Out Tomorrow

 Following the cancellation of Manga's Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple there's only one release each from MVM and Manga tomorrow, they are:

Tsukihime Lunar Legend Collection (MVM)
Vampire Knight Guilty vol 4 (Manga)

New Releases Listed by Play.Com and Amazon

  Online retailer Play.Com have listed a number of previously unannounced releases which are due to hit our shelves before the end of the year.  Manga appear to have been busy, with releases for action-packed drama Phantom: Requiem of the Phantom, romantic comedy actioner Samurai Girls and the Gunslinger Girl Il Teatrino OVA, a spin-off from the drama series of the same name.  Also listed are individual releases for the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya-Chan and Nyoron! Churuya-San comedy series and the second series of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, all of which have previously been released in one combined box set.

Also listed by Amazon is a re-release of the classic sci-fi series Robotech, which is set to be released in four separate box sets and as a single collectors edition with a host of extras.  The series was previously released in the UK by Manga Entertainment but didn't do that well, and has been unavailable for some time.  New distributor A&E Television Networks will be hoping their release does better.

Finally Play.Com is also listing December releases for two new anime titles from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.  Actioners First Squad and Legend of the Millennium Dragon are the first new anime releases from Sony since Tekkonkinkreet and Paprika back in 2007.  Release dates are subject to change, check our release schedule for details.

Ikki Tousen: Dragon Destiny Cut

  MVM have revealed that their forthcoming release of Ikki Tousen: Dragon Destiny has been cut by the BBFC.  The series, a follow up to the fanservice-laden Ikki Tousen (aka Battle Vixens), has faced a compulsory cut of 2 minutes and 49 seconds 'to remove sight of an animated naked child presented in a sexualised manner, within a sexualised context, and which has the potential to encourage a sexual interest in children'.

However, the cut hasn't been made to the main series but to one of the DVD extras, an anime short entitled 'Seito's Monster Boobs' which depicted an underage girl in a bath house prodding other female characters' breasts.  The cut has left only 22 seconds of this extra intact.

Legal Drug Returns

 Manga collective CLAMP have announced that they are to start a new series of Legal Drug in monthly Japanese manga magazine Young Ace.  CLAMP originally made three collected volumes of the series between 2001 and 2003 before putting it on hiatus, reportedly because of the magazine it was running in folding.

Legal Drug is a dark drama series about a young man on the run from his past who is saved from death by an employee of a mysterious pharmacy.  In return for accommodation the man agrees to work at the pharmacy, but there's more to it than just selling prescriptions.  The original three volume series was released by Tokyopop in the UK, but it remains to be seen who will bring the new series to the West.

Arrietty Does 'Mildly' at the UK Box Office

AnimeNewsNetwork has reported that Studio Ghibli's latest film Arrietty has scored a mild return of £76,000 from 61 screens in its opening week.  The film, which made around £67m in Japan, appears to have performed below expectations here but has performed better relatively speaking than Ghibli's last offering Ponyo.  Ponyo made £110,000 from 221 screens, meaning Arrietty has made nearly three quarters of its box office despite only being shown at around a quarter of the screens.