Industry News: Otakon 2017 Announcements Round-up

Whenever Anime Expo ends, the next big convention that a lot of us wait for is Otakon, and there were once again some cool announcements to share. The convention occurred between 11th to 13th of August 2017.

The following panels covered in this round-up are as follows:

Anime - Aniplex of America, Crunchyroll, Discotek Media, Eleven Arts, Funimation, Nozomi/Rightstuf, Viz Media

Books - Viz Media

Games/Visual Novels - MangaGamer

Going to begin this very long news post with the anime announcements/news for starters.

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A N I M E

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Aniplex of America

Aniplex had been building some form of hype towards their panel at Otakon with Anohana related news. A couple months back they announced they have rescued the license to the Anohana TV series and would be offering an English dub (as the NIS America release was subtitled only).

Now they have revealed the details regarding Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day with the announcement of a complete series Blu-ray boxset at SRP $149.98. The set includes all 11 episodes in English & Japanese audio with English subtitles as well as a 60-page booklet all housed in a rigid box. The set will be available on October 31st 2017. On-disc extras do include an English Audio Commentary, English Cast Bloopers, Trailers & Previews as well as the Textless Songs.

Monogatari fans get three announcements.

Kizumonogatari Part III: Reiketsu will be released on Blu-ray at SRP $89.98. The set includes the main film in Japanese audio with English subtitles as well as the original soundtrack, deluxe booklet, and postcards. The set will be available on November 21st 2017. This part concludes the Kizumonogatari film trilogy.

Koyomimonogatari will also be available after the lack of any legal stream. All 12 short episodes will be released together on Blu-ray at SRP $89.98 with Japanese audio with English subtitles. Like the other arcs, there will also be a deluxe booklet and pin-up postcards to go with the packaging. The set will be available on December 19th 2017.

Owarimonogatari Season 2 was announced to be available for streaming exclusively on Crunchyroll right now. Bare in mind that knowledge of the other seasons plus Koyomimonogatari is needed before stepping into this new arc.

And last but not least is a surprise early release of Sword Art Online the Movie -Ordinal Scale-. The Japanese Blu-rays are due to be released this September and do contain English subtitles, but this domestic release will offer similar contents plus the English dub. Set for December 19th 2017, there will be three different versions; a limited edition Blu-ray (SRP: $79.98), a standard edition Blu-ray (SRP: $49.98) and standard edition DVD (SRP: $39.98).

The limited edition Blu-ray will include a Bonus Music CD: "Ubiquitous dB -Special ver.-" by Asuna Yuuki (cv: Haruka Tomatsu), Keiko Ayano (cv: Rina Hidaka), "Break Beat Bark! -special ver.-" by Rika Shinozaki (cv: Ayahi Takagaki), Shino Asada (cv: Miyuki Sawashiro), "longing -movie ver.-," "delete -movie ver.-" and "smile for you -movie ver.-" by Yuna (cv: Sayaka Kanda), as well as a Deluxe Booklet all housed in a rigid box.

All Blu-ray disc versions will also include the Audio Commentary by Creators & Japanese Cast (Tomohiko Ito, Shingo Adachi, Reki Kawahara, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, Haruka Tomatsu and Sayaka Kanda) and the Special Short Animation: Sword Art Offline -Ordinal Scale-.

Other streaming news includes the Hulu release date for the Blue Exorcist: Kyoto Saga English dub set for September 1st, and a reminder that Blend S is airing this October.

Crunchyroll

Crunchyroll is most likely saving their announcements for the Crunchyroll Expo so they were pretty much barebones this time around but they did unveil a new streaming announcement for the Autumn 2017 season line-up. The title is Juni Taisen: Zodiac War, based on a 'battle royale' type novel written by NisiOisiN. No details on territories yet.

Discotek Media

Discotek had been hyping up their announcements as well with their Otakon panel, and they delivered with around seven new titles.

