New manga releases this week:

New anime releases this week:

tsuritama (DVD) (MVM Films)

RRP: £29.99

Buy from Amazon for £28.24

In December 2012 Toei Animation released One Piece Film: Z, the twelth theatrical feature based on Eiichiro Oda's iconic Weekly Shonen Jump manga series One Piece. FUNimation Entertainment released the movie in North America last September and now, it is the United Kingdom's turn to the Straw Hat Pirates' latest big screen adventure.

Following on from their announcement earlier today that they will be releasing Collections 9-12 of One Piece from April, Manga Entertainment UK took to their Twitter account to confirm a May 2015 release date for their home video release of One Piece Film: Z, although exact formats were not confirmed at the time of announcement.

Manga Entertainment UK have released all of the previous One Piece movies in the United Kingdom with the exception of the eleventh (Straw Hat Chase). The first nine movies were released in DVD-only collections of 3, with the eighth also receiving a standalone blu-ray release, while One Piece: Strong World (movie 10) was released seperately on DVD and blu-ray last year.

Source

The UK-based distributor Anime Limited has announced that they will be releasing Production I.G's upcoming theatrical feature Miss Hokusai in the United Kingdom and Ireland, with a theatrical release in October and November, with a home video release on DVD and blu-ray to follow.

Directed by Annecy winner Keiichi Hara (Colorful) and based on Hinako Sugiura's classic historical manga Sarusuberi, Miss Hokusai tells the relatively unknown story of O-Ei Hokusai, the third daughter of the internationally renowned 19th century artist Tetsuzo (Katsushika Hokusai). Having inherited both her father's talent and stubbornness, she would often paint in the place of her short-tempered father, but was largely uncredited for her work.

In regards to the acquisition, Andew Patridge, President of Anime Limited said:

"I'm thrilled to be able to bring this beautiful film to the UK. It's a wonderful story with an interesting historical setting that is both enjoyable and fascinating. I'm really looking forward to giving this film a great release.

Miss Hokusai is set to be released in Japan on 9th May.

A teaser video for the upcoming Knights of Sidonia movie adaptation has gone up on Maidigitv. It shows the first sortie that main protagonist Nagate Tanikaze makes.

The movie adapts the first season of Knights of Sidonia but on top of compiling the 12 episodes there are new sequences and sound effects are redone. The movie is released on March 06^th. The second season of Knights of Sidonia will premiere in April.

A new trailer for Studio Ghibli's Oscar-nominated film The Tale of the Princess Kaguya has been released in the UK by Studio Canal.

The film, created in a watercolour-style animation, is based on a Japanese folklore tail about a tiny princess found in a bamboo stalk and her journey through life. The movie is released in UK cinemas on 20th March.

Source

L’Arc-en-Ciel fans have a nice surprise in store because a documentary about their 2012 world tour will be screened at East London’s Rich Mix cinema on Sunday 8 March.

The documentary showcases highlights of their 2012 international tour which was launched as the Japanese rock band, celebrated its 20th anniversary. During the tour, they played 17 shows for a total audience of half a million people across 14 cities.

According to Japan Underground, The Japanese-American director Ray Yoshimoto filmed the backstage scenes of the Madison Square Garden performance, a momentous occasion for Japanese music as a whole, and the band’s unknown aspect along with their overwhelming live performances. Viewers will get to see the band performing around the world in places such as Indonesia, Thailand, South Korea, France, the US at Madison Square Garden, and the UK at London’s Indigo at the O2.

The documentary was released on December 04^th last year. After the announcement of the film’s release in Japan, many enthusiastic fans around the world raised their voices for international release of the film and it is now confirmed that the documentary will be shown in London as well as Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and Hong Kong where L’Arc-en-Ciel visited during their WORLD TOUR in 2012.

Tickets for the screening are on sale now and are priced at £12.20.

Source

Unfortunately, not every piece of news can be new good news, as is evident in the latest update from distributor Anime Limited, who have had to break the news on a number of their upcoming releases:

First off, as a result of waiting for approval times on the packaging, Kill la Kill's second Collector's Edition release has had its release moved back to 23rd March 2015. The company's planned Place Promised In Our Early Days/Voices of a Distant Star double-pack has also had its release date replaced with a "TBC" as a result of issues regarding access to the English language audio. A production delay has also affected Wings of Honneamise, resulting in its release date being moved to mid-April.

Anime Limited have also confirmed that their planned standard edition release of Tiger & Bunny: The Beginning has been merged.into a standard edition twin-pack, bundling it with the theatrical feature Tiger & Bunny: The Rising, which will be available on the same day as the latter's Collector's Edition (27th April). This new twin-pack will be available on both DVD and blu-ray with an SRP of £19.99/£24.99 (DVD and blu-ray respectively).

