Recently, ADV announced that it would begin a partnership with CoMix Wave, Inc. This partnership will propel ADV into the manga industry to compete with their rivals, TOKYOPOP and Viz.

CoMix Wave, Inc. is known throughout Japan for quality manga, housing some of the most celebrated artists and illustrators in Japan. CoMix Wave makes it a priority to promoting new talent within the industry.

The goal of this relationship is to bring recognition of CoMix Wave's artists and illustrators from Japan to America with ADV. If this works out, they will hopefully be able to establish a large American fan base, as well as improve the manga industry in America.

With this said, ADV has also announced on their website this week the acquisition of The Voices of a Distant Star, a highly regarded and talked about anime in Japan, by Makoto Shinkai from CoMix Wave, Inc. The release date is not yet set, but ADV is planning to only produce a DVD for this title.

The Voices of a Distant Star will follow the story of Mikako, a schoolgirl in the year 2064, who joins the UN Space Force to deal with a threat of an evil entity in the deep reaches of space. Mikako goes with the UN Space Force to eliminate the threat of the creature, known as the Tarcian, leaving behind on Earth her family, friends, and her lover, Noboru. Although there is a vast distance between the couple, they are able to communicate via e-mail from their mobile phones. But, as the distance between them grows greater, so does the length of time between the receiving of each other?s messages, creating a great void between the two... one that might be hard to rebuild if they are destined to meet again.

Another important tidbit of ADV news this week is the setting of a release date for the DVD Burn Up Excess: Crimes and Missed Demeanors, which is second in the series. The release date is October 22, 2002 at a price of $29.98.

As always, keep checking Anime Dream for any updates on these and more anime and manga news stories.