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The American Manga Awards announced its 35 nominees across seven categories, ahead of the 2025 ceremony scheduled to take place on Aug 21 at the Japan Society in Manhattan.

This year’s ceremony is being held in conjunction with Anime NYC, which is expected to attract over 100,000 fans to the Jacob K. Javits Center from Aug 21-24, 2025.

Titles such as JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run, Ashita no Joe, and The Apothecary Diaries are among this year’s nominees, which span seven categories: Best New Manga, Best Continuing Series, Best One-Shot Manga, Best New Edition of Classic Manga, Best Translation, Best Lettering, and Best Publication Design.

The award aims to recognize and honor manga creators, stories, and the publishing professionals who bring them to readers in the US & Canada.

Here is the full list of the nominees:

Best New Manga

Hikaru in the Light! Volume 1 by Mai Matsuda (Scholastic Graphix / Azuki) Dragon...

The nominees are officially in for the second annual American Manga Awards! The 2025 edition will reveal its winners during Anime NYC—which will be held August 21-24 at the Javits Center in New York City—and you can see everyone who is up for the honors as voting registration opens. Before we get to the nominees, this year’s recipient of the Manga Publishing Hall of Fame Award is Studio Proteus. The manga translation and publishing team helped pave the way for manga’s notoriety in North America, including releases like Blade of the Immortal , Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind , Ghost in the Shell and more. Here are the 2025 American Manga Awards nominees: Best New Manga Hikaru in the Light! Volume 1 by Mai Matsuda Scholastic Graphix / Azuki Dragon and Chameleon Volume 1 by Ryo Ishiyama Square /Enix Manga & Books The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn’t a Guy...

The nominees have been revealed for the 2025 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, and a bunch of manga titles have been included in the Best U.S. Edition of International Material - Asia category. Six manga titles are up for the award this year, including Takeru Hokazono’s Kagurabachi , Taiyo Matsumoto’s Tokyo These Days and Kodansha’s recent release of Asao Takamori and Tetsuya Chiba’s classic Ashita no Joe manga. Here’s the full list for the category: Best U.S. Edition of International Material - Asia Ashita no Joe: Fighting for Tomorrow by Asao Takamori and Tetsuya Chiba Translated by Asa Yonola Publisher: Kodansha Hereditary Triangle by Fumiya Hayashi Translated by Alethea and Athena Nibley Publisher: Yen Press Kagurabachi vol. 1 by Takeru Hokazono Translated by Camellia Nieh Publisher: Viz Media Last Quarter vol. 1 by Ai Yazawa Translated by Max Greenway Publisher: Viz Media Search and Destroy vol. 1 by...

One of the hallmarks of the best martial arts anime is the quest to determine who’s the strongest. This mirrors the challenge fights that were historically common in China and Japan. The idea was simple – fighters compete against one another until there’s only one fighter left standing. Anime expanded the duel format into a tournament-like formula where the winners of individual bouts face off against each other. Whether the bout takes the form of a no-holds-barred brawl, or a formal combat tournament - the goal in martial arts anime remains the same: to determine who is the best of the best.

Despite the formula's simplicity, martial arts content delivers some of the most compelling entertainment in the medium. The constant comparison of fighters, a core aspect of martial arts anime, extends beyond individual series. Fans have always enjoyed comparing the strongest fighters in crossovers of different anime titles.

One of the most amazing things about theanimeindustry is how it's constantly changing and evolving. The industry's creatives are always devising new ways to push the medium forward via new animation techniques and storytelling methods. If an anime creator from the 1970swere teleported forward in time and dropped into a modern studio, they likely wouldn't recognize what was going on due to how much the industry has changed in the ensuing decades.

This is also true of anime series, as many retro series wouldn't get past the pitch stage today. Often, this is because the show's content doesn't fit modern sensibilities. However, other shows wouldn't stand a chance because their format or production style wouldn't fit the current anime industry's production pipeline or distribution format.

Tomorrow's Joe Takes Too Long to Get to the Action Streaming on Crunchyroll

Tomorrow's Joe is one of Japan's most beloved and instantly recognizable franchises,...

A legendary shonen sports anime centered around boxing is finally coming to Crunchyroll, allowing audiences to stream the series in full for the first time in U.S. history.