Lupin the Third Part IV: The Italian Adventure
This particular title has been hyped up by many, but the actual release is a bit more complicated than we expected. The good news is that it will be a complete series set with all 26 episodes. The bad news is that it's also a weird release pattern. Discotek used the Italian masters for their English dub production and there are differences between the Italian broadcast and the Japanese broadcast. The plus side to all of this is that Discotek will be putting out both versions on Blu-ray, however it will be split up into two different sets similar to other titles like Samurai Pizza Cats. The Italian broadcast will include the English dub while the Japanese broadcast will be subtitled only.

TL;DR - Complete Series set, 2 different versions - Italian master w/Eng Dub, Japanese master w/Eng Sub

Bananya
The cats that live in Bananas have been acquired by Discotek and will also be given an English dub featuring Michael Toole. It will be coming to Blu-ray and DVD.

Cyborg 009: The Cyborg Soldier
Catching the surprise of many, the 2001 TV series adaptation of the Cyborg 009 story has been rescued by Discotek Media. The distributor will be offering the entire 52 episode series on both DVD and SD on BD (Standard Definition on Blu-ray Discs).

Project ARMS
Originally distributed by Viz Media, Discotek have rescued the 52 episode series (technically two seasons) for DVD with both the existing English dub as well as the original Japanese audio with English subtitles.

Hells
A new update for the Madhouse film Hells. An English dub will be produced in collaboration with Team Four Star (of Dragon Ball Z Abridged fame) and Sound Cadence Studios. It isn't a parody but a proper faithful one. The English subtitles will also be updated to fix the mistranslations from the original Japanese Blu-ray release.

Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer
Another update on the second film in the Urusei Yatsura series. The release will have a 16:9 aspect ratio as preferred by director Mamoru Oshii. Both formats will have the English dub from the original master as well as improved English subtitles for the Japanese audio. Extra features include director commentary and theatrical trailers as well as Liner Notes.

Robot Carnival
The classic short films collection is getting a Blu-ray release for the first time. Discotek have teamed up with Justin Sevakis to produce a brand new 2K master of the short films.

NieA_7
The cult anime from the creator of Serial Experiments Lain will be available on Blu-ray and DVD from Discotek. The interesting part is that they will be using a different Blu-ray master to fix the issues that the original Japanese Blu-ray had. The extra bonus videos from the previous Geneon release will also be included.

Ashita no Joe Movie
Discotek have acquired the 1980s remake film of Ashita no Joe. The official English name is currently in approvals but it's under names like Champion Joe and Tomorrow's Joe. The movie will have both Japanese audio with English subtitles and an English dub (with the dub taken from the Tai Seng DVD release). The Blu-ray master is the same transfer as the Japanese Blu-ray Disc release.

Lupin the Third: The Legend of the Gold of Babylon
Licensed in 2005 and never got released until well.. next year. Discotek have finally gone back to this film and will be releasing it on Blu-ray and DVD in 2018.

Lupin the Third Part II: Set 2
A new update for the second part of four of the Part II anime TV series. The set will cover episodes 41-79 which is essentially the remaining dubbed episodes of the series. The video is remastered and the subtitles have been improved. The release will have commentaries and an interview with Richard Epcar.

Eleven Arts

The US theatrical distributor is offering a number of anime films to the American theaters. They mentioned a few back at Anime Expo but here's the list confirmed so far:

Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro - September 14th & 19th 2017

The classic Lupin film directed by Hayao Miyazaki will be back in cinemas across 500 screens nationwide. This is a limited release as well.

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha: Reflection - Winter 2018

The recent Nanoha film will be heading to the US cinemas sometime this Winter. Originally planned for October but now there's no exact release date. The movie will be Japanese audio with English subtitles.

A Silent Voice - October 20th 2017

While the UK has managed to witness this film for months, the US never did. Now Eleven Arts plan to theatrically release this movie to the US theaters with a potential giveaway item as well. This movie will be Japanese audio with English subtitles as the English dub is still in the works from NYAV Post.

