Announced a couple days ago, fans of the popular sci-fi manga Gantz can either rejoice or cringe in fear as a two part live action adaptation is on the way. Good news is that it's not being made by Hollywood. Ken'ichi Matsuyama (probably most well known for his acting work in live action adaptations as L in Death Note, Johannes Krauser II in Detroit Metal City, and Shinichi Okazaki in Nana) along with Kazunari Ninomiya will be starting in the film. Filming is reported to begin next month with an expected opening date between winter and spring 2011. The CG will be handled by Digital Frontier who has worked films such as both Appleseed movies, Evangelion: 1.0, Resident Evil: Degeneration, and Summer Wars.

On Aug. 16, 2009, after the last grueling day at Comic Market 76, we were invited to an event host by Dwango, parent company of the popular video sharing site Nico Nico Douga, held in Chofu. Chofu is a small town roughly 45 minutes away from Akihabara by train and is one of the older parts of Tokyo. The event was held at a wrestling gym with quite a few people there for a surprise visit by former American gay porn star, Billy Herrington. Billy Herrington, also known as ”Billy” and ”Aniki” (Big Brother), has become an internet sensation in Japan, thanks to Nico Nico Douga. There are thousands of fan-made videos that uses many of Herrington’s old films to deliberately make misheard words, and wild wrestling videos which have made Billy a social internet celebrity in Japan.

Read more: Billy Herrington: Whopping Ass in Japan