The arrival of Ashita no Joe (Tomorrow's Joe) on Crunchyroll's streaming platform marks the first time that all 79 episodes will be available to stream legally in America. The first season, comprising 79 episodes, made its way onto the site earlier this week, while the 47-episode second season is set to debut on Crunchyroll on Dec. 3 at 4 p.m. Pt. Subtitles are available in English, Latin American Spanish and Portuguese. Tms Entertainment teased the release earlier this month, dropping the first three episodes on YouTube for free.

Related Beloved Series Breaks Its Own Guinness World Record for Longest-Running Anime TV Show of All Time

A massively popular anime series has broken its own world record for the longest-running anime TV show series at over 55 years on air.

An anime classic for the ages is coming to Crunchyroll today as Tomorrow’s Joe , known as Ashita no Joe in Japan, starts streaming on the platform later today! Tomorrow’s Joe Season 1 will be available on Crunchyroll on November 14 at 4:00 p.m. Pt, with Season 2 available on December 3 at 4:00 p.m. Pt. Read on for everything you need to know about the release! Tomorrow's Joe Seasons 1 and 2 Release Date: Season 1: November 14 at 4:00 p.m. Pt Season 2: December 3 at 4:00 p.m. Pt Territories : North America, Central America, South America Sub languages : English, Spanish, Portuguese Synopsis: Rebellious Joe Yabuki wanders the downtown slums. After a street fight with the yakuza to save a girl, his skills catch the eye of former boxing coach Danpei Tange, who offers to train him. Joe rejects, until he ends up in juvenile detention and suffers his first defeat by the hands of Toru Rikiishi.

Ashita no Joe, one of the best and most beloved boxing anime of all time will release its first three episodes to stream for free, as announced by a press release from Kodansha USA. Courtesy of the Anime on Tms YouTube channel, Tms Entertainment is releasing the first three episodes of Ashita no Joe on November 1, 2024, for a limited time. This gives fans a chance to watch the original 1970 anime, also known as Tomorrow's Joe, to get into the series, one of the many benefits of anime continuously becoming mainstream in the present.

Ashita no Joe began its anime run on Fuji TV in 1970, based on the original Kodansha manga from 1968 written by Asao Takamori and illustrated by Tetsuya Chiba. The series has poignant countercultural significance and a lasting influence on anime and manga for decades, including Hajime no Ippo, Kengan Ashura, and the famous cross-counter movement. Now, thanks to Tms Entertainment,...

Toei Animation's original Dragon Ball holds a special place in the heart of millions of Japanese viewers. However, a recent nationwide survey indicates that there are at least two works that outrank Dragon Ball as the country's most beloved "nostalgic" anime.

Per PR Times, a major ranking site called Rankingoo recently conducted a survey to discover the nation's top "nostalgic anime" that [viewers] want to watch again." Participants included 9,560 men and women over the age of 30. According to the results, Japan's #1 nostalgic anime, with 667 votes, is Star of the Giants (1968-1971) -- a hit sports anime based on a fictional version of the Yomiuri Giants baseball team. The second and third place winners were Japanese Folklore Tales (662 votes) and Dragon Ball (461 votes), respectively. Mobile Suit Gundam (368 votes) and Touch (365 votes) came in fourth and fifth place, respectively.

Related "It Was Just Really Horrible": Dragon Ball Super Actor Reveals His...

Anime & hip-hop share history in themes of adversity, the quest for greatness, and oppressed people speaking their truth. Music, especially hip-hop, enhances anime's storytelling & emotional impact. Anime blends with hip-hop elements in soundtracks, showcasing unique creative connections.

Despite their apparent differences, anime and hip-hop share a long and intimate history. Both are rich in themes of overcoming adversity, tales of ordinary people achieving greatness, and instances of the oppressed speaking truth to power. There is a good reason artists like Megan Thee Stallion are big anime fans. While the connection between the two is most obvious in anime themed around hip-hop, it's also observable in the large and growing population of anime shows incorporating hip-hop elements in their musical soundtracks.

While anime is first and foremost a visual storytelling medium, music - mainly in the form of anime soundtracks - has become a vital element in creating mood, influencing emotion,...

Ashita no Joe, a classic sports and fighting manga, is finally getting its English release after 50 years. Kodansha's deluxe hardcovers are coming in December 2024 and will be priced approximately at $59.95. Ashita no Joe's influence on iconic series like Dragon Ball and Naruto makes it a beacon in the manga industry.

