It has been several months since the President of Geneon USA, Eiji Orii, left his [PDF format] parting words back in November 2007, and while there is still no official word on the situation, an industry insider and owner of the popular fan-orientated US anime distribution company "Robert's Anime Corner Store" has let out some carefully worded information on the current situation, which provides a very well deserved sigh of relief for the many thousands of anime fans who have been left in the cold since the last quater of 2007.

Robert writes in his weely newsletter:

I'm still getting a half dozen e-mails each week from folks wondering when Geneon's old titles will be back on the market. Anime fans are consummate optimists. :-) I actually do have an update of sorts, and I have not mentioned anything up until now because I didn't want to get anyone's hopes up - but what the heck, here goes. Geneon has been in serious talks with a major US home entertainment distributor for about the past three months to get their titles back on the street. I know exactly who it is, how far along they are, and the details that are going to make or break the deal. The trouble is I can't make any of that info public without jeopardizing our relationship with the new company, but perhaps it's helpful to let you guys know that there is something serious in the works. Whether the deal is completed or not remains to be seen, and I would advise everyone to not get their hopes up, but I will tell you this:

• If we don't hear anything by mid-summer we probably won't hear anything.
• Even if a major deal is struck, it won't involve Geneon's entire catalog circa Sept 2007. The new company will cherry pick those releases like people at Ruby Tuesday pick over the salad bar.
• The 'major distributor' they are in talks with is NOT one of the existing US Anime studios.

Manga Ent. UK have confirmed two new UK anime licenses.

1. Hellsing Ultimate is a high-quality OVA re-animation of Kouta Hirano's popular vampire/horror action manga. So far, the series consists of only 4 four episodes (releases began in Japan during 2006), but it remains an on-going project in Japan, where a new fifth episode expected at some point in 2008. Hellsing Ultimate isn't related to 2001's 13 episode TV anime of same name, which, towards its end, completely diverged from Hirano's (then in-complete) original story.


2. In addition to Hellsing Ultimate, Manga Ent. have also picked up the theatrical movie Origin Spirits of the Past. The 2006 sci-fi/fantasy flick was Studio (Hellsing, Gantz, Last Exile) Gonzo's first theatrical effort (followed up by Brave Story). In promotion of the film, there will be a free screening (tickets are limited) at Manchester's Arndale Centre on Monday, 26th May.

Three Japanese salary-men were arrested late last week for allegedly uploading  new episodes of anime to the Japanese file-sharing program "Share". According to Canned Dogs, these three people (their online handles were 92JeyRfcya, YS2YSUOe1cLtf and YnXmHqtxqS) were well-known within the file-sharing community for encoding and uploading "huge amounts" of anime; a lot of which was then used as a basis for international fansubs. It remains to be seen whether their absence will ultimately effect the speed of online distribution of fansubbed anime.

Anime influenced (UK based) t-shirt designer Terratag has released two new designs based on the popular action anime Afro Samurai. These t-shirts, created alongside Afro Samurai mangaka Takashi Okazaki, can be seen (and ordered) on the Terratag website.

We've received news that on the 20th of May (from 6PM till 8PM) at the Walthamstow Library (E17 7JN), Tokyopop will be running one of their "recon" manga events; basically, it's a social gathering organised to spread all the recent news related to Tokyopop UK's manga releases. Apparently, there will be "free gifts, cosplay, art competitions, quizzes and prizes and a chance to play the latest Nintendo titles at the event". If you're interested, contact info for the Walthamstow Library can be found on their official website.

Earlier in the week, Nozomi Entertainment (US anime publishing arm of Rightstuf International) announced that they've acquired the fan-favourite slice of life anime franchise Aria, starting with a box set release of all 13 episodes of the first series (Aria the Animation) on September 30th. Following that, Nozomi will then release Aria the Natural and Aria the Origination. As is the modern trend for relatively niche anime series in today's climate, no English dub will be produced for any of the Aria series.

