The amount of dedication and enthusiasm put into each issue of Animavericks is so damned inspiring; as soon as we finish an issue we're left wanting more.

Guess what? They've given us more. The famous Anime/J-pop culture magazine has expanded with their new initiative "MINIMAVERICKS" - a 20 page sugar-rush of news and views from the Australian anime community for your reading pleasure. It's free, distributed through a multitude of retail outlets, conventions and in the odd DVD every 2nd month while you wait for the new, proper ANIMAVERIC...

I was in Tokyo recently and in preperation to the trip I spoke to Tim from the record shop under Flinders St station in Melbourne, who was nice enough to pass on a link of awesome music shops....every gaijin should be armed up with info like this so click here and thank me later.

This is more of an update than a news item, really.

We're trying to update the site daily when possible, but around the office this week we've been inundated with so many pressing issues we've now dubbed it the "Week from Hell"

In Celebration of the "Week from Hell" we'd like to share with you, somewhat ironically, a massive timewasting website www.hell.com

Please kill time for us on our behalf and we'll be back w/ you next week. 

Love,

Siren

In the spirit of embrassing the community and create an all emcompassing experience, check out this page we stumbled upon, point at each person in the photo and laugh, laugh laugh...

Sunrise, the powerhouse anime studio behind Gundam, Cowboy Beebop, Code Geass and a bunch of other titles we don't do took the time a few years ago to to write an in depth article on the Anime production process. We stumbled upon it a few months ago on Anime News Network, and thought of it again this morning.

It's a facinating article, and what I would give to see some of the project proposals that never got off the ground!

Check it out Here

#3 Deathtic 4

If you've got talent and you want to make an anime feature that raises the bar, the first thing to do is call Shinji Kimura. He's handled the background art for Akira and My Neighbor Totoro (among many others) and created the worlds we see in Steamboy, Tekkonkinkreet and Batman: Gotham Knight (among many others).  His pioneering use of CGI has kept him at the forefront of development and today, he is quite simply one of the most accomplished artists around.

Deathtic 4 - the third instalment in the Genius Party - marks Shinji Kimura's directorial debut, which, in music...

We've been slaving away at getting our news pg to a point where we can embed our videos in them, and I think, just maybe, it's working ok now.

So the trailer for Tower of Druaga is here and more to come....

I had grand plans today which faded immediately upon turing on the computer and finding email wasn't working, server was down, no music, etc... So I go out to get a coffee...get to the front of the line....no cash.

As I stumbled through a day in the life of Larry David, the grand plans I had deteriorated rapidly into a series of awkward social exchanges and as I approach the end of the day can I just say 'To hell with it, I'll see you tomorrow."

Before going however I'd like to put a challenge out there to anyone who is having a better day than I am. First one to tell me who this is wins a free copy of Tetsuo Iron Man/Bo...

While in Tokyo recently we had the pleasure of meeting Justin Sevakis from Anime News Network. Justin is a living, breathing, encyclopaedia of anime. We had a good chat about his time at Central Park Media (R.I.P.) where he worked on the beautiful and devastating series Now & Then, Here & There series (how about that ending!!)   Siren released this series a few years back and it's easily one of the most underrated anime of all time (read, check it out).

For those not already aware, one of the things Justin does for ANN is contribute to the Buried Treasure section. I ...

I'm admittedly a little off-subject today (see "Siren's getting back into Anime"), but there's some relevance here and it's a subject worth exploring.

As we know, the music industry has undergone a revolutionary change in recent years. The rug has been pulled from every major label executive's office around the world, the erosion of CD sales has been dealt with defensively; companies are suing customers, starting with the most passionate and working their way down. Layoffs are widespread, both at the major and independent sector. The end seems to be near. So what happened?

I have a theory....

Japan's Asmik Ace Entertainment has announced details of a long-awaited third installment in the cult Tetsuo franchise, which will also mark director Shinya Tsukamoto's English-language debut.

Tentatively titled Tetsuo Project, the film has just wrapped and is in post-production after quietly shooting for one year. Asmik Ace, which co-produced with Tsukamoto's production outfit Kaiju Theater, plans to introduce it to sales agents and buyers in Cannes.

Read the complete article here

Thanks to all who made it to The Matador last night, I certainly hope you enjoyed it. What attracted us to the film is its excellent and engaging narrative, cinematography and musical score. To us, it was much more like a feature film than a 'made for TV' doco.

When handled in this way, documentaries can be an extraordinary art form. A movie 'based on a true story' naturally enhances the connection an audience has with it. But an audience witnessing something that is actually happening, captured on camera in a one-in-a-million chance, is an experience that can never be genui...

#2 SHANGHAI DRAGON

Shanghai, late 90's. A little boy named Gonglong is out in the playground and he has stick, will draw. His classmates, either jealous or protective, argue over whether Gonglong should be in class or not. Before there's any real resolution a bright flash and a loud crash interrupts the proceedings. The children, stunned, cautiously venture outside to see what happened.

They find a crater....

I recently read an absolutely awesome book about the trials and tribulations of independent filmmakers. The only complaint I have is directed towards me, for failing to read it years ago.

The 90's...Weinstein, Soderberg , Tarantino, Billy-Bob, Damon, Affleck, Smith....

Like everyone, we've been guilty in the past stuffing up and putting out some inferior quality releases. Reasons for this vary and include:

• Change in management
• The guy who was supposed to check this was on holidays
• $$
• 1001 other reasons (usually having to do with $$)

Now of course, you can't keep doing business putting out dodgy releases. Consumers get fed up, don't trust you, sales go down, money dries up and that's the end of it. Luckily for us....

After six years expanding and diversifying, establishing relationships and a strong presence in areas ranging from Arthouse Cinema to Feature Documentaries, Siren Visual turns their attention to the mainstream anime market in 2009 with a slate of new releases and re-issues. Beginning in May, Siren will aim to release two anime titles per month, building up the catalogue aggressively over the next year.

"Anime in Australia has reached a maturation point over the last few years" says General Manager Eric Cherry,