Post by Otaking66 on Aug 9, 2014 18:15:53 GMT -5
Taken from AnimeNewsNetwork:
Viz Media
by Eric Stimson, Aug 9th 2014
Viz Media's panel was conducted by Charlene Ingram, Viz's senior manager for animation marketing, and Mark DeVera, its publishing sales coordinator. They began by highlighting several currently available Viz Manga titles: Black Rose Alice, a dark shoujo vampire story by Setona Mizushiro; My Love Story!!, a shoujo comedy by Kazune Kawahara and Aruko about a thuggish high school boy who falls in love; Spell of Desire, a racy shoujo about a witches' coven and magical powers by Tomu Ohmi; Food Wars! Shokugeki no Sōma, a Weekly Shounen Jump series that combines fanservice of the culinary and sensual variety by Yūto Tsukuda and Shun Saeki; and Terra Formars, a science-fiction manga about mutant cockroaches that take over Mars by Yū Sasuga and Kenichi Tachibana.
As for upcoming releases, Viz presented the audience with Time Killers, a manga by Katou Kazue regarded as a template for her later Blue Exorcist; it will be released on September 29. Meteor Prince is a 2-volume manga by Meca Tanaka described as “bubblegum cute” about a man who literally falls from the sky. It is slated for release on January 6. Requiem of the Rose King is a gothic-flavored manga based on England's King Richard III and created by Aya Kanno; look for it in early March. The long-running manga version of Neon Genesis Evangelion by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto comes to a conclusion with its 14th volume on November 20. Gyo, a horror manga by Junji Ito about creepy fish with legs that invade Japan, splashes onto bookshelves in a deluxe hardcover this December. All You Need Is Kill, the manga version of the novel by Hiroshi Sakurazaka that inspired this year's American live-action film Edge of Tomorrow, comes out on November 4.
Viz's proudest announcement is the forthcoming release of the first two arcs of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, of which only the third arc has been available in English until now. Arc 1 (“Phantom Blood”) goes on sale on February 3, while Arc 2 (“Battle Tendency”) will be published on November 3, 2015. They will be available earlier in their digital form – September and March, respectively. Viz's version will be based on the JoJonium release from 2013. Finally, new Hunter x Hunter chapters are slated to grace Viz's Weekly Shonen Jump manga magazine.
Viz next moved onto anime, and started by highlighting the Disney XD release of the mega-popular children's anime Doraemon this past July. The panelists announced that Neon Alley, Viz's anime streaming service, is now free, and reviewed noteworthy new anime releases: Sailor Moon every Monday, Naruto Shippūden every Saturday, Ranma ½ , Bleach (which has now reached the 100-episode mark), Death Note, Vampire Knight, InuYasha: The Final Act, and Blood Lad. Looking ahead, the science-fiction series Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet will be released in October along with Rock Lee & His Ninja Pals, a Naruto spin-off.
As far as DVD and Blu-Ray anime releases are concerned, Viz announced volumes 20 and 21 of Bleach, 18 and 19 of Naruto Shippūden, and the complete Vampire Knight series. Moribito, an acclaimed fantasy series, will be available on August 26. Volume 3 of Ranma ½ and the complete Blood Lad series, about a lazy otaku vampire who saves a human girl, will also come soon with a bevy of extra features and deluxe packaging. Naruto the Movie: Road to Ninja will hit select theatres this August. Finally, Viz trumpeted its release of Sailor Moon, which will be available in its entirety, including the Sailor Stars series, which has previously remained unavailable to North American audiences. A glimmering boxset of the first 23 episodes of Sailor Moon will go on sale on November 11, along with a bonus booklet, song lyrics in Japanese and English, and closed captioning, for $79.98
During the concluding question-and-answer session, Viz also disclosed that it is “currently working on” acquiring Coppelion, a post-apocalyptic manga series by Tomonori Inoue, and floated a possible release date of early 2015.
Aniplex of America
by Bamboo Dong, Aug 9th 2014
Aniplex of America brought several guests of honor to Otakon this weekend, including voice actress Saori Hayami (anohana's Chiriko "Tsuruko" Tsurumi, Oreimo's Ayase Aragaki) and producer Shinichiro Kashiwada (Sword Art Online, Oreimo 2). Fans of Kill la Kill also have the chance to see the English voice cast, including Christine Cabanos, David Vincent, Carrie Keranen, and Erica Mendez. Those who purchase the Kill la Kill first volume Blu-Ray at the Aniplex booth will even receive a ticket for a special autograph signing with the voice cast.
After reminding the audience about the guests, "Aniplex Guy" E.J. Rivera launched into a presentation showcasing Aniplex of America's recent and upcoming titles, starting with The irregular at magic high school, Aldnoah.Zero, and Persona 4 the Golden Animation, all of which are being simulcasted right now. The titles are available streaming on the Aniplex Channel, Hulu, Crunchyroll, and Daisuki .
For figure collectors, the Devil Homura figma from the third Madoka Magica movie, Rebellion is now available for pre-order on the Aniplex Plus retail site. Those eager for a sneak peek at the figure can check one out at the Aniplex booth (#IND19). Also available to preorder starting today is canvas art for Aldnoah.Zero.
Rivera also talked about some of the company's recent home video releases, including the Gurren Lagann the Movie Double Feature BD set (Childhood's End and The Lights in the Sky are Stars), the first two Madoka Magica movies (BD/DVD), the first season of Silver Spoon on DVD, the anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day movie, and Oreimo 2. Kabukimonogatari is coming out later this month, while Fall 2014 will see the debut of Fate/stay night, a remake of the TV series from ufotable.
