FUNimation Re-Launch UK Streaming!

Many fans were pretty annoyed when FUNimation blocked their online anime viewing service to UK viewers a couple of years ago, but now it's back!  In a similar way to online viewing service Crunchyroll, the FUNimation Youtube channel now allows UK viewers access to certain series that have either been sub-licensed to UK distributors or they hold worldwide streaming rights for.  The following are currently available to watch, some in full and some only a few episodes:

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Ah! My Goddess: Flights of Fancy
Air Gear
Baccano!
Baka & Test
Baldr Force EXE
Bamboo Blade
Big Windup!
Birdy the Mighty: Decode
Blue Gender
Coyote Ragtime Show
Dance in the Vampire Bund
Darker Than Black
Devil May Cry
D.Gray-Man
El Cazador de la Bruja
Fullmetal Alchemist
Galaxy Railways
Ghost Hunt
Gunslinger Girl
Gunslinger Girl Il Teatrino
Gunslinger Girl OVA
Heroic Age
Hero Tales
Hetalia: Axis Powers
Initial D: 1st Stage
Initial D: 4th Stage
Jing: King of Bandits Seventh Heaven
Jinki Extend
Jyu-Oh-Sei
Le Chevalier D'Eon
MoonPhase
Mr Stain on Junk Alley
Murder Princess
Nabari no Ou
Negima!
Negima!?
Nerima Daikon Brothers
Ouran High School Host Club
Paniponi Dash
Peach Girl
Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom
Rumbling Hearts
Sands of Destruction
Sasami: Magical Girls Club
Save Me! Lollipop
School Rumble
School Rumble: 2nd Semester
School Rumble: Extra Class
Sekirei
Shattered Angels
Shigurui Death Frenzy
Shikabane Hime
Suzuka
The Legend of the Legendary Heroes
The Sacred Blacksmith
xxxHolic

It's great to have further legal alternatives to illegal fansubs and FUNimation's streaming is excellent.  Make sure you check it out.  NOTE: UK viewers are still blocked from the video area of FUNimation's website.

Veteran Voice Actor Passes Away

AnimeNewsNetwork have reported that American voice actor Peter Fernandez has died from lung cancer at the age of 83.  Fernandez was best known in America as the voice of the title character from Speed Racer, but he also wrote the theme tune and voiced several other characters in the racing anime as well as characters from Astro Boy, Star Blazers, Lupin III: The Secret of Mamo, Marine Boy and Gigantor.  His long career included voice direction and writing for numerous dubbed films and TV series, but it was his association with Speed Racer that brought him the most recognition and led to a cameo appearance in the live-action Speed Racer film.  He will be missed.

New Manga Release Dates Listed

Several forthcoming Manga Entertainment releases have been listed by online retailers!  Titles including Vampire Knight, Sengoku Basara: Samurai Kings, Bamboo Blade and Baccano! have been listed, revealing not only intended release dates but also pricing and release details.  Baccano! (11th Oct, £39.99) and Sengoku Basara (25th Oct, £24.99) are to be released as complete series box sets, whilst Bamboo Blade will be released in two half-series sets (vol 1: 22nd Nov, £24.99).  Vampire Knight will be released in single volumes, with the first, 4 episode, volume out on the 18th Oct with a reduced price point of £12.99, although it is £8.99 on Play.Com.  Please see our release schedule for further release details.

Layton Gets Special Edition

A special edition of the forthcoming Professor Layton & The Eternal Diva anime film has been listed for release on Play.Com.  Manga announced the acquisition of the film, which is based on the Professor Layton puzzle game series on the Nintendo DS, earlier this year but the Deluxe Collectors Edition version has not previously been revealed. There are no details of what additional content will be included, but it'd have to be something quite good to warrant the whopping RRP of £49.99.  Once again online retailers are listing the DVD for well below this price (Play have it for £37.99 for example), but we'll post more details when we get them.

Naruto Ultimate Collection Box Set Cancelled

Manga Entertainment have revealed through their Twitter channel that their planned release of a complete Naruto DVD box set has been cancelled.  They state that the cancellation is a purely a commercial decision, something that isn't too surprising considering the size and cost of the set if it had been released.  The set was originally announced in a Twitter post shortly after the MCM London Expo, and would have contained all 220 episodes of Naruto's original run.

Durarara!! Sub-Only UK Release on the Rocks?

Beez's plan to release an early subtitled only version of the hotly anticipated modern fantasy series Durarara!! appears to have been shelved following the announcement that a dub is being created in America.  The original plan would have seen Beez take a chance on a release without an English dub in order to bring it to the UK well ahead of its American release and get extra sales from those who normally import.  They intended to subsequently buy the access rights to the English dub if and when one was made and reissue the series with the dub at a later date, offering some kind of swap deal to those who bought the sub-only version.

