Whilst we’re pretty much in a state of hiatus, which is sad, I noticed that we had a huge hack attack and this meant that the site was flagged as a malware site. We’re most certainly not a malware site and it’s taken a little while to fix the site.
For those of you who are interested, we’re still actively looking for help with updating the news here. So if you are interested, please email me on webmaster@news-animeNOSPAM.com, but remove the NOSPAM and I’ll get back to you.
Manga Entertainment, one of the largest anime distributors in the country, and consequently one of the largest Twitter users in the anime business world, have today released a new trailer for their up and coming title: 2001 Nights. This 1.11 minute video shows off some of the incredible looks of this anime and it’s clearly space themed imagery.
Currently the BVA give 2001 Nights a release date as the 26th September, but even if the wait is that long, you can see a snippet of what to expect below.
Toymation, one of the premier sites for exclusive, rare and limited edition Japanese and anime goods have announced the ceation of Anifest. Anifest is launching on the 11 December 2011; however, they are going to be doing a screening of something, we don’t know, on the 14 August 2011, to a select lucky few who will be able to get a sneak preview of what the Anifest events are going to look like.
If you want to get into the event, all you need to do is join the Anifest’s Twitter page. @UKAnifest will detail all of the changes and things that need to happen. A lot of information will also appear on the Anifest website, available here.
So keep an eye out on the Twitter and websites for updates!
In May, Manga Entertainment announced that they will be releasing Freedom OVA, this title was previously only available as a limited release from Beez Entertainment, and thanks for the companies highly active Twitter feed, they have further confirmed that this series will most certainly be out in the UK on Blu-Ray.
Rather than just the norm, in the anime world, of a DVD release and a Blu-Ray release, Manga Entertainment are considering going down the option of a DoublePlay release, which means the OVA will contain both DVD and Blu-Ray. This is a method of selling that is used by most Hollywood movies these days and even the new Ghibili titles are on DoublePlay these days.
There’s still no confirmed release date, but with news like this, it’s likely to be the tail end of this year.
Manga Entertainment today announced via their Twitter feed some of the details on two of their most highly anticipated releases for 2011.
The first is Evangelion 2:22, which will be available in Blu-Ray, DVD and a lovely Blu-Ray/DVD combi pack from the 30th May. The combi pack contains bonus materials in terms of a booklet, although the details around the booking are yet to be confirmed. To pre-order early as to not miss out at hmv click here and for Amazon.co.uk click here.
The next one is the age-old Akira. This anime classic will be available for the first time in Blu-Ray and also available on DVD from the 27th June 2011. There will also be a Steel Book version of the release which is going to be super-limited-edition – so ensure you pre-order early as to not miss out. You can pre-order at here for hmv.
The packshot artwork is available below:
It’s been widely reported that two Studio Ghibli classics, Laputa Castle in the Sky and My Neighbours the Yamadas are to be released in Blu-Ray in the UK on the 9th May. This is due to Play.com putting the Blu-Ray edition of the films up for sale; however, at this moment in time there is no formal confirmation of this.
The UK release for Optimum’s films website currently does not confirm if this is correct and at the time of writing Optimum Releasing were unable to confirm the date’s accuracy. However, Play.com are often correct with their release dates of anime releases, so it’s highly likely that these dates are correct.
Update – 1st March 2011
Optimum today confirmed to News-Anime that Play.com is correct and both Laputa and My Neighbours the Yamada’s will be available in the UK onl Blu-Ray from the 9th May 2011 and will be confirming the full details alongside packaging information very shortly.
Japan Expo Logo
After the huge success of last year, the Japan Expo‘s 12th convention will take place between the 30th June to the 3rd of July 2011. Last year over 173,000 people turned up to Europe’s largest convention for Japanese culture at the Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition Centre and this year the Japan Expo is expecting closer to 200,000 people from all over the world to attend.
There will be a number of surprises moving forward for the expo, but so far there will be manga editors with a ton of exclusive reveals, pop culture with film’s on display, modern culture and traditional culture exhibitions with calligraphy and origami workshops being planned.
More information will be provided as and when we have it.
Copyright Beez Entertainment
Beez Entertainment have confirmed the release dates of the second volumes of Durarara!! and Gundam 00, Season 2. In only a few short weeks these volumes will be made available in DVD format only. There is currently no Blu-Ray DVD release penned for these releases.
Durarara!! Volume 2 – 28th March 2011
Gundam 00, Season 2: Part 2 – 28th March 2011
Both will be available in the usual retail outlets hmv, Amazon, Play.com.
Manga Entertainment recently confirmed via their Twitter account that they have obtained the rights to release Dance in the Vampire Bund in the UK at some point this year.
