This will cover only anime news coming from Japan and I do not expect I will post anything on things like licensing in the west or new version of dubbing overseas. Discussion about the news is welcome (it would help me too as I will not be the only poster in the thread having to repeatedly delete and re-post) and any contribution of news about anime in Japan is particularly welcome.
This time I have mainly three pieces of news to share:
==========================================================================================
1. New anime in production in Japan
I already covered new anime coming in the next season in in the "Fall/Autumn 2011 Anime" thread. The only news on that front is that Coppelion is now moving to a later unspecified date. Perhaps the nuclear situation in Fukushima is still a matter of concern..
As a summary, the next season we will see the following anime among others:
Legend: M:Manga LN:Light Novel G:Game O:Original
- Bakuman 2nd season http://www9.nhk.or.jp/anime/bakuman/ *M
- Working!! 2nd season http://www.wagnaria.com/ *M
- Ika-Musume 2nd season http://www.ika-musume.com/ */M
- Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi 2nd season http://sekai-ichi.jp/ *M
- Last Exile 2nd season http://www.lastexile-fam.com/ *O
- Hidamari Sketch SP (short anime special) http://www.tbs.co.jp/anime/hidamari/ *M
- Horizon on the middle of nowhere http://genesis-horizon.net/ *LN
- Mashiro-iro Symphony http://www.mashiro.tv/ *G
- Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai (aka Haganai) http://www.mediafactory.co.jp/bunkoj/rinjinbu/ *LN
- Shakugan no Shana III final http://www.shakugan.com/ *LN
- Chihayafuru http://www.ntv.co.jp/chihayafuru/ *M
- Un-Go http://www.un-go.com/ *O noitamina
- Guilty Crown http://www.guilty-crown.jp/ *O noitamina
- P4 http://www.p4a.jp/index.html *G
- Fate/Zero http://www.fate-zero.jp/ *LN
- Ben-to http://ben-to.net/ *LN
- Mirai Nikki http://www.asread.net/mirai/ *M
- C-cube http://www.starchild.co.jp/special/c3/ *LN
- Kimi to Boku http://www.kimiboku.tv/ *M
- Maken-ki http://maken-ki.com/ *M
- Tamayura http://www.tamayura.info/ *O
- MS Gundam AGE http://www.gundam-age.net/ *O
Anime that are under production but will not be released
- Milky Holmes 2nd season *O
- Saki 2nd season http://www.saki-anime.com/index.html%u3000*M
- Hidamari Sketch 4th season%u3000http://www.tbs.co.jp/anime/hidamari/ *M
- Zero no Tsukaima 4th season http://www.zero-tsukaima.com/ *LN
- Amagami SS 2nd season http://www.tbs.co.jp/anime/amagami/ *G
- Koreha Zombie desuka 2nd season http://newtype.kadocomic.jp/zombie/ *LN
- Seitokai no Ichizon 2nd season
- Aquarion 2nd season http://aquarionevol.com/ *O
- Sohkyu no Fafner 2nd season http://fafner.jp/ *O
- Rinkai no Lagrange http://lag-rin.com/index.html *O
- Coppelion http://kc.kodansha.co.jp/content/top.ph ... 1000004379 *M
- Upotte! http://www.lifox.co.jp/tennouji_kitsune/ *M
- Kill Me Baby! http://www.tbs.co.jp/anime/kmb/ *M
- Ano natsu de matteru http://news.dengeki.com/elem/000/000/400/400215/ *O
- Moretsu Space Pirate http://www.starchild.co.jp/special/mo-retsu/ *LN
- Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru (aka Otoboku) http://www.caramel-box.com/products/otoboku2/ *G
- Humanity in Decline http://www.mmv.co.jp/special/jintai/ *LN
- Papa no iuto wo Kikinasai! http://www.starchild.co.jp/special/papakiki/ *LN
- Another http://www.another-anime.jp/ *LN
- Code Geass 3rd season
- Blood Red http://www.kadokawa.co.jp/sp/201108-01/ *M
- Brave 10 http://www.brave10.com/ *M
- High Score http://www.ribon-highscore.com/ *M
- Legacies http://anime-innovation.jp/sys/works_en.php?itemid=163 *O
- Incredible Hulk
- Black Rock Shooter http://www.noitamina-brs.jp/ noitamina
- Muvluv Alternative Total Eclipse http://muvluv-te-anime.ixtl.jp/
- Medaka Box *M
- InuBoku SS http://www.inuboku.tv/ *M
- Girls' Work http://www.girlswork-animation.com/
On movie side we have
- Strike Witch
- K-On!
