Wizard Magazine has revealed that a new Batman project is in the works - a DVD containing six animated shorts, titled "Batman: Gotham Knight." The stories are created by American writers, but the animation will be handled by three major Japanese studios: Madhouse, Studio 4°C, and Production I.G.

Bruce Timm is the only director officially announced for the project so far, but it appears that Satoshi Kon is very likely to be involved as well.

The DVD is scheduled for release next summer, before Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" opens in U.S. theaters on July 18.

On Friday, the Kaneto Shindo Awards and the SARVH Award were presented. 95-year-old director Kaneto Shindo was absent from the ceremony for the first time in the award's 12-year history. His second son, director Jiro Shindo, explained that Kaneto has been working on a new film and is being mindful of his health.

This year, the Gold Award was given to director Yoshihiro Nakamura ("Ahiru to Kamo no Coin Locker") while the Silver Award went to director Yuichi Sato ("Kisaragi"). The SARVH Award, which honors producers, was won by Shoji Masui for his work on Masayuki Suo's "Soredemo Boku wa Yattenai."

Singer Eikichi Yazawa is suing monomane (imitation) artist Ryudai Ishiyama for 10 million yen over the unauthorized use of Yazawa's name. The lawsuit was presented on November 27.

According to the lawsuit, Ishiyama's official website falsely promoted himself as "the only monomane talento approved by Eikichi Yazawa." Yazawa's management asked for the removal of the description in late October, but Ishiyama only gave vague replies. On November 7, the agency delivered a formal request for removal. Ishiyama apparently asked for more time while leaving the offending line on the website.

The description was finally taken down on December 3, after the lawsuit had been filed. When asked about the matter, Ishiyama explained that he had been approved by Yazawa sixteen years ago. After receiving the request for removal, he had entrusted an agent with the task, but it was taken down too late.

37-year-old sportscaster Rie Oh is getting married to psychiatrist Masaki Honda, it was learned on Saturday. Their wedding and reception is scheduled for January 27, and the couple has already sent out invitations to their friends.

Honda is better known as the doctor in charge of yokozuna Asashoryu. Rie is the daughter of baseball great Sadaharu Oh, who has reportedly approved of the marriage.

This is Rie's third marriage. In 1995, while she was working at advertising firm Hakuhodo, she married a co-worker, but they divorced two and a half years later. In 2001, she remarried with a TV production company employee. They divorced after three years.

Yukinari Tamaki of DA PUMP is reportedly headed for divorce with his wife Miho, who is also known as a former celebrity under the stage name Natsu Nishida.

Yukinari and Miho married in 2004 and had a daughter later that year, but differences in the couple's personalities have apparently led to a rift in their relationship. The two are said to be seeking divorce arbitration in a family court.

One source also says that Miho once left their home due to domestic violence committed by Yukinari.

Yukinari's agency said it is unable to comment since the matter is private.

Two different comedians have recently been hospitalized due to acute hepatitis.

Hiroshi Asagoe (The Plan 9) is currently in an Osaka hospital for an expected two weeks. Yoshimoto Kogyo has canceled The Plan 9's performances in that city from the 14th to the 17th.

Meanwhile, Hidetsugu Shibata (Untouchable) is also hospitalized, but it is not known when he will recover.

Now that the weather has turned cold, Oricon conducted a survey asking a thousand men and women which celebrity they would want to be nursed by if they were sick.

Women ranked Masaharu Fukuyama as #1, followed by Teppei Koike and Tsuyoshi Domoto. Kenji Sakaguchi tied with Shingo Katori for #4.

Men, on the other hand, preferred Masami Nagasawa, though Yui Aragaki was the second most popular choice. Aki Hoshino and Satomi Ishihara tied for #3, while Hitomi Kuroki, Haruka Ayase, and Maki Horikita all tied for #5.