Long known as the maker of the world’s goods, China has also been an art development powerhouse for the game and animation industries. But hentai cartoons?

Video game developers and companies have been using China as a source of cheap labor to do basic game development to art development long before the rise of the gaming. It is only now, in that past decade, that China has started to really take off on the front of game development; the same, however, can not be said for its animation industry.

Despite the amount of money made by the animation industry in China, 500 million RMB (US$79 million), the money was made through animation exports. Exports such as game art development, Japanese anime art development, and foreign art development.

What art development in China really is, is taking in work that was outsourced from more expensive regions. Many American cartoons such as South Park , Family Guy and The Simpsons comment on art outsource development in places such as South Korea.

According to Journey, anime classics such as Cowboy Bebop and Cardcaptor Sakura were drawn in China.

Well with the anime, the next part comes: Hentai. Hentai, the Japanese term for perverse/pervert, is commonly associated with animated pornography.

According to animation insider Zhang Nan, because pornography is technically illegal and hentai falls under pornography in China, Hentai can’t be “drawn” there.

“However Japanese companies will outsource to Chinese art houses to do the basic background art, such as drawing the bed and scenery,” said Zhang. “They have never asked Chinese art houses to draw the action, but I suspect they don’t think the Chinese can draw the action the same way.” But the background—the bed, the walls, the lamps—might be drawn in China.

If you can read Chinese, hit the source link to see if some your favorite anime shows were made in China.

THE NEW anime version of “The Borrowers,” titled “The Secret World of Arrietty” by screenwriter and “supervisor” Hayao Miyazaki, has the fascination with household “spirits,” the same lovely color palette and attention to detail for which his films are famous.

But Miyazaki, director of “Ponyo,” “Spirited Away” and “My Neighbor Totoro,” didn’t direct this Studio Ghibli film. Perhaps that is why it lacks his sense of whimsy, that little sprinkling of Miyazaki magic that the Japanese director has given his best work over the decades.

The original Eagle Talon Flash anime centers on the titular secret society and its bumbling attempts to take over the world. More information about the new anime will be available on the series’ official website and Facebook page.

The production company DLE Inc. and FROGMAN launched the first Himitsu Kessha Taka no Tsume (Secret Society Eagle Talon) television series in 2006, and the series spawned two films in 2007 and 2008. The Himitsu Kessha Taka no Tsume: Countdown (Secret Society Eagle Talon: Countdown) television anime premiered in October 2009, and the Himitsu Kessha Taka no Tsume Gaiden Mukashi no Yoshida-kun spinoff series debuted in Japan on January 21. Himitsu Kessha Taka no Tsume The Movie 3 ~http://takanotsume.jp wa Eien ni~, the third film based on the original Eagle Talon shorts, claimed Japan’s largest credited voice cast after 14,137 fans contributed recordings in 2009.

It’s 9:00 AM Saturday morning, the clouds are belching a frosty mixture of rain and snow, and I’ve just joined a huddled line of about 30 people outside of the AMC Boston Common Theatre. Shortly I am briefly joined by my pal, ex-MIT Anime president and current anime blogger Jennifer Fu, before she jumps ahead to join her group, who had arrived even earlier than either of us. We’re here for a 10:00am screening; doors won’t open until 9:45, so everyone in line is bundled up and settled in to wait. Many of the people here are nerds. Not all of them, but a lot – I can spot my people a mile away. Here’s a scraggly beard and ponytail combo; there’s a homemade My Little Pony cellphone strappy. Hey, that dude is wearing a fedora at a jaunty angle – and oh look, here comes a tall, portly man wearing shorts, sneakers, and a COOL STORY, BRO t-shirt. In the snow. The crowd balloons to 50, then 100, then hundreds of people. Soon my brother and his two sons arrive – it’s a family affair, because we’re seeing a family movie, Studio Ghibli’s The Secret World of Arrietty.

I won’t go into great detail about my thoughts on the movie – whomever of ANN’s Review Crew has been assigned the movie will do that job later this week. Actually, if you’re that curious about the movie, go ahead and read our own Andrew Osmond’s review. He saw the other dub, though. Because hey, sometimes? There are other dubs! Interesting, huh? I think so!

Today Alltopics.com has added Anime to the topics of the website. Anime articles, all gathered from every source on the Web, are now easily accessible. Alltopics.com is the number one news and information website that grabs Anime articles from all over the Internet, rates them by popularity and displays the topics proudly on the internet’s most amazing database.

