Afro Samurai: Resurrection is the movie sequel to the Afro Samurai series aired in Januray 2007, on Spike TV. The series was six episodes long with Samuel L. Jackson voicing the lead character of the Takashi Okazaki’s manga. Spike TV have announced that Resurrection will premiere January 25th, 2009. Mr. Jackson returns to lend his voice talents along with a new cast of Lucy Lui and Mark Hamill. RZA (from the Wu Tang Clan) has also returned to do the soundtrack. It is going on my list of things to Tivo.

“The Most Delicious Hentai Soda on the Market.”

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Teddy Troopers are 3.5″ of incredible, beastly vinyl. From adfunture, comes the newest installment of these little kuma (bear) guys. They come blind box so you don’t know what one you are going to get, but they are all cool. Only eight different designs and at $9 a piece, you can easily justify getting one or two. 3Dretro has them up for grabs right now. The artists featured in the series include: Jeremy Fish, Frank Kozik, SEEN, Joe Ledbetter, Fortress, Parskid, Mr. Jago, and KRSN.

Nickelodeon has done something right for the children of today in airing the animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender. Seriously, this show is good no matter what age you are, and parents enjoy it too (ask my cousin’s husband Jeromy). Anyways, Paramount and Nickelodeon have teamed up to preview the makings of this beloved anime. It will be a live action film and a product of M. Night Shyamalan. Yep, that guy that confused us with his sneaky The Sixth Sense movie and that weird The Village film. In a brief statement, Shyamalan had this to say about the progress of the casting:

“Casting has begun and we’ve seen thousands of kids. I believe we’ve found the next superstars.”

He also explained how he become so interested in doing this particular movie:

“I sat down and watched four television episodes back-to-back with my kids. We were riveted. I said, ‘This would make a phenomenal movie!’ My wife said, ‘This is the one you’ve been waiting for.”

The film is scheduled to make its debut July of 2010, but not much else has been released. I know this is far away, but this is something to keep our eyes on. It is one of those up in the air movies, especially with Shyamalan. Not to say he isn’t a good writer/director, but this would be something very far away from his usual films. What are your thoughts?

Japanese animation company, Gonzo, has released the highly anticipated sequel to Tower of Druaga: The Aegis of Uruk. The newest installment to the Tower of Druaga series starts off where the last series left off with Jil, the main character, in an unlikely situation. The newest trailer released summariezes what took place in Aegis of Uruk and then shows clips from the newest episodes. Fans have been waiting on pin and needles for their fantasy anime to return to continue the story. On January 8th, the The Sword of Uruk will premiere in Japan. Although this may be bad news for other Druaga fans across the world, Crunchyroll Anime subscribers will have the series available to them early. The episodes will also be available free later on, so be patient.

The Powerpuff Girls still remain one of my favorite cartoons of all time. From the characters cuteness to the funny names, the series was full of win! However, not many Powerpuff products have come out recently due to the fact that the show hasn’t been on TV for a few years. Thanks to Ningyoushi, we can choose a bobble head of all three girls and three other famous Powerpuff characters. Each set come with two bobble heads: Bubbles and Fuzzy Lumpkin, Blossom and The Major, and Buttercup and Mojo Jojo.

Each bobble head stands about 7 inches tall and priced $20 each. They are available online here.

Whether you have a vinyl figure or plush character, sometimes you want to use it for everyday use. Don’t get me wrong, having a collection of incredible toys is fun to look at, but sometimes it is nice for them to be a little more than eye candy. There is good news for us who think like this. Some our of favorite artists have made their character arts into everyday useful housewares.

Gama-Go has some of the naughtiest/cutest animals around and now you can take them with you to a picnic or out in the living room to watch TV while eating. Behold the Gama-Go Picnic Tray. It measures 6″ x 7.5″, and has a depth of 5/8″ and is only $6.00 a piece. Buy four and have a whole kitchen set.

Add to your Gama-Go collection with a bowl set of Gloomy Bear. Imagine eating cereal, then drinking the rest of the milk and seeing the lovable, bloody Gloomy. Who doesn’t want to see that after a good meal?! The bowl is 6 inches around by 3 inches deep. It retails for $25, so maybe just one special bowl is enough.

