In 2005, Madman Entertainment is bringing a whole new range of manga to Australian shores. From our Singapore publishing partners Chuang Yi come three new exciting titles: Slam Dunk, Fruits Basket and Love for Venus, all of which will be making their way to stores from February 9th 2005 and at the new low RRP price of $12.95!

Slam Dunk
The classic basketball comedy/drama manga is finally here! Lace up your boots and step onto the court, as Madman Entertainment launches into Slam Dunk! With its Story and Art by Inoue Takehiko (VAGABOND, BUZZER BEATER), Slam Dunk combines all the elements of an exciting saga ? humour and suspense, as well as its trademark thrilling basketball matches.

Click here for more information about the series.
http://www.chuangyi.com.sg/english/sud_pages/slamdunk/slamdunk_main/issues_sd.htm

To get a taste of just what Slam Dunk! is all about, look out for the preview issue zero in the upcoming issue of KRASH magazine on sale 7 January 2005.

Synopsis
Hanamichi Sakuragi has a strong dislike of basketball. Imagine his predicament when he meets the girl of his dreams, Haruko Akagi and learns that she's crazy about the game! To win her favor, he decides to join the school basketball team. But to the surprise of everyone, including himself, Hanamichi seems to be a natural at the game, beating even the captain of the team in a furious match...

AVAILABLE FROM FEBRUARY 9TH 2005:
SLAM DUNK VOL. 1 IT33301 $12.95
SLAM DUNK VOL. 2 IT33302 $12.95
SLAM DUNK VOL. 3 IT33303 $12.95


Fruits Basket
You?ve seen the anime, now read the manga! The fan favorite and highly requested Fruits Basket manga will finally make its way here. The basis for the hit anime series, Fruits Basket is a heart warming tale that is sure to keep readers wanting more!

Synopsis
Tohru Honda is a simple, sweet-natured girl who, despite her happy-go-lucky disposition, never actually has much luck on her side. Her fortune is about to change, however, when her classmate Yuki Sohma offers to put her up at his house, after Tohru's makeshift home is washed away in a storm. There, she unwittingly stumbles upon his family's deep dark secret, and a series of madcap and heartwarming antics ensue as the lives of the once private Sohmas are turned upside down with the arrival of the new addition to their family! It's time for the party to begin, and everyone's invited!

Click here for a preview!
http://www.chuangyi.com.sg/english/sud_pages/fruitsBasket/preview_sneak/FRUITSBASKET/index.html

AVAILABLE FROM FEBRUARY 9TH 2005:
FRUITS BASKET VOL. 1 HA51001 $12.95
FRUITS BASKET VOL. 2 HA51002 $12.95
FRUITS BASKET VOL. 3 HA51003 $12.95



Love for Venus
This adorable romance saga features both Story and Art by Yuki Nakaji (Heaven Company), and it?s sure to win fans amongst anyone who loved [insert titles eg. Love Hina etc]

Synopsis:
Suzuna had long dreamt of living on her own, relishing the freedom of being a University student, building castles in the sky about meeting someone special along the way...
However, life turns out to be a not-so-smooth stroll in the park, what with a pain-in-the-rear of a classmate cum next door neighbour, Eichi! But good things do come, in the form of Fukami, Eiichi's best friend! Fukami never fails to cause a stir in Suzuna's heart!

Click here for a sneak peak! http://www.chuangyi.com.sg/english/sud_pages/venus/preview_sneak/LOVEFORVENUS/index.html

LOVE FOR VENUS VOL. 1 HA50301 $12.95
LOVE FOR VENUS VOL. 2 HA50302 $12.95

All valued customers and clients of The AV Channel should be advised that the company will be operating normally over the Christmas/New Year break.

The AV Channel will be closed on the following public holidays, and will otherwise be trading normally.

Mon Dec 27
Tues Dec 28
Mon Jan 3

All staff at The AV Channel take this opportunity to thank our valued customers and business partners for a superb 2004 and wish all well for a peaceful and safe new year

To check out the trailer, moves, and general lowdown on THE martial arts action movie extravaganza of 2005, ONG BAK, starring 'the new Bruce Lee' Muay Thai star Tony Jaa, go to www.ongbak.com.au

A Madman Cinema release of an Eastern Eye film, ONG BAK leaps, pummels and elbow-cracks its way into cinemas MARCH 10, 2005.

