If you needed a reminder that there was a new Berserk movie coming out check out this five minute theatrical trailer for Berserk Golden Age Arc I: Egg of the Supreme Ruler.



The new Berserk feature is due out in Japanese theatres on the 4th of February 2012 and is the first of a trilogy of movies adapted from Kentarō Miura’s original manga. Alongside footage seen from previous trailers is even more new footage which makes this pretty interesting viewing. This trailer also features some impressive animation and samples of the film’s music including the main theme, Aria, which was composed by electronic artist Hirasawa Susumu (Paprika, Paranoia Agent).

The film is animated by Studio 4°C and directed by Toshiyuki Kubooka who has worked as animation director on notable titles like Gankutsuou, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, and the Working Through Pain Segment of Batman:Gotham Knight.

For more information check the film's website.

Thanks go out to Pedro for spotting this!

The website for new television anime Sakamichi no Apollon (Kids on the Slope) has revealed a trailer and revealed its production staff which includes composer Yoko Kanno (Cowboy Bebop, Wolfs Rain, GitS: Stand Alone Complex) and director Shinichiro Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo).



Synopsis

It is the 1960s and the story focuses on Kaoru Nishimi, a smart but naïve young boy who has had to move around Japan a lot due to his father’s job. His circumstances make him something of an outcast but at his latest school he starts to get close with class president, Mukae Ritsuko, and bad boy Sentaro Kawabuchi who tends to skip class and get into fights. What unites the three is their shared love of jazz!

This is an adaptation of Yuki Kodama’s manga and will be the first time that Yoko Kanno and Shinichiro Watanabe will have worked together in the twelve years since the Cowboy Bebop movie. Other names in the production staff include Yuki Nobuteru (Escaflowne, Record of Lodoss War), Ayako Katoh (Chihayafuru) and Yuuko Kakihara (Sora no Otoshimono, Persona 4: The Animation). The anime is being co-produced by Studio Tezuka and MAPPA (Masao Maruyama’s new studio).

The anime will be aired in Fuji TV’s Noitamina block from April.

Source

Kadokawa’s official website and the March issue of Monthly Shōnen Ace both confirm that the anime Sora no Otoshimono (Heaven’s Lost Property) will get a third season.



Synopsis

High school boy Sakurai Tomoki finds that the only things disrupting his peaceful life of perversion are frightening dreams but all that changes when an angel falls from the skies. Sakurai finds out that she is an Angeloid named Ikaros and she is soon joined by another named Nymph.

AIC A.S.T.A. who have worked on Persona 4 The Animation, Bamboo Blade and previous entries in the Sora no Otoshimono franchise are back again. Ikaros is voiced by by Saori Hayami (Eden of the East), Nymph is voiced by Iori Nomizu (Kore wa Zombie Desu Ka). Monthly Shōnen Ace runs Suu Minazuki’s comedy manga.

Toei has releaed a new trailer for the latest instalment in the popular Precure anime franchise.

Synopsis

The city of Minato Mirai has been saved from Fusion by the Pretty Cures and they are the heroes of the hour. So much so that girls everywhere are trying to emulate them by dressing up as their favourites. Every girl except recent transfer student Ayumi Sakagami who is very lonely. Until she encounters a strange creature who she adopts and names Fuu-chan. She treasures its friendship but doesn't realise that it is a part of Fusion that has survived and it soon starts to cause chaos around the city. Can the Pretty Cures save the day? 

The new film is named Precure All Stars New Stage: Mirai no Tomodachi and it has been animated by Toei animation studios who have produced titles as diverse as Air, Dragon Ball, Devilman, Galaxy Express 999, Mononoke and other entries in the Precure franchise.

The film's theatrical released is scheduled for the 17th of March.