- Berserk
- Evangelion Q
- Kizumonogatari
===========================================================================================
2. The latest awards of the Kobe Animation Awards have just been announced.
http://www.anime-kobe.jp/anime-kobe/
For past winners, check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animation_Kobe
「第16回アニメーション神戸賞」受賞者・受賞作品
Individual Award
◇個人賞
岡田麿里(脚本家)
Mari Okada (screenplay of Gosick, Hana Iroha, Ano Hana, Hourou Musuko, Fractale)
Feature Film Award
◇作品賞・劇場部門
劇場版マクロスF~サヨナラノツバサ~
Macross Frontier movie ~Sayonara no Tsubasa~
TV Feature Award
◇作品賞・テレビ部門
魔法少女まどか☆マギカ
Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Network Media Award
◇作品賞・ネットワーク部門
ヘタリア World Series
Hetalia World Series
Special Award
◇特別賞
1. 出﨑統(監督)
Osamu Dezaki (director, active in industry for >40 years and passed away this April at age of 67)
2.名探偵コナン製作チーム
Production team of Detective Conan
Animation Kobe Theme Song Award
◇主題歌賞
侵略ノススメ☆ (歌:ULTRA-PRISM with イカ娘(金元寿子))
Shinryaku no Susume (sung by Ultra-Prism with Ika-Musume (Hisako Kanemoto))
==========================================================================================
3. I have not posted the Amazon JP Anime BD weekend sales ranking for a while. I am going to post it here and here I have all the backlog of the ranking of the past several weeks. Since added together they become quite lengthy I am using spoiler to separate one week from another week:
Weekend of Aug 06/07
- Here we still see strong performance by PMMM, Ano hana and Steins;Gate with Tiger & Bunny and Hana Iroha not far behind. The new Gundam UC #4 snatched the top spot. As for anime this season, Natsume Yujincho 3 and Usagi Drop are the strongest, with YuruYuri and PenguinDrum trailing close.
02 PMMM #5
03 Ano Hana #3
04 Steins;Gate #3
05 Ano Hana #2
06 PMMM #4
07 IS #5
08 Sohkyu no Fafner - Heaven adn Earth
09 T&B #4
10 Steins;Gate #2
11 PMMM #6
12 T&B #5
13 Ano Hana #4
14 Hana Iroha #2
15 Index II #7
16 IS #4
17 Natsume Yujincho 3 #1
18 T&B #3
19 Ano Hana #6
20 Steins;Gate #4
21 Usagi Drop #1
22 OreImo #8
23 Steins;Gate #1
24 Ano Hana #5
25 Natsume Yujincho 3 #2
26 Ano Hana #1
27 PMMM #2
28 T&B #6
29 Denpa Onna #3
30 Natsume Yujincho 3 #3
31 IS Encore OVA
32 Natsume Yujincho 3 #4
33 T&B #2
34 Natsume Yujincho 3 #5
35 YuruYuri #1
36 PenguimDrum #1
37 Uta no Prince-sama #1
38 Usagi Drop #3
39 Usagi Drop #2
40 Usagi Drop #4
Honorable Mentions
41 Blue Exorcist #2
42 Azazel-san #2
60 Idol Master #1
63 Seikon no Qweaser II #2
66 A-Channel #4
67 Mimi wo sumaseba
68 Zero no Tsukaima BD Box
69 Evangelion NME 1.11
72 Ro-Kyu-Bu! #1
74 KiyoChiki! #1
75 Dog Days #1
78 Evangelion NME 2.22
80 Zero no Tsukaima 3 BD Box
81 Zero no Tsukaima 2 BD Box
85 Ikoku Meiro no Croisee #1
87 Manyu Hikencho #1
88 Borrower Arrietty
90 Redline
93 Moyashimon BD Box
Weekend of Aug 13/14
- Gunbuster BD Box took the top spot from Gundam UC #4 this weekend, with Nadia BD Box also on very high position. Sohkyu no Fafner is going strong and managed to stay within top 10. The usual three Madoka, Ano Hana and Steins;Gate still lead the pack for TV anime, with IS, T&B, Hana Iroha not far behind. For this season's anime, Ro-kyu-bu is making a very noticeable debut while YuruYuri and PenguinDrum are now going head to head with Natsume Yujincho 3 and Usagi Drop in advance sales. Also to be noted is the release of other BD Box like Working! and s.CRY.ed and the OVA of Hellsing and Ruroni Kenshin.
