Anime

Apollon Reunites Cowboy Bebop Director, Compose...

The first promotional video and the official website for the Sakamichi no Apollon television anime confirmed on Friday that the project is reunitingCowboy Bebop's director Shinichiro Watanabe (Macross Plus, The Animatrix's "Kid's Story," Samurai Champloo) and composer Yoko Kanno(Macross Plus/Frontier, Escaflowne, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex). Nobuteru Yuki (Record of Lodoss War, Escaflowne, Space Battleship Yamato 2199) is designing the characters, and Yoshimitsu Yamashita (Hyouge Mono, Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~) is the chief animation director at the studios MAPPA/Tezuka Productions.


The promotional video is now streaming on the website:


In this coming-of-age story of "love, friendship, and music," a naive boy and a scruffy boy share a passion for jazz in a provincial town in the late 1960s. Yūki Kodama's original manga is being adapted into a television anime on Fuji TV's Noitamina this April. The manga won the General Category in this year's Shogakukan Manga Awards.
Source: Saishin Anime Jōhō
Image © Yūki Kodama, Shogakukan/Sakamichi no Apollon Production Committee
Credited by: Anime News Network

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Black Rock Shooter TV Anime to Be Streamed Worl...

The Nico Nico Douga video-streaming service's Nico Nico Channel will begin streaming the Black Rock Shooter television anime series worldwide with subtitles in eight languages on February 3. There will also be a Black Rock Shooter event at the Nicofarre event hall in Tokyo on that same day.

The anime will premiere in Fuji TV's Noitamina timeslot on February 2.

Shinobu Yoshioka (Black Rock Shooter OVA) is directing the series off of scripts by Mari Okada (AnoHana, Hourou Musuko) at Ordet/Sanzigen.Yusuke Yoshigaki (Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, Gurren Lagann) is adapting huke's original character designs for animation, and he is also serving as chief animation director. Hiroyuki Imaishi (Gurren Lagann, Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt) is directing the CG battle sequences.

The franchise already inspired an original video anime by Yoshioka, figures, and games. The artist ringo launched the Black Rock-chan four-panel manga in the inaugural issue of Kadokawa Shoten's 4-Koma Nano Ace magazine in March, and Sanami Suzuki (Net Ghost PiPoPa) launched another Black Rock Shooter ~Innocent Soul~ manga in Kadokawa's Young Ace magazine in June.

Despite the announcement's description of "worldwide" streams, the latest episodes will be available every Friday at 11:00 p.m. in the following countries:
English: United States, Canada
French: France, Belgium, Monaco, Switzerland, Andorra
Italian: Italy
German: Germany
Spanish: Spain, Mexico, Chile, Argentina
Korean: South Korea
Traditional Chinese: Taiwan
Simplified Chinese: Mainland China, Singapore
* The subtitled streams will not be accessible from within Japan.

The anime's official website already launched English and Chinese pages. Nico Nico Douga and its sibling services streamed another anime, Fate/Zero, worldwide with subtitles in eight languages last fall.


Sources: Presepe, Saishin Anime Jōhō

Image © BRS on TV

Credited by: Anime News Network

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"Gokujo" Anime Premiere's Sudden Ca...

The anime adapation of Maya Miyazaki's Gokujo ~Gokurakuin Joshikouryou Monogatari~ (roughly "Gokujo ~Tales from the Gokuraku Girls Dormitory") was supposed to premiere today during CTV's SKE48 no Sekai Seifuku Joshi ("SKE48's World Domination Girls"), but instead viewers were greeted with an apology (roughly translated below) from the censors:


"This is a round-about apology and explanation. CTV Program Censhorship (Somewhere in Japan)"


"Sorry, we can't broadcast Gokujo episode 1!!"


"Next week we plan to start from episode 2 (Note this is just a plan)."


So episode two might be shown next week? The official website has the synopsis of what was missed today, "Who's the one wearing no panties!?" Apparently Ai finds a pair of old lady undies. This, while Aya comes to the unfortunate realization that she's not wearing any underwear! She lures Konatsu into the health room and forcibly steals her panties. A chase ensues, but meanwhile Aya is spreading the rumor that the lame-o underwear Ai found belong to Konatsu...

This was all deemed so incredibly inappropriate it couldn't be shown at all. Next week's episode about a persistent case of the hiccups plaguing Aya seems like it should get a pass, but we'll have to wait and see.

Japanese TV is so screwed beyond all recognition if mild stuff like this is too much for television but stuff with 3DPD actors get through the censors without a hitch, if you ask me.


Credited By: Crunchyroll.com

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Funimation Sues A.D.Vision, Sentai Filmworks,...

