If your jaws are still on the floor from Bandai Namco Games' announcement of a western release for the Shonen Jump fighting game crossover Jump Stars Victory Vs.+, you might be better off not scraping your teeth from the ground just yet - because in a blog post, Sony have confirmed another anime-themed fighting crossover is coming to the west: SEGA's Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax.

Featuring an array of characters from ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Bunko Imprint, including Sword Art Online's Kirito, A Certain Magical Index's Mikoto Misaka and Durarara!!'s Shizuo Heiwajima, the arcade fighter will be released in both physical digital formats for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita systems in North America, with a digital-only release in Europe.

Originally released in arcades last March, the console port was released in Japanese in November 2014.

Source

Digital Manga Publishing's latest Kickstarter project is to release both volumes of Osamu Tezuka's thriller Alabaster.

The series concerns an athlete turned villain James Block who seeks revenge against all that is beautiful. Using a special laser that reportedly turns things invisible, Block instead becomes disfigured. He then becomes "Alabaster" and goes on a revenge spree. 

DMP are seeking a total of $29,200 by 28th February. At the time of writing there have so far been over 100 backers and over $5,000 has been raised. Items being offered include digital and print versions of the book, posters, bookmarks and limited edition wooden coins. Also, if the project is successfully funded, there will be a $39,000 stretch goal to fund a reprint of their first Tezuka Kickstarter project Swallowing the Earth.

DMP is also currently running another Kickstarter project, to restock their yaoi imprint Finder. Currently they have raised over $16,000 of their $45,000 target. The deadline for this project is 16th February. 

Synopsis

Once a famous athlete, now an infamous villain, James Block seeks revenge against all things "beautiful." After he's arrested and convicted for assaulting his girlfriend who insulted his appearance, he meets a mad scientist in prison who tells him of the 'F Laser' he invented that can turn any carbon based organism invisible. When James finishes his prison term, he finds the 'F Laser' and points it on himself, however the imperfect laser beam leaves him disfigured with only his skin invisible. On a vicious revenge spree, he takes the nom de guerre of Alabaster and is joined by Ami, the granddaughter of the scientist who experimented on his pregnant daughter and left Ami fully invisible. Together they pull off several heists, but Ami's innocence may cause Alabaster's downfall...

This April, the anti-social misadventures of Hachiman Hikigaya returns with the second season of My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU. This time, studio feel will be taking over the animation duties from Brain Base, who animated the first season. Other notable changes to the production side include the new director Kei Oikawa (Outbreak Company) and character designer Yuichi Tanaka (A Certain Scientific Railgun), resulting in a brand new aesthetic for the series, which has been shown in motion for the first time in this new teaser:

There are some returning faces though, such as Shotaro Suga returning to oversee the series' composition, as well as Satoshi Motoyama and monaca retrning to take charge of the sound direction and music respectively. The now-defunct Anime On Demand simulcast the first television series when it aired back in 2013.

It was only a week ago when Anime Limited revealed the release dates currently filling up their schedule for 2015's first quarter, which included the likes of Blood Lad and Wings of Honneamise but the distributor has now went the extra mile to confirm what releases they have planned between April and June; giving us a more complete look at what new anime we'll have to look forward to in the first half of 2015.

April:

• 13th: HAL (Standard Edition DVD, Blu-ray).
• 27th: Tiger & Bunny: The Rising (Collector's Edition, DVD + Blu-ray combi-pak)

May:

• 25th: Kill la Kill Part 3 (Collector's Edition DVD, Blu-ray).
• 25th: Nerima Daikon Brothers (DVD).

June:

• 8th: Baccano Complete Series (Collector's Edition Blu-ray). [Tentative].
• 29th: Space Dandy Season 2 (Collector's Edition DVD, Blu-ray. Standard Edition Blu-ray).
• 29th: Space Dandy Complete Season 1 & 2 (DVD).
• 29th: Gankatsuou - The Count of Monte Cristo (DVD, Blu-ray). [Tentative].

What releases are you looking forward to?

