Ever since Section23 formed, they've been doing two things right- licensing a good amount of anime in a very short time, & releasing them in even shorter time. The newest batch of series by them & their partner Sentai Filmworks are "Maria Holic" & "Skull Man."

"Maria Holic" aired just earlier this year in Japan, & is about a girl who transfers to an all-girl school because of her fear of men. It is there she meets the yuri love of her life, who happens to be a cross-dressing boy. Yes, this is a trap anime, & quite a popular one among fans of this recently surging genre. The complete 12-episode set will go on sale February 23 for $39.98.

"The Skull Man" is a modern day remake of the classic horror manga by Shotaro Ishinomori (Kamen Rider, Cyborg 009, Kikaider) from the 1970s. The story is about a masked man committing horrendous murders in an alternate history of Japan. The complete 13-episode set goes on sale February 2 & also retails for $39.98.

Finally, Section23 also announced that Part 2 of To Love-Ru will go on sale February 16, also retailing for $39.98. I think it goes without saying at this point that all of these releases are sub-only.

Press Release: http://www.sxanimedia.com/2009/12/section23-films-announces-maria-holic.html

At the Anime USA convention this weekend, FUNimation announced two new anime licenses as well as two "license rescue" titles. In terms of the new titles, they are Sekirei & Tetsuwan Birdy Decode. Sekirei is a harem/fighting/fan-service series about girls with gigantic boobs constantly getting their clothes ripped off during battle. Birdy Decode, which still shows off its own fair share of skin, is a much more classier affair & isn't fan-service driven. It's based on the classic manga & OVA from the 1990s, but spiffed up for modern times. Funi has licensed both 13-episode seasons of Birdy Decode, including the second season "Decode D."

The other two titles are the original "Full Metal Panic" series & its first sequel "Full Metal Panic: Fumoffu." In a way it makes sense that FUNimation would get these two titles, since they licensed & released the third series Full Metal Panic: the Second Raid. But it's still a pretty weird "rescue" since the first two FMPs were done by ADV. Sure, ADV doesn't technically exist anymore, but it's still pretty darn weird that Section23 didn't inherit this title. Did they sell the rights for financial reasons perhaps? The world may never know.

Source: http://news.toonzone.net/articles/31885/anime-usa-2009-funimation-announces-three-new-titles

I mentioned a little while back how JAST has started to roll out their high profile A-list hentai games. Now let's take a look at the other major American player in the game, who's also starting to (finally) bring the big names in ero games to our shores- MangaGamer. Back at Anime Expo this past summer, MangaGamer announced a number of big adult game titles like Higurashi & Shuffle, with the promise of more popular NAVAL games on the way. They also said they'd get the first four parts of Higurashi out in time for Halloween, but that holiday came & went without a single one coming out. But don't fret too much, because the MG has updated their release schedule with what to expect & when. The first four chapters will now be out on December 15, with the rest coming out in February.

But the real big news about the release schedule is that several new high profile titles were announced as well. Most notable perhaps is an official American release of the first Koihime Musou ero game, which is tentatively slated for February. This is of course the basis for the popular Koihime fan-service anime series, which currently streams on Crunchyroll. So imagine the all the fan-service & yuri-ness in that, taken to the next level. With both large oppai & petit lolis, it's a game likely to please everyone. Not only Koihime, but MangaGamer also announced the official license of DC ~Da Capo~. Da Capo, while not too well known in the US, is hugely popular in Japan & is about as big as any non-Key game can get. The first one is expected to come out here in June, with DCII only a month later. & finally, MG is talking about releasing an all-ages version of Higurashi WEBSITE for Higurashi. So now everyone will be able to play a game filled with yanderes that want to love/kill you.

Source: http://mangagamer.site11.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=702&start=11#p4106

Media Blasters sure love their fan-service series. It was revealed this week that they had licensed IkkiTousen: Great Guardians & both seasons of Queen's Blade. The idea of having legal Queen's Blade in the US is beyond astonishing, but it's true. CEO John Sirabella confirmed that both licenses will be getting a dub. This is noteworthy only because MB no longer dubs a lot of their licenses, but felt both these titles were high enough in popularity to warrant an English track.

