FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


SANTA MONICA, CA (April 14, 2017) – At the Nitroplus panel at Sakura Con in Seattle, Washington today, Aniplex of America announced the acquisition of Katsugeki TOUKEN RANBU for their summer 2017 line up. Based on the immensely popular game “Touken Ranbu ONLINE” developed by DMM Games/Nitroplus, the series will be produced by the much loved ufotable, known for their groundbreaking work on Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works and God Eater.

Aniplex of America also showed a trailer for the series, which they plan to start streaming in July 2017. Since its debut in 2015, the online game spawned a rabid fan movement within Japan and has been described as nothing short of a social phenomenon thanks to their very popular characters. As a result, the series promises a high quality production with stunning visuals and captivating storylines revolving around these individuals.

About Katsugeki TOUKEN RANBU:
The year is 1863 as the tumultuous samurai era is coming to an end, Japan is split between the pro-shogunate and anti-shogunate factions. The fate of the world is threatened as an army of historical revisionists are sent from the future to alter the course of history. In order to bring these forces down and protect the real history, two sword warriors, spirits who are swords brought to life by Saniwa (sage), rush to Edo. The polite and thoughtful Horikawa Kunihiro and the short tempered yet skillful Izuminokami Kanesada, who served the same master, confront the invading army along with a lively gang of other warriors including Mutsunokami Yoshiyuki, Yagen Toushirou, Tombokiri, and Tsurumaru Kuninaga.

As the fate of history lies in these hero’s hands, what meets the blade is yet to be uncovered...

With beautifully illustrated scenes and action packed sequences, Katsugeki TOUKEN RANBU explores the complex personalities, stories, and relationships of these characters as each episode unfolds.

For more details, please visit: www.Katsugeki-ToukenUSA.com

Published on Apr 14, 2017
Based on the popular game by DMM Games/Nitroplus, the TV series Katsugeki: TOUKEN RANBU is coming July 2017! This action packed series is produced by fan favorite ufotable (Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works, God Eater) with director Toshiyuki Shirai and sword fight animators Mitsuru Obunai, Masaru Kimura, and Masayuki Kunihiro with music by Hideyuki Fukasawa.

http://Katsugeki-ToukenUSA.com

18 Mobile Game and 18if Anime Announcement

April 28, 2017

Funimation has acquired 18if anime, which is based from the art of the 18 franchise which includes mysterious puzzle smartphone games. 18if will premiere in July 2017, so stay tuned for more details as we approach its premiere!

We uploaded the first episode of the original version of the Wizard of Oz to Youtube! This is the complete first episode in Japanese with English subtitles. If this is a success we will upload episode 2 at a later date. Please check it out!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HoneyWorks' Romantic Musical Film will return with Part 2 on Crunchyroll

SANTA MONICA, CA (May 20, 2017) - Aniplex of America announced today at their industry panel at Anime Central in Rosemont, Illinois that they will begin streaming the animated film, The Moment You Fall in Love, exclusively through Crunchyroll (www.Crunchyroll.com) starting on June 6th.

This is the second installment of the two-part short film series, following I've Always Liked You, and was first released in Japan in December of last year. The films are based on videos and songs by the Vocaloid music unit, HoneyWorks. The group is popular among teenage girls in Japan as well as among males in the U.S., their videos attracting over 100 million views on Youtube, NicoNico and other platforms. In addition, sales for the five novels based on their songs have surpassed over 850,000 copies.

The Moment You Fall in Love is based on "Confess Your Love Committee -Romance Series-" songs by HoneyWorks, including "Ima suki ni naru" (lit. I'm falling in love now). The movie title is shared with an album by HoneyWorks released in July 2015 that has reached #4 on the Oricon Weekly Ranking.

Following I've Always Liked You, this story focuses on Hina Setoguchi (voiced by Momo Asakura). Hina finally decides to confess her love to Koyuki Ayase (voiced by Tsubasa Yonaga), who she had been drawn to since middle school and into high school. This series is often praised for its pleasing visuals and character designs. Just as the first film, The Moment You Fall in Love is directed by Tetsuya Yanagisawa (Fate/stay night), with Maki Fujii (I've Always Liked You) as the character designer.

For more details on The Moment You Fall in Love, please visit the official homepage: http://www.aniplexusa.com/honeyworks/

STAFF:
Original Works/Music: HoneyWorks
Director: Tetsuya Yanagisawa
Screenplay: Yoshimi Narita
Character Design/Chief Animation Director: Maki Fujii
Art Setting: Eiko Tsunado (KUSANAGI)
Art Director: Yuki Umino (KUSANAGI)
Prop Design: Yutaka Miya
Color Design: Makiko Kojima (studio.Road)
Director of Photography: Yoshihiro Sekiya (Graphinica)
CG: Yoshinori Ban
Editor: Aya Hida
Sound Director: Yukio Nagasaki
Sound Effects: Yasuyuki Konno (Swara Pro)
Sound Production: Milestone Music Publishing
Animation Producer: Keisuke Kawai
Producer: Shunsuke Saito
Animation Production: Qualia Animation
Produced By: "Confess Your Love Committee" Production Committee

CAST:
Hina Setoguchi: Momo Asakura
Kotaro Enomoto: Natsuki Hanae
Koyuki Ayase: Tsubasa Yonaga
Ken Shibasaki: Yoshimasa Hosoya
Kodai Yamamoto: Yoshitsugu Matsuoka
Arisa Takamizawa: Nao Higashiyama
Yu Setoguchi: Hiroshi Kamiya
Natsuki Enomoto: Haruka Tomatsu
Sota Mochizuki: Yuki Kaji
Akari Hayasaka: Kana Asumi
Haruki Serizawa: Kenichi Suzumura
Miou Aida: Aki Toyosaki
Sena Narumi: Sora Amamiya
Midori Hamanaka: Gero