This fall, Porno Graffiti is releasing a new single titled "Gift," which will be used as the theme song to director Takahisa Zeze's movie "Flying Rabbits," in theaters on September 13.

The movie was first announced last July. It is based on a novel by writer Yusuke Fukada about the women's basketball team JAL Rabbits (affiliated with the airline JAL). Satomi Ishihara is playing the lead role.

Porno Graffiti will be heading into their 10th year since their debut on September 8. The duo has several other projects lined up this year to commemorate the occasion, including another single, "Itai Tachi Ichi," that goes on sale June 25. They also have concerts lined up at Yokohama Stadium on September 6-7 and at the Akashi Kaikyo National Government Park in Awaji on September 14-15.

On Saturday, Asahi Shimbun announced the winners of its 12th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize. After being nominated twice previously, Masayuki Ishikawa's "Moyashimon" finally won the Manga Grand Prize.

Toranosuke Shimada won the New Artist Award for his "Traumerei," and Yumiko Oshima won in the Short Works category for "Gou-Gou Datte Neko Dearu." A special prize was given to the International Institute for Children's Literature in Osaka.

Actor Tetsuji Tamayama is starring in a movie called "Kafuu wo Machiwabite," directed by Yasutomo Nakai. Tamayama has previously been cast in a range of films, from the comical "Gyakkyo Nine" to the action flick "Freesia." He also co-starred with Ryoko Hirosue in the short love story "Presents ~Aikagi~," but "Kafuu" marks his first time starring in a feature-length romance movie.

The story, set in a small town on Okinawa, is based on a novel by Maha Harada, who is also known for being the sister of writer Munenori Harada. The book won the 1st Japan Love Story Award in 2005. Tamayama's love interest is played by model Maiko, who co-stars with Tsuyoshi Kusanagi in Katsuhito Ishii's "Yama no Anata ~Tokuichi no Koi~" (in theaters on May 24).

"Kafuu" was filmed from late March to late April in Okinawa. The movie aims to evoke the image of the Showa era, so it was reportedly recorded in analog rather than digital. The completed film will be released in spring 2009.

The winners of the 32nd Kodansha Manga Award have been announced. Peach-Pit's "Shugo Chara!" won in the children's category. In the shonen category, Motoyuki Tanaka's "Saikyo! Toritsu Aoizaka Koko Yakyubu" claimed the prize, while Karuho Shiina won the shojo category with "Kimi ni Todoke." Masayuki Ishikawa's "Moyashimon" took the general category.

Each award comes with 1 million yen in prize money. The presentation ceremony will take place on June 20.

Last year's hit manga-to-film adaptation "Crows ZERO" has been confirmed to be getting a sequel, it was learned on Monday. Director Takashi Miike is again taking the helm, and popular actor Shun Oguri is reprising his role as the protagonist Genji Takaya.

Oguri has already begun training for the movie, which starts filming in July. The story is set about 8 months after the first movie. Genji is close to graduation at Suzuran High School, but one last matter must be settled with a rival school.

According to producer Mataichiro Yamamoto, there was never any intention to end the story after only one film. However, this sequel is reportedly the story's conclusion. Kyosuke Yabe is also returning, though other cast members from the first movie (such as Takayuki Yamada) have not yet been mentioned.

"Crows ZERO 2" will open in 2009.

Hikaru Utada's latest album, "HEART STATION," has surpassed the million mark in sales. Released on March 19, it is her sixth Japanese album. All six have become million sellers, with a total of 20 million copies sold among them.

The songs from "HEART STATION" are also faring well digitally, with 15 million downloads achieved so far.

JapanFiles sent out a short press release on Saturday to announce that techno group Bespa Kumamero will be performing on July 5-6 at Animex 2008 in Monterrey, Mexico.

Bespa Kumamero made their U.S. debut at Houston's Anime Matsuri this past March.

Akiko Wada's singing career turns 40 this year, and to commemorate the occasion, Fuji TV has announced a drama special titled "Wada Akiko Monogatari" that will illustrate her life. The role of Wada is being played by 26-year-old Akiko Chubachi, who was the second runner-up in the 2007 Miss Universe Japan competition.

The drama is adapted from Wada's 1993 autobiography "5-nenme no High Heels." The script is being handled by Masaki Fukasawa, who has had writing credits on popular dramas such as "Aibou" and "Kindaichi Shonen no Jikenbo." It will cover Wada's life from her youth up until her winning of the Japan Record Award with the 1972 single "Ano Kane wo Narasu no wa Anata."

Chubachi was chosen for the role partly because of her height, as she is just as tall as Wada at 173cm. Sankei Sports has a picture of her here, along with an imitation of the original "Ano Kane wo Narasu no wa Anata" cover.

Filming is scheduled to begin soon and is projected to finish in time for broadcast sometime next month. Other cast members include Pinko Izumi and Masachika Ichimura.

Earlier this month, it was announced that Wada will perform her first overseas concert at the Apollo Theater in New York this September.

KAT-TUN's Jin Akanishi is taking on his first role as a voice actor. He will lead the Japanese dub of the Wachowskis' live-action "Speed Racer" movie, providing the voice of the protagonist Speed, played by Emile Hirsch.

Based on the anime series of the same name (an adaptation of the original "Mach GoGoGo" series in Japan), the movie opened in second place at the U.S. box office this past weekend, though it took in much less than producers had aimed for.

"Speed Racer" hits theaters in Japan on July 5.