Sam Flores and Jeremy Fish have the perfect glasses and mugs to go with your new kitchenware set. Sam Flores has one pink mug, while Jeremy Fish has two designer coffee mugs. Each one is $12 a piece. Too add to the cup collection, Jeremy is offering a glass beer mug for $20 and a regular glass cup for $15. All of these pieces are very unique and are fun to use for any safe drinkable liquid. Visit Upper Playground to get a closer look.

For some people, smoking is still a daily thing. Ashtrays are an everyday appliance and should be cooler than just a piece from the gas station. KAWS has solved this problem with his new Black and White version ashtray. Although the tray is a little more on the expensive side at $95 a piece, it is still one of the coolest out there. These are very limited and can be found at KAWSONE.com.

There are many other useful items out there for us to show our crazy and colorful selves. These include wallets, pillows, shower curtains, and USB drives. Some of the best sites to find items like these are listed below. Check them out and see if something is worth your while or pass it on t a friend you might think would enjoy it.

~Kidrobot

~Ningyoushi

~Upper Playground

~Japan Strapya World

~Super Punch

VIZ Media, located in San Fransisco, CA, is one of the largest and innovative manga publishing, entertainment and animation licensing of Japanese content around. VIZ is owned by three of Japan’s largest anime and manga mongals: Shueisha Inc., Shogakukan Inc., and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, CO., Ltd. VIZ Media is a forerunner in the publishing and distribution of Japanese manga for English speaking audiences in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and South Africa. The company produces a wide variety of anime related items such as Shonen Jump and Shojo Beat magazines, DVDs, and graphic novels. Basically, they are highly responsible for bringing anime and manga to other countries other than just Japan.

VIZ Media does rock, but how could they be even better? By forming an alliance with Warner Home Video of course! VIZ Media, LLC and Warner Home Video (WHV) have reached an awesome agreement for the home entertainment distribution in the United States and Mexico of new and catalog DVD releases from VIZ Media. The announcement was jointly made by Hidemi Fukuhara, President and CEO of VIZ Media and Jeff Brown, WHV Executive Vice President and General Manager, TV, Family and Animation. So, DVD box sets of animes like Naruto, Bleach, and Death Note are going to be coming our way very shortly. Not only are they going to be more readily available to US consumers, with the large production scale that can be done now, hopefully the box sets won’t be as expensive.

With this fantastic merger also comes another surprise for our Northern neighbors. ITunes already has many of these anime series up for purchase and download for Americans, but now the Canadians can join in on the fun. Naruto, Bleach, and Death Note are now available for purchase at C$1.99 an episode. As a way of celebrating, the first episode of each anime is FREE to download on Canada iTunes. Check them out and see what ones are worth your money to keep watching, or wait for the new DVD box sets coming in April to fulfill your anime needs.

If you were lucky enough to snag the Big Daddy figure with your Bioshock copy, you might have noticed your Daddy to be a little lonely. But fear not, Little Sister is here to be reunited with her guy. At only $10 a pop, you owe it to Big Daddy for not killing you yet. She can be purchased here and is scaled at 3 inches to go perfectly with Daddy. This is a one time limited figure run, so get her quick before you-know-who gets angry.

There has been talk that Twentieth Century Fox has proposed the adaptation of Cowboy Bebop back in July. Fox has already hired a writer for film and are thinking of covering the “Red Eye” story as the main plot.Cowboy Bebop still remains one of the most popular anime series of all time. It is a staple series for any anime fan. So what does this all have to do with Keanu Reeves?!

The famous actor has confessed to MTV Movie Blog, that he would like to play Spike Spiegel, the unlikely hero in the live action Cowboy Bebop. Keanu is a known anime fan, even visiting the Los Angeles’s ANIMATE store back in 2000. Reeves says this to the MTV interviewer about the anime:

“It’s got a Western quality, a Western film noir aspect to it, [...] It’s got so much style to it, and that’s part of its appeal. That kind of Old West, bordertown, low-tech science fiction aspect.”

I worry about this movie in general. I really don’t want them to screw this up, but if they have actual anime fan actors wanting and willing to play these parts, maybe it won’t be so bad. I can see Keanu playing this role though. What do you all think?