Saturday, 4 July 2015

Prison School Anime's Meiko TV Ad Posted

Akira Hiramoto's 'hellish prison life' story premieres on July 10

The official website for the television anime of Akira Hiramoto's Prison School manga beganstreaming a "underground student council Meiko (vice president)" TV ad on Saturday. The ad features the opening theme song "Ai no Prison" (Prison of Love) by Kangoku Danshi.
The website began streaming an "underground student council Mari (president)" TV ad on Friday and plans to begin streaming a Hana (secretary) TV ad on Sunday.
North American publisher Yen Press licensed Akira Hiramoto's original manga for North America, and it describes the series:
Hachimitsu Private Academy was a revered and elite all-girls' boarding school on the outskirts of Tokyo...once upon a time. But with the new school year comes a revision to school policy: Boys are to be admitted into the student body for the first time ever. But on his first day at Hachimitsu, Kiyoshi Fujino discovers that he's one of only five boys enrolled at the school. Their numbers overwhelmed by the thousand girls in the student body, is it heaven or hell that awaits these five (un)fortunates?!
Funimation will stream the series.
The anime's main cast is as follows:

Hiroshi Kamiya as Kyoshi

Katsuyuki Konishi as Gakuto

Kenichi Suzumura as Shingo

Daisuke Namikawa as Joe

Kazuyuki Okitsu as Reiji "Andre" Andō

Sayaka Ohara as Mari (President)

Shizuka Itou as Meiko (Vice President)

Kana Hanazawa as Hana (Secretary)
Tsutomu Mizushima (Girls und PanzerShirobako) is helming the project at J.C. Staff, working off of scripts supervised by Michiko Yokote (Valkyria ChroniclesShirobako). Junichiro Taniguchi(Puella Magi Madoka Magica films, Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun) designed the characters, and is also serving as chief animation director.
NARASAKI composed the show's opening theme song "Ai no Prison" with lyrics by Kenji Ohtsuki, while Ryuji Takagi composed the ending theme song "Tsumibukaki Oretachi no Sanka" with lyrics by Kiyomi Kumano. The five main male cast members are singing both songs under the group name "Kangoku Danshi" (Prison Boys).
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Sekai Project to Release G-senjou no Maou, Chrono Clock, Root Double PC Games

Also: Narcissu remake project; WORLD END ECONOMiCA 2 to be released this month

Video game localizer and publisher Sekai Project revealed at its panel at Anime Expo on Saturday that it will release the following games: AKABEi SOFT2's G-senjou no Maou - The Devil on G-String, Purple Software's Chrono Clock, and Regista/Yeti's Root Double: Before Crime * After Days: Xtend Edition. The company additionally revealed that it will release Spicy Tails' WORLD END ECONOMiCA episode.02 sequel in July, and also unveiled a Narcissu remake project.
Sekai Project is working with the G-senjou no Maou - The Devil on G-String game's original creator and scenario writer to remove the game's erotic content. The company describes the game as follows:
You play Azai Kyousuke, the son of an infamous gangster. You listen to Bach, play God at school, and work part time for your stepfather. But one day a beautiful girl named Usami Haru and an international criminal known as "Maou" appear, and bring with them their cat-and-mouse game of plotting and intrigue.

