The Imperial Knights go on a dangerous quest in the anime film TALES OF VESPERIA ~THE FIRST STRIKE~ .
© Namco Bandai Games Inc. / TOV Project. Original Character Design © Kousuke Fujishima

Source: FUNimation Entertainment, Production I.G.
Official Site: tov-movie.net (Japan), funimation.com/tales-of-vesperia (US)
Special Thanks to Tim Baxter

Packaging for the TALES OF VESPERIA ~THE FIRST STRIKE~
Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack. Image courtesy of FUNimation
Entertainment. © Namco Bandai Games Inc. / TOV Project.
Original Character Design © Kousuke Fujishima

FUNimation Entertainment will release the anime feature film TALES OF VESPERIA ~THE FIRST STRIKE~ (テイルズ オブ ヴェスペリア 〜The First Strike〜, Teiruzu obu Vesuperia ~The First Strike~, 2009) on June 26th. A prequel to the long-running TALES video game series by Namco Bandai Games, the movie was produced by the animation studio Production I.G. (GHOST IN THE SHELL, KILL BILL VOL. 1, EDEN OF THE EAST).

In a mythical kingdom, the mighty Imperial Knights harness a magical substance known as Aer to power their weapons and protect humanity from the monsters of the forest. But something strange is afoot; the Aer is somehow changing, causing the wilderness to waste away and stirring the woodland beasts to attack with greater frequency. As danger creeps steadily closer to civilization, two young recruits — Flynn, the rigid son of a fallen hero, and the rebellious and brash Yuri — must ride with their fellow Imperial Knights to distant ruins in hopes of uncovering the truth behind the transforming Aer. Some will not survive the thrilling journey. Some will be betrayed. If Flynn and Yuri cannot overcome their differences and learn to fight together, all will be lost for the people of the realm.
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Source: Sentai Filmworks press release
Official Site: amnesia-tv.com (Japan)
Special Thanks to David Williams

A murdered girl runs a school paranormal investigation
club in the anime series DUSK MAIDEN OF AMNESIA.
© Maybe/ Square Enix, Dusk maiden of Amnesia Project

Join Sentai Filmworks for a mystery that must be solved from beyond the grave as they announce the North American licensing of DUSK MAIDEN OF AMNESIA (黄昏乙女×アムネジア, Tasogare Otome × Amnesia, 2012). Director Shin Oonuma (ef ~ a tale of memories, ef ~ a tale of melodies) and character designer Yukiko Ban (.hack//SIGN) bring original creator Maybe’s tale of death and haunting to life.

60 years ago, a young woman was left to die in the abandoned school building behind the exclusive Seikyou Academy. No one knows why. No one knows how. But the horrifying tale and the legends of the ghostly haunting that followed live on to this day. Perhaps it’s not so surprising then, that among Seikyou’s many school clubs is one for students interested in “paranormal investigations.” What might raise more than a few hairs, however, is that the founder of the club is the ghost herself.
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DVD and Blu-ray cover artwork for DRAGON BALL Z KAI: SEASON 1, Part 8. © Bird Studio/Shueisha, Toei Animation. Film ©2009 Toei Animation Co., Ltd.

Source: FUNimation Entertainment
Official Site: toei-anim.co.jp/tv/dragon_kai (Japan), dragonballzkai.com (US)
Special Thanks to Tim Baxter

The first season of DRAGON BALL Z KAI (ドラゴンボール改　「カイ」, Doragon Boru Kai) concludes with the eighth volume, scheduled for both DVD and Blu-ray on June 5th from FUNimation Entertainment.

For the first time in history, experience the legendary Z as the master intended: bigger, faster, stronger, and packed with the pulverizing power to blow your puny minds! Beef up your collection with this manga-centric, fresh take on Akira Toriyama’s original vision, featuring more action than you can handle, revitalized animation, and an amped-up audio experience that will make your ears beg for mercy!
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Source: Sentai Filmworks press release
Official Site: tsuritama.com (Japan)
Special Thanks to David Williams

The new sci-fi anime series TSURITAMA has been
licensed for release in North America. © tsuritama
partners

Sentai Filmworks is proud to announce their latest catch: Kenji Nakamura’s (AYAKASHI – SAMURAI HORROR TALES) TSURITAMA (つり球, 2012). Originally airing in Fuji Television’s prestigious noitaminA block, TSURITAMA is sure to be the catch of the day.

