FUNimation Gets "Chobits and "Eden of the East"

FUNimation announced two acquisitions over the weekend, both of which are planned for DVD and Blu-ray release in 2011: Chobits and the three Eden of the East features. The 26-episode Chobits anime series, based on the hit manga series from Tokyopop (in the U.S.), was previously released by Geneon.


The three Eden of the East (Higashi no Eden) films from Fuji Creative Corporation are all written and directed by Kenji Kamiyama (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex) and produced by Production I.G. The story line follows the event in the Eden of the East tv series.

Funimation Acquires 'Trigun'

Funimation Entertainment has acquired home entertainment, theatrical, broadcast, digital and merchandise rights to the 26-episode Trigun anime series previously released in North America by Geneon. The space cowboy saga was a hit on the Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim and was actually more successful in the U.S. than it was in Japan. The anime series was based on 3-volume Trigun manga by Yasuhiro Nightow, which is published here by Dark Horse along with the 14-volume Trigun Maximum manga sequel.

A dozen years after the property first appeared on Japanese TV in 1998, it is set to regain some major visibility. Madhouse, which produced the original Trigun anime, is releasing an anime feature film, Trigun: Badlands Rumble (directed by Satoshi Nishimura) in Japan on April 24th.

Funimation did not announce the acquisition of the Trigun movie, but did indicate that it plans to release the original 26-episode Trigun series on DVD in the fall of 2010. Even if Funimation does not acquire the rights to the new Trigun: Badlands Rumble film, given the popularity of the property here in North American, someone will, which should provide a sales boost for Funimation’s re-release of the original series.

Also the fact that Trigun was one of Geneon's bestselling titles would appear to make it an excellent candidate for release on Blu-ray in order to recapture some of those original sales in the upgraded hi-def format.

Lupin the 3rd Episode 0 : the First Contact

Amazon currently has a listing for Lupin the 3rd Episode 0: First Contact, which is slated for release on March 20th, 2010. The 92-minute TV Special, which aired in Japan in 2002, will be available from Discotek Media for $24.95. This is the first Lupin DVD out in North America since Geneon stopped the release of the Lupin the 3rd TV show (many episodes of which were directed by Miyazaki), and Funimation finished with the eight TV specials that it licensed in 2002. Unlike the Geneon and Funimation releases, the Discotek DVD won’t have an English dub track, just English subtitles.

Based on the seinen manga created by Monkey Punch, Lupin the 3rd is the saga of a team of super thieves led by Arsene Lupin III, the grandson of the fictional French cat burglar created by Maurice LeBlanc. Hundreds of episodes of various Lupin the 3rd anime series were produced in the 1970s and 1980s along with six theatrical films including a certified classic, Miyazaki’s Castle of Cagliostro, as well as 21 movie-length TV specials that have remained a fixture on Japanese TV right up to the present day.

FUNimation Adds Three Series

FUNimation Adds Three Series
'Gankutsuou,' 'Slayers,' 'Gungrave'

FUNimation has announced three anime properties for which it has obtained licenses, one new and two previously released in the U.S. Slayers Revolution is a 26-eposide series following the three previous Slayers series (Slayers, Slayers Next and Slayers Try); FUNimation will release the complete series on DVD.

FUNimation acquired the rights to the 24-episode Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo series from GDH. The series was previously distributed in the U.S. by Geneon.

And FUNimation will distribute the 26-episode series Gungrave for Geneon, in addition to previously announced Geneon titles Ergo Proxy, Hellsing Ultimate, and Black Lagoon.

Geneon to Merge with Universal Pictures Japan

The advertising and marketing company Dentsu has announced on Wednesday that it will transfer the majority ownership in its Geneon Entertainment home video subsidiary to NBC Universal's Universal Pictures International Entertainmnent (UPIE). UPIE has agreed to merge Geneon Entertainment with its own Universal Pictures Japan (UPJ), which handles operations in the country.

The transfer agreement was signed on November 7, and the actual transfer is scheduled to take place at the end of the month. The merger of UPJ and Geneon will take place in February of next year, and the resulting company will assume a new name. UPIE will own 80.1% of the new company, while Dentsu will retain 19.9%.

Currently, Geneon Entertainment has 3.6 billion yen (about US$37 million) in capital, which is 100% owned by Dentsu. Geneon Entertainment President and CEO Sumio Kiga oversaw 178 employees as of the end of October. Pioneer had originally established the company in March 1981 to produce videos in the Laserdisc format.

