AX 2014 Announcements (Quick Roundup)

AX is over for another year, but it looks like everyone saved most of their summer announcements this year for the show. Here's the list of AX pickups that I've seen so far:

Sentai
NouCome
Yu-sibu
(which will both be released here in November, and also the new Anime series:)
Chaika the Coffin Princess
Argevollen (Shirogane no Ishi Argevollen)
Blue Spring Ride (Ao Haru Ride)
Akame ga KILL!
Invaders of the Rokujyōma!?
Rail Wars!
Sabagebu! -Survival Game Club!
Glasslip

Funimation
Barakamon
Sengoku Basara Judge End
Black Butler: Book of Circus
Psycho-Pass 2
Psycho-Pass Movie

Viz (which we already knew)
Original Sailor Moon Series (200 eps)
All Three Sailor Moon Movies
Sailor Moon Crystal

NISA
Nyaruko: Crawling With Love!
Hanasaku Iroha the Movie ~ HOME SWEET HOME

Nozomi
Yakitate!! Japan
Space Pirate Mito
Fantastic Detective Labyrinth
Yondesmasu Yo, Azazel-san

Aniplex
Valvrave the Liberator Season 1

LMK if I've missed anything!

Viz Picks Up Sailor Moon - Will Re-Release on DVD and BluRay this Fall!

Here ya go folks, the announcement we've all been waiting for:

VIZ Media announced at Anime Central that it has acquired the Sailor Moon anime franchise.  VIZ will release all 200 episodes of the series uncut and uncensored, include the fifth and final "Sailor Stars" season, which has never been licensed in North America, beginning with a subtitled streaming option this month, and a DTO and home media release to follow.  VIZ confirmed that the three feature films (Sailor Moon R, Sailor Moon S, and Sailor Moon SuperS) and the specials are also part of the acquisition.

The VIZ Sailor Moon release will be newly created from the Japanese remaster, with new translations for the subtitles.  The presentation will be in the original uncropped 4:3 aspect ratio, and will include use of all the original Japanese names, story elements, and relationships.

VIZ will also create a new dubbed version of the complete series later this year, with a voice cast to be announced. 

Viz intends to release a DVD only AND a limited BluRay/DVD combo pack version, in half season sets, beginning later this fall. Both versions will be both subbed and dubbed, so not only are we getting SM back, we're getttng in on BLURAY!!!. Am I excited about this? Heck yeah! But we've been waiting and hoping for this to happen for so long it's more of a relief that we FINALLY have confirmation. I think I'll take the rest of the day off... -_^

Media Blasters Hangs On - Licenses Ai No Kusabi Anime

In a bit of a surprise announcement, the folks at Media Blasters announced yesterday that they have licensed the Ai no Kusabi anime series. The four-episode remake series adapts Rieko Yoshihara's boys-love novels.  So they are still hanging on as a going concern.

Of course, history tells us to be wary of these summer announcements from them - Remember Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei? I hope they get it out though, MB is the only company left on the street that would try to license and release a Shonen Ai title like Kusabi.

They currently 'plan' to release Ai no Kusabi in December. Well see...

Ai no Kusabi Synopsis: The story is set in the future on the planet named Amoi which is controlled by a supercomputer named Jupiter. Among the mostly male human population, the light-haired elite class is allowed to temporarily keep the dark-haired "mongrels" as pets. One elite member, Iason, encounters a mongrel named Riki in the slums and decides to take him in. However, Iason keeps Riki longer than it is socially approved, and rumors abound about their possible relationship.

UPDATE: Media Blasters has also licensed the semi-adult title Aki Sora: Yume no Naka, which they will be releasing under the Kitty label. This is the first new adult license they have picked up in some time. No date or details for the release has been announced.

Sentai Picks Up A Channel and Un-Go

Sentai Filmworks announced over the weekend that they have licensed two new anime series - A Channel and Un-Go. Both series are currently being shown on various evil greedy streaming services, and Sentai did not say when these might be out on home video.

A Channel: Series about four friends; Tooru who has just entered the same high school as her best best and childhood friend Run, who is now a second year, and Run's friends Yuuko & Nagi in their daily lives. Toeru takes a test so she can enter the same high school as Run, the girl she likes. She passes, but when she goes to tell Run, she finds her hugging a girl she's never seen before.