Special announcements included one repeat announcement from Anime Expo, and one new announcement. Rivera reminded fans that they would soon be able to check out the complete first season of Valvrave the Liberator in a Blu-Ray box set. The set features all 12 episodes on 3 BD discs in Japanese audio with English subtitles. It is currently available to preorder.
For new announcements, Nisekoi will be released in a Blu-Ray boxset with Japanese audio and English subtitles. Physical extras will include a collectible ending card pin-ups, and a deluxe poster and box designed by chief animation director and character designer Nobuhiro Sugiyama. The set will be available on November 25, and can be pre-ordered now.
Crunchyroll
by Eric Stimson, Aug 9th 2014
Crunchyroll's billing manager Danika Harrod and software developer Evan Minto opened Friday's Crunchyroll industry panel by playing a short anime clip (voice only), then challenging the audience to correctly identify it. The winner got a three-month anime membership for recognizing that the scene came from Haikyu!!.
Harrod and Minto then spent the first part of the panel going over their current favorite anime and encouraging the audience to watch them. Blue Spring Ride, adapted from the manga by Io Sakisaka, is a shoujo romance about a cute but clumsy girl. Akame ga KILL! is adapted from a manga by Takahiro and Tetsuya Tashiro and concerns a fearsome, determined female A**A**in. Aldnoah.Zero, the latest from Gen Urobuchi (Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Fate/Zero), is a gritty, realistic mecha series thick with political and military themes. Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun, an adaptation from the manga by Izumi Tsubaki, lightheartedly depicts a young girl madly in love with a shoujo manga artist.
The Crunchyroll panelists also spotlighted on Free! Eternal Summer, the second series of the hit swimming anime Free! – Iwatobi Swim Club; Love Stage!!, a boys' love romance comedy adapted from the manga by Eiki Eiki; Haikyu!!, the aforementioned volleyball anime descended from the Haruichi Furudate manga; and Yowamushi Pedal, a bicycling anime based on a manga by Wataru Watanabe. All of them have an attractive male cast in common, which Harrod hypothesized as the reason why girls have been watching more sports anime lately. Fate/Zero, the Gen Urobuchi series with a complex tale of resurrected legendary warriors; Rurouni Kenshin, a clA**ic samurai anime adapted from the shounen manga by Nobuhiro Watsuki; Space Pirate Captain Harlock, an iconic space pirate anime from the 1970s adapted from a manga by Leiji Matsumoto; Rose of Versailles, a much-admired historical drama adapted from the manga by Riyoko Ikeda and also from the 1970s; Kill la Kill, a popular original action series from Studio Trigger; and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, another action series based on a 1980s manga by Hirohiko Araki, rounded out Harrod and Minto's list of recommended series currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
Crunchyroll's big announcement was its acquisition of the seminal magical girl series Card Captor Sakura, which will stream in its entirety, both subbed and dubbed, starting this Tuesday. It will also stream Toradora! In HD. After spotlighting several Japanese dramas, the panelists moved on to announce updates to Crunchyroll's digital manga service. The service will now include push notifications, progress tracking similar to that seen on its video service, a favorites queue, page selection, sorting and filtering, and an upgraded search feature. They then advertised Crunchyroll's presence on social media (Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and Instagram) before winding up the panel with a call for job applications and shared photos of the startup culture at the Crunchyroll headquarters in San Francisco.
Crunchyroll will hold another panel at Anime Revolution in Vancouver on August 20-22 and at Otakuthon in Montreal on August 22-24.
AnimEigo
by Rachel Mahoney, Aug 9th 2014
AnimEigo's Otakon panel opened on Friday afternoon with a discussion about the advantages of using Kickstarter to release the Bubblegum Crisis Ultimate Edition Blu-Ray sets, its largest recent venture. CEO Robert Woodhead talked about the value of connecting with the backers to see what fans of the anime would want most in their sets. The difference between simply licensing and releasing an anime and really creating an “Ultimate Edition”, he said, is equivalent to watching a Disney movie and going on a trip to Disneyland.
Woodhead announced that the initial Kickstarter goal of US$75,000 was quickly met and surpA**ed, ultimately ending at around US$154,000. The excess backing money was used to meet stretch goals, and new Premium rewards prompted more backers to upgrade their contribution to Premium level. Woodhead said that backers fell into one of two camps: those who wanted the best quality content possible and those who wanted the best packaging possible.
Two sets of the Bubblegum Crisis Ultimate Edition are available for what Woodhead called “waitlist” ordering post-Kickstarter. The Basic set, available for US$55, includes the Blu-Rays, postcards, digital copies of the omake, RPG book, Grand Mal comic, and a choice of Challenge Coin or keychain. The Premium set, available for US$105, includes the items found in the Basic set along with a the keychain, a larger version of the Challenge Coin, a patch, extra postcard, and chipboard packaging.
AnimEigo is using “playing card” sleeves for the Basic sets, which can be flipped to feature any Knight Saber on the front cover. They said that releasing the sets non-commercially offers a certain flexibility with packaging: they don't have to make compromises or include branding or barcodes. In addition, the Premium set sleeves will feature a backer list on the back.
Woodhead said that AnimEigo is looking into licensing future projects both new and obscure. Despite some resistance to this rather new system of custom-fitting the release to the backers' demands, he said AnimEigo will negotiate with Japanese companies to bring new content through.
The panel ended with a Q&A session as audience members pA**ed around production samples of the patch, keychain, and Challenge Coins included in the Kickstarter backer and wait-list customer packages.