Dentsu acquired the majority of the outstanding shares in Pioneer Entertainment and renamed the company as Geneon Entertainment in 2003. Geneon has already been distributing Universal Pictures' DVDs in Japan since March of this year.

ADV, Geneon Worth $7-$10 Million to FUNimation Sales

ADV, Geneon Worth $7-$10 Million
To FUNimation Sales

Navarre expects FUNimation’s sales from the ADV and Geneon titles it recently acquired (see “FUNimation Snags Sojitz Titles” and “FUNimation to Distribute Select Geneon Titles”) to account for around $7 to $10 million in annual sales. Accounting for the wholesale discounts at which it sells, retail sales of the titles in the two sets of acquisitions are expected to total $15 to $20 million per year. The company expects those acquisitions to help drive FUNimation’s sales upward by double digit percentages in the coming year.

FUNimation’s sales of Afro Samurai last year accounted for about $4.5 million at wholesale, or about $9 million retail, according to numbers revealed in the call.

Robert's Anime Cornerstore on "Black Lagoon" DVDs

Geneon Title Pre-Orders Rolling In Steady. Your pre-orders for the Geneon / Funimation re-releases continue to roll in (there are so many!) and we appreciate them! We placed OUR order for them this week, and I'm hoping Funimation will begin shipping them around the first or second week of August. Black Lagoon and Black Lagoon Second Barrage will be the first titles to arrive, and will be followed up a couple of weeks later with Karin and Kyo Kara Maoh! Season II.

Third Black Lagoon Project Confirmed

Here's how you get information in the Anime industry - the wraparound jacket band on Gen Urobuchi's novel adaptation of Rei Hiroe's Black Lagoon adventure manga has confirmed that a third Black Lagoon anime project has been green-lit for production. No release info is currently available but it will probably get on the schedule in Japan in late 2009.

Funimation's First Releases from Geneon Deal Scheduled

Funimation has scheduled the first anime DVD releases from its distribution deal with Geneon Entertainment (USA):

August 19: Black Lagoon season 1, Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage volume 1, Elemental Gelade volume 1

September 2: Karin volumes 1-4, Kyo kara Maoh! season 2's volume 1-7

September 9: Shakugan no Shana series box

September 16: Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage volume 2, Fate/stay night
series box, Hellsing Ultimate volumes 1-4, Rozen Maiden series box

September 23: Kamichu! series box, Paradise Kiss series box

September 30: When They Cry - Higurashi volumes 1-4

Funimation announced at Anime Expo 2008 on Thursday that it had agreed to manufacture, sell, and distribute selected DVD titles from Geneon Entertainment in North America. Geneon Entertainment had ceased in-house distribution of its own titles last September.

FUNimation to Distribute Select Geneon Titles

Roughly nine months after Geneon announced that it was exiting the American anime market FUNimation Entertainment has struck a deal that will allow it to distribute select Geneon titles in North America. Under terms of the agreement FUNimation has obtained the exclusive rights to the manufacturing, marketing, sales, and distribution of established Geneon titles including Hellsing Ultimate, Ergo Proxy, Black Lagoon, Elemental Gelade, Fate Stay Night, Kamichu, Ninja Vixens, Paradise Kiss, Rozen Maiden, Rozen Maiden Traumend, Shana, Shonen Onmyouji, The Familiar of Zero, The Story of Saiunkoku, When They Cry, and The Law of Ueki.

Among the first titles to be released will be the special edition of Hellsing Ultimate, Black Lagoon: Second Barrage, Karin, Kyo Kara Maoh Season 2, and Lyrical Nanoha.

Today's announcement is a bit of good news for the North American anime market and anime fans. FUNimation’s acquisition of Geneon titles had been rumored since last November (see “Geneon’s Fall a Positive for FUNimation?”) and in February the CEO of FUNimation’s parent company Navarre told industry analysts that FUNimation was in the “very early stages of negotiations” to acquire select Geneon titles (see “FUNimation Interested in Some Geneon Titles”). Those negotiations have obviously borne fruit, and though industry observers expected FUNimation to cherry pick the Geneon catalog, today’s announcement is notable for its rather broad sweep that extends from the obvious (Hellsing Ultimate, Black Lagoon, Ergo Proxy) to the somewhat surprising (The Law of Ueki, The Story of Saiunkoku).