You'll have to excuse me on this but this is better late than never and I'm actually laughing about this because truth be told.......I fuckin hate ADV Films, Sentai Filmworks, Section 28, and all of their other subsideries. ANN has reported that FUNimation is suing A.D. Vision owner John Ledford, ADV and the other companies related to ADV's breakup such as Sentai Filmworks and Section 23 for breach of contract and other things. FUNimation claims these companies owe them an estimated US$8 million plus additional fees.

FUNimation is suing because of the contract they had made with ARM to pick up the 30 former-ADV titles in July of 2008. FUNimation alleges in the lawsuit that they became a creditor of ADV when they licensed these titles and ADV owed ARM money. FUNimation claims that their contract with ARM says, among other things, that they can enforce ARM's contract to collect on the debt ADV owed, making them a creditor.

It is claimed that ADV never paid the debt and instead sold its assets to several other companies, owned by executives at what was ADV, for below market value, in an attempt to get away from paying the debt in some way, and that the new companies are also on the hook for the debt. FUNimation also wants the court to void this sale of assets, which occurred back in 2009, and wants a jury trial.

All of the non-ADV defendants—Sentai Filmworks, Section 23, etc.—responded in a counterclaim that they do not have a contract with FUNimation and are not liable for the debt. Among other things, they also claim the statute of limitations has passed.

Don't expect any resolution on this fast. If they don't end up settling and this goes to court, the first pre-trial meeting is scheduled for October 5, 2012.


Creadited by: Crunchyroll.com

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"Black Rock Shooter TV" Anime Trailers

It's going to be a long and slow wait till February for those of you whom are eagerly anticipating the airing of the 8 episode TV series to Black★Rock Shooter (ブラック★ロックシューター). Hopefully these trailers can hold you over till then. Black Rock Shooter starts airing on February 2nd.





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Funimation, Niconico to Jointly License Anime

The anime distributor Funimation and the video-streaming service Niconico announced on Friday that they are co-licensing anime for streaming and home video releases overseas. To that end, the two companies have formed and co-own a new joint venture, Funico, that will handle licensing for both. Going forward, Niconico will stream Funico-licensed titles, and Funimation will release Funico-licensed titles on home video.

The two companies emphasize that, in addition to physical home video media, Funico-licensed titles will be available through download-to-own options such as those that Funimation use for its current titles. They also told ANN that they intend to license anime for more countries than the United States and Canada — as much as the Japanese licensors and existing international agreements allow on a case-by-case basis.

Separately, Niconico told ANN that its English-language streaming service will offer high-definition video for both free and paid users.

Niconico.com is the English version of Nico Nico Douga, the popular Japanese website known for its user-submitted videos and live streams of events. Its signature features include scrolling comments that users can superimpose on top of videos (although the comments can be switched off by the viewer).



Credited to: Anime News Network

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TBS Loses All Its Anime After Fan Outrage

Ishihara’s anti-anime anime event has been rapidly denuded of top titles like K-ON! and Amagami after TBS was outed as attempting to hawk them at the event in defiance of publisher (and most probably creator) wishes – now TBS lists no anime at all for its booth at TAF.

The booth in question previously listed K-ON!, Amagami, Yumekui Merry, etc, but now lists nothing and is careful to point out the general public is not welcome at its booth:



[indent]

Quote

[/indent] Overseas buyers should of course still know better, and instead attend the publisher-supported Anime Contents Expo being held “purely coincidentally” at the same time.

There are still however plenty of disgraceful companies still supporting the event, although it now appears heartening to note that almost none of them will have the ability to exhibit any popular titles, for most of the copyrights are held by the big publishers…

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K-ON!!, Amagami SS, Yumekui Merry Joins...

Such popular anime titles as K-ON!, Amagami and Yumekui Merry are sullying their names by supporting anime-hating pro-censorship Tokyo governor Ishihara’s Tokyo International Anime Fair 2011.

Confirmed as appearing at the event so far are K-ON!, Yumekui Merry and Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru. Amagami SS was previously listed but seems to have disappeared from the line-up.

The appearance of service and schoolgirl romance-laden titles at Ishihara’s own event is of course rank hypocrisy on the part of both publishers and the Tokyo government.

Their inclusion is thanks to the efforts of Tokyo station TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System Television), who are operating a booth on the event’s business-oriented days:



They claim their booth is solely set up with the intent of introducing the titles to “foreign buyers,” although several of the titles are already licensed and it would certainly be hoped that no international distributors would be so unwise as to directly support the destruction of their own industry by the outrageous antics of Ishihara and company.

Several other major anime-related companies, including the likes of Bandai, Bones, Ghibli, Gonzo, Good Smile, Sunrise, Toei, ufotable and Xebec are still participating in the event in various capacities.

Even US events such as Otakon have shamefully thrown their lot in with TAF and failed to withdraw their participation.

A full list of the wretched companies still attending the event is available in English on their site.

