A promotional video for the martial-arts anime Blade & Soul has been released on the official website and youtube.

Synopsis

The Wind Empire wishes to gain supremacy over the old Stratus Empire and unite the lands in a new era of equality which will be enforced by military might. As this conflict grows the ancient Darksiders emerge, with the nefarious Jin Seoyeon as the harbinger of their return… now that humanity is locked in conflict there may be no one to oppose their evil plans and save the world…

Blade & Soul is the latest anime from Gonzo who are adapting a Korean MMORPG created by NCSOFT in 2012. The directors of the anime are Hiroshi Mamasaki (Steins;Gate) and Hiroshi Takeuchi and they will be working from scripts overseen by Atsuhiro Tomioka (Samurai 7).

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New manga releases this week:

Last September, the Japanese animation company Studio Ghibli made headlines when one of its co-founders and world-renowned director Hayao Miyazaki announced that he would be retiring from making feature films, with his Academy Award nominated The Wind Rises being his last feature. Six months later, fellow co-Founder Toshio Suzuki has revealed that he too will be stepping down from his role of producer, instead opting for the new title of "general manager", with Yoshiaka Nishimura taking over the production seat for all of Studio Ghibli's features from now on, having already started with Isao Takahata's The Tale of Princess Kaguya.

The 65 year old Suzuki, who founded Studio Ghibli with Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata in 1985 has denied reports that this decision was influenced by Miyazaki's, instead stating that he wanted to boost the "new era of Ghibli" with younger talent such as Nishimura and Yonebayashi (Arrietty, When Marnie Was There).

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New anime releases this week:

Eureka Seven: Astral Ocean - Part 2 (DVD) (Manga)

RRP: £24.99

Buy from Amazon for £18.21

Fairy Tail: Collection 1 (Blu-Ray) (Manga)

RRP: £39.99

Buy from Amazon for £28.63

Night Raid 1931 (DVD) (MVM Films)

RRP: £29.99

Buy from Amazon for £17.61

Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan - Season 2, Part 1 (DVD) (Kaze)

RRP: £29.99

Buy from Amazon for £21.62

A teaser for the latest Pokemon film, Pokemon XY: The Cocoon of Destruction and Diancie, has been released ahead of its theatrical release on July 19^th, 2014.

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Anime Limited’s Kickstarter campaign to create an English language release of the anime film Mai Mai Miracle has finished with complete victory and more! The initial target was US$30,000 and that was smashed within 48 hours. The campaign then blazed past a number of stretch-goals including getting the production of an English dub and an art book. The final total stands at US$107,153 from 1,903 backers.

In a statement, the Anime Limited team said:

Holy moly! Here we are at the end of an emotional 30 days and look what you've all done! You've only just gone and funded an English release of Mai Mai Miracle and then some! We are beyond astounded, overwhelmed and utterly speechless at all the love and support our wee Kickstarter has gotten from you all. We believed in this film so much but we didn't dare hope for such a response - you have all been so incredibly supportive and increasingly generous with your time and hard-earned cash. Thank you all so much!

So, where do we go from here? Well, I don't know about everyone else here at Anime Limited HQ but I'm off to the pub for a few well-earned pints and a good night's sleep. Once we've gotten ourselves all calmed down and we've had a think, we'll post an update next week on where we're going on this project and what to expect in the coming months from us.

As always, if you have any questions, queries or concerns you know how to find us (hint: drop us a PM!). Once again, thank you so much for being, quite frankly, a pretty damn awesome community!

Ever since Studio Trigger's brilliantly wacky Kill la Kill anime started airing last year, it has been streaming to the United Kingdom on Wakamin.co.uk in a joint venture with Anime Limited and the series has become pretty popular, so it should come as no surprise to learn that Anime Limited have picked up the home video rights to the series. Anime Limited's spokesperson Tsumugu Kinagase wanted us to tell you two useful pieces of information:

1) The first volume of Kill la Kill will be available on home video sometime in the last quarter of this year.

and

2) The series will be able to be bought as download-to-own from Wakamin's website in the near future.

The official series description is as follows:

Ryuko Matoi is a vagrant school girl traveling from place to place searching for clues to the truth behind her father’s death—the “woman with the scissor blade.” The journey has led Ryuko to Honnouji Academy. Honnouji Academy—where an elite group of students is granted superhuman powers by their special uniforms called the “Goku uniform.” With the power of the uniform, the student body president, Satsuki Kiryuin rules the students with unquestioned power and fear. Satsuki holds the secret to the “scissor blade” and Ryuko confronts Satsuki to gain information but was their encounter a mere coincidence or fate? The clash between the two will soon consume the whole academy!

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When Anime Limited previously announced their license of Yasuhiro Yoshiura's Patema Inverted feature movie, they revealed that the movie will be released theatrically at a later date. Today, they finally revealed that following preview screenings at the Electric Cinema in Birmingham on 22nd March and the Hippodrome Bo'ness in Falkirk on 31st March, the movie will be released to general audiences on 2nd May. Anime Limited also confirmed on Twitter that the movie will be receiving an English dub.

