SAILOR MOON DAY, Meet & Greet Autograph Session, and Special Retail Items at East Coast Pop Culture Fan Events Source: VIZ Media, MediaLab press release Special Thanks to Jane Lui and Erik Jansen VIZ Media, LLC, the largest distributor and licensor of anime and manga in North America, has announced an array of special activities and exclusive retail items to be offered as part of the company’s presence at the 2014 OTAKON convention. OTAKON is one of the largest pop culture conventions on the East Coast and takes place August 8-10, 2014 at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, MD. VIZ Media will be located on the main show floor in Booth IND-017. VIZ Media will celebrate the return of SAILOR MOON to North America with a variety of

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Source: AniplexUSA press release Official Site: gurren-lagann.net (Japan), AniplexUSA.com/gurrenlagann (US) Special Thanks to E.J. Rivera Aniplex of America, Inc. has announced that the legendary TV anime series GURREN LAGANN (??????????, Tengen Toppa Guren Ragan, 2007) will debut on Adult Swim’s TOONAMI Saturday line-up this August. The first episode will premiere on August 16th at 2:00am EST. From the SAME team that brought us KILL la KILL, GURREN LAGANN comes from the genius minds of Director Hiroyuki Imaishi and Script Writer/Series Composition Kazuki Nakashima. In response to its global popularity, the series was also adapted into two full-length films, GURREN LAGANN THE MOVIE -CHILDHOOD`S END- (??? ?????????? ???, Gekijooban Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Gurren-Hen, 2008) and GURREN LAGANN THE MOVIE -THE LIGHTS IN THE SKY ARE STARS- (??? ?????????? ???, Gekijooban Tengen Toppa Guren Lagann Lagann-Hen, 2009). Aniplex of America re-released the GURREN LAGANN TV Series on

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Starts Wednesday, July 23rd Source: New York International Children`s Film Festival press release Official Website: momo-letter.jp (Japan), gkids.tv/momo (US) ENGLISH LANGUAGE WORLD PREMIERE! Seven years in the making, A LETTER TO MOMO (??????, Momo e no Tegami, 2012) is an enchanting and sumptuously animated story from director Hiroyuki Okiura and Japanese powerhouse studio Production I.G. The NYICFF Grand Prize winner opens Wednesday, July 23rd for a one week run at the IFC Center (323 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10014). The last time Momo saw her father, they had a fight. Now all she has left to remember him by is an incomplete letter: a blank piece of paper with the words "Dear Momo." After moving with her mother to the remote Japanese island of Shio, she discovers three yokai living in her attic.

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Lone Mercenary Guts Comes to NEW PEOPLE Cinema In S.F.’s Historic Japantown Source: MediaLab press release Official Site: jffsf.org Special Thanks to Erik Jansen VIZ Media, LLC, the largest distributor and licensor of anime and manga in North America, delivers a special theatrical treat for attendees of the 2014 Japan Film Festival of San Francisco as it announces a screening of the visceral anime action feature BERSERK: THE GOLDEN AGE ARC III - THE ADVENT (????? ?????? ??, Berserk Oogon Jidai-Hen III: Koorin, 2013) on Wednesday, July 23th at 7:00pm with an encore presentation on Sunday, July 27nd at 7:00pm. The film will be presented with the original Japanese dialogue and English subtitles. The 2014 Japan Film Festival of San Francisco is presented

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The World`s Most Popular Ninja Returns In His Newest Action-Packed Feature Film Adventure Source: Eleven Arts Entertainment, VIZ Media, MediaLab Official Movie Site: naruto-movie.com (Japan), elevenarts.net/naruto-roadtoninja (US) Special Thanks to Erika T. Wright, Jane Lui and Erik Jansen VIZ Media, LLC, the largest distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, partners with Los Angeles-based film distribution company ELEVEN ARTS to invite anime fans across the U.S. to attend a special English dubbed theatrical premiere of ROAD TO NINJA - NARUTO THE MOVIE (??? NARUTO -???- ???????????, Gekijooban Naruto: Roodo tu Ninja, 2012) in a host of major cites starting on Friday, August 29th. The new film, which is the sixth in the massively popular NARURTO SHIPPUDEN feature film series, will premiere in more than 45 cities throughout the U.S.

