After getting a good night of sleep, I woke up looking for a sign. I needed to know that today was going to be a good day. Then this sitting in my inbox…

FUNimation Entertainment Acquires Baka and Test and Dance in the Vampire Bund for North American Release

Oh yeah, it’s going to be a good day.

Funimation announced this morning that have acquired all the usual rights (digitial, home video, etc) for Baka to Test to Shokanju (to be released as Baka and Test: Summon the Beasts) produced by Silver Link and Dance in the Vampire Bund from Shaft. Two very different series which both premiered this past January in Japan.

Baka and Test is likely the candidate for the biggest hit of the last season. A romantic school comedy about students in a school which promotes the summoning of tiny avatars to battle other students and classes; it’s becoming harder and harder to go an entire week without hearing at least one person make a reference to the androgynous trap character Hideyoshi.

The second series licensed, Dance in the Vampire Bund, is a much darker, loli vampire series about the queen of vampires, Mina Tepes, creating a new world for her race. Buying an island from Japan, Tepes plans to create a safe haven for vampires all over the world to live in but from the very beginning there are humans and vampires who want her to fail.

Both series will be getting a simulcast starting tomorrow (Friday) morning at 10am Central when the first two episodes of Baka and Test and the first four episodes of Dance in the Vampire Bund will premiere on the official Funimation site. New episodes will be rolled out weekly after that starting on the 10th and 12th.

While I’m not crazy about the new title change (Summon the Beasts makes it sound way too much like an action series when it’s actually not even close); these are two announcements that start a day off right. Baka and Test is a something I’ve enjoyed quite a bit thus far and Dance in the Vampire Bund is…. well it’s not terrible.

Full press release after the cut

FUNimation Entertainment Acquires Baka and Test and Dance in the Vampire Bund for North American Release

Anime Leader to Stream Episodes of Series within Days of Japanese Television Debut

Flower Mound, TX – March 4, 2010 — FUNimation® Entertainment has acquired digital, broadcast, home video and merchandise rights to the fantasy anime series “Baka and Test — Summon the Beasts” (known in Japan as Baka to Test to Shokanju) and the supernatural action anime series “Dance in the Vampire Bund” and the from Media Factory. The agreement gives the American anime leader exclusive rights to the online streaming and simulcast of both series in the U.S.

Starting this month, FUNimation will deliver high-quality, free, original Japanese dialogue accompanied by English subtitles, streaming episodes of “Baka and Test – Summon the Beasts” and “Dance in the Vampire Bund” via www.funimation.com, just  days after airing on Japan’s TV Tokyo and Chiba TV, respectively.

This week on Friday, March 5 at 10:00 a.m. CST FUNimation will stream the first two episodes of “Baka to Test – Summon the Beasts” and episodes 1-4 of “Dance in the Vampire Bund.” In addition to the episodes already aired in Japan, starting March 10 and 12 a new episode will be rolled out weekly as both series continue their television run.

FUNimation will also offer a download-to-own option for these episodes through www.funimation.com at $1.99 per episode.

“Baka and Test — Summon the Beasts” is a 13 episode series produced by Silver Lake and directed by Shin Oonuma (Pani Poni Dash, Negima! OVA’s) and adapted from the light novel series written by Kenju Inoue and illustrated by Yui Haga.

About Baka and Test — Summon the Beasts

Fumizuki Academy’s students can summon Avatars, pint-sized versions of themselves that battle using special powers. The students are grouped by skill level, and those in Class A are the brightest. Then there’s Akihisa Yoshii’s group – lowly Class F. They’re the worst on campus, and they’re about to take on the school’s best.

“Dance in the Vampire Bund” is a 12 episode series produced by the Japanese studio SHAFT and directed by Masahiro Sonada (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood) and based on the manga by Nozomu Tamaki.

About Dance in the Vampire Bund

When Mina Tepes – queen of the vampires – suddenly appears in Japan to establish a colony for her blood-sucking brethren, Akira Kaburagi’s world will never be the same. As a boy, Akira vowed to serve the ruler of the night, and now he must fulfill his destiny by protecting Mina from those who would dethrone her!

Visit the Baka and Test – Summon the Beasts and Dance in the Vampire Bund official web sites for updates.

About FUNimation Entertainment

FUNimation^® Entertainment, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Navarre Corporation, is the leading company for home video sales of Japanese animation in the United States.  FUNimation has a proven formula for launching and advancing brands, and manages a full spectrum of rights for most of its brands including broadcasting, licensing, production, internet, and home video sales and distribution. For more information about FUNimation Entertainment and its brands, visit www.funimation.com.