Anime Boston 2007

Bandai Entertainment

Representative: Larry Vong

Fans poured into the Bandai Entertainment panel on Saturday afternoon, excited to hear about new releases and acquisitions. Vong started the panel by showing trailers for current and upcoming properties.

The first volume of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya will be released on May 29th in both a regular and special edition. The special edition will come with extras like an artbox, a Haruhism iron-on, a double-sided pencil board, cosplay ribbons, and the “Hare Hare Yukai” CD soundtrack. An armband will be included with the second volume.

Ghost in the Shell: Solid State Society, a two-hour feature length movie, will be released on July 3 after the completed release of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG. The limited edition SSS 3-disc set will come with 5.1 DTS and a steel case.

In terms of continuing releases, the 8th volume of Gundam Seed Destiny will be released on May 15 in both a special and regular edition. The second season of Eureka 7 will hit shelves on June 5; the special edition will come packaged with an exclusive t-shirt.

For more upcoming releases, a trailer was shown for FLAG, a new series written by Toru Nozaki, who also scripted Argento Soma and parts of Witch Hunter Robin. The 13-episode series will be released on four volumes starting later in 2007.

July 17 will see the first volume of My Otome, a series that stars the characters of Mai Hime in an alternate story. It will be released in both regular and special editions.

The opening was also shown for Tide-Line Blue, an anime series created by Satoru Ozawa, the creator Blue Submarine No. 6. The first DVD will be available on May 15.

In live-action news, the Hideaki Anno-directed Cutie Honey movie is currently available. The limited edition comes with one of two different lunchboxes.

He also announced a new acquisition, Zegapain. The first announcement for the series was made a few weeks ago at Sakuracon; the series will be released later this year.

This panel report has been verified by the panelist.