Sekai Project plans to release the game on Steam this summer, and said it will have more news about the game at Otakon.
Similarly to G-senjou no Maou - The Devil on G-String, Sekai Project is working with the original creator of Chrono Clock to remove erotic content from the game. Sekai Project describes Chrono Clock as follows:
Sawatari Rei is the heir to a multimillion corporation in Japan, and also a mysterious pocketwatch that allows one to travel five minutes back in time. At first, he sets off to simply make his life more fun, like the romantic comedy of his dreams, but that changes when he witnesses a girl fall to her death.
Sekai Project will release Root Double: Before Crime * After Days: Xtend Edition in collaboration with Lemnisca Translations. Sekai Project describes the game as follows:
Rescue squad captain Watase Kasasagi wakes up without his memories in the middle of his most critical mission yet-- a nuclear meltdown at a research facility. In an unfamiliar place and without his years of training, he must rescue the survivors and escape... but could the key to the mystery behind the incident lie in the mind of Natsuhiko Tenkawa, a seemingly ordinary student?
Sekai Project also revealed that it will publish Spicy Tails' WORLD END ECONOMiCA episode.02game this month. The company describes the game as follows:
From the creator of Spice and WolfIsuna Hasekura, comes World End Economica. Haru woke up with his life but without his dream. 4 years after the incident, he finds a new cause, as a driven young lady offers him a chance to return to investing and to find justice.
Sekai Project had revealed in March that it was delaying the sequel game from its original May release date. The first "episode" launched in Japan in 2011 followed by the second episode in 2012 and the third episode in August 2013. Sekai Project released the first episode on Steam last year.
Sekai Project also revealed a Narcissu remake project. Narcissu 1st and Narcissu 2nd are availablenow on Steam, and the company plans to work with original creator Tomo Kataoka to create a new project that will include: a Narcissu 0 remake based on scenarios in the PlayStation Portable version; remakes of Narcissu 1st, 2nd and 3rd (the latter of which is based on Kataoka's story inNarcissu 3rd Die Dritte Welt); and Narcissu 4th with completely new material. Content upgrades include updated scenarios, material from drama CDs and other side material, new artwork, and re-recorded voices.
Sekai Project also revealed that it is publishing California-based developer Love in Space'sSunrider: Liberation Day game. Rita, the singer of the Little Busters! television anime's opening and ending themes, will perform the opening for Sunrider: Liberation Day. Sekai Project previouslypublished the developer's Sunrider: First Arrival game. Sekai Project describes the game as follows:
The next explosive chapter of the Sunrider series will chronicle the liberation of Cera. Join Captain Kayto Shields and his crew as they return to where it all began…
Featuring the OP “Sora no Kodoh” with vocals by Rita
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Kodansha Comics Adds Princess Jellyfish, Real Account, Magatsuki Manga

Also: Noragami switches to monthly release; Fairy Tail gets omnibus release

Kodansha Comics announced at its panel at Anime Expo on Saturday that it will release Akiko Higashimura's Princess Jellyfish (Kuragehime) manga, Shizumu Watanabe and Okushō'sReal Account manga, and Hoshino Taguchi's Magatsuki manga.
Higashimura's Princess Jellyfish manga inspired a 2010 television anime series that Funimation released in North America.Kodansha Comics describes the story:
Tsukimi, who has loved jellyfish from a young age, resides in Amamizukan, a fangirl-only dorm. One evening at the local pet store, Tsukimi sees a lovely jellyfish in danger, but a beautiful woman comes to the rescue. They go back to Amamizukan together, but this "woman"... is actually a man!
Kodansha Comics will debut the series in February 2016, and the company will publish the manga in large-format 2-in-1 editions. The releases will include color pages and bonus special features. Kodansha Comics' associate director of publishing services Ben Applegate told ANN that the company has the license to the first 12 volumes of the series. The company will then evaluate the title after releasing those 12 volumes (in six 2-in-1 omnibus releases) and will decide whether to continue publishing the title based on sales.
Higashimura launched the manga in Kodansha's Kiss magazine in 2008, and Kodansha publishedthe 15th compiled volume in Japan in January. The manga also inspired a live-action film adaptation that opened in Japan in December 2014.
Manga creator Watanabe (Kono Kanojo wa Fiction desu.) and writer Okushō launched Real Account in Kodansha's Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine in the February 2014 issue, but the series thenswitched to Weekly Shōnen Magazine in this year's combined fourth and fifth issue. Kodansha is publishing the fifth compiled volume of the manga in Japan on July 17. Kodansha Comicsdescribes the story:
This tense thriller has a simple premise: “If you reach zero online followers, you die.” Ataru is one of millions of members on the social networking site Real Account. But one day, he and thousands of others wake up inside a virtual world. Here, if you lose the game, you die for real—taking all your followers with you. And if you run out of followers, it's also game over.
Kodansha Comics will debut the manga in March 2016.
Taguchi launched the Magatsuki love comedy manga inKodansha's Monthly Shōnen Sirius magazine in the April 2011 issue, and Kodansha will ship the 10th compiled volume in Japan in August. Kodansha Comicsdescribes the series as follows:
Magatsuki, from creator Hoshino Taguchi, follows 15-year-old Yasuke Arahabaki, who accidentally breaks a sacred mirror in his house's shrine. This accident releases Seoritsuhime, a goddess of misfortune, and triggers a curse that forces them to stay close together or die. To lift the curse, Yasuke must help Seoritsuhime achieve happiness – despite the bad luck she carries with her. It all gets more complicated when Yasuke's childhood friend and mutual crush, Akari Inamori, suddenly becomes the new owner of Yasuke's lost soul. How will Yasuke navigate his new intimacy with Akari and still fulfill his promise to Seoritsuhime?
Kodansha will debut the series in print in February 2016. Crunchyroll is publishing the manga digitally in English as new chapters come out in Japan.
Kodansha Comics also revealed that thanks to "excellent sales," Adachitoka's Noragami: Stray Godmanga will be switching to a monthly release starting in October 2015. The company will release the seventh volume in October, and new volumes will ship each month until the English release catch up to the Japanese release in mid-2016.
The company also revealed at the panel the artwork that will be used for some of the playing cards that it will bundle with the special edition of the 16th volume of Hajime Isayama's Attack on Titanmanga.
Update: Kodansha also revealed that it will release the Fairy Tail manga in an omnibus edition. The first volume, which includes the first five volumes of the series, is slated for September and will retail for US$39.99.
Magatsuki © Hoshino Taguchi/Kodansha, Ltd. All rights reserved.
Princess Jellyfish © Akiko Higashimura/Kodansha, Ltd. All rights reserved.
Real Account © Okushō/Shimizu Watanabe/Kodansha, Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Friday, 3 July 2015

