•        

Welcome to our News archive for December 2012 - to see this month's news please click on the button below.
 


___________________________________________________________________________


22nd December 2012

Cowboy Bebop Coming to Blu-Ray!

Newly launched anime distributor Anime Limited may only have a placeholder company name at the moment, but they've started to make some license announcements!  First up is the classic series Cowboy Bebop on both DVD and Blu-Ray, although we'll have to wait till the third quarter of 2013 for it.

Anime Limited are planning to reveal a new license announcement at the end of every month, although they will make an earlier announcement if they get over 2000 'likes' on their facebook pageAnime Limited is a newly launched anime distribution company headed by former Beez rep Andrew Partridge, who intends to bring a wide array of old and new anime to the UK on home formats and into cinemas.  Cowboy Bebop is a critically acclaimed sci-fi western anime series from director Shinichiro Watanabe (who also did Samurai Champloo), which followed freelance bounty hunters Spike Spiegel and Jet Black as they tried to make enough money to keep their rickety spaceship together and deal with the issues of the past.

Source: Anime Limited
___________________________________________________________________________


22nd December 2012

Live-Action Korean Antique Bakery Coming to UK

Asian film distributor Terracotta has announced that it will be releasing the Korean live-action film Antique Bakery in the UK on the 11th February.  The film is based on the slice-of-life manga series of the same name, and focuses on the lives of four handsome men who run a bakery together.

Source: AnimeNewsNetwork
___________________________________________________________________________


21st December 2012

Production IG to Produce Cut Scenes for Tales of Hearts R

Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu has revealed that the forthcoming PlayStation Vita remake of Tales of Hearts, Tales of Hearts R, will feature all-new anime cut scenes from leading anime studio Production IG.  The magazine has posted a series of screenshots from the cut scenes on its website, which can be viewed here.

Tales of Hearts was originally released on the Nintendo DS in Japan in 2008, but never made it to Europe or America.  The Vita remake sees the graphics and battle system overhauled, new playable characters and new character models.  No European release has been announced as yet, but we have our fingers crossed following the UK release of Tales of Graces f and the forthcoming release of Tales of Xillia, both on the PlayStation 3.

Source: AnimeNewsNetwork
___________________________________________________________________________


11th December 2012

Arrietty on TV Over Christmas!

Freeview digital channel Film4 will showing the Studio Ghibli anime films Arrietty and Ponyo over the Christmas and New Year period!  Ponyo will be shown dubbed on Boxing Day at 1.10pm, whilst Arrietty will be shown dubbed on Sunday 30th December at 4.55pm, and then subtitled at 11am on Thursday 3rd January.

Arrietty's screening will be a TV premiere, and it is great to see that it is being shown both in English and Japanese at a sensible time of day.  Christmas seems to be one of the best times to catch Studio Ghibli anime on terrestrial TV, with films shown pretty much annually on Film4 and even the BBC getting in on the act a couple of years ago with a Christmas Day screening of Spirited Away.

Source: Radio Times
___________________________________________________________________________


11th December 2012

Dragon Ball Z Kai to Screen on Kix! in Early 2013

Following Toei Animation's recent announcement that Dragon Ball Z Kai is to be screened on UK television, it has been revealed that it will be shown on the satellite channel Kix!.  The date it starts screening has yet to be announced, but it is set to be in the first quarter of 2013.

Kix! is a channel aimed at 7-12 year old boys, and - considering it already screens the anime series Ultimate Muscle - it always seemed the most likely fit for the series.  Dragon Ball Z Kai condenses the epic 291 episode Dragon Ball Z anime series to just 98 episodes, bringing it more in line with the original manga, brushing up the sound and visuals and removing most of the filler story arcs.   The deal with Toei covers the first 53 episodes, but if it does well don't be surprised to see the rest of the series hit the screen.

Source: AnimeNewsNetwork
___________________________________________________________________________


11th December 2012

One Piece Pirate Warriors 2 Confirmed for European Release

Bandai Namco Europe have announced that One Piece Pirate Warriors 2 will be released on the PlayStation 3 in Europe next summer!  The new game will focus on parts of the story omitted from the first game, including the Skypiea arc and the post-time skip New World story and will feature new characters such as Skypiea's 'god' Eneru.

The original One Piece Pirate Warriors game has been an hit on the PS3, shifting 1.2 million copies worldwide despite only receiving a digital release in the USA.  To celebrate the success Bandai Namco will also be offering a special discount on the digital version of the game and its downloadable content throughout the Christmas period, starting on December 12th.

Source: BandaiNamco
___________________________________________________________________________


3rd December 2012

New Distributor for Former ADV Titles!

One of the worst things about an anime distributor going under from an anime fan's point of view is the fact that their titles fall into limbo and are largely unavailable.  Such has been the fate with former market leader ADV Films, whose 2008 demise saw the likes of Neon Genesis Evangelion and Excel Saga disappear from UK shelves.  However, it has been revealed that a new distributor has snapped up a couple of former ADV titles for release in early 2013!

101 Films have made their name distributing cult titles such as the BBC's infamous Ghostwatch, but have announced that they have licensed Makoto Shinkai's sci-fi film Places Promised in Our Early Days and the horror series Elfen Lied.  The two titles are expected to hit the shelves in January and February and are already listed by online retailer Amazon.  Hopefully they'll be the first of many releases!

Source: AnimeNewsNetwork
___________________________________________________________________________


___________________________________________________________________________