Joseph Luster
August 2, 2010 Another con, another lot of scintillating acquisition announcements from reigning champeen Funimation. Seriously, there are some really good ones in this batch, as detailed below.
Let’s get what I would consider the “major whammies” out of the way first. As was expected but never quite guaranteed, Funimation has picked up the license to distribute Gainax’s Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance. This is where the rebuild films really start to diverge from the original series, and I can’t wait to see it on Blu-ray. It will be available on both that and DVD in 2011.
Another top-of-the-mound title is Mamoru Hosoda‘s (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time) Summer Wars, which previously made some brief festival rounds in America. Funimation is planning to release the film theatrically this year, with DVD and Blu-ray releases scheduled for the next.
Funimation also announced the follow-up to Axis Powers Hetalia, Hetalia World Series, as well as the feature-length adaptation of the original series, Hetalia Axis Powers: Paint It, White. World Series will enjoy an online simulcast followed by home video release, and Paint It, White hits DVD in 2011.
Now for the speed round: Funimation also announced Strike Witches 2, Blessing of the Campanella, and Okamisan.
Despite the title’s bold suggestion, Funimation didn’t really take all of the licensing spotlight… just a whole lot of it. Looks like we’ve got quite a bit to look forward to in the next year.
Source [Funimation]
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