New York Anime Fest 2009 Panel Review
FUNimation
The FUNimation Panel started by Adam Sheehan taking the stage and presenting some facts and figures about consumer’s preferences and market statistics.
- Subs Vs. Dubs: 53% watch mainly dubs and 29% do so about half the time. Thus, they will not do sub only releases and possible limit this large portion of the audience.
- Blu-ray Disc: 50% of anime viewers have HD televisions and 33% of them have a Blu-ray player or PS3 system. Compared to the overall Blu-ray market which is 16%, anime viewers are ahead of the curve and FUNimation wants to reward that by releasing more on Blu-ray, either by up-converting shows or getting HD copies direct from Japan. (Depending on the availability)
Some Blu-rays to look forward to include: Basilisk (12/15) Fullmetal Alchemist Movie (11/17) Samurai Champloo (12/15) Witchblade (11/3) Burst angel (9/29) Ichi (12/22) & Tsubasa Season 1.
FUNimation will continue to use the internet to stream free anime episodes on Hulu, Gaia, Youtube and ANN. Also, download to own on XBL, amazon.com, iTunes, and PSN. These efforts have done very well for the company. FUNimation has the most series on XBL and PSN. On iTunes, they are ranked between NBC and HBO. Ikki Tousen is an XBL exclusive and was the number one seller in overall TV downloads!
As for shodojo.com, the anime social networking application the company has been working on, they just weren’t happy with it and want the site to be right when it launches soon. They want to have “watch & chat” where you watch episodes together with your friends, or people from around the world, and chat live.
One Piece simulcast is back Every Saturday at 9pm CST only 1 hour after the Japan airing at onepieceofficial.com.
FUNimation also stressed that they want fan feedback and involvement. They mentioned their various avenues for interaction: blog.funimation.com, twitter:@FUNimation and facebook.com/FUNimation.
The company was also proud of Afro Samurai for being the first anime to win an Emmy with 100% of the vote.
This was followed by the usual current products being released. Of particular interest would be Dragon Ball Z: The Dragon Box being release in the US. 42 re-mastered episodes in original 4:3 format.
Also, the Evangelion 1.01 You are (not) Alone will available Nov 17th which includes a Collectors Booklet. Evangelion 1.01 features cleaned up animation. Evangelion 1.11 Special Edition DVD and Blu-ray will be released in the spring of 2010. Evangelion 1.11 will have new scenes, removed scenes and cleaned up art.
New Announcements:
- Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood cast announcements: Maxey Whitehead (Antonio from Romeo x Juliet, Czeslaw Meyer from Baccano) will be doing Alphonse Elric, J Michael Tatum (Eneru from One Piece, Isaac from Baccano) will do Scar and Bryan Massey (Ladd from Baccano, Nino from Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino) will be Isaac McDougal (Aaron Dismuke will be in a later role) Will be out early in 2010 (Rest of the cast remains the same)
- X TV and OVA will be out in 2010 (Same Geneon Dub)
- Initial D Stages 1 – 4 & Extra Stage. New English dub and Uncut with the Original Music
Tokyopop
The Tokyopop Panel was delayed shortly while they tried to get their webcast to work that members of their newsletter could view.
They did announce that they will be going back to their original paper stock starting with October books. They listened to the feedback and went back to the original feel of their books.
Announcements:
- The movie adaptation of Priest is due out in 2010. Also, Priest: Purgatory comes out in July 2010. They are trying to get the movie screen writer to do the project. Also new, The Cabin in the Woods due in February 2010 and is based on the upcoming film by Joss Whedon. Another new title is Shutter Island due out in January 2010.
- Fruits Basket Fan Book: Banquet will be out 5/11/10. Also, Fruits Basket Ultimate Edition Vol. 5 will be out on 6/08/10. Songs and Laughter: Stories of the Creator of Fruits Basket will be out May 2010 and is a collection of short stories done early in her career.
- .hack//Link Vol. 1 on sale 8/10/10
- Ratman Vol. 1 on 5/11/10 by Inui Sekihiko which is a spoof of superhero comics
- Qwasar of Stigmata by Satou Kenetsu is an M rated manga with lots of fanservice (think Love Hina extreme) due August 2010.
- Legends of Dark Crystal Vol. 2 and Return to Labyrinth Vol. 4 available 8/1/10. Both are the final volumes of the series.