Both seasons of Queen's Blade are scheduled to come out before summer 2010, so we should be seeing these pretty quickly. The third season of IkkiTousen, on the other hand, is another matter entirely. Media Blasters announced the license of the second season, "Dragon Destiny," back at Anime Expo 2007. & they're only just NOW releasing the first volume this month. Hopefully we wont have to wait quite as long for Great Guardians.

Sirabella also hinted that there very well might be truth to the previous rumor of Media Blasters licensing Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei & Moyashimon. But they have yet to actually be confirmed.

Source: http://www.mania.com/aodvb/showthread.php?t=96614

Man, Sentai Filmworks & Section23 have been on fire as of late. They keep announcing more & more new titles, which is awesome. Of course though since this is Sentai, all their licenses will be sub-only, which isn't so awesome. But at least we're getting some good stuff.

Most recently, Sentai announced another three new titles- Hidamari Sketch, Glass Mask, & Neo Angelique Abyss. The first half-season box-sets for all three will come out this January, so you wont have to wait too long for them. Each of them will likely be added to the Anime Network as well. Also confirmed to come out in January are the second halves of You're Under Arrest: Fast & Furious, Special A, & Tears to Tiara.

I've been interested in checking out Hidamari Sketch for awhile now, mainly because for the past two years I've been very surprised at how well the girls from this series do in the early rounds of the Saimoe Tournament. They never make it to the finals or anything, but they have done shockingly well early on against other characters you'd think would win. So it's got me curious for that reason. As for Glass Mask & Neo Angelique Abyss, both of those shows are already up on Crunchyroll. What's the point of buying a sub-only series when legal free subs for them have already been available for sometime?

Press Release: http://www.theanimenetwork.com/myblog/149-Section23-Films-Announces-6-New-Anime-and-Live-Action-Titles-for-January-2010

Sentai Films & Section23, aka the "brand new" former-ADV anime licensing company, have announced their DVD releases for the month of December. In addition to releasing the first halves of both Clannad: After Story & Ghost Hound, they quietly announced a brand new title- To Love-ru! The manga may have just recently ended in Japan, but the US will finally be getting its first official taste of the series.

Of course since this is a Sentai title, it'll be a sub-only release with no English sub. The plus side to that though means we'll getting the first half in very short amount of time, & the second half will be out not long after that. It's a shame though, as I'd like to see what To Love-ru would've been like dubbed. The first set is scheduled to come out on December 15 & retails for $39.98.

Press Release: http://www.theanimenetwork.com/myblog/147-Section-23-Announces-3-NEW-Titles-for-December

At New York Anime Festival this past weekend, Viz Media confirmed that they would indeed be simulcasting InuYasha: the Final Act when it begins airing later this week. & unlike their simulcast for Naruto Shippuden, InuYasha will actually be a same-day simulcast rather then 1 week later. & yes, it will still be completely free. Viz also confirmed that Monster will indeed be airing on SyFy's AniMonday block beginning next month. They also revealed at their panel that the episodes will be added online to Hulu a day after they air on TV.

In terms of new licenses they didn't have any new anime titles, but they did have some new manga & novels. For manga, they've licensed Gente, Library Wars, Grand Guignol Orchestra, & Nice to Meet You Kamisama. & for their Haikasoru book line (Japanese novels translated into English), they'll be releasing Book of Heroes, Loups-Garous, Slum Online, & Next Continent.

Source: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/convention/2009/new-york-anime-festival/viz-media

Did you know Del Rey had a giant cake at the New York Anime Festival shaped like a stack of manga? That's it pictured above, utterly amazing. It was partially done to celebrate their success as a manga company. When they first started, everyone thought they were just a big time publishing company (Random House) who didn't know anything about manga, but over these past few years they've grown to be a small (at least when compared to the likes of Viz) but powerful fan-favorite.

Onto the actual licensing announcements! As many had guessed, Del Rey announced that they have taken over the "Rave Master" license after Kodansha took it away from Tokyopop, & will be releasing it beginning September 2010. Tokyopop only had the last few volumes of the long running series to release before they lost it, & it's currently unknown if Del Rey plans to start from their or the beginning of the series. & if they do re-release the earlier volumes, will they be done in those giant multi-volume editions that have three or four volumes in one? At any rate, this was expected since Del Rey also releases Hiro Mashima's current series Fairy Tail.