One of the most influential manga of all time, Ashita no Joe, has just been announced by Kodansha to receive its first English print. This legendary sports anime and manga series shaped the landscape of the medium and the iconic fighting story will be made accessible to millions of people around the world.

This announcement came as the series enters its 50th anniversary since its ending back in 1973. Although not as popular as many other titles, Ashita no Joe is beloved in Japan and many manga creators draw inspiration from it.

Exclusive: Kodansha Licenses Classic Boxing Manga 'Ashita...

Manga publisher Kodansha has revealed plans to publish the iconic boxing manga Ashita no Joe in English for the very first time. The manga, penned by Asao Takamori and illustrated by Tetsuya Chiba, will be released under the title “Ashita no Joe: Fighting for Tomorrow“.

The English translation will be released physically in eight oversized hardcover volumes and digitally, and is scheduled to be published starting December 2024, with an Msrp of $59.95.

Toshihiro Tsuchiya, Publisher at Kodansha, emphasized the timeliness and importance of bringing Ashita no Joe to English-speaking audiences, stating, “Kodansha believes that the manga market is maturing, as well as looking for past manga classics that have never been translated into English. This work is a true masterpiece that Japan is proud of. This year marks the 50th anniversary since its completion in 1973. Because of this, we think that now is the best time to bring Ashita no Joe:...

Kodansha has announced via publishing industry newswire ICV2 that for the first time in the English language, it will publish the legendary Ashita no Joe boxing manga—written by Asao Takamori and illustrated by Tetsuya Chiba—under the title Ashita no Joe: Fighting for Tomorrow . The release will consist of eight individual hardcover omnibus volumes that will be released starting in December of this year, as well as a companion digital release. The manga celebrates its 50th anniversary this year in Japan, which marked a cultural and popular shift in the way Japanese society viewed the sport of boxing and manga itself, especially between the working class, college students and even political groups. Pricing for each individual volume is set at $59.99 each, and further details, such as bonus content and cover design, will be released in the future. Crunchyroll currently streams Ashita no Joe tribute series Megalobox and Megalobox 2 , describing...

Japanese manga series “Tiger Mask” is being adapted into a live-action feature for the international market by Italy’s Fabula Pictures and Brandon Box and Japan’s Kodansha.

The popular manga, which follows a ruthless professional Japanese wrestler named Naoto Date who after making it big in the U.S. returns to his country and fights against evil forces, previously inspired an anime TV series made by Japan’s Toei Animation.

“Tiger Mask’ is a long-beloved figure both in Japan and Italy, where he’s been [considered] a strong, cool and timeless hero since the series’ first release in 1969,” Yohei Takami, head of Kodansha’s media business rights division, said in a statement.

“We are excited to be able to bring a new ‘Tiger Mask’ to global audiences, partnering with respected Italian filmmakers sharing the love and passion for ‘Tiger Mask’ with us, like Fabula Pictures and Brandon Box,” he added.

Existential Prison Sweats

Of all Takashi Miike’s large body of work, “Big Bang Love, Juvenile A” is perhaps his most metaphorical film. Many of his films can be wild, crazed and surreal, but with “Big Bang Love, Juvenile A” the director walks upon an experimental path, poetic in execution. There is nothing real about this film, but truth of the human condition crawls and scratches to the surface, in this claustrophobic fever dream. Symbols bombard the viewer, metaphors bounce! Incredible lighting and striking visual design that are both theatrical and abstract. There is the occasional cinematic bravura moment, as the protagonists walk through strange corridors and chalk lined prison cells. Sweat permeates the atmosphere, as desire, anxiety and violence intoxicate. This is strange expressive cinema that is visceral and earthy, as well as abstract to the point of the confusion. There is an inherent music that weaves throughout this meditative film,...

Takashi Miike’s earliest works suffered from two things for the most part: Hisao Maki’s script and the almost complete lack of budget, which had Miike shooting directly to video and with very few resources. “A Human Murder Weapon” is no exception.

The story is based on Ikki Kajiwara’s manga and revolves around a young fighter named Karate Kid (for God’s sake), who spends most of his time facing extremely muscled opponents in the ring, in a rather shady, underground club, in order to entertain the mostly foreign audience (including Mr Porsche). Through a flashback, however, we learn about his tragic story, that had him abandon the mother of his child, another martial artist and the school her father left the two of them, after Karate Kid beat him in combat, and before committing suicide. Actually, the protagonist is forced to fight in those matches since another female friend of his,...

