Just a quick reminder for those of you looking for treats this August. The Manga Entertainment UK August 2011 DVD and Blu-ray release schedule looks good as always. They've got a lot of anticipated titles.
Releases as follows -
Monday 1st August 2011
Shikabane Hime: Corpse Princess Part 2 (read our review of part 1)
Pre-order on DVD
Monday 15th August 2011
Black Butler - Series 1 Part 1 (read our review)
Pre-order on DVD
Sekirei - The Complete Series
Pre-order on DVD
Monday 29th August 2011
K-ON! Volume 1
Pre-order on DVD
High School of the Dead
Pre-order on DVD
Pre-order on Blu-ray
Normally, when we're presented with a list of titles, we like to pick out a few favourites. The trouble is there are a fair few fan favourites in this months release line up. K-ON is popular with those who like moe, while we know a High School of the Dead is renowned for it's zombies and fan service. Also don't forget Black Butler. It really depends on what kind of anime you like.
Souce: Manga Entertainment UK
Category > Retail
London based manga fans will be well aware of Gosh!, the great comic shop near the British Museum. It's been in it's current location for 25 years. On Saturday 6th August 2011, it will be moving to bigger premises at No. 1 Berwick Street, Soho, W1F 0DR. So remember to update your maps if you plan some retail therapy in London soon.
Souce: Gosh!
Category > Anime
We're going all nostalgic here at Otaku News and have decided to dig up some old articles from our archive that are not published on-line, either because they were originally for print or from websites that are now off-line.
Just because they're old doesn't mean they're not relevant to today's otaku.
We start with an article originally published in the AmeCon 2007 Conbook about why UK anime fans owe a debt of gratitude to their Australian counterparts. Please note that it was written for a UK anime audience in mind, Australian readers might find it interesting to know how important they are to the UK industry and how the UK industry helps Madman out.
Read More... | Souce: Otaku News
Category > Events
Everyone's getting ready for the London MCM Expo this weekend (Friday 27th to Sunday 29th May 2011) at the ExCel Centre in London.
The good folks at Manga Entertainment UK have sent us details of their plans at the London Expo. They've got two stands, a treasure hunt, plenty of bargain priced DVDs and Blu-rays.
Voice actors Ben Diskin (voice of Sai in Naruto Shippuden and Syzal in Bleach) and Brian Beacock (voice of Walter Yumasaki in Durarara!!) will both be at a panel and QA at the London MCM Expo too.
Read More... | Souce: Manga Entertainment UK
Category > Events
Everyone's getting ready for the London MCM Expo this weekend (Friday 27th to Sunday 29th May 2011) at the ExCel Centre in London.
This includes the good folk at Letraset who make the popular markers that many artists love. They've sent us details of the art competition they'll be running at the Expo. The theme for this year is Running Late for a Very Important Date. The winners will get a lot lovely Letraset goodies.
Souce: Letraset Blog
Category > Retail
The May London MCM Expo is almost here it starts on Friday 27th May and will run until Sunday 29th May 2011. As tradition demands T-shirt company Genki Gear will be releasing a new range for the season.
They've got 5 new designs in ready for the Expo.
Read More... | Souce: Genki Gear
Category > Anime
The good folks at legitimate anime streaming service Anime On Demand have sent us details about there latest stream to hit the UK. [C] - Control - The Money and Soul of Possibility. The show will start streaming Thursday 21st April 2011 at 17:45 BST (British Summer Time), just one week after it's Japanese debut. Each week a new episode will be added to the site in the future.
Read More... | Souce: Anime on Demand
Fans of Eden of the East the excellent anime series from Kenji Kamiyama and Production I.G. will be pleased to hear that the first movie Eden Of The East: The King of Eden is out soon. The highly anticipated release follows on from the series.
It's due out on Blu-ray and DVD on Tuesday April 26th 2011 in the USA from Funimation. While the Blu-ray and DVD is scheduled Monday 6th June 2011 in the UK from Manga Entertainment UK.
