FUNimation Channel Official Blog

Last week was fun. The folks in Seattle, WA were very nice in welcoming me to their convention. Congratulations again to our $250 Anime Prize Pack winner from the show.  Stay tuned to this blog because in the near future, we will unveil a whole slew of new things for the channel. We will also have a dedicated site for the campaign we launched last week at Sakura-Con. Good times ahead!

A couple things this week on Comcast VOD. We had some delays in receiving some titles over the holidays so some shows are going to extend episodes for an additional week. I blame lots of chocolate for the delay. I’ll note the shows below.

This week on Comcast VOD:

On Demand —> The Cutting Edge —> Funimation Anime —> Funimation Platinum

• Evangelion 1.11
• Slayers Revolution eps 3 – 5 (extended for an additional week)
• Soul Eater eps 16 – 18 (extended for an additional week)
• Strike Witches eps 3 – 5 (extended for an additional week)
• Hunter X Hunter eps 32 – 34

On Demand —> The Cutting Edge —> Funimation Anime —> Funimation Free

• Case Closed eps 69 – 70 (extended for an additional week)
• Black Cat ep 20
• Buso Renkin ep 8
• Black Blood Brothers ep 8
• Gundam SEED Destiny ep 46

And highlights this month on linear include El Cazador De La Bruja, Monster, Nabari No Ou, Nana and Honey and Clover. For the schedule jump here.

Here are some pics from Sakura-Con. I might be attending C2E2 in Chi-town next week. Still waiting for final confirmation on that. If you are attending, give a shout-out! And keep checking this blog for latest updates on the I Want My FUNimation Channel HD campaign. It will be an all out effort.

Don’t let these cosplayers efforts go in vain. Let your cable or satellite operator know that you pay a lot for your service and that adding The FUNimation Channel to your linear lineup will make all your bitterness go away (or at least some of it go away).

Spring is just around the corner – literally! I just can’t wait. All that rain last weekend was just all I can take of this winter.

So it looks like yours truly will be attending a couple of conventions next month – Sakura-Con and C2E2. April is shaping up to be a busy month.

Have you guys been following men’s college basketball NCAA tournament action? The first round of the men’s regional was really something. It looks like a lot of people’s brackets got busted in one night. Especially if most people picked teams from the Big East – they were the conference favored to have the most advance and they ended up only having one – Villanova (JUST BARELY) advance last night. At least folks here in Center City in Philly can sorta breathe a sigh of relief. I stayed up watching eighth seed Texas take on ninth seed Wake Forest. That was crazy how Wake won in OT. I can only imagine how the folks back at Austin felt about that – since they do squeeze Longhorn action in between SXSW. I can’t wait to see if today’s matches will have upsets galore.

And now on to what’s new on Comcast VOD:

On Demand —> The Cutting Edge —> FUNimation Anime —> Funimation Platinum

• Case Closed 3 movie: The Last Wizard of the Century

On Demand —> The Cutting Edge —> FUNimation Anime —> Funimation Free

• Case Closed eps 69 – 70
• Black Cat ep 17
• Buso Renkin ep 6
• Black Blood Brothers ep 6
• Gundam SEED Destiny ep 43

And starting 3/22, catch episodes of El Cazador De La Bruja on the linear service. The show kicks ballz…for real! For the latest TV listings, jump here.

Coming soon to VOD in April are:

• Initial D 3rd Stage movie (FUNimation Platinum)
• Initial D 4th Stage (FUNimation Platinum)
• Case Closed 6 movie: The Phantom of Baker Street (FUNimation Platinum)
• Monster (FUNimation Free)
• Kenichi Season 2 (FUNimation Free)
• Tsubasa Chronicle Season 2 (FUNimation Free)
• Nana (FUNimation Free)

Have a good weekend!

I got a program highlight this month for linear viewers. El Cazador De La Bruja starts airing this month – Monday, 3/22. Jump here for the latest schedule. Its listed at 1 AM eastern.

Today’s refreshes on Comcast VOD are the following:

On Demand –> Cutting Edge –> Funimation Anime –> Funimation Platinum

• Evangelion 1.11 (continues airing through the month) *Also under Movies – Animation – Anime category
• Hunter X Hunter eps 26 – 28

On Demand –> Cutting Edge –> Funimation Anime –> Funimation Free

• Case Closed ep 68
• Solty Rei ep 21 (re-air) *series ends 4/2
• Buso Renkin ep 05
• Black Blood Brothers ep 05
• Gundam SEED Destiny eps 41-42

That’s all for the week. I got a couple of pics to share from Tokyo that I’ll post on here later. Gotta skip out. Be good folks!

