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AnimeLab Announces Six New Titles for Winter Season

The announcement was made on AnimeLab's facebook page. All six titles will be simulcast alongside their Japanese releases in January but exact information on start dates and times are yet to be confirmed.

The six titles are as follows;

• Death Parade
• Absolute Duo
• Assassination Classroom
• Rolling Girls
• Love Bullet: Yurikuma Arashi
• Maria the Virgin Witch

All of the above titles have been licensed by Funimation Entertainment for North America.

Madman Entertainment confirmed several new titles for winter season streaming as part of their "12 days of Christmas". AnimeLab has a total of 13 new titles for simulcast including ISUCA, The Testament of Sister New Devil, Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE! KanColle (Kantai Collection -Kan Colle-), Aria of Curse for a Holy Swordsman (Seiken Tsukai no World Break) and Samurai Warriors (Sengoku Musou).

Previously announced title Kamisama Kiss 2 has just started streaming on AnimeLab. You can view the first episode here

Update

Since the original posting of this article, Madman has added the first episodes of both Love Bullet: Yurikuma Arashi (here) and Tokyo Ghoul √A (Tokyo Ghoul Season 2 here). Please read on for a full description of all six new titles;

Death Parade

After death, humans go to heaven or hell, but for a rare few they first arrive at the bar known as Queen Decim. At this bar the recently deceased are given a challenge by the white haired bartender, win and they can live. However the challengers true natures will be revealed with their lives on the line and the bartender's decision as to who exactly wins is final.

Originally a short produced for Anime Mirai under the title Death Billards in February 2013, Death Parade reunites the team at Mad House with Yuzuru Tachikawa returning to direct, provide scripts, original concept, and storyboards. Shinichi Kurita returns as character designer and animation director alongside Satoru Hirayanagi (Hakuōki) providing art direction. Yuuji Hayashi (Gundam Build Fighters, Robotics;Notes) is composing the music for the series.

Death Parade had an advance cinema screening on the 28th of December 2014 in Japan and will premiere it's 12 episode run on Friday the 9th of January. Funimation has acquired the series for simulcast in North America.

Under the Anime Mirai program with which the original short was created, the Japan Animation Creators Association (JAniCA) receives money from the Japanese government's Agency for Cultural Affairs, and it distributes most of those funds to studios who will train young animators on-the-job.

Absolute Duo

Tōru Kokonoe has experienced terrifying loss, so in order to protect the ones he loves Tōru decides he must become stronger and enrolls at Koryo Academy where students with the ability to manifest their souls as "Blaze" weapons are trained. However when Tōru manifests his own Blaze he discovers that he can't manifest a traditional weapon, with his Blaze taking form of a shield. Fortunately for Tōru his partner at the academy, the silver haired beauty named Yurie Sigtuna can definitely hold her own in a fight.

Based on the light novel series by Takumi Hiiragi-Boshi with illustrations by Yū Asaba, this anime adaptation was green-lit in July 2014 at the MF Bunko Summer School Festival event. Atsushi Nakayama (A Dark Rabbit Has Seven Lives, Is This a Zombie? episode director) is directing the anime at 8-Bit (Infinite Stratos, Grisaia no Kajitsu) with the series scripts supervised by Takamitsu Kouno (Minami-ke Tadaima, Kyo no Gononi). Keiichi Sano (Heaven's Memo Pad, Strike the Blood) is designing the characters for the series and serving as animation director along with Norie Tanaka (M3 the dark metal chief animation director, Magi - The Labyrinth of Magicepisode animation director).

Hiiragi-Boshi launched the light novel series with art by Yū Asaba in 2012 and Media Factory's MF Bunko J imprint published the sixth volume in July. Shinichirō Nariie launched a manga adaptation in Media Factory's Monthly Comic Alive magazine last July and another spinoff manga series is serializing in Monthly Comic Alive.

Absolute Duo premiered on January 4 on AT-X and will run for 12 episodes. Funimation is streaming the series in North America.

You can view the character designs for Absolute Duo here, ANN has a anime spotlight on the series here and you can view what the review team thought of the first episode here.

Assassination Classroom

When a powerful alien creature announces it's presence to the world by destroying part of the moon, Earth's military tries to destroy the threat. But when no military can even land a single shot on the creature, it announces that the Earth will follow the Moon's fate in just one year. The Earth has one saving chance, the creature will become a homeroom teacher of the worst class at Kunugigaoka Junior High School and the students will have until graduation to figure out how to assassinate the teacher and collect a 10 billion yen reward for saving the world. But first the creature, Korosensei, is determined to ensure that the class graduates with flying colors, regardless of how many assassination lessons and opportunities his fellow teachers arrange.

Assassination Classroom is based on the manga of the same name by Yūsei Matsui, the series has been published in Weekly Shonen Jump since July 2012 and 12 volumes have been published to date. In June 2014 Shueisha reported that as of the 10th volume, 10.1 million copies had been printed. The series had a special released in October 2013 and will soon have a 3DS game to go alongside it's smartphone game.

Seiji Kishi (Persona 4 The Animation, Danganronpa The Animation, Devil Survivor 2 The Animation) is directing the anime at the studio Lerche. Kazuaki Morita (Persona 4 The Animation, Danganronpa The Animation, Arpeggio of Blue Steel) is designing the characters, and Makoto Uezu (Danganronpa The Animation, Arpeggio of Blue Steel, Is This a Zombie?, School Days) is writing the scripts.