Source

Third Window Films have some interesting releases in store for the UK with the highly anticipated crime-thriller, The World of Kanako, (the latest film from the director of Confessions) and HD releases of Hana-bi and Kikujiro, two of Takeshi Kitano’s greatest films. All of that is store for later in the year. This month, they are with a truly weird and cultish film, Greatful Dead which is releaed today. Here are the details:

GREATFUL DEAD

Japan / 2013 / 97 Mins / In Japanese with English subtitles / Colour

Starring: Kumi Takiuchi (The Ravine of Goodbye)

Takashi Sasano (Departures, Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai, Instant Swamp)

Kim Kkobbi (Breathless, Pluto)

On DVD & BLU-RAY January 26th

DVD/BLU-RAY Special Features:

Interview with director Eiji Uchida

Synopsis

Nami (Kumi Takiuchi) is a young woman with numerous hangups sprouting from a dysfunctional childhood. She inherits a small fortune that allows her to pursue various interests, many of which are highly abnormal. For example, Nami loves to spy on people who, not unlike herself, have gone crazy from loneliness. She calls these people "solitarians.” Perhaps due to a father fixation, her favourite spying targets are old men with stiff boners. One fateful day, Nami spies on an elderly gentleman (Takashi Sasano) watching porn DVDs at home. She soon transitions from a peeping tom into a full-fledged stalker.

New manga releases this week:

Following Animatsu and Anime Limited's recent announcements regarding upcoming anime releases, the distributor MVM Entertainment has revealed their first brand new license of the year: WhiteFox's Super Sonico: The Animation, which aired in Japan early last year. MVM Entertainment have confirmed plans to release the series this summer and although exact dates and formats have yet to be confirmed, MVM are hoping to release the series on both DVD and blu-ray.

Super Sonico: The Animation is a twelve episode television anime adaptation based on the mascot for NitroPlus' series of music festivals, following the media idol as she tries to balance her professional and school lives. The English dub produced by Sentai Filmworks is set to have the professional cosplayer Jessica Nigri in the title role.

Source

The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme starts in London in just under a week’s time and will visit various venues across the UK from January 30th to March 26th. This is the 12th festival and it goes under the title “It Only Happens in the Movies?” and there are a wide variety of films on offer which Anime UK News has already previewed. The films that festival audiences can see include some of the latest anime and recently released dramas as well as some classics:

• Wood Job!
• The Light Shines Only There
• The Handsome Suit
• Short Peace
• Scattered Clouds
• Nobody to Watch Over Me
• My Little Sweet Pea
• Jinx!!!
• Carmen from Kawachi
• Bolt from the Blue
• Blood and Bones
• All About Our House
• A Letter to Momo

Shinobu Yaguchi

Festival attendees will also get the chance to meet the special guest, acclaimed director Shinobu Yaguchi who is best known for his breakthrough hit Waterboys (2001). He will be attending the screenings of his latest film Wood Job! (2014) at ICA, London, Watershed, Bristol, QUAD, Derby and Showroom Cinema, Sheffield.

The Japan Foundation has listed the following 11 venues as hosts for the festival and it provides good coverage of most of the UK:

- ICA, London
- Watershed, Bristol
- Queen’s Film Theatre (QFT), Belfast
- QUAD, Derby
- mac birmingham, Birmingham
- Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA), Dundee
- Filmhouse, Edinburgh
- Showroom Cinema, Sheffield
- Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle upon Tyne
- Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal, Cumbria
- Broadway Cinema, Nottingham

Dates, times, and tickets are now available to purchase at the venues. To find out more about each of the films, check out the preview of the festival and maybe you will find something you will want to see.

Film4 has announced on Twitter that it premier Hayao Miyazaki's The Wind Rises on Saturday 7th February at 15.25.

On 23rd January Film4 posted the following tweet: "Heads up, Studio Ghibli fans! We're screening Hayao Miyazaki's The Wind Rises on Sat Feb 7th", with the following link to their website displaying more information and an advert for the film. According to DigiGuide it appears that it will be shown with the English dub. It also claims it will be repeated at 18.25 on Friday 13th January.

The Wind Rises was Miyazaki's last feature film he directed, although there still seems to be some confusion as to whether he has officially declared his retirement from making any more films, as he has already retired and returned several times during his career. 

