Releases - May 2010

As usual I am half a month late but I still got some of this month's stuff together. Fortunately May is pretty quiet for all but anime DVD releases and a few hi-profile games like Super Mario Galaxy 2. Most of the news on the anime front is about companies, such as 4Kids and VizMedia. 4Kids is being delisted from the New York stock exchange and has reported a 3.5 million dollar loss for the first quarter of 2010 despite rumors that it is looking for a buyer. Regardless of all that it has been aggressively been pursuing new properties and will be restructuring its Saturday morning block to offer a more Japanese-slanted animation package in hopes of gaining new revenue. The most profitable property it owns continues to be Yu-gi-oh while Pokemon is seeing a slight decline in popularity. Meanwhile Viz has closed down its New York branch even though they have announced that they will not cancel any of their product lines. It just goes to show that the economy is hurting all industries, especially fringe products like animated entertainment.

Funimation has confirmed that it has licensed the Tsubasa Chronicles OVAs and will be releasing them Stateside in the coming months. SquareEnix is also bringing new IPs to the US in the form of its Fantasy Earth Zero MMORPG this May. This game is being offered free-to-play like many of the other recent MMORPGs from the past couple of years. It has been active in Japan since 2005. The Professor Layton series from Level 5 will not only receive a 6th game installment, but a second movie later next year as well. All 6 titles are slated for a US release, though only 2 have made it here so far. Manga U.K. has picked up the rights to release the first movie on DVD in the UK, but there has been no word on a US release as of yet. Level 5's Inazuma 11 series has also been successfully converted into an award-winning manga series this year.

Finally the world of Pokemon will be getting a new entry in the form of Pokemon Black/White for the DS this August, when a new season of the decade-old anime series is slated to begin. For this game, not only is new gameplay offered but a whole new 3D-style interaction will be offered. Pokemon Black/White will be compatible with all of the DS generation Pokemon games released so far.


Games:

• Reader Rabbit Preschool/Kindergarden/1st/2nd Grade (Wii) - 5/4
• Earthworm Jim (DS Ware) - 5/10
• Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands (All) - 5/18
• Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow (DS) - 5/18
• Fantasy Earth Zero (MMORPG) - 5/18
  
• Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii) - 5/23
• Hexyz Force (PSP) - 5/23
• Horrible Histories: Ruthless Romans (Wii) - 5/24
• Rock Band: Green Day (PS3, XBox 360) - 5/31

DVDs:

• Eyeshield 21 Collection #1 - 5/18
• xxxHoliC Complete Series - 5/18
• Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Part 1 - 5/25
• Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple Complete Season 1 - 5/25
• Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple Season 2 Part 2 - 5/25
• Air Gear Complete Collection - 5/25

Books:

• Kobato Vol. 1 - 5/18
• Kobato Vol. 2 - 5/18
• Black Butler Vol. 2 - 5/18
• Lucky Star Vol. 5 - 5/19
• Oh! My Goddess Vol. 35 - 5/25
• Negima! Vol. 26 - 5/25
• Rave Master Vol. 34 - 5/30
• Monochrome Factor Vol. 5 - 5/30

Sources: AnimeNewsNetwork, TVShowsOnDVD, GameSpot, Mania, Borders Books & Music