This week seemed to have flown by. My inbox this morning offered some great news regarding Toei brands that will be available as uber cool graphic tees by the uber cool clothier UNIQLO this Spring. I love that store. The news was from License! Global. Here’s an excerpt from the article:

Uniqlo Teams with Toei for Spring Tee Line

Toei Animation has tapped Uniqlo, a Japanese apparel retailer, to roll out a line of Dragon Ball T-shirts and more this spring.

Besides Dragon Ball, the T-shirt range from Uniqlo will feature other Toei anime properties, including One Piece, Galaxy Express 999, Dr Slump and Saint Seiya. The line will be available at Uniqlo stores in France, Russia, the U.K., the U.S., Hong Kong, China, Singapore and Korea.

http://www.uniqlo.com/utunes/widget/widget.swf

So far in my UNIQLO graphic tees collection I have Gatchaman and GTO. Can’t wait to grab me some Toei brands and add them to my collection. Even Saint Seiya gets a tee. As long as its not branded Knights of the Zodiac I think we’re good.  I realllly hope there’s a range of graphic tees from Sailor Moon. That would be EPIC! You have no idea how excited I am about this… I’m already thinking about adding One Piece, Galaxy Express 999 and Fist of the North Star to my wardrobe too. :bloody:

Alright, and now for those VOD updates on Comcast On Demand:

Cutting Edge —-> FUNimation Anime

• El Cazador de la Bruja eps 16 – 18
• Case Closed eps 55 – 56
• Negima! ep 17
• Shuffle! ep 17
• Solty Rei ep 16
• xxxHolic ep 23
• Gunslinger Girl Il Teatrino eps 9 – 10
• Devil May Cry eps 9 – 10
• Glass Fleet eps 21 – 22
• Gundam SEED Destiny eps 29 – 30

And for linear viewers, jump here for the latest grid info.

Last week I dropped in a few hints about a movie we are going to premiere first on Comcast VOD in February. A couple of you were kinda close but didn’t hit the correct version release. So here’s another hint and it should be very obvious at this point. The movie is currently on pre-sale right now and will release in Blu-Rei I kinda gave it away there. So yeah, we’re going to premiere the movie on Comcast VOD in February.

Hello all! We are knee deep in X-Mas craziness around here. But while you guys are looking for the perfect gift, try to catch some anime on TV – especially if its FUNimation Channel. I’ve just heard that a N’oreaster is heading my way and that I might actually see a foot of snow dumped along the mid-Atlantic. All I have to say is “Bring it!”

What’s on tap on Comcast VOD?

Comcast Presents… —-> Cutting Edge —–> FUNimation Anime

• El Cazador de la Bruja eps 13 – 15
• Devil May Cry eps 1 – 4
• xxxHolic ep 19
• Air Gear eps 15 – 16
• Negima! ep 14
• Shuffle! ep 14
• Tsubasa Chronicle eps 15 – 16
• Solty Rei ep 13
• Glass Fleet ep 13 – 16
• Case Closed ep 49 – 50

We’re actually in the process of simplifying the VOD menu on Comcast. We’ve received your feedback and by March, you’ll see which titles are pay-per-view titles and which titles are free titles. As a rule of thumb, new titles or pre-release titles are usually pay-per-view titles. So Soul Eater and Spice and Wolf are most likely available as pay-per-view at .99 each ep. But this month, we bundled eps 1 -3 of Soul Eater as a special presentation. More episodes will become available in March.

Lots of changes are being planned for FUNimation Channel in 2010. Stay tuned to this blog and FUNimation Channel’s site. For linear viewers, jump here for the latest on when your favorite anime is scheduled to air.

If you are still experiencing problems with your Comcast VOD menu (missing eps, missing shows, etc.), please list your zip code, the city you are receiving Comcast service, and short description of the issue and I’ll ask Comcast to look into fixing it.

If it snows in your area, stay very safe and don’t drive like a maniac in AWD. Just remember Mother Nature always wins.

Thanksgiving is literally around the corner and I can’t wait to make more pumpkin pies. Mmmm. This weekend, I’ll be running in the Philadelphia Marathon but only running the half – at 13.1 miles. I’m gonna do my best to run in under 3 hrs. The weather should be good – highs in the 60s. It will be unseasonably warm in Philly though so it should be interesting. Last year we ran in cold weather where the low in the morning was something like 21 degrees and by 11Am it went to 40 degrees.  Fun!

In addition, I got accepted to run in the 2010 Tokyo Marathon. Yay! I’ll have a separate post about that since I’ll ask you guys for suggestions on what cosplay items/accessories I should wear during the run. Hehe!