To celebrate the recent release of Death Note (anime) Volume 1 in the UK (it came out last Monday, 28th April), Manga Ent. have posted up 5 short streaming video clips cut from the first couple of episodes of  the series (English dubbed). If you're interested in sampling what is undoubtedly one of the biggest UK anime releases of the year, see below:

• Clip 1 – LIGHT FINDS THE DEATH NOTE
• Clip 2 – LIGHT WRITES IN THE DEATH NOTE
• Clip 3 – RYUK
• Clip 4 – RYUK MEETS LIGHT
• Clip 5 – THE DEATH NOTE IN ACTION

Kicking off next weekend (10th to 11th May), the Bristol Comics Expo has expanded its focus on the (global) manga scene to unprecedented levels. We're told the line-up includes guest appearances and panels with:

• Misako Rocks, returns again from the USA
• Helen McCarthy, Manga critic
• Frederik Stromberg, Swedish manga/comic book critic
• Yokaji studio, a group of chinese artist living in Sweden.
• Dimensional Manga, a new UK publisher
• Sean Michael Wilson of Boychild Books, 'Lafcadio Hearn's Japanese Ghost Stories','Yaoi volume one', Best New Manga volume 2.
• Tokyo pop, with their big display again
• Dark horse comics joins us this year
• 'Selfmadehero', a UK publisher launching their new manga adaptations of  Shakespeare.
• Yishan Li, a Chinese artist, Best New Manga volume 2 now published by Dargaud in France and working on books for US publishers.    
• The London collective of Japanese manga artists 'Umisen-Yamasen' will be  there (there might be as many as 5 of them attend!)
• Siku, with his new manga Bible books.
• Ilya, the editor of the Mammoth book of new manga, will be there with some of his manga 'mammoths'.

You can get more information on the Bristol Comics Expo at their official website.

In London on Friday 16th May (from 1pm till 6pm), King's College London (Room K2.31, Strand Building, Strand Campus) will be hosting a seminar on anime and manga; it's titled "Japan’s Manga and Anime Industries: Creativity and the Global Marketplace".

"This research seminar will investigate the Japanese comic book and animation industries, identifying and analysing the forces behind the increasing popularity of manga and anime in the English speaking world and beyond. Exploring specific texts and their broader cultural context, and examining both the audiences for and the business of manga and anime, the seminar will attempt to discover the complex cultural and commercial logic of these industries, at once manifestly country-specific and globally successful."

The afternoon will be made up of presentations for five seperate "papers", they are:

• 'Anime: The Anti-Cartoon?' by Andrew Osmond
• 'Advertising anime: Global-local advertising and the Tokyo International Anime Fair' by Dr Rayna Denison
• '"Such stuff as dreams are made on": Dystopian vision of the future in Japanese manga and anime' by Yoko Ono
• 'Manga in the UK: Can manga reinvent Shakespeare?' by Emma Hayley
• 'Between fan culture and copyright infringement: Manga scalation' by Dr Hye-Kyung Lee

If you're interested in attending, more information can be found at the King's College London website.

Several impressive new trailers have been released recently and here's a quick run-down of what to look out for:

• A new (and much longer) trailer for Mamoru "Ghost in the Shell" Oshii's Sky Crawlers has been placed on YouTube. The theatrical movie, previously described as a "a philosophical story built around the visceral trials and tribulations of a group young fighter pilots who are forced into fighting a "war for entertainment"" will be out in Japan later this summer.


• The official website for the anime adaptation of Blade of the Immortal (a violent, supernatural samurai epic) has gone live with an extended streaming flash trailer. Be warned, it contains bloody gore.


• A 35-second teaser for the live action thriller 20th Century Boys has appeared online. It’s set to become the most expensive Japanese film project of all time, being based on Naoki "Monster, Master Keaton" Urasawa’s multi-generational manga of same name. The story involves a group of men who, as childhood friends in the 1970s, wrote (and then buried) a comic-book manuscript that describes a massive terrorist attack on the civilized world. Decades later, their story, including every insignificant little detail, starts to come true.

As anticipation for the live action Dragonball movie reaches boiling point, Japanese manga magazine Shonen Jump have announced that they intend to produce a brand new (albeit one-shot) Dragonball anime (as well as a new One Piece short film too). Though specific details are few and far between, it's known that the new anime will be shown all across Japan as a part of the “Jump Super Anime Tour”, making it the first Dragonball anime to have been produced since GT ended in November 1997.