Takashi Miike’s second phase of filmmaking, the one mostly dealing with manga adaptations, has been at its best when the Japanese master was able to make films that function as a collage of different ideas. “Ai to Makoto”, the manga by Ikki Kajiwara and Takumi Nagayasu the film is based on, gave Miike a perfect opportunity to produce a movie in that style, as it includes elements of 70s exploitation, musical and anime/manga aesthetics, to name a few. Let us take things from the beginning though.

The anime intro begins in 1961, when a skiing accident introduces the aristocrat Ai to the punk Makoto. 11 years later, and in live-action mode, the two meet again, when Ai, a senior in a prestigious high school, stumbles upon Makoto as he fights the members of a Tokyo gang on his own. Makoto emerges victorious, after the first musical act of the film,...

Based on a manga from Ikki Kajiwara, Miike teams up with Ikki’s brother, Hisao Maki to write the screenplay. After “The Human Murder Weapon” (1992), this was their second project, followed up by many more cooperations like “Family” (2001) and “Waru” (2006).

This is one of Miike’s earlier works that went straight to VHS. The very basic yakuza story evolves around Naoko Kiba, who protects a thug called Junpei who stole 500 Million Yen from an Okinawa gang.

Although “Bodyguard Kiba” was produced pretty much at the beginning of his career, the movie shows the typical Miike handwriting: Set in a brutal yakuza world, straightforward story, sex, and a criminal hero. Besides, most of the story takes place in Okinawa and a lot of dialogue is spoken in the local accent. Referring to a Japanese minority, Miike is not the first, but one of the few directors at that time,...

Here's the full trailer for the live-action adaptation of the 1960s anime and manga classic, Tiger Mask. The character was created by Ikki Kajiwara, and the story centers on a wrestling hero who fights evil to protect the children of an orphanage. 

The film stars Eiji Wentz (Brave Story) as the hero, Natsuna Watanabe (Gantz, Kimi ni Todoke) as the heroine, Ruriko and Show Aikawa (Zebraman) as Mister X. Here's a little more information on the film and its story, thanks to Anime News Network:

"Tiger Mask" is the alter ego of the character Naoto Date, a pro wrestler who goes against an evil wrestling organization and fights for children in an orphanage. In the new setup for the film, Date dons a special suit and "transforms" into Tiger Mask with enhanced mobility and muscle strength. His mask has also been redesigned with a nod to American comic action heroes such as Spider-Man and Batman.

We're not overly familiar with this one but we soon will be. Here comes a teaser for the new movie directed by Ken Ochiai, based upon the manga series "Tiger Mask" by Ikki Kajiwara. The film has attracted a lively cast however, including the likes of Eiji Wentz (Kitaro and the Millennium Curse), Natsuna (Gantz), and Shô Aikawa (Dead or Alive). The Tiger Mask persona is instantly recognisable by its trademark mask, designed to look like a tiger's head, as well as the combination of high flying attacks and martial arts in the wrestling ring. This will be the third movie based on the manga, the first two arriving in the 1970s, though the Tiger Mask persona has continued to appear in wrestling arenas since that time. The Tiger Mask opens its cape and its doors sometime in November 2013. The teaser trailer doesn't give much away but it will certainly do for now.

The Tiger Mask is a classic 1960s anime and manga created by Ikki Kajiwara. The story centers on a wrestling hero who fights evil to protect the children of an orphanage. The original manga ran from 1968 to 1971 in several magazines. In 1969, it was adapted into an anime TV series.

The film stars Eiji Wentz (Brave Story) as the titular hero, Natsuna Watanabe (Gantz, Kimi ni Todoke) as the heroine, Ruriko and Show Aikawa (Zebraman) as Mister X. Here's a little more information on the film and its story thanks to Anime News Network:

"Tiger Mask" is the alter ego of the character Naoto Date, a pro wrestler who goes against an evil wrestling organization and fights for children in an orphanage. In the new setup for the film, Date dons a special suit and "transforms" into Tiger Mask with enhanced mobility and muscle strength. His mask has also been redesigned...