As always you can pre-order the DVD or Blu-ray from Amazon and take advantage of their pre-order price guarantee.
Pre-order the Blu-ray from Amazon.com in the USA.
Pre-order the DVD from Amazon.com in the USA.
Pre-order the Blu-ray from Amazon.co.uk in the UK.
Pre-order the DVD from Amazon.co.uk in the UK.
Souce: Funimation
Category > Current Affairs
Japanese style noodle bar chain Wagamama has been bought by private equity firm Duke Street from Lion Capital for £215 million.
London's City AM reports that Lion capital have owned the chain since 2005 and more than doubled it's UK presence. The sale was planned since August last year. Lion were hoping to get £250 million for the sale.
Impressively the London branches of Wagamama have been known to turn over 12 sittings a day.
Souce: City AM
Category > Events
Although it's just over 2 months away, things have started to rev up for the May Edition of the London MCM Expo, which is set to run on 27th to 29th May 2011 at the ExCel London.
The creative t-shirt people Genki Gear have just unveiled the official exclusive designs for the May MCM Expo. This time instead of one design there are two differet designs available both in Unisex and Women's fitted tee styles and both available as limited editions on Pre-order only. The theme this time around is super heroes and zombies! The Pre-order is on the Genki Gear Site only until the 31st April 2011.
Read More... | Souce: Genki Gear
Category > Retail
The lovely people at UNIQLO have sent us details of their up coming line of t-shirts. They've had an excellent range of gaming and classic anime t-shirts in the past and this season they've teamed up with Manga Entertainment UK to release Naruto t-shirts in the UK. They've got 32 styles based on the series, priced at £12.99 you can buy them soon from UNIQLO stores or from their website.
Read More... | Souce: UNIQLO
Category > Retail
UK readers might be disappointed or unsurprised to hear that HMV will be closing 60 of their stores across the country as their sales and shares slump as reported by BBC News, The Guardian and other news sources. HMV have been scaling back recently closing their flagship Shibuya store in Tokyo in 2010.
Early estimates suggest that they will close 40 HMV stores, and 20 Waterstones stores across the country.
Anime fans may be interested to know that HMV account for 30% of Manga Entertainment UK's business.
Souce: BBC News
Category > Culture
The good folks at Haus Publishing have sent us the details of their Makers of the Modern World series of 32 volumes on the Paris Peace Conference, which tried to create a new world order after the devastation of the First World War.
Why would that interest an anime fan? I hear you cry. Well we know some of our readers are history buffs, while others would be interested in the Prince Saionji: Japan volume, which is written by Jonathan Clements, who is best known to anime and manga fans as the co-author of the Anime Encyclopedia, along with being an industry expert, translator, anime magazine columnist, he also did the Wellington Koo: China volume.
You can order the books on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com -
Makers of the Modern World - Prince Saionji: Japan
Order from Amazon.co.uk
Order from Amazon.com
Makers of the Modern World - Wellington Koo: China
Order from Amazon.co.uk
Order from Amazon.com
Read More... | Souce: Haus Publishing
Christmas hasn't even arrived yet and the folks at Manga Entertainment UK have sent us the details of the Summer Wars release due out on 28th March 2011 in the UK and February 15th 2011 in the US.
The Summer Wars Trailer is up on Apple's Website.
The UK release is available on DVD and Blu-ray along with a double pack with The Girl Who Leapt Through Time as it's by the same director Mamoru Hosoda.
Having seen Summer Wars at the BFI Southbank earlier this year, we can confirm that it's an excellent title, and well worth adding to your collection.
UK Release - 28th March 2011
Pre-order Summer Wars / The Girl Who Leapt Through Time Blu-Ray Double Pack from Amazon.co.uk
Pre-order Summer Wars DVD from Amazon.co.uk
Pre-order Summer Wars Blu-Ray from Amazon.co.uk
US Release - February 15th 2011
Pre-order Summer Wars Blu-Ray from Amazon.com
Pre-order Summer Wars DVD from Amazon.com
Souce: Manga Entertainment UK
Manga Entertainment UK have sent us some sad news about the release of Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood on Blu-ray. Due to the poor sales of Part 1 and 2 on Blu-ray they will discontinue the series on the format. Part 3 onwards will still be released on DVD.
