANN