Rather out of the ordinary in terms of what I generally post about on this blog, but I couldn't resist writing about what's been happening over at the Anime Expo 2015 convention because a LOT of important news has just exploded towards everyone in the anime community. So this is the first part of a couple due to distributors having different panels on different days so for now I'll be talking about Aniplex of America, Sentai Filmworks and Viz Media. I'll save Vertical and JAST USA for their own topics since their fellow distributors have their panels on later dates.
So let's begin this crazy outing.
Aniplex of America
Starting off with Aniplex of America, the company have announced a fair good amount of news for their existing titles. No new titles were announced aside from the already confirmed simulcasts from the Summer 2015 season; Charlotte, Classroom Crisis, Durarara!! X2 Ten, GOD EATER and Wagnaria!!3. The most interesting inclusion out of the five is GOD EATER, it's been confirmed by the Aniplex Guy that this is the first non-Aniplex title that the US branch have acquired for their catalogue, which may cause some problems amongst fans who can't afford their releases. All titles (with the exception of GOD EATER which is exclusive to Daisuki) will be available to stream on Crunchyroll, Daisuki, Viewster, Hulu and the Aniplex Channel. Folks in the UK & Ireland will be able to stream these lot on Crunchyroll while those in Australia can view Charlotte, Classroom Crisis and Durarara!! X2 on AnimeLab in addition to Wagnaria!!3 on Crunchyroll.
Just after they showed off their new simulcasts they announced that Your lie in April (Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso) has been greenlit for an English dub from Bang Zoom! Entertainment! I personally enjoyed this show and I still consider it to be one of the best shows in recent seasons so far. No new details have been confirmed on whether the show will be released on Blu-ray, DVD or both.
Tsukimonogatari, the latest arc to be adapted by SHAFT in the Monogatari franchise, will be officially coming to Blu-ray on September 15th for SRP $64.98. The set will include all four episodes of the Yotsugi Doll arc in addition to some on-disc extras and neat packaging.
Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works was already confirmed to receive an English dub a couple of weeks back but it's finally been showed off and the cast has officially been announced. The English dub cast includes the likes of Byrce Papenbrook (Shirou), Mela Lee (Rin), Kari Wahlgren (Saber), Kaiji Tang (Archer) and many more including some returning actors from Fate/Zero. The series will also be coming to Blu-ray and DVD with Box Set 1 coming this August 25th. The Blu-ray Limited Edition will be priced at $219.98 and the DVD Standard Edition will be priced at $99.98. Both formats will contain the uncut versions of episodes 00 to 12 and the textless opening and endings. The Blu-ray LE will include the original soundtrack 1, deluxe booklet, rigid box, TV spots and commercials, Promo videos and trailers. Of course the price itself is pretty ridiculous but keep in mind that although it's only 13 episodes, 3 of them are double length. In addition the Japanese Box Set was only released in late March 2015 (that's five months apart).
Last but not least, Durarara!! X2 Shou will be coming to Blu-ray and DVD in two volumes. Both formats will share the same amount of content including textless opening and endings, booklet, illustration cards, pre-broadcast cast talk show and special packaging. Volume 1 will include episodes 1-6 and Volume 2 will include episodes 7-12 plus episode 4.5. Both volumes will cost $99.98 on Blu-ray and $59.98 on DVD.
Sentai Filmworks
Sentai Filmworks started off their panel with some information regarding their latest collector's editions; Beyond the Boundary (Kyoukai no Kanata) and Persona 4 the Animation. Beyond the Boundary's CE includes a chipboard artbox, 2 amaray cases, Episode 0 OVA (exclusive to set), reversible covers, 96 page companion booklet - sketches and artwork, 4 character card double-sided, foil sticker logo also reversible, two metal pins (blue bucket, sword that kills bucket), Mirai sticker in idol costume, ruler with Mirai on front, Mirai's iconic red glasses, poster 13x19 double sided, blood red lanyard, authenticity card and a Mirai keychain with reversible face. All of this for $179.98. Persona 4's CE includes a chipboard artbox, 2 amaray cases, English & Japanese audio, 3 button set with card, Sticker sheet, 8 tarot card set and a Microfiber cloth. All of this for $139.98.
Before the panel started they also revealed that Parasyte -the maxim- will be coming to Toonami this fall with an English dub. Exciting news for those who live in North America and have access to Adult Swim.
In terms of the Summer 2015 season they have also announced the acquisitions for six titles, surprisingly enough none of them are Monster Musume which is one of the biggest titles to arrive this season. But instead they have picked up (which all of them will be available to watch on Crunchyroll) Aoharu x Machinegun (Aoharu x Kikanju), Gate: Thus the JSDF Fought There (Gate: Jieitai Kanochi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri), School-Live! (Gakkou Gurashi!), To Love-Ru -Trouble- Darkness, Ushio & Tara (Ushio to Tara) and Wakaba*Girl. So far a majority of them are confirmed for Crunchyroll across most regions but Aoharu x Machinegun is US & Canada only (it is however available on Viewster for UK & Ireland).
Last but certainly not the least for Sentai was the big announcements that they had promised to reveal. Oh boy was it big. The company had managed to acquire the rights to all seasons and ovas for Higurashi: When They Cry; that's Season 1, Season 2: Kai and Season 3: Rei. It is actually unknown if they have other OVAs within the franchise but we'll all find out once they solicited the title for release. The other big news is that they also have The Legend of the Galactic Heroes, a 110 episode OVA series that many thought was pretty much impossible to release in English. Now that Sentai have the license they are pretty much broke (I guess now anyway). No news on whether both titles will be receiving an English dub (Higurashi Season 1 was dubbed but it's not given a good reception).
Viz Media
Viz Media started off the industry panel with some interesting news. Many of them were relatively predictable but some were quite surprising indeed. Starting off with the announcement of K: Missing Kings and K: Return of Kings. They have the first season and it seems to have done well enough to pick up the movie and the second season. In addition they also picked up Boruto: Naruto the Movie, the latest Naruto film to be released and will be coming to North America in the theaters at the end of the year. Dragon Ball Color will also be continuing with the Frieza saga next.
Now the rest is pretty much a surprise. Starting off with news that they have picked up the Legend of the Galactic Heroes novel series for their Haikasoru label (which handles light novels and popular novels like All You Need Is Kill, Battle Royale and Project Itoh). They did confirm however that the publisher will only release the first three volumes starting in March 2016 and will require good sales in order for them to publish the rest of them. There are 10 volumes in the main series.
Death Note on Blu-ray was announced. This worries me as there is no HD master in existence over in Japan so we know that Viz Media is once again going to create an upscale in a similar fashion to what they've done with Sailor Moon. Its slated to arrive later this year and I won't be going after it until I know more about the quality control and video details.
Last but not the least is the acquisition for the One Punch Man anime series which is airing this Autumn season. This show is certainly getting the hype with a very popular shonen manga doing well in sales over in Japan and soon to be released in English via print starting September, oh and let's not forget that studio Madhouse is involved with the animation for the anime so that's even better.
That's it for Part 1 of this post. Stay tuned for more.
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