Anime News: Fena Pirate Princess, Gunbuster Blu-Ray, Crunchyroll Slate and More

Last weekend was a big deal for US anime fans with two major events taking place. The Virtual Crunchyroll Expo (CRX) was an online edition of the convention run by the world's leading anime streaming site. The second was Otakon, the Washington DC-based anime convention that- not without controversy- went ahead as an in-person event.

At CRX, a special panel offered a sneak peek at upcoming Crunchyroll/Adult Swim co-production with Production IG Fena: Pirate Princess, set to premiere on August 14. The series was previewed in an exclusive new clip, which you can check out below.

At the Crunchyroll industry panel, the steamer announced a new slate of shows coming soon. They also revealed the upcoming book, Crunchyroll Essential Anime. The book, from anime expert Patrick Macias and Samuel Smith will highlight 50 classic anime movies and series, and offer insight into the history of anime and its impact on western and Japanese culture. The book will be released in April 2022 by Hachette. Available for preorder now.

They also talked about their new partnership with Microsoft's Xbox brand, which will offer Crunchyroll Premium users (or those who start a free trial) 3 months free access to Game Pass on PC.

The new shows revealed were:

High Guardian Spice SYNOPSIS: "The lives of four fierce girls converge at High Guardian Academy, the one place where they can stumble comically toward adulthood while becoming the heroes they’ve always admired. As they master the ways of battle and sorcery, the foursome form allegiances, uncover legacies, face betrayals and discover their true identities while preparing to protect the world from an ominous unknown threat."

Steaming info: Coming soon to Crunchyroll.

Muv-Luv Alternative  "A story of the bonds between those who fight, in a world pushed to its limits. On one of the countless parallel worlds that exist throughout spacetime, humanity has fought a decades long war against the BETA, hostile extraterrestrial invaders, using humanoid fighting machines called Tactical Surface Fighters. This is a story of how humanity lives and dies while on the brink of extinction…"

Steaming info: Coming to Crunchyroll this fall!

OFFICIAL TRAILER

The Faraway Paladin. "In the ruined city of the dead far from human civilization lives a single human child named Will. He is raised by three undead: Blood the heroic skeleton warrior, Mary the ladylike mummy priestess, and Gus the crotchety ghost wizard. The three of them teach the boy what they know and pour their love into him. One day, the boy begins to wonder, "Who am I?" Will uncovers the mysteries of the undead hidden in this faraway land. He learns of the love and mercy of good gods, as well as the paranoia and madness of evil gods. And once he learns it all, the boy embarks on the path to becoming a Paladin."

Steaming info: Coming to Crunchyroll Fall 2021!

OFFICIAL TRAILER

The Strongest Sage With The Weakest Crest "His strength limited by the magical crest with which he was born, Mathias, the world’s most powerful sage, decides reincarnation is necessary to become the strongest of all. Upon his rebirth as a young boy, Mathias is thrilled to discover he’s been born with the optimal crest for magical combat on his first try! Unfortunately, the world he’s been born into has abysmally poor standards when it comes to magic, and everyone thinks he’s still marked for failure! Now it’s up to Mathias to prove everyone wrong…world’s strongest sage-style!"

Steaming info: Coming to Crunchyroll January 2022

OFFICIAL TRAILER

Love Of Kill "Two assassins face off. The cool bounty hunter Chateau and the mysterious and powerful Ryang-ha. Chateau and Ryang-ha become enemies after this fight—at least, they should have, but for some reason Ryang-ha takes a liking to Cheateau and begins following her around. Little by little, Chateau develops a cooperative partnership with Ryang-ha, which gets her caught up in the struggle against the organizations hunting him down. Furthermore, that battle is related to her past as well. Two mismatched assassins weave together a twisted "Assassin X Assassin" thriller. The strange gears of fate begin to move."

Steaming info: Coming to Crunchyroll in 2022

Skeleton Knight in Another World  "When Arc wakes up, he discovers that he has been transported to another world in the body of the character he was playing in an MMO. Looking like a suit of armor on the outside and a skeleton on the inside, he is the Skeleton Knight. If his identity is discovered, he could be mistaken for a monster and become a target! Arc decides to spend his time as a mercenary so as not to attract attention to himself. However, he's not the kind of man who can stand idly by when he witnesses evil acts take place right before his eyes! This isekai fantasy series about the Skeleton Knight's unintentional quest to make the world a better place has arrived!!"

Steaming info: Coming soon

Meanwhile, at Otakon, the fan-fave distributor Discotek Media announced a new slate of titles in their panel. The biggest news is a Blu-Ray release for the classic Gainax OVA series Gunbuster. The news is a massive surprise, as rumours suggested that the original materials that would be required for restoration of the series were no longer available- which is why we thought the movie edit was the best we could hope for. Either those rumours were bunkum or new materials were uncovered as Discotek will release the full original six episodes on Blu-Ray in 2022. The disc will also include a new English dub. 

Discotek also announced new licenses Girly Air Force, Tomororrows Joe The Movie 2,  Legendary Armor Samurai Warriors (Ronin Warriors) and Cutie Honey The Live (the live-action TV series of Go Nagai's manga).  They will also continue their efforts to bring the entire Lupin III cannon to the US with a new Blu-Ray release for his first feature The Mystery Of Mamo and crossover Lupin III Versus Detective Conan The Movie.  Saiyuki Reload and Machine Robo: Revenge of Cronos will be released on standard-definition (SD) Blu-ray, and acclaimed sci-fi anthology Robot Carnival will make the leap to 4K UHD.