The News Thread (for news that does not need a thread)

PonCan sets will be available exclusively through Rightstuf. First release in April (Yuki Yuna) with new releases monthly.
Right Stuf, Inc. is excited to announce an exclusive distribution deal with Japanese anime producer and distributor PONY CANYON INC.

This new agreement will see high-end, collector-grade Blu-ray, DVD, and merchandise items from Pony Canyon distributed in the United States and Canada for the first time by Right Stuf. Pony Canyon has plans to release exclusive sets of new and catalog programming monthly. The first of these series sets are slated for release on April 10, 2015.

Right Stuf's President and CEO Shawne Kleckner couldn't be more excited about this new arrangement. "We're delighted to work with Pony Canyon, one of the leading marketers of Japanese animation," Kleckner said. "We feel their collector-grade products will be of great interest to our customer base."

PONY CANYON INC.'s Executive Director Kazuyoshi Fukuba is also enthusiastic about this collaboration and the launch of PONYCAN in the North American market. "I am pleased to be working with Right Stuf, the top US distributor of Japanese anime online, to offer anime titles by Pony Canyon directly to US customers. We'll launch this exciting project with the release of Blu-rays of Yuki Yuna Is a Hero and Denki-Gai on April 10, 2015. All US-version releases will be supervised by Japanese producers who will ensure the highest-quality and the most unique products. We also plan to offer special promotional bonuses to our US anime fans. We look forward to bringing Pony Canyon anime to the US!"

Pony Canyon's new releases will encompass series that have never been available in North America, and will be available exclusively from Right Stuf. The first titles, Yuki Yuna Is a Hero and Denki-Gai will be available for pre-order sales starting soon on http://www.rightstuf.com and http://www.ponycan.us.
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It'll be interesting to see the pricing for their sets. I wouldn't exactly say that PonCan's titles have the same sort of mainstream appeal and popularity as Aniplex's IPs to support a premium price model.
 
I dunno, it wouldn't surprise me if they go for AniplexUSA prices. Targeting that niche of a niche that would indeed shell out hundred of bucks for a show like Denki-gai. It'll be an intriguing to test to see if there's enough of a market there to sustain the AniplexUSA model for less high-ticket shows.

My short experience watching Denki-gai was weird. I liked episode 1, but I really didn't like episode 2 and dropped it...
 
I'm glad that I detested both of PonyCan's debut titles as it means I can sit back and see what happens. I really don't think that either title can compare to the shows Aniplex USA was putting out at the start in terms of quality or broad otaku appeal, so I think they're going to have to put something together which makes the most of an even smaller audience this time.

The catalogue sets could be interesting, however. Exclusivity is annoying, but at least it's with a company which listens to feedback.

R
 
Rui said:
The catalogue sets could be interesting, however. Exclusivity is annoying, but at least it's with a company which listens to feedback.

R
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What sort of things could they release when it comes to catalogue shows though. Their about page shows what I'd assume is their bigger titles, but most if not all of them have already been sublicensed to other distributors, although I could see them releasing the Attack on Titan and Tamako Market movies themselves. The only title out of those which I could maybe see them releasing is Free!, but I suppose that depends on what CR want to do with it.
 
Mangaranga said:
Rui said:
The catalogue sets could be interesting, however. Exclusivity is annoying, but at least it's with a company which listens to feedback.

R
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What sort of things could they release when it comes to catalogue shows though. Their about page shows what I'd assume is their bigger titles, but most if not all of them have already been sublicensed to other distributors, although I could see them releasing the Attack on Titan and Tamako Market movies themselves. The only title out of those which I could maybe see them releasing is Free!, but I suppose that depends on what CR want to do with it.
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I'm guessing they picked out higher profile, licensed stuff for that page, and can still dip into the Japanese side's back catalogue for some weaker (but still interesting) shows. Or just negotiate for more rights for unlicensed titles now they have a US office, since they're in a pretty strong position to do that if they ever decide to.

R
 
Ath said:
I dunno, it wouldn't surprise me if they go for AniplexUSA prices. Targeting that niche of a niche that would indeed shell out hundred of bucks for a show like Denki-gai. It'll be an intriguing to test to see if there's enough of a market there to sustain the AniplexUSA model for less high-ticket shows.

My short experience watching Denki-gai was weird. I liked episode 1, but I really didn't like episode 2 and dropped it...
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If you liked episode 1, keep watching. Episode 2 was the only episode that was like that (if you ignore the weird bit after the end of the credits in the final episode) and was, in my opinion, the weakest episode of the series by some way.


Not that I import from the US anyway - YuYuYu was good enough for me to be importing from Japan, and Denkigai... well, if it got a release over here then I would buy it but it's obvviously not going to and to be honest I'm not all that sad about this fact.
 
I've received an email from Amazon advising a new delivery estimate for Wings of Honneamise. Release date has been delayed to 23rd March
 
Taka88 said:
Anything news about One Piece collection series release in 2015 ?
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We've heard nothing new but Manga should be back on track for Q2 based on the twitter responses I've read so I would expect at least a Collection 9 to be released around then (or if we're lucky Film Z).
 
NormanicGrav said:
Taka88 said:
Anything news about One Piece collection series release in 2015 ?
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We've heard nothing new but Manga should be back on track for Q2 based on the twitter responses I've read so I would expect at least a Collection 9 to be released around then (or if we're lucky Film Z).
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Sign ! Manga UK is a really slow and rubbish company. I hope we will get Film Z blu - ray.
 
New Yen Press licenses:
Rust Blaster (manga)
Puella Magi Homura Tamura (manga)
Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Homura's Revenge (manga)
Black Bullet (light novel and manga)
Strike the Blood (light novel and manga)
Durarara!! (light novel)
 
Am I the only person who read th news about PonyCanyon and Rightstuf! and went 'uh-oh'?

It's the exclusivity thing that worries me, as well as my favourite bugbear of pricing. I wonder what this'll mean for the likelihood of PonyCanyon labelled stuff coming to the UK.
 
Interesting day yesterday but to clear things up here's the latest on Evangelion 3.33. Apologies for any confusion caused.

The scheduled release of Evangelion 3.33 - You Can (Not) Redo has been pushed back indefinitely. We can confirm that Manga Entertainment will still be releasing this title, but at present there is no confirmed release date. We apologise to our fans for this, but unfortunately this delay was unavoidable.
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Link
 
I think it's time to start taking bets on what will come out first:
UK blu ray release of Evangelion 3.33 or JP blu ray release of Evangelion 4.00 (or 3+1 or whatever they call it).
 
Wow - talk about yer conflicted feelings on that one.

On the one hand, and assuming that's true about a full series, I do like it that some effort's being made to capitalise on GITS as a franchise again.

On the other hand... well, it's not more GITS: SAC, is it? And that for me will always, next to Shrow's original manga, be the definitive iteration of things.

I haven't actually looked at any of Arise yet. But at a glance, it just seems so 'bleh'.
 
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