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Funimation Acquires Tokyo Ghoul, Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist

North American anime distributor Funimation announced at A-Kon on Saturday that it acquired the simulcast and home video rights to the Tokyo Ghoul television anime, as well as home video and digital distribution to the live-action Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist project. Funimation will stream Tokyo Ghoul as it airs in Japan, starting this July.

Sui Ishida's original dark fantasy manga Tokyo Ghoul is set in Tokyo, which is haunted by mysterious "ghouls" who are devouring humans. People are gripped by the fear of these ghouls whose identities are masked in mystery. An ordinary college student named Kaneki encounters Rize, a girl who is an avid reader like him, at the café he frequents. Little does he realize that his fate will change overnight.

The cast includes:

Natsuki Hanae (Nagi no Asukara, The Severing Crime Edge) as the protagonist Ken Kaneki

Sora Amamiya (THE IDOLM@STER MOVIE: Kagayaki no Mukōgawa e!, Wanna Be the Strongest in the World) as the heroine Tōka Kirishima

Kana Hanazawa (Kobato., Steins;Gate) as Rize Kamishiro

Takayuki Sugo as Yoshimura

Katsuyuki Konishi as Kōtarō Amon

Toshiyuki Toyonaga as Hideyoshi Nagachika

Shintarō Asanuma as Nishiki Nishio

Sumire Morohoshi as Hinami Fueguchi
Yuichi Nakamura as Renji Yomo
Mamoru Miyano as Shū Tsukiyama
Takahiro Sakurai as Uta

Shuhei Morita (Freedom, Kakurenbo), the Oscar-nominated director of the "Possessions" ("Tsukumo") short, is helming this anime at Pierrot. Kazuhiro Miwa (animation director on Eureka Seven AO, Gosick, Heroman) is designing the characters, and playwright Chūji Mikasano (LDK) is supervising and writing the scripts. Noboru Haraguchi (Heroman, Gosick) is the sound director, and Yutaka Yamada (live-action Marumo no Okite, Hunter ~Sono Onna-tachi, Shōkinkasegi~) is composing the music.

The vocalist TK from Ling Tosite Sigure will perform the opening theme "Unravel," his debut solo single, and the band People in the Box will perform the ending theme "Seijatachi" (Saints).

The series will premiere in Japan's Tokyo MX TV station on July 3 at midnight (effectively July 4).

Funimation will handle the distribution of Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist in the United States and Canada through their Giant Ape live action label. It plans to release the series at retail this fall. It is also "working with international distributors Manga Entertainment and Madman Entertainment, who will be distributing Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist in the United Kingdom and Australia, respectively."

Street Fighter: Legacy director and writer Joey Ansah is helming the series that began filming last July. Ansah launched a Kickstarter campaign last April, but he soon canceled the crowdfunding initiative after receiving full funding from unnamed supporters.

Ansah co-wrote the script for the new series with Christian Howard. Jacqueline Quella, who also produced Street Fighter: Legacy, is producing the series. Street Fighter producer Yoshinori Ono had announced the live-action feature-length series at San Diego Comic Con in 2012.

The series, set in Japan, is a coming of age story for Ryu and Ken, but will also feature Gōken, Gōki/Akuma, and Gōtetsu. Togo Igawa (The Last Samurai, 47 Ronin) plays Gōtetsu, while Mike Moh (Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight, School Dance) plays Ryu. Akira Koieyama (Blood: The Last Vampire, 47 Ronin) is cast as Gōken, and Shōgen (Kaiji: The Ultimate Gambler, The Shadow Inside) is performing as young Gōken. Gaku Space (Shake It Up!, How I Met Your Mother) plays young Gōki. Mark Killeen (The Game of Thrones, The Dark Knight Rises) plays Mr. Masters. Ansah and Howard are cast as Akuma and Ken, respectively. Hal Yamanouchi (The Wolverine, Push) plays Senzō.

Thanks to mdo7 for the news tip