AnimeVision

ADV's Senior Vice President for Sales and Marketing has been speaking to ANN about the company's recent problems, and while it's understandably short on detail it's an interesting read. You can see the full piece here, but the key points are that, contrary to internet rumour, Sojitz's involvement with the company remains unchanged, and that they're still in negotiations with other parties on some issues (including new titles). On fan frustration at the lack of news from the company during the hiatus:

"There are a lot of parties involved in any anime production, and that can complicate even the best of negotiations. Frankly we had to keep quiet in the interest of resolving this situation as quickly as possible. [...] I understand fans' frustration — particularly those who follow the business of anime so closely. But this wasn't a situation that could be worked out over the Internet. I just hope fans understand that we're doing what we must to get back to the business of delivering first-rate anime. That's our focus."

Let the naysayers be poked fun at. ADV Films in the US have finally broken their silence over their recent woes, by way of providing retailers with an updated release schedule for the titles that went on an unexpected break last month. You can find the full list over at TRSI - but in short, all suspended titles will be back up to speed by the end of March, with the exception of Gurren Lagaan, whose fate is still unknown. Told y'all not to panic...

Beez have confirmed they'll be releasing The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya in the UK - and in a break from their usual practice, they'll be using Madman's masters for the UK edition. Madman are the main Australian releasing company, and are known for good-quality video on their releases (their disc authoring services also used heavily by both MVM and Manga UK). We'll also be getting both the regular and Limited Editions of the show - regular edition discs will cost the standard £19.99, while the LEs will tip the scales at £34.99. Better check for those online discounts. Volume one hits in May, with subsequent volumes following in June, July and August.

No prize for spotting the reference in the title, but you're welcome to guess. :) Bandai Visual USA have confirmed they'll be releasing 15-episode series sola beginning in June, and in keeping with their usual practice it ain't going to be cheap - expect 5 volumes at an RRP of US$49.99 each. Ouch. On the plus side, the release will include the Japanese-language PCM track, which sould help pacify those with audio systems good enough to take advantage of it...

...but with Leonard diCaprio apparently having been cast in the lead role of Kaneda, I'm already sceptical, now matter how influential the original animated film may have been on me. The original Akira manga is being adapted by Warner Brothers into two feature films, that between them will cover the complete story. The first film is slated for release in 2009.

Some old and some new out of the Berlin Film Festival. The old is that Optimum Releasing have picked up 1993 Ghibli movie Ocean Waves - one of the few productions from the studio not to have a Miyazaki at the helm. The film is a love story set in a Japanese high school.

The new is Yona Yona Penguin, a Japanese / French co-production that's due for theatrical release in Japan later in the year. No details on the story are given, but Metroplitan have picked up the UK rights for the movie.

Keep this firmly in the "rumour" pile for now, but a typically-cryptic post by Media Blaster's John Sirabella over at AoD indicated there could be cause for cheer soon for anyone waiting on Geneon to get going again:

Not to get you guys to excited but I know from a very good source that Geneon is in their final stages of finishing their distribution deal with someone. The source is from pretty high up on the food chain so I trust it. I predict in the next several weeks you will hear an announcement. But my understanding is that Geneon will still be doing licensing and not all titles will go through this distribution deal but I do not have all the details.

If you were paying attention to FUNimation's website last week, you'll have noticed them gearing up to announce their latest "huge" license. Turns out that was for action-adventure series Claymore, which follows the medieval adventures of a half-human woman on a mission to hunt down strange shape-shifting creatures. Berserk has been mentioned in some comparisons - not having seen Claymore I can't say how accurate that comparision would be, but it might give you an idea of what to expect - or you could just check out the trailer on their website.

Manga UK have confirmed that they've picked up the license for Death Note. Officially, there's no news yet on release dates and formats, although if you head over to Amazon UK and carry out a few searches, you may find a few hints about that...

According to a post by MB head honcho John Sirablla over at AnimeOnDVD, Media Blasters have picked up 2006 horror series Night Head Genesis. The show's description over at ANN is the best sort of gibberish, but by the sounds of it you expect bishounen, supernatural mystery and scary things.