Exclusive: Vampire Hunter D Has New Animated Series in the Works

Japanese CGI studio Digital Frontier collaborates with Unified Pictures from U.S.

California-based production studio Unified Pictures told ANN that it is unveiling plans for a new CG-animated series based on Hideyuki Kikuchi's long-running Vampire Hunter D novel series at Anime Expo. The company is co-producing the series with Japanese CGI animation studio Digital Frontier (Resident Evil: DegenerationTekken: Blood Vengeance, Mighty No. 9).
Kikuchi himself, as well as Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlustdirector Yoshiaki Kawajiri, are also involved with the project.
Unified Pictures producer Scott McLean said the company is looking to bring the series to television. "I've been a fan ofVampire Hunter D since I was a teenager," McLean said. "I'm overjoyed at being able to be a part of creating a new chapter for a story I greatly admire."
Unified Pictures will share more details, such as plans for the show's format and story, at its panel at Anime Expo on Thursday, July 2. The company will also host a Q&A session at the convention on Saturday.
Anime Expo will be held from July 2-5 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
Kikuchi began the novel series in 1983 and Asahi Shimbun Publications published the 29th volume (cover pictured in the ad above) in May. The story follows D, a half-human, half-vampire who hunts vampires in a desolate far future. Dark Horse Comics publishes Kikuchi's original novel series in North America, and Digital Manga Publishing releases the manga adaptation by Saiko Takaki.
The novel series previously inspired an original video anime in 1985 and the Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust film in 2000. The film was co-produced by Vampire Hunter D's American licensing company Urban Vision, and dubbed in English before it was dubbed in Japanese.
Sentai Filmworks announced in April that it had licensed the 1985 Vampire Hunter D anime, and will release it with a newEnglish dub in addition to the Japanese language track.Discotek Media announced in February that it had licensedVampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, and plans to release it this September without the Japanese dubtrack.
Canadian horror magazine Rue Morgue reported in 2010 that Kikuchi was working on a new anime series.
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Funimation Offers Unaired Free! Eternal Summer Episode

Series also gets Premium Edition with art book, cards, towel, decals, discount on OVA  