Nagisa (as voiced by Mai Fuchigami), Kaede (Aya Suzaki), Karma (Nobuhiko Okamoto), Yuma (Ryota Ohsaka), and Hiroto (Shintarō Asanuma) sing the opening theme song "Seishun Satsubatsu-ron" (Youth Savage Theory) as a group named 3-nen E-gumi Utatan (Class 3-E Song Representatives) in the video. The music duo moumoon perform the anime's ending theme song, "Hello, shooting-star".

Fuji-TV is airing Assassination Classroom on late Friday nights from the 9th of January (effectively 1:20am Saturday morning)

Funimation has licensed the series for streaming in North America and Viz Media has started to release the manga in English, with the first volume being published in December 2014. Madman Entertainment is distributing Viz Media's version of Assassination Classroom in Australia and New Zealand with the first volume being released earlier this month.

The Rolling Girls

10 years after the Great Tokyo War, every prefecture in Japan has split into independent nations. Each nation is ruled by a prophet called "Mosa" that commands a "Mob" that competes with other nations to claim more territories. Four "Mob" girls from the Saitama clan, Nozomi, Yukina, Ai, Chiaya are ordered by their “Mosa” to travel around Japan riding their motor cycles to mediate multiple battles between nations and clans as they emerge.

The Rolling Girls is the first original television anime from Wit Studio (anime adaptations of Attack on Titan, Hōzuki no Reitetsu). Otomi Deai (second Silver Spoon season) is directing the anime alongside Yasuyuki Muto (Sengoku Basara: Samurai Kings franchise) writing the scripts. Artist tanu (Tari Tari) is responsible for the original character designs concepts and Katsuhiko Kitada (Hal) is responsible for adapting the character designs for animation.

The Rolling Girls will premiere on the 10th of January in Japan, Funimation Entertainment will be streaming the series as it airs for North America.

The anime's manga adaptation started in Mag Garden's Comic Garden magazine on October 4 and a four-panel manga started in Comic Blade on October 27.

Love Bullet: Yurikuma Arashi

A long time ago the plant Kumaria exploded, raining down meteors upon the earth that in turn lead to the bears on earth rising up and attacking humans. Humanity's salvation was in the form of the "Wall of Severance" separating the bears and ensuring a end to the hatred and war between races. Several years later two bears, Ginko Yurishiro and Lulu Yurigasaki, enroll at the human school known as Wuthering Heights Academy in disguise and soon become interested in the "transparent" school girl Kureha Tsubaki. But the fragile peace is shattered when the Bear Alarm is sounded and a return to hostilities between Bear and Girl begins.

Kunihiko Ikuhara (Revolutionary Girl Utena, Mawaru Penguindrum) is directing the anime at the studio SILVER LINK, and Etsuko Sumimoto (animation director on Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie Part 3: Rebellion, Honey and Clover II) is adapting the original character designs by manga creator Akiko Morishima for animation. Takayo Ikami (Penguindrum) is handling the series composition and Yukari Hashimoto (Toradora!, Upotte!!) is composing the music.

Morishima also launched the manga version of the story in Gentosha Comics' Monthly Comic Birz magazine in February.

Love Bullet: Yurikuma Arashi premiered on the 5th of January on Tokyo MX TV. Funimation has licensed the series for streaming in North America.

ANN has an anime spotlight for the series here and the review team has already watched the first episode so you can find out their thoughts on the matter here.

AnimeLab has already added the first episode, you can view the episode on AnimeLab.com.

Maria the Virgin Witch

In France during the Hundred Years' War, Maria is one of the most powerful witches of the era, intervening between warring nations utilising her magic to bring an end to the violence she despises. While Maria helps the people with her two familiars, a succubus and an incubus with great powers of seduction, her actions provoke the Church which consider Maria a heretic and more importantly draw the ire of Archangel Michael. In order to stop Maria's meddling in human affairs, Michael decrees that Maria will lose her powers if she publicly uses magic or loses her virginity and to ensure his decree is enacted, Michael sends down the angel Ezekiel to keep an eye on things.

Based on Masayuki Ishikawa's manga of the same name, Goro Taniguchi (Code Geass, Fantasista Doll, s-CRY-ed) is directing the adaptation at Production I.G off scripts written and supervised by Hideyuki Kurata (Read or Die, Oreimo, The World God Only Knows). Yuriko Chiba (Planetes, Sacred Seven, To Heart) is designing the characters with concept visual designs by Eiji Nakada (Code Geass, Eureka Seven, Sacred Seven). ZAQ (Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions!, Rail Wars!, Trinity Seven) is performing the opening theme song "Philosophy of Dear World," and True (Buddy Complex) is performing the ending theme song, "ailes."

Seiichi Shirato (Jormungand, Lupin III: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine, Mobile Suit Gundam AGE) is serving as chief researcher. Narumi Sakai is serving as the color key artist with Hiroshi Tanaka as the director of photography. Yasuhiro Mikami is directing the 3D and Seiji Morita is editing. Masato Kōda (Arpeggio of Blue Steel, Magical Warfare) is scoring the music at Lantis. Jin Aketagawa is the sound producer.

Masayuki Ishikawa launched the manga in the inaugural issue of Kodansha's good! Afternoon magazine in 2008, and the manga ended its run in this magazine in 2013. Ishikawa is also serialized a spinoff called Junketsu no Maria Exhibition (Maria the Virgin Witch Exhibition) from July 2014 until December 2014. Kodansha Comics announced at Anime Expo in July that it will start publishing the manga in North America in early 2015.

Ishikawa also drew the Moyashimon: Tales of Agriculture manga in Kodansha's Evening and Morning 2 magazines until this past January, and Del Rey published part of the manga in North America. Moyashimon inspired two television anime series and a live-action television series.

The anime series will premiere on Tokyo MX and other channels on January 11, 2015. Funimation will be streaming the series in North America.