Another two titles for the Crunchyroll mill, who are streaming so much at the moment that I have no chance of keeping up. The latest additions are La Maison en Petits Cubes, winner of the Best Animated Short Film at this year's Oscars and therefore one to see (it's only 12 minutes), The Diary of Tortov Roddle (another short), and the latest Studio Fantasia series, Glass Maiden, whose first episode aired on Wednesday.
FUNimation have announced that they'll be releasing Sands of Destruction, a 13-episode series based on the upcoming Sega RPG game of the same name, which is due for release on Nintendo DS next year. Expect a story that involves large-scale destruction, I'd suspect...
RightStuf is first out of the blocks at Anime Expo this year. Fans of ARIA will be please to hear that they'll be continuing their release of the series, having picked up ARIA the ORIGINATION (the 3rd series of the show) and the Arietta OVA, which slots in between seasons 2 and 3. On the new series front, they also have Antique Bakery (an adaptation of a comedy manga about four men who run Antique, a quaint cafe that celebrates the small joys of life such as cake), and two seasons of Junjou Romantica, adapted from the yaoi manga of the same name. Niche shows all, but then that's RightStuf's usual game these days.
Heath Streak has called on Zimbabwe two focus on a pace attack during the upcoming series against Bangladesh, instead of going with the expected 3-spinners approach of Utseya, Price and Cremer. In an interview with the Zimbabwe Independent, Streak points out that Bangladesh have traditionally struggled against pace:
"Bangladesh always struggled against quick bowling when we played. If we use slow and turning wickets it gives them confidence. It puts them at ease. When we played them we tried to expose them to conditions they were not comfortable playing in."
That said, all five ODIs in the series are to be played at Queen's Sports Club, which is considered a spin-friendly ground (and one on which Zimbabwe have struggled in recent years), so this is an issue that may well spark some debate.
The interview also revealed that Streak's role with ZC - he had been expected to join the 'A' setup - may well not yet be finalised:
"Look, I had dialogue with ZC but I’m still waiting for them to get back to me on a few issues."
Hopefully, that's not an ominous sign...
Zimbabwe Independent - Go for Pace –– Streak
Uh-oh. It's a videogame-to-anime conversion, something that (with only a few notable exceptions) has a really bad record with me. This one brings us angels, demons, and a thinly-veiled Flash Gordon, though, which on the face of it certainly sounds promising...
Joost has announced plans to close their public streaming service, which has taken a battering in the US from Hulu which, thanks to its connections with major media companies, has developed a stranglehold on both rights and advertising. Joost will now turn its focus to providing services to other companies wanting to provide online video.
But what about UK users, who haven't had Hulu as an option? Well, in rather coincidentally-timed news, Hulu have confirmed plans to launch in the UK in September, although whether they'll have as good an anime catalogue on the UK service as they have in the US remains to be seen...
You may have noticed that FUNimation's video portal hasn't been playing ball with UK users since it came back online - they've implemented geographical filtering that at the moment blocks the UK for all shows. Fear not, though - shortly after the portal came back, the company's Twitter feed (@funimation, unsurprisingly) noted that shows would return to the UK once the necessary clearances had been sorted out, and that's now be confirmed on the company blog:
Unfortunately, UK-based visitors to the FUNimation video portal will be temporarily unable to access our content.
We are in the process of opening the video of each series which is approved for streaming in the UK, and this will take additional time to complete. Again, this is only temporary and we fully intend for these series to return for our fans in the UK.
That's a bit vague on timescales, sadly, but many of the affected shows are still available through FUNi's YouTube channel.
ADV Films / Sentai Filmworks (I'm still not entirely clear what the difference is between the two) have picked up the Fist of the North Star Gaiden series (Hokuto no Ken Raoh Gaiden: Ten no Haoh, for fans of original titles), with the full 13-episode series being set for US release in a single set in September. Looks like the set will be subtitled-only.
Crunchyroll has announced their latest simulcast show, in the form of Aoi Hana (aka Sweet Blue Flowers), which follows the story of Fumi and Akira, two childhood friends reunited after ten years apart. The word "yuri" has been bandied about in describing the show, which should attract the fanboys. Episode one should be online now for Crunchyroll subscribers, with new episodes weekly - the usual one-week delay for free users applies.
Seems a bit strange coming back to this now that the remake's on the scene, but there you go. Full Metal Alchemist is one of those shows that impresses more and more as it goes on, and this closing set boosts it into one of the best anime series I've watched - and I've watched a lot. Throw away your preconceptions about who's good and who's evil, as the series kicks into high gear...
Fans of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya will want to head over to Kadokawa's YouTube channel, where the first 8 episodes of the current run of the series - including the first new episode, Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody, are being shown with English subtitles. The episodes will only remain available until July 5th (which is why I'm not just embedding them), and are in SD and HD versions. What are you waiting for..?
Those impatient for a fix of Gurren Lagann can avoid the need to wait for the DVD release by firing up iTunes, where all 27 episodes are now available for download. You do seem to pay a bit over the odds for the convenience, though (£42.99 for a season pass, or £1.89 per individual episode), while those watching their bandwidth caps will want to know that the full season weighs in at 7.42GB. If past form for iTunes releases is anything to go by, this will be the English dub only. Me? I'll wait...
The London Film and Comic Con is running at Earl's Court on July 18th & 19th this year, and will have a significant anime presence, including appearances by Vic Mignogna (Full Metal Alchemist) and Spike Spencer (Evangelion), along with an anime screening area. Interested? The head on over to the event's website for more details...
Ghibli title Ocean Waves will be getting its UK premiere as part of the Japanese Art Festival, which runs at the Richmond Arts Centre on July 11th & 12th. The precise time for the screening hasn't yet been announced, but admission will be free - keen an eye on the event website for more details.
Blade of the Immortal was confirmed for UK release back at London Expo last month, but at that stage the show's UK licensee hadn't made themselves known. Media Blasters have now confirmed that they're the guilty party, and have solicited the first volume, which will be released in the US on September 29th.
Last updated:
July 04, 2009 11:00 AM
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