The release of a new *Ghost in the Shell* film was announced on Jan. 8, and *Psycho-Pass the Movie* will release Japan-wide on Jan. 9. Now a collaboration that crosses over the boundaries of these two films has surprisingly appeared in Shinjuku Station.
Accompanying the start of the broadcast, the official online store Gawa Gawa Mart has already opened. Also confirmed is a special exhibit called “Yurikuma Arashi Museum Bear & Peace” coming to three Animate locations.
The new series for the *Pokemon*-themed manga, *Pocket Monsters Special: Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire*, started Tuesday, Jan. 6 on Club Sunday a free webcomic hosting site.
PC Koubou recently launched a PC intended for light novel authors. It’s a PC developed for people who write light novels on a daily basis, and for those who want to be writers as well.
It has been announced that Manabu Koga, who released the photo collection/photo exhibit *Underwater Knee-highs* (2013) and the follow-up *Underwater Knee-highs Plus* (2014), will be starting a new regular event called Monthly Underwater Knee-highs.
The release date of *Persona 3 the Movie #3: Falling Down*, the third chapter in a theatrical anime themed after the popular game *Persona 3*, has been confirmed. The movie will have a Japan-wide roadshow release on April 4 at Shinjuku Wald 9, Umeda Burg 7 and other theaters across the country.
Beginning with Hatsune Miku from Vocaloid, there are various virtual idols in the spotlight. One among them is Kamui Kitano, an idol for the growth of Hokkaido, who takes part by bringing excitement to the region.
Julietta Suzuki’s popular manga *Kamisama Kiss* (serialized in Hakusensha’s *Hana to Yume*), which has 4 million copies in print, is getting its first stage musical adaptation. *Kamisama Kiss: The Musical* will run from March 21-29, 2015 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre.
ACOS, a cosplay specialty shop with 10 locations throughout Japan, has confirmed the release of the Tomoeda Elementary School uniform (female winter uniform) and Sakura Kinomoto’s costume from the hugely popular anime *Cardcaptor Sakura*.
The official *Evangelion* site was renewed for the new year on Jan. 1. Many fans probably remember having their heart skip a beat when they saw on the site, in a familiar white font against black, the phrase “By the way, it’s 2015.”
Winning the award for Best Anime in the music category, a category closely followed by anime fans, is the second soundtrack to chief director Shinichiro Watanabe’s TV anime *Space Dandy*, *Space Dandy Original Soundtrack 2 Boobies Wonderland*.
The instant smash-hit anime short series *Robot Girls Z*, produced by Toei Animation, was aired on the Toei Channel from January to March of 2014. It has been announced that the continuation of this series will begin airing in the spring of 2015.
Manga-based live-action films are becoming more and more a part of recent Japanese movies. There were many such releases in 2014, too, such as the *Rurouni Kenshin* series, *Lupin III*, *Black Butler*, and *Blue Spring Ride*, while in the first half of 2015 more than 10 manga are getting live-action adaptations.
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