This due to the high cost of producing Blu-rays and the low sales they've had of the format.
At least Manga Entertainment have sent a press release, other companies just silently pull titles.
Read More... | Souce: Manga Entertainment UK
Just a quick reminder to UK anime fans that the highly anticipated Eden of the East is due out next week on Monday 29th November 2010, appropriately only a week after Careless Monday event in the series.
It's available to pre-order on DVD and Blu-ray from Amazon.co.uk.
Souce: Amazon.co.uk
Category > Press Releases
UK based readers have a chance to win a flight to Tokyo thanks to the Japan National Tourism Organisation UK. There are other great prizes up for grabs too, including a Panasonic 42" Plasma TV, Casio G-Shock watch and vouchers for London's So Restaurant. To enter the competition all you have to do is fill out a questionnaire (remember to say you found out about the competition from Otaku News ^_^).
Standard terms and conditions apply.
Souce: Japan National Tourism Organisation UK
Category > Events
For Japanese culture fans, October began with a bang at Hyper Japan, a new and highly anticipated event on the UK otaku calendar for 2010. Hosted by Eat-Japan (the number one site for Japanese food, sushi and sake), the show was a sensational success, drawing in excess of 15,000 visitors over the 3 days, a remarkable feat for what was the debut of this cultural festival. The event was located in the heart of London's Shoreditch at Brick Lane, an area well known for its offbeat character and for the eclectic, hip and chic. Standing in the line with the eager attendees, the atmosphere was alive with the building excitement as cosplayers, anime fans and the culturally curious all assembled to enjoy a different class of convention. The preshow campaign, organised and delivered by a Japanese enterprise was loaded with ample incentive for any fan of Japan to take a look at what the exhibitors had to offer. I, in my cosplay guise as Queen's Blade's spectral maid Airi, lined up with the happy crowds all eager to meet and greet, eat and shop! After conquering the queue and ascending the staircase in my heels, a veritable treasure trove was to be found, serving the many delights of Japanese culture and cuisine.
Read More... | Souce: Otaku News
Category > Retail
Everyone's getting ready for the London MCM Expo this weekend and T-shirt Company Genki Gear are no exception. They'll be launching 6 new designs at the London Expo.
Read More... | Souce: Genki Gear
Category > Anime
A quick reminder for UK anime fans, the Studio Ghibli classic Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind will be released on blu-ray on Monday 18th October 2010. This is one of those rare instances when UK anime fans get a release before the US.
UK readers can pre-order Nausicaa on blu-ray from Amazon.co.uk.
US readers who can't wait will want to consider the Japanese release which also has English subtitles and is region free.
Update: A reader has noticed that The Digital Fix are running a Nausicaa blu-ray competition.
Souce: Optimum Releasing
Category > Retail
The London MCM Expo is on it's way. Everyone's getting revved up for the weekend of 29th to 31st October 2010, and Genki Gear are no exception. They've just launched the official London MCM Expo October 2010 T-shirt. The exclusive design is available to pre-order now on the Genki Gear Website.
Read More... | Souce: Genki Gear
Category > Events
October is shaping up to be the month for otaku in London. With the London MCM Expo at the end of the month. While at the beginning of the month a new event called Hyper Japan is set to run from Friday 1st to Sunday 3rd October 2010.
The event has a lot to offer with an Otaku Village set to cater to all your retail needs.
Cosplayers will be well represented too (they'll even get a chance to win a trip to Japan). There's also a cosplay talent search, competitions and other fun to be had if you like dressing up.
Japanese fashion magazine KERA will be there with fashion shows and style tutorials (the event is looking for models to take part).
Fans of angel fighting giant robots won't be disappointed either as they have a special Evangelion Store which will be selling some exclusive and hard to find merchandise.