Sneak Peek the first trailer from "Tiger Mask", the live-action adaptation of the 1960's anime/manga comics from Ikki Kajiwara and Naoki Tsuji, starring Eiji Wentz, Natsuna Watanabe and Show Aikawa as 'Mister X' :

"...'Tiger Mask' is the alter ego of 'Naoto Date', a pro wrestler who goes against an evil wrestling organization and fights for children in an orphanage.

"In the film, Date dons a special suit and 'transforms' into Tiger Mask with enhanced mobility and muscle strength..."

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Tiger Mask"...

As the superhero genre continues to dominate the summer blockbuster season in Hollywood, with Man of Steel and Iron Man 3 already box office smash hits, Japan has followed suit with Hentai Kamen and the upcoming Gatchaman. Also joining in on this hot trend is the return of the fictional masked professional wrestler known as The Tiger Mask (タイガーマスク). Based on the classic 60's manga of the same name from writer Ikki Kajiwara and artist Naoki Tsuji, the live action film takes inspiration from American superheroes like Batman and Spider-Man on reinventing the hero for the new generation.The film is directed by Ken Ochiai and the cast include Eiji Wentz (Gegege no Kitarō, Brave Story) as the titled hero, Sho Aikawa (Tokyo Zombie, Zebraman) as mentor...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Director: Takashi Miike. Review: Adam Wing. I don’t know what it is that draws Takashi Miike to projects but you could never accuse the man of being one-dimensional. In the past three years alone he has directed two samurai movies, a superhero film and a farcical children’s adventure. He has two movies scheduled for release next year and three films from 2012 that have yet to see the light of day on western shores. For Love’s Sake – a fascinating blend of High School Musical, Crows Zero and West Side Story – is the first to hit UK shelves, courtesy of Third Window Films. In 2001 Miike directed one of my favourite movies, a quirky zombie musical called The Happiness of the Katakuris. Combining elements of Kim Jee-Woon’s The Quiet Family and Christmas favourite The Sound of Music, Katakuris was an offbeat masterpiece infused with claymation set pieces, twisted humour and karaoke singalongs.

For Love’s Sake

Directed by Takashi Miike

Written by Ikki Kajiwara, Takayuki Takuma, Takumi Nagayasu

Starring Emi Takei, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Takumi Saito, Sakura Ando

Welcome to an alternate reality Tokyo of 1972, and adolescent student Ai (Emi Takei) has fallen deeply in love with the forehead scarred bad-boy Makoto (Satoshi Tsumabuki), a violent and uncompromising young hooligan whom Ai idolises as her fairytale saviour. Makoto however couldn’t care less for her beatific affections, and when Ai’s fathers pulls some strings to enroll him into her elite private school he returns the favour by blackmailing her parents when he discovers that she is moonlighting at a local maid service bar. The infatuating incredulity deepens as Ai has her own desperate paramour, the nerdy and bespectacled Iwashimizu (Takumi Saito) who confesses his undying love for her, promising to follow Ai to the depths of hell in order to secure her fleeting affections.

Seemingly back making films at a breakneck pace Takashi Miike makes it clear with For Love’s Sake (Ai To Makoto) that 13 Assassins and Harakiri, his recent period samurai remakes, were examples of him branching out further, rather than a full-blown new direction. That’s not to say that Miike is fully back to approaching the technical side of his films with his old anarchic flourishes though. For all its lurid colour palette and expressive filmmaking excesses For Love’s Sake is a technically complex and formally cohesive film that is all the more impressive to behold when one considers the rate at which Miike is making films.

Despite being technically proficient, For Love’s Sake is lacking in other areas, particularly in its story structure and the effect this has on the pace of the film. Based on an original story by Ikki Kajiwara and Takumi Nagayabu, which has seen many adaptations previously,...

For Love’s Sake aka Ai to makoto aka The Legend of Love & Sincerity

Written by Takayuki Takuma, Ikki Kajiwara, Takumi Nagayasu,

Directed by Takashi Miike

Japan, 2012 Fantasia imdb

This year, Fantasia pulled out all the stops to kick off the Festival with a bang – several bangs. They unveiled a new interactive screen that displays pictures from films playing in the festival with capsule reviews in English and French, logos of sponsors and recent random tweets that mention FantasiaFest. It can become a bit of an infinite “Meow” loop, but it is still very cool.