Other new manga licenses include Here I Am! (Koko ni Iru yo!) by Ema Toyama, Arisa by Natsumi Ando, & Yokai Navi Runa by Michiyo Kikuta.

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In order to make up for all the manga titles they recently lost, Tokyopop announced a bunch of new licenses this weekend at the New York Anime Festival. The biggest one probably being ".hack//Link ~Kōkon no Kishidan~," the newest Dot-Hack title which that is a direct tie-in to the new .hack//Link video game. Link is said to be the final chapter of the .hack// saga, though that doesn't mean they can't have anime & manga spin-offs for it. It'll hit stores in August 2010.

Perhaps even more interesting though is that Tokyopop for some reason decided to license Seikon no Qwaser. I couldn't believe it when I heard it at first, they're actually releasing a Champion Red series in the US? What's next, YomeIro Choice? (Pleeeease?) Considering Qwaser's strong ecchi & maturity levels, you can guarantee this is one title that's sure to be shrink-wrapped. The first volume will also come out August 2010 (god I hate how long these things take).

Other notable licenses announced at the convention were Song and Laughter (Boku ga Utau to Kimi wa Waraukara) & Ratman, along with several new titles for their Blu boys-love imprint.

Source: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/convention/2009/new-york-anime-festival/tokyopop

The new York Anime Festival is going on this weekend, & FUNimation was one of the first in the industry to hold their panel this year. They announced two "new" licenses, but more like license rescues. First they acquired CLAMP's classic "X" TV series, as well as the OVA. It's another title that Geneon had previously released in the US that Funi will now be taking care of.

The other rescue title actually doesn't come from Geneon, but Tokyopop. It's the complete "Initial D" series. That's right, all five seasons of it- First Stage, Second Stage, Extra Stage, Third Stage, & Fourth Stage. But unlike most of their rescues, Funi will actually be completely redubbing this series rather than using Tokyopop's old dub. The original, uncut Euro-beat soundtrack will even stay intact as well.

Outside of licensing news, FUNimation also announced the dub cast for "FullMetal Alchemist: Brotherhood." Unlike the Japanese version, nearly the entire previous voice cast will be returning to their old roles from the first series. & yes, that includes Vic Mignogna as Ed. Naturally Aaron Dismuke grew too old to play Al anymore, but Funi did promise that he would be playing a "big role" later on in the series. Here's the new cast:

( Read more... )

A day after the the death of ADV was announced, their partner in crime announces the licensing of five new anime titles. You can't but feel the timing of this wasn't just a coincidence. It's as if they're telling us "Yes, we're still alive & releasing new titles." Only instead of ADV doing the releasing, the new Section23 Films will now be doing it.

The titles in question are Blue Drop, Polyphonica, Special A, Tears to Tiara, & You're Under Arrest season 2. All these titles will see a November release (some in half-season sets, some in full season sets, depending on series length), so that's a pretty quick turnaround. Of course since Sentai doesn't dub any of their titles, being that quick isn't too surprising.

Blue Drop is a sci-fi yuri title that I've been meaning to check out for sometime now, but haven't gotten around to it yet. & of course Tears to Tiara is a fantasy series (based off a video game) that is currently airing in Japan (& on NebsTV) as we speak. It's quite a great series, & definitely one of my favorites of the year. It's quite surprising a series as new as that is getting released on DVD so quickly, making it THE newest series on DVD in the US. But considering Tiara has already been getting official English subtitles for its simulcast on Animax, maybe its not too surprising.

Press Release: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/press-release/2009-09-02/section23-films-announces-november-slate-of-anime-j-horror

Sentai Films, a partner of ADV Films, quietly announced that they'll be releasing five new anime titles this October. Two of them are Geneon rescue licenses- Little Snow Fairy Sugar, & Popotan. The other three, however, are all new licenses, & pretty big ones at that- Ghost Hound, He is my Master, & Clannad ~After Story~.

