Naruto is the series that gets the most empathy from its audiences!

So, this is from the results of last month's Superpoll of the Month, in which readers were asked:

If your life was an anime series, what series it would be?

With 402 votes, Naruto came out on top with 104 votes, followed closely by Bleach with 90 votes, and curiously enough, Blue Exorcist has 77 votes, despite being a new series, while the other two have been running for a decade.

Well, we've all seen Naruto's struggles, solitude and alienation and his humanity, his failures, his ticks are all what make us care for him deeply and root for him to be the village's hero.

I initially thought that One Piece would win hands down due to its popularity, but it is quite there with Full Metal Alchemist, Fairy Tail, and Soul Eater.

Kuroshitsuji and Gintama came in the same place. And Death Note deserves a special mention with 50 votes, (who doesn't identify with either L-kun or Kira-sama?)

It's still interesting to note that a classic series like Dragon Ball didn't garner more votes, with even D.Grayman getting 8 more votes.

Saint Seiya   15 (3%)

Gintama   35 (8%)

Kimi ni Todoke   25 (6%)

Bleach  90 (22%)

Fairy Tail  61 (15%)

Steins Gate  16 (3%)

Death Note  50 (12%)

Karakuridoji Ultimo   2 (0%)

Yu Yu Hakusho   9 (2%)

Evangelion   12 (2%)

Dragon Ball  28 (6%)

Naruto  104 (25%)

Blue Exorcist  77 (19%)

Kamisama Dolls  7 (1%)

Kamisama no Memochou   9 (2%)

Loveless  10 (2%)

Samurai X  17 (4%)

One Piece  64 (15%)

Lucky Star  26 (6%)

Haruhi Suzumiya  17 (4%)

Wallflower (Yamato Nadeshiko)   10 (2%)

K-On!  25 (6%)

Sket Dance  14 (3%)

Soul Eater  54 (13%)

Kuragehime  7 (1%)

Bakuman  16 (3%)

Deadman Wonderland  9 (2%)

Kuroshitsuji  35 (8%)

Hetalia  24 (5%)

Code Geass  25 (6%)

D.Grayman  36 (8%)

C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control   5 (1%)

Akira  6 (1%)

Sailor Moon  28 (6%)

Beelzebub  28 (6%)

Black Lagoon  5 (1%)

Cowboy Bebop  11 (2%)

Full Metal Alchemist  57 (14%)

Hellsing  17 (4%)

Devil May Cry  27 (6%)

Samurai Deeper Kyo  4 (0%)

Infinite Stratos  17 (4%)

Hanasaku Iroha  9 (2%)

Gundam Wing   8 (1%)

Samurai Champloo  13 (3%)

Toriko  8 (1%)

Durarara!  46 (11%)

Other (please indicate so in my twitter!)   23 (5%)

I didn't receive any further explanation through my twitter account over what series did I miss on the list and why. You can follow me at @myanimemangafix .

Good news for Toei Animation!! Finally!!

Toei Animation reported earlier this month that its operating income from overseas copyright licensing is increasing 66% or about 500 million yen (about US$6 million) during the fiscal year ending in March of 2012, compared to the previous year. In particular, sales of character goods are growing in China and Europe.

Sales in licensing are projected to rise 66% to the range of 1 billion yen (US$12 million) in the current fiscal year. Sales of Saint Seiya T-shirts are launching in China in collaboration with a local company, and these sales are expected to lift Toei's income from licensing. Similarly, One Piece, Precure, and other franchises are being merchandised as items such as toys and stationery in Europe.

President Hiroshi Takahashi added that the domestic licensing business is off to a good start this fiscal year, but the business is still feeling the unavoidable impact of the previous year's downturn.

Source: Nikkei, ANN

I think this has mostly to do with the success of the Lost Canvas series, how it's raising the awareness of the Saint Seiya franchise, as for One Piece, I think that speaks for itself with its millions of fans around the world that buy and collect the merchandise.

One Piece episode 490 simulcast delayed

FUNimation Entertainment has announced that, due to the situation in Japan, tonight's One Piece simulcast has been delayed. Funimation will release additional updates when information is made available to them.

Sunday morning's Japanese broadcast of One Piece episode 490 is expected to be pre-empted by Fuji TV's ongoing coverage of the situation in Japan.

Funimation simulcasts episodes of One Piece every Saturday at 9pm CDT, one hour after the Japanese broadcast. The last episode to be simulcast was episode 489.

source: ANN

Update 03/16:

One Piece, Episode 490
"Powerful Independent Rivals! The Beginning of the "New Era"!" will be aired on Sat, March 20, 2011

This week's featured AMV (21)

This spectacular video featuring One Piece takes the cake. Possibly the best AMV of youtube! Enjoy!

3D movies of Toriko and One Piece will open the same day!

Fanboy and fangirl blood must be boiling with excitement as the latest edition of Shonen Jump Magazine by Shueisha announced that both 3D versions of these movies will open on March 19, 2011. Both will be featured as part of the Jump Heroes Film special event by Toei Animation, the studio producing them.

The official site of this event can be found here.

(source: Anime News Network via Kyo Mo Yarareyaku)