Most of you probably heard recently about more cease and desist letters sent from FUNimation to fansubbers of series that FUNi hasn’t actually announced, including Nabari no Ou and Slayers Revolution. FUNi just sent out notice to make sure we didn’t think they had actually acquired the license to any of these series, stating that:

We can confirm that FUNimation Entertainment has obtained has obtained an agreement authorizing FUNimation to act on behalf of d-rights and Enoki Films, Ltd. to prevent infringement on specific titles.

The authorization agreement for d-rights is for 5 series in total:

Monochrome Factor
Nabari no Ou
Kateikyoushi Hitman Reborn
Bamboo Blade
El Cazador de la Bruja

We also have an authorization agreement for Enoki Films Ltd for Slayers Revolution.

Though these series have not been licensed to a local distributor in North America, it is important to note that the rights owned by Japanese producers are still applicable, and enforceable, worldwide.

Industry watchers and anime fans have long known our stance on the unauthorized distribution of anime, especially prior to localization. The practices of illegal downloads and ‘fansubbing’ are very harmful to our Japanese partners and as part of the longstanding relationship between FUNimation and d-rights and Enoki Films, we have been asked to monitor and take action against unauthorized distribution of these titles. Because we believe that this will benefit the industry, we have agreed to do so.

If this all sounds familiar, it’s because they have done the same thing for Gonzo titles like Romeo x Juliet (though FUNi did end up picking that one up. Hmm.)

The manga Monochrome Factor– by Kairi Sorano and recently licensed by TOKYOPOP –is getting an anime, quoth SaiAni. Apparently it was announced in the October issue of Comic Blade Avarus (no confirmation from the cover, but Monochrome Factor is featured there).

The new anime (which I’m confident will not be black and white, lest you took my subject line seriously, you fool!) is set in a universe where two world mirror each other:ours is the world of “light” (really?) and the mirror world is, of course, the world of “darkness.” Everyone in our world has a doppelganger in the mirror world, and when one person dies, the doppelganger does too– and vice versa. Or so it was thought.

But then a boy named Akira continues to live after his doppelganger has died, because a strange man named Shirogane turned him into a “Thin,” a shadow-type being which doesn’t need a doppelganger. But now poor Akira has to depend on the crazy dude to maintain his physical body, and said crazy dude spouts off stuff about needing Akira to “restore the balance between the worlds.” Is he a psycho hobo or the key to saving both worlds? Yeah, I only wish it were the former.