[anime] CRUNCHYROLL ADDS 12 ADV FILMS PROPERTIES
August 10, 2008 by KNDY · Leave a Comment
Online Media Distribution Leader Expands Its Anime Offerings
San Francisco, CA (August 9, 2008) Online media distribution leader
Crunchyroll today announced an agreement with ADV Films, one of the top
producer-distributors of anime in North America, to provide streaming,
subscription, and download-to-own viewing for twelve animated series and
feature film properties. These new offerings will begin appearing online
later this month at www.crunchyroll.com <http://www.crunchyroll.com> .
ADV maintains one of the largest anime catalogs outside of Japan and has
played a key role in building anime¹s worldwide popularity over the past 16
years. Crunchyroll is the largest online community focused on Asian
entertainment, serving over four million fans worldwide. Today¹s
announcement substantially expands Crunchyroll¹s anime content and extends
ADV¹s online reach dramatically.
Vu Nguyen, co-founder of Crunchyroll, said ³Crunchyroll is delighted to
partner with a pioneering US anime distributor to bring these great titles
to our passionate online community of anime fans.²
³Consumers particularly the 18-34 year old demo are hungry for what we
have to offer, whether it¹s at the video store, on cable, and increasingly
over the Internet,² said ADV Films co-founder and president John Ledford.
³As the largest community of its kind, Crunchyroll is the perfect platform
to reach new, tech-savvy anime fans.²
Over the next twelve months, Crunchyroll will host nearly 72 hours of ADV
Films content, including TV series, animated features, and live-action
films. A full list is provided below.
Angelic Layer 26 episode animated
series
BASToF Syndrome 26 episode animated series
Best Student Council 26 episode animated series
Chance Pop Session 13 episode animated series
Lady Death animated feature
Magical Play 22 episode animated
series
Martian Successor Nadesico:
Prince of Darkness animated feature
Nurse Witch Komugi 6 episode animated series
Parasite Dolls animated feature
Saiyuki 50 episode animated
series
Sin animated feature
Yesterday live-action film
About ADV
ADV Films is the #1 producer-distributor of Japanese animation (³anime²) in
North America and has the largest English-language anime library in the
world. With best-selling titles such as Neon Genesis Evangelion, Elfen Lied,
Gantz, Robotech, Azumanga Daioh, and Hello Kitty, ADV Films¹ extensive
catalog is fueling the popularity of anime around the globe. Parent company
A. D. Vision, Inc. encompasses a variety of complementary media divisions
including television, licensing and merchandising and continues to expand
into new areas. Founded in 1992, the company is headquartered in Houston.
For more information, visit http://www.advfilms.com.
About Crunchyroll
Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Crunchyroll is hailed as a
leading online entertainment brand with the largest international online
community and destination focused on Asian entertainment including anime,
drama and music in addition to electronic entertainment and auto content.
Crunchyroll¹s distribution channel and partnership program delivers content
to over four million passionate fans worldwide. Crunchyroll is funded by the
premier group Venrock. For more information check out
http://www.crunchyroll.com.
[ANIME] Sojitz’s ARM Corporation Transfers Rights to More Than 30 Titles
July 4, 2008 by KNDY · Leave a Comment
FLOWER MOUND, TX, July 4, 2008 –FUNimation Entertainment, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Navarre Corporation, and the ARM Corporation, announced today their agreement to transfer ARM’s interest in select series to FUNimation. FUNimation Entertainment will distribute and release these DVD titles in North America and other territories around the world.
Under the terms of the deal, FUNimation Entertainment obtains varied rights to these titles including home video, broadcast, digital and merchandise to such international successes as “Devil May Cry” and “Guyver: The Bioboosted Armor TV”. The complete list of acquired titles follows below:
• 009-1
• Ah! My Goddess: Flights of Fancy
• Air Gear
• Air movie
• Air TV
• Blade of the Phantom Master
• Comic Party Revolution
• Coyote Ragtime Show
• Devil May Cry
• Guyver: The Bioboosted Armor TV
• Jing, King of Bandits: Seventh Heaven
• Jinki:Extend
• Kanon
• Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora
• Le Chevalier D’Eon
• Magikano
• Moeyo Ken TV
• Moonlight Mile
• Murder Princess
• Nerima Daikon Brothers
• Pani Poni Dash!