You can’t catch fish if you don’t go fishing, and you can’t make friends if you don’t at least try. Which is how relationship-challenged student Yuki finds himself on a fishing trip to a tiny island with three other boys he barely knows. Well, two other boys and Haru, who claims that he’s an alien. Not that constantly stewing Natsuki or mysterious Akira are any more likely as prospects for good companionship.

But there’s something about fishing that makes it unlike any other pastime, and maybe that quiet sense of companionship and hopeful expectation is just what Yuki needs to start charting the unfamiliar waters of personal connections. Or maybe it will turn out that Haru’s right and they’re going to have to save the entire planet. There are lots of different kinds of fish stories, from the “ones that got away” to the “best catches ever,” but whichever way the currents of life take them, for four young men, this trip may turn out to be the biggest whopper ever in TSURITAMA!
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Source: Sentai Filmworks press release
Official Site: queensblade.tv (Japan)
Special Thanks to David Williams

Promotional art for QUEEN’S BLADE: REBELLION. © 2012
HobbyJapan/ Queen’s Blase Rebellion Partners

Sentai Filmworks is pleased to announce their acquisition of the season’s hottest swordswomen in QUEEN’S BLADE: REBELLION (クイーンズブレイド リベリオン, Kuiinzu Bureido Riberion, 2012). With series composition by Hideki Shirane (DREAM EATER MERRY, KILL ME BABY!) and music by Masaru Yokoyama (KIMIKISS: PURE ROUGE, FREEZING), five out five rebels agree that this series will kick some royal booty!

Power corrupts, and it when it appears that the once noble Queen Claudette’s ways have turned to oppression and heretical persecution, it’s up to a new generation of warriors to step up to the plate armor to bear arms and bare their naked fury in open rebellion!

QUEEN’S BLADE: REBELLION will begin release through select digital outlets soon with a home video release to follow.
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Source: Sentai Filmworks press release
Official Site: medakabox.jp (Japan)
Special Thanks to David Williams

Promotional art for MEDAKA BOX. © 2012 Nisio Isin ・
Akira Akatsuki/ Shueisha ・ School Student Council

Sentai Filmworks is pleased to announce its acquisition of MEDAKA BOX (めだかボックス, Medaka Bokkusu, 2012), the newest production of the famed Gainax studio (NEON GENESIS EVANGELION, GURREN LAGGAN). Featuring series composition and direction by Shouji Saeki (HE IS MY MASTER, THIS UGLY YET BEAUTIFUL WORLD) and music by Tatsuya Katou (SAMURAI GIRLS, HORIZON IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE), MEDAKA BOX is sure to prove that good intentions don’t always matter.

When newly elected Student Council President Medaka Kurokami institutes her idea for a suggestion box where people can submit problems that need to be solved, she’s expecting things like rescuing lost puppies and giving advice. What she and her best friend Zenkichi find instead, however, are the first hints of an unbelievable secret, and their school, Hakoniwa Academy, and Medaka herself are somehow at the very center of the growing maelstrom!

MEDAKA BOX will begin release through select digital outlets soon with a home video release to follow.
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Sentai Filmworks has acquired North American rights to KIDS ON THE SLOPE, the anime adaptation of Yuki Kodama’s manga by the team
behind COWBOY BEBOP and MACROSS PLUS. © Yuki Kodama ・ Shogakukan/ Kids on the Slope Committee

New Watanabe/Kanno Team-Up Coming to North America
Source: Sentai Filmworks press release
Official Site: noitamina-apollon.com (Japan), noitamina-apollon.com/index_en (English)
Special Thanks to David Williams

Sentai Filmworks is proud to announce the acquisition of one of the most anticipated animated series of the decade, KIDS ON THE SLOPE (坂道のアポロン, Sakamichi no Apollon, 2012), the long awaited reunion of the team behind COWBOY BEBOP and MACROSS PLUS, director Shinichiro Watanabe (SAMURAI CHAMPLOO, THE ANIMATRIX ) and composer Yoko Kanno (RAHXEPHON, ESCAFLOWNE, GHOST IN THE SHELL S.A.C.).