Funimation

Funimation's big announcements for this panel... is basically going through their November 2017 line-up. Granted we did get some surprises.

Let's start off with the titles getting the limited edition treatment.

Your Name - November 7th 2017

The latest Makoto Shinkai film is finally getting a home video release. Both Anime Limited and Madman are also aiming for this release date as well, but so far Funimation have unveiled their specs. The limited edition will offer a two-piece collectible chipboard box with rainbow holographic finish featuring Taki and Mitsuha, Your Name. 2-disc original soundtrack by RADWIMPS (with English and Japanese versions), 60-page hardcover art book and Art digipack.

Speed Racer + MachGoGoGo - November 7th 2017

The Speed Racer series is already available on Blu-ray but this collector's edition release will also offer the MachGoGoGo version. The Collectible Speed Racer Bust with Sound Effects will feature the following: 1967 Speed Racer (Blu-ray & DVD), 1967 Mach Go Go Go (Blu-ray & DVD), 1997 Mach Go Go Go Restart (DVD), Collectible Speed Racer Key Chain, and a 2017 Interview with Trixie voice actor CorinneOrr.

Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans [Season 1] - November 14th 2017

The latest major TV series in the Gundam franchise is separate from the Nozomi/Sunrise deal, and Funimation are going all-out (ish) with this release. There will be an exclusive "HG (High Grade) 1/144 Scale GUNDAM BARBATOS + SMOOTHBORE GUN [METALLIC GLOSS INJECTION]" Gunpla model kit. Funimation notes this is a specific metallic gloss version of this Gunpla model that is exclusive to the Funimation limited edition release only and won't be released in Japan. The set will also offer an Artbook and rigid box that includes Parts 1 & 2 of Season 1 plus space for Season 2 Parts 1 & 2. There won't be a limited edition version without the Gunpla model as far as I'm aware.

91 Days - November 14th 2017

One of the Crunchyroll titles. The limited edition will include a rigid box, 40-page companion guidebook (with artwork, character profiles, and a ton of background information related to the show about Prohibition, the Chicago mafia, the accurate period firearms featured in the series, etc), and 6 artcards.

Myriad Colors Phantom World - November 21st 2017

One of the Crunchyroll titles. The limited edition will include a rigid box and a set of 5 lenticular art cards that show the characters in two different outfits (one normal and one alternate).

Other titles set for November include:

Cheer Boys - November 7th

First Love Monster - November 7th

The Future Diary [Re-release with Redial OVA] - November 21st as a BD/DVD Combo Pack

Handa-Kun - November 7th

Hybrid x Heart Magias Academy Ataraxia - November 21st

Kiddy GiRL-AND - November 28th as a BD/DVD Combo Pack

NEW GAME! [Season 1] - November 21st

Project Itoh: Genocidal Organ - November 7th

Nozomi/Rightstuf/Sunrise

This will be split into two parts, the first part will cover the Nozomi titles and the second part will cover the Gundam titles.

The first part of news is a surprise kickstarter announcement for Aria the Animation (the first season in the Aria anime series). The goal is to offer an English dub and US-authored Blu-ray for the first season with the aim to reach $110,000. So far at the time the kickstarter has reached $31,000 which is just a quarter of the way there! The subtitles will be locked due to license requirements and the Blu-rays will be Region A only. If you would like to support this kickstarter check out the page here.

The limited edition release of Revolutionary Girl Utena was also unveiled. The pre-orders began back at Anime Expo but now the set's design has been revealed.