Figure collectors might want to note that Good Smile will be there too! ^__^
As the people behind EAT-JAPAN are organising the event you can be certain that Japanese cuisine will be well represented too. with the EAT-JAPAN food court.
They'll also have lots of culture on stage too. You can book early to get a discount from the standard £8 entry fee. Children under 5 go free. As always we advise to book early to avoid disappointment.
Read More... | Souce: Hyper Japan
Category > Retail
The good folks at Udon Entertainment have sent us details of their 10 year anniversary art anthology - Vent. Due to hit the shelves on September 15th 2010 the art book premiers this summer at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con, along with an exclusive hardcover edition at the Udon booth.
Vent is available to pre-order from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk. UK readers should note that Amazon.com currently have it cheaper than Amazon.co.uk even after taking shipping into account.
Read More... | Souce: Udon Entertainment
The good folks from Manga Entertainment UK have sent us details about the up coming DVD release of Naruto Shippuden Box Set 1. The box set contains the first 13 episodes of the adventures of a more mature Naruto.
It's due out on Monday 14th June 2010. You can pre-order it from Amazon.co.uk.
Read More... | Souce: Manga Entertainment UK
The good folks from Manga Entertainment UK have sent us details about the up coming DVD release of Soul Eater. Part one contains the first 13 episodes of the series. It's due out on Monday 28th June 2010.
You can pre-order Soul Eater Part One from Amazon.co.uk.
Read More... | Souce: Manga Entertainment UK
Category > Retail
We've received details from Manga Entertainment UK about the great bargains they'll be offering over the weekend of 29th and 30th of May 2010 at the London MCM Expo. They'll have 50% off most DVDs including boxsets and Blu-ray titles, along with a £1 manga shop.
You'll also be able to pick up Sky Crawlers on DVD and Blu-ray a bit earlier too.
Read More... | Souce: Manga Entertainment UK
UK based anime fans should take note that Ponyo is out in 3 weeks on Monday 7th June 2010. Amazon.co.uk already has pre-orders. There are several editions available. Prices range from about £18 for the deluxe edition down to £11 for the regular edition.
Ponyo DVD – 2 Disc Edition
Ponyo Blu-ray + DVD Combi Pack
Ponyo Deluxe Edition Blu-ray + DVD Combi Pack
Ponyo DVD 1 Disc Edition
The deluxe edition comes with postcards and a sticker sheet.
Play.com also have each edition £1 cheaper than Amazon.co.uk. However, Amazon.co.uk have a pre-order price promise. Meaning that they should match Play's price.
Souce: Otaku News
The good folks from Beez have sent us details about the upcoming release of Gundam Unicorn on Friday 12th 2010 on Blu-ray disc. The release will be worldwide simultaneously in the 7 territorial areas of Japan, US, Canada, UK, France, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.
You can view the first 7 minutes of the OAV on the Beez Website.
Read More... | Souce: Beez
Category > Retail
As we've mentioned before, all lots of anime companies are revving up for the London MCM Expo on the weekend of 24th-25th October 2009. T-shirt company Genki Gear will be launching a new Autumn range at the Expo, along with some Christmas cards.
The new range features designs by Wing Yun Man (who draws our lovely Otaku News wallpaper and postcards), Jess Bradley and our very own Phil English.
Read More... | Souce: Genki Gear
Category > Retail
We've got news from the Japan Centre in London. They'll be moving the food shop from their Piccadilly Circus store to a brand new larger shop on Regent Street from Saturday 3rd October 2009.
The food hall will be greatly expanded with a Japanese Bakery, along with the launch of the umai brand.
The bookshop and home section will remain at their current Piccadilly location. The new shop will be at 14-16 Regent Street (SW1Y 4PH), near Mitsukoshi.
Read More... | Souce: Japan Centre
Category > Retail
London based readers should be aware of Orbital Manga is closing down. The shop was located in-between Leicester Square and Covent Garden. It first opened at the beginning of 2007 and stocked manga and other anime and manga related merchandise.