To mark the fact that a Japanese film was chosen as the official opening film for the festival, the local Japanese consulate sent a representative and (better still) sponsored a Japanese dance and an awe-inspiring Japanese drum performance. When I say that it was a percussive assault, I mean that in the most complimentary way.

For those that are confused (which would obviously include me) the column that has the url: http://www.soundonsight.org/fantasia-2012-mike-ryans-five-most-anticipated-films/ is actually my column on the five films that I am most upset to be Missing.

This is my column on five seven films that I am most looking forward to:

1) Takashi Miike (For Love’s Sake and Ace Attorney)

For Love’s Sake (2012) Written by Takayuki Takuma, Ikki Kajiwara, Takumi Nagayasu, Directed by Takashi Miike

You really only need three words to sell For Love’s Sake: Takashi. Miike. Musical.

But here are a few more words…

Takashi Miike is beloved by the Fantasia crowd for pushing the boundaries of genre filmmaking in films like Audition, Visitor Q and Ichi the Killer, but I tend to prefer Miike when he is working in a specific sub-genre where he is forced to subvert the conventions at play in more subtle ways,...

Popular child actor Seishiro Kato will appear in Takashi Miike’s upcoming film For Love’s Sake, which will premiere as a Midnight Screening at Cannes later this month.

Kato will reportedly play Satoshi Tsumabuki’s character as a child. The role required a lot of action, such as punching and kicking, which was a first for the young star.

The film is the fourth theatrical adaptation of Ikki Kajiwara’s “Ai to Makoto” manga, but the other 3 were all released in the 1970s.

Tsumabuki plays a juvenile delinquent named Makoto Taiga who, while seeking vengeance, gets caught up in a fate-fueled love story with a rich honors student named Ai (Emi Takei), whom he first met as a child.

Kato took on an uncharacteristically gritty look for his role. During filming, Miike coached him to be forceful and abandon his typically kind, amiable personality.

After the Cannes screening, “For...

Over the past two years, director Takashi Miike has hosted a series of live interview events to help promote upcoming movies. On Wednesday, he hosted one for his own movie, Ai to Makoto at Billboard Live Tokyo in Roppongi. Satoshi Tsumabuki and Takumi Saitoh were in attendance and participated in a frank talk about the film. This new special video featuring Emi Takei singing as her character, Ai Saotome, premiered in the lobby during the event.

The film is based on Ikki Kajiwara and Takumi Nagayasu’s “Ai to Makoto” manga. It’s actually the fourth film adaptation of the series, but the first in 36 years.

Takei’s character, Ai, is the kind-hearted daughter of a wealthy family who falls in love with a dirt poor juvenile delinquent named Makoto Taiga (Tsumabuki). Saitoh plays Iwashimizu, an honor student who’s in love with Ai and persistent about professing it.

The film incorporates action,...

Thanks to Hugo Ozman at Twitch for spotting the trailer for Takashi Miike's immediate followup to Ace Attorney, the high school musical Ai to Makoto (The Legend of Love & Sincerity). At Nippon Cinema, Kevin Ouellette notes that the film is "based on Ikki Kajiwara's manga Ai to Makoto, which was previously adapted as a television drama and three movies in 1974, 1975, and 1976. Satoshi Tsumabuki stars as a delinquent named Makoto who comes to Tokyo to fulfill a vow to avenge his past. Emi Takei plays Ai, the only daughter of a prominent and distinguished Tokyo family. Under normal circumstances, people from such vastly different backgrounds would never have met, but fate had different plans and the pair wind up falling in love. Meanwhile, an honors student named Iwashimizu (Takumi Saitoh) won't stop telling Ai he'd die for her, Makoto is hunting a female gang leader, and chaos springs up all around them.

The official website for Takashi Miike’s The Legend of Love & Sincerity has been updated with a new trailer.

The movie is based on Ikki Kajiwara’s manga “Ai to Makoto”, which was previously adapted as a television drama and three movies in 1974, 1975, and 1976.

Satoshi Tsumabuki stars as a delinquent named Makoto who comes to Tokyo to fulfill a vow to avenge his past. Emi Takei plays Ai, the only daughter of a prominent and distinguished Tokyo family. Under normal circumstances, people from such vastly different backgrounds would never have met, but fate had different plans and the pair wind up falling in love. Meanwhile, an honors student named Iwashimizu (Takumi Saitoh) won’t stop telling Ai he’d die for her, Makoto is hunting a female gang leader, and chaos springs up all around them.