UK-based Death Note fans are being invited to attend a Northern gathering next week (Monday, 28th April) to celebrate the in-bound releases of the first live action movie (in UK cinemas) and the anime series (on UK DVD). In association with Manga Ent., the event is being held at the 'Zavvi' shop in the Manchester Arndale Shopping Centre from 7PM (note: in order to gain entry on the evening, you must pick-up a special wristband in-store prior to the event).

As the American convention season starts to hot up, several major announcements have sprung up from the most recent "New York Comic Convention":  [Note:  Companies refered to are American, along with the release dates,  but if there is a UK company related to them, a release somewhere down the line is very probable]

Day 1:

• After months of speculation about the title's situation, Bandai Entertainment have snatched Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann from ADV Films and will implement a new release method of subtitle-only monthly releases starting in the Summer, with bilingual limited and normal releases starting in April 2009.  Bandai Entertainment also announced the latest series in the Gundam franchise, Gundam 00, with no release plans set at the moment.  One of Studio Bones' 2007 series Ayakashi Ayashi will have a special edition release that includes the manga, which had previously not been announced for American release.  Finally, Bandai Entertainment's release of Code Geass will follow a special release pattern with the special editions including CD soundtracks, manga and audio drama's that were included with the Japanese release.  With Bandai's UK arm, Beez Entertainment, releasing the exact copies of the American release for The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, it is possible that similar release patterns could follow for any number of Bandai Entertainment's releases.  Rest assured, AnimeUKNews will be the first to know of any developments as they arise from our own Beez Entertainment thread.
• Five years after the first Japanese release, Yen Press have finally put Haruhi fans out of their misery with their acquisition of both the Haruhi manga series and light novel series, with the manga being released Autumn 2008 and the light novels starting April 2009 in both paperback and hardback editions.  Yen Press will be working with their parent company Hachette Group USA for the publication of the light novels, with their powerful book industry presence the Haruhi light novels will be pushed into the mainstream being advertised as "Hannah Montana meets Heroes".  It remains to be seen whether or not Hachette Group USA have plans to publish their books in the UK.  In light of the highly anticipated anime, Soul Eater, Yen Press have also acquired the rights to publish the Soul Eater manga series.  [Yen Press were planning to release the Haruhi news in a special "Top Secret" panel, taking place tomorrow, but let the information out in the form of a press release.]
• Tokyopop's "Pop Fiction" line of novels has travelled a bumpy road since its inception in October 2006, and it has now been confirmed that their publications of the Slayers light novel series will end with volume 8, leaving volumes 9-15 unreleased.  Although Tokyopop's publication of the Kino no Tabi light novel series has been put on hiatus, it is still in the hands of Tokyopop and still has a chance of publication.
• Viz Media's first panel was by 'invitation-only' for press, using the panel to announce to discuss their upcoming title Ultimo, co-created by Marvel's Stan Lee, and Shamen King author Hiroyuki Takei, the title has just started publication in the Japanese manga magazine "Jump Square".  It will be published on Viz Media's "Shounen Jump" line and will have the shortest delay between a Japanese and English publication in Viz' history, the current shortest being the latest Yu-Gi-Oh manga series that was released in English before the Japanese 'tankobon' compilation started. 
• Funimation had little to offer in the way of news, but did offer some hope for another cause in one sense when answering a question about the recently-withdrawn-from-the-American-industry, Geneon Entertainment, where it was said that a lot of companies are fighting over the licenses.  With the likes of Seirei no Moribito (Guardian of the Sacred Spirit) already being grabbed by Media Blasters, it seems Geneon's licenses are beginning to show their heads.