Luckily all is not lost as it will be merging back with it's sister shop Orbital Comics, which is just around the corner from the old Orbital Manga store.
Souce: Otaku News
UK anime fans who love the adventures of an ace student out to build a new world, will be pleased to hear that the Death Note Complete Boxset is released on Monday 28th September 2009.
The 9 Disc DVD set retails for £60, however both Amazon.co.uk and Play.com have it on a pre-order offer for £43.
Souce: Otaku News
Category > Gaming
The good folks at Square-Enix have sent us details for the European release of Star Ocean: The Last Hope on Xbox 360. It's due to hit the stores on Friday 5th June, 2009. There's also a limited edition collectors box.
Read More... | Souce: Star Ocean Website
Category > Retail
Everyone's getting ready for the London MCM Expo this weekend. T-shirt producers Genki Gear are no exception. They'll be launching their new range at the Expo.
Read More... | Souce: Genki Gear
Category > Anime
London has a some great places for otaku to visit. The trouble is finding them. Using our London Otaku News Correspondents we've assembled a list of good places for anime and manga fans to visit while in London.
Read More... | Souce: Otaku News
The good folks at Beez have sent us details of their plans at the London MCM Expo on the 23rd to the 24th of May 2009. Highlights include plenty of discounted DVDs, as they'll be shifting to a 3 part release model. Along with some Gurren Lagann posters to give away.
Read More... | Souce: Beez
Category > Events
We don't normally post articles of this nature, as it's got nothing to do with anime, manga, Japanese culture, but this will be of interest to some of our London readers.
Orbital Comics, will be hosting a book signing for Lost Girls the new work of Melinda Gebbie and Alan Moore
Date: 13th September 2008
Time: 2pm - 4pm
Location: Orbital Comics
Address: 148 Charing Cross Road, London. UK
Souce: Orbital Comics
European arm of Namco Bandai announces two titles for release in November 2008 on Blu-Ray format
Read More... | Souce: Beez Entertainment
Category > Events
Fans of the graphic novel version of Heroes who can get to London next week will want to head to Orbital Manga, just in-between Leicester Square and Covent Garden, where they'll be having a signing with graphic artist Jason Badower.
Read More... | Souce: Orbital Manga
Category > Retail
Japanese clothing firm Uniqlo have brought over several batches of their manga inspired t-shirt designs to the U.K. The women's range seems centred around Astro Boy whilst the men's is focused around celebrating fifty years of Shonen Mangazine and Shonen Sunday.
Shirts are £12.99 each or 2 for £20 for a limited time.
Read More... | Souce: Uniqlo
Category > Retail
We've been sent details from London based manga shop Orbital Manga about a book signing and art competition they're running.
The artists from the graphic novel Demon Prince: Children of Gaia will be at Orbital Manga on 26th April 2008, from 1pm to 3pm. Along with limited edition pre-release copies of the graphic novel you'll be able to pick up limited edition A1 size posters too.
Read More... | Souce: Orbital Manga
Classic anime fans in the UK who can get to their local HMV are in for a treat. HMV have an exclusive deal on the Mysterious Cities of Gold DVD Box set. It's in stock in their stores, and on the HMV website too. Fans should note that the official release date for this DVD is 23rd June 2008, but the highstreet shop seem to have made some sort exclusive deal with the distributors. As far as we're aware, no other retailer has the DVD yet.
We are certain that this is not an error on their website, as we have visited our local HMV and seen copies on shelves to buy.
Many current anime fans will remember the French Japanese co-production with great nostalgia, and have been screaming for a DVD release for years, every so often a rumour would crop up, but never actually amount to anything, years of waiting many fans just assumed that the series would never get released in the UK, but finally it has. ^_^
Souce: HMV
Amazon UK are currently running a sale on anime DVDs.
Play.com are also have an Anime DVD sale, with many titles cheaper than Amazon (as Play already factor in postage).
Titles include:
- Cowboy Bebop
- Millennium Actress
- Read or Die
- Steamboy
With many titles going for under £5, it's worth looking around for a bargain or three.