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Special Guests at Los Angeles Screening Source: Eleven Arts Entertainment Official Movie Site: k-project-twwp.com (Japan), elevenarts.net/k-missingkings (US) Special Thanks to Erika T. Wright LA based film distribution company ELEVEN ARTS in partnership with Japanese animation label STARCHILD, has released the first official theater and showtime list for their limited theatrical run of K MISSING KINGS (??? K MISSING KINGS). The film is scheduled to be screened in over forty-five theaters beginning July 18th. Tickets will go on sale for most locations starting today, with more showtimes and dates to be announced at a later date. While supplies last, all valid ticketholders in attendance will be receiving an exclusive B4 sized movie program. For showtimes and tickets, visit the website at elevenarts.net/k-missingkings. The U.S. theatrical premiere at Los Angeles` Downtown Independent will also feature a special

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Sean Schemmel, Chris Sabat and Justin Cook Lead Panel on Saturday, July 5 Source: FUNimation Entertainment press release Official Site: dragonball2013.com (Japan), dragonballz.com/battleofgods (US) Special Thanks to Scott Lonski What do Earth’s greatest hero, the prince of the Saiyans and a seasoned FUNimation veteran all have in common? They are all a part of the upcoming summer blockbuster smash animated full length feature DRAGON BALL Z: BATTLE OF GODS (???????Z ???, Doragon Booru Zetto: Kami to Kami, 2013) and they are heading to Anime Expo in Los Angeles! Sean Schemmel is making his debut at the internationally renowned convention, and bringing some cast mates with him. Schemmel, Chris Sabat (Vegeta) and producer Justin Cook will lead a panel on Saturday, July 5 at 4:00pm in room: LP2. Earlier in the

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FUNimation Entertainment Announces Upcoming Event at Regal LA Live Stadium Source: FUNimation Entertainment press release Official Site: dragonball2013.com (Japan), dragonballz.com/battleofgods (US) Special Thanks to Scott Lonski FUNimation Entertainment announced that its animated feature film, DRAGON BALL Z: BATTLE OF GODS (???????Z ???, Doragon Booru Zetto: Kami to Kami, 2013), will be presented at a red carpet premiere at the Regal LA Live Stadium 14 Theaters in Los Angeles, CA on Thursday July 3, 2014. The red carpet will begin at 8:00pm followed by the screening at 9:00pm. It will be a night of entertainment for fans of the popular DRAGON BALL Z franchise featuring an opportunity to walk the carpet alongside US voice cast including Sean Schemmel and Chris Sabat and Producer Justin Cook. Stunning animation and epic new villains highlight

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Source: Eleven Arts Entertainment Official Movie Site: k-project-twwp.com (Japan), elevenarts.net/k-missingkings (US) Special Thanks to Erika T. Wright The wait is over for fans of the popular anime series K. ELEVEN ARTS and STARCHILD have announced K MISSING KINGS (??? K MISSING KINGS), the brand-new follow up feature film to the original anime series, coming to select theaters throughout North America. The world premiere is to be held at Los Angeles`s Anime Expo on Saturday, July 5. Shortly afterwards, the film will be released in select theaters across the United States starting Friday, July 18, 2014. This is a rare opportunity for fans to catch the movie on the big screen only a week after it premieres in Japan. At this time, the film is also scheduled for a limited screening throughout

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Source: Aniplex of America press release Official Site: swordart-online.net (Japan), SwordArt-OnlineUSA.com (US) Special Thanks to Joanna Metoki Aniplex of America has confirmed that SWORD ART ONLINE II (????????????, Soodo Aato Onrain II, 2014) will begin its simulcast schedule on July 5th for multiple territories across the world through Hulu, Crunchyroll, and DAISUKI. See below for streaming details. ? Hulu, Hulu Plus: U.S. only ? Crunchyroll: U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, U.K., Ireland, Latin American Countries, Europe (excluding German & French speaking countries), Asia (excluding China, Korea, Taiwan)* ? DAISUKI: U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, U.K., Ireland, Latin American Countries, Europe (excluding German & French speaking countries), Asia (excluding China, Korea, Taiwan) *Please note that the url included for the HULU page is not yet live. About SWORD ART ONLINE II 1 year after the SAO incident, Kirito is approached by Seijiro Kikuoka from Japan’s Ministry of

