NDK - 2015 Day 2

I've had a great second day here at Nan Desu Kan 2015.  Per usual, I started out the day finalizing my interview questions, and then went down to the open areas of the hotel in order to spot some cosplay and costumes.  Everyone has done such a great job with their costumes this year, and it has made the people watching into such a fun activity.

Aniplex Industry Panel

Aniplex again had a panel at NDK, and discussed a lot of their recent and upcoming releases.  Their list of anime currently available on disc included Fate Stay Night, Aldnoah Zero, Persona 4 Golden Animation, Irregular at Magic High School, and Expelled from Paradise.  Current streaming content includes Durarara X2, Charlotte, Classroom Crisis, Wagnaria, and God Eater.  Upcoming releases announced are largely later volumes of the series above, plus Sword Art Online and Tsuki Monogatari.  Aniplex will produce an English dub of Your Lie in April with Patrick Seitz as the director.

Funimation Industry Panel

Funimation has certainly been busy this season, with over 20 simulcast running during the summer season.  Michiko and Hatchin is now available on their S.A.V.E. line, so if you have put off purchasing it, now would be a good time.  Series now available for purchase include Hyperdimension Neptunia, Fairy Tail Part 16, Ben-to, D-Frag, One Piece Season 7 Part 1, and .hack//GU Trilogy.  I'm interested in Ping Pong the Animation, a series by director Maasaki Yuasa, whose previous work includes Tatami Galaxy and the "Food Chain" episode of Adventure Time.  The movie 009 Re:Cyborg will be a retelling of the classic Cyborg 009.  There also seems to be a theme of young women encountering down on their luck gods and spirits with series such as Noragami and Inori Kon Kon,  Funimation will re-release Fullmetal Alchemist on Blu-Ray with a very fancy collectors edition on September 15.  Season 2 of Space Dandy and Tokyo Ghoul will follow shortly after on September 22.  Finally, Mamoru Hosado's latest film, The Boy and The Beast is slated for a theatrical release in 2016.  Hosado's previous works include Summer Wars and Wolf Children, and I am therefore extremely excited to see this new movie.

The Ultimate Hellsing: Ultimate Panel

Jonathan Klein (series producer) and Teliesin Jaffe (series ADR director) discussed the ins and outs of 15 years of work on the Hellsing series, including both the original TV series and the more recent OVA.  Most of the panel was presented as a series of annecdotes relating the various challenges that the English language adaptation faced, such as us of Arucado versus Alucard for the main character, casting difficulties (people still complain about the British cast's "fake" accents), and some of the work they did to beef up the Ultimate series soundtrack from the original stereo mix to a full 5.1 mix (they added some cannon noise to Alucard's guns to give them more oomph).  Some say that suffering is necessary for art, but I feel Klein and Jaffe may have been dished more than their fair share.

Funimation Dimension W

Dimension W is a manga series that has been running in Japan since 2012 and currently has 8 volumes published.  In the panel, Funimation Conventions Manager Tara McKinney announced that Funimation will be on the committee that produces an anime series based on the Manga.  In Dimension W, humanity in the near future has found a solution to our current energy crisis by creating "Coils" that are capable of tapping energy from another dimension.  The main characters are Mira, an android, and Kyoma, a detective who is also somewhat of a Luddite.  Production stills and the trailer show some very promising animation with a mix of 3D CGI and 2D work.  As part of the panel, we were able to speak with series producer Uchiro Matsaka via Skype.  The series is currently in production and will begin simulcasting in January 2016.

I also interview Dr. Alisa Freedman today.  Look for podcast audio to be available in the near future.  And I am about to head to the Kevin McKeever's "War Stories from the Convention" panel.  But, since that is an 18+ panel, I doubt there will be anything that I can share with you.  Have a great night, and game on!