Funimation announced at Ohayocon, last week that they have acquired additional rights to the popular series from last season, Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai (I Don't Have Very Many Friends) which is known as Haganai for short. Although the company originally had the streaming rights to the series, they have now added broadcast, home entertainment, merchandising, mobile and additional streaming rights to their arsenal. Furthermore, a DVD and Blu-Ray release is already planned for the anime which is based on a series of light novels by the same name.

It sure has been a while since we've last heard any news on Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakama-tachi (Ookami-san and Her Seven Companions). In fact, the last time we heard about it was when Funimation announced that they had licensed it at Otakon 2010. Today Funimation unleashed the English dub of the 12 episode anime series on their website as well as a trailer on youtube which you'll find below. The English dub voice cast has only been revealed to Funimation's premium video service subscribers so far. It also shouldn't come as a surprise that a Limited Edition DVD / BluRay combo pack for the series has now been posted online with a release date of April 3, 2012.

Funimation announced at Anime Atlanta last week that they have acquired practically all of the good rights to Guilty Crown. The rights they're going to be enjoy9ing include simulcast, home entertainment, digital / mobile, broadcast and merchandising. The first two episodes of the latest Noitamina sci-fi series will be screened at the upcoming New York Anime Festival, making it the world premier of the second episode.

With direction by Tetsuro Araki (Death Note, Highschool of the Dead) and character designs by supercell's redjuice and music by supercell's Ryo, there's no reason not to check this series out. Read on to find a trailer and synopsis below.

Funimation already made several major announcements not too long ago at Anime Expo, but they still had a couple of aces up their sleeves saved for this year's San Diego Comic Con. The most major announcement (as you probably guessed from the title) is that they will be releasing the entirety of the perennial anime favorite on BluRay. The series was painstakingly restored from the original 16 mm film to modern day 1080p beauty according to a press release by the Texas based company. More details on the release are supposed to be announced tomorrow morning at 10 AM PST (1 PM EST).

Also announced at SDCC, the official website for the upcoming animated adaptation of BioWare's Dragon Age videogame franchise, Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker, has launched. The site is currently streaming a production art trailer.  During the Q&A ssession with the audience, they also revealed that negotiations are underway in order to get the rights to release more dubbed episodes of One Piece.

Fullmetal Alchemist on the right, Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? on the left

FUNimation Entertainment has recently announced that they obtained the new Fullmetal Alchemist movie, Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos (“Fullmetal Alchemist: Milos no Sei-Naru Hoshi”), and an anime series called Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? (“Is This A Zombie?”). The Fullmetal Alchemist movie will be a standalone story, not related to the original or Brotherhood storylines of Fullmetal Alchemist. Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? on the other hand, is about a boy who gets resurrected by a necromancer after being killed by a serial killer. He then acquires magical powers deprived from a magical girl and is ordered to fight against the anti-mahou shoujo system "Megalo" in her place.

Funimation Entertainment has recently announced plans for limited theatrical release of Trigun: Badlands Rumble in the summer of 2011. It is a feature length film that is based on the Yasuhiro Nightow's popular Trigun manga. One of the most well known anime series, Trigun, is also based on the same manga. Along with their plans, Funimation also announced that of the English voice cast's four main characters, only Johnny Yong Bosch will return as the voice of gun-slinging pacifist Vash the Stampede.

In place of Dorothy Elias-Fahn, Lia Sargent, and Jeff Nimoy respectively, the new voices are:

Luci Christian as Meryl Stryfe
Trina Nishimura as Milly Thompson
And Brad Hawkins as Nicholas D. Wolfwood

On a more personal note, it really is a shame to be unable to have a reunion of the cast. Trigun is my and many people’s favorite anime, and I loved its dub. Although if only one actor was to return, it'd really be best that Vash be the one to return. And the new voices are excellent actors – though who the hell is Brad Hawkins?

Until next time, LOVE AND PEACE!

Funimation announced yesterday that they have acquired the rights to the first 48 episodes of popular shonen anime Fairy Tail. Fairy Tail is based on the hit manga of the same name by Hiro Mashima. The manga became popular when it was serialized in weekly shonen jump. Work on the English dub has already started, featuring Todd Haberkorn as Natsu. The series is expected to be released on DVD and BluRay later this year.

The series follows the adventures of Lucy Heartfilia, a young girl who wants desperately to be a full-fledged mage. She runs away from home and towards the land of Fiore to join the most prestigious of all mage guilds in the world: the Fairy Tail Guild. Along the way, she meets Natsu Dragneel, a quirky teenage boy and practicitioner of the ancient Dragon Slayer magic. With his best friend, Happy the cat, beside him, Natsu is looking for his foster parent, a dragon named Igneel. They become a team and take on odd jobs for fame and profit.

REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. -- BioWare, a division of video game publisher Electronic Arts and FUNimation Entertainment, announced today that they have reached an agreement to create an anime feature length film based on the hit video game franchise, Mass Effect. Despite making the announcement today, production is already underway, with release dates scheduled for Summer 2012.

T.O Entertainment, Inc. (known for Baka to Test) will serve as a co-producer on the project. The film will tell the tale of "an epic science fiction adventure set in a vast universe filled with dangerous alien life and mysterious, uncharted planets."

"Over the last few years, we have revealed different pieces of the Mass Effect world through different media. Extending the story through an anime medium is another amazing opportunity for us,” said Casey Hudson, Executive Producer for the Mass Effect series. "Partnering with FUNimation ensures that we will bring this rich universe to life with the utmost quality and the same attention to detail that the Mass Effect games are known for.”

"It is thanks to the enormous and passionate Mass Effect fan base that this movie is made possible," said Gen Fukunaga, President & CEO of FUNimation. “With production underway on the Dragon Age video, we are excited to team up with another BioWare team to add an exciting new chapter to this vast sci-fi world.”

Last week Funimation announced that they were forced to halt simulcasting Fractale. by the Fractale Production Committee until they could stop piracy. Today they announced that resolved the issue with the production committee and will resume simulcasting the series with episode 2 starting today and all future episodes continuing as previously scheduled.

According to a statement released by Funimation:

In recent days we have been diligently tracking the online illegal distribution of the anime series Fractale and on behalf of the rights holders we have been taking the appropriate legal action. As a result, we now have the approval of the Fractale Production Committee to stream episode 2 of the series starting today. We will make the episode available at 10:45 a.m CST and we are pleased to be able to continue the Fractale simulcast each Thursday as planned.

It seems the Fractale Production Committee is happy with having Funi doing their dirty work and sending out C&Ds. Perhaps they were trying an experiment of some sort or maybe they realized stopping legal distribution can only mean increasing illegal distribution. Either way, all that matters is that Fractale is back.

It seems like glorious Japan has realized we really really like their movies. Following Gantz's world premiere in the United States, I'm glad to announce that you can finally get your Evangelion fix (legally) stateside. Thanks to the guys at Eleven Arts and Funimation, you can watch Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance in select movie theaters throught out the country. Particulary if you're like us and are located in New York, you go see it today at 11 pm!

Check out the trailer and showtime listings after the jump!