Big News at Anime Boston
Anime Boston was abuzz with news and acquisitions this weekend. I personally had the pleasure of catching major announcements from three of the biggest players in the industry: Central Park Media, ADV Films, and Pioneer animation.
Central Park Media Probably had the smallest repertoire of announcements, but that doesn't mean that they had less impact at all. The kind folks at CPM announced that they have acquired the license to not only the Alien Nine anime, but also the manga to boot. Both will see a release later this year, along with the final volumes of Utena, which will see another boxset for the Akio Car/Apocalypse saga. When I asked about many series that seemed to just drop out of circulation like Geobreeders and the Record of Lodoss War: Chronicles of the heroic Knight manga, Central Park simply said it was a license issue, and left it at that. Regarding Descendants of Darkness, CPM let out that volume 3 would have a "Pop-up video" type of setup available for the first episode on the disc as an extra. They went on, and confirmed that the boxset would have tarot cards exclusive to the set.
ADV probably had the largest showing, confirming its acquisition of Nuku Nuku Dash, the You're Under Arrest! specials, and other titles. This wasn't the meat of the panel though. The real fun came from the presentation of FOUR exclusive trailers that showed off the four latest acquisitions the company has made. The first series to be displayed was Final Fantasy Unlimited, the much-acclaimed series based on the RPGs of the same name. Moving on, the fortunate guests were treated to a humorous trailer that gave a great surprise to all. That, of course, is Neon Genesis Evangelion: Director's Cut, which will be released in two discs and have both the original versions of the show as well as the extended and revised Director's Cut versions that were released solely in Japan up until now. If that weren't enough, ADV unveiled that it had acquired the ONE series that it had confirmed would never, ever come to America on several occasions. That series is Magical Shopping Street Abenobashi. ADV continued to please the fans by announcing its acquisition of Azumanga Daioh. If these four series weren't enough, ADV had yet another beautiful Paul Champagne box on display, this time placing Bubblegum Crisis: Tokyo 2040 in the spotlight. While in the panel, ADV announced its ADV Music line, which is their new soundtrack division that will release soundtracks to various ADV series and a few JPop compilations. Even better, the soundtracks will be identical to the original Japanese versions, with the only difference being an English set of liner notes. ADV hopes to put out 3-4 soundtracks a month, starting this July. Regarding the status of the anime network, Regarding the Anime Network, ADV has announced that it would be expanding to New Jersey soon, and hopefully even further than that in due time.
Pioneer also had a very respectable showing at the show this year, basically highlighting its latest acquisitions before fielding general questions and answers. Pioneer announced details on several series, the first being Master Keaton. The series will be 8 volumes with 5 episodes per DVD, at $29.98 per volume. The series revolves around a seemingly ordinary man who is really a detective that formerly worked with the SAS. The series takes a McGuyver-ish/The Saint-ish feel throughout creating a nice atmosphere. Moving on, Pioneer announced that it would be releasing six soundtrack CDs: the Chobits OST, Lain OST, Hellsing OST, The Yoko Ishida Suite (a compilation of anime songs performed by Yoko Ishida), Yuki Kayuda's Fiction: which will be seeing a release before the Japan version even hits stores, and Hot Labored Wasted 13. All of the CDs will have a $14.98 price tag, and will have translated AND romaji lyrics in the liner notes. Moving back into the anime realm, Pioneer announced the Lupin III movie: History of Mamo, which will see a later July release. Along with Lupin, Pioneer has secured the rights to Heat Guy J, which will also see a later July release and retail at 29.98, with 7 volumes. Pioneer has also scooped up Haibane Renmei and Mahoromatic: Season 2, both to see an August release. They will be releasing LR - or Licensed by Royalty - this November. Pioneer continued, pushing the Sakura Wars movie, which will see a summer theatrical release stateside.
While I was unable to attend Bandai's panel, Anime On DVD was able to and wrote up the latest. The folks at Bandai started with their announcement of the Saber Marionette J Ultimate Collection, which contains Saber Marionette J, Saber Marionette J Again, and Saber Marionette J to X. Moving on, Bandai reported that it has acquired Witch Hunter Robin and the Spirit of Wonder OVA series.
For a small, first year convention, Anime Boston has gotten giant announcements. From ADV's acquisition of Azumanga to Bandai's announcement that it will be releasing Witch Hunter Robin, it's obvious that all of the companies seem to be pulling out the big guns already. It seems like this will be one great year for anime.
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