According to an Anime Expo con-goer, he heard "straight from a rep's mouth" that Media Blasters had licensed the anime series "Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei" & "Moyashimon." Both titles will also get dubs, something that MB doesn't always do with their titles anymore. No official announcement of the such has been made yet, but it seems likely to be true. Media Blasters does seem to be keen on freely blabbing news to con-goers who ask, without making any announcement first. They did tell me about Moribito returning to Adult Swim at ACen, after all. This news also comes shortly after they quietly licensed Blade of the Immortal, further proof that MB doesn't always make big announcements of their licenses.

The same con-goer also talked to some FUNimation reps on hand at AX. Apparently not only is FUNi confident about One Piece simulcasts returning to their website, but all the episodes that have been missed during this downtime will be put up as well. Meaning most likely episodes 391 to present will all be up. Eventually.

Source: http://forums.toonzone.net/showpost.php?p=3303993&postcount=127

At their Anime Expo panel, Bandai Entertainment announced that they have licensed the new Eureka Seven movie. In fact, it'll shown on the big screen in American theaters for one night only on September 24. Currently about 300-400 national theaters are listed as taking part. They also announced that the entire Eureka 7 anime series has begun streaming for free on Anime News Network, in both sub & dub formats. As in exclusive to ANN, & not just mirrored from another site like Hulu or Crunchyroll. Though if I had to guess, I'd say the series will eventually land on Crunchyroll somewhere down the line.

Bandai also briefly mentioned the Escaflowne Movie being released on Blu-ray. & now, a few days after the con, it was announced that it'll indeed be coming out on Blu-ray on September 1 of this year.

Separately, Namco Bandai announced at their own panel that they'll be adding many popular Japanese songs to the American iTunes store. These includes songs by JAM Project, as well from anime series like Haruhi & Lucky Star.

Source: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/convention/2009/anime-expo/bandai-entertainment

The big news at Viz's Anime Expo panel was the confirmation that they'll indeed be speed releasing the One Piece manga in order to catch up to where the story is in Japan. Similar to what Viz did with the Naruto manga- except even more extreme- they'll be releasing 30 volumes of the series in just 6 months. Beginning in January 2010, they'll be releasing 5 volumes a month starting with #24, & conclude in June with #53. That is a LOT of manga.

While it'll take a few months for the graphic novels to catch up, Shonen Jump will begin publishing the "latest chapters from Japan" (presumably only a few weeks behind like how Naruto is now) beginning with the January issue. Over the next few months, Viz's new One Piece site will update with summaries of the four sagas that take place in between where the English manga is now & where it will be come January. That way, SJ readers wont be totally lost.

In anime news, the long-awaited Kakashi Chronicles is finally getting animated. The special will stream on Viz's site on August 6. Speaking of Naruto, DVDs for Shippuden will finally start coming out beginning September 29. Unfortunately, Viz will no longer be releasing it in season box sets like they did for the first series, & will now instead be doing the obsolete single DVD releases. It is, however, the only way to watch the dub of the series. The first Shippuden movie will be released shortly after on November 1.

Viz also announced that they got the second Death Note Relight special & will be releasing it on October 27 (just in time for Halloween!). Meanwhile, the DVD for L: Change the World will come out on August 18. The second Bleach movie will be getting a DVD release on September 8, after getting a limited theatrical release at Viz's new San Francisco theater on August 19.

Source: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/convention/2009/anime-expo/viz-media

The fact that online streaming site Crunchyroll had a larger booth at Anime Expo than most of the anime companies present is really telling of the times we live in today. At their panel, Crunchyroll announced the simulcasts that they got lined up for the Summer season. Naruto Shippuden, Shugo Chara, GinTama, Shangri-La, Reborn, Saki, Hayate, Chi's New Address, & Kaasan will all continue to show new episodes every week. Time of Eve will also continue, with episode 5 going up just this week.

In terms of brand new shows, the yuri series Aoi Hana already started streaming last week. Besides that, three new series were confirmed as well. Kanamemo, Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahou, & Charger Girl (Fight Ippatsu! Juden-chan) are all new for the Summer. Kanamemo has already started, & the other two will be added shortly. I'm not sure what the holdup is since both of them have already begun airing in Japan, & they can't really be considered simulcasts if they're not even streamed in the same week. & Juden-chan on Crunchyroll? I can't believe they'd show such a perverse anime series on their site. On the other hand, they did stream Strike Witches last year. But on the other hand, Strike Witches didn't have girls erotically peeing themselves in every episode.

Source: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/convention/2009/anime-expo/crunchyroll

iTunes is once again giving us some free anime downloads to enjoy. Viz Media began adding episodes of both "Honey & Clover" & "Nana" to iTunes today. For Honey & Clover, the first 12 episodes of season 1 have been added, & the first episode can be downloaded completely free. The rest of the episodes will cost you $1.99 each to download, or you can buy the whole "season set" in bulk for $19.99 which includes the bonus OVA episode (which can't be downloaded on its own). The episodes are dubbed in English, & as fan of the Japanese version, I can say for the most part I really enjoyed the episode 1 dub.

The first 11 dub episodes of Nana were also added, which is quite good timing considering today is Nana Day (7/7). Again, each episode will cost you $1.99, or $19.99 for all 11 plus the special recap episode 11.5 (which again can't be downloaded on its own). Unfortunately there are no free episodes for Nana. But get your free Honey & Clover ep, hit up the link below:

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewTVSeason?i=319682712&id=318745265&s=143441