Aquarion Only Kickoff ‘07 Series Without A Firm Release Date

Last night, I was browsing through the top song charts of various countries’ iTunes Stores and I was surprised to find “Sousei no Aquarion” by Akino, the first opening theme to the anime of the same name, on the Japanese chart. I then thought to myself, “Hey, wasn’t that one of Funimation’s Kickoff ‘07 licenses?” I checked and found I was right but then I began to wondering why I hadn’t heard anything about an upcoming release. The landing page for Aquarion says “Coming Fall 2007″, which seems to be a projection that be missed since it’s almost winter and there’s still no definite word. Meanwhile the other six titles seem to be doing fine.

• Ragnarok The Animation:
  Volume 1 of this anime based on the MMORPG contains the first nine episodes spread over two discs and is due out December 4. The second volume is scheduled for 1/29/2008.
• Suzuka:
  This high school romantic sports anime already has four of its volumes out on shelves with Vol. 5 coming next Tuesday (Nov. 27) and the sixth and final iteration on 1/8/2008.
• Shuffle!:
  The web page for this particular anime says it’s “set for release” in Spring 2008 and according to both Right Stuf and AnimeNation, Vol. 1 is supposed to come out a little earlier than that on February 12 next year with a 17+ rating. The coming soon insert in my School Rumble Vol. 1 DVD had it pegged for November 27 but at least it’s still ahead of schedule in a way.
• Tsubasa:
  The fifth volume came out this past Tuesday, leaving Volume 6 – the final four episodes of the season – to be released January 8, 2008.
• Itsudatte My Santa:
  I honestly didn’t know this was going to come out until I did my research. This 2 episode OVA based on the Ken Akamatsu manga is coming out in three weeks on December 11 and yet I’ve read no ads for it. Not that I’m looking forward to getting it after looking at the trailer but I would have liked to have been made a little more aware of its upcoming release.
• Mushishi:
  The first three volumes are already out, number 4 comes 12/4/07, #5 on Jan. 15, and #6 on February 26.

So what about Aquarion? Well, the above excerpt of a DVD insert from late August indicates a launch date of November 13th but obviously that hasn’t come true. Amazon lists November 27th as the date but the series is not even in the systems of Right Stuf, AnimeNation, or RACS. Thus I am considering the actual date TBA under I see a press release or something credible. I’m guessing that Aquarion’s debut might take place in April/May 2008 but that’s a total guess. Still, it’s a little strange that this Gonzo-produced mecha title is the last one to not either be released by now or have a firm date assigned to its first volume.

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