Synopsis

As a young boy, the bespectacled Jiro Horikoshi dreams of flying a plane but when he learns he will be unable to become a pilot due to his poor eyesight, he instead decides to be an aircraft designer. On 1st September 1923 Jiro is travelling by train when the Great Kanto earthquake strikes. He assists fellow passenger Naoko and her maid who suffers an injury. He doesn't meet Naoko again till many years later after he has graduated university and has worked on various designing jobs, without finding much success. The two fall for each other and become engaged but Naoko is suffering from tuberculosis. While they try to enjoy the time they have together Jiro continues to work on designing his first successful plane, and will eventually design one of the most iconic planes of World War II, the Zero.

Last year, two different geek worlds endured an incursion unlike any other when the Japanese popular culture magazine Brutus published Attack On Avengers, a one-shot crossover featuring the iconic superheroes of Marvel Comics battling Hajime Isayama's Attack On Titan manga in the former's home of New York City. Considering the worldwide appeal of the brands involved in the crossover and the one-shot originally being published in English, this led to fans wondering whether international audiences will be able to read the What If? event and now, their wish has been granted.

As part of an event building up Marvel Comic's highly anticipated Secret Wars comic book event the publishing giant confirmed their plans for Free Comic Book Day, which includes "Secret Wars #0"; a special preview for the giant crossover event, as well as Attack On Avengers.

So not only do you get to read the special crossover chapter, but you get to read it for free!

The leftover Christmas Pudding is now in the bin, the festive trees are now once again in the loft and the tired trecks to work resume - it must be the New Year! 2014 is now a distant memory and everyone is looking forward to what 2015 will bring. The Glasgow based anime distributor Anime Limited is among such people looking forward - more specifically, to their releases in the first quarter of this year. In a blog post added to their website today, Jeremy Graves outlined the distributors releases from January until the end of March, which is as follows:

January 2015:

• Out Now: Giovanni's Island (DVD, BD, Ultimate Edition Combo Pack), Space Dandy Standard Edition (BD).

February 2015:

• 2nd: Blood Lad (DVD, Collector's Edition Blu-Ray), Perfect Blue (Standard Edition BD).
• 16th: Tiger & Bunny: The Beginning Standard Edition (DVD, BD).

March 2015:

• 2nd: Kill la Kill Part 2 Collector's Edition (DVD, BD).
• 23rd: Voices From A Distant Star/The Place Promised In Our Early Days Double Pack (DVD, BD).
• 30th: Wings of Honneamise (DVD, Collector's Edition BD).

Additional, Anime Limited have promised that they will be revealing their Q2 (April-June) slate next week and have teased something special coming with their release of Space Dandy's second season!

What will you be buying from Anime Limited's Q1 slate?

Source

New manga releases this week:

News on Jerome Mazandarani and Andrew Hewson's Animatsu venture is still only just starting to come out, but earlier this month the new distributor revealed the first few titles that they will be releasing in the United Kingdom: Blade & Soul, Chaika - The Coffin Princess, Comic Artist and His Assistants and the live-action Halo Nightfall.

Today another title was added to the list of upcoming releases, courtesy of NEO Magazine. Animatsu will be releasing NTV's 2013 science fiction anime Gatchaman Crowds on home video in the United Kingdom. Based on the 1972 classic Gatchaman, the series takes place in the summer of 2015 in Tachikawa, Japan - a city protectedby the "Gatchaman"; warriors who use the manifestation of their spiritual powers (NOTE) to fight. Shortly after their newest member Hajime Ichinose joins, the group will have to face their biggest threat - a gigantic alien bent on adding Earth to its list of destroyed planets!

Source

This week a new collection of Fairy Tail was released. These episodes have already been reviewed by Anime UK News before, so here are links to those reviews.

Fairy Tail: Part 5

Fairy Tail: Part 6

This week's new anime releases:

Fairy Tail: Collection 3 (DVD) (Manga Entertainment)

RRP: £39.99

Buy from Amazon for £28.75

Otorimonogatari (DVD) (MVM Films)

RRP: £19.99

Buy from Amazon for £14.00