Collector's Edition contents:

• 10 Blu-ray discs ~ 39 episodes & Movie
• 3 Piece Case
• 264-page Artbook
• 2 Signet Rings
• Region A
• December 5th 2017
• $224.99 SRP ($146.22 TRSI Price)

On-disc Extras:

• Clean Opening and Closings
• Live-Action video for Opening single
• TV spot for Opening single
• Promos
• Trailers
• Animated Art Galleries
• Japanese Staff Commentary for episodes 37-39
• Full-length Movie Commentary by Director Kunihiko Ikuhara
• Dueling Themes Karaoke
• Behind the Scenes of the Movie with the English cast
• Interviews with Director Kunihiko Ikuhara, Tomoko Kawakami (“Utena”), Yuriko Fuchizaki (“Anthy”), and the English cast

Meanwhile over on the Gundam side of news, there's a special limited edition release of Mobile Suit Gundam Wing (New Mobile Report Gundam Wing) also unveiled at the panel. The pre-orders just became available as well.

Collector's Edition contents:

• 13 Blu-rays - 49 episodes, Endless Waltz (Movie & OVA versions) & Operation Meteor
• 180-page Artbook
• 3 Posters
• 5 Piece Metal Pin Set
• 5 Artcards
• 5 Tarot Cards
• Region A
• December 5th 2017
• $269.99 SRP ($175.49 TRSI Price)

On-disc Extras:

• Textless Songs
• Japanese Commericals
• Frozen Teardrop Picture Drama
• Cast Interviews
• & more yet to be unveiled

For those who just want the discs, the standard editions will be available in November 7th 2017 while Endless Waltz standard edition is set for December 5th 2017.

That's not the only Gundam news unveiled! The highly anticipated epic Mobile Fighter G Gundam will be coming to Blu-ray in 2018. No other details yet but it's said to be around Spring 2018.

There will also be a new English dub project for the Mobile Suit Gundam SEED & SEED Destiny HD Remasters. The new dub will be handled by NYAV Post. The reason for the re-dub is because the HD Remaster changed a number of content in the anime, including altered scenes, cut scenes and new scenes altogether. The Japanese Blu-rays did offer English subtitles but they have since gone really expensive.

Viz Media

Viz Media had some announcements but a majority were for the book side. For anime however they somehow managed to acquire both seasons of Mr. Osomatsu with plans to offer an English dub as well. Episode 1 of the first season won't be included due to the licensing parody issues that was even omitted from the Japanese Blu-rays.

Hunter x Hunter: Phantom Rouge was also mentioned, with a release date currently set for Spring 2018.

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B O O K S

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Sekai Project

Sekai have been pretty quiet on the manga front, but they did unveil a new title to join their label with the manga adaptation of the cult hit The House in Fata Morgana. The first volume will be available digitally starting October 2017 followed by the next volume in Q1 2018.

Viz Media

As mentioned, Viz Media's announcements were mainly book news, so here's what they unveiled:

The Art of The Secret World of Arrietty - Hardcover form

Shirow Miwa's RWBY - Already available in Digital form, this time for Print form

Yuki Shiwasu's Takane & Hana (Takane to Hana)

Meca Tanaka's The Young Master's Revenge (Kimi no Koto Zettai ni)

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G A M E S

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MangaGamer

Visual Novel distributor MangaGamer announced a few more titles for their catalogue.

Fashioning Little Miss Lonesome

Developer: Kalmia8

The distributor's first adult Otome game is due September 8th 2017 on both MangaGamer's website and Steam.

Supipara Chapter 2

Developer: minori

MangaGamer have reached the funding goal for the second chapter of this visual novel.

The Spirit Master of Retarnia

Developer: Lunasoft

A new partnership with Lunasoft, MangaGamer acquired the classic 3D Dungeon RPG for English release.

Room No. 9

Developer: parade

From the same developer who worked on No, Thank You. No other details yet.

A Kiss for the Petals: Maidens of Michael

Developer: Yurin Yurin

The next instalment to the Kiss for the Petals series will be available on both MangaGamer's website and Steam.

Sengoku Rance and Rance Quest MAGNUM

Developer: Alicesoft

Two more Rance games join MangaGamer's on-going Rance English visual novel RPG adult games catalogue.