DIG! the feature-length documentary about musicians Anton Newcombe, leader of the Brian Jonestown Massacre, and Courtney Taylor, head of The Dandy Warhols, premiered in Australia Saturday Dec 4 at The Australian Centre for the Moving Image, the first feature to screen at Resfest 2004 in Australia.

Former Brian Jonestown bassist Matt Hollywood and current Dandy Warhols skins beater Brett de Boer were in attendance, as a capacity crowd finally witnessed the culmination of seven years work by director/writer/producer Ondi Timoner who tracked the free wheeling but ultimately destructive path of the Brian Jonestown Massacre, whilst also accompanying the more industry savvy Warhols as they navigated the corporate sea.

In 1996 Anton Newcombe and his band the Brian Jonestown Massacre were hell-bent on staging a revolution in the music industry and were convinced their friends, the Dandy Warhols, would join them, creating a united front. But Newcombes creative psychosis took him to the remote corners of the human mind to find his original art. In doing this, he destroyed every opportunity for financial success.

Described as a portrait of both bands love and obsession, gigs and recordings, arrests and death threats, uppers and downers ? and their choices between art and industry ? DIG! will be released in Australian cinemas on April 14 2005 with a DVD release scheduled for later in the year.

As guests of Resfest , Hollywood and de Boer introduced the screening, and played a well received acoustic set together at The Ding Dong Lounge afterwards.




http://www.madman.com.au/incinemas/releases/dig.html
http://www.digthemovie.com/

Critical Acclaim for DIG!

"Heaven-sent narrative! If universities ever start graduate programs in rock stardom, 'Dig!' will surely be a cornerstone of the curriculum." New York Times

"Fascinating! A combustible rock chronicle. The richly deserving winner of the Documentary Grand Jury Prize at Sundance." Time Out

"Terrific and fascinating! 'Dig' is chock full of drama yet too sympathetic to seem exploitative." Variety

Dear Customers

Due to overwhelming demand the Limited Edition "Lenticular Cover" version of Donnie Darko Director?s Cut on DVD; has completely sold out.

The exact same - 2 DVD version housed in a slipcase (without Limited Lenticular cover) is now available through THE AV CHANNEL.

This is the only edition available to order ? the new cat number and barcode for this version is as follows -

DONNIE DARKO - DIRECTOR'S CUT (M)
GENRE: ARTHOUSE / DRAMA / CULT
RELEASE DATE: Now Available

CAT# MMA2291
BARCODE: 9322225033122
PRICE: $22.01 (SRP $29.95 Inc GST)

Dear Mad-Manga Fans and retailers,

Due to a delay caused by shipping, we are today announcing a short delay for the release of the December Madman manga titles which includes:

Cardcaptor Sakura Volume 3
Cardcaptor Sakura Volume 4
Chobits Volume 3
Chobits Volume 4
Cowboy Bebop Volume 3
Dragon Knights Volume 3
Dragon Knights Volume 4
Escaflowne, The Vision of - Volume 3
Escaflowne, The Vision of - Volume 4
Initial D Volume 3
Love Hina Volume 3
Saber Marionette J Volume 3
Saber Marionette J Volume 4
Wish Volume 3
Wish Volume 4


These titles are due to be shipped to stores as soon as they become available. We will announce a firm street date once available.


Madman Entertainment sincerely apologises for any inconvenience caused

Howl's Moving Castle, the new animation from Studio Ghibli and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, earned $14.2m (Y1.48bn) on 1.1 million admissions in its first two days on release - a new Box Office record for a Japanese film.

The previous record holder was Bayside Shakedown 2, which was released in 2003. The figures also represented a 40% gain over Spirited Away, Miyazaki's previous film, which went on to gross $292 million - an all-time record for a film released in Japan, foreign or Japanese.

The film's distributor, Toho, is now projecting a possible $480m gross on 40 million admissions - which would mean that nearly one-third of Japan's entire population is expected to see the film.

Howl's Moving Castle opened on November 20 on 450 screens, surpassing the previous record of 408 for a Japanese film set by Bayside Shakedown 2.