Japanese fans have already proclaimed their outrage, with many vowing to cease their disc purchases as a direct result of the producers allowing their titles to appear at the event through the sly backdoor tactic of allowing a TV station to do their dirty work for them.

Certainly, it would be utterly reprehensible for publishers and creators to oppose an Ishihara-sponsored event only to allow their wares to go on display under the auspices of other companies – hopefully they will yet heed the outrage of their customers and prevent their products from appearing at the event.




Source: Sankaku Complex




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Funimation Sues 1,337 BitTorrent Users Over One...

The North American anime distributor Funimation filed a copyright infringement complaint against 1,337 "John Does" over the 481st episode of the One Piece television anime on Monday. According to the suit filed in the Northern District of Texas, the unidentified defendants "collectively participated, via the Internet, in the unlawful reproduction and distribution" of the episode "Ace Rescued! Whitebeard's Final Order!" via the BitTorrent file-sharing protocol. The suit lists defendants by their host IP (Internet Protocol) addresses and Internet service provider. The alleged incidents of copyright infringement took place between January 9 and January 12. The lawsuit identifies three of the sites where the defendants allegedly found the BitTorrent reference descriptor files for the One Piece episode. The suit also notes that users in a BitTorrent "swarm," by the inherent nature of the technology, are simultaneously downloading parts of the file and distributing parts of it to others. Funimation believes that the identities of the current 1,337 defendants and "additional infringing parties" will be revealed during the pre-trial discovery phase of the lawsuit, and it will then amend the suit to include their names.

Funimation asks the court to stop the defendants from infringing on Funimation's copyrights for this episode and any other videos now or in the future. If another request in the suit is granted, defendants "shall destroy all copies of Plaintiff's [videos] that Defendant has downloaded onto any computer hard drive or server without Plaintiff's authorization and shall destroy all copies of those downloaded [videos] transferred onto any physical medium or device in each Defendant's possession, custody, or control." Funimation also seeks compensation for damages and legal costs.




I don't know why but smells like troll bait on all levels. If this is indeed a troll scheme against Funimation, I say good game.....they deserve it! As soon as Anime News Network gets a reply from them, I'll update you all on what Funimation said.





Source: Anime News Network




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Funimation: Fractale Simulcast Returns on Monday

The North American anime distributor Funimation issued the following statement on Monday:

[indent] In recent days we have been diligently tracking the online illegal distribution of the anime series Fractale and on behalf of the rights holders we have been taking the appropriate legal action. As a result, we now have the approval of the Fractale Production Committee to stream episode 2 of the series starting today. We will make the episode available at 10:45 a.m CST and we are pleased to be able to continue the Fractale simulcast each Thursday as planned. [/indent] Funimation had revealed last Wednesday that the production committee — the group of companies that contribute to the production and own its copyrights — had forced Funimation to halt its simulcast of Fractale after only one episode. The committee requested that Funimation eliminates unauthorized videos of the anime on the Internet before its simulcast would be allowed to continue.

While the North American simulcast was on hold last week, Wakamin continued its French-language simulcast. The American video-streaming website Hulu briefly listed the second episode for a Monday release, but it no longer does. Funimation never stopped streaming the first episode. Funimation Marketing Director Lance Heiskell discussed how unauthorized videos affected the licensing rights of anime in international territories in a Friday entry on Funimation's official blog.

The fantasy anime premiered in Fuji TV's late-night Noitamina timeslot in Japan and on Funimation's streaming service in North America on January 13. Kannagi and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya's Yutaka Yamamoto is directing the anime at his studio Ordet and A-1 Pictures. Yamamoto discussed fan-subtitled versions of his works and Fractale's appeal to non-anime fans in an Asahi article published before Fractale premiered.

The story is set on an island at the far reaches of a continent where the "Fractale System" is on the brink of collapse. A boy named Clain embarks on a journey to search for Phryne — a girl who disappeared, leaving behind only a pendant. Clain will eventually learn the secrets of the "System."





Source: Anime News Network

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Tamayura TV Series Confirmed

According to the official website, a TV anime series for 「Tamayura」 has been confirmed. The news was originally announced at a live event held January 22nd and spread from a message posted on the official Twitter account. No word yet on when it will premiere.

「Tamayura」 first began as a 4-episode OVA series. Its volumes were released from September 6th, 2010 to December 6th, 2010. It was directed by Sato Junichi (Kaleido Star, ARIA) and produced by Hal Film Maker.

*Synopsis:

[indent]For her first year of high school, Fu Sawatari moves to Takehara, a scenic old town near Hiroshima, on the Inland Sea. Her father, who has passed away, grew up in Takehara. She loves taking photographs with her father’s old film camera, a Rollei 35S. The story follows her and the friends who gather around her as she comes to love her new home.

[/indent] *OVA Opening:

External Link

Source: Moetron

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