Funimation Fills Out December Release Schedule / Changes Dates

Funi sent over their completed December release schedule today, along with a revised November schedule that includes a bunch of date changes. Here's what we've got...

The following December releases are now available for pre-order (these are in addition to the Dec release previously announced):

Baccano! Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set
Case Closed Movie #3 The Last Wizard of the Century DVD
Case Closed Movie #4 Captured in Her Eyes DVD
Dragonaut: The Resonance TV Series DVD Boxed Set #2 (Eps #14-26)
El Cazador de la Bruja TV Series Collection Part #2 DVD Boxed Set (Eps #14-26)
Guyver Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set (Viridian Collection)
Le Chevalier D'Eon Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set (Eps #1-24) (Viridian Collection)
School Rumble Season 1 & 2 + OVA Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set (Eps #1-52)
Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE Season 2, Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set

In addition Funi has rescheduled these two releases from Nov 24th to Dec 15th:

El Cazador de la Bruja TV Series Collection Part #1 DVD Boxed Set (Eps #1-13) - Nov 24 to Dec 15
One Piece Season 2 Part 4 DVD Boxed Set (Eps #92-104) (Uncut) - Nov 24 to Dec 15

Funi has pushed these Nov and Dec releases off the 2009 schedule and into the 1st quarter of next year. Technically new dates have not been set for them as of yet, so we've put the estimated dates on them for now (which will be subject to change). It's a rich tapestry:

Case Closed Season #3 DVD Box Set (Eps #53-78) (Uncut & Unedited) (Viridian Collection) - Nov 17 to Mar 30 (Estimated)
Familiar of Zero DVD Boxed Set (Eps #1-13) (Viridian Collection) - Nov 3 to Mar 30 (Estimated)
Gunslinger Girl Season 1 DVD Boxed Set (BLURAY) - Dec 1 to Mar 16 (Estimated)
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A DVD Boxed Set (Eps #1-13) (Viridian Collection) - Nov 10 to Mar 30 (Estimated)
Utawarerumono Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set (Eps #1-26) (Viridian Collection) - Nov 3 to Mar 30 (Estimated)
Vexille 2077 Nippon Sakoku Movie Special Edition DVD (Viridian Collection) - Nov 10 to Mar 30 (Estimated)
Vexille 2077 Nippon Sakoku Movie Special Edition DVD (BLURAY) - Nov 10 to Mar 30 (Estimated)

Finally, Funi had originally planned a reprice on the Moonlight Mile DVD Boxed Set on Nov 24th, but that has been canceled - at least for now. I haven't confirmed this, but they are probably planning to let the current box fall out of print once existing stocks dry up. Probably not too many people out there will notice when that one's gone... -_^

Funimation Lowers MSRP on Save Me! Lollipop

Funimation has announced they have reduced the MSRP by 25% on the Save Me! Lollipop Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set (Eps #1-12)(Item # FN-08430) from $39.98 to $29.98.

We have reduced our discounted price accordingly from $28.98 to $21.98, and have the sets in stock and ready to ship. :-)

Synopsis: Nina was just another girl who dreamed of finding a prince to defend her honor and protect her from harm. Little did she know, two such boys would fall from the sky! Zero and Ichii are sorcerers from another world taking part in a test. The only way to pass the curious quiz? Find the coveted Crystal Pearl! It's going to be tough - other examinees seek the jewel as well, and some will stop at nothing to capture the prize. Oh, and Nina ate the Crystal Pearl after mistaking it for a piece of candy! Ichii and Zero vow to protect her until the coveted bauble can be reclaimed. Nina's fantasy of a devoted guardian has come to life... but with danger at every turn, there's a chance this dream come true might end up a nightmare!

RACS - Labor Day Holiday Hours

The Anime Corner Store fulfillment center and HQ will be closed as of close of business today (5pm EST Thursday, Sept 3rd) through Monday Sept 7th for the Labor Day holiday.


We'll be processing orders up through about 3-4 pm this afternoon for shipment today, and we'll be back on Tuesday the 8th to start processing the backlog. It will be fabulous to have 4 days off in a row (it will be the first mini vacation we've had this year), and I'm sure we'll regret it when we return on Tuesday (-_^) to a four foot tall stack of pending orders, so please be a little more patient than usual with us next week while we catch up. The newsletter will go out at it's regular time tomorrow afternoon, but we'll be off.

Have a great holiday weekend everyone, and enjoy your Anime! :-)

Section 23 Films November Releases - Now Available for Pre-Order

Section 23 Films, the new company that has taken over distribution of ADV's former releases, has announced their November new release schedule, and it's a good one.

The following November releases are now available on the store site for pre-order:

Blue Drop (Tenshi-tachi no Gikyoku) Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set (Eps #1-13)
Polyphonica (Shinkyoku Sôkai Polyphonica) Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set (Eps #1-12)
Special A DVD Collection #1 (Eps #1-12)
Sugar, A Little Snow Fairy DVD Collection #2 (Eps #14-26)
Tears to Tiara DVD Collection #1 (Eps #1-13)
You're Under Arrest TV Season 2 DVD Collection #1 (Eps #1-13)

All of the above are being published by Sentai Filmworks, which apparently released from whatever previous legal obligations with ADV Films had been holding it up, will now be cranking out new material to be distributed through the new Section 23 Films company. The legal and ethical details aside, we (as fans) seem to be the benefactors of their new business arrangements. :-)

Series Synopsis:

Blue Drop (Tenshi-tachi no Gikyoku)
Mari Wakatake has been living with her Grandmother for the past 5 years after a tragedy caused the loss of her home, friends and family, as well as her memories. Fearing for her future, her Grandmother admits her into Kaihou Academy, for her to make friends, instead of home studying. Although reluctant to go, she does and meets Hagino Sekonji. At first appearance, this girl appears like a normal student but inside her lies a deep secret that relates to the tragedy of 5 years ago.