- Warcraft: MAGE will be coming 6/7/10. This will be followed by Warcraft: Shaman. Comics will be included in the new Warcraft magazine starting in October. A Special Artist will be doing the work… they can’t say yet who so be on the lookout.
- Croquis and Blood Honey are 1 volume stories in the boys-love BLU line due out next year.
- Harper Collins Children’s Adaptations into Manga series: Seekers Vol. 1 by Erin Hunter comes out 2/9/10.
- Suspended series that will continue: Aria Vol. 5 on 11/3/09, Tactics Vol. 8 on 1/5/10, V.B. Rose Vol. 8 in May 2010 and Elemental Gelade Vol. 12 on 7/13/10. They need support with these titles because they don’t want to have to cancel series due to lack of sale numbers.
Aniplex
The Aniplex Panel showcased their current series with several trailers:
- Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood which is available to watch on FUNimation’s site
- Gurran Lagann Movie
- Guin Saga
- Kannagi which is releasing from Bandai
- Garden of Sinners which premiered at Anime Boston along with music project Kalafina (which you can read our interview of Kalafina at activeanime.com)
- Cencoroll which has been in theaters in Japan since August created by Atsuku Uki doing all the art by hand himself, no computer graphics used. The show premiered at NYAF. DVD will be out October 28th
- Black Butler was the final trailer
Del Rey Manga
Despite technical problems, Del Rey did announce 4 new titles at this years NYAF:
- Here I Am! (Koko ni Iru yo!) by Ema Toyama (Fall 2010)
- Rave Master by Hiro Mashima (Sept 2010)
- Arisa by Kitchen Princess creator Natsumi Ando (Nov 2010)
- Yokai Navi Runa (May 2010)
The panel also covered:
- X-Men Vol. 2 releases October 2010
- Ninja Girls hit the Best Sellers list
- CLAMP in America: 20 years of CLAMP will be 300+ pages due March 2010
- Samurai Deeper KYO remaining chapters will be released in two volumes.
- Will be doing Secret Saturdays will Cartoon Network
- The Last Air Bender – Del Rey will be doing the official prequel to the movie as well as the novelization of the movie
Bandai Enterainment
During the Bandai panel, they explained that they had no new licenses to announce due to the recession and negotiations taking longer because of that. So they reviewed their current lineup of shows.
However, they did announce the Eureka Seven: Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers will be releasing on DVD & Blu-ray on January 26, 2010. Prices will be $24.98 for the DVD and $39.98 for the Blu-ray.
Bandai will also be focused more on Blu-ray releases going forward. However, negotiations are still tough due to the different pricing structures between here and Japan.
Bandai is working on securing the rights to a new 26 episode series they will be releasing on DVD and Blu-ray, so stay tuned for that announcement.
Manga Entertainment
Manga Entertainment had no announcements to make, but showed the Blu-ray release of Blood: The Last Vampire to the attendees.
Viz Media
Viz will launch 2 new manga under the VizSignature brand next month: What’s the Answer & Bob and His Funky Crew
Following up the anime Ristorante Paradiso will be the manga series Gente in July 2010.
- NEW: Library Wars: Love & War is new for 2010 by Kiiro Yumi & concept by Hiro Arikawa Vol 1 due June 2010
- NEW: Vampire Knight Official Fan Book coming Sept 2010
- NEW: Grand Guignol Orchestra by Kaori Yuki for Oct 2010
& Nice to Meet You, Kamisama in Nov 2010 - NEW: Inuyashi The Final Act will be Simulcast a couple hours after Japan airing on ShonenSunday.com/anime & Hulu.com starting October 3rd.
Viz also mentioned they are looking at Blu-ray releases but can’t state anything yet.
Vertical Publishing
Vertical announced the following new prose titles at NYAF:
- Nintendo Magic: How the Video Game Wars Were Won due April 2010
- City of Refuge by Kenzo Kitakata due in August 2010
- Flowers of Edo by Michael Kennedy due in May 2010 (Their first original English novel)
- New Cute Stuff due June 2010
Vertical’s manga titles included:
- Twin Spica due in August 2010
- Needles which is a hard-core Sci-fi manga
- Chi’s Sweet Home was also confirmed which was leaked out early but was not finalized at that time. Chi will be printed in color and flipped. This is to accommodate marketing to younger audiences. Due out starting in June 2010.
