Akiba-kei idol Himeko Sakuragawa is set to make her major label debut this November. While working in a maid cafe, she has had multiple releases on an independent label and frequently performs live. Some of her songs have been featured in games and commercials, and she has also had regular appearances on television shows.

Sakuragawa made the release announcement on Monday at Maid in Japan, the Akihabara cafe where she works. On November 28, she will re-release her single "Akiba ni Ikunon!" which first came out in August 2005. The new edition will be distributed through Experience Records, which is part of Victor Entertainment.

Animation World Network reports on a ScreenDaily article mentioning plans for a live-action "Grave of the Fireflies" movie. It will be based on the same novel by Akiyuki Nosaka that was adapted by Studio Ghibli in 1988, and later turned into a drama special in 2005.

Pal Entertainment is producing, and Taro Hyugaji ("Portrait of the Wind") is directing. Kazuo Kuroki was originally named as director, but his death last year led to the project's delay. Production is scheduled to begin next month, with theatrical release targeted for summer 2008.

In response to news reports yesterday that comedian Yoshimi Tokui and badminton player Reiko Shiota are dating, both celebrities denied the rumor. They stated that they are just friends, and their relationship is limited to e-mail.

It was revealed on Tuesday that Teruyuki Kagawa and Yu Aoi will co-star in a short movie by Korean director Bong Joon-ho ("The Host"). The 30-minute film, titled "Shaking Tokyo," is one part of the triptych "Tokyo!" French directors Michel Gondry and Leos Carax are directing the other two segments.

Kagawa plays a man who has been living as a shut-in for the past 11 years, until he ends up falling in love with a pizza delivery girl (Aoi). He finally builds up the courage to join the outside world, only to discover that most of Tokyo has become withdrawn.

Filming begins in Tokyo on the 22nd.

Actress Sarina Suzuki is reportedly getting married to TELA-C of reggae group INFINITY16 next spring. The two are already said to be living together for almost two years.

Suzuki has been active as a reggae singer for the last few years under the name MUNEHIRO (her real last name). She and TELA-C met at various events, and their relationship developed into romance.

This fall, Takashi Sorimachi will star in his first television series since "Hotman 2" in 2004. He plays the lead character, Shunsuke Ogi, in an NTV original drama, currently titled "Dream Man."

Shunsuke is a former pro baseball player who dreams of returning to the sport. An unfortunate accident gets him killed, but God lends him someone else's body so that he can realize his dream of playing baseball again.

Ai Kato, Mirai Shida, and Kiyoshi Kodama also appear in the drama. NTV will broadcast the series on Saturdays at 9:00pm.

Reports have come in that Vietnamese-French director Tran Anh Hung is working on a new film titled "I Come With the Rain." Josh Hartnett stars as a private detective hired to find a young man in Hong Kong. The cast is said to include Takuya Kimura, Lee Byung-Hun, Shawn Yue, and Tran Nu Yen-Khe. Filming is taking place mostly in Hong Kong, but other locations include the Philippines and Los Angeles.

UPDATE: Sankei Sports has confirmed the cast with some role details. Hartnett is a former L.A. cop who is now a private detective. A wealthy man hires Hartnett to find his son (Kimura), and the detective teams up with his former colleague, a Hong Kong policeman (Yue). He also encounters a local gangster (Lee) and his mistress (Tran). During the investigation, he recalls the painful memory of a serial killer, whose murders were the reason he resigned from the police force.

The movie is being spoken entirely in English. The film is scheduled to open in fall 2008, and there are hopes for a screening at next year's Cannes Film Festival.

Actress Erika Sawajiri appears in a new commercial for Meiji Seika's Fran Aromatier chocolate product. The ad, which features Sawajiri sporting seven different looks, began airing on Tuesday. Both versions can be seen on the product website.

In a slow week in CD sales, Kazumasa Oda's "Kokoro" was able to top the singles chart with only 48,000 copies sold. At the age of 59 years and 11 months, Oda is the oldest artist to top the chart, surpassing Yujiro Ishihara's record of 52 years and 7 months. Oda also holds the record on the albums chart, which he achieved a little more than two years ago.

In albums this week, Hideaki Tokunaga ranked #1 with "VOCALIST 3," the third in the series of cover albums. With 116,000 in sales, it beat out the two ZARD compilation albums that debuted at #2 and #3.

Meanwhile, Kanjani8's drama special box sold 27,000 units, taking first in the overall DVD rankings. The last time a television drama took the #1 spot was when an "Odoru Daisousasen" special collection was released in 2001.