New York Comic-Con 2012

Aniplex of America

E.J. Rivera hosted the completely packed Aniplex of America panel on Friday morning to start off the anime and manga portion of New York Comic Con. Rivera started off the panel by taking pictures of the audience to post on Facebook, then he showed footage from various Aniplex franchises, such as Read or Die, Madoka Magica, Durarara!!, Oreimo, Fate/Zero, and Baccano!.

Aniplex will be screening Madoka Magica, Fate/Zero, and Durarara!! at the convention. Rivera then introduced Aniplex's new web series. The series features Rivera and gives an inside look into anime and manga culture in Japan with features on Anime Contents Expo, the Madoka Magica café, and shopping in Akihabara.

Rivera then showed a trailer for Blue Exorcist and discussed the series. All of Blue Exorcist is now available on DVD. Each of the four volumes comes with animated shorts and other special features. Rivera then showed an English dubbed trailer for the series. Voice actors Bryce Papenbrook and Johnny Yong Bosch were featured in the video and noted that the Blue Exorcist English dub is showing on Viz Media's Neon Alley streaming service on the PlayStation 3. Rivera introduced the rest of the cast, then asked Papenbrook to come up to the stage.

Papenbrook read some lines as Rin from Blue Exorcist and Kido from Durarara!! A dub screening of Blue Exorcist will be screened at the convention later on Friday evening, and the panelists will be giving away Blue Exorcist swag at the panel.

Rivera then showed a trailer for Madoka Magica. All of Madoka Magica is available for purchase now on Blu-ray Disc and DVD. The limited-edition releases comes with posters, a soundtrack, a booklet, and postcards.

Next Rivera showed a trailer for Fate/Zero. The Blu-ray box of the first season is available now. The boxset comes with a translation booklet, a character booklet, and other special features. Rivera then showed a trailer for the second season of the series, and noted that the season two boxset is available now as well. He also mentioned that the entire series is streaming on both Crunchyroll and Hulu.

Aniplex is releasing LiSA's albums in the United States through Amazon, iTunes, and Right Stuf. Currently four albums are available. LiSA's single for Sword Art Online is currently also available on Amazon, Right Stuf, and iTunes.

Rivera next showed a trailer for Oreimo. The complete first season has been re-released on DVD and is available now. The DVD set comes with all 16 episodes and a double-sided poster.

Next up was Baccano!. After showing a trailer for the series, Rivera then discussed the Blu-ray Disc box set for the series. The set includes all 16 episodes, with Japanese and English audio. Rivera then showed a trailer for Durarara!!, and discussed the limited-edition Blu-ray Disc lunch box set. The set will come with 24 episodes and 2 OVAs, a double-sided poster, a character booklet, three different cases, and a lunch box. The set comes out on October 30.

Rivera then showed a trailer for The Garden of Sinners. The series sold out immediately when originally released last year, and so Aniplex is re-releasing the series on DVD. The re-release will ship on November 20. The boxset comes with all eight movies, a 36-page booklet, and a set of 14 postcards.

Rivera then showed a trailer for Bakeonogatari. Aniplex will release the limited-edition Blu-ray Disc box set on November 20. It will include 15 episodes, and will include two different sets of subtitles, one with on-screen text and one without. It will also include a booklet. The series is currently streaming on Hulu and Crunchyroll.

Rivera then played the trailer for the two Madoka Magica theatrical films. The films are screening in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Houston, and New York starting on October 19. Rivera then showed an unsubtitled trailer featuring the new song by ClariS for the films.

Rivera then announced Aniplex's new license acquisitions by showing trailers for each one. Aniplex has licensed the Sword Art Online television anime series, which is currently streaming on Crunchyroll. Aniplex has also licensed the Blast of Tempest television anime series, which is also currently streaming on Crunchyroll. Lastly, Rivera revealed the license for Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic. The series is streaming on both Hulu and Crunchyroll.

Rivera then held a Q&A session. Rivera could not say anything at this time about releasing Nisemonogatari physically, but the series is currently streaming. For Fate/Zero, Rivera said that once the Blu-ray Disc set sells out, Aniplex will then consider a DVD re-release.

Lastly, Rivera held a raffle. Each audience member had a ticket, and Rivera gave away Fate/Zero, Sword Art Online, and Madoka Magica posters.