Posts Tagged “release dates”

TRSI added a bunch of items to their online catalog today and along with many repackagings and consolidations in FUNimation’s September solicitations, there were many previously unannounced items and details to be found as well.

(UPDATE 6/24 3:44PM PDT: Robert of his eponymous Anime Corner Store wrote a post [saw via scottfrye] saying they now have pretty much all the same items up for pre-order.)

GONZO anime Burst Angel is evidently getting a Blu-ray release on September 29th at a list price of $79.98. (TRSI’s pre-order price is currently $60.) It will have all 24 TV episodes and the Infinity OVA, just like its Viridian Collection release in June 2008, except now in high-definition.

Nabari no Ou will have its first 13-episode set come out on September 22nd at a typical $59.98 price point. The ninja action series was one of Funi’s New Show A Go Go licenses last December and the manga is currently being published by Yen Press.

Sgt. Frog (aka Keroro) Season 1 Part 1 comes out on Sept. 22nd. That date was announced during their main panel at Anime Next but not the “budget” list price of $39.98 for 12 episodes. That’s at the same level as their Shin-chan releases but this will be a hybrid release (remember their test episode from November?) unlike the dubbed only Shin-chan.

Other first-run releases include the second half of Big Windup! sliding home (TRSI; RACS) on Sept. 29th ($59.99 MSRP), 6 weeks after the first half; the second half of Kaze no Stigma dropping on Sept. 1st ($59.98 MSRP); and One Piece Season 2 Part 3 continuing the adventures of the Going Merry crew on Sept. 29th ($49.98 MSRP). RACS also has that One Piece box set listed, saying it contains episodes 79-91.

After having finished with their Dragon Ball GT and DBZ uncut box sets, Funi will give the same treatment to the original Dragon Ball series when they release the first season uncut DVD set on Sept. 15th for $49.98 MSRP, the same price point as their previous uncut box sets from the franchise.

I’ll wrap up talking about Funi with some former Geneon releases. On Sept. 29, a box set of Heat Guy J will come out at $49.98 MSRP (TRSI) and both Black Lagoon seasons are being repackaged into a single box set at $69.98 MSRP, also on Sept. 29 (RACS; TRSI). There will also be a number of repricings of their $69.98 Geneon box set reissues last year: Ergo Proxy on Sept. 29th (RACS; TRSI), Fate/stay night on Sept. 1st (RACS; TRSI), and Shakugan no Shana on Sept. 15th (RACS; TRSI).

Finally: there are some Nozomi releases of some decades-old series. The first of two Kimba the White Lion mini-collections come out at $49.98 MSRP on October 6th (link), the second Gigantor collection on Sept. 15 for $39.98 MSRP (link), and two mini-collections of Astro Boy, both on Oct. 6th at $49.98 MSRP apiece (set 1, set 2)

Whew, that was tiring to put together!

UPDATE 6/23 11:10 PM PDT: I later found out that Nozomi had issued separate press releases about the Kimba and Astro Boy mini-sets.

Earlier this week, some upcoming Viz Media products were added to the online catalogs of RightStuf and of Robert’s Anime Corner Store including the 16th and final Naruto Uncut DVD box set (eps. 206-219), the 1st Naruto Shippuden DVD volume, the season 1 box set of Honey & Clover, the 20th volume of Bleach (eps 80-83), the second Bleach movie (The Diamond Dust Rebellion), and of course Pokemon Elements Vol 3: Electric and Vol 4: Water.

That last “pre-jump” Naruto box set will come out September 23rd and the first Shippuden disc a week later on September 29th. It was already obvious that the latter would be a hybrid release given how much Viz has already invested in dubbing the first series for television, and how popular those voice actors are, but I felt a little sad when I recalled that there will very likely not a cable broadcast of the series.

The relationship between anime companies and Cartoon Network has frayed over the past couple years and Viz has shifted its focus to digital distribution with virtual marketplaces like iTunes, Xbox Live/Zune Marketplace, and the PSN store and also on video portals such as Hulu. In fact, the first 113 episodes of Shippuden are currently available on Hulu and Crunchyroll in subtitled form. I don’t know when the dubbed episodes will appear online but I’m sure they would decide to focus on that than on the diminishing returns of cable broadcasting.

There is a slim chance that it would air on Cartoon Network but given the channel’s new focus on live-action programming like reality shows, it’s trending toward none. Programming decisions are based on audience estimates so if those shows pull in more eyeballs than what was occupying their Saturday night block, then that’s that.