Un-Go: With the help of his strange assistant Inga, "failed detective" Shinjuro Yuki solves crimes in a near future Japan still suffering from the ravages of war. Problem is, the credit always ends up going to super detective Rinroku Kaisho. Yuki Shinjuro is known as "The Defeated Detective". He is searching for something, either individual or an object, and he is always accompanied by Inga, a mysterious entity that he coerced by tempting him/her that he will show him/her truth of humans. Although, his deductions are always correct, it is often cast into the darkness by Kaisho Rinroku and conspiracy of the current government.

Funimation Finally Licenses a Few More One Piece Episodes

After what has seem an interminable amount of time, the folks at Funimation have FINALLY announced that they have picked up the next block of One Piece episodes. They have picked up where they left off at episodes 206, and have licensed 57 more episodes up to 263. They do not expect to release these episodes until at least Summer of 2012.

These new episodes will will be presented in high-definition and in 16 by 9 aspect ratio in anticipation of a possible Blu-ray/DVD combo release. Funimation also said they will try to keep as much consistency as possible with regard to the voice acting, but that they may not be able to get all the same voice acting cast as the first 206 episodes for the dubbing of the new eps.

I guess they should not have waited so long to continue the series. At 530 total eps so far, they still have a long way to go with One Piece. As with Detective Conan, I think they may be biting off more than they can chew with some of these big shows.

Sentai Licenses Mashiro-Iro Symphony

The folks at Sentai confirmed earlier this week that they have licensed the Eroge Anime Mashiro-Iro Symphony: The color of lovers. They plan to release the series subtitled on DVD later in 2012.

The anime premiered in Japan on October 4, and that evil greedy streaming company is currently simulcasting the series in North America.

Mashiro-Iro Symphony: The traditional girls-only Yuihime Private Academy is considering the possibility of starting to accept both genders and has thus made an agreement with a neighboring school to receive some of its students as an experiment to see the reaction to this adaptation. Shingo Iryu is one of the many students transferred for a ten month experimental phase at Yuihime Academy. He, his sister, and his fellow relocated colleagues are impressed by the sophisticated campus, but even more by the resistance of many students who don't want the boys over there.

Funimation Resurrects Fafner, Picks Up Oblivion Island Film

Here's one I've been meaning to post on for a few days now. The Funimation folks announced at their New York Comic Con panel that they have licensed the Fafner TV series and film (Sokyu no Fafner: Dead Aggressor: Heaven and Earth), and also the Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror Anime movie.

The Fafner series is old news and was originally published by Geneon in 2005. Geneon went under in 2008, but the old Fafner DVD's have pretty much remained. Ditan had tens of thousands of unsold copies left in their warehouse when Geneon bit it, so the series hasn't ever really been scarce, even after all this time. The film, on the other hand, only came out a year ago and a US release is most welcome. It's quite good.

The Oblivion Island film came out in Japan a couple years ago and is 100% 3D CGI. It won a bunch of awards, and is really excellent. It comes HIGHLY recommended by me, which as you know, I hardly ever do. It's just too bad Funi still has A HUGE lag time between announce and publish, and probably won't get it out on the street until around this time next year.

Fafner TV Series: Tatsumiyajima is the central island in the middle of a small cluster of islands, in a sleepy backwater of the Japanese isles. Not much happens there, and the island's young people go to school knowing that their lives are likely to remain peaceful and undisturbed. Or so they have been taught... but the truth is different. The fate of mankind is on the line, and Tatsumiyajima is the last line of defense against a hostile and incomprehensible enemy. At the center of it all, fighting for Humanity's continued existence, is the giant robot Fafner, the dragon that guards this final treasure of mankind.

Sokyu no Fafner: Dead Aggressor, Heaven and Earth: Two years after the end of the original Soukyuu no Fafner TV series, Tatsumiya Island and its surviving residents have returned to some semblance of recovery. However, things have become desperate for our hero, Kazuki; nearly blind now, and partially crippled from his battles with the Festum two years earlier, he clings to the promise his fallen friend Soushi made to him to return to the island and set things right again. Kazuki's hopes flare when a lifeform is detected within an unmanned submarine that comes floating into Tatsumiya Bay one night, but the person aboard isn't Soushi; it is a mysterious "boy" named Misao Kurusu who may not be entirely human, and who claims to have been sent by Soushi. With Misao's arrival, hostilities break out anew between the Human Army and the Festum, and the Fafner pilots are thrown into the most desperate battle of their lives--this time, with the fate of TWO races riding on their shoulders.

Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror Film: Haruka is a single daughter who lost her mother at a young age because of terminal illness. She continued to live with her father after that but time and the fact that her father is always busy with his work has created an emotional distance between them. When her mother was still alive, she received a hand mirror from her as a present and she treasured it a lot. After her mother's death, she started to forget about the mirror until she eventually lost it. One day, she decides to go to a local shrine and pray for the return of her lost mirror. It is there that she accidentally encounters a small masked creature which she secretly follows to the land of forgotten items.

Sentai Picks Up Broken Blade (Break Blade)

Sentai has announced that they have licensed the six-part anime film series Broken Blade (Break Blade). The series is based on Yunosuke Yoshinaga's alternate-world robot manga, the first 3 volumes of whic were published by CMX Manga before they shut down last year.

Sentai plans to release the series on DVD and BD in 2012.

Have you noticed there have been a lot of announcements for new Anime coming out of Sentai lately, while at most other studios you can hear the crickets chirping? To drive that point home, we got a big new shipment from Funimation today, and the entire thing was S.A.V.E. editions, like 5 or 6 different ones. Not sure what's going on with that...

Synopsis: The inhabitants of the continent of Cruzon are born with the ability to freely control quartz. Technology based on this power allows them to perform a great multitude of tasks such as shoot projectiles and pilot mobile suits (called Golems in this society). Rygart Arrow is an un-sorcerer, a rare individual who is unable to levitate even the smallest crystal. Living with his brother on a farm, he receives a letter from an old friend, Hodr, the current king. Close companion of the king and queen when they were students at Assam Military School, Arrow is informed that a war is about to occur. Hodr called him because an ancient type of Golem has been found in a mining shaft. No one has been able to move it and Queen Sigyn, an expert engineer, suspects that maybe an un-sorcerer might be the key to activate it.

Sentai Gets Towa no Quon, Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai, Akikan!, & And yet The Town Moves

Sentai announced at its Anime Weekend Atlanta panel that it has licensed four new series: Towa no Quon film, The World God Only Knows (Season 1), Akikan! , and And yet The Town Moves.

The 6-part film series Towa no Quon follows the story of a boy named Quon who wakes up with supernatural powers. He must protect himself and those like him from Kestos, the secret organization hunting them.

In the World God Only Knows (Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai) Keima Katsuragi is a high school boy who is known as the "Capturing God" for his success at romance simulation games. However, thanks to a contract with a devil, he now has to capture the hearts of real girls to catch the runaway spirits hidden in those hearts.

The 12 ep series Akikan! revolves around a typical high school boy named Kakeru Daichi and the can of melon juice soda that he bought from a vending machine. The can suddenly transforms into a beautiful but standoffish girl that Kakeru nicknames "Melon," and more "Akikan!" ("empty can") girls appear. However, Akikan girls need to be (of course) infused with carbon dioxide from kissing to survive.

The comedy series And yet The Town Moves is an adaptation of the Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru manga series. The story centers around Seaside, a slightly odd maid tea shop (kissa) in an otherwise ordinary shopping district of a mundane neighborhood in Tokyo. Hotori works at Seaside and daydreams about being a high school girl detective.

Funimation Picks Up Guilty Crown & the .Hack//Quantum OVA

Funimation announced over the weekend at their Anime Weekend Atlanta panel that they have picked up both the .Hack//Quantum OVA and Guilty Crown anime shows. Funi plans to release the .Hack//Quantum OVA on DVD in early 2012. Guilty Crown will be streamed for now, and FUni did not say when they might be releasing the title on home video.

.hack//Quantum OVA is set in The World R:X setting of last year's .hack//Link game for the Sony PSP. In the story, the player characters Tobias, Mary, and Sakuya form a party in The World R:X for adventure but encounter a mysterious entity named Hermit. The encounter draws them into the all-consuming darkness taking over The World R:X.

Guilty Crown is set in Japan in 2039, 10 years after the "Apocalypse Virus" devastated the land in an incident known as "Lost Christmas." A multinational organization known as GHQ brings the lawless country under control, but at the price of Japan's sovereignty. One day, an unsociable 17-year-old second-year high school student named Shū Ouma encounters Inori Yuzuriha, a female singer who is part of the resistance to liberate Japan. Together with Gai Tsutsugami (Shu's 17-year-old rival who is a young "Jiikundo" pilot in the resistance), Shu and Inori fight with mysterious innate abilities known as "imperial powers."

Sentai Picks Up Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere

Sentai Filmworks announced this morning that they have picked up the license for the Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere Anime (Kyōkai Senjō no Horizon). They plan to release the series susbtitled on DVD in 2012.

