Source: ANN

Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party* and its coalition partner, the New Komeito Party, are preparing legislation that will make possession of child pornography illegal for the first time in the country. The tentatively planned legislation does not ban so-called “virtual” child pornography — material such as some manga, anime, and games that explicitly depict fictional children.

A dramatic change I might say that may affect those who are “very into” this kind of porn. It is about time for them to make such changes.

You might have heard of Crunchyroll, a online video-streaming website known for showing anime titles and some Asian films (man..i got to love the 1991 Chinese Vampire show :P ) without authorization.  According to ANN, they secured a capital investment of US$4.05 million. A hefty sum indeed.

Venture capital firm Venrock reportedly invested the capital in San-Francisco-based Crunchyroll, Inc., with Venrock General Partner David Siminoff joining Crunchyroll’s board of directors. Several websites that report on federal regulatory filings covered the investment in brief.

Source: ANN

He’s 10 and he’s dead. That is the fate of a boy who imitates Naruto by burying himself in a sandbox headfirst, assumingly to recreate the attacks used by the fictional ninja from the Naruto anime’s fictional Village Hidden in the Sand.

Porter had been resuscitated with CPR and taken to an Everett hospital and later transferred to the Children’s Hospital in Seattle where he died.

Source: ANN

Download: Here
New Features: Here

Internet Explorer 8 can be installed on Microsoft Windows Vista^® Service Pack 1 (SP1), Windows Vista, Windows XP^® Service Pack 2 (SP2), Windows Server^® 2008 and Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2).

It is a BETA hence, you use it at your own discretion. No one is responsible if anything happens. :P

Source: Microsoft

Source: ANN

Connecticut State Police arrested an 18-year-old on Sunday after he uploaded a clip to the YouTube video-sharing service that allegedly threatened the students of his former school and used a quote from the Naruto manga and anime character Gaara.

Anime influence at work again ? What’s your opinion ?

Allison and Lillia official website launched, I am interested in this anime..wonder if it is like Last Exile (similar) as it seems to feature about planes.

Not a ZnT fan but definitely it is love for fans. Check here out for the official website

Source: ANN

Watch out for March 10 release of the April issue of Newtype as it will feature on the theatrical version of the Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann anime.

Yes, this is not a typo

Official note: Tokyoanime.jp

Source: Anandtech / Picture Source: Sony

Both the upcoming Sony models, the BDP-S350 and the BDP-550, support BonusView and BD-Live. Both also feature an external port for local storage, but only the BDP-S550 includes a 1GB storage device. The BDP-S550 also differentiates itself with dts-HD High Resolution Audio and dts-HD Master Audio decoding as well as 7.1 channel analog audio output.

Never mind about the funny terms. Bonusview means Picture-in-picture view (PIP) and BD-Live means it incorporates an Ethernet port for firmware updates and web content.

The price? The BDP-S350 will retail this summer for about $400 and BDP-S550 will be available this fall for about $500.

Source: ANN

Hartsville Middle School removed a student after a school official confiscated a “Death Note” notebook last week. The school district officials in the city of Hartsville linked the notebook to the Death Note anime series

Alright guys, I guess those death note merchandise should be banned..LOL. Cant believe a guy got expelled over such a matter.

We treat situations like this the same as if a student called in a bomb threat or brought a weapon to school.

woo.. a weapon ? I have a notebook in a drawer too. This piece of news somehow irritates me.

Source: ANN

Director Takashi Watanabe will oversee J.C. Staff, the same studio that worked with him on all three previous Slayers television series

Cast has not been determined but details revealed that the anime series will span for 2 seasons, each with 3 months.

It is not known if Lina, the popular character voiced by Megumi Hayashibara, will be featured in this new series