Well, they say good news comes in threes, and that has very little to do with this chunk of good news about free stuff. In an attempt to show their love for the fans, Bandai Entertainment is both relaunching their AnimeVillage website, and offering up a free, streaming episode of Eureka 7. This is all part of their grand plan to start up a digital distribution service. You know, like Steam or iTunes. Anyway, the Eureka 7 episode will be up for a week starting April 16th, and will also be available for purchase and download during that time. Wouldn't it be awesome if they used a Matroska wrapper so that they could get multi track audio and subtitles? And then, fairies would come down with cake and lollipops for everyone.
>>A full press release waits in the dark corners of the After the Jump club.
>>Examine grue
>>The grue is a sinister, lurking presence in the dark places of the earth. Its favorite diet is adventurers, but its insatiable appetite is tempered by its fear of light. No grue has ever been seen by the light of day, and few have survived its fearsome jaws to tell the tale.
March 31, 2006 (Cypress, Ca) – Bandai Entertainment Inc., a member of the “Eureka Project” (which includes Studio Bones, Bandai, Bandai Visual, and Hakuhodo) announced today that it’s new series Eureka SeveN will debut Saturday April 15th on Cartoon Network’s premiere anime block, Adult Swim. But those who can’t wait to get a look at the new series can see a sneak peek of Episode 1 on Cartoon Network’s free streaming venue, Friday Night Fix on Friday, April 14th, 2006, during the hours of 10pm-2am. This will be the first anime series to have a digital distribution premiere before the TV broadcast. This will be followed by one week of free streaming on Bandai Entertainment’s revived online channel, Animevillage.com. Then in the second week a purchasable streaming and download of the episode will be available. This pattern will repeat with every subsequent episode.
Eureka SeveN, produced by Studio Bones, who created smash hits like Cowboy Bebop-the movie and Full Metal Alchemist, just received top honors at the 2006 Tokyo International Anime Fair (TAF) that took place March 23-26th. It won the “Award for Best TV series” and for the individual categories, creator and script writer Dai Sato has received the “Award for Best Script” and Ken Yoshida has received the “Award for Best Character Design.” The series focuses on Renton, a young boy in a world where “lifting” (an extreme form of hoverboarding) is common. Renton’s life is changed forever by a mysterious and beautiful young girl named Eureka.
“We are very excited to have our new series join the Adult Swim line-up and to be able to offer the first ever simultaneous streaming of an anime series,” said Bandai Entertainment President Ken Iyadomi.
Eureka SeveN will also screen at the 2006 National Cherry Blossom Festival in two venues: on March 25th it will be screened theatrically in a 200 capacity seat venue followed by an April 8th Jumbo Vision outdoor screening which is expected to bring 100,000 attendees.
The Eureka SeveN DVD, manga, and soundtrack will be released on April 25th by Bandai Entertainment in a special edition collector’s box set, with a stand alone edition of the manga coming out the same day, and a stand alone soundtrack to follow.
For more information go to: eurekaseven.bandai-ent.com
April 1st, 2006 at 5:26 pm
Well, if this isn't neat then I don't know what is. Thanks
April 1st, 2006 at 10:10 pm
Hopefully, they will do a single episode try before you buy service sort of thing. I would certainly like to see a first episode of a series and then decide if I want it. I would be more likely to make continuous purchases that way. So, here's hoping they run with this concept a bit farther.
It'll be good for all of us to be able to get stuff legally and easily online. So long as they offer subbed AND dubbed (either seperately or in one file) it will see a lot of business.