ANCEA is proud to announce that the 8th Annual Sakura-Con will be hosted at the Seattle Airport Hilton and Conference Center and Marriott Hotel April 8th to April 10th, 2005. Sakura-Con is the premier Pacific Northwest Anime Convention devoted to east Asian Culture, with a particular focus on Japanese animation (anime), Japanese Comics (manga), and gaming. Sakura-Con is the gathering place of thousands of fans who get together to have fun sharing their love for anime. Click on the Following Link for More Information http://www.sakuracon.org

Kikaida & Daisuke Ban Return to San Francisco (2005-02-07)
WonderCon sent out press release today announcing that Kikaida star Daisuke Ban will make special appearances in San Francisco and at WonderCon in 2 weeks. Meanwhile the 1972Kikaida TV series will air on TV in the Bay Area starting this April.

New episodes of Inuyasha have started people!  Adult swim finally decided to cut the cliff hangers and give us more of one of the best animes around. It is currently playing at 12:30 am and then again once more at 3:30 am eastern/pacific, for those of you with sattelite, subtract three hours and there you have it. It would play at 9:30 pm and then again at 12:30 am.

According to Sony Music Japan's face website, the Full Metal Alchemist movie will be released in Japanese theaters the second half of Summer 2005. A Mainichi Shimbum report is saying that the movie takes place two years after the end of the TV series. The script will be written by Aikawa Shou, and the director will be Mizushima Seiji, who is also directing the TV series.

A more detailed announcement will be available on July 12 in Shonen Hanhan.

In other Full Metal Alchemist news, Japanese retailer Animate just put up a pre-order for a replica of Edward Elrics Automail arm. Sold out within a day, the arm measures 70cm from shoulder to fingertip. It will hit shelves on July 30, 2004 and will retail for 14,700 yen.

Feb 23 2005!
MVM have pushed back their releases of Trigun #2 and Chobits #1 to the 21st of March. Their other 7th March releases (Kiddy Grade #7, Love Hina #6 and Yu Yu Hakusho #1) remain unchanged.

C4's "100 greatest cartoons" this Sunday!

A few months ago, we suggested you vote in Channel 4's "100 greatest cartoons" countdown and give the nominated likes of Akira, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away and (rather controversially) Legend of the Overfiend a chance of ranking high up the list.

This Sunday, the results will be broadcast at 8pm on Channel 4. We plan to post the anime rankings the

Earlier in February, Beez published their (tentative) UK anime release plans for 2005. Now, according to their UK distributor Pinacle Vision, the following UK release dates have been set:

25th April Beez releases
* Cowboy Bebop #4
* S-CRY-ed #1
* Stratos 4 #1
* Witch Hunter Robin #1
Midori Days was also said to be starting it's UK run in April, so we can only assume it has been pushed back until May (at the earliest). Of course, these release dates should be considered fluid, with the impending .Hack//Sign #7 (including the LE art box version) recently being pushed back until the 7th of March. All of these release dates have been entered into our UK anime release schedule.

Manga UK have published a press release for their planned Neon Genesis Evangelion movies box set (set for UK release 21st March) and included the official DVD cover art and box set layout

Out today (on UK DVD) are two firm fan favourites; Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex #2 (from Manga UK) and Neon Genesis Evangelion - Platinum #1, along with a whole batch of other ADV UK releases that include the underrated Kino's Journey #3 and Last Exile #2.

21st February releases
* Angelic Layer #6
* Azumanga Daioh #4
* Ghost In The Shell - Stand Alone Complex #2
* Kino's Journey #3
* Last Exile #2
* Mahoromatic #3
* Neon Genesis Evangelion Platinum #1
* RahXephon - The Motion Picture

(Editors note): I didn't write any of the stuff above, I got it off of a few different websites and put it together for a more convienient anime news station.  If you have anything that you want more information on, please E-mail me and I'll be happy to find something on it, or report on it myself. Thanks, yours truely, Rosebud.