The film was previously shown at the 2013 Scotland Loves Anime festival, where it won the Audience and Judge awards. It was also nominated for Best Animated Feature Film at 2013's Asia Pacific Screen Awards. The official synopsis is as follows:

The princess of a subterranean community, cheerful and inquisitive Patema loves investigating the mazelike tunnels and caverns of her homeland

especially the forbidden ‘danger zone’. While out exploring, however, Patema falls headlong into an impossibly deep pit ...only to find herself on the

surface, mysteriously ‘falling’ upwards into the sky. Saved by a teen boy named Age, Patema discovers that on this strange surface world,

the floor has become her ceiling. Not only that but Age’s country is a harsh, propaganda ridden tyranny where people are forbidden to look

upwards.With all underground dwellers seen as unholy sinners, Patema soon finds herself pursued by the secret police. Together with her

new friend, she must uncover the dark conspiracy that lurks behind their two inverted worlds and live to tell the tale!

Anime Limited’s Kickstarter campaign to help deliver the anime film Mai Mai Miracle to the English speaking world has been massively successful so far and the statistics are impressive. With less than 48 hours to go, the campaign has reached a total of US$94,716 from 1,659 backers (at the time of writing), far outstripping its US$30,000 target. It has blazed past a number of stretch-goals including getting the production of an English dub and an art book. There are hopes of securing the film OST but no word over how negotiations are going with the Japanese rights holders. There’s still time for it to happen!

In their latest message, Anime Limited state:

If we could just ask for one more favour? Let's get together and spread the gospel of Mai Mai Miracle in these final hours of the campaign! Do you know someone who might be interested in this frankly brilliant film? Maybe slyly slip them the link to our Kickstarter page or make them watch the trailer. Y'know, casual like. Totally chill. Believe you me, you'll be doing them a favour! 

Just to let you all know, once the campaign ends we will still be posting updates on where we are in terms of extras, production, on-disc special things and what have you as and when we get the news. So, if you're all sick of hearing from me I'm afraid it won't get much better once the clock runs out :/

To find out more about the project, head over to the Kickstarter page.

New manga releases this week:

While MangaUK have the home video rights for the highly popular Attack On Titan anime series with the intention of releasing it in the United Kingdom later this year, Anime Limited have announced today that they have obtained the rights to the Attack On Titan original soundtrack, which is available now digitally from iTunes, the Google Play store and Amazon. The soundtrack costs £7.99 on iTunes, £4.99 on the Google Play store and £7.49 on Amazon.

The soundtrack contains the exact same tracks as the Japanese release and a physical edition will follow this summer. The tracklisting is as follows:

iTunes

Google Play

Amazon

Tomorrow is the 86th Academy Awards, which will see Hayao Miyazaki's currently slated final feature film The Wind Rises going up against Disney's Frozen, DreamWorks' The Croods and Studio Canal's Ernet & Celestine in the Best Animated Feature category. However, Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki revealed in a presentation at the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences that it was under his orders that Miyazaki adapted his own Kaze Tachinu manga, with the legendary animation director's original intention being to create a sequel to 2008's Ponyo.

The presentation also emphasised the impact Miyazaki has had on the animation industry, with presentation host John C. Reilly asking the producers and directors of the category's nominated works to name one work that inspired them in animation - with half a dozen citing films previously directed by Miyazaki. The co-director of fellow nominee Ernest & Celestine, Benjamin Renner, was visibly emotional and even had to pause to compose himself as he detailed the influence Miyazaki's films have had on his life, such as Spirited Away, which inspired him to go to film school.

The 86th Academy Awards will be broadcast live on Sky Movies Oscars from 1:30am on Monday morning.

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New anime releases this week:

Hakuoki: Series 2 (DVD) (MVM Films)

RRP: £29.99

Buy from Amazon for £17.61

Naruto Shippuden: The Movie 4 - The Lost Tower (Double-Play) (Manga)

RRP: £24.99

Buy from Amazon for £16.24

Naruto Shippuden: The Movie 4 - The Lost Tower (DVD) (Manga)

RRP: £19.99

Buy from Amazon for £14.80

Yesterday, the world reputable anime database Anime Planet announced that they have partnered up with anime streaming website Crunchyroll to support in-depth video integration, allowing users to watch official streams of anime directly from series descriptions and recommendations on Anime Planet. This addition will be only the first step of a larger effort to integrate the website with the industry's leaders, with more announcements to be made in the future.

Anime-Planet's Founder and CEO, Kim Cameron, has said that this partnership came about due to a mutual interest with Crunchyroll to help make legal anime streaming more accessible:

"Anime-Planet's goal is to become a go-to place for industry-supported multimedia content, integrated into our powerful, reputable recommendation database. As Crunchyroll is an industry leader in bringing anime to the masses, and as Anime-Planet shares Crunchyroll’s desire to give fans an easy way to find new anime via the recommendation database, it was a perfect fit for partnership."

Ever wondered what a tale akin to that of Arabian Nights would be like in anime form? You have your answer with the very popular series, Magi - The Labyrinth Of Magic. 

In a fantastical middle-age world where slavery is rife, there are mysterious tall towers named Dungeons which mysteriously appeared out of nowhere. Someone who conquers a Dungeon becomes very powerful and wealthy. Our hero Ali Baba is a teenager who works for merchants to support himself. He dreams for conquering a lot of Dungeons and becoming a very rich person. One day, he comes across a strange young boy named Aladdin who carries a mystical flute with supernatural powers. Ali Baba and Aladdin agree to travel their first Dungeon together. 

To support the release of Magi - The Labyrinth of Magic Season 1 Part 1, we have a DVD copy up for grabs for one lucky winner! 

Check the rules here.