We've been covering the new Spring TV season for two columns now, and things have now finally slowed down enough - meaning there are no new shows to review - that we'll spend this month's column looking at some of the big announcements and latest developments that have been making the rounds in the world of anime.

Some new information has finally been released regarding the Blood: The Last Vampire spinoff TV series by Production I.G, starting with an official title: Blood+. Set to air in October, the studio's website now includes an English section with info (including character sketches) that reveals what the show will be about.

Saya Otonashi lives with her family in Okinawa, but can only remember the last year of her life. It won't take long before she crosses path with a stranger who hands her a Japanese sword, and soon she finds herself involved in the struggle that pits the immortal blood-feeding Chiropterans against the Red Shield organization. If it can come close to capturing the kinetic energy of the original film, this will be one to watch.

With Howl's Moving Castle finally seeing a North American launch in select cities this week, New York's Museum of Modern Art is set to celebrate the release with screenings of many Ghibli films, including the premiere of Howl (with Hayao Miyazaki attending). At the studio's museum in Mitaka, a recent exhibition covered the digital imagery of Pixar - no surprise there, as Pixar's John Lassiter has become quite chummy with Miyazaki in recent years. Here's hoping for a dream collaboration between the two! As for Miyazaki's next film, it's been said that it will be aimed at a very young audience, just like My Neighbor Totoro (Tonari no Totoro) was.

It's not enough that Studio Gonzo is currently ruling the late-night anime scene (see recent reviews of Speed Grapher, Basilisk, and Trinity Blood), but now they've also got their sights set on the American market with a new show set to launch in 2006. Created by Tokyo-based Takashi Okazaki - he's worked on a slew of American projects, including Spider-Man, the Blade Trinity comic adaptation, and some character designs for US manga distributor Tokyopop - Afro Samurai will feature the voice talent of Samuel L. Jackson, and will air on Spike TV, with tentative plans for a live-action film already being mentioned. The image-heavy official site has few details on what the main storyline will be about, but the "afro" in the title and some character sketches point to some souled-out samurai fight-fests that dip into the hip-hop esthetic. Samurai Champloo part deux, anyone? It'll definitely be interesting to see where they go with this.

If you ended up trying out and enjoying the Fullmetal Alchemist (Hagane no Renkinjutsushi) series following the short review that appeared here a few months ago, you'll be happy to learn that a movie sequel is set for release next month (July 23). Fullmetal Alchemist: The Conqueror of Shambala (Hagane no Renkinjutsushi: Shanbara wo Iku Mono) is a direct follow-up to the original series, and follows the further adventures of the brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric. On a related note, the manga version recently came out in the North American market and quickly climbed to the top of bookstore comic sales.

Although it's already aired in its entirety on satellite, the second season of the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex series - 2nd Gig - is now re-airing on broadcast TV Tuesday nights at 25:30 on NTV, directly after Monster (which is heading into its final stretch at a thrilling pace).

The live-action adaptation of the Evangelion series is still at a very early stage of production, but Weta Workshop (the Lord of the Rings trilogy) has released a few pieces of concept art, and, well, it's enough to get even the most jaded of fans excited - but don't get too excited, as the film is not expected to come out anytime soon, probably only in 3-4 years.

Following the successful release last year of the CG cell-animated Appleseed movie (reviewed a few months ago in this column), it was recently announced that John Woo is set to produce a sequel (also animated, and directed by the first film's Shinji Aramaki), and that there are current plans to then release a 26-episode TV series, possibly as soon as the Summer of next year.

Cromartie High School (Sakigake!! Cromartie Koukou) is something special, and describing the show (based on the popular manga by Eiji Nonaka) properly is not an easy thing. Making fun of traditional manga/anime stereotypes in an absurd way, it tells the story of the students of a high school - all delivering their dialogue in a ridiculous tone, as if everything was a matter of life and death - with over the top scenes and surreal moments aplenty. The school doctor ponders for a few minutes on the use of his stethoscope, trying to find its purpose/meaning, only to rejoice when he gets to treat a gorilla, while at the same time two robots roam the hallways. Oh, and Freddie Mercury is a student there. They've somehow managed to produce a live-action adaptation, and it comes out this Summer.

Looks like brisk sales for the Sony PSP portable game system is attracting the attention of anime companies, as they've already started hyping their plans to make certain series available in the PSP's proprietary UMD format. Eureka 7 (reviewed last month) has already been announced, with other titles soon to join it. Sure to make those long commutes that much more bearable!