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New Anime Feature Film based on the Manga Sarusuberi Source: Production I.G press release Production I.G announces MISS HOKUSAI (???, Sarusuberi), the new animated feature film from acclaimed Annecy-winning director Keiichi Hara (SUMMER DAYS WITH COO, COLORFUL). The movie is based on the original manga, Sarusuberi by Hinako Sugiura, and it is scripted by Miho Maruo (COLORFUL). The main staff includes character designer and chief animator Yoshimi Itazu (DENNO COIL, THE WIND RISES, DREMING MACHINE) and background artist Hiroshi Ono (A LETTER TO MOMO, WOLF CHILDREN). MISS HOKUSAI is slated for theatrical release in Japan in 2015. Story The time: 1814. The place: Edo, now known as Tokyo. One of the highest populated cities in the world, teeming with peasants, samurai, townsmen, merchants, nobles, artists, courtesans, and perhaps even supernatural things. A much accomplished artist of his time and now in his mid-fifties, Tetsuzo

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Source: AniplexUSA Official Site: kill-la-kill.jp (Japan), KilllaKill.com (US) Special Thanks to EJ Rivera This July, fans of KILL LA KILL (?????, Kiru ra Kiru, 2013) are in for a real treat. Aniplex of America Inc. has just announced that multiple guests from the animation series KILL la KILL will be attending Anime Expo 2014 in Los Angeles as Guests of Honor. The Guests of Honor include Kazuki Nakashima (Original Story and Script Writer), SUSHIO (Character Designer and Chief Animation Director), Ami Koshimizu (the voice of Ryuko Matoi), Ryoka Yuzuki (the voice of Satsuki Kiryuin) and Yousuke Toba (Producer). All the guests will be participating in panels, autograph sessions and special events throughout Anime Expo weekend. Please see the Anime Expo schedule for official times. For one night only all of the guests will be part of

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Source: VIZ Media, MediaLab Official Movie Site: tigerandbunny.net/movie2 (Japan), elevenarts.net/tigerandbunny-therising (US) Special Thanks to Jane Lui and Erik Jansen VIZ Media, LLC, the largest distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, continues its collaboration with Los Angeles-based film distribution company ELEVEN ARTS and issues a special invitation to fans and filmgoers in Canada to attend the theatrical premiere of TIGER & BUNNY THE MOVIE: THE RISING (??? ???????? -The Rising-, Gekijoo-ban Taigaa Ando Banii -The Rising-, 2014) in 35 Canadian cities -- for two days only -- Thursday and Sunday, June 26th and 29th. For this special theatrical event, Japan’s favorite new breed of crime-fighting superhero delivers the big screen anime action to cities across Canada including Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver and many more. Tickets will be available for $12.95

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Source: Aniplex of America press release Official Site: project-magi.com (Japan), magi-usa.com (US) Special Thanks to Joanna Metoki On April 18th, Aniplex of America announced at their industry panel at Sakura-Con in Seattle, Washington, their plans to produce an English dub of MAGI: THE KINGDOM OF MAGIC (?? The Kingdom of Magic, 2013-2014), the second season of the fan-favorite MAGI anime series. Aniplex of America has also announced that along with Bang Zoom! Entertainment, they plan to hold open auditions for MAGI: THE KINGDOM OF MAGIC at this year’s Anime Expo. The open auditions will be held at the Bang Zoom! Entertainment booth through the entire Anime Expo 2014 weekend starting from Thursday July 3rd to Sunday July 6th. Bang Zoom! plans to hold multiple auditions on each day. Fans who are interested in participating in these open

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Aniplex also Launches “Sword Art Online Awards” for Fans Worldwide Source: Aniplex of America press release Official Site: swordart-online.net (Japan), SwordArt-OnlineUSA.com (US) Special Thanks to EJ Rivera On April 19th at Aniplex of America’s SWORD ART ONLINE Panel with special appearances by Director Tomohiko Ito, Character Designer Shingo Adachi and Producer Shinichiro Kashiwada at Sakura-Con in Seattle, Aniplex confirmed that the highly anticipated anime series SWORD ART ONLINE II (????????????, Soodo Aato Onrain II, 2014) will see a worldwide simulcast. SWORD ART ONLINE II is scheduled to begin airing in Japan on July of this year. Aniplex has also confirmed plans of hosting SWORD ART ONLINE II Premiere Screening Events to be held in the U.S., France, Germany, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea and Japan. Details regarding streaming schedules and platforms as well as Premiere

