n celebration of the release of GENIUS PARTY and TOWER OF DRUAGA enjoy Episode one of our very own action packed OTAKU TV.

SEE our personal cargo plane get highjacked by terrorists!

HEAR how the Prime Minsiter of Japan dropped a panda!

uh...among other things.

(Click READ MORE for a bigger screen)

One of the more integral accomplishments from the Australian anime community at the moment is the group of talented individuals that are behind the shiny new Kiseki Manga magazine.

Volume 2 just came out and the process of ongoing improvement should be commended. In addition to the improved printing job the three parellel manga stories Just in Time (Jonathan Liong), Omega (Shanti Tirtajaywati) and Hokori (Cecilia Jin) have all developed into engaging narratives, albeit all via different styles and structures.

In addition they've split up the middle into a bit of a teaser magazine format, complete with reviews, an article on Cosplay and an interview w/ Illustrator Ein Lee (and a Siren ad to break things up just for good measure....)

Check out their site here and if you're in Sydney get your copy at Supanova this weekend!

The release of Tower of Druaga and Genius Party this thursday is an important milestone for us as it marks the beginning of Siren's anime initiative. We're so thankful for everyone who have been supportive and encouraging along the way, it means a lot - thanks. 

In celebration we're giving away some copies of Tower of Druaga via Anime News Network - click here for your opportunity to win.

I caught the MIAF Executive Director Malcolm Turner on RRR while driving in to work and it revved me up for the kick-off for what is going to be an overload of animation this week at ACMI. The festival is flying in Academy Award winning animator Chris Landreth with his new film The Spine, they're breaking new ground with a selection of Sand Animation shorts and with 400 films you can be confident there will be plenty on offer to enjoy.

Listening to Malcolm run through it all was inspiring, which is a hell of thing on a Monday morning on the way into the office!

7 days, 400 films. Opening night is tonight @ 7pm....wow.

Website here

BASTARDY - a candid look into the life on aboriginal actor/director/charater Jack Charles - is arriving into cinemas for a special two week season from the 25th of June.

In addition, there are Normal 0 false false false EN-AU X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Q&A sessions with Director Amiel Courtin-Wison and Jack Charles himself in Brisbane (23 June), Sydney (24 June) and Melbourne (25 June) to help launch the season.

Trailer and Website Here

With the flow and feel of a Twilight Zone episode, writer / director Yoji Fukuyama flirts with the surreal with DOORBELL, creating a much more subjective experience than your average 13 minute anime story.

Yu is a teenage boy with an identity problem of the biggest kind. He arrives home after school only to find his family can't see or hear him, and an imposter has taken his place. Perplexed, he leaves to gather his thoughts, but doesn't get far before his reality spirals out of control.

Doorbell falls right in the middle of the Genius Party and out of all 7 films it is one of the mo...

Director Kriv Stenders (BOXING DAY) is a guy we have an immense amount of respect for. His integrity and risk-taking affirms him in our book to be one of the most exciting directors in Australia today. 

So needless to say, we were carrying on like giddy schoolgirls when we got word he was working on a period-piece western called LUCKY COUNTRY. Ohhh yes please.

So today we find the website and trailer has just launched and as distributors of his last film we deemed it appropriate to bring it to your attention.

Check it out here

Rikaichan is an add on for Firefox that automatically translates Japanese charecters when you hover your mouse over them. Genius right? Right.

Download it here

Thank us here

We're putting together the extras for the upcomign Casshern Sins, Ep 1-12 releases and there's SO MUCH STUFF....it's unreal. For example, check out this music video...

Today we're excited. We've just confirmed in August we'll be re-releasing Vandread, Vandread: Second Stage and also releasing both of them in a complete boxset

It's an awesome series, both unique and hilarious. Release date is set for the 27th of August.

EDIT: Vandread will be both remastered and repackaged.