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Welcome to our News archive for October 2008 - to see this month's news
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Expo License Roundup Despite there being no official industry panel at the MCM London Expo, the big anime companies still had some releases to announce! MVM and Manga were predictably the ones with the most to say, with MVM announcing the acquisition of all four series of the classic fantasy comedy Slayers alongside the eagerly anticipated samurai actioner Blade of the Immortal, fellow samurai title Samurai Deeper Kyo and the live-action Cutie Honey film! MVM confirmed that the first three series of Slayers would be released at a rate of four volumes per series, with the intention being to have all three released by the end of 2009. They will then release Slayers Revolution, the franchise's latest instalment which was only released in Japan a couple of months ago! The Cutie Honey film is the company's first foray into live-action, and they hope to release more Asian film in future. However, Blade of the Immortal was the big announcement although it's not expected to hit UK shores until late 2009. Manga confirmed the previously announced Darker Than Black, Ouran High School Host Club, Claymore and Negima Series 2, as well as confirming the acquisition of the remaining Naruto episodes and the follow-up Naruto Shippuuden. They also have the Negima OVAs and the forthcoming Gonzo release Afro Samurai Resurrection. Claymore will apparently be released in multi-volume, four episode per disc format due to authoring restrictions but Manga intend to price each volume at £14.99. They also said that the Negima OVAs would be released in advance of the second Negima series. They will also be the second UK anime distributor to embrace the Blu-Ray format, with a host of titles lined up for the format including Ghost in the Shell, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence and Karas. Beez confirmed the widely expected acquisition of Mobile Suit Gundam 00, but with a number of licenses in the pipeline they were unable to say more. However, they did confirm that Sword of a Stranger would be shown as part of next months' Leeds Film Festival. ADV Films, somewhat predictably, had nothing to announce apart from Box Sets of series that are already available. ADV USA have recently licensed titles including the popular Clannad, but it is still unclear if these licenses cover the UK. More news when we get it. All in all it's a good selection of titles, watch this space for more information! Source: Various |
MVM to Release Slayers! MVM revealed at Amecon earlier this year that they had received the opportunity to license the immense Slayers franchise, and it now looks like they have taken that opportunity! Slayers vol 1 has appeared on their PR company's release schedule for 2009, with currently a release date of 5th January. It's not clear whether this is the original series or this year's franchise-reviving Slayers Revolution, but either way it represents a big risk for MVM to take on. Despite the undoubted quality of Slayers, the original series is well over ten years old and older series do not traditionally sell well in the UK. If it is the new series than MVM could be counting on people having watched the original three series on import from America, where they are available in cut-price boxsets. It will be interesting to see how well the series does, and we're really hoping it sells well. Source: MVM |
Revelation Still Releasing Anime Revelation have today sent through a press release announcing their anime releases for the first quarter of 2009! Although this does go some way to ending speculation that they had lost their deal to distribute FUNimation's titles in the UK to Manga Entertainment, it is worth noting that the announcements are all for series they had previously released. The full list is as follows: Fullmetal Alchemist Season 1 Part 1 Box
Set Also announced is the delayed release of the final volume of Tsubasa, which is out in March. No new titles are announced at present, but the press release does say to look out for "information on many great anime titles throughout 2009", so we'll keep you posted. Please refer to our release schedule for release dates. Source: Revelation |
The Girl Who Leapt To Bath! Manga Entertainment's forthcoming film The Girl Who Leapt Through Time has been added to the bill of the Bath Film Festival! The film will be screening on Wednesday 5th November at 9.15pm at Bath's Little Theatre Cinema, and tickets cost £7 (£5 concessions). The screening will be the first of a series of cinema showings for the film, which made its UK debut at the Sci-Fi London Anime Allnighter earlier this year. We saw it there and it was absolutely superb, check out our mini-review as part of our Allnighter article, and click here to find out about the Bath Film Festival and book tickets. Source: Manga
Entertainment |
Naruto, Every Little Helps! Somewhat randomly we have noticed that probably the final Naruto game for the PlayStation 2 as been released in the UK, but it's only available at...Tesco. Naruto Ultimate Ninja 3 - known as Narutimate Hero 3 in Japan - is available for the impressive price of £19.71 exclusively at Tesco, which is a bit odd as the ubiquitous supermarket chain is not exactly known for its support of anime. The game doesn't appear to be listed on their website, but is available in store - we bought a copy ourselves and will be bringing you a review once we've had a chance to really give it a good playtest! Source: Tesco |
Minamicon Registrations Are Open! Registrations for Minamicon - an
anime convention held in Southampton - are now open.