At the present time no details are known regarding the release, in the UK. As soon as information comes to light, we will let you all know.
However, Funimation are the license holders in the USA and they’ve confirmed that Dance in the Vampire Bund will be available in both DVD and Blu-Ray and will be out in the Summer.
If we are truly to expect Vampire Bund this year, we may have a simultaneous release or one in late Autumn. As it’s a 12 episode series there is a decent possibility of seeing a Blu-Ray release.
Seeing as this is a short series and there’s a fair potential for good sales on the highstreet, a Blu-Ray is a fairly likely possibility in my opinion.
Copyright Beez Entertainment
Aside from Manga Entertainment, news on the anime front is a little scarce at the moment from the other big distributors. However, Beez Entertainment recently blogged about their plans for the future and what 2011 has in store for us, from them.
They want, more interaction with the average fan, release more shows but reduce and sometimes stop the delay between the US release and the UK one and to increase the volume of the Anime Legends franchise, which has been a huge success for Beez.
This is nothing new to Beez, for a long time they were one of the only companies who would openly frequent forums and Twitter and since the departure of their lead PR man they are trying harder than ever to get closer to the fan. This makes sense as customer loyalty is everything in a niche market, so let them hear your thoughts!
Beez Entertainment’s blog is located here, however, it’s full of spam as their filters aren’t great so you’re better of checking out their Facebook page, Twitter page or just talking about it below!
Logo © MVM Entertainment
MVM Entertainment are now known for releasing box sets of their older and new material and they have recently confirmed that they are going to be releasing the following shows in a box set:
This is great news for bargain hunters as a box set is always more cost effective than purchasing the single releases. Not forgetting that they are a good collection of decent anime, Desert Punk especially is one worth picking up if you’ve not already got it.
It’s Monday! Although it’s the evening now, it’s no excuse not to take time out of your day to check out the latest anime releases from the good anime people in the UK. This week there are three releases for you to get your hands on and the “truly” new one is something you’ve got to pick up.
This week’s releases are:
Although it’s not been reviewed yet, Baccano is a personal favourite of mine and it’s a truly great show that needs to be purchased by all. It’s a grittier version of Haruhi set in New York, with a bit of supernatural, a lot of wacky characters and a episode structure that will leave the viewer scratching their head until a good way into the show when things start to make sense.
Today we reported that Manga Entertainment announced that they will be releasing Highschool of the Dead in June or July of 2011 on both DVD and Blu-Ray. Manga Entertainment also announced through the means of Twitter that they will be releasing Casshern Sins in the UK.
Jerome of Manga Entertainment confirmed today that Casshern Sins will be released in May or June of 2011. Details surrounding Blu-Ray are uncertain, due to uncertainty surrounding blu-ray for this title.
Casshern Sins tells the story of a world where robots have subjugated humanity after becoming self aware. Their leader, Braiking Boss, rules over the world with an iron fist until one day Luna is summoned by the people marked as the saviour of human-kind.
Source: Twitter
Manga Entertainment today announced that they have gained the rights to distribute the undead anime – Highschool of the Dead, which was one of the summer seasons hits this year in Japan.
Highschool of the Dead stars Takashi and his good friend Rei and her best friend Hisashi. Then a Zombie arrived at the school gate. Within a few minutes a zombie plague managed to spread across the school throwing them all into a panic and attempt to avoid being eaten by their former school-mates.
After breaking out of the school to discover the infection had spread across the world, they search for a safe place in the world that’s managed to avoid the zombie chaos….
Currently there are no firm release dates confirmed; however, Manga Entertainment are hoping for the releases to start in June/July 2011 with both a DVD and Blu-Ray release penned. Manga are also hoping to work with Sentai Filmworks for the Blu-Ray release in the UK. So lots of good news there!
Source: Manga UK Twitter
Just a few days ago we reported that Manga Entertainment were going to have to delay their release of Summer Wars due to production issues in the USA with their partner Funimation.
This weekend Funimation announced that they will be releasing Summer Wars for a theatrical run across the USA. This is great news as that means there’s potential of Oscar nominations for Summer Wars and whilst we all know that Oscars mean very little as they are always pretty biased, they do look good on a DVD box.
Manga Entertainment, the UK distributor of Summer Wars have also confirmed that they are planning on doing a theatrical release in the UK. News-Anime.com asked if a theatrical run is on the cards and Jerome from Manga Entertainment UK confirmed the below:
That’s the plan. Hopefully around late February if we can get some screens.
Source: Twitter
This is great news as there are very few anime releases that make it to the cinemas, Ponyo and Howl’s Moving Castle are the last two that had any major cinema interest.
So watch this space…