Earlier today, Sunrise announced that they will be releasing a film adaptation of it's hit series Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion. The producer of sunrise, Kawaguchi Yoshitaka said the project was a "dream" yet the screen at the press event had said that the "project has been launched". Asides from this, they also showed off the first PV footage for Code Geass:  Boukoku no Akito(Burden of Akito) was officially shown, yet again seemed to neglect any kind of release schedule for the series:

Asides from that, there was also an OVA announced for a spin-off called Code Geass: Nunnally in Wonderland which is set for release this year. You can find the site for this here

Newcastle’s Star and Shadow cinema is hosting a festival of Japanese films in January and there will be two experimental anime screened on two occasions.


Tuesday, 17th of January 19:30

Enter the Cosmos: Takashi Makino - a trio of short films by the experimental Japanese film-maker/animator Takashi Makino. This was recently seen at the ICA last year but the New Castle event will also include an introduction by Julian Ross of the university of Leeds who is a specialist in independent Japanese cinema.

Friday, 27th of January 19.30

Beyond Anime: The Outer Limits – this is a 90-minute programme of seventeen short animations made between 2002 and 2011.

There are a lot of other great films on offer so why not check out the site for more details.

Source

The February issue of Bessatsu’s Shounen Magazine has run a story about the green-lighting of an anime adaptation of Kouji Kumeta’s Joshiraku manga series.


Synopsis

Joshiraku focuses on a group of girls who are Japanese verbal show performers as they discuss random things and find that their conversations take them to unusual places far from their starting point.

If the synopsis doesn’t blow you away then the name behind it should because Kumeta is the creator of Sayonara Zetubo Sensei. Furthermore Joshiraku is illustrated by Yasu who has worked on the Toradora novels. Joshiraku is a slice-of-life comedy that has run for three volumes since making its debut last year. It began life as a serialisation in Bessatsu Shounen Magazine.

Source

A trailer for Production I.G.s adaptation of Tadatoshi Fujimaki’s sports comedy manga Kuroko no Basuke (Kuroko’s Basketball) has been released.



Taiga Kagami has just enrolled into Seirin High School where he meets Tetsuya Kuroko who plays on the school’s basketball team. In the past Kuroko was the unsung member of an elite basketball team known as Generation of Miracles. Now Kagami and Kuroko both aim to head to the inter-high school championship but one thing stands in their way – Generation of Miracles.

Yuuki Ono (Kaname in Kimi to Boku) voices Kagami while Kensho Ono (Tarou in Ghost Hound) voices Kuroko with Chiwa Saito (Hitagi in Bakemonotgari) providing support. The anime is being directed by Shunsuke Tada who helmed the latest Prince of Tennis movie. The script comes from Noboru Takagi who has written for a variety of shows includingBaccano!, Durarara!!, Jigoku Shoujo and Koi Kaze. The anime will premiere in April.

Source

With 2011 finished, now is the perfect time to reflect upon which anime and manga made a mark over the course of the year, so the writers, editors, and news journalists of Anime UK News have contributed their thoughts to an article where they rate the best and worst in anime, manga. The opinions vary but it provides an interesting read. So as we wave goodbye to 2011 and stride forth to embrace the anime of 2012, see which titles brought a smile to the faces of the Anime UK News staff.

Did your favourite anime get a mention or was it left in the cold? Did Haganai deserve more respect or was Madoka the mahou title of the year? Let us know what you think and head on over to the article and contribute your opinions!

The light novel Dakara Boku wa, H go Dekinai (So, I Cannot Get Erotic.) is getting an anime adaptation.

Synopsis

Kaga Ryosuke is a high schooler with a romantic nature and a fixation on the female form. Okay, he’s a perv. One day, whilst walking in the rain and looking at soft-core porn on his phone, Ryosuke sees a beautiful girl with red eyes soaked to the skin in the middle of the street. The people around her are avoiding her but Ryosuke is a romantic and believes that girls should be treasured so he offers to help by lending his umbrella and letting her dry off at his home. Unfortunately she is the Goddess of Death and she stabs him. Or did she? When Ryosuke wakes up he finds that he has lost his erotic spirit and she is using him as a spiritual energy battery. Now he has to live with her. Cue much hilarity.