North American anime distributor Funimation confirmed at its Anime Expo panel on Friday that it has the rights to the unaired Free! Eternal Summer episode. The company will release the original video anime episode next year, and it will offer a discount to those who buy the Premium Edition of the television series from Funimation.com by September 29.
The Premium Edition will come with the contents of the Free! Eternal Summer Limited Edition plus a full-color art book, seven art cards, a sports towel, an Iwatobi decal and a Samezuka decal, and a collector's box. The Premium Edition retails for US$119.98, and Funimation.com is selling the edition for US$89.98.
Those who order the Premium Edition from Funimation.com will also be entered into a raffle to win a 1/8-scale figure of Haruka Nanase.
The second season of Kyoto Animation's Free! - Iwatobi Swim Club anime is now streaming with the English dub on Funimation's website, and Funimation will release the Blu-ray Disc/DVD combo pack on September 29.
The dub cast features:
Jerry Jewell served as ADR director, J. Michael Tatum adapted the original scripts, and Alyssa Galindo and Kenneth Thompson served as ADR engineers for the dub.
The second season premiered last July, and both Funimation and Crunchyroll streamed the series with English subtitles as it aired in Japan. Discotek released the first season on DVD with English subtitles in May.
High Speed! -Free! Starting Days-, the film inspired by the High Speed! novel that also inspired the original Free! television anime, will open in Japan on December 5.
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Viz Announces Print Plans for Naruto: The Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet Spring Manga

Next Yu-Gi-Oh! card to Shonen Jump subscribers also revealed

Viz Media announced at its Shonen Jump panel at Anime Expo on Friday that it will release Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto: The Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet Spring (Naruto Gaiden: Nanadaime Hokage to Akairo no Hanatsuzuki) manga in print. The company plans to release the manga in winter 2016.
The manga will end in its 10th chapter in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine on Monday. Shueisha will publish the one compiled book volume of the series in Japan on August 4.
Naruto manga creator Masashi Kishimoto launched the manga in Weekly Shonen Jump on April 27. The manga was originally announced as a spinoff mini-series.
Viz Media is publishing the manga in English in its digital Weekly Shonen Jump magazine on the same day the chapters are published in Japan.
Viz Media additionally announced at the panel that the next Yu-Gi-Oh! card that subscribers to its Weekly Shonen Jump digital anthology will receive is Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon.
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Dimension W Manga by Darker Than Black/King of Thorn's Iwahara Gets Anime

Funimation is part of committee for near-future sci-fi action anime

North American anime distributor Funimation announced at its Anime Expo panel on Friday that an anime is adapting the Dimension W manga by Darker than Black character designer and King of Thorn manga creator Yuji IwaharaFunimation said that it is "part of the committee of the anime" and screened a preview video.
In the story, humanity harnessed a new inexhaustible energy from inventions called "Coils" in 2051. In 2072, a skilled recovery specialist named Kyōma Mabuchi encounters a mysterious, beautiful woman right in the middle of a certain job. It is a fateful encounter that opens the door to the new dimension "W."
Iwahara launched the "near-future science fiction action" manga series in Square Enix's Young Gangan magazine in 2011, and Square Enix is publishing the eighth compiled book volume in July.
Iwahara is best known for creating the original character designs for the Darker than Black television anime series and its Ryūsei no Gemini follow-up. Iwahara also drew the art for the Darker than Black: Shikkoku no Hana manga and created the King of Thorn manga that inspired the anime film of the same name in 2010.
Tokyopop published the King of Thorn manga in North America, while Funimation released theDarker than Black anime. Yen Press published Iwahara's Cat Paradise manga, and CMX Mangapublished Chikyu Misaki.
      
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Funimation to Stream Venus Project: Climax Anime

Also acknowledges streaming of Chaos Dragon this summer

North American anime distributor Funimation announced at its Anime Expo panel on Friday that it will stream the Venus Project: Climax anime series as it airs in Japan. Funimationalso acknowledged that it will stream the Chaos Dragontelevision anime series, after its website briefly listed the anime.
Venus Project tells the story of idols living in Japan in the near future. In this world, data devices and video technology have been progressing to new heights, and people are abuzz about a new form of entertainment — Formula Venus. In Formula Venus or "F-V," the chosen top idols battle in live performances with their willpower, skills, and all their experience gained.
The television series will actually be six anime episodes and six live-action variety episodes, each 30 minutes long. The anime's story will be set in the same world as the Venus Project PS Vitagame's, but it will feature a new anime original protagonist, "an aspiring idol aiming to be Venus."
The anime will premiere on Tokyo MX on July 5 at 10:00 p.m
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New York Times Manga Best Seller List, June 21-27

