One-Night Only Music Event Featuring Hatsune Miku And Other Vocaloid Stars Will Be Complemented By A Live Dance Performance At The Annual San Francisco Japanese Pop Culture Celebration In August

San Francisco, CA, July 31, 2012 – NEW PEOPLE, a dynamic entertainment destination bringing the latest examples of Japanese popular culture to North American shores, celebrates the Vocaloid music phenomenon at the 2012 J-POP Summit Festival as it welcomes Vocalekt Visions to present a special Vocaloid holographic live event, featuring virtual pop star Hatsune Miku, inside the NEW PEOPLE Cinema on Saturday, August 25th. Two shows will be held, at 7:30pm and at 9:00pm; tickets are $15.00. Advance tickets and more information are available at: www.j-pop.com/2012/vocalekt-visions.

Santa Ana, CA – NIS America is thrilled to announce that famed psychological thriller anime series Umineko WHEN THEY CRY will be available on Blu-ray this December. Taking a unique approach to the release, NIS America will make both volumes available simultaneously, each with its own collectible slipcase and deluxe hardcover art book. Umineko WHEN THEY CRY will challenge viewers to consider what is real and what is illusion as they try to solve the mystery of the island massacre. Preorders will be available at select online retailers soon: Right Stuf, The Anime Corner Store, Anime Pavilion, and the NISA Online Store.

SENTAI FILMWORKS “PERSONA 4 THE ANIMATION”

HOUSTON, July 31, 2012 – Sentai Filmworks announces a release configuration change. The September 18, 2012 release of “Persona 4 The Animation” Collection 1 on Blu-Ray will contain English language dub but not the original Japanese language.  This change has been required by the Japanese licensor.

The revised Blu-Ray configuration of “Persona 4 The Animation” Collection 1 will be priced at $59.98 reflecting a shift from the former $69.98 price point.

“Persona 4 The Animation” Collection 1 on DVD will contain both English and Japanese audio, as well as the Japanese episode commentaries.  Pricing for the DVD release is unchanged.

news provided by our friends at ICv2

Vertical announced two new manga acquisitions at Otakon, according to Anime News Network.  One is the 23-volume Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin series, which Vertical will publish as a series of hardcovers.  Viz started publishing the series in the U.S. early in the last decade (see “Top 50 Graphic Novels–July 2002“), but stopped after publishing a handful of volumes.  The series, by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, is a re-imagining of the first Gundam anime with new mechas and a reworked storyline.

Flower Mound, TX –July 28, 2012- FUNimation Entertainment announced today at Otakon that it has acquired the streaming, broadcast, home entertainment, video on demand and pay-per-view and DTO/DTR rights to the complete anime OAV series, Tenchi Muyo! War on Geminar. This spin-off series takes place roughly 15 years after the events in Tenchi Muyo! GXP.

From the animation studio (AIC SPIRITS) that brought you Ga-Rei Zero and Tokko and the director of Baki the Grappler (Koji Yoshikawa) FUNimation is pleased to announce the acquisition of streaming, home entertainment, theatrical and merchandise rights to the complete Tenchi Muyo! franchise.

Los Angeles, Calif. – The Xeric Foundation announced Thursday the winners of its final round of grants, and Polterguys is among those chosen to receive the maximum $5,000 aid for self-publishers. Polterguys becomes one of the rare manga-inspired graphic novels to win the award throughout the Foundation’s almost 20-year history.

Polterguys Vol. 1 is a story about Bree Redfield, a smart but socially awkward college girl who ends up moving into a house haunted by five ghost guys. She is the only one that can see them and help resolve their unfinished business.

Brand New Gameplay Elements and the First-Ever European Firefall Beta Tournament

Laguna Hills, CA – July 27, 2012 – Red 5 Studios™ announced today that it will be showing a new version of its upcoming free-to-play online action shooter, Firefall, at this year’s Gamescom in Cologne, Germany. Fueled by community feedback gathered over the course of the beta, the Tribe has been tirelessly refining and tweaking the update to ensure it will be ready for European fans. This August the game’s newest content will be live and playable – all on recently launched EU servers. Additionally, in celebration of the strong eSports community in Europe, Red 5 Studios has partnered with the Electronic Sports League to run the first-ever European Firefall beta tournament at Gamescom – with 10k Euros in prize money up for grabs. For more information, visit: http://ow.ly/cxXUt, and stop by the Firefall booth located in Hall 8.1, Stand A040 B041 to receive a free beta invite and get in on the excitement!

Series’ latest volume available from RightStuf.com, in printed, book form for the first time ever on Aug. 21, 2012

GRIMES, Iowa, July 26, 2012 – Following its announcement at Anime Expo 2012, Right Stuf, Inc. is pleased to announce that fans can now pre-order PSY-COMM, Vol. 3 exclusively through RightStuf.com. This latest volume of the series is available through a special arrangement with creators Jason Henderson and Tony Salvaggio and TOKYOPOP, and this marks the first time the third volume will be available in printed, book form.

available Oct. 9, 2012.

GRIMES, Iowa, July 25, 2012 – Anime producer and distributor Right Stuf, Inc. and its Nozomi Entertainment division are pleased to announce the DVD re-release of BOOGIEPOP AND OTHERS will be available on October 9, 2012.

Boogiepop and Others, the live-action prequel to the Boogiepop Phantom animated television series, will be available for a reduced suggested retail price of $9.99. It features direction by Ryu Kaneda (Video Girl Ai movie, and Negima! TV drama) and a screenplay by Sadayuki Murai (Boogiepop Phantom, Mushishi movie, Steamboy).

ICv2 Interviews Viz Publishing Execs

ICv2 sat down with Viz Vice President Publishing Leyla Aker; Director, Publishing Sales and Marketing Kevin Hamric; and Executive Vice President Publishing Alvin Lu at San Diego Comic-Con for an in-depth interview.  We talk about changes in the manga market, Viz’s original kids graphic novel program, and replacing Shonen Jump.  Later we talked about digital strategy, the impact of digital on print and piracy, Viz’s top launches in the rest of 2012, things to watch in its ongoing series, and the broadening range of Japanese material Viz is publishing. 

Gardena, CA (July 23, 2011) – Digital Manga Inc., one of the manga industry’s most unique and creative publishers, is proud to officially announce the launch of their digital titles on Graphicly. (www.Graphicly.com/store).

Graphicly, a leading eBook distribution solution ideal for fixed layout content like comics and graphic novels, offers publishers and individual creators a wide range of digital distribution services to the various ebook market places, especially for the US comic industry. One unique feature they offer is digital ebook distribution on Facebook, using their Graphicly Facebook app and widgets.