The first “season” (12 episodes) of Honey and Clover, a series Viz had been trying to pitch to broadcasters at trade events for the past few years, will be released on September 22nd in hybrid format at a list price of $60 (lower at online retailers). This means we’ll finally hear an English dub in action – something I’ve been idly curious about for a while. Some roles have been revealed on the respective actors’ websites: Heather Halley as Hagumi and young Kaoru Morita, Julie Ann Taylor as Ayumi Yamada, and Yuri Lowenthal as Takamoto; Chris Kent has been added onto the series’ IMDb page as Shuuji Hanamoto.

The FUNimation Channel is supposed to run episodes of that, Monster, and Nana sometime this summer. There are still no details about a Monster video release, as far as I know.

A posting on the AOD/Mania Region 1 DVD sub-forum mentions solicitations listed among AAA Anime’s pre-orders for some of the series FUNimation announced during their “New Show A Go Go” promotional event in December. According to the listing, Gad Guard, Ikki Tousen, and Last Exile will supposedly all come out in May at an MSRP of $49.98, each currently bearing a placeholder date of May 30th. These are not the first of the bunch to get release dates: April has Vandread on the 7th for $49.98 (as mentioned in their NYCC panel) and The Count of Monte Cristo (aka Gankutsuou) on the 28th for $69.98.

Also among the listings is a never-before-released title – Murder Princess, with a release date of May 12th (its website confirms this) and the same $49.98 MSRP as Gad Guard et al. Fifty bucks seems high for the six-episode OVA Murder Princess but that may shift lower when online retailers update their listings.

Other FUNimation releases that are listed as hitting shelves in May are (all bear May 30th placeholder date): Case Closed: Season 5 ($49.98), Claymore Volume 5 ($24.98), a double feature of Dragon Ball Z movies 12 & 13 – Fusion Reborn and Wrath of Dragon – on standard DVD and Blu-ray ($24.98; $39.99), Dragon Ball Z season 9 box set ($49.98), and Karin: Complete Collection ($69.98). More cover art assets lie after the jump.

UPDATE 2/21: TRSI updated their catalog earlier this week and
pretty much all the above releases were part of it, including a lower price for Murder Princess. So here is their lineup (w/ affliate links):
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I was browsing around online to see how the covers from the first Haruhi novel and the manga’s first volume differed visually (they’re similar but not close enough to cause confusion) and saw that Borders, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon all currently list Volume 1 of the Lucky Star manga with a release date of May 15th, a price point of $9.99, and a page count of 150. Both its standard ISBN of 1604961120 and ISBN-13 of 9781604961126 checked out when I cross-checked them on ISBNdb.com.

Granted, Bandai has not officially announced anything nor have they sent solicitations to specialty retailers like TRSI or yet but the date looks right since it would be two months after the sixth and final DVD volume comes out on March 17th. I would expect them to announce this date along some more details at NYCC next month during either their general panel (Saturday Feb. 7th 12:30 PM-1:30 PM) or their Lucky Star panel (Sat. 1:45PM-2:45PM).

Here’s the product description that may show up on the back cover:

From the studio that brought you The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya! When eating a chocolate cornet which end do you begin with, the top or the bottom? Which side is the top and which is the bottom? For that matter, what is a chocolate cornet? The proper way to eat pastries is only one of the many every day occurrences explored by the girls of Ms. Kuroi’s class. Meet Konata, an athletic and intelligent girl too dedicated to her favorite primetime animes to excel in anything but otaku culture; Miyuki, the cute, bespectacled living example of Moe with an encyclopedic knowledge of all subjects; Kagami, the bitter-sweet, tough but shy sister; Tsukasa, a kind but air-headed klutz. Witness this study in the human condition as our heroines explore the unexplored in questioning the ordinary!

AnimeOnDVD posted some months-ahead solicitations from RightStuf Wednesday, this time from AD Vision. Included on that list was Five Centimeters Per Second carrying a date of March 4th, an age rating of 13+, and the standard $29.98 MSRP. The funny thing is that I submitted a question a couple days ago through ADV’s online contact form wondering if a DVD release was imminent considering they stated in their late June license announcement that they were planning for a December DVD release at the time and a press release on the Anime Network’s website stating Five Centimeters would premiere on its VOD service on January 17th.

I have a problem with the price, though. Yes, I know it’s a high-production “feature” with Shinkai’s great attention to detail and trademark lighting effects but it’s sixty-five minutes total, shorter than the 91-minute Place Promised in Our Early Days. Maybe I’ll pick it up during the next studio sale if the extras to be announced later seem worth it. By comparison, ADV first released the 30-minute Voices of a Distant Star on June 2003 at a MSRP of $19.99 before packaging it and Place Promised into the Shinkai Collection (priced at $39.98) in December 2005.

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.
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