Running from 27th-29th March 2009 and costing £49 to
register, Minamicon is held in the Novotel
Hotel near Southampton docks. Now in its fifteenth
year, it is one of the most popular conventions in the UK.
Source: Minamicon |
New Genki Gear Range Unveiled! UK based, anime-inspired, retailer
Genki
Gear have sent us their latest t-shirt designs,
which will be available at the upcoming
MCM
London Expo! Source: Genki
Gear |
More New Tokyopop Licenses AnimeNewsNetwork have reported some more previously unannounced Tokyopop titles that have been listed for pre-order by online retailer Amazon.com. The titles include Zone-00, from Kiyo Kyujyo, artist of Tokyopop's recent anime tie-in Trinity Blood. See below for the full list: Bloody Kiss by
Kazuko Furumiya (11/8/09) Although these titles are being released in the US first, they will be easy to get hold of here and it probably won't be long before Tokyopop give them an official UK release. Source: AnimeNewsNetwork |
Manga Titles to be Available to Rent Through XBox Live Things have been busy in the world of Manga Entertainment in the last few days! Manga's parent company Starz Media have today announced the expansion of their digital distribution deal with XBox Live. The company's existing deal sees several of Manga's anime titles available to rent through the service in the US, but the new deal sees this rental service expanded to include the UK, Ireland and Canada. Although no specific start time for the deal is provided, the press release suggests that these anime downloads are available now, Please click here to read the full press release! Source: Starz
Media |
Manga License Ouran, Negima and Claymore! Manga Entertainment have announced that they have obtained the exclusive UK rights for a number of anime titles from US anime distributor FUNimation. Included in the deal are a number of previously announced titles, including Ghost Hunt, Jyu Oh Sei and xxxHolic, as well as several major new ones. Most notable amongst the newly acquired titles are Claymore, Darker Than Black, Negima Season 2 and fan-favourite Ouran High School Host Club. The new titles will start hitting UK shelves this month, and continue into 2009. Where this leaves Revelation Films, previously the sole distributor for FUNimation's anime catalogue in the UK, is yet to be confirmed. However, it is heartening to see specific titles mentioned rather than a wholesale transfer of licenses, and it's worth noting that none of Revelation's releases have been mentioned in the deal. We'll post more news when we get it, in the meantime keep an eye on our Release Schedule for exact dates when announced. To read Manga's full press release click here! Source: Manga
Entertainment |
Terratag -Up To 60% Off Sale! UK based designer Terratag currently has a sale on with up to 60% off on certain products. Items from his awesome Mecha range are in the sale, including Gundam t-shirts and hoodies from just £10! The sale ends this Tuesday - click here to see the sale range. Source: Terratag! |
New Specialist Retailers added To Our Retailers Section We have updated our retailers section with three new excellent retailers: Animez, /ik'sentrik and Tokyo15. For further information on each retailer, click links on our drop-down menu and go to retailers. Source: Us! |
New Tokyopop Licenses AnimeNewsNetwork have reported that several previously unannounced Tokyopop titles have been listed for pre-order by online retailer Amazon.com. The titles include Game X Rush, from Mizuho Kusanagi, author of Tokyopop's recent UK shojo release Mugen Spiral. See below for the full list: Animal Academy: Hakobune Hakusho by
Moyamu Fujino (12/5/09) Although these titles are being released in the US first, they will be easy to get hold of here and it probably won't be long before Tokyopop give them an official UK release. Source: AnimeNewsNetwork |
FUNimation Stream New Anime FUNimation are going streaming crazy at the moment, and have announced that they will be streaming the first two episodes of Ouran High School Host Club and the first four episodes of School Rumble 2nd Semester on their website. These episodes are available from yesterday, and FUNimation will continue to post 2 - 4 episodes of other series every Friday. Upcoming streams include the first 3 episodes of Black Blood Brothers, the first two episodes of Gunslinger Girl and the first two episodes of Guyver: The Bioboosted Armour. Check out the website here! Source: AnimeNewsNetwork |