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Catch The Entire Subtitled 13-Episode Series FOR FREE On Neon Alley Online Anime Streaming Platform! Source: VIZ Media, MediaLab press releases Official Site: gargantia.jp (Japan) Special Thanks to Jane Lui, Elizabeth Ellis and Erik Jansen VIZ Media, LLC , the largest publisher, distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, brings the intergalactic action drama -- GARGANTIA ON THE VERDUROUS PLANET (??????????, Suisei no Garugantia, 2014) -- to its new Neon Alley FREE online streaming anime platform. The lushly animated 13-episode adventure was created by the famed animation studio Production I.G. and is available now in its entirety at NeonAlley.com. For $7.99 a month, U.S. fans can also access GARGANTIA ON THE VERDUROUS PLANET on mobile and digital devices through the subscription-based Hulu Plus Video-On-Demand service. The premiere of a dubbed version will follow later in the year. In the distant future, Ledo, a

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Final Episode to Screen in Japanese Theaters Source: Shochiku Co., Ltd. Official Site: gundam-unicorn.net (Japan), gundamuc.rightstuf.com (US) Shochiku has provided an update and new images for the Japanese theatrical run of MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM UC (UNICORN)(????????UC(?????), Kidoo Senshi Gandamu Yunikon) Episode 7: "Over The Rainbow" (????, Niji no Kanata ni). Based upon the best-selling novel by Harutoshi Fukui (Aegis), the original video animation series is produced by Sunrise, directed by Kazuhiro Furuhashi (HUNTER X HUNTER, LE CHEVALIER D’EON), and is distributed in Japan by Bandai Visual and in North America by Right Stuf. MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM UC concludes with with the seventh episode, which will be released in Japan on multiple Blu-ray and DVD editions June 6, 2014. The North American DVD release date is tba.

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Wide Theatrical Release Begins April 18th Source: Eleven Arts Entertainment press release Official Movie Site: shortpeace-movie.com (Japan), elevenarts.net/shortpeace (US) Special Thanks to Erika T. Wright ELEVEN ARTS and Sentai Filmworks is pleased to present the wide theatrical release of Katsuhiro Otomo`s latest animated feature film SHORT PEACE (????????, Shooto Piisu, 2013), an anthology of four short animated films from some of Japan`s most talented anime creators, including Academy Award nominee POSSESSIONS (???, Tsukumo), from director Shuhei Morita. The wide release will take place starting on April 18 of this year. The movie will be featured in approximately forty-five theaters across the United States. At this time, screenings for Canada are planned to begin in early May of 2014. Information on the screenings, including theater locations and tickets, is available on ELEVEN ARTS` website.

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Two Highly-Anticipated Titles will be Streaming on the Aniplex Channel, Hulu, Crunchyroll and DAISUKI Source: Aniplex of America press release Special Thanks to EJ Rivera Aniplex of America Inc. has announced details of the simulcast schedules for two of their highly-anticipated titles scheduled to begin streaming this month. These titles are The irregular at magic high school (?????????, Mahooka Kookoo no Rettoosei, 2014) and MEKAKUCITY ACTORS (???????????, Mekakushiti Akutaazu, 2014). Both of these titles will be available to fans on the Aniplex Channel, Hulu, Crunchyroll and DAISUKI only a few hours following its original air-time in Japan. The irregular at magic high school will begin its simulcast schedule on April 5th at 11:00 a.m. (PST) This anime adaptation of the popular sci-fi fantasy light novel series by Tsutomu Sato with the same title features a world where magic is no longer a product of mere legends or

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Source: Eleven Arts Entertainment Official Movie Site: shortpeace-movie.com (Japan), elevenarts.net/shortpeace (US) Special Thanks to Erika T. Wright ELEVEN ARTS and Sentai Filmworks are set to bring SHORT PEACE (????????, Shooto Piisu, 2013), a new omnibus film from AKIRA`s director, Katsuhiro Otomo, to North American audiences. SHORT PEACE consists of four short animated films from some of Japan`s greatest animation creators, including this year`s Academy Award nominated POSSESSIONS (???, Tsukumo) directed by Shuhei Morita. Prior to the wide release, special screenings

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