• Project Blue Earth SOS
• Pumpkin Scissors
• Red Garden
• Sgt. Keroro 1st & 2nd
• Tokyo Majin
• UFO Princess Valkyrie
• Utawarerumono
• Venus Versus Virus
• The Wallflower
• Welcome to the NHK
• Xenosaga
“We are very enthusiastic about these titles,” said Gen Fukunaga, president and CEO of FUNimation Entertainment. “Not only are these excellent series, but they also fuel FUNimation’s major initiatives in social networking, the FUNimation Channel and internet VOD. These new titles cement FUNimation as the leading anime provider for television broadcast and legitimate online content. These shows allow us to increasingly provide the best anime to our fans on their own terms.”
FUNimation Entertainment will begin releasing ARM titles later this year.
About FUNimation Entertainment
FUNimation® Entertainment, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Navarre Corporation, is the leading company for Japanese animation in the United States. FUNimation is known for acquiring top-rated anime series from Japan and for being the market share leader for home video sales of anime in the United States. The company has a proven formula for launching and advancing brands, and manages a full spectrum of rights for most of its brands including broadcasting, licensing, production, internet, and home video sales and distribution.
About Navarre Corporation
The Navarre Corporation is a publisher and distributor of physical and digital home entertainment and multimedia products, including PC software, DVD video, video games and accessories. Additional information is available at http://www.navarre.com.
About ARM Corporation
The ARM Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Japanese Contents Investment LPC (JCI) and formed by the Sojitz Corporation and other partners, was established to support the overseas licensing and distribution of Japanese anime.
Sojitz is engaged in the investment of content creation, with a focus on Japanese animation, and its export and sale in overseas markets. The company currently handles over 100 anime titles in more than 30 markets worldwide.
Tags: ADV Films, FUNimation, Sojitz[ADV Films] ADV FILMS AND CRUNCHYROLL.COM BRING WELCOME TO THE N.H.K. TO THE WEB
May 22, 2008 by KNDY · Leave a Comment
America’s Top Anime Distributor Teams Up With World’s
Largest Online Anime Community
HOUSTON, May 22, 2008— Today ADV Films, the number one producer-distributor of anime outside of Japan, announced a special promotion with Crunchyroll, the leading destination for Asian content on the Internet, that will bring the fan-favorite series Welcome to the N.H.K. to the web. In a progressive campaign to leverage digital promotion, ADV has made the first two installments of the 24 episode series available for at www.crunchyroll.com. Two additional episodes will be added each Thursday over the next five weeks.
Coming just in time for the long holiday weekend, Crunchyroll’s internet broadcast anchors a summer long campaign to bring this critically-acclaimed anime series to a mainstream audience. To help new viewers jump onboard, ADV has arranged for select national retailers to offer volumes 1-3 of Welcome to the N.H.K. DVDs at 50% off the regular suggested retail price. In addition, Crunchyroll is running a community contest to find the “Top Otaku,” where fans can win free Welcome to the N.H.K. DVDs.
Welcome to the N.H.K. is an unconventional anime from Studio GONZO (Afro Samurai, Chrono Crusade) and director Yusuke Yamamoto (Sgt. Frog). The series turns a humorous eye to the NEET generation (Not in Employment, Education, or Training). Throw agoraphobia into the mix and you have one of the strangest anime comedies in years. Originally a hit novel from critically-acclaimed author Tatsuhiko Takimoto, Welcome To The N.H.K. has also been adapted into a manga series of the same name (published in North America by TOKYOPOP).
Welcome to the N.H.K. is a dark comedy filled with social satire, interesting characters, and crazy conspiracy theories that is sure to appeal to anyone with a little nerd in them. “Whether you are a proud otaku, a fan that lives in constant fear of being perceived as a geek by your friends, or a borderline hikikomori, you will see a part of yourself in it, and have lots of fun in the meantime” (Protoculture Addicts).