02 MS Gundam UC #4
03 Nadia BD Box
04 PMMM #5
05 Ano Hana #3
06 Steins;Gate #3
07 T&B #4
08 Sohkyu no Fafner - Heaven and Earth
09 IS #5
10 T&B #5
11 Hana Iroha #2
12 PMMM #4
13 PMMM #6
14 Ano Hana #2
15 Hellsing OVA #8
16 Ano Hana #4
17 Ro-kyu-bu #2
18 Index II #7
19 Ro-kyu-bu #4
20 Ro-kyu-bu #6
21 Ro-kyu-bu #3
22 Natsume Yujincho 3 #1
23 Ro-kyu-bu #5
24 YuruYuri #1
25 Steins;Gate #2
26 Usagi Drop #1
27 PenguinDrum #2
28 Ano Hana #6
29 Ro-kyu-bu #1
30 Ano Hana #5
31 Ruroni Kenshin - Tsuiokuhen
32 T&B #3
33 Steins;Gate #4
34 Penguindrum #1
35 Natsume Yujincho 3 #2
36 T&B #6
37 s.CRY.ed BD Box
38 Working! BD Box
39 Uta no Prince-sama #1
40 Denpa Onna #3
Honorable Mentions
51 Towanoquon #1
71 IdolMaster #1
78 K-On live event Let's Go!
87 KiyoChiki #1
Weekend of Aug 13/14
- This weekend the BD Box of Hidamari Sketch is top, probably helped by the announcement of the new season as well as fervor built up prior to Comiket about Madoka (which Hidamari Sketch shares the character design). Howl's Moving Castle made a decent debut though perhaps not as well as expected for a Ghibli product (as for Tales from Earthsea perhaps it is the contrary - it is doing better than expected); on the other hand, Ponyo also made back to top 40 perhaps as a side-effect. The new Shinkai movie is surprisingly quick to go to BD/DVD (at least for pre-order) and get into top 10. On the TV anime front, Tiger & Bunny (T&B) is making a strong push to high position. For this season's anime, YuruYuri is rising up quick, and Sacred Seven debuted in a good position. On the other hand, PenguinDrum is dropping down the rank.
02 MS Gundam UC #4
03 PMMM #5
04 Howl's Moving Castle
05 Ano Hana #3
06 Gunbuster! BD Box
07 T&B #5
08 Children Who Chase Lost Voices from Deep Below by Makoto Shinkai (BD box version)
09 Steins;Gate #3
10 T&B #6
11 T&B #4
12 Hana Iroha #2
13 IS #5
14 PMMM #6
15 Hana Iroha #3
16 Sohkyu no Fafner - Heaven and Earth
17 Index II #7
18 YuruYuri #1
19 Tales from Earthsea
20 Working!! BD Box
21 PMMM #4
22 Ano Hana #4
23 Natsume Yujincho 3 #1
24 Sacred Seven #1
25 Ponyo
26 Ruroni Kenshin - Tsuiokuhen
27 IS Encore OVA
28 Steins;Gate #2
29 Nadia BD Box
30 Steins;Gate #4
31 Ano Hana #2
32 T&B #7
33 Ano Hana #6
34 Ano Hana #5
35 PMMM #1
36 T&B #3
37 PMMM #2
38 Azazel-san #3
39 T&B #8
40 Utano-Prince-sama Maji Love 100% #1
Honorable Mentions
52 KiyoChiki! #1
56 Usagi Drop #1
58 PenguinDrum #1
60 IdolMaster #1
67 Towanoquon #1
57,63,64,65,66 YuruYuri #2,3,4,5,6
71 Ro-kyu-bu! #2 89,90,92
73 Ro-kyu-bu! #1
85 Manyu Kiken-cho #1
93 Nichijou #3
Weekend of Aug 20/21
- Nearing the release date, Madoka #5 claimed back its top spot and Ano Hana #3 also to be released in the coming week is on 2nd spot. IS #5, Steins;gate #3, Index II #7 and T&B #4 also rose because it is also released in the coming week. The same applies to Working!! BD Box. Yes, once in month the schedule of anime BD/DVD release would suddenly jump and this is the week in August. Apparently this week the schedule is even more concentrated on this week so the competition for otaku's monies is very keen. We also see a jump in ranking for Marduck Scramble and Gundam W Endless Waltz -- and the reason is the same. In the midst of all these, YuruYuri is doing well, as is Utano Prince-sama.
