The 2007 MTV Student Voice Awards were held on Thursday. Taking the Best Artist category was Micro of Def Tech, while the group award went to w-inds. EXILE won in the Best Dance Artist category.

The Best Actor and Best Actress awards were given to Shun Oguri and Mao Inoue, respectively.

Other award winners were:

• Best Party Song: "Girlfriend," Avril Lavigne
• Best Ringtone: "Lovin' Life," FUNKY MONKEY BABYS
• Best Lyrics: "Ketsui no Asa ni," Aqua Timez
• Best Karaoke: "CHE.R.RY," YUI
• Best Fashionista: Miho Tanaka
• Best Movie: "Shrek 3"
• Best Athlete: Koki Kameda
• Best Comedian: Takeshi Nadagi
• Best Game: "Winning Eleven 10"
• Best Father/Mother: George Takahashi & Mika Mifune
• Best Comic: "NANA"
• Best Trend: "Dondake~"
• Best Summer Girl: Aki Hoshino
• Respect Award: Namie Amuro

The international premiere of the first new Evangelion movie, titled "Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone," will take place at the Pusan International Film Festival. It has been chosen as the closing film of the festival, which runs from October 4-12.

"1.0" opens in Japan this weekend.

On the 26th, composer and music arranger Shinzo Teraoka died of heart failure in his home in Nakano, Tokyo. He was 81.

Teraoka was responsible for many hit songs, including "Ozashiki Kouta," "Kokotsu no Blues," and "Kimi Koishi" (which earned singer Frank Nagai the Japan Record Award in 1961).

Announcer Akiko Abe is leaving NTV at the end of September, it was announced on Thursday. Abe is currently one of the hosts of the NTV morning show "Sukkiri!"

Some more cast and plot details of the "Death Note" spinoff, "L," have been revealed. Aside from lead actor Kenichi Matsuyama and lead actress Mayuko Fukuda, the cast includes Masanobu Takashima, Youki Kudoh, Kiyotaka Nanbara, and Megumi Sato. Takashima's character reportedly involves the use of special makeup.

The story for the film involves L's "final case," taking place during the 23 days before his death. The case does not appear in the original "Death Note" storyline.

Ex-Morning Musume member Hitomi Yoshizawa will serve as a "special supporter" for Fuji TV's coverage of the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, which is being held in China on September 10-30.

Yoshizawa will first appear on a special program on September 3, then will be a studio guest for the network's broadcasts of all of Japan's games and the finals match.

It was announced on Wednesday that the popular puzzle/adventure game "Professor Layton and the Curious Village" is being turned into a live-action movie.

The game, available for the Nintendo DS, has shipped about 670,000 copies since its release in February. It is the first of a trilogy; the second installment is being released on November 29.

No dates or cast details have been revealed yet. However, it was further mentioned that there are plans to adapt the game to other media, such as anime and manga.