Crunchyroll is airing English dubbed versions of Welcome to the N.H.K., which are accessible to Internet users across Canada and the USA.
The first four volumes of Welcome to the N.H.K. are available on DVD in stores now. The fifth volume in the six DVD series is scheduled to go on sale July 8.
Tags: ADV Films
Kanon Vol. 1 (a J!-ENT Anime DVD Review)
TITLE: Kanon (Vol. 1)
DVD INFO: Contains Episodes 1-4, Approx. 100 min., Anamorphic Widescreen, English 2.0, Japanese 2.0 with English Subtitles, Rated: TV PG
DISTRIBUTED BY: ADV Films
RELEASE DATE: January 1, 2008
SPECIAL FEATURES:
- Clean Opening and Closing Animation
- Kanon: A close look at an anime product house part 1
OFFICIAL JAPANESE WEBSITE
SYNOPSIS: Can memories really be that elusive? Yuichi Aizawa used to visit his cousin Nayuki all the time when he was younger, but now he can hardly remember a thing about those visits. And upon his return to finish his senior year in high school while living with his Aunt Akiko and his cousin, the blank spots in his memory have become more and more worrisome.
After a seven year absence, Yuichi makes a valiant effot to adjust to his vaguely familiar surroundings. Bits and pieces of his past come back to him, but his memories elude him still. Why can’t he remember? What is he blocking out?
From the same animation studio that brought you AIR TV, a poignant concerto of tears, laughter and pinky promises make up a mystical world in Kanon.
“Kanon” referred by many fans of the series as “Kanon 2006″, an anime based on a PC visual novel from KEY/VISUAL ARTS (and later released on the Sega Dreamcast, Sony PS2 and PSP) and was released once before in a 13 episode series back in 2002 gets a remake with a 24 episode run starting back in October 2006 through March 2007.
Without rehashing 2002, I’ll just focus on the 2006 series and first four episodes in this review.
“Kanon” is an anime series that focuses on the main character Aizawa Yuichi, returning to a town that he visited quite often as a child.
The cold, snowy town tends to bring him flashes of memories and makes him wonder why has he forgotten a lot of his memories from seven years ago.
He stays with his aunt Akiko and his cousin Nayuki (who is very excited to have her cousin stay with the family).
Yuichi’s character seems to be a nice but a bit blunt person. In other words, he’s a nice guy most of the time but also, he has a side of him that can be a bit stand-offish.
In the first volume of “Kanon” (episodes 1-4), we are introduced to several characters. The first establishes the relationship between cousins Yuichi and Nayuki.
The second introduces us to a short girl named Ayu who runs into Yuichi because she somehow forgets to pay for her Taiyaki (a pastry made from something like pancake or waffle batter and is shaped and looks like a fish but it’s filled with different types of cream like cheese or custard or bean paste). You learn that Ayu and Yuichi have met each other when they were younger seven years ago and if anything, the two are almost like siblings by the way the argue with each other but at the same time, both enjoy each other’s company. Ayu appears to have lost something, doesn’t remember what it is but she’s trying to look for it. In the second episode, we are introduce to several girls briefly but I’m guessing who will become a big part of the storyline as the series continues.
The third episode features a girl named Makoto. A girl who has amnesia, doesn’t remember anything but one thing and that is she knows is that Yuichi is a key and somehow his face angers her for a reason. She comes to live with Yuichi and Nayuki and upsets Yuichi because he thinks she is a freeloader. You also get to know a little more about the girl Shiori who seems to be at school and looking up a the window of the classroom that Yuichi is at.
The fourth episode features Yuichi interacting with Makoto, getting to know about his cousin and her involvement as Captain of the track team and then meeting up with Ayu who he brings home and introduces to Makoto. And also, you get to see more of the mysterious figure who appears at the high school with a sword late at night. Hmm…
Overall, volume 1 is more of an introduction to the new “Kanon” series, learning how Yuichi is and introducing us to many girls.
I’m not sure where the anime is going but I’m guessing that the series will be similar to other anime where that Yuichi may be a guy that all these girls start to fall in love with. But then again, I could be wrong because that would be too easy and to cliche right?
