Katsudō Shashin is a filmstrip speculated to be the oldest work of animation in Japan. Three seconds long, it depicts a boy who writes "moving picture" in Japanese script, removes his hat, and waves. Discovered in a collection of films and projectors in Kyoto, its creator is unknown. Natsuki Matsumoto, an expert in iconography at the Osaka University of Arts, determined that it was most likely made before 1912. It may have been influenced by animated filmstrips for German cinematographs, devices that first appeared in Japan in 1904. Evidence suggests Katsudō Shashin was mass-produced to be sold to wealthy owners of home projectors. To Matsumoto, the relatively poor quality and low-tech printing technique indicate it was likely from a smaller film company. Unlike in traditional animation, the frames were not produced by photographing the images, but were impressed directly onto film. They were stencilled in red and black using a device for making magic lantern slides, and the filmstrip was fastened in a loop for continuous play. (Full article...)

The One Piece video games series is published by subsidiaries of Namco Bandai Holdings based on Eiichiro Oda's shonen manga and anime series of the same name. The games take place in the fictional world of One Piece, and the stories revolve around the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirates, the franchise's protagonists. The games have been released on a variety of video game and handheld consoles. The series features various genres, mostly role-playing games—the predominant type in the series' early years—and fighting games, such as the titles of the Grand Battle! sub-series.

The series debuted in Japan on July 19, 2000 with One Piece: Mezase Kaizoku Ou!. At the moment, the series contains 33 games, not counting Battle Stadium D.O.N, the title One Piece shares with its related anime series Dragon Ball Z and Naruto. The first game in the series to be released outside of Japan, One Piece: Grand Battle!, was released on September 7, 2005. The One Piece series received a mixed reception; assessments ranged from "slightly below or slightly above average" to "a grand video-game series". (Full list...)

• ...that Singaporean anime distributor Odex asked for legal settlements from children as young as nine years old for copyright infringement through file-sharing?

• ... that the anime film xxxHolic: A Midsummer Night's Dream was released on DVD and Blu-ray alongside the film Tsubasa The Movie: The Princess in the Birdcage Kingdom?

• ... that before its broadcast, the Japanese visual novel Tayutama: Kiss on my Deity's anime adaptation was first exhibited as a video hosted by Media Factory?

• ... that J-pop band Round Table provided the song "Nagareboshi" as the closing theme of the episodes of the Yozakura Quartet anime?

• ...that the Japanese manga series Soul Eater by Atsushi Okubo has been developed into an animated television series that plans to adopt the source material over fifty-one episodes?