Posts Tagged ‘license’

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.

So, there I was enjoying my nice slow morning with nothing to do but laze about. Then I left to clean up a little and when I come back I find that Media Blasters has finally confirmed their license of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei. Because it’s obviously a little too much to ask for announcements to be made while I’m paying attention.

The dark comedy was rumored to be licensed by Media Blasters months ago but no one since then had been willing to say one way or the other but today it was finally listed among their May solicitations. Originally based on a manga and premiering in 2007 the Shaft produced comedy follows a chronically depressed teacher and his class filled with colorful female students. Gaining a following of fans who never thought they would see this one licensed, the first volume will finally see a stateside release on May 25^th with five episodes and priced at under $20! I missed this one when it first premiered and never bothered to play catch up afterwards. For $20 though, I think I can squeeze this one into my budget (might have to skip a meal or two but eh, I’ll live).

Anyone else thinking of adding this one as a budget buy whim?

<Via Anime on DVD>

Update: Anime Vice has talked with Media Blasters and made some corrections. First off, there will be NO English dub on this release which, in hindsight, is probably a better thing. Secondly, the first volume will contain six episodes (half the first season) and be priced at 24.99.

The April release calendar has been updated by Media Blasters and among them are a couple of surprise announcements. First off, the company is building on whatever forward momentum it had going from the Queen’s Blade announcement and has revealed the license of Kanokon. Based on the light novels, the 2008 ecchi harem comedy revolves around a middle school student who has both a fox girl deity and a wolf girl deity fighting for his love. Wow, tough life. The TV series originally aired in 2008 but also got an OVA last fall with animation produced by Xebec each time. The first volume will contain the first four episodes and an English dub. It hits store shelves April 27^th. Right Stuf already has it available for preorder here. I admit that this is probably something that I might enjoy as pure fluff. I never got around to actually checking it out though so this might make a good excuse.

Also announced for an April release will be a special edition of the incredibly bloody comedy Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan with a brand new English dub track. For those who missed it the first time around, Dokuro-chan is sent to Earth by God to guard a boy named Sakura because in the future he is going to invent a device which allows women to stop aging at the age of twelve. This essentially turns every man on Earth into a lolicon and God is none too pleased about that. In order to stop this from happening Dokuro –chan kills him every time he has a dirty thought or she loses her temper and then brings him back to life. If you’re wondering, Sakura dies many, many times in every episode. This set streets on April 20^th and Right Stuf has already listed that one here.

Media Blasters has been picking up some interesting titles lately and I’m looking forward to what they plan to do for the rest of the year. Anyone want to make a guess on the next ecchi harem series to get licensed? I’m going to predict Kampfer before the end of the year but I’m not sure what else yet.

Finally we’ve reached the end of the week! It feels like we’ve been waiting forever to hear these words but finally Funimation is ready to break out their big announcements. Are you ready?

FUNIMATION HAS HETALIA AND THE SACRED BLACKSMITH!!!

Originally a manga created by Hidekaz Himaruya, Hetalia has been a constant source of conversation and controversy (imagined by the overly sensitive or not) since it was forced to premiere online last January instead of getting the TV premiere that was originally scheduled. In the series of fifteen minute shorts produced by Studio Deen (Higurashi – When They Cry and most recently Fate/Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works, Seitokai no Ichizon), various countries from around the world are represented by cute chibi characterizations. While the story mostly centers on the cowardly Italy and his new friend Germany in an earlier time, lots of countries get thrown into a mix of short comedy stories as the countries argue over every little thing (art imitates life?). Controversy or not, the series has been a hit getting three seasons green lit within one year! Funimation has licensed the first 52 episodes of the series (seasons 1 and 2) though with season 3 hitting the internet this spring, perhaps it’s only a matter of time before we see more.

The second big announcement from Funimation today was for the fall 2009 fantasy series, The Sacred Blacksmith. Based on the light novel series and animated by Manglobe *insert immature giggle*, the series follows Cecily who has followed her family tradition and become a knight in the village she lives in. After her sword is broken in battle, she is saved by a mysterious man named Luke who can create swords capable of slaying demons. Which is a good thing because someone in their world has recently broken the ban on demon contracts which threatens to throw the world into darkness and war once again.