Sentai had previously licensed the first season of Clannad & released the series with ADV in two half-season sets. After Story will get the same treatment, as will Ghost Hound. Only the first parts will be released in October, but the second halves shouldn't be too far behind. He is my Master, however, will get a complete series set when it comes out. But like all of Sentai's licenses, the three new series will be getting a sub-only DVD release.

In addition to the DVD releases, all five titles will also be added to the Anime Network's lineup. Full episodes will stream on their online service & air on TV with their On Demand service. So there's lots of ways to watch these awesome new series.

Source: http://www.theanimenetwork.com/myblog/124-New-Titles-Including-Ghost-Hound-Coming-Soon-to-Anime-Network-Online

Viz's second Comic-Con panel covered everything that wasn't Shonen Jump related. They announced three new anime licenses, with the biggest being the upcoming new InuYasha: the Final Act series. There's even some talk about possibly simulcasting the series on Viz's Rumic World website when the series airs in Japan this Fall, but that's not clear yet.

Another big license, as I expected, is Shonen Sunday's "Kekkaishi" anime. They also announced they acquired the rights to the "Vampire Knight" anime series, based off the manga they ran in Shojo Beat. Considering how popular vampire stuff is doing right now (especially among females), this should come as little surprise. Finally, Viz is FINALLY releasing "Monster" on DVD, with the first 15 episode box-set coming out this December.

Source: http://www.animevice.com/news/cci09-viz-anime-manga-liveblog/1863/

Viz Media held a separate panel for their Shonen Jump line at Comic-Con this weekend, & there was quite a lot of interesting news. In terms of new licenses, Viz announced Bakuman (from the creators of Death Note) & Toriko. Both titles will run in the Shonen Jump magazine as well, starting in 2010.

As for how they're going to make room for two more titles in the magazine, well for one thing, the panelists pointed out that YuYu Hakusho is nearing its end quite soon. Aside from Akira Toriyama's extremely short Sand Land manga during Shonen Jump's first year here in America, YYH will be the only other manga to run completely from beginning to end in the mag. While true that Yu-Gi-Oh also concluded in the magazine a giant chunk of story in the middle went straight to graphic novels & wasn't printed in the pages of SJ. So congrats to YYH on what is a surprisingly rare achievement.

Oh, & Ultimo creators Hiroyuki Takei & Stan Lee were at the panel together once again. But no one cares about that. =b

Source: http://www.animevice.com/news/cci09-viz-shonen-jump-liveblog/1860/

It's been discovered that the Kekkaishi anime series is being dubbed by the Los Angeles anime voice acting group, meaning that the title has been licensed for US release. It's unknown at this time who has it, but all signs point to Viz Media. Not only have they been releasing the Kekkaishi manga for some time now, but this times out perfectly with the launch big new Shonen Sunday imprint line.

Viz had said they'd be using Comic Con to make all their Shonen Sunday announcements, & since Kekkaishi is a Shonen Sunday series, what better time to announce a new anime license? Furthermore, Viz stated they'd be using the new imprint line for both manga AND anime titles. Currently, InuYasha is the only Shonen Sunday title that they've released on DVD, & they've already finished that series (there are even older titles like Ranma 1/2, but I don't think Viz is using them for the imprint). So that can only mean they're getting some fresh anime titles for the new line.

It's interesting that Viz has decided once again to start releasing anime that isn't Naruto, Bleach, or Death Note. When they stopped releasing a large number of titles back in early 2008, it was thought that Viz had given up on titles that weren't making money like their "big three." But then they started releasing Nana & Honey & Clover (let's not forget Hunter x Hunter & Buso Renkin as well), & now they've seemingly started on Kekkaishi & perhaps other Shonen Sunday titles. Nice to see Viz back in the game, but now can they resume releasing all those Toonami Jetstream series that they just left to die?

Kekkaishi is a 52 episode shonen action series that ran from 2006-2008 (despite only being 52 episodes long, it took the anime well over a year to air all the episodes), & is based on the still running manga. It's a very by-the-books shonen series, with everything you can expect in your typical shonen series thrown in there. But despite lacking in originality, I found it to be a very enjoyable & entertaining series. Like most shonen anime, it takes a few eps to "get going," but it really is quite good for what it is.

Source: http://www.fanboyreview.net/2009/07/22/license-alert-kekkaishi