Ok. Back to reality…As most of you are aware by now, Comcast made some changes to their VOD menu. This was a nationwide thing and some cities went ahead and did the switch before 11/19. Some cities even had issues and shows didn’t seem to appear on the menu.  To viewers who sent me their city info and what shows didn’t appear, a trouble ticket was issued by operations and we’re waiting on those headends to correct their issues. I know that the Seattle/Everett/Spokane Washington area confirmed they have the titles Case Closed eps 40-42 and Fruits Basket eps 15-16 on their server. And I’ll re-air the Solty Rei bonus eps 9a & 9b after the series is done.

And to remind all Comcast VOD viewers – the PPV & Free VOD titles are now under one place:

The Cutting Edge —->FUNimation Anime

And now for today’s VOD updates on Comcast:

• El Cazador De La Bruja eps 7 – 12
• Sasami eps 25 – 26
• xxxHolic ep 15
• Air Gear eps 11 – 12
• Negima! ep 10
• Shuffle! ep 10
• Tsubasa Chronicle eps 11-12
• Solty Rei ep 9b (the bonus ep)
• Ah! My Goddess eps 17-20
• Black Cat eps 1-2 :bloody:
• Glass Fleet eps 5-8
• Case Closed eps 43-44

As always, for the latest on when your favorite shows are airing on the linear channel, jump here to check out the schedule. I have a poll below and would love to get your feedback on the question – At what part of the day would you watch subtitled anime? The question is basically for linear channel viewers and future linear channel viewers so be honest with your choice.

We shall speak soon! Huzzah!

Would you watch subtitled anime if it aired during…(polls)

I’m really stoked about my Soul Eater pumpkin carving. Thanks for your lovely comments to those who have seen it. If you haven’t seen it yet, you can jump here to check it out. The pattern was provided by Yen Press so you can try your very own Soul Eater Pumpkin theater

Its a light day today on Comcast’s VOD refresh schedule. But, I can highlight a title that debuted on PPV VOD last week and that was…

And here’s a screenshot from episode 1 from El Cazador De La Bruja . I’d like to call this scene, “Nadie’s way of taking down baddies”.

And here’s what new on FUNimation Anime free VOD:

The Cutting Edge ——> FUNimation Anime (Free VOD)

Negima! ep 7  

Shuffle! ep 7

Fruits Basket eps 13 – 14

Next week, we will DEBUT Spice and Wolf eps 1 – 5 on Comcast’s PPV VOD which is found under the Movies & Events section on your VOD menu. As usual, episode one is a Free view and episodes thereafter are $.99 each. But, the series doesn’t street for a bit so if you want to be the first to view it before anyone else, this is your chance.

Besides, who doesn’t want to stare at this lovely face?

And for linear channel viewers, always check out the online schedule for when your fave titles start airing.

Remember – Turn your clocks back 1 hour Sunday morning. Its Daylight Savings Time. You don’t want to end up like this on Sunday:

from Scanners movie poster

 HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 

Halloween is next week and I just started listening to Christmas music in my iTunes library. I was updating my playlists and I accidentally double-clicked on the file and the song started playing. Thankfully, it was a Christmas song that I liked – Goldfrapp covering “Winter Wonderland”. And then there was that song that was stuck in my head for the longest time. Its the song “Dirty Desire” by Utada and the lines, I’ve loved you long time….I keep thinking 6 and 9… makes me laugh a bit when I hear her sing it. I could just imagine her purring into the mic during recording asking if she sounded drrrty.

But let’s focus back on the hallow’s eve and the new stuff airing today on Comcast VOD. **NOTE: It seems the folks at Comcast.net got really excited and gone ahead and posted what will debut on PPV VOD starting November 6. Its [spoiler]Spice and Wolf[/spoiler].

Ok. Now that the cat’s outta the bag on that one, are you excited?

Movies and Events —–> FUNimation Anime (PPV VOD)

•  El Cazador De La Bruja eps 1 – 6 (Episode 1 is a FREE VIEW!)

If its got the Spanish word for “witch” in its title, it must be spooky. Well, ok maybe not spooky but there is some ballz kicking.

The Cutting Edge —–> FUNimation Anime (Free VOD)

• The Galaxy Railways eps 25 & 26
• Case Closed ep 39
• Air Gear eps 7 & 8
• Negima! ep 6
• Shuffle! ep 6
• Tsubasa Chronicle eps 7 & 8

And for linear channel shows and schedule, jump here for the latest listing.

The Yui Makino video interview is almost done. Just tweaking a bit here and there.