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Mass Effect anime coming this fall, all about James Vega
All of the storytelling, none of the player choice. The Mass Effect anime is still on the way from Funimation, and, as social media manager Justin Rojas revealed at SXSW ScreenBurn, it's focusing on Mass Effect 3's James Vega.Mass Effect: Paragon Lost is being written and created by Funimation (who usually works primarily on existing content from Japan) working with EA and BioWare, and tells Vega's backstory before his appearance in Mass Effect 3, which includes some "epic" things, Rojas assured.Funimation picked up some anime stars to work on the visuals, including studio Production I.G and a character designer from Eureka Seven (presumably Kenichi Yoshida). We'll see how this Texas studio's collaboration with Japanese artists on a Canadian sci-fi license works out this year -- "We're estimating fall or so," Rojas said.
Dragon Age anime film due in spring 2012
Hey, remember the Dragon Age anime? Back in 2010, EA and Funimation announced plans for an original direct-to-video animated feature based on the franchise, to be released in 2011. Funimation has finally unveiled Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker, cleverly playing the delay off as an intentional Year of the Dragon placement.You can see footage from the CG animated movie in the "Production Update" above. You'll be able to see the whole thing on DVD and Blu-Ray this spring.
Dragon Age anime called 'Dawn of the Seeker,' pushed to 2012
Not be confused with the ABC television series about a certain sword of truth, "Dawn of the Seeker" is the name of Funimation's upcoming Dragon Age anime. The company also unveiled the first artwork for the film, featuring the probable protagonist and a good supply of swords. She might even have a third arm to go with that. Unfortunately, said swords are being drawn slower than expected, as the animated film has been moved from a 2011 release window to sometime in 2012. For now you can take a peek at what's already in progress via two trailers below.
Mass Effect anime jumps home in 2012
The Mass Effect universe will expand with a direct-to-video anime film in the summer of 2012. The film will be co-produced by Japanese animation house T.O. Entertainment, and FUNimation Entertainment -- the same company that hooked up with EA for the Dragon Age anime (due sometime this year). BioWare's sci-fi series joins Halo and Dante's Inferno in the very specific category of western-developed games that provide the basis for anime adaptations. This movie represents another drop in the Mass Effect transmedia bucket, which currently contains several novels, comics and plans for a Hollywood venture. There's no word yet on the plot -- or how, exactly, Shepard will be drawn this time.
Netflix deal with Viz Media brings more anime with subbed eps of Inuyasha, Bleach, Naruto
As we noted when Netflix announced its expanded deal with Fox, there's some new anime available on Watch Instantly these days and now Netflix has revealed a deal with Viz Media made it all possible. This has brought hundreds of episodes of popular series including Bleach, Naruto and Inuyasha to the service and most importantly, they're uncut and feature the Japanese audio with subtitles -- a must for hardcore fans. There's also new eps of other series like Trigun and Fullmetal Alchemist available through a deal with Funimation, but unfortunately it appears those are dubbed editions. Clearly licensing issues play a role, but here's hoping we see more original audio, uncut releases in the future (trying to watch Ghost in the Shell dubbed is just painful) or in the best possible case -- an option to watch subbed or dubbed.
Dragon Age anime due in 2011
Continuing the inexplicable trend of western games being adapted into anime (see also: Halo, Dante's Inferno), BioWare and anime publisher Funimation have announced a deal to produce an anime movie based on the Dragon Age franchise. Production started last month, with an intended 2011 direct-to-video release. This will be the first release from Funimation's new Original Entertainment department, started to do exactly this kind of thing: develop new anime based on existing IP. We do wonder about the strict definition of the term "anime," though: if it's produced by an American publisher and based on an American (Canadian, actually) game, is it still anime? Luckily, this is one of those distinctions that doesn't matter at all. Regardless of the name, if you like Dragon Age, you'll soon get to watch a cartoon about it.
Sengoku Basara anime available for online streaming
Wondering what all this Sengoku Basara stuff is about? We've certainly heard questions to the effect of "Sengoku Ba-whatnow?" a few times since the TGS announcement of the of the Wii/PS3 brawler. Funimation is licensing the popular anime show that ties into the game, and has posted the first two episodes online for free. If your curious, let that act as your introduction to the fictionalized version of Japan's Warring States period and its youthful, attractive reinterpretations of the country's most famous warlords. You don't really need much background, historical or pseudo-historical, to play the game, but it might be nice to know who these dudes are, and who those other dudes are who are being killed by said dudes. [Via Destructoid]
Watch the Sands of Destruction anime online right now
Sega sneaked the Image Epoch-developed apocalyptic RPG Sands of Destruction into stores this week. In a display of corporately synergistic timing, FUNimation has also released the anime online -- for free! If you don't mind watching it in a window on your computer, you can see either the first two episodes in dubbed format or all 13 episodes with subtitles. Of course, for those of you who enjoy watching things on televisions, FUNimation plans to release a two-DVD set containing the entire season on January 26. We haven't watched yet, but we're definitely looking forward to this feel-good tale of some kids out to destroy the world and save humanity from beast-man enslavement. [Via GSW]
Sands of Destruction game and anime due early 2010
Funimation has obtained the rights to the anime series based on Sega's upcoming DS RPG, Sands of Destruction. Funimation plans to begin airing the first thirteen-episode season of the Production I.G-produced anime in spring of 2010. Like the DS game, the show stars a kid named Kyrie who gets drawn into a secret organization determined to destroy the world -- in order to free humans from subjugation.In the same press release announcing the anime deal, Sega offered a January 2010 release date for the DS game itself. The game was first announced for North American release in December of last year. There's something kind of nostalgic about waiting over a year for the translation of an RPG.%Gallery-24031%
DS Daily: Surprised by license
JC wrote up a most excellent review for Dragon Ball Origins yesterday. If you haven't read it, you certainly should. Go on. We'll wait.Back? Good. See, his review talks about a licensed game surprising him, in terms of production values and overall quality. A fun, licensed game? Shocking, we know.There are a few out there, though. What licensed games have you found to be above the rest? They don't have to be on the DS necessarily, so feel free to shout out any. We just want to know!
Dragon Ball Z dual release marks FUNimation's Blu-ray debut
FUNimation is kicking off its support of the Blu-ray format by releasing one of its biggest anime franchises, Dragon Ball Z this winter. Dragon Ball Z Broly: The Legendary Super Saiyan and Broly: Second Coming are due on store shelves November 13th, fully remastered in 1080p directly from the original Japanese 35mm film, along with a new 5.1 surround sound mix and HD special features. No word on pricing yet, but FUNimation expects to follow up by releasing other popular catalog titles in high definition as well.
Anime lands in the iTunes Store via Funimation
Anime has officially landed in the iTunes Store today, courtesy of Funimation Entertainment, with newly available series for purchase including Samurai 7, Speed Grapher, and Desert Punk. Each episode from all three franchises are available for $1.99 each, and season passes can be purchased for $38.99. Notably, the videos are only offered with the option of an English dub, and knowing how particular many fans are about strictly watching shows with the original Japanese language tracks and subtitles, this might be a serious deal breaker. Other than this issue, I guess this is not such a horrible deal considering most shows would cost you anywhere from $4-6+ per episode on DVD. (Of course, that's if you don't mind the limited viewing options, DRM, and lower quality.) But, yeaaa. There you go. Anime. In the iTunes Store. Today.
