WonderCon 2009: Upcoming Bandai Releases

Bandai Entertainment, distributors of some of my favorite anime like "Cowboy Bebop" and "CLAMP School Detectives" spent time at WonderCon 2009 in San Francisco to announce upcoming releases to the interested anime crowd. This year Bandai offers a wide variety of anime to enjoy ranging from high school comedy to science fiction.

Bandai's headlining release was "Akira" on Blu-Ray. It was already out before this panel, but is still worth mentioning as "Akira" is one of the 1980s anime that got Americans into anime with its unique story and eye-popping visuals. It was a simultaneous Blu-Ray release for the US and Japanese markets and its initial printing sold out within a few days. For new anime fans who wish to watch a classic anime and see why it remains a classic, grab a copy of this at the next opportunity. Though I suggest toughening up if you are the squeamish type.

The second season of "Code Geass" titled "Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2" is next on the Bandai schedule come spring. The Bandai representative that a Blu-Ray release of "R2" is not confirmed, but Bandai is looking into the format.

Other popular spring releases for 2009 include the Gainax hit "Gurren Lagann." Previously a subtitled only release, a new DVD set featuring the English dub used for its completed run on Sci-Fi Channel is set for release. "Gundam 00" is another Sci-Fi Channel anime from Bandai scheduled for the spring. "Lucky Star," the fan favorite Bandai anime that I reviewed earlier, is near its conclusion with the final DVD getting released in the spring and Bandai announced that they are working on the OVA (Original Video Animation) later this year. My suggestion of a DVD of only the Lucky Channel segments of "Lucky Star" remained ignored.

"Ghost Slayer Ayashi" plays like a Japanese feudal version of "Ghostbusters" with more action. It came out earlier in February as a regular DVD or limited edition DVD. The second volume is set to release on April 3rd. "Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence" the sequel to the science fiction movie "Ghost in the Shell," gets a new English dub cast and Blu-Ray release. "Sword of the Stranger," a samurai action film with a nameless hero playing bodyguard to a boy will be out in June on DVD and Blu-Ray as both a standard and a limited edition version. The 52 episodes of "Hayate the Combat Butler" also gets a summer release as a subtitled only DVD. Bandi is working on releasing another ".hack" film with the confusing title of ".hack//GU Trilogy." The fall will see the releases of "Sola" and "True Tears" from Bandai's Anime Legends line. Both are dramas.

The Bandai representative went on to discuss its manga (comic book) releases. "Code Geass" will have three manga series to release and a series of light novels. The "Gurren Lagann" manga series will hit bookshelves in March in addition to "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time." Fans of the "Lucky Star" anime will see the manga that originated the show in May. "Gundam 00" and "Gundam 00F" will have their respective manga out in August so fans of the giant robot war story can read the adventures. Winning a comics drama award in 2008, "Eureka Seven" will have six volumes of the manga and two volumes of the manga based on the video game. The last note was a planned release of the "Witchblade: Takeru" manga, which is based off the "Witchblade" anime.

It looks like Bandai has several new titles I will have to check out once I finish watching the titles I already bought and am currently watching.