From Up On Poppy Hill Release Date Confirmed!

StudioCanal have revealed the release date for Studio Ghibli's latest film From Up On Poppy Hill!  The film, which focuses on a group of students who band together to save their school clubroom building in 1960's Japan, is set for a nationwide cinema release on 2nd August.  Most screenings will have the English dub, which features the voice talents of Gillian Anderson, Jamie Lee Curtis and Beau Bridges with only a handful of screenings in Japanese.

StudioCanal have also confirmed that they will be giving the classic Ghibli films My Neighbour Totoro and Grave of the Fireflies a nationwide cinema release on 24th May to celebrate their 25th anniversary.  The two films are arguably the best the acclaimed studio have produced, and the chance to catch them in the cinema really should not be missed.  As soon as we have any listing we'll post them here!

Anime On Demand Announce Two New Series

Online streaming service Anime On Demand have announced two more series for its Spring season - modern fantasy series Red Data Girl and romantic comedy drama Date A Live.  As with the previously announced Photo Kano and My Teenage Romantic Comedy SNAFU, the two series are streaming for free and the first episodes are available to watch now.  Check them out on the Anime On Demand website.

MVM License ef: a tale of memories and ef: a tale of melodies

MVM have announced the license of the romance series ef: a tale of memories and its sequel ef: a tale of melodies.  Each 12 episode series focuses on two different stories, the first following a high school love triangle and a romance between a young man and an aspiring writer with a rare form of amnesia that resets her memory every thirteen hours.  The second series focuses on a romance from the past, in which a woman is reunited with her first love whom she's never forgotten, and tragic modern-day tale of doomed love held by a young woman for a man with a terminal disease.

After seeing series like the excellent Clannad we're glad to see a few more anime romances come to the UK, so we'll be keeping an eye open for these when they're released in August.

Anime Limited License Perfect Blue

New anime distributor Anime Ltd have been turning a fair few heads with their impressive array of licenses, and they've now picked up another in the form of the late Satoshi Kon's anime thriller Perfect Blue.  The film, which charts the fractured mental state of a former pop star whose fans turn on her when she pursues a career in acting, has attracted favourable comparison with the works of Alfred Hitchcock as well as plaudits from the likes of Terry Gilliam. It was originally released on VHS and DVD in the UK by Manga Entertainment who later let the license lapse, and Anime Ltd are set to re-release it on DVD as well as bring it Blu-Ray for the first time on 14th October.

Anime On Demand Announce New Series

Streaming website Anime On Demand have confirmed two new series for their spring 2013 streaming schedule!  First up is the romantic comedy My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU which focuses on an antisocial teen who's forced to join an afterschool club which happens to contain the school's prettiest girl.  The second is Photo Kano, another romance series which focuses on a schoolboy who gets a camera to take photos of his classmates and grows closer to many of them.  Both series are set be streamed for free, and there are two more announcements on the way.  Check out the Anime On Demand website for more details.

Drifters of the Dead MCM London Comic Con Exclusive

Manga Entertainment are set to release re-issue the popular anime series Highschool of the Dead in May in an all-new 'Drifters of the Dead' edition, so called as it will include the one episode Drifters of the Dead OVA on a bonus DVD.   However, for fans who already own the series and don't want to buy it again just to get the extra episode, they have also announced that the Drifters of the Dead disc will be available separately exclusively at the MCM London Comic Con!  The disc is identical to the one that will be included in the reissue of the series, it will only be available on DVD and will be subtitle only and whilst the price has yet to be confirmed we expect it to be around the £5 mark.  The MCM London Comic Con (formerly known as the MCM London Expo) will be held in the ExCel Centre in London's docklands on 24th-26th May.

Cowboy Bebop Director at MCM London Comic Con!

Acclaimed anime director Shinichiro Watanabe, best known for helming Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo and Kids On The Slope, is to be the Anime Guest of Honour at May's MCM London Comic Con, show organisers have announced.  Attending all three days of the show, Shinichiro Watanabe will be taking part in on-stage panels and promoting both Anime Limited's upcoming HD release of Cowboy Bebop and the UK debut of his latest series, Kids On The Slope, released by MVM Entertainment.

Watanabe will also be holding exclusive signing sessions at the Anime Limited booth.  MCM London Comic Con visitors who pre-order Anime Limited's Cowboy Bebop either at HMV or Amazon and bring proof of pre-order to the show will receive an exclusive A4 Bebop print to get signed (while stocks last).  These prints are extremely limited in volume, however, so go along to the stand early to avoid disappointment!

While Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo and Kids On The Slope are Watanabe's best known works, the Kyoto-born director's credits also include the Macross Plus OVA, Baby Blue and Kid's Story and A Detective Story, two shorts in The Animatrix anthology.

Europe's biggest comic convention, MCM London Comic Con takes place at London ExCel from 24-26 May, covering everything from films and videogames to manga and cosplay.