Funimation released several really cool announcements at their Industry Panel yesterday. Here’s the roundup of the biggest news:
Funimation.com is hosting “The Summer of Streaming” in which you will be able to watch over 5,000 episodes of anime for free. The reporters over at Funimation “did the math” and informed us that 5,000 episodes is roughly “100 days of anime” which is pretty awesome! Even better – you can track what you’ve watched using their Summer of Streaming Checklist. On top of all the free anime, they’re also hosting several contests in which they’ll be giving away neat anime-themed stuff, so I’d say anime fans should definitely rush right over to their website and enjoy the awesomeness! Currently the theme is “Beach Week” so when you head over you’ll see beach themed episodes from shows like Ouran High School Host Club, Hetalia, Witchblade, Air Master, School Rumble and Heaven’s Lost Property.
"Ouran High School Host Club"
Funimation also announced that they’ve acquired North American distribution rights to Deadman Wonderland for 2012. The show will be available streaming on their website this year, so I’m glad that they’ll also be bringing the show to us on DVD and Blu-ray. I watched through a few episodes this spring in the original Japanese and found it pretty interesting. (You can read my review of episode one here.)
Baka and Test – Summon the Beast‘s second season (Baka to Test to Shokanju Ni!) – has also been picked up by Funimation to stream online for free just days after it airs in Japan later this month. If you haven’t watched Baka and Test yet, you are definitely missing out! The show is a crazy blend of high school comedy and drama; rpg-esque, summoning-based video game themes; and mayhem. Yes, I’m aware that what I’ve given seems like a strange description – but it fits. “Class F” is a group of complete and absolute failures… and you’ll find yourself rooting for them all the way.
“>Watch episode one and see what you’ve been missing!
Also acquired by Funimation for release in the U.S. are [C] – Control – The Money and Soul of Possibility, Steins; Gate, and the “risque comedy” B Gata H Kei – Yamada’s First Time.
B Gata H Kei follows “Yamada, a boy-crazy school girl with distracting daydreams about future bedmates – but before she can get this saucy sex life underway, she realizes she first needs to lose her virginity! She knows to whom she will bestow this prize: her classmate Kosuda. However, a successful seduction of Kosuda is more difficult than this lusty teen had counted on.” (…Oh my!)
“B Gata H Kei – Yamada’s First Time”
That’s all for now. Stay tuned for more updates from Anime Expo 2011 here at Big Shiny Robot!