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Right Stuf/Nozomi Ent. Add Big Windup! Season 2, Tamayura: Hitose, Umi Monogatari Anime


Anime retailer and distributor Right Stuf, Inc. and producerNozomi Entertainment announced at their panel at Anime Expo on Friday that they will release the following titles: Tamayura - HitotoseUmi MonogatariBig Windup! Season 2 (Ookiku Furikabutte ~Natsu no Taikai-hen~), Pita Ten, and A Town Where You Live.
Nozomi Entertainment will release the Tamayura - Hitotose 12-episode television anime series, as well as the special 5.5 episode and the four episode Tamayura video anime series. The company will release the set in fall 2015 with Japanese audio, English subtitles, and on-screen translations.
Nozomi describes the series as follows: "The series focuses on a young girl who takes up her late father's old camera, determined to capture memories that will bring joy and happiness to others for a lifetime."
The Tamayura anime project with an original concept by Junichi Sato (Aria the AnimationKaleido Star) premiered in 2010 with a series of original video animation (OVA) volumes. Sato then directed the Tamayura - Hitotose television series at TYO Animations in 2011. A second season titled Tamayura - More Aggressive aired in 2013. The second film in the four-part Tamayura: Sotsugyō Shashin (Tamayura: Graduation Photos) movie series will open in Japan on August 29.
Sato also directed the 2009 Umi Monogatari ~Anata ga Ite Kureta Koto~ television anime series, with Hal Film Makerhandling the animation. The show originally aired in 2009. Nozomi describes the series as follows: "the series tells the story of two girls who live in the sea whose lives are forever changed when a mysterious ring falls into their underwater home." The series stars Kana Asumi as Marin, Minako Kotobukias Kanon, and Yui Horie as Urin.
Nozomi will release the 13-episode series in fall 2015 with Japanese audio, English subtitles, and on-screen translations.
Nozomi Entertainment's Big Windup! Season 2 release will ship in 2016 with with Japanese audio, English subtitles, and on-screen translations. The 13-episode sequel series adapting Asa Higuchi's baseball manga originally aired in 2010.
The series centers on Ren Mihashi, a losing pitcher who quit his middle-school baseball team after his teammates harassed him — they think he only became a pitcher because his grandfather ran the school. In high school, Ren is forced to become a pitcher again, but he and his new team eventually recapture the spirit of the game. Tsutomu Mizushima (Big Windup!Girls und PanzerAnother) directed the series at A-1 Pictures.
Funimation released the first 26-episode television anime series on DVD in North America in 2009, but the company said in 2010 that it would not license the second season of the series.
Nozomi will ship the 26-episode Pita Ten television anime series in 2016 with Japanese audio, English subtitles, and on-screen translations. The series originally aired in 2002, and it adapts Koge Donbo's manga of the same name. Tokyopopreleased the eight-volume manga series in North America between 2004-2008.
Nozomi describes the series as follows: "the 26-episode anime centers on the adventures of a boy who lost his mother that encounters a young angel-in-training." Toshifumi Kawase(Tenjho TengeBeyblade) and Yuzo Sato (Magical Warfare) directed the series at MADHOUSE.
GONZO's anime adaptationof Kouji Seo's A Town Where You Live (Kimi no Iru Machi) manga premiered in July 2013. Shigeyasu Yamauchi(Casshern SinsDream Eater Merry) directed the anime, andReiko Yoshida (K-ON!Bakuman.) was in charge of the scripts.Terumi Nishii (Penguindrum) designed the characters, whileKeiichi Oku composed the music.
The series starred Yoshimasa Hosoya (Katanagatari) andMegumi Nakajima (Macross Frontier) as Haruto Kirishima and Yuzuki Eba. The series "tells the story of a boy who moves to Tokyo to be closer to his girlfriend, only to find that his long-distance relationship is more complex than he thought."
The 12-episode television anime series will ship in 2016 with Japanese audio, English subtitles, and on-screen translations.
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