The Anime District has word that FUNimation is going to be rolling out some new licenses– one a day up until Anime Central. Which is a little funny since that seems like they may not be announcing any *at* Anime Central, or maybe just one. But on the other hand, *most* of their fans won’t be attending ACen, and this way the ones who do attend have time to come up with all their questions and whatnot, so maybe it’s a more fan-oriented (and slightly less press-oriented) announcement plan?

I should say that I’m not too familiar with Anime District, haven’t heard this anywhere else, and haven’t received any press releases myself. And I can’t find anything on FUNimation’s website…although it’s so infected with Flash that it can be hard to look for long.

But yeah, so…speculate on whether this is true, or speculate on what licenses FUNi may have up its sleeve. Whatever makes you happy!

The official website for The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya anime has updated, and it now features Yuki on the front page instead of Haruhi (’cause she disappeared. GET IT?). The only new info is that director Tatsuya Ishihara and assistant director Yasuhiro Takemoto are returning.

On a tangential note, I’ve often wondered how many people got into Haruhi at least in part because of its novelty (the out of order episodes, the “Hare Hare Yukai” dance and its billion iterations, the memes, the character CDs for characters that don’t even have names, etc)? I wonder how Ishihara’ll keep things fresh in the second season?

On another tangent, information is coming out now, so it’s time to speculate on when we might actually see the show! Since it sounds like most of the info will come in the July issue of Newtype (on sale in June), I think it might be a little late for a summer/July start– although with Haruhi, the rules go out the window, so it’s possible. Though KyoAni has the Lucky Star OVA and Clannad After Story on their plates as well, so I’m inclined to think fall might be more likely.

VIZ has a big announcement on the way, and apparently it involves Kubo– as in Tite Kubo, creator of Bleach.

Gonna hazard a guess and say Kubo is probably going to be guesting at a convention, and I’m gonna go even crazier and say it’ll probably be Anime Expo. It could be Otakon, but let’s face it, California is closer to Japan and VIZ is in California as well, albeit the northern half. I suppose it could also be New York Anime Fest– VIZ did have a reasonable presence at NYCC and is, of course, very involved with the Kinokuniya store there –but it seems a little early for that.

Time will tell!

Earlier I talked about various details of the new Slayers REVOLUTION anime, including mention of a mascot character named Pokota. Moetron provided the above image of the terrifying creature, and suggests that it’s appearing in the manga– but maybe not the anime.

In any case, yeah, I hope it either dies in a fire, or kills lots of people. Or is, y’know, really sarcastic and funny or something. Anything but adorable.

Today’s Moon Phase diary has some details on Slayers REVOLUTION, although it’s unclear where it came from (though other information has been hitting the web from Newtype and other mags today, so I’m guessing it’s one of the primary anime ‘zines). Moon Phase is generally spot-on, so take it as you will.

Anyway, they report that the anime will air in July on TV Tokyo in a late-night spot. Apparently the plot at least begins as a search for a replacement for Gourry’s Sword of Light. Characters that I think haven’t been seen in the anime before (but who are known in the novels) will appear, including Rook and Mirina. Some more familiar faces, as well: Prince Phil returns, as does Sylphiel. And apparently some kind of mascot character called Pokota, as well…no clue there.

Once again, no source cited on the blog, but it’s Moon Phase, so it’s up to you what to think.

Edit: This post has been altered per the wishes of the moderator of the community that was its source. She provided an alternate source that also confirmed the information.

So! The last we heard of Central Park Media was that they were considering suing Japanese BL publisher Libre. See, way back when, CPM licensed a whole bunch of popular yaoi titles from Biblos for their Be Beautiful line. Biblos later went bankrupt and was replaced by Libre, who now says that CPM’s licenses are invalid because they weren’t renegotiated, as all the other BL publishers did. CPM says they paid up-front for the licenses and that they’re still valid. Libre posted an announcement on their website denouncing CPM’s releases as being illegal, and some fans and retailers started boycotting CPM’s books (or at least the ones in question).

One of these licenses is the popular Finders series by Ayano Amane. According to the editor blog and comments from a Libre editor, who says in comment #481 that a plan to release the Finder series in English– even though CPM has released it in English, but it is (for the moment) out of print and very, very hard to find –is in the works. In #484, the editor says that a specific plan is in progress but that the details haven’t been finalized.

It’s not surprising to me that it took them this long to find a publisher willing to take on the Viewfinder manga. It seems to me that the manga companies generally aren’t especially hostile to each other, and whoever takes it on could wind up a target of a lawsuit from CPM– if CPM ever even gets around to suing Libre. And yes, it’s a VERY different situation from when, say, Bandai Entertainment snagged the Gurren Lagann rights or even manga license rescues from ADV; in those cases we can assume that the original contracts were voided, whereas in this case the validity of the contract is in question.

We’re already speculating on what publisher it could be; 801 Media (with their recent hints at a major license that could get them in trouble) seems the most obvious choice.

Oof, Golden Week is always such a slow news week! But there’s still some occasional tidbits of US news: a friend of mine pointed me to this post on 801 Media’s forums, in which mascot 801-chan teases the forumgoers with a new, not-yet-contracted license.

All I will say is that you all asked for it. So you had better buy it. Like seriously, a bunch of people didn’t want to do the book for various reasons and I went out on a limb on this one. (Like, we mentioned it in confidence to a few people and they tried to talk us out of it!!!)

Some of the usual guesses appear: Okane ga Nai (which is a little shota-tastic, but hey, Kitty Media already put out the OVA…though 801 has said previously that they don’t have it), Under Grand Hotel (no one would have to be convinced to do that title– EVERY yaoi publisher wants it).

….And then they start fantasizing that 801 might try to bring over one of the hardcore doujinshi of a popular series (such as Antique Bakery and Gravitation, both of whose creators have created smutty doujins for). As for me, I have no clue. But among all the other things they enjoy, I happen to know that yaoi fans like guessing games and speculation. So, hop to it.

At 2pm CST (about three hours from the writing of this post), Right Stuf/Nozomi Entertainment will announce a new license.

But if you’re in a hurry, Japanator thinks they may already know what it is thanks to an LJer who may have caught a scoop. I know some of you will be VERY excited if it turns out to be what they think it is…

Right Stuf/Nozomi Entertainment is at it again: their countdown will end at 2CDT on May 1st, and a new license will be announced. Last time it was Maria-sama ga Miteru, and the visuals were the same, so I wouldn’t speculate based on that. Fortunately, Right Stuf has offered some hints on their forums:

- This one is done. Now the wait comes for the announcement. April showers bring…
- This one’s getting closer, (hopefully last) round of drafts exchanged.
- The Dark Lord’s Binge continues with this one, which is looking good.
- And if this last thing goes through, everyone will cheer. Hopefully my hard work will pay off.

So, so vague. Anyone? Bueller?

Remember how GONZO released a Tower of Druaga MMORPG as well as the anime?

Well, it looks like they’re expanding their gaming revolution: they just issued a press release announcing that they’re partnering with Gamania Digital Entertainment to release their MMO Pandora Saga in China, including Taiwan, Macau, and Hong Kong. (The Druaga MMO is still Japan-only, or at least Japanese-only, as far as I can tell).

I also noticed that the press release mentions that Gamania releases games in Korea, the home of about ten million different MMOs, so I wonder if that’s a possibility, too? Meanwhile, they don’t care about the US. (Not that MMORPGs are really my thing anyway.)