Synopsis: 'History' is coming to an end. When humans came down from the sky they brought with them the Testament, the guide to the path they must follow if they wish to return to the skies again. Now, in a strange world where only the islands of Japan are inhabitable, the nations of the world vie for power and protect the portions of Japan that they have claimed, each armed with its own ultimate weapon: a Roysmoi Opro, the Armor of Deadly Sins. But there may be a far greater threat to mankind than the Roysomi Opro, for the Testament ends abruptly, and it is now the last year. Is this the end of humanity, or can Tori Aoi and his fellow students from the aerial metropolitan ship Musashi somehow affect the course of destiny? Who and what is the HORIZON IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE?

Sentai Picks Up Persona 4 & Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai

Sentai Filmworks has announced that they have licensed the Persona 4 The Animation television anime series, and plan to release the show on both DVD and BD in 2012. The anime has not yet started it's showing in Japan, but will premiere on Japan's MBS station on October 6.

Sentai has also licensed the Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai!! television anime series, and will publish it under the name "Majikoi - Oh! Samurai Girls!". They plan to release the 12 episode series on DVD in 2012 also.

Majikoi - Oh! Samurai Girls: Kawakami City is famous for its strong dedication to its samurai ancestors. A healthy fighting spirit is always valued and it's even an important factor for success at school. Yamato, a second year student from Kawakami Highchool is always with his close friends (4 boys and 3 girls). They have all known each other since they were young and have done many things together. While they have many other friends, this group of seven is a close-knit, inseparable group. They even have a secret base where they meet. With the new semester, they welcome two girls into their group and shortly after things begin to change...

Sentai Picks Up Rozen Maiden, Traumend, and Ouverture!

The folks at Sentai Filmworks (Section 23) have announced that they have licensed the Rozen Maiden anime series (12 eps), the sequel Rozen Maiden - Träumend (also 12 eps), and the 2 episode OVA Rozen Maiden: Ouvertüre.

Some of you will remember that Geneon previously licensed the original series and Traumend in 2007, but the release got botched up when Geneon went under in 2008. Funimation then signed on the distribute the series for awhile, and did, but has since dropped the license too.

Everyone in the industry seems to get a shot at these licenses eventually, don't they? So this will be third time around for Rozen Maiden, though the OVA eps have never been released before. Sentai is planning a complete set DVD release of the series (both seasons + the OVA) during the holiday season this year, probably in December. They are also planning to release the OVA separately in case you already own the first two seasons. The OVA will be carrying a brand new dub from BangZoom.

Section 23 November 2011 Releases - Now Available for Pre-Order!

Section 23 has sent over their November 2011 release schedule and we've got it all posted to the store site for pre-order. Here's what coming:

Amagami SS Collection #2 DVD (Eps #13-24) - Nov 1
Clannad TV Series Complete Collection Boxed Set (Eps #1-24) (BLURAY) - Nov 8
ICE Complete Collection (OVA) DVD - Nov 15
Coicent (Koisento) / Five Numbers (Norageki!) DVD - Nov 22
Coicent (Koisento) / Five Numbers (Norageki!) (BLURAY) - Nov 22
Loups = Garous DVD - Nov 29
Loups = Garous (BLURAY) - Nov 29

My thoughts? Another great release line up from Section 23. Seriously, I'm not sure what we would do without them and Sentai. They are giving us more than a different company 5x times their size. They are giving us dubs, they are giving us BD's, and they are giving us lineups that still give us something to look forward to every week...

Sentai Picks Up Coicent & Five Numbers

Sentai Filmworks (Section 23) announced today that it has licensed the two science fiction anime "mini features" Coicent (Koisento) and Five Numbers (Norageki). The two titles will be available together on DVD and BD 'later this year', and Sentai does currently plan to dub both features.

Propoganda from Sentai's Press Release: Get ready for a double dose of amazing science fiction as two astounding tales come together in one incredible collection of state of the art animation! First, it’s a quick time jump to the 26th century where a school trip to a rebuilt 21st century city turns into a wild adventure for teenage Shinichi. While chasing a talking deer that steals his bag, he runs into a strange girl trying to elude even stranger pursuers, and then things get wild. It’s a mad dash through a city of the past as two young people discover a chance at a new future in COICENT. Then, four people awake to find themselves in the ultimate prison: an ex-soldier, a beautiful woman, an average Joe and a young computer hacker. Why are they there? What connection links them together? And how can they escape? The answer seems to lie with the fifth prisoner, an old man who knows far more than he is telling. And then there’s the cat. It’s the ultimate locked room mystery and all their lives hinge on solving it in FIVE NUMBERS.