Day 2:

• Viz Media's general panel provided some interesting revelations.  On the manga side of business, the "Viz Big" [3 volumes in 1 + colour pages and a multitude of extras] imprint is gaining pace as the years goes on with DragonBall and DragonBall Z starting in early June and Vagabond in September.  Following on from Vagabond, two more Takehiko Inoue titles, Real and Slam Dunk will begin in July and September respectively.  Bleach will reach volume 25 in December, which is still quite a long way behind the Japanese release.  Akira Toriyama's next series after DragonBall, titled Cowa! will be published in July.  Bobobo-bo bo-bobo will be published in August, Cat Eyed Boy in June, solanin in October, the first three volumes of One Pound Gospel will be re-released from July with the final volume being published in December and Black Lagoon will be published with shrink-wrapping in August.  Finally, they have plans to release the long running Oishinbo manga, but not all of it On the artbook side of things, a Bleach character profile artbook titled "All Colour But The Black" will be published October 21st and two Vagabond artbooks titled "Sumi" and "Water" along with the "Viz Big" release of Vagabond.  It is to be noted that the latest Viz have begun to properly distribute their titles in the UK, with their latest printings including the UK price on the back.  On the novel front, Viz have big plans for 2009.  After speculation of Viz only bothering with their mainstream titles after the hiatus of Hikaru no Go, Mar and Prince of Tennis and Full Moon wo Sagashite  they said that the titles in question were "just on a break" and they were looking at the best way to release them, which could imply digital distribution.  As for new announcements, the second Naruto movie titled Legend of the Stone of Gelel will be released on July 29th, and the third movie coming October 11th in the US, the first Bleach movie titled Memories of Nobody is also coming in October along with the current trend of straight to boxset releases with the first Buso Renkin boxset coming out April 29th.  Following on this trend, Viz announced the release of the highly anticipated and renowned Hunter x Hunter anime, for release in Q4 of this year.  The TV series is only planned for now, for release in two boxsets, with the OVA's not yet planned.  A release of the Vampire Knight anime is also planned.  It is to be noted that Manga Entertainment have recently made a deal with Viz Media that allows them to distribute all of Viz Media's titles in the UK.  Viz also expressed that they would like to release on Blu-ray, but they have no current plans for the format.
• Following on from Viz Media's onslaught of new licenses and 2008 plans, Del Rey picked up some very notable acquisitions, the biggest being Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei - by the Kodansha Manga Award winning artist Koji Kumeta for release in March 2009, it will keep the original title, but also be presented as the English translation "The power of negative thinking" and will be released every 4 months.  Along with harem manga Gauken Prince, and a spin-off manga from the anime series Samurai 7, both for release in April 2009.  Two manga spin-offs of the Marvel comic X-Men will be published in Spring 2009 co-produced by Del Rey and Marvel, the first being called Wolverine, for the shounen genre, and the other X-Men, aimed at the shoujo genre.  On the novel front, an original story from Kouhei Kadono, the author of the Boogiepop Phantom series, titled "The Case of the Dragon Slayer" will be published February 2009.  As for Del Rey's upcoming anthology magazine titled "Faust", there will be an exclusive manga by Yun Kouga found nowehere else in English, Yun has most recently authored the Loveless manga, and designed characters for Gundam 00.  It was revealed that Tanoshimi UK publishes its properties in lower grade paper quality, which has nothing to do with Del Rey as Tanoshimi UK is a sublicensor of Del Rey and thus Del Rey has no control over how Tanoshimi UK publish.

North American movie studio Dreamworks have, ahead of strong competition from Universal and Sony, acquired the rights to produce a 3D live action adaptation of Ghost in the Shell, with relative newcomer Jamie Moss already being assigned the task of producing a script. Since it's debut in 1991, Masamune Shirow's thought-provoking science-fiction manga has seen numourous anime adaptations. The enthusiasm of Dreamworks co-founder and Raiders of the Lost Ark director Steven Spielberg is said to have swung the deal in favour of his company, with Spielberg being quoted as having said "Ghost in the Shell is one of my favorite stories. It's a genre that has arrived, and we enthusiastically welcome it to DreamWorks."

Following on from our recent news story that anime director Makoto Shinkai is currently living in London, Otaku News has word that on the 20th of June at the BFI Southbank (in London), Shinkai will be in attendance to introduce his most recent movie, the romantic drama 5 Centimetres Per Second. This will be a part of the BFI's "Anime Weekend", which also includes (amongst many others) screenings of 'The Girl who Leapt Through Time', Tekkonkinkreet and the two live-action Death Note movies. Please note, booking has not yet opened for the event.

Speaking of Makoto Shinkai's animation, his latest work, a trailer for the erotic video game 'ef ~ the later tale' (the trailer itself is suitable for all audiences), has been officially published on YouTube.