Manchester Expo News

The MCM Manchester Expo has come and gone, and it was a huge success again this year with over 11,300 attendees piling in to get a look at what the show had to offer.  We'll do a full feature roundup by the weekend, but in the meantime we'll round up the news from Manga Entertainment's panel including the licenses they announced and any other interesting tidbits.

First up were the licenses, with Manga confirming the acquisition of Aria The Scarlet Ammo, Guilty Crown, Fractale, Jormungand and (via Twitter later) Freezing.  They also confirmed release dates for the majority of their titles up to the end of the year, including Persona 4: The Animation, Gintama The Movie and The World God Only Knows (see our Release Schedule for dates).

They also had some stuff to say about Blu-Ray and other future licenses, explaining that Ninja Scroll's five week delay is due to a surge in demand for steelbook packaging which means they won't be able to manufacture it until November.  Interestingly they did give some hints as to the extras to expect, which will include a booklet written by anime expert Jonathan Clements.  The next news was not so good though, with an admission that the forthcoming Blu-Ray box set release of Puella Magi Madoka Magica will be quite short lived due to pressure from Japan and the US.  Manga is significantly undercutting other territories with its pricing and could be forced to pull the plug on the box set shortly after release, and instead release the individual Blu-Ray volumes.  So basically pre-order it now, it's less than £30 on both Amazon and Play.Com and if you miss this chance you probably won't get it this cheap again.

Finally no Manga panel would be complete without a mention of One Piece, and Manga's long-suffering rep Jerome revealed that acquisition of the license relies largely on Toei being impressed by the success of Dragonball Z. 

Scotland Loves Anime Lineup Revealed

The organisers of the Scottish film festival Scotland Loves Anime have revealed some of the films they will be screening this year.  Confirmed so far are the first two Berserk films The Egg of the King and The Battle of Doldrey, the HD remaster of Ninja Scroll, Makoto Shinkai's Journey to Agartha and the brand new children's sci-fi film Nerawareta Gakuen.  Also showing at the event will be short films by Akira creator Katsuhiro Otomo and Freedom's Shuhei Morita, as well as a yet to be announced mystery film.  The event will be held at the Glasgow Film Theatre from the 12th to the 14th of October, before moving to Edinburgh's Filmhouse from the 19th to the 21st of October.  Check out the Scotland Loves Anime site here.

Miyazaki's New Film Details Leaked?

There's been much speculation as to what the subject of Oscar winning animator Hayao Miyazaki's next film will be, and whilst producer Toshio Suzuki has been suitably cryptic it looks like animator Osamu Kobayashi has let the ct out of the bag on Twitter.  Suzuki had stated that the film would be an autobiography, but hadn't elaborated on whether it would be Miyazaki's autobiography or an adaptation of someone else's.  However, Kobayashi revealed to his followers that he'd heard the film would be about the designer of the Japanese World War II-era fighter plane, the Mitsubishi Zero.  Other animators appear to have supported his claim, and with Miyazaki's love of aircraft well known, it does seem pretty plausible.

If the film is about the Mitsubishi Zero it will be interesting to see how Miyazaki approaches it, especially considering a film about a plane heavily used in the attack on Pearl Harbour may be a bit of a tough sell in major overseas markets like the US.

New SFX Anime Special Out Today!

Sci-fi magazine SFX has today released the latest in its series of anime specials!  Priced at £7.99 the magazine comes with Welcome to the Space Show art cards, a DVD with the first two episodes of Baka & Test on it and a double-sided Fullmetal Alchemist poster.  To find out more about the magazine and the articles it contains check out the full press release here!

New Ghibli Blu-Ray!

Online retailer Play.Com have listed Blu-Ray releases for Studio Ghibli's seminal 1988 films Grave of the Fireflies and My Neighbour Totoro!  No news has been announced as to what extras the two Blu-Rays will contain, but if they follow the Japanese release they should include picture-in-picture storyboards, the dubbing script, interviews, clean opening and ending sequences and trailers.  The two films are set for release on 12th November.

Anime On Demand Streams Lagrange Season 2

UK streaming site Anime On Demand has started streaming the second series of Lagrange - The Flower of Rin-ne.  At present only two episodes of the sci-fi series are online, but Anime On Demand have confirmed via Twitter that they hope to be back on schedule next week.  The series is intended to be 12 episodes long.

Ninja Scroll Delayed

Manga Entertainment have issued a press release to advise that their forthcoming Blu-Ray release of Ninja Scroll has been put back to the 26th November.  No reason is given for the delay at this time, so more news as and when we get it.

Time Running Out for Amecon Registration

There are just two weeks left to register for Amecon, the UK's largest dedicated anime convention.  Registration for the event, which is held from the 10th to the 12th of August at Keele University in Staffordshire, closes on Friday the 27th of July, so if you want to go you'll have to be quick.  At the time of writing there are 349 places left, which cost £47.50 excluding accommodation.  Check out the Amecon website for registration and further details of the event.

Live Action Rurouni Kenshin Trailers Streamed

The producers of the Japanese live-action adaptation of Nobuhiro Watsuki's samurai manga Rurouni Kenshin, out in Japan on 25th August, have released two new trailers for the film through its official Youtube channel.  The first trailer focuses on the films female leads Kaoru Kamiya and Megumi Takani, played by actresses Emi Takei and Yuu Aoi respectively, whilst the second focuses more on lead character Kenshin Himura, played by Takeru Satoh.  Check them out below:

 
 

New Dragon Ball Z Film Announced!

This week's issue of Japanese manga anthology Weekly Shonen Jump has revealed that a new Dragon Ball Z film has been greenlit!  The new film will be made by Toei and directed by Dragon Ball Z series veteran Masahiro Hosada, with the script coming from Yusuke Watanabe, who penned the live action 20th Century Boys films.  Few details have been revealed as yet, but intriguingly Dragon Ball's creator Akira Toriyama has revealed that he will be heavily involved in the production, and have input in the screenplay.  This seems to follow a growing trend which has seen manga creators becoming increasingly involved in movie adaptations of their works, Toriyama will follow One Piece's Eiichiro Oda, who has provided design and script elements for the two most recent One Piece films.

Intriguingly the Shonen Jump website has a page up for the film which features a countdown to an unspecified 'surprise' on the 14th July - check it out here!

NomCon Timetable Revealed

Dublin anime convention Nom-Con has revealed its events timetable, which includes the Irish premiere of Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos and several panels and discussions with co-founder of the much-missed ADV Films Matt Greenfield and his voice actress wife Tiffany Grant.  The event, held in Dublin's Burlington Hotel from the 24th to the 26th August, still has tickets available at a cost of €35 for a weekend pass - check out their website here and the timetable here.

Out Tomorrow

Only two releases tomorrow following the delay to the Black Lagoon Blu-Ray sets:

Black Lagoon Complete Barrage Box Set (Manga)
.hack://QUANTUM Collection (MVM)

Black Lagoon Blu-Ray Delayed

Anime distributor Kazé have revealed via Twitter that the Blu-Ray releases of Black Lagoon and Black Lagoon 2nd Barrage have been rescheduled until the end of the month.  The two sets, which were originally due for release on Monday 7th July, are now slated for 30th July following a delivery error by the manufacturers.  However, the 6 disc DVD set containing both series will still be released on the 7th.