After being announced that it was indeed headed to the US by voice actress Wendee Lee, Pioneer Animation finally owned up to their newest deal on their site. Their message simply says the rumours are correct and the first volume of X TV is due for a fall release. Doesn't get more succint than that.

Right Stuf has posted information and pictures on Media Blasters' newest release, Berserk. The first volume, which is available for pre-order, will be due out on May 28th and will ship with a special collector's artbox for $44.95 and will contain five episodes.

Two days of panels will be held in Ginza Sony Building to commemorate Production IG's 15 year anniversary. The event will be held April 20th through the 21st and admission will be free. The panels will cover such topics as Mamoru Oshii, Playstation 2 Game SURVEILLANCE, and The History of I.G, among others.

Production IG has also extended locations for its Production I.G Art Expo - World Gallery of Mamoru Oshii to include Akihabara, expanding to Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka, Kanazawa, and Okayama. The tour will follow from April 27th through the 30th. Details are as follows:

Gallery:
- Original key animation and animation cels from JIN-ROH.
- Original costumes from Sakura Wars the Movie musical show.

Items to be sold:
- Printed (etched) arts from Ghost in the Shell, JIN-ROH and Blood: The Last Vampire.
- Limited items to be sold:
Special items from Mini-Pato, JIN-ROH, Inumaru, Vampirians.

TOKYO
Date: 4/27/2002-4/30/2002 (11:00-19:00)
Place: Akihabara Radio Station 8th Floor "Big Hall"
Address: 1-15-16 Kanda, Chiyoda-ku (use JR Akihabara exit)
Admission: Free

OSAKA
Date: 5/3/2002-5/5/2002 (11:00-19:00)
Place: Jungle Main Store 1st Floor "Jungle Independent Theatre"
Address: 5-12-4 Nihonbashi, Osaka (use subway Ebisu exit)
Admission: Free

NAGOYA
Date: 5/10/2002-5/12/2002 (11:00-19:00)
Place: Meiji Seimei Nagoya Building 16th Floor Conference Room
Address: 1-1 Shin Sakae Cho, Nagoya (use Meijo Line, Higashiyama Line Sakae exit)
Admission: Free

FUKUOKA
Date: 5/17/2002-5/19/2002 (11:00-19:00)
Place: Across Fukuoka 2nd Floor Koryu Gallery
Address: 1-1-1 Tenjin Chuo-ku, Fukuoka (use subway Tenjin exit)
Admission: Free

KANAZAWA
Date: 5/24/2002-5/26/2002 (Time TBA)
Place: Kanazawa MRO Hall
Address: 3-2-1 Honda Machi, Kanazawa (from Kanazawa station, take bus bound for "Tobe Shako" or "Kanazawa Gakuin Daigaku" and exit Honda Machi)
Admission: Free

OKAYAMA
Date: 5/31/2002-6/2/2002 (Time TBA)
Place: Fukutake Jolly Building 4th Floor, Golden Hall
Address: 1-10-30 Nakayamashita, Okayama (15 mins walk from Okayama Station)
Admission: Free

Bandai Co. Ltd announced plans to present each shareholder of the company who owns 1,000 or more shares as of March 31st, 2002 with a Mascot Robo Haro pet robot. Also, shareholders with 100 shares or more will be given special vouchers for toys, worth 1,000 yen ($7.50 USD). The robot, which retails for 3,980 yen ($29.83 USD), is a version of the character Haro from Mobile Suit Gundam. The robot responds to voices and other sounds, speaks, moves its ears, and performs other actions. Originally predicted to sell about 120,000 units in its release on February 24th, it has unexpectedly proved popular with both adult men and women.