Oh yeah, and there’s music and dance numbers!

“The Legend of Love & Sincerity...

Ai To Makoto! Japanese genre legend director Takashi Miike is still on a roll, churning out film after film after film these days. Up next for him is Ai To Makoto, or The Legend of Love & Sincerity, apparently some adaptation of a manga that looks very... colorful. Twitch posted the first teaser trailer and while it's short, and features just a few quick glimpses of footage, it's considerably interesting, to say the least. Is this a musical? I'm not even sure, but apparently it's a love between two high school students. One, the troubled Makoto Taiga, is played by Satoshi Tsumabuki; and the pure, sweet Ai Satome is played by Emi Takei. Watch the teaser for Takashi Miike's Ai To Makoto or The Legend of Love & Sincerity, via Twitch: Ai To Makoto is a Japanese manga series written by Ikki Kajiwara and illustrated by Takumi Nagayasu. It was adapted...

Tiger Mask (タイガーマスク Taigā Masuku) is a Japanese manga comic book series thats written by Ikki Kajiwara and drawn by Naoki Tsuji. The comic was first published in Kodansha's Bokura Magazine from 1968 to 1969 and then was later published in Weekly Shōnen Magazine from 1970 to 1971. Later Tiger Mask was adapted into an anime cartoon series by Toei Animation, that first aired on Yomiuri TV on October 2, 1969 and ended its run on September 30, 1971, airing 105 episodes and a 1970 anime feature film. The name has been used by a succession of Japanese professional wrestling characters as a gimmick in real life. The Tiger Mask persona is instantly recognizable by its trademark mask, designed to look like a tiger's head, as well as the combination of high flying attacks and martial arts in the ring. The Tiger Mask story is of an orphan who becomes a feared...

Last week, a second teaser and new full trailer were added to the official website for Fumihiko Sori’s upcoming live-action adaptation of Tetsuya Chiba and Asao Takamori classic boxing manga Ashita no Joe (Tomorrow’s Joe). The original manga was serialized from 1968-1973 and was later adapted to an anime series and movie.

25-year-old Tomohisa Yamashita of News stars as a troubled youth who is trained in the art of boxing by a man named Dampei Tange (Teruyuki Kagawa). During a temporary stint in prison, he meets a former boxing prodigy named Toru Rikiishi (Yusuke Iseya) and a fierce, but respectful rivalry develops between the two men. In the manga, their battles eventually inspired several other inmates to try their hands at boxing, leading to various match-ups of boxers with vastly different skills and weaknesses which required shifts in fight strategy. However, the film focuses mainly on the initial rivalry that defined the series.

A teaser trailer has been released for Fumihiko Sori‘s upcoming live-action adaptation of Tetsuya Chiba and Asao Takamori’s classic boxing manga Ashita no Joe (Tomorrow’s Joe). The original manga was serialized from 1968-1973 and was later adapted to an anime series and movie.

25-year-old Tomohisa Yamashita of News stars as a troubled youth who is trained in the art of boxing by a man named Dampei Tange (Teruyuki Kagawa). During a temporary stint in prison, he meets a former boxing prodigy named Toru Rikiishi (Yusuke Iseya) and a fierce, but respectful rivalry develops between the two men. Eventually, their battles inspire several other inmates to try their hands at boxing, leading to various match-ups of boxers with vastly different skills and weaknesses.

Toho will be releasing “Ashita no Joe” in Japan in February 2011.

Source: Official website via Anime News Network...

A teaser trailer has been released for Fumihiko Sori‘s upcoming live-action adaptation of Tetsuya Chiba and Asao Takamori’s classic boxing manga Ashita no Joe (Tomorrow’s Joe). The original manga was serialized from 1968-1973 and was later adapted to an anime series and movie.

25-year-old Tomohisa Yamashita of News stars as a troubled youth who is trained in the art of boxing by a man named Dampei Tange (Teruyuki Kagawa). During a temporary stint in prison, he meets a former boxing prodigy named Toru Rikiishi (Yusuke Iseya) and a fierce, but respectful rivalry develops between the two men. Eventually, their battles inspire several other inmates to try their hands at boxing, leading to various match-ups of boxers with vastly different skills and weaknesses.

Toho will be releasing “Ashita no Joe” in Japan in February 2011.

Source: Official website via Anime News Network...