New Anime on Crunchyroll With the credit crunch affecting most people nowadays, it is good to find that you can still enjoy your hobbies without spending lots of money. Crunchyroll, the US video website who we have previously reported have been streaming licensed anime are now legally showing two more brand new series free of charge! They are The Linebarrels of Iron, a mecha series from Gonzo, and the sci-fi drama Time of Eve. What is great about this is that these anime series are only just being released in Japan. It is great to see that there is finally a legal alternative to fansubs, and that UK viewers can watch the screenings without restriction. Source: AnimeUKNews |
FUNimation to Launch Free Anime Streaming FUNimation have recently announced that it will be launching a streaming channel on Joost (a similar website to YouTube). The channel will contain sample episodes with English dubs, and some with Japanese dubs as well. Episodes will be taken from their new and existing catalogue of series including: Basilisk Source: AnimeNewsNetwork |
Street Fighter IV Anime Film! Capcom have announced an anime film based on their hit game Street Fighter IV! The announcement came at the Tokyo Game Show, and the company has confirmed that Studio 4°C - the studio behind Memories and Tekkonkinkreet - are handling the production. Studio 4°C have already produced promotional and in-game animation for Street Fighter IV, and if what we've seen is anything to go by we're hopeful that a film will be worth watching! Source: AnimeNewsNetwork |
Matt Lucas Joins CGI Astro Boy Cast Yes, you read that title right! Little Britain star Matt Lucas has joined the likes of Nicholas Cage, Donald Sutherland and Bill Nighy on the cast list for the forthcoming CGI Astro Boy film. It's not known which character he will voice as yet, but it's good to see him getting involved in anime again after his previous turn as Ataru Moroboshi in the BBC dub of Urusei Yatsura. Source: AnimeNewsNetwork |
New Pokémon Teaser Online The official Japanese Pokémon film website has posted a teaser for the forthcoming Pokémon Diamond & Pearl film. The film is the third based on Diamond & Pearl, and does not yet have a title, to watch the teaser visit the site here. Source: AnimeNewsNetwork |
Wonder Festival Cancelled The organisers of the legendary Japanese model kit expo the Wonder Festival have announced that their next event has been cancelled. The event is the biggest model kit expo in the world, and is held twice yearly in Tokyo's immense Big Sight exhibition centre. However, the last event saw several people injured when a four story escalator inexplicably reversed direction whilst people were using it. Although none of the injuries were serious, the ongoing investigation has put paid to the next Wonder Festival, which was due to take place in February next year. However, the organisers are working to ensure that the event returns in the future. Source: AnimeNewsNetwork |
Death Note: The Last Name Trailer Anyone who saw the first live action Death Note film will no doubt be eagerly awaiting the sequel, Death Note: The Last Name. So for a taster of the new film - out on DVD on 13th October from 4Digital Media - check out the trailer below! Death Note: The Last Name Trailer Source: 4Digital
Media |
New Evangelion Film Details Details have been released for the upcoming new Neon Genesis Evangelion anime film, which is due out in Japan next summer! The film is the second instalment of the Rebuild of Evangelion, Hideaki Anno's four-part cinematic revisit of his seminal series. It's official title is Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance, and the film promises to feature the fiery Asuka Langley plus re-designed Evangelions and an all-new character. We really can't wait to see this, especially after seeing the first Rebuild film - Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone. More news when we get it. Source: MVM |
Revolutionary Girl Utena Clips! With MVM's upcoming release of the Revolutionary Girl Utena movie just round the corner, they've released some clips to whet your appetite! Written by the same guy who did FLCL, Revolutionary Girl Utena The Movie is a surreal and ambitious film that deserves a look, so check out the clips below: Clip 1 -
Low /
High Revolutionary Girl Utena The Movie is released by MVM on 13th October, priced £15.99. Source: MVM |
Manga Make-up! On a recent shopping trip, Animetion
writer Amy was surprised to find Manga-inspired Eyeko
Beauty cosmetics available in high-street pharmacist
Superdrug. Source: Superdrug |
September News Roundup
Source: Various |