Polyphonica (Shinkyoku Sôkai Polyphonica)
In the continent of Polyphonica, Spirits materialized in the world, surviving on the music that is played by humans, and lives together with them. While the spirits doesn’t appear often, some spirits has enough power to materialize in human or animal forms and live together with humans. Dantists, who play special music called “Commandia,” are widely respected in this world. They also usually are in contract with powerful spirits. The story of Shinkyoku Sōkai Polyphonica revolves around the new Dantist, Phoron Tatara, the spirit that he made contract with, Corticarte Apa Lagranges, and their friends, in their daily life and work.

Special A (S.A.)
Hikari Hanazono, the main character, has always been second to Kei Takishima. While Hikari considers Kei a rival and somewhat of a friend, Kei loves Hikari. Everyone knows this, but she is too dense to notice. Their wrestling loving fathers first introduced them to one another when they were 6 years old. Assuming that she was the best in wrestling, young Hikari challenged Kei to a wrestling match only to be thoroughly defeated by him. Ever since that fateful incident, Hikari swore to beat Kei in school grades, a sporting event - anything. To do this she has enrolled in the same school as Kei since elementary. Now she attends Hakusenkan, an ultra elite school, that costs her carpenter father a lot of money. Hikari and Kei are the top two students in the school, with Kei holding firmly to that number one position.

Tears to Tiara
Set in a fictitious land during a medieval-like era of magic and fantasy, Tears to Tiara unfolds with the Divine Empire’s rise to power as it conquers and rules lands far and wide. On the island of Erin, still ruled by the Ancient Kingdom, the Goidelic people are attempting to sacrifice priestess Riannon to revive protagonist and demon king Arawn to lead the resistance against the Empire. Although the ritual fails and Riannon survives, the seal imprisoning the demon king is broken and Arawn is resurrected. Armed with mysterious and devastating powers and a human’s demeanour, Arawn joins Riannon, her brother and battalion commander, Arthur, as well as their team of fighters comprising a swordsman, an archer and a quintet of magical pixies, in the epic struggle against the Divine Empire.

You're Under Arrest TV Season 2
Megami Sama creator, Kosuke Fujishima, is back with the second season of Taiho Schihauzo (You're Under Arrest). Same characters, two policewomen, the gentle Miyuki and the wild Natsumi teamed up together in Bokuto police station's traffic division.

ADV Films Shuts Down - Section 23 Films Takes Over Title Distribution

Hot off the wire via ANN:

"A.D. Vision has announced that it is shutting down after transferring its assets to several other companies that will continue its operations. AEsir Holdings has acquired selected programming from ADV's film library along with other intellectual property. The SXION 23 (Section23 Films) home video distribution company will assume account servicing and distribution operations for AEsir's assets. Valkyrie Media Partners has acquire 100% of ADV's Anime Network television unit, while Seraphim Studios has ADV's Amusement Park Media production unit.

Former ADV Films staffer Chris Oarr has notified ANN that several former staffers have been hired by SXION 23 and the other companies.

Update: All of the new companies are officially based in Houston, the home of A.D. Vision. SXION 23's business filing was dated on May 20, while AEsir Holdings, Valkyrie Media Partners, and Seraphim Studios were filed eight days later on May 28. SXION 23, Valkyrie Media Partners, and Seraphim Studios share the same address in western Houston, 8 miles (13 kilometers) from A.D. Vision. Sentai Filmworks, another business entity for which A.D. Vision and Amusement Park Media handled distribution and production, is also located in western Houston."

What is it about September? Anime companies always fail in September. Well folks, it's not like we didn't see this coming. We're digesting the info, I'll have more on this in a few hours.

Update: John Ledford comments in the official announcement:

"We believe the actions we initiated and completed provided the same or more value to the Company's secured lender and its programming licensors while giving other key stakeholders such as employees and customers some potential value or the reasonable probability of realizing value."

I'm not sure what that means. As of 3:pm EST today all e-mail addresses at ADV HQ are bouncing. I'm going to try to make a few calls later this afternoon and see if I can get anymore details. More later.

UPDATE: Just got off the phone with Mike Baliff, formerly of ADV Films who is now heading up Sales and Marketing at the new company Section 23 Films. Section 23 has acquired all of ADV's former licenses and most of the staff (including Chris Oarr, Destiny, Michelle, everyone formerly at ADV that mattered), and is picking up distribution of all former ADV titles, so the DVD's will remain available and our orders will just be processed and filled by the new company. That means the changeover will be pretty much transparent to you guys. This includes pre-order items in the pipeline but not yet released. They will still be coming out, and the schedule will not change. We'll be updating our catalog over the next few days to reflect Section 23 as the new distributor of ADV's (former) titles. I also think it's worth mentioning that John Ledford is not part of the new company. Thanks very much to Mike for calling me personally to walk us through the changeover. Mike and I go back a long way, maybe 10 or 11 years, and I feel like ADV's former line of products could not have fallen into better hands.

UPDATE: Chris MacDonald over at ANN has written an editorial regarding what happened:

"So really, what was announced today? While the details will come out in the next few days, it's pretty obvious that it's not much more than a corporate restructuring that moves intellectual assets away from a dysfunctional corporate entity that has credit problems and hostile shareholders."

That seems about right to me based on what we were told today, so he's pretty much on the mark. The only real question is who will be running things now and making decisions at the new companies - not that it really matters - but I'll have a few more feelings of my own regarding this in this weeks newsletter.