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The other day, my daughter came out of her room, and I did a double-take. She was wearing one of those Japanese gauze eye patches I will forever associate with anime characters, since most of my experience with them has been in 2D form. "Why are you doing Rei Ayanami cosplay?" I asked, and she laughed, telling me that she'd been hit in the face with a ball at school and the nurse put the eye patch on her just to be safe. Yes, the way the brain develops associations is interesting.

Japan's medical system is well organized; my daughter is wearing a "Rei Ayanami" eye patch these days.

Yesterday I experienced that Great Democratizer, the full body health checkup, called ningen dock or "human dock" in Japanese. (The idea is that you're docking yourself like a ship in drydock to be refitted.) While reasons for  Japan's famous longevity include a healthier diet high in fish, a safe society and human-to-human social networks that provide ikigai (literally "reason for living") late in life, another big part is a well-organized health care system built around this formal ningen dock system. On the day of your check-up, you arrive at the dedicated hospital facility, which does nothing but these standardized procedures, and all morning you're poked and prodded and measured in every way possible, with blood drawn, an EKG recorded, ultrasonic images of internal organs checked, and so on. Since stomach cancer is such a big problem in Japan, there are many well-developed options for checking for stomach problems, too.

We generated new coupon code for 10% off discount. New coupon code is "NEWANIME".

The North American anime licensing company Sentai Filmworks and the online retailer Right Stuf have launched their web page which allows fans who purchased the English-subtitled-only releases of Clannad After Story to upgrade to the new bilingual release. Buyers must mail their original copies to Right Stuf's location in Grimes, Iowa.

Those who purchased both sub-only volumes of the series can upgrade to the box set for US $20; fans who purchased only one volume can upgrade for US$35. The manufacturer's suggested retail price for the box set is US $69.98.

Sentai Filmworks currently has the box set scheduled for an April 19 release.

In a press release announcing its April release slate, Section23 Films has revealed that it will begin selling the anime film The Asylum Session on April 26.

Asylum Session was announced in the summer of 2009 as a 3D anime film. The story revolves around a young woman who runs away from her father, who refuses to let her become a professional artist. The girl, Hiyoko, finds herself at the Asylum Stadium, an abandoned field where numerous homeless people live. Unfortunately, the government is planning to destroy the stadium.

CoMix Wave Ltd. produced the anime film, while Tact Aoki (Catblue: Dynamite) directed. Aya Hirano (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya's Haruhi, Lucky Star's Konata) plays Hiyoko.

Image © Tact Aoki/BROSTATV/Comix Wave Films

Update: Background information and image added.

Update 2: Section23 also announced that it will reissue the Special A anime series in a complete English-subtitled DVD collection on April 5, followed by the second Needless DVD and Blu-ray Disc collection on April 12 and the bilingual Clannad After Story DVD collection on April 19.

Manga Entertainment's British branch has announced via Twitter that it will release Fairy Tail and Shikabane Hime (Corpse Princess) this year. The company then clarified that the Shikabane Hime license only covers the first season, Shikabane Hime: Aka.

Fairy Tail is an ongoing television anime based on Hiro Mashima's manga of the same name. Crunchyroll is simulcasting the series, but there has been no announcement of a DVD or Blu-ray Disc release in North America at this time. Del Rey Manga published the North American Fairy Tail manga until Kodansha Comics took over its licenses from Del Rey.

Asked whether the Fairy Tail license would be for DVD or streams, Manga confirmed with ANN that it "should be DVD" but that the company is still awaiting details from the licensor. The company hopes to "get a volume out in 2011."

In 2008 and 2009, studio Gainax adapted Yoshiichi Akahito's manga Shikabane Hime into two anime titles: Shikabane Hime: Aka and Shikabane Hime: Kuro. The series was licensed in North America by Funimation in 2008.

Images © Hiro Mashima, KODANSHA/Fairy Tail Guild, TV TOKYO
© Yoshiichi Akahito/Square Enix, Shikabane Hime Production Committee

Update: Manga UK also announced that it will release the DVDs and Blu-ray Discs of Eden of The East the Movie I: The King of Eden film in June and Eden of The East the Movie II: Paradise Lost in November. Thanks to Reaper gI for the Shikabane Hime seasons' correction.

On Tuesday, Nakano City's central police station filed charges against a 42-year-old male company worker for allegedly recording the audio from Mobile Suit Gundam 00 the Movie: A wakening of the Trailblazer and SP The Motion Picture: Yabo-Hen with his mobile phone.

The Nakano District Public Prosecutor's Office is processing the charges under both the recently passed law against hidden recording devices in movie theaters and Japan's Copyright Act. It is only the second case to be prosecuted under Japan's law against recording devices in movie theaters, and the first one where only the audio was allegedly recorded. Under the law enacted in 2007, both video and audio recordings are prohibited for eight months after a film's opening day (for paying audience members).

The suspect allegedly recorded the soundtracks of the two films in a Nakano theater on November 4; the Gundam 00 film had opened on September 18, and the first SP film had opened on October 30. According to the police, the other audience members noticed the suspect and reported the incident to the theater staff. The suspect allegedly said that he had recorded the audio for his own personal listening enjoyment.

Since the anti-recording law went into effect, Japanese movie theaters have regularly shown public service announcements to remind viewers of the law.

The North American anime licensing company Sentai Filmworks announced on Tuesday that it acquired the Infinite Stratos television anime series. Sentai Filmworks has not specified how the anime will be released. The 12-episode television series premiered in Japan on January 6.

The anime adapts Izuru Yumizuru's "popular high-speed school battle romantic comedy" light novel series. The story centers around the IS Academy: a school for training the pilots of the Infinite Stratos weapon system, which can only be used by females. Candidates plucked from girls from countries all over the world are brought here - as well as one boy named Ichika Orimura. As it turns out, Ichika is "the only male in the world who can use the IS." His classmates include Hōki, a childhood friend.

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