An Anime section is now available on Alltopics. Anime.alltopics.com is a vital source for anybody out there crazy about the Japanese animated cartoons. Whether the reader is a big fan of manga or enjoys the stories of animated super heroes, neither one of those guys can afford to be without the incredible source of news, videos and images that has Alltopics.com.

The best anime news and articles are gathered in one place. With Anime.alltopics.com users can search all over the globe and web to find the most resourced articles and news for today’s arena of Anime. Alltopics rates the articles, garnered from social networks like Facebook, Google and Twitter, by popular demand. Alltopics is the number one stop on the Internet that helps to find all the latest gossip, breaking news, unusual conditions and news flashes that might reveal Anime news around the country and around the world.

Browse Anime news now. After browsing Anime.alltopics.com, the reader will be bowled over by the abundance of anime.alltopics.com. How anime characters are designed? What are the most influential figures in anime? The answers are at Alltopics, the number one news source that’s constantly updated, constantly changing and is always free.

The Alltopics Search becomes faster than Google Search. Anime.alltopics.com gives readers the world of Anime at a moment’s touch. Users can browse literally dozens of articles about new episodes of their favorite anime, recent volumes and chapters of manga, as well as humorous videos and images related to the topic of anime. Alltopics gathers it all into one site. The more people search and click on the piece of information, the faster Alltopics chooses and saves the news. That is why the website is a database that’s forever evolving and giving out information that is brand new.

Google Plus, Twitter and Facebook all contribute new and popular postings to Alltopics.com. It is arranged by popularity as well as subject matter making it easier for the viewer to choose the pertinent headlines and postings to peruse through for information on agriculture and other related ideas.

From Sentai Filmworks, the publisher behind series like The World God Only Knows, Samurai Girls and Amagami SS comes the complete collection of Xam’d, a mecha anime from the well-known animation studio, Bones.

Taking place in a world at war, Xam’d follows Akiyuki Takehara, a high school student living in peace on Sentan Island, a small island that hasn’t been drawn into the conflict between the Northern Government and the Southern Continent Free Zone. Things change forever for Akiyuki and Sentan Island though when he helps a young girl sneak onto his school bus, where after arriving at school the girl detonates a bomb that marks the start of an assault on the island and Akiyuki is struck with a strange light that causes him to transform into an armored being known as a Xam’d.

During the attack Akiyuki, in Xam’d form, saves his good friend and love interest Haru from a creature known as a humanform and is attacked by a girl named Nakiami, who threatens to let him turn to stone unless he promises to go with her. After his promise is made he is taken onto an airship and Nakiami and the rest of the crew put Akiyuki to work while he also learns how to live with the Xam’d and avoid losing control, which would result in him being turned into a stone.
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The series follows Akiyuki as he works on the airship, a mail ship, and trains alongside Nakiami while Haru attempts to go on with her life without knowing what has happened to Akiyuki, even going so far as to join the army in the hopes it will lead her to him again. Akiyuki’s life on the ship doesn’t last however and he, Nakiami and Haru are drawn into the war between the North and South to bring an end to the conflict.

The story of Xam’d can feel a little slow at times but it is interesting and delivers quite a bit of drama as well as a little bit of comedy and once things really get going it is hard to stop watching. For being a mecha series though it doesn’t have a lot of combat, but the battles it does have are entertaining.

Visually Xam’d looks great, which is what you would expect from a series from Bones and the action scenes are fast-paced with smooth animation. The character designs also look good and they fit the characters well, although Haru did look a little on the plain side compared to characters like Nakiami. The different Xam’d also had great looks, though after seeing some of them it felt like Akiyuki got the short end of the stick in his design.

The Japanese voice cast was easily the better option of the two dubs and they fit much nicer with their characters. One problem with the English dub is around the halfway point with the introduction of a character that just has such and annoying voice and personality it can be difficult to like him. This also happens towards the end with another character.

The series comes on 3 Blu-ray discs all packed nicely in a standard Blu-ray case with an image of Akiyuki on the cover. There aren’t really any on-disc features to look forward to with this release, with the exception of the clean opening and ending. The opening video had a good theme and the animation itself resembled the openings for Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo.

All-in-all Xam’d is an entertaining series that offers action, comedy and plenty of drama as Akiyuki, Nakiami and Haru all deal with their own issues in the hopes of saving their homes. At times things can seem a little slow but the switching back and forth between the different characters helps to make that easier to deal with, while also revealing more about the secrets on both sides of the military and their motives. With betrayals and high school-like drama the characters have plenty to deal with and viewers have a lot to keep them entertained.

If you’re a fan of series like Eureka Seven, Gurren Lagann and Guyver then Xam’d is a title you will want to check out.

