How the heck am I supposed to board this plane if I keep getting news to post?

So, we’ll make this short’n’sweet: Nebs has noticed that ADV is getting back on track with its release schedule, starting with a new volume of Kanon. Which is going to make their Acen panel way less awkward! (Once again, feel free to leave some questions for ‘em.)

VIZ issued a press release a little while ago announcing that those who buy a Death Note tee or DVD at “select” Hot Topic stores will get free tickets to showings of the Death Note live action flick. Hot Topic will also be hosting some signs and other promos for the event.

I haven’t yet seen a list of the participating Hot Topic stores (though admittedly I’m in a bit of a rush, not to mention that slow airport internets are SLOW), but here is Hot Topic’s mention of the plan.

So, FUNi is doing all these licensing announcements this week; they also plan to announce the final of that slew on Saturday at their Anime Central panel. (And by the way, Anime on DVD has figured out what tomorrow’s license is– here’s the dead giveaway.)

But I just got a press release declaring that they’ve got another announcement up their sleeves, this one on Monday, and they’re giving away a different sort of hint. Here are the hints they sent in their e-mail:

Oh, the drama of it all.

And…

Saturday is to die for.

…At least, I think they’re both clues for the Monday title, in spite of the Saturday reference in the second one. The panel on Saturday will also feature instructions on how to find out the Monday announcement title.

Get speculatin’! I have my own personal guess after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Reader Yue alerted me to the fact that FUNi has their next hint up. My first instinct is to say Shigurui, and I can find a couple of images similar to that, but not that exact one, so maybe I’m wrong. Definitely looks bloody though.

(A small part of me also wishes that it could be a Hellsing image– I mean, it’d definitely be an “OMG NO WAY” title for them to score, and they have talked about trying to rescue some Geneon licenses, though I don’t know how Geneon’s possible deal might affect things…though it doesn’t matter since that doesn’t look like any Alucard shot I’ve ever seen.)

Anyone recognize that shadow? Yeah, I don’t either…but here are some recent, unlicensed mech series: Kishin Taishin Gigantic Formula, Idolmaster: Xenoglossia, Kiss Dum Engage Planet, Kotetsushin Jeeg…any other ideas?

Oop– looks like we found it! And by “we” I mean several awesome readers. Hit the jump if you want the surprise spoiled. Read the rest of this entry »

What a dramatic day! First the Yaoi House stuff dies down, then hopes are raised for a Geneon comeback, and now this?

AnimeonDVD reports that SuperTechnoArts, known for Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure and…um…well, that’s pretty much it, may be folding. Their website is gone and AnimeNation says JoJo’s been withdrawn.

For those unaware (i.e. most of us), SuperTechnoArts was created as the North American arm of the Tokyo-based company APPP Co. (Another Push Pin Planning Company). Their only US releases, as far as I can tell, are JoJo, Sci-Fi Harry, and Shadow, all OVAs by APPP. Hmm!

This one goes firmly in the RUMOR! category for now, but Nebs reports that Geneon may be in talks with an unnamed major US distributor to help save Geneon’s catalogue, or at least some of it. Says Nebs:

If we don’t hear anything by mid-summer we probably won’t hear anything.

Even if a major deal is struck, it won’t involve Geneon’s entire catalog circa Sept 2007. The new company will cherry pick those releases like people at Ruby Tuesday pick over the salad bar.

The ‘major distributor’ they are in talks with is NOT one of the existing US Anime studios.

Not entirely sure where Nebs pulled this from; the source link is Robert’s Anime Corner Store, on which I can’t find any such information (nor is it on the RACS blog). But Nebs is, well, Nebs, so I’ve got an e-mail out to get more specifics on that and in the meantime I’m giving the benefit of the doubt.

EDIT: The source is the RACS e-mail newsletter, which AnimeUK has reproduced the text of. An excerpt:

Geneon has been in serious talks with a major US home entertainment distributor for about the past three months to get their titles back on the street. I know exactly who it is, how far along they are, and the details that are going to make or break the deal. The trouble is I can’t make any of that info public without jeopardizing our relationship with the new company, but perhaps it’s helpful to let you guys know that there is something serious in the works.

The three points I attributed to Nebs above are also from Robert’s newsletter. So, there you go, and we’ll see what happens.

Edit II: I just wanted to make a note that even if this rumored deal doesn’t happen, it’s nice to think that Geneon is still fighting for their titles.

Boys Next Door has the latest update on the Yaoi House debacle, in which it appears that founder Kira Takenouchi has stepped aside to allow Elizabeth Cameron to take over as president. Yaoi House will continue to publish Takenouchi’s works.

The pub has also released all of its current authors from their contracts due to all the recent drama, so that they can choose to stay with Yaoi House or try to sell their books to other publishers instead– which I think is an awesome move.

Okay, they really gave it away too easily with the picture on their website, which AoD picked up on instantly….but I just got the official press release: FUNimation has acquired the rights to the sequel to Gunslinger Girl, Gunslinger Girl Il Teatrino.

The most interesting tidbit in the release? “FUNimation Entertainment will release all 13 episodes of Gunslinger Girl Il Teatrino in one complete DVD release in 2009.” So, you have to wait until next year, but at least you’ll get it all at once.

So far the announcements have had a nice, well-rounded quality about them: a traditional shoujo series (Save Me! Lollipop), a shounen comedy (KenIchi: The Strongest Disciple), and now a seinen show. The press release says they’ll have another announcement tomorrow, but this time there aren’t any hints on the front page of the site– any speculation?

So, here we are in the U.S. waiting to get our hands on Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys manga– which VIZ won’t release until after Urasawa’s Monster is finished –and meanwhile, NTV is off selling the movie trilogy to other countries. Megabox bought the Korean rights and plans on it being the biggest Japanese series ever to hit Korea; buyers have also acquired it for Hong Kong and Taiwan (bought by Golden Harvest), Thailand (M Pictures), and Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei (Encore Films).

Which, of course, begs the question: who’s gonna score it in the US? VIZ, with the manga license plus their movie picture distro, seems like the obvious choice…but they haven’t yet put on a theatrical release of more than a few days. So maybe NTV is going to look for a more mainstream distro? Then again, maybe not; they seem content with VIZ doing the Death Note movies, which were also major sellers for them in Asia.