Couple of days late but just recently some big news were announced over at MCM Comic Con Manchester. With the exception of MVM Entertainment, the other major anime distributors have announced new and updated details on their schedules.
Let's begin!
Anime Limited
Starting off with the first industry panel that occurred - All the Anime or Anime Limited as they are known for. The distributor have announced some interesting titles for their catalogue. The first title announced was revealed a day before and that was Ping Pong the Animation, which will be coming to Blu-ray and DVD this October. The contents will be the same as the Funimation version.
Their next announcement is probably the biggest overall. Anime Limited have announced a special partnership with Sunrise to release the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise, much like what Rightstuf is doing for North America. The first title they will be releasing is the original 1979 Mobile Suit Gundam anime on both Blu-ray and DVD in two parts sometime in October and November, around the same time that Rightstuf is expected to release theirs. No other details have been revealed (aside from containing English and Japanese audio w/English subtitles) on what sort of contents or what edition the series will have but when the staff asked the audience there could be some kind of special treatment. The distributor will also release the first part of Gundam Reconguista in G in December, with formats not confirmed but the show will be released subtitle only (Japanese audio w/English subtitles) as an English dub doesn't exist at this point.
The third announcement was a license rescue from way back in the days of Revelation/Funimation distribution with Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad. The series was previously released in multiple volumes (much like any anime was back in the old days) but the series was released incomplete with only half of the volumes released before the distribution stopped. Anime Limited's release will include all of the episodes in one set with English and Japanese audio w/English subtitles on DVD this November. They did clarify that they are aware of a Blu-ray version but wanted to get the show out there for fans who really wanted to see the series, so it's possible we could see a Blu-ray release in the future (note that the Blu-ray masters are 1080i up-converted).
And the final announcement is their acquisition for Blood Blockade Battlefront which is now available to stream legally on Viewster for UK, Ireland and Scandinavia (Funimation have the rights for North America). The show is expected to see a release in 2016 however it depends on whether the final episode gets released soon (the last episode was delayed to increase the run-time but could not find a slot to broadcast in Japan).
Other announcements include their Q4 schedule which includes A Letter to Momo (Blu-ray & DVD in December), Fuse: Memoirs of a Huntress (Blu-ray & DVD in November), Gankutsuou: The Count Of Monte Cristo (Blu-ray in December), Samurai Flamenco Part 1 (Blu-ray only in November), Sword Art Online II Part 2 and 3 (Blu-ray & DVD in October & December respectively) and hopefully the entirety of Full Metal Panic! (Blu-ray sometime before 2016).
Kaze UK
Now the next panel was a joint combination of Manga UK, Animatsu and Kaze UK. Starting off with Kaze as their titles were announced first. Now before I go into the titles I should give you a heads up about this distributor - they are not good at quality control and there's no sort of communication between the UK community and the French distributor. Heck, Manga UK's logo is even no longer on their sets after the infamous Bakuman incident.
Anywho, their first announcement is Coppelion. The series will be released DVD only and will contain English and Japanese audio w/English subtitles. Extras are unknown considering that Kaze rarely take disc content from existing English releases like Funimation or Viz Media. Coppelion was licensed in the US by Viz Media so in this case Viz Media Europe also had the rights, in addition the show also aired on Animax UK. Coppelion will be available sometime in November.
Their next announcement was the second season of Magi, also known as Magi: The Kingdom of Magic. The series will be released on Blu-ray and DVD, English and Japanese audio w/English subtitles, and in two separate sets. It's been said that the set will arrive before the end of the year. Magi was licensed by Aniplex of America in the US but interestingly enough the UK so far is the only English region to receive a Blu-ray release.
Final announcement for Kaze is another Aniplex of America title World Conquest Zvezda Plot. The series will also be released DVD only but will be subtitle only as there is no English dub (Japanese audio w/English subtitles). The series will also be set for November.
While this wasn't announced at the convention Kaze also have a complete movie box set of the Mardock Scramble trilogy arriving sometime this fall on Blu-ray and DVD.
Manga Entertainment UK
Manga UK is still alive and kicking but they have a couple titles to announce.
Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F will be released in cinemas across a lot of screens. It's expected to appear in September but no other details were revealed just yet.
Danganronpa the Animation was the first to be announced. The series is expected to arrive on Blu-ray and DVD this November. The series will also have English and Japanese audio w/English subtitles. It's interesting to note that Funimation have yet to release this series or include it in their release schedule, however we do know that they have revealed the English cast (The main lead returns for the role while everyone else was recast).
The next couple are Naruto related. Manga UK have confirmed they have finally picked up the rights to release Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie and The Last: Naruto the Movie for Blu-ray and DVD. The most important key note is that they will be receive a standalone release unlike Blood Prison (the fifth Shippuden film) which was only available on Blu-ray as a complete box set with the four other Shippuden films. And speaking of that, Manga UK have also confirmed that Naruto Shippuden: Blood Prison will receive a standalone Blu-ray release before the end of the year.
Last but not least, Manga UK have officially announced their acquisition for Noragami Season 1 which was leaked by Amazon UK a couple of weeks back. They confirmed that the release date is not final so it may slip into the Q4 lineup (currently set for September).
Animatsu Entertainment
And finally we have Animatsu, who did a tremendous job at their announcements in the previous MCM. They have some more titles to announce.
From Sentai Filmworks, Animatsu have acquired the rights to Samurai Jam Bakumatsu Rock and Beyond the Boundary for Blu-ray and DVD. Bakumatsu Rock is expected to arrive on October 19th as a subtitle only release (Sentai didn't dub the show) while Beyond the Boundary will arrive sometime in the Q4 line-up.
The next three announcements are actually Japanese live-action films.
Animatsu will be releasing Mamoru Oshii's Garm Wars: The Last Druid which combines live-action and CGI together. The film is expected to be released sometime in Q4. In addition they will also release the live-action adaptation of Parasyte, Kisejuu. The film was released in two parts and so far the company will be releasing Part 1 on Blu-ray and DVD in early November. And the third but interesting enough that Manga didn't get it, Shingeki no Kyojin (aka the live-action adaptation of Attack on Titan). The film will be seeing a theatrical release in multiple screens and also a Blu-ray and DVD release in early 2016.
That's all from these companies but they'll all provide some updates in the coming weeks. I'll have a blog post on the Otakon announcements soon.
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