FUNimation Channel Official Blog

What a week. Being trapped in your house makes you realize you have stuff you can watch on TV besides AccuWeather forecasts. If you were affected by the weather, I hope things are good on your end.

Comcast viewers who sent emails and left comments last week regarding their VOD menus, please be assured that Comcast operations are working to fix it (if they haven’t already) and dealing with your headends directly.

Big day today… its the US broadcast premiere of Evangelion 1.11 on Comcast VOD! Curious about this rebuild? Check it out and spread the love!

Here’s what’s up for the week on Comcast VOD:

• Evangelion 1.11 <——-US Broadcast Premiere !!!!!!!
• Case Closed movie 3 The Last Wizard of the Century
• Hunter X Hunter eps 21-22
• Case Closed ep 60
• Air Gear eps 23 – 25 (final weeks)
• Negima! ep 21
• Shuffle! ep 21
• Solty Rei ep 19
• Glass Fleet eps 25 – 26 (final weeks)
• Gundam SEED Destiny eps 33 – 34

And to find out when your favorite show is airing on the linear service, jump here. I’m still waiting on final details on a newly re-branded FUNimation Channel. So stay tuned!

It is Valentines Day this weekend so why not cozy up with that special someone in your life and watch a little anime together? :bloody:

And don’t forget President’s Day on Monday in the US. Like Columbus Day, its one of those days that morphed into a three-day sale at your local mall or car sales dealerships. It wasn’t intended for that purpose, but economics will dictate the way we do things. (and I just heard more snow sliding off my roof and nearly impaling someone outside)

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.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We’ve made it out of the 2000s decade. Now its full steam ahead into a new decade. The anime industry went through a lot of changes in the last decade; having gone through its ups and its downs. I think the most important thing that happened here in the US was seeing anime becoming more accessible to viewers – whether it was through VOD, streaming or linear. We’re working to continue expanding and this new year we’ll unveil some new features on The FUNimation Channel. Stay tuned…

Here’s a smathering of what’s up today on Comcast On Demand:

Comcast On Demand —–> The Cutting Edge —–> FUNimation Anime

• Soul Eater eps 4-6 (back-to-back eps special)
• NANA eps 24-27
• Dragonaut eps 16-18
• Spice and Wolf eps 9-11
• D. Gray-man eps 43-45
• Hunter X Hunter eps 14-16
• xxxHolic ep 21
• Negima! ep 15
• Shuffle! ep 15
• Solty Rei ep 14
• Glass Fleet eps 17-20
• Case Closed eps 52-53
• Devil May Cry eps 5-6
• Gunslinger Girl Il Teatrino eps 5-6

As always, visit The FUNimation Channel‘s site and jump to their Schedule to see when your favorite shows are airing.

Got any anime-related resolutions for the new year? Feel free to post them here and maybe if you say it and write it a lot, you’ll be able to make that goal. I resolve to run a little faster and get healthier while watching some anime.

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.

Last month was a bit of a doozy for VOD. Stuff got changed. Things went missing. Bonus eps never came to fruition . And to top it off, its the holidays. By now, we are hoping the dust settled in most Comcast cities and that they are receiving the anime titles.

Just to remind everyone – all anime titles under FUNimation Anime On Demand are now in one place: The Cutting Edge category. Free and PPV VOD are living together in one place, in peaceful harmony. From time to time, you will find a title from FUNimation Anime featured under the Movies/Movie Collections section. That usually happens when Comcast wants to do program stunts for a month.

Here’s what’s up on Comcast VOD:

The Cutting Edge/FUNimation Anime

• Spice and Wolf eps 6 – 8
• NANA eps 21 – 23
• Dragonaut eps 13 – 15
• HunterXHunter eps 11 – 13
• D. Gray-man eps 40 – 42
• Soul Eater eps 1 – 3 *Special back-to-back airing
• Linebarrels of Iron eps 1 – 3 *Special back-to-back airing
• xxxHolic ep 17
• Air Gear eps 13 – 14
• Negima! ep 12
• Shuffle! ep 12
• Tsubasa Chronicle eps 13 – 14
• Fruits Basket eps 17 – 18
• Solty Rei ep 11
• Ah! My Goddess eps 21 – 24
• Black Cat eps 3 – 4
• Glass Fleet eps 9 – 12
• Case Closed ep 46 – 47

SOUL EATER! Yes. Merry Christmas!

And for linear viewers, to find out when your favorite show airs, jump here for the grid. Thanks to all who have participated in our viewer poll last week. If you still want to vote, visit here to make a difference. Later!

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)

As I mentioned in a previous post, Spice and Wolf was pushed back to start on Wed, 11/11 instead of today on Comcast VOD. We encountered some gremlins in the system. We should be back on track with those new eps. I know lots of you folks have been waiting to catch a glimpse of the series.

But we do have some other titles appearing today on Comcast VOD. Here’s the rundown:

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

• My Santa OVA
• Case Closed movie 3 – The Last Wizard of the Century
• Blassreiter part 1 eps 1-5 special
• D. Gray-man eps 37 – 39
• NANA eps 17 – 20
• Dragonaut eps 9 – 12
• Hunter X Hunter eps 7 – 10

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

• Mushi-Shi eps 25 – 26
• Sasami eps 23 – 24
• Ah! My Goddess eps 13 – 16
• xxxHolic eps 13 – 14
• Case Closed eps 40 – 41
• Solty Rei eps 9 – 9a (9a is a bonus ep that didn’t air in Japan)
• Air Gear eps 9 – 10
• Negima! ep 8
• Shuffle! ep 8
• Tsubasa Chronicle eps 9 – 10
• Glass Fleet eps 1 – 4

I know you guys want to see FUNimation Channel linear network on your cable and satellite system. We are always working to make that happen. I’ll have another post next week talking about some changes to the Comcast VOD menu and changes overall on how to access FUNimation Anime On Demand. I’ve read viewer comments about the current programming available on the linear network. Next week, I’ll drop a tiny hint on what we plan to do for 2010.

But in the meantime, you can access the 24/7 network schedule and see when your favorite series is on.