Nevertheless, I enjoyed the first volume of “Kanon” because of the lush visuals of Japan during the cold winter and that there are so many location scenes and indoor scenes that it seems you see something new and fresh in terms of the scenery.
Also, the characters have their individual quirks about them that you really start to like these characters and you sense that each person is looking for something. Yuichi for his memories, Ayu looking for something important that she lost, Makoto who has amnesia and trying to find out who she is, Shiori looking for that someone and the list continues.
The introduction of these characters and the relationship with Yuichi definitey pulls your interest and makes you wonder more about the characters and left me craving for more episodes.
So, I enjoyed the animation from it’s colorful backgrounds, uses of a lot of scenery and overall, interesting characters with character designs that I prefer in this latest incarnation of the series.
As for the audio, the English dub is done very well and the Japanese is very good but in the Japanese version, Yuichi has a very low voice and sounds too manly while the English dubbed version, sounds like a teenage guy.
As for the special features, I’m so happy to see that there is a special feature included outside of the opening and closing animations and ADV Film previews. The “Kanon: A Close Look At An Anime Production House Part 1″ is a featurette that spotlights how the anime is created by taking the viewer and giving them an inside look at Kyoto Animation. Also, interviews and getting to learn about the process of putting Kanon and trying to remain close to the original series in terms of the character designs.
And where it leaves off, seems to indicate that we will get more of an inside look on storyboards and production of the anime series in the next volume installment of “Kanon”.
All in all, for a TV series that aired in Japan, I felt that there was a lot of care that went into the creation of this series. There was no holding back on animation because the animation is very colorful, well-planned and absolutely beautiful.
Although many who have seen the previous 2002 series may have a lot to say about the 2006 series, in a way it’s like comparing apples to oranges so far in the series.
Volume 1 of “Kanon” is definitely a very cool, dramatic anime series and I’m not sure if it’s more dramatic or if were going to see anything supernatural or sci-fi later in the series but for the first four episodes, we meet a lot of female characters and makes you wonder what direction the series will go, because truthfully, there have been a good number of anime featuring a guy and a harem of kawaii girls.
The only thing that I felt a bit strange is a taboo like feeling with Yuichi’s first cousin Nayuki. I don’t know but I feel that she may like her cousin. You really take an interest in her character because she’s bubbly but you tend to wonder why she is so excited about Yuichi and why she is so alive with him now living with her. But that’s the only potential red flag that I found so far with the series.
I also am guessing that the sound phrases by characters such as Ayu who tends to give a “Ugu!” sound when she’s frustrated and also Makoto who gives a kawaii sounding noise will become popular among the hardcore fans of the series.
All in all, I really dig where “Kanon” is going to from what I’ve seen so far. A beautiful, lush animated drama series with characters that you actually care about. “Kanon” definitely kicks things into high gear for 2008. Check it out!
THE WALLFLOWER LESSON 1 - MY FAIR BISHONEN (a J!-ENT Anime DVD Review)
December 12, 2007 by KNDY · Leave a Comment
ANIME: THE WALLFLOWER LESSON 1 - MY FAIR BISHONEN
JAPANESE TITLE: Yamato Nadeshiko Shichihinge
Distributed by ADV Films
DVD INFO: Region 1, 4:3, Duration: 125 minutes (Episodes 1-5), Audio: English 5.1, Japanese 2.0 with English Subtitles, Contains Animated Mild Violence, Rating: TV 14D
From the director of “Excel Saga” comes the anime “THE WALLFLOWER” which will satisfy every Bishonen/J-Rock fan out there.
The popular 25-episode anime is based on the manga series by Hayakawa Tomoko and serialized in “Bessatsu Friend” in Japan and by Del Rey Manga in the US and is now being distributed in the US by ADV Films.
The story revolves around 4 guys - the dark haired Oda Takenaga, the short hair blonde Toyama Yuki, the red head flirt Morii Ranmaru and the blonde Kyohei Takano.
The four men are pretty boys that the girls gush over and happen to live in a lavish mansion courtesy of the Landlady who has given the men a mission.