This number - nearly one of every five screens in the country - compares with 348 for Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke in 1997 and 336 for Spirited Away in 2001

Madman will be releasing HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE in cinemas late 2005.

Proving once again that he really is the 'WORLD'S FAVOURITE ANIME SUPERHERO', ASTROBOY is the RED HOT release for Christmas.


Released last Friday 19 November, Madman Entertainment's ASTROBOY DELUXE DVD COLLECTION of the ORIGINAL 80S SERIES in the red metal case is flying off the shelves as fast as it is being stocked. Retailers have reported that their initial allocations are being bought up on the same morning of release and are re-ordering double or triple quantities to meet demand.


AV Channel's sales crews are fielding and filling re-orders as a priority. Limited stocks available, so place your orders now.


NOSTALGIA IS A POWERFUL FORCE. ASTROBOY RESONATES WITH 30-45s AS MUCH AS KIDS AND TWEENS.


AV Channel Sales: 03 9419 5444


www.astroboy.com.au
www.astroboy.com.au/press - press area and image gallery
user name: press
password: fabellian

Peter Carey's new book Wrong About Japan: A Father's Journey With His Son is Out Now through Random House. In it, Carey examines Japanese culture through the lens of his son Charley's fascination with anime and manga. The two travel to Japan on Charley's proviso that they avoid The Real Japan - which means no museums, temples, raked stone gardens, teahouses, Kabuki or anything related to the picture postcard view of the country! Instead they hook up with a teenage local Takashi who shows them the flipside of Tokyo - the one that's not in all the guidebooks. And Carey and Charley make it their mission to meet and interview Japan's master animators including: Hayao Miyazaki creator of the Oscar-winning Spirited Away; Mr Tomino originator of the Gundam series; Production IG's Kitakubo director of Blood: The Last Vampire... and discover the many meanings of the word Otaku often used in reference to anime fans. Carey discovers that most of his perceptions of Japan are 'wrong', and takes obvious delight in challenging his misconceptions and ours.

FEAST YOUR EYES ON ALL THE ANIME THAT CAREY AND CHARLEY REVEAL AND REVERE IN WRONG ABOUT JAPAN.
ASTROBOY
AKIRA
SPIRITED AWAY
PRINCESS MONONOKE
MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO
GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES
MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM
BLOOD THE LAST VAMPIRE


Peter Carey' son:
"No Real Japan," said Charley. "You've got to promise. No temples. No museums."

Carey: "What could we do?"

Charley: "We could buy cool manga."

Carey: "There'll be no English translations."

Charley: "I don't care. I'd eat raw fish."

- excerpt from Wrong About Japan


Insights from Peter Carey's Wrong About Japan
#1 "Although I knew that Japanese comics were called manga, I would have said that a comic was a comic no matter what you named it. At Forbidden Planet I slowly began to understand that I was wrong. The first and most obvious difference in Japanese comics is the broadness of subject matter, from saccharine stories featuring little big-eyed girls to the dense and serious works of Osamu Tezuka, although this is not something one discovers in a single Saturday morning. What was immediately obvious was the startlingly graphic nature of manga which, in its clarity of line and dramatic blocky forms, echoed the Japanese wood-block prints of the nineteenth century." from p.2


#2 "On Akira's graphic pages i found images so artful i could have hung them on my wall." Akira, born as manga, had also been made into an animted film which, being Japanese, is not called a cartoon but an anime... Certainly it differs from American animation, which has usually been - with some spectacular exceptions - a dumbed-down form. In America, cartoons are thought to be for kids. In Japan, anime is as much respected as live-action films, and not at all limited to a specific age group. The first anime I saw was based on Akira and i was struck by the artistry of their frames, their combination of realism, exaggeration, something ineffably and inarguably 'Japanese'... I was as hooked as Charley and I wanted more." from pp.3-4

In light of the recent price increase in the US, Madman Entertainment today announces a new price for Newtype USA, effective immediately.

The Magazine with bonus DVD will now retail for $24.95, still representing excellent value with its high quality print, articles and of course the bonus preview DVD.

The price of new subscriptions will also rise to $249.95. All current subscriptions will be honoured at their original price.