However, Aniplex have announced that they have licensed the series for America and will produce a dub and release the first volume of the series in January 2011.  Beez will wait for the dub now they know one is coming, meaning that the UK release will be delayed until February 2011 at the earliest.  Although disappointing to fans hoping to get something before their US cousins, Beez have stressed that Durarara!! is being treated as a special case due to the unexpected announcement of the dub and they still intend to use the sub-only release model in the future.

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood Film Announced

The Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood series has recently ended in Japan with its 64th episode, and was followed by the announcement of a film version.  The series followed the original Fullmetal Alchemist manga to its conclusion so it's unclear whether the film will tell an original story or if it will try to compile the series storyline.

Production IG Involved in Ghost in the Shell Film

Leading Japanese anime studio Production IG have revealed that they are involved in the upcoming live-action adaptation of Ghost in the Shell.  The live-action film is being created by Dreamworks and produced by Avi Arad, who has also produced pretty much all of the recent Marvel Comics films, including the Spider Man, Iron Man, X-Men and Blade franchises.  It is unclear in what capacity Production IG are involved at present.

Ponyo Screened at Glastonbury Festival

Hayao Miyazaki's latest film Ponyo was screened in the Pilton Palais Cinema Tent at last weekend's Glastonbury Festival!  The screening was pretty popular, with the tent nearly full, and saw an enthusiastic crowd cheer when the Ghibli logo appeared on screen.  The screening isn't the first time anime has been shown at the Festival, Spirited Away has also graced the cinema tent in the past.

Cosplay on the BBC!

Those of you attended the MCM London Expo last weekend may have noticed that the BBC were filming footage of cosplayers there.  Well they weren't filming for nothing, as a segment on cosplay appeared on the recent episode of weekly BBC entertainment show E24.

To view the coverage, click the link and watch from 8:20 onwards.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment_and_arts/10243810.stm

It is encouraging to see that BBC approached this without pre-conception, as opposed to the recent Sunday Telegraph article on Ayacon which had a cynical undertone.  Hopefully the BBC will return to the next MCM London Expo in October and give the world of cosplay more exposure.

May/June News Roundup

• The May MCM Expo came and went, and with it the UK heats of the Euro Cosplay 2010 competition.  The UK representative will be SephNoir after she wowed the judges with her Ectvarr costume from the computer game 99 Nights.

• The BBC screened coverage of the Expo on their entertainment show E24.  The coverage can be found 8mins 20secs into the show here, and gives a refreshingly non-judgemental and open-minded view of cosplay.

• Beez announced the acquisition of Durarara!!, Gundam 00 Series 2 and the Zeta Gundam films plus an Anime Legends release for Outlaw Star. 

• Manga Entertainment announced the rumoured license of Vampire Knight and Vampire Knight Guilty, plus the acquisition of Baccano! and the Blu-Ray release of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex Solid State Society.  They also revealed that Sengoku Basara and Soul Eater should be added to their streaming service at some point.

• MVM didn't announce any new licenses at the Expo but confirmed dates for their forthcoming releases and announced that they would be releasing half-series box sets instead of single discs in future.  See our release schedule for confirmed dates.

• Koei announced that Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage would be coming to the UK in Autumn.  The game. which will be released on the XBox 360 and PS3, is based on the Dynasty Warriors engine and features characters and settings from the classic anime franchise.

• Beez announced that Gundam Wing would be reissued as part of their budget Anime Legends line.  It will be released in two volumes, with the first out on 26th July.

• Beez's forthcoming release of Code Geass R2 was delayed by a month after the BBFC requested a one second cut due to a 'young girl in the background of shot suggesting sexual activity'.  Hmmmm.

• Comics publisher Sweatdrop Studios released their latest anthology at the Expo, Telling Tales features takes on classic fairy tales by various manga-inspired artists including Sonia Leong, Emma Vieceli and Svelana Chmakova.

• The UK release of the hotly anticipated film Summer Wars has been delayed until 2010 whilst Manga Entertainment wait for an English dub to be recorded.

• US Distributor 4Kids acquired the rights to Penelope, an anime series based on a French/German children's book about a blue koala and her friends.  The series is currently being aired in the UK by the BBC.

• The first episodes of Ikki Tousen: Dragon Destiny, Kanokon: The Girl Who Cried Fox, Ah! My Goddess and Queen's Blade began streaming for free on Media Blasters' website, check them out here.

• Web series The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya-Chan and Nyoron Churuya-San started streaming in English on Crunchyroll, check them out here.

• The Asahi Anime Festival came and went in Brighton over the April/May bank holiday weekend.

Source: Various
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