THE KIDS ON THE SLOPE will begin release through select digital outlets soon with a home video release on DVD and Blu-ray to follow.
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Complete Set Streets June 5th
Source: FUNimation Entertainment
Official Site: jyushin.jp (Japan), funimation.com/hero-tales (US)
Special Thanks to Tim Baxter

Packaging for the HERO TALES: THE COMPLETE SERIES DVD
Box. Image courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment. © Huang
Jin-Zhou • Genco • Flag. © Hero Tales Production Partners.

FUNimation Entertainment will release the complete 26 episode series of HERO TALES (獣神演武 – HERO TALES -, Jyushin Enbu – Hero Tales, 2007) in a DVD box set on June 12th. The anime is co-written and features character design by Hiromu Arakawa, creator of FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST.

For citizens of the Xian Empire, justice is a myth. Lord Keiro, the deranged General of the Imperial Army, blazes a trail of terror across the countryside in search of the sacred sword that will make him a god. Standing in his way is Taito, an omnipotent star reborn in human form — a young hero who vows to use his celestial strength to avenge those slaughtered by the villainous General. Taito’s mystical powers steer him toward a violent showdown with Keiro, and if used recklessly, his newfound abilities could shred the very fabric of his being. To master the art of control and become a heroic martial artist, Taito must seek the guidance of others like him: the seven star-born warriors with the strength to shatter a corrupt empire.
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Source: Sentai Filmworks press release
Official Site: starchild.co.jp/nazokano_x (Japan)
Special Thanks to David Williams

Key art for MYSTERIOUS GIRLFRIEND X. © Riichi Ueshiba ・
Kodansha, Ltd. © King Record Co.

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any weirder, Sentai Filmworks proudly announces its acquisition of a tale of strange, sticky bonds and slobbering repercussions: Riichi Ueshiba’s MYSTERIOUS GIRLFRIEND X (謎の彼女X, Nazo no Kanojo X, 2012)! Featuring direction by Ayumu Watanabe (SPACE BROTHERS), music by Tomoki Hasegawa (DNANGEL, NANA) and character designs by Kenichi Konishi (BOKURANO, FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST: THE SACRED STAR OF MILOS), MYSTERIOUS GIRLFRIEND X is sure to be a hit with any self-respecting salivator.

When the oddly peculiar Mikoto Urabe transfers into Akira Tsubaki’s class, he finds that life has thrown him the weirdest curve ball ever. Because while Urabe may be an anti-social loner who sleeps on her desk, carries a pair of scissors in her underwear and breaks out in sudden fits of insane laughter, there’s something about her that Tsubaki just can’t quite put his finger on. Until he accidentally puts his finger in it, and suddenly the phrase “sharing spit with a girl” takes on an entirely new meaning!
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Source: Sentai Filmworks press release
Official Site: tbs.co.jp/hidamari (Japan)
Special Thanks to David Williams

© 2011 Ume Aoki ・ Houbunsha/ Hidamari-sou Management
Association

Sentai Filmworks is pleased to invite you along for another visit with everyone’s favorite art students in HIDAMARI SKETCH X SP (ひだまりスケッチ×SP（すぺしゃる）, Hidamari Sukecchi Supesharu, 2011). These two special episodes feature the cast and staff that have brought the girls of the Hidamari Apartments to life, including direction by Akiyuki Shinbo (MARIA HOLIC, AND YET THE TOWN MOVES) and character designs by Yoshiaki Ito (ALICE ACADEMY).

Even though studying at a prestigious art school like Yamabuki is hard work, the girls who live at the Hidamari Apartments always manage to squeeze in time for a little fun and exploration. And when they actually get a day off? Watch out world! Yuno, Sae, Hiro, Miyako and new students Nori and Nazuna return to create another masterpiece of life as art, with all new adventures that include swimming, pajama parties, trips to the art museum and even an all-you-can-eat diner courtesy of the landlady!

HIDAMARI SKETCH X SP will be available digitally soon, with a home video release on subtitled DVD scheduled for later this year.
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