leetNEET

Sentai Filmworks made several new announcements yesterday at their industry panel at Anime Expo 2011. Aside from upcoming new releases such as Samurai Girls, Kaichou wa Maid-sama, Kobato & MM! to name a few, they also had new announcements to make.

They will be releasing season 2 of Hell Girl (Jigoku Shoujo) come October 2011. Clannad season 1 in November of 2011 and Loup-Garous in either October or November.

Also announced are the following series with no date.

• ef: a tale of memories
• ef: a tale of melodies
• Saiyuki: Requiem OVAs
• Ro-Kyu-Bu! (which will air this coming season)
• Golgo 13

Source: [ANN]

Since Hatsune Miku came out four years ago, VOCALOID has become popular not just in Japan but also overseas. What many don't remember is that Miku was one of the voices of the second generation of VOCALOID character products, with the first generation featuring the less widely known (though no less beloved) MEIKO and KAITO. Now, there's going to be a third generation of VOCALOID.

Straight from the VOCALOID panel at Anime Expo (courtesy of a picture from twitter user ashleyseto), is news that VOCALOID3 will be set for release this fall. While details of VOCALOID3 have been revealed a while ago - such as the new program's ability to create not only Japanese and English songs but also Spanish, Chinese, and Korean songs - the panel marks the first instance of a release timeframe being given. In addition, VOCALOID3 will feature the separation of the VOCALOID Editor and Singer Library, as well as the ability to import the VOCALOID2 libraries.

Bandai announced at their Anime Expo panel earlier today, that they have the rights to The Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi movie. A DVD release is scheduled for September 20^th 2011. Now everyone can bring Haruhi back to school with them this Autumn.

Bandai also announced that the following anime series and films have been licensed for Blu-Ray release:

• 5 Centimeters per Second
• Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo, a.k.a. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
• Turn A Gundam (∀ Gundam)

For our Anime streamers, Bandai announced that they have the rights to Sacred Seven and will be streaming it on Hulu and Crunchyroll, beginning July 8^th.

And finally for our Manga readers: Gundam 00I and Lucky Star Boo Boo KagaBoo mangas have both been licensed! Both series are spinoffs.

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There's not a lot of information out yet, but according to a tweet by Crunchyroll at this year's Anime Expo, Crypton - the company behind Vocaloid's KAITO and Miku - might be "investigating possibility of creating English Kaito with original voice".

This piece of news, along with the announcement at last year's New York Comic Con that Hatsune Miku would get an English version if enough fans "liked" her page on Facebook (and the page eventually received more than that number), along with an announcement that work on English Miku would be underway, has established that VOCALOID, long considered an otaku niche, could finally be reaching mainstream status.

We will have more details as they become available.