AnimeNation Anime News Blog

Sentai Filmworks has acquired domestic distribution rights to the Utakata and Taisho Yakyuu Musume anime television series.

Creator/director Keiji Gotoh’s 2004 adventure drama Utakata will be released in a complete 13 episode subtitled DVD collection on November 2.

The complete 12 episode “Taisho Baseball Girls” television series from 2009 will be released in a subtitled DVD collection on November 16.

I’m not entirely surprised to see Taisho Yakyuu Musume picked up as it was mildly successful last year, although not the cult hit that it seemed anticipated to become. It’s roughly 2/3 moé and 1/3 baseball. Utakata has been largely forgotten because it’s that sort of decent but not very memorable show. Seems like an ordinary second-tier acquisition.

The homepage for the upcoming Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru (“Nevertheless, This Town Continues”) anime television series has added its first streaming teaser trailer. The adaptation of Masakazu Ishiguro’s slice-of-life comedy manga set in and around a small Tokyo café named “Seaside” will premiere on October 7.

Source: Moon Phase

Japanese PC game development studio Circus has released the first teaser trailer for the D.C. ~Da Capo~ spin-off T.P. Sakura (Time Paladin Sakura) PC game and OVA. The first of two anime episodes is scheduled for release on November 25.

Source: Moon Phase

Seemingly taking cue from the popular Toei Robot Girls project, anime studio Tatsunoko Production has announced its development of an anime TV series titled “Tachumaru Zukan” that will star the classic Gatchaman, Casshern, and Gold Lightan characters rendered as SD animals. “Gatchapen” is the Gatchaman penguin. “Nyasshan” is the Casshern cat. “Piyotan” is the Gold Lightan chicken. The homepage features a sample Flash promotional video. The anime will premiere in October.

By the way, is that Toei Robot Girls anime series ever going to actually surface?

Source: Anime News Network

Business Jump magazine has announced that creator Shinobu Kaitani’s mystery comedy manga series Reinoryokusha Odagiri Kyoko no Uso (Kyoko Odagiri the Fake Psychic) will get a live action TV series adaptation this October. The manga stars Ichiro Taniguchi, who ends up working for famed psychic detective Kyoko Odagiri after learning her secret. Kaitani’s ongoing “Odagiri Kyoko” manga debuted in 2007. Kaitani is also the creator of Liar Game and One Outs, the former got a live action TV series, and the later got an anime TV series.

Source: Anime News Network

To refresh your memory or introduce you to an interesting opening animation sequence, I offer the second opening from the 2001 magical girl TV series Cosmic Baton Girl Comet-san. The theme song is “Miracle Power” sung by Shizuka Nakayama.

Question:
I’ve noticed that many of the otaku characters in anime are depicted as sakuga otaku who have a keen eye for animation and animators, rather than commenting on other staff like the writer and director. Does this portrayal match the reality of Japanese anime fans on 2ch and whatnot? If so, can you hypothesize about why Japanese fans might be more conscious of animation than Western fans?

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Crunchyroll has announced plans to distribute the acclaimed 2007 anime film 5 Centimeters per Second on domestic DVD in late September or early October. Crunchyroll will handle the DVD authoring, promotion, and financing. Bandai Entertainment has been tapped to handle disc replication and distribution.

AD Vision briefly licensed and distributed the film on domestic DVD in 2008. Bang Zoom! Entertainment produced a new English dub for Crunchyroll streaming in 2009. Crunchyroll’s (presumably) bilingual DVD will include the Bang Zoom! dub.

Source: Anime News Network

FUNimation has confirmed its acquisition of home entertainment, digital, merchandise, and mobile rights to the 12 episode Ga-Rei Zero supernatural action/horror anime television series from 2008. The anime series is a prequel to Hajime Segawa’s manga series Enchained Spiritual Beast Ga-Rei. FUNimation has already begun streaming the series on YouTube. A complete series DVD release will come early next year.

Source: Anime News Network

The homepage for creator/director Junichi Sato’s latest iyashikei (“healing type”) anime, Tamayura, has added a streaming trailer. The first episode of the two episode heartwarming slice-of-life story will get a premiere TV screening on September 5 before hitting DVD & BD on November 26.

Source: Anime News Network

The homepage for the upcoming Otome Yokai Zakuro (Girl Monster Zakuro) television anime has added a 30 second teaser trailer. The adaptation of Lily Hoshino’s supernatural historical drama manga revolves around a government organization established to deal with incidents involving humans and yokai (traditional Japanese monsters). The series will premiere on October 4.

Source: Anime News Network

The homepage for the just announced Freezing anime television series has added a streaming teaser trailer. The adaptation of Lim Dal-Young and Kim Kwang-Hyun’s sci-fi action manga will premiere next spring.

The production values look good, but I can’t say that anything else on display here looks especially outstanding.

Source: Anime News Network

The homepage for the upcoming You Are Umasou (Omae Umasou da na) anime motion picture has announced that a “Miyanishi Tatsuya Gekijo: Omae Umasou da na” (Tatsuya Miyanishi Theater: You Look Delicious) series of five-minute weekly TV episodes will premiere on October 4, ahead of the movie’s October 16 premiere. The anime TV series and movie are both based on Tatsuya Miyanishi’s best selling children’s picture book about a Tyrannosaurus Rex that threatens to eat a baby Ankylosaurus dinosaur but instead adopts it.

Source: Anime News Network

Last weekend’s Macross Frontier publicity event in Yokohama revealed that a Macross F music video collection will hit DVD on December 15. The music video collection will include animation footage from the television series, movies, and original animation.

The event also announced that the second Macross F motion picture, Macross Frontier ~Sayonara no Tsubasa~, will open on February 26, 2011.

Source: Anime News Network

To refresh your memory or introduce you to an interesting opening animation sequence, I offer the opening (and ending) of the 2006 historical supernatural action drama TV series Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto. The theme song is “Kouya Ruten” (Wilderness Variations) performed by FictionJunction YUUKA.