2008
In America: A panel of judges from the Fourth US Court of Appeals upheld a 20-year sentence on Dwight Whorley of Richmond, VA. Whorley was convicted on 74 counts of child pornography, both real and fictional, in November 2005. Among his items, Whorley owned several titles specified as Japanese animation. Whorley was charged under the PROTECT Act of 2003, but his defense challenged the conviction due to the fact that several pieces of material did not involve real children.
Judge Paul V. Niemeyer wrote that the act states that “it is not a required element of any offense under this section that the minor depicted actually exists.” While one judge agreed with the defense, they all agreed to uphold the court’s convictions.
2005
In America: The December issue of Home Theater Magazine contained an interview with director Satoshi Kon (Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress). The interview, which contains interesting tidbits like the director’s favorite anime, and Kon’s views on the importance of anime in eastern and western cultures among other topics, was posted online.
2002
In America: TechTV announced that they would launch a new programming block known as Anime Unleashed on December 30. The block was focused primarily on sci-fi anime, and ran Monday through Thursday from 1AM to 2AM, then on Friday from 11PM to 2AM. The block launched with five titles, and would go on to be the home of numerous others until TechTV was purchased by G4. The five launch titles were as follows:- Betterman
- Crest of the Stars
- Dual!
- Serial Experiments Lain
- Silent Mobius
In America: Gutsoon! Comics announced that they would release their first graphic novel in January 2003. Fist of the North Star would become the first title from the now-defunct publisher.
In America: Anime Reactor announced that Tsutomu Nihei (Blame!) and Tetsuya Aoki (Angel’s Wing) would attend their first event in the fall of 2003.
1999
In Japan: Japan’s top-selling anime DVDs for the previous release were as follows:
- Nadesico The Movie: The Prince Of Darkness
- Kare Kano, Volume 1
- You’re Under Arrest: The Movie
- D4 Princess, Volume 4