The goal is to make the Landlady’s niece, Sunako, to an elegant lady. If they managed to, they get free rent. If they don’t, they will have to pay three times the amount to live there.
Of course, the guys want to make sure they succeed and feel that there should be no problem until they meet Sunako. A dark girl who doesn’t dress all that well. She wears a stained sweatshirt, amoeba-like design dress and bad tennis shoes. Her bangs are so long that it covers the face and she happens to be scary.
Why Sunako is like this stems from a past guy that she liked and told her straight out that he would never date someone so ugly.
So, Sunako has become a recluse and totally into the weirdest things and her best friend happens to be Hiroshi, those examining type of models used to show the guts and innards of a human being. Adding to her creepiness, she digs really dark and scary things and she can’t take how these guys are trying to make her beautiful. In fact, she gets creepy thoughts of how to kill the guys (or mostly Kyohei who is the guy who seems to have gotten the closest to help Sunako early in the series).
The first lesson titled “My Fair Bishonen” features the first 5 episodes, which show the guys trying to help out Sunako. At first, they are very creeped out by her but you start to see with each episode that the guys start to see somewhat of a beauty within her.
One of the coolest things about this anime is that the creator, Hayakawa Tomoko is a fan of J-Rock artist Kiyoharu and Kiyoharu sings the opening and ending theme for the series. As a fan of Japanese rock music and as a guy who happens to dig the style, I felt it was very cool to see an anime like this. It’s very different and unique and quite humorous to watch because I have friends who are “pretty boys” who always try to remake their girlfriends or friends in general and try to make them stylish.
I watched the series both in English and Japanese and both voice work are very cool and like both equally the same. Another cool dubbed anime from ADV Films. Again, this is coming from a guy who tends to watch anime mostly in Japanese.
The animation is pretty cool as it goes back and forth from serious to something humorous. For example, with Sunako, when she has this creep side to her, she’s shown as a girl with no eyes, but then sometimes shown as a girl with beautiful eyes and then when she goes crazy over seeing Kyohei, she gets these “Crayon Shin Chan” looking eyes.
Another example shows the guys when they are creeped out about Sunako, they turn into white pale figures like ghosts. It’s a very interesting take on how the series showcases the main characters in different situations.
As for the DVD special features, you get the clean opening and closing animation and the on-air opening for episodes 1-13. I wish there was an interview segment with the creator but all in all, a lot of anime DVD’s are pretty much featuring what comes from Japan and the Japanese DVD releases are often barebones to begin with. So, at least we got some sort of special feature.
All in all, I found “THE WALLFLOWER” to be stylishly vibrant, funny and unique.
The characters are quite interesting and are different from the swashbuckling, adventurous Final Fantasy-esque pretty boys and I want to make it clear right away that this is not a gay anime.
It’s just an interesting take on the bishonen/J-Rock stylish guys and a parody on the “Queer Eye of the Straight Guy” series and putting the guys together with an unusual girl. It’s actually interesting because the high school, the girls are just so crazy over these guys and they just can’t figure out why they hang out with such a creepy girl. It’s hilarious!
I actually find the character of Sunako very interesting because she is so creepy and just her reaction to the guys is very crazy. Also, you wonder if one of the guys is actually developing some feelings for Sunako. Hmm…
All in all, “THE WALLFLOWER” is not an anime that tries to showcase a quirkiness or take a dramatic turn ala “Hana Yori no Dango”. If anything, the anime series is more on the humorous side and rarely becomes a drama (in the first volume so far).
Again, it’s like a unique take on the bishonen/J-Rock/Visual Kei style of guys and the various reality shows that are about fashion remakes. And similar to Queer Eye, you also get a tips segment right after the show has ended which was a nice touch for those familiar with the show.
So, I’m stoked to see something unique and different. Not sure if the casual anime fan, especially the guys would dig an anime about pretty boys helping out a creepy girl but I think those who are used to watching bishonen men or fan of J-Rock or visual kei may take a high interest in an anime like this.
Very cool and I highly recommend checking this anime out!
