Darius Washington
July 7, 2009 (Continued from Part 1)
There was a lot of work involved with making both the series and the recent re-cap film Gurren Lagann: Childhood’s end, which was presented to many excited attendees who seriously wanted their mech action and fanservice. The Gainax team was very happy to see this reaction which was far more vocal and responsive than the Japanese audiences.
Gainax also had a surprise announcement that famed director Seiji Mizushima (Full Metal Alchemist, Gundam 00) would be working with Gainax to produce a new series… intended for pre-schoolers, for which footage was premeired following the GL movie panel.
There was a break in the Gainax action however as famed internet show Mega 64 made an apperance to talk about their new projects. Also on hand was Shawne Kleckner of Right Stuf International, the largest internet distributor of anime for several companies across the U.S.
Kleckner gave an overview of the state of the industry as fans had many concerns about the economic downturn. However, he also brightened fans’ spirits by making announcements of four new series: Junio Romantica, Rental Magica, Aria The Animation (TV and OAV), and Antique Bakery. There was footage shown of the remastering process for the Irresponsible Captain Tylor Boxset, as well. He did note concerns about the recent Iowa manga possession case, while announcing there are no current plans to stream anime directly from Japan or create Blu-Ray DVDs for the short term future.
