Arisa~ <3 <3 <3

North America is FINALLY getting Nanoha DVDs, via Funimation.

(Updated 7/4/2008)

It’s been almost a year to the day since Nanoha and Nanoha A’s were licensed, but after Geneon USA’s fumble, Funimation has now announced that they will be distributing them, along with a bunch of other titles here in North America. Work was still being done, at least last fall, but it’s definitely nice to hear some solid news because I was wondering if we’d be seeing those DVDs still.

Funimation Agrees to Distribute Select Geneon Titles

The North American anime distributor FUNimation Entertainment has announced that it signed a deal with Geneon Entertainment to manufacture, sell, and distribute “select” DVD titles in North America. Those titles include Ergo Proxy, Hellsing Ultimate, Black Lagoon, Black Lagoon Second Barrage, Karin, Kyo kara Maoh! Season 2, Lyrical Nanoha, Elemental Gelade, Fate/stay night, Kamichu, the live-action Ninja Vixens work, Paradise Kiss, Rozen Maiden, Rozen Maiden – Träumend, Shana, Shonen Onmyouji, The Familiar of Zero, The Story of Saiunkoku, When They Cry – Higurashi, and The Law of Ueki.

They grew up nicely, didn’t they?

And the full announcement:

FUNimation Entertainment and Geneon Entertainment Sign Exclusive Distribution Agreement for North America

First Titles Scheduled for Release in Late Summer

FLOWER MOUND, TX, July 03, 2008 — FUNimation Entertainment, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Navarre Corporation, and Geneon Entertainment (USA) Inc., a leading producer of Japanese animation, announced today their partnership to distribute select DVD titles in North America.
Under the terms of the agreement, FUNimation Entertainment obtains the exclusive rights to the manufacturing, marketing, sales and distribution of established Geneon titles, including international successes “Ergo Proxy”, “Hellsing Ultimate” and “Black Lagoon”.

Among the first titles to be released includes the special edition of “Hellsing Ultimate”, directed by Tomokazu Tokoro and produced by Satelight (“Aquarion” and “BALDR FORCE EXE Resolution”).

Follow up releases include “Black Lagoon Second Barrage”, “Karin”, “Kyo kara Maoh! Season 2″, and “Lyrical Nanoha”.

“Geneon is a strong producer, known for excellent production and quality of its anime series,“ said Gen Fukunaga, president and CEO of FUNimation Entertainment. “We are pleased to partner with them and we are committed to the successful release of these series.”

“FUNimation’s momentum as the leading anime distributor continues to build,” said Yushin Soga, president and CEO of Geneon. “We are sure this partnership will only grow the prominence of our portfolio.”

Additional titles include: “Black Lagoon”, “Elemental Gelade”, “Fate/stay night”, “Kamichu”, “Ninja Vixens”, “Paradise Kiss”, “Rozen Maiden”, “Rozen Maiden – Träumend”, “Shana”, “Shonen Onmyouji”, “The Familiar of Zero”, “The Story of Saiunkoku”, “When They Cry”, and “The Law of Ueki”.

Needless to say, I am excited about Nanoha, but am also glad to hear that some of Geneon USA’s stalled series will continue (e.g., Higurashi, Karin), as well as the other stuff they discontinued. No release dates yet, but I’m sure those will pop up in due time.

Aria and MariMite DVDs coming soon… and now Nanoha! That squealing of excitement you hear? It’s me.

UPDATE: Looks like FUNimation will also be picking up over 30 series that ADV dropped earlier this year, among them Air, Kanon, Pumpkin Scissors, and Welcome to the NHK. Busy, busy FUNimation! Again, great news that it does look as bleak with companies dropping title.

Funimation Picks Up Over 30 Former AD Vision Titles

The North American anime distributor FUNimation Entertainment and Japan’s ARM Corporation have announced that ARM has transfered the rights to more than 30 of its titles — all previously held by A.D. Vision — to Funimation. Those rights include the home video, broadcast, digital, and merchandising rights in North America and other regions. The complete list of transferred titles is as follows:

009-1
Ah! My Goddess: Flights of Fancy
Air Gear
Air movie
Air TV
Blade of the Phantom Master
Comic Party: Revolution
Coyote Ragtime Show
Devil May Cry
Guyver: The Bioboosted Armor TV
Jing, King of Bandits: Seventh Heaven
Jinki:Extend
Kanon
Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora (once titled as Shattered Angels by ADV Films)
Le Chevalier D’Eon
Magikano
Moeyo Ken TV
Moonlight Mile
Murder Princess
Nerima Daikon Brothers
Pani Poni Dash!
Project Blue Earth SOS
Pumpkin Scissors
Red Garden
Sgt. Keroro 1st & 2nd
Tokyo Majin
UFO Princess Valkyrie
Utawarerumono
Venus Versus Virus
The Wallflower
Welcome to the NHK
Xenosaga

These are most of the titles that had been removed from ADV Films’ catalog in January. A majority of them were relisted in ADV Films’ catalog in February, only to be gradually removed for a second time. ADV Films also once planned to release Gurren Lagann, but Bandai Entertainment announced in May that it had acquired the series. 5 Centimeters Per Second is not on Funimation’s list of transfered titles, but copies of ADV Films’ release remain available at retailers.

The joint Funimation/ARM announcement comes the day after Funimation announced it will also manufacture and distribute select titles that Geneon Entertainment (USA) had planned to release before it ceased in-house DVD distribution. Funimation indicated that the new titles from ARM will be significant to its efforts in “social networking, the FUNimation Channel, and Internet VOD.”