Dakara Boku wa, H ga Dekinai is a supernatural romantic comedy that originated from a 2010 light novel series written by Tachibana Pan and Katsurai Yoshiaki. There are five volumes at the moment with an ongoing manga which is serialised in Monthly Dragon Age magazine.

Bandai Entertainment, the subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings (USA) that handles anime and manga in North America, has announced that it will cease to offer new DVD, Blu-ray and manga releases next month.

Bandai Entertainment will continue to offer existing releases from its current catalogue, and even produce new stock when required until the licenses expire, but it will cease the production of new releases this February and will now focus on digital distribution, broadcast, merchandising and licensing to other companies. Known casualties of this decision are:

Anime
Gosick
Nichijou
Turn A Gundam

Manga
Code Geass: Renya
Gurren Lagann vol. 7
Kannagi vol. 4-6
Lucky Star Boo Boo Kagaboo
Mobile Suit Gundam 00I
Tales of the Abyss: Jade's Secret Memories vol. 1-2

While this restructuring is bad news for North American anime fans and the Bandai Entertainment staff that have been laid-off there is no news as to how or if this affects Beez Entertainment, the European arm of Bandai visual which is owned by Namco Bandai Holdings. To keep abreast of any news, announcements and to offer your opinion join Just Passing Through’s thread in the news forum.

Source

With Nisemonogatari’s January premiere date drawing closer the official website has started to stream trailers for the Bakemonogatari spin-off.







The story follows on from Bakemonogatari as the main characters, the "Fire Sisters" Tsukihi and Karen Araragi, try to capture the black swindler Kaiku Deishu when he returns to town to spread another curse.

This anime will see a lot of reunions as Kodansha, Aniplex, and anime studio SHAFT collaborate together again, with experienced director Akiyuki Shinbō (Bakemonogatari, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Arakawa Under the Bridge) returning to the franchise and character designs coming from Akio Watanabe (Bakemonogatari, The World God Only Knows). The main leads are Eri Kitamura as Karen and Yuka Iguchi as Tsukihi are also joined by other VA’s from Bakemonogatari including Hiroshi Kamiya and Chiwa Saito.

Ryo from supercell returns to create the end theme song is “Naisho no Hanashi” (Secret Story).

This is the adaptation of Nishio Isin’s light novel.

Source

The website to studio Ordet and Sanzigen’s Black★Rock Shooter TV anime posted a new promotional video earler this week which features the end theme “Bokura no Ashiato” be Supercell.

The television series is directed by Shinobu Yoshioka (Black Rock Shooter OVA) with Hiroyuki Imaishi (Gurren Lagann, Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt) helming the CG battles sequences and Yusuke Yoshigaki (Gurren Lagann) acting as character designer. Mari Okada (Fractale, GOSICK) is acting as screenwriter.

The adaptation consists of eight episodes and will premiere in Fuji TV’s noitaminA block on the 2nd of February.

Source

Studio Canal UK is set to release the classic Studio Ghibli film  Whisper of the Heart on Double Play on the 9th of January.


Synopsis

It is Shizuku’s summer vacation and she is seeking direction for her life and trying to figure out what her true talents are. One day she observes an ordinary-looking cat riding by himself on the train. She decides to follow the cat and encounters an antique store filled with inspiring treasures including a magical cat figurine named The Baron. She also meets a mysterious boy named Seiji who is determined to follow his dreams of going overseas and making instruments. The two will help Shizuko hear the whispers in her heart and discover exciting adventures that carry her far beyond the boundaries of her imagination.

Whisper of the Heart isregularly cited as one of Ghibli's classics. Written by Academy Award winning anime master Hayao Miyazaki and directed by his protégé Yoshifumi Kondo the film tells a tale about a young girl who discovers life and love.

The package comes packed with extras including Storyboards / Background Artwork from "The Baron's Story" / 4 Masterpieces of Naohisa Inoue: From Start to Finish / Behind the Microphone / TV Spots / Original Japanese Theatrical Trailers / Studio Ghibli Collection Trailers. Amazon are selling it at £15.99 and it can be preordered here.