02 Ano Hana #3
03 MS Gundam UC #4
04 PMMM #6
05 IS #5
06 T&B #4
07 Steins;Gate #3
08 Working!! BD Box
09 T&B #5
10 Ano Hana #4
11 Ruroni Kenshin - Tsuioku-hen
12 Index II #7
13 Steins;Gate #4
14 Howl's Moving Castle
15 Gunbuster! BD Box
16 Natsume Yujincho 3 #1
17 T&B #6
18 Hidamari Sketch xSP
19 IS #6
20 YuruYuri #1
21 Marduck Scramble - Compression
22 Utano-Prince-sama Maji Love1000% #1
23 Blue Exorcist #3
24 Gundam-W Endless Waltz
25 Sohkyu no Fafner - Heaven and Earth
26 Hana Iroha #2
27 Hona Iroha #3
28 Azazel-san #3
29 Denpa Onna #3
30 PMMM #4
31 IS Encore OVA
32 T&B #7
33 YuruYuri #2
34 Natsume Yujincho 3 #2
35 T&B #3
36 Index II #8
37 Children Who Chase Lost Voices from Deep Below (Hoshi wo ou Kodomo)
38 T&B #9
39 Star Driver #8
40 T&B #8
Honorable Mentions
44 Usagi Drop #1
45 Idol Master #2
46 A-Channel #4
48 anime bunko Yuri Seijin Naoko-san
50 MS Gundam 0083
52 Towanoquon #1
56 Dog Days #2
58 KiyoChiki #1
66 Ro-kyu-bu! #1
70 PenguinDrum #1
77 Ouran High School Host Club BD Box
86 Nichijou #3
91 Noein BD Box
92 Freezing #6
Weekend of Aug 27/28
- Last weekend. P4 shook the anime fandom about how it easily snatched the top spot without even showing any anime episode yet. Seems that fans of the original game ordered the anime just on faith based on the game and the PV shown so far. Amazing. Madoka #5&6 are doing very well but somehow they are not as high as some fans thought they should be. Also to be noted is the making back to top 40 by the two movies of Evangelion NME, definitely a result of the first TV broadcast of Evangelion 2.0 the previous Friday. There are also a bunch of BD Box making their debut: Onegai Teacher, Onegai Twins and Future GPX Cyber Formula. There is also a Milky Holmes OVA timed to the announcement of the new season. For current season anime, YuruYuri and Utano Prince-sama are doing best, with Natsume Yujincho 3 and KiyoChiki trailing behind.
02 MS Gundam UC #4
03 PMMM #6
04 Future GPX Cyber Formula BD Box
05 T&B #6
06 PMMM #5
07 Steins;Gate #4
08 T&B #5
09 Onegai Teacher BD Box
10 Ano Hana #3
11 T&B #4
12 Ano Hana #4
13 Onegai Twins BD Box
14 Steins;Gate #3
15 IS #6
16 Milky Holmes SS ova
17 Evangelion NME 2.22
18 Gunbuster BD Box
19 Index II #8
20 Evangelion NME 1.11
21 YuruYuri #1
22 IS #5
23 Sohkyu no Fafner - Heaven and Earth
24 Working!! BD Box
25 Utano Prince #1
26 Mardock Scramble - Compression
27 T&B #7
28 Hana Iroha #3
29 Ruroni Kenshi - Tsuioku-hen
30 Hidamari Sketch xSP
31 Natsume Yujincho 3 #2
32 Nadia BD Box
33 Index II #7
34 Natsume Yujincho 3 #1
35 Gundam W Endless Waltz
36 PMMM #4
37 T&B #3
38 IS Encore ova
39 Steins;Gate #5
40 KiyoChiki #1
Honorable Mentions
44 YuruYuri #2
45 Denpa Onna #4
46 Rokyubu #1
48 Usagi Drop #1
49 PMMM #2
51 Towanoquon #2
53 PMMM #1
54 Natsume Yujincho BD BOx
56 Blue Exorcist #4
57 PMMM #3
60 PenguinDrum #1
65 Children Who Chase Lost Voices from Deep Below (Hoshi wo ou Kodomo)
66 StarDriver #9
70 YuruYuri #5
72 YuruYuri #6
75 Usagi Drop #2
76 YuruYuri #4
77 KiyoChiki #2
79 YuruYuri #3
81 Nichijou #3
83 IdolMaster #1
84 A-Channel #5
90 Baka Test 2 #1
91 IdolMaster #2
95 Manyu Hiken-cho #1