Souce: Amazon UK
Category > Art
The folks at Don't Panic are currently running a competition to design your own Momiji message doll. Manga style artists are popular with these designs and Joanna Zhou created her own Momiji set last year.
Anyone one can enter this competition, and our artist chum Wing Yun Man has entered too, so please show your support and vote for her.
Souce: Don\'t Panic
We've received a press release from LDMS who will be now be distributing ADV DVD titles in the UK, after ADV closed their UK offices. The press release details the release schedule up until May 2008.
After ADV UK closing down it's good to see that their titles will be still be distributed, but it's sad to see that ADV UK had to shut shop, the UK staff there were more than just people doing their jobs, they were actual anime fans with a passion for what they were doing which does make a difference. ADV UK's presence at anime events will be sorely missed. They were more than just another company, they were actually part of the UK anime scene. It was a shame to see these people lose their jobs. We wish them the best of luck in finding a new careers.
It will be interesting to see if LDMS will be active in anime fan circles as ADV UK was.
Read More... | Souce: LDMS
Category > Retail
It seems that opening anime and manga themed stores in London are all the rage at the moment with Tokyo Toys opening a retail store at the back of Trocadero in Piccadilly Circus, design firm Terratag have now opened a store in Brick Lane.
Read More... | Souce: TerraTag
Category > Events
Our chum Emily has sent us the details for an event at Tokyo Toys store in Trocadero in central London.
It's a romantic maid cafe event, with speed dating for anime fans! You can be served by cosplayers dressed up as maids too, just like in Akihabara.
The event will be held on Saturday 16th February 2008, from 5pm to late. You don't have to take part in the speed dating to go along and participate in the maid cafe either.
Read More... | Souce: Tokyo Toys
Category > Retail
The good folks at ADV Films UK have sent us details of their sale, due to "streamlining" they'll be having a stock clearout. Prices start from £1 while stocks last. So grab those titles while you can.
Read More... | Souce: ADV Films UK
Category > Manga
UK fans of Ghost in The Shell will be pleased to hear the details Titan Books have sent us about the release of Ghost In the Shell 1.5 Human-Error Processor. The manga is due out in the UK on 23rd November 2007. It bridges the gap between the Ghost in the Shell 1 and 2 manga (hence the 1.5 name). We've been waiting for this to come out as one book ever since we heard about it and highly recommend it to Ghost in the Shell fans.
Read More... | Souce: Titan Books
Category > Manga
The Sweatdrop crew have always been inventive with the titles they've released and they've sent us details for some titles due in April 2008 and June 2008 (that's a while away isn't it? We don't normally get details for titles that are 6 months ahead anyway...).
They'll be releasing 4 books next year:
- Be creative by R. Bevan, J. Middleton & T. Wright
- Find true love by S. Dosani, L. Helmanis and P. Cross
- Beauty secrets for babes by L.Helmanis
- Sort out your money by J. Middleton
All the lovely artwork will be done by Sonia Leong, and we'll be curious to see how they do this.
Will they have an otaku take on things? Eg: Sort out your money - buy less DVDs and manga to save money. Beauty secrets for babes - wear cat ears. Be creative - draw more stuff. Find true love - ermmm, otaku aren't exactly good at that, erm, join a relatives house which happens to be populated by lots of hot babes and enjoy the hilarity that ensues.
We look forward to seeing what these guides will look like next year.
Read More... | Souce: Sweatdrop Studios
UK Anime fans will be pleased to hear that Satoshi Kon's latest masterpiece Paprika will be released on DVD on 24th September 2007, Tekkonkinkreet also hits the shelves too and we look forward to catching it.
To be honest, we can't recommend Paprika highly enough, it's the best English language anime release of 2007. This is one you must simply add to your collection, especially if you like Kon's other works (Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers and Paranoia Agent), then you'll really get a kick out of Paprika, Kon's on top form here (as always), and uses animation in his usual mind bending ways.