Hetalia is a no brainer here; fans in Japan and the US have been all over this series for a year so it should come as no surprise that if anyone got the license it was going to be Funimation. The Sacred Blacksmith, on the other hand, wasn’t met with a large amount of praise when it was first released. While a lot of fans and writers I know were happy to talk about how good the series looked, I don’t know many who were particularly excited about the story. But then again, we started this week with 17 new live action movies so, weak story or not, this is still a vast improvement over where we were on Monday.

So to recap the week, Funimation now has the license to 17 new live action movies, FLCL, Zettai Shougeki ~Platonic Heart~ (I’m still working my way up to calling it Master of Martial Hearts), Jyushin Enbu, Hetalia and The Sacred Blacksmith and all of them are going to be released this year. 2010 just got a whole lot more interesting.

Updated 1/11: Press releases added

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Master of Martial Hearts? You’re killin me here

After a less than enthusiastic response the first two days, Funimation managed to build some momentum yesterday with their DVD/Blu ray FLCL announcement. Today, Funimation has kept the anime streak going with the acquisition of two more action anime: Master of Martial Hearts (Zettai Shougeki ~Platonic Heart~) and Jyushin Enbu – Hero Tales.

So, since I know that’s what you’re really here for we’ll start with the first *coughecchicough* announcement. Originally released in 2008 and produced by ARMS (Ikkitousen, Kite, Kite: Liberator, Queen’s Blade), the five episode OVA centers on high school student Aya Iseshima. After trying to break up a fight she witnesses between two girls, she discovers that she’s inadvertently entered herself into a tournament for possession of the ‘Platonic Heart’ jewel. The jewel can grant one wish for any girl who owns it and the only way out of the tournament is to win it.

For the small percentage of you visiting this site for something other than fan service or eroge news (you should see some of the things people put into Google to get here), Funimation has you covered with Jyushin Enbu – Hero Tales which first premiered in late 2007. The only series Studio Flag has ever produced animation for on their own (they have assisted other productions such as Naruto, Ninja Scroll and Gantz), the story is based on the 2006 manga series of the same name and  revolves around seven heroes who are prophsized to rise and lead the people. Unfortunately for said people, two of the seven aren’t actually supposed to exist at the same time and thus they must do battle until only one remains.

Alright, so neither title is a really blockbuster announcement but both at least sound promising and will be out on DVD before the end of the year. I think Funimation needs to have their pun card temporarily revoked for Master of Martial Hearts but we’ll worry about that later. Don’t forget that tomorrow is the last day for the first Funimation roll out of the year. Anyone want to take any guesses on what it might be?

Updated: Funimation just confirmed that Master of Martial Hearts won’t be released on DVD until spring 2011.

Full press releases below the cut

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The license announcements continued today from both Crunchyroll and Funimation. Before today Funimation promised two things from today’s announcement: it was definitely going to be an anime and it was ‘surreal’. Finally the announcement hit and Funimation has revealed that they are the brand new owners of a slightly used but still very shiny FLCL license!

Originally licensed by Synch-Point, the six episode OVA got its first release in the US via DVD in 2002 and an Adult Swim broadcast (which is where I watched it the first time) in 2003. The series will be released on both DVD and Blu ray before the end of the year and as of the time I’m writing this, there’s no official confirmation regarding if the original English dub track will be used.

I’ll fess up right here though that while this is a very fan friendly move on the part of Funimation I’m personally not that excited. I remember not really being able to get into it when I first watched it. It could be fun to give this one another pass though. Regardless of how I feel about this, this is a slightly bigger deal than usual. FLCL is considered a classic from the last decade of animation by a lot of fans. The story and animation created by Gainax and Production I.G. was really unique for its time (keep in mind; FLCL was released the same season as Love Hina, Sakura Taisen and Saiyuki). Giving it a brand new life on both DVD and Blu ray is good news for fans that never had a chance to add to their collection the first time but I wonder how the moe generation of fans will take to it.

In another part of the internet, Crunchyroll made their next simulcast announcement today confirming the rumored Durarara. Produced by Brains Base, the series premieres on Thursday and will be available to fans in United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland on Friday at 11am Pacific.