However, it's not all doom and gloom! Amidst this release date shuffle, Anime Limited will be moving up the release date of HAL's standard edition, which will be available on DVD and blu-ray in March.

Source

Last month, the newly unveiled anime distributor Animatsu announced that they had acquired the home video rights to Tatsunoko Production's 2013 series Gatchaman Crowds, which they will be releasing on both DVD and blu-ray. Today, the distributor confirmed that they have set a 27th April 2015 release date for the series.

In an interview with UK-Anime, Animatsu confirmed that their release of the 12-episode series will be reproduction of Hanabee Entertainment's edition, which was made available in Australia last November. The series was simulcast by Crunchyroll as it aired in Japan, where it is still available for streaming if you wish to try before you buy.

Source

Dark Horse Comics has officially announced that it will release omnibus edition possibly the most influential manga of all: Astro Boy. 

Created by "Godfather of Manga" Osamu Tezuka, the classic sci-fi series was the first manga to be adapted into an anime. The manga ran for 23 volumes between 1952 and 1968. The original anime series ran between 1963 and 1968, although not the episodes were broadcast in English. The series follows the adventures of the robot boy with 100,000 horsepower fighting evil around the world.

It was suspected that Dark Horse were going to release the series for some time because websites such as Amazon were listing the book, but this is the first time the omnibus has been officially confirmed. 

Dark Horse had previously released the series in a flipped left-to-right format. It is not known if this omnibus will be flipped or un-flipped, although previous Dark Horse omnibuses have been released reading left-to-right.

Source

New manga releases this week:

The official website for The Heroic Legend of Arslan television anime has a number of television adverts for the upcoming anime which looks set to be a big title when it is eleased on April 05^th at the start of Spring 2015 season. Here are some of the ads:

This is a new adaptation of an epic fantasy series from Yoshiki Tanaka (Legend of the Galactic Heroes) and features the work of Hiromu Arakawa (Fullmetal Alchemist). The anime is directed by Noriyuki Abe (Black Butler: Book of Circus, Flame of Recca) and series composition comes from Makoto Uezu (Humanity Has Declined).

Source

The anime film adaptations of the novels Genocidal Organ, Harmony, and The Empire of Corpses have been revealed in a trailer ahead of their release in 2015. The novels are by late author Project Itoh who died in 2009. Anime News Network reported and did translation work on the trailer which features voice actress Kana Hanazawa explaining some of the background to these intriguing sci-fi titles.

Narrator: Project Itoh, the author who left this world too soon. In 2007, he hotly debuted with his Genocidal Organ novel. What was written was a story of a violent program that pushes humanity to genocide and the warriors that stand up against it. Two years later, Harmony becomes his posthumous work. What is written is a fabricated world that was created so kindly that it was hard to breathe in, and the screams of the soul who lost their place to belong there. Finally, The Empire of Corpses, which is an uncompleted story. He requested that the story be co-written by his dear friend, Toh EnJoe. It's the story of souls that remain in this world, despite their living bodies dying. Genocidal Organ, Harmony, The Empire of Corpses. Being adapted into anime films in 2015.

The three novels are being turned into films by different directors and studios.

Genocidal Organ is directed by Shukou Murase (Ergo Proxy) at Manglobe (House of Five Leaves). Harmony is directed by Takashi Nakamura (Fantastic Children) and Michael Arias (Tekkonkinkreet),  at Studio 4°C (you may know them for their recent Berserk movie adaptations), and The Empire of Corpses  comes to us courtesy of WIT Studio (Attack on Titan, Hoozuki no Reitetsu) and is directed by Ryuotarou Makihara (director of Hal).

Source

New anime releases this week:

Fairy Tail: Part 9 (DVD) (Manga Entertainment)

RRP: £24.99

Buy from Amazon for £17.75

Michiko & Hatchin: Part 2 (DVD) (MVM Films)

RRP: £24.99

Buy from Amazon for £17.75

Anime UK News received word today that Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends has had its UK theatrical release delayed from March 06th to Friday, April 17^th. Warner Bros. UK sent us the information a few hours earlier along with a new trailer and poster:

In the final chapter, Shishio (Tatsya Fujiwara) has set sail in his ironclad ship to bring down the Meiji government and return Japan to chaos, carrying Kaoru (Emi Takei) with him. After jumping overboard into the sea, Kenshin (Takeru Sato) is saved by his former mentor, Hiko Seijuro (Masaharu Fukuyama) and in order to stop Shishio in time, Kenshin enlists the help of his old master to train for the ultimate battle between hero and villain in an epic blood-drenched showdown!

Along with the new trailer, a new poster was revealed:

So, just to repeat, Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends will get a UK theatrical release on Friday, April 17^th. Stay with Anime UK News to receive updates about locations and times!