Xam’d Blu-ray Complete Collection

Publisher: Sentai Filmworks

Runtime: 650

Number of Discs: 3 Blu-ray discs

Number of Episodes: 26

Languages: English, Japanese with English subtitles

Age Rating: TV14

Release Date: February 7th, 2012

Outsourcing anime production out of Japan is nothing new. Just look at the laundry list of anime from Korean animators Dr Movie (in-between animation on Ghost in the Shell, the Pokémon movies, animation on Hellsing, backgrounds on Naruto and Bleach). Top show business industry magazine Variety has a new report on how outsourcing is extending into new territories and new responsibilities.

Variety:

In recent years, the pace has been picking up, to the point where observers fret about the cratering of a key Japanese content industry. “A third of the labor pool for Japanese animation is actually outside Japan,” says Jonathan Clements. “I can see that climbing ever higher, until a Japanese animation company is three men in a Tokyo apartment, outsourcing every other aspect of production overseas.”

The example that Variety uses is the revival of classic kids anime Ninja Hattori-kun, which is being produced by a parternship between Japan’s TV Asahi and India’s Reliance Media Works. The series is intended for Japanese and other Asian markets, including India,where the original ninja anime is Nickelodeon’s Nick India. Shin-ei, the TV Asahi subsidiary that made the original show, will provide creative direction, while Reliance will handle production chores.

Takahiro Kishimoto, a producer on Hattori admits that outsourcing animation production is a sensitive issue in the Japanese business, but argues that the Reliance deal differs from the usual outsourcing arrangment since the anime draws high ratings in the subcontractor’s home market. “Ninja Hattori is currently being broadcast in India multiple times every day, so all the animators at Reliance are really motivated to work on this project,” he says.

Despite the Indian input, the show will remain 100% Japanese in content, aimed primarily at Japanese audiences. “The deeper Shin-ei focuses on its audience in Japan, the better its shows will reach outside of Japan,” Kishimoto says. “Trying to produce shows for everybody in the global market often means that they appeal to nobody.”

Variety attributes the push to outsourcing to production costs, but also notes larger social trends driven by declining birth rates.

The anemic Japanese birth rate, currently the lowest in the world at 1.21 children per woman, has led to a total population decline. With fewer kids tuning in, the number of toons on Japanese TV has fallen nearly 30%, since hitting a peak in 2006.

The Reliance deal is also about expanding sales overseas. You can read about that and more in Variety’s full report, but what do you think about the increasing trend toward outsourcing anime production?

Fans who follow Aniplex’s Twitter will recognize this picture showing off the heavily anticipated Magic Girl anime Puella Magi Madoka Magica, aka Mahō Shōjo Madoka Magika, out on Valentine’s day. Ever since the surprise announcement at Anime Expo 2011, tons fans have been anxious for a US Release, which is on February 14th, 2012.

Three days after the US release, Aniplex will be holding a special Meet and Greet event in Little Tokyo at Anime Jungle #1 (not to be confused with #2 about a block away on 1st Street), where fans can meet the English voice actors behind the characters, have their questions answered and meet other Madoka fans and cosplayers. Jungle will also hold an autograph session for fans who already bought the series with a proof or purchase receipt, so if you haven’t order yours yet, now would be a good time to pre-order your copy. Either that or hope Anime Jungle will have plenty for sale between the 14th and 17th.

Welcome to Capsule Computers’ weekly anime segment, Anime Say! Each week I will be diving into some of the biggest anime related topic of the week and having my say on anything that matters in the anime world.

This week, I go discuss the state of anime piracy. Is it still a problem facing the anime industry? You can check out this week’s Anime Say! below.

Got any questions for Anime Say? Send all your queries to anime@capsulecomputers.com and I will do my best to answer anything you can throw at me.

What do you think of the tenth episode of Anime Say? Let us know in the shoutbox and comments section.

This week’s new releases for kids, teens and families:

“Redline” (Not rated, Manga Entertainment, $26.98/$34.99): Fans of racing movies, even if they’re not big anime fans, may want to check out this new animated film about daredevil racer JP and the Redline, “the biggest and most deadly racing tournament in the universe.” Not only is he up against other racers, the mob and the military are involved. And then there’s the girl …

“The Fairies: Fairy Dancing” (Not rated, NCircle Entertainment, $6.99): Following its Christmas DVD, the live-action Australian TV show gets its first regular release this week. The Fairies and their friends go dancing and try out several styles, including tap, jazz, tango, bootskooting and ballet.

Other titles: “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Valentines Collection.” “Merlin: The Complete Third Season,” “Sliders: The Fifth and Final Season,” “Thomas & Friends: Curious Cargo”