While we’re on the subject of Crunchyroll, earlier tonight VP of Licensing at CR Rob Pereyda confirmed via twitter that their simulcasts of Omamori Himari will now also be made available in the UK, Ireland and Brazil. He also commented to me earlier that they are attempting to get Cobra the Animation available in ‘the rest of the Americas’.

Updated: Scratch that, it was just confirmed over twitter. “You asked, I listened…just got COBRA approved for the rest of the Americas! Change in effect in a bit on Crunchyroll.”

Full press releases below the cut

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This is news that has been in the works for the last few weeks. Starting with the official ‘Nagi-sama’ Fan Club page, information has slowly been trickling out for the last few weeks. And then ANN began its “omgitscoming.com” campaign and finally today it has been revealed that Bandai has licensed and will be releasing the hit series, Kannagi, on American shores.

The series will be released on two DVDs with the first volume being made available within the next day on both Amazon and Right Stuf. The second volume will be released before the end of the year (providing that Bandai doesn’t run into any Code Geass or Kurokami type of “issues” between now and then). ANN already has the first two episodes available for streaming on their site with two more episodes being streamed every week until all fourteen episodes are available to fans.

For those of you who missed out on this series upon its release last autumn, Kannagi follows a high school boy who after carving an image of the local goddess from a block of sacred wood finds himself in the presence of the goddess in the form of a teenage girl. Moving in with him, Jin is roped into helping her capture evil spirits as she attempts to gain new followers.

An interesting survey was posted to the Funimation blog earlier today. In the survey, Funimation lists a number of spring premieres and asks fans what they are interested in seeing licensed. The list doesn’t include every new series of the season but there is a fairly good cross section to choose from:

07- Ghost
 Phantom
 Eden of the East
 Shangri-La
 Queen’s Blade
 Basquash!
 Guin Saga
 Basara
 Pandora Hearts
 Tears to Tiara
 Hatsukoi Limited
 Hayate the Combat Butler 2nd Season
 Cross Game

I do think it’s interesting that Hayate the Combat Butler 2nd Season is listed despite the fact that the first season was licensed by Bandai last year. Though I find it even more interesting that Queen’s Blade is even being considered for a license over here so quickly. From a personal standpoint there are few series on this list that Funimation wouldn’t do a good job with. If I were to narrow it down though in particular I believe Funimation would do good things with Pandora Hearts, Tears to Tiara or 07-Ghost.

Animenews.biz is reporting that three new series have been made available for license or production subcontract work from Kadokawa USA: Chrome Shelled Regios, Macademi Wasshoi and Ga-Rei-Zero. All three series premiered last fall and developed very unique audiences due to their various content.

Chrome Shelled Regios is a sci-fi series following a student named Layfon studying and working in a future where all cities are now mobile and encased in bubbles while filth monsters roam the polluted land outside. After being forced into the military training academy, the other members of his team discover that the powers he hides within him are just the tip of the iceburg when it comes to his secrets.

Macademi Wasshoi is an ecchi comedy which follows taking place in a magical academy. After a character accidently summons a cute loli character, he finds himself in a world of trouble as she then wants to be his wife (oh and she also has the power to destroy the world if she’s not happy). It has a colorful cast but lacked the story to keep me entertained for long.

Ga-Rei-Zero is the one that strikes me as the most likely to be licensed first. Another action sci-fi, this series follows a group of soldiers who use their powers and awesome battle skills to destroy psychic monsters that attack their city. One mission goes terribly wrong however when a former team member decides to appear and take revenge against those she once fought alonside. The animation and action in this series is more than enough to get anyone hooked but once again, it will be intersetin got see how fans in the US take to the story.

Let the bidding wars commence…

During their panel at WonderCon today, Bandai announced that they have licensed the Lucky Star OVA released last fall in Japan. A follow up to the wildly successful parody slice of life TV series, the OVA followed a similar pattern which featured short stories about the characters. The OVA found wide acceptance from fans though there was also a mild taste of disappointment. There were no details regarding a release date revealed but I already have an email out asking for details.