Sentai Picks Up No. 6 Anime

Sentai Filmworks has announced in a press release that they have licensed the ongoing No. 6 anime series (not to be confused with Blue Submarine No. 6).

According to the press release, Sentai plans to release the anime on home video here in North America next year.

The story is set in "No. 6," a future model city in 2013. Raised as a top-ranking elite since the age of 2, a boy named Shion lives in an exclusive area in No. 6. On the night of his 12th birthday, he rescues a boy who calls himself "Nezumi" ("Rat"). Nezumi ran away from the city's Special Security Area. From that moment on, Shion's life is changed forever...

Synopsis: Sion is a bright teenager living a comfortable and promising life inside No. 6, one of this six remaining city-states created by The Babylon Treaty after the last great war devastated the world. On the rainy evening of his twelfth birthday, he meets a savvy adolescent who calls himself "Nezumi" (Rat) and is desperately trying to runaway from the authorities. For helping a fugitive of the state, Sion is stripped of all his privileges. Four years later, they meet once again. For better or for worse, Sion is about to unravel the secrets guarded deep inside No. 6.

Bandai Picks Up Nichijou (My Ordinary Life) and Gosick

Bandai announced at Otakon over the weekend that they have licensed both the Nichijou (My Ordinary Life) anime (26 eps) and the Gosick anime (24 eps) - which is awesome by the way!

While they were at it they also announced that they have picked up the Nichijou and Code Geass: Shikkoku no Renya (Code Geass: Renya of the Darkness) manga.

They did not give us any release details or any street time frame for either Nichijou and Gosick, but as we know all too well by now, it wouldn't have mattered if they did anyway. When it comes to Bandai, all plans are soft until 30 minutes prior... -_^

Nichijou (My Ordinary Life): While the title suggests a story of simple, everyday school life, the contents are more the opposite. The setting is a strange school where you may see the principal wrestle a deer or a robot's arm hide a rollcake. However there are still normal stories, like making a card castle or taking a test you didn't study for.

Gosick: GOSICK takes place in 1924 in a small, made-up European country of Sauville. The story centers on Kazuya Kujo, the third son of a Japanese Imperial soldier, who is a transfer student to St. Marguerite Academy, where urban legends and horror stories are all the rage. There he meets Victorique, a mysterious yet beautiful and brilliant girl who never comes to class and spends her days reading the entire content of the library or solving mysteries that even detectives can't solve.

Funimation Picks Up the Heaven’s Lost Property: The Angeloid of Clockwork

The Funimation folks announced at their Otakon panel over the weekend that they have licensed the Sora no Otoshimono: Tokei-jikake no Angeloid (Heaven’s Lost Property the Movie: The Angeloid of Clockwork) film.

The movie is a continuation of the two Sora no Otoshimono (Heaven's Lost Property) anime series, which Funi has already licensed. They plan to release the movie somewhere around mid-2012.

Sentai Picks Up Ikoku Meiro no Croisee

Sentai has announced that it has licensed the television anime adaptation of Ikoku Meiro no Croisee to be released under the name Croisee in a Foreign Labyrinth ~ The Animation.

The anime premiered in Japan on July 3rd and is currently running there. Sentai plans to release the series on DVD in North America sometime during 2012.

Synopsis: The story takes place in the second half of the 19th century, as Japanese culture gains popularity in the West. A young Japanese girl, Yune, accompanies a French traveller, Oscar, on his journey back to France, and offers to help at the family's ironwork shop in Paris. Oscar's nephew and shopowner Claude reluctantly accepts to take care of Yune, and we learn how those two, who have so little in common, get to understand each other and live together in the Paris of the 1800s.

Section 23 / Maiden Japan Picks Up Ray Anime

Section 23 announced today that it has licensed the 13 eps anime series Ray to be marketed under their 'Maiden Japan' label. Section 23 plans to release the series English subtitled only on DVD later this year.

Synopsis: After a terrible past Rei (Ray) Kasugano has dedicated herself to saving others lives for no money. She works as a doctor and due to special abilities she can see inside a person, making her very good at her job. As she works at the office a friend of hers and co-worker, Shinoyama works at home to create quick ways to save lifes along with her. Ray, Shinoyama and her female co-workers face many obsticles to save these lives but work together to do it.