It is that time of year where MCM London Comic Con has returned (October 27th – 29th) and today UK distributor Anime Limited held a panel for 45 minutes going over their latest news and updates for what’s to come for the UK anime community. Here we have a rather surprising mix of new licenses as well as license rescues – titles that have been released in the UK in the past but will now return back in print.

One of the biggest reveals is Anime Limited will be distributing Naruto and Naruto Shippuden on Blu-ray in the UK, you can find out more information about the announcement here.

New License Announcements:

We’re going to start off with the new announcements which includes a few theatrical updates for 2024.

Lonely Castle in the Mirror

Lonely Castle in the Mirror (Kagami no Kojō) is a 2022 theatrical anime film based on the 2017 novel written by Mizuki Tsujimura. The film was produced by studio A-1 Pictures (Sword Art Online), and the staff credits include director Keiichi Hara (Birthday Wonderland), screenplay writer Miho Maruo (Pigtails), character designer Keigo Sasaki (Blue Exorcist) and music composer Harumi Fuuki (The Deer King).

Anime Limited have confirmed it will receive a UK theatrical release in 2024. GKIDS have licensed & released the film for North America with an English dub.

“Shy outcast Kokoro has been avoiding school for weeks when she discovers a portal in her bedroom mirror. She reaches through and finds herself transported to an enchanted castle where she is joined by six other students. When a girl in a wolf mask explains that they have been invited to play a game, the teens must work together to uncover the mysterious connection that unites them. However, anyone who breaks the rules will be eaten by a wolf.” Plot Synopsis via GKIDS

Blue Giant

Blue Giant is a 2023 theatrical anime film based on the 2013 manga written by Shinichi Ishizuka. The film was produced by studio NUT (The Saga of Tanya the Evil), and the staff credits include director Yuzuru Tachikawa (Death Parade), screenplay writers Number 8, character designer Yūichi Takahashi (Macross Frontier) and musicians Hiromi Uehara and Kazuma Jinnouchi (Ghost in the Shell SAC_2045).

Anime Limited have confirmed it will receive a UK theatrical release in 2024. GKIDS have licensed the film for North America.

“Dai Miyamoto’s life is turned upside down the day he discovers jazz. A former high school basketball player, Dai picks up a saxophone and begins practicing day and night, determined to become one of the greatest of all time. He leaves his sleepy hometown for the bustling nightclubs of Tokyo, but soon finds the life of a professional musician is not for the faint of heart. His passion eventually wins over the cocky but talented pianist Yukinori, and after Dai convinces his friend Shunji to learn the drums, they launch a new jazz trio whose rough sound contains a raw energy that quickly wins attention from local audiences. But what does it take to truly be great?” Plot Synopsis via GKIDS

Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor & Against All Rules

Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor (Gyakkyou Burai Kaiji) and Kaiji: Against All Rules (Gyakkyō Burai Kaiji: Hakairoku-hen) are two television anime series that aired in 2007 & 2011, both based on the 1996 manga written by Nobuyuki Fukumoto. Both seasons were produced by studio Madhouse (Death Note), and the staff credits include director Yuzo Sato (Police in a Pod), screenplay writer Hideo Takayashiki (Maison Ikkoku), character designer Haruhito Takada (Hunter × Hunter: Phantom Rouge) and music composed by Hideki Taniuchi (Death Note).

Anime Limited have confirmed it will receive a collector’s edition Blu-ray release. Sentai Filmworks have licensed & release the series for North America and recently been dubbing the series into English.

“Unemployed degenerate Kaiji Ito spent his time drinking, gambling, and racking up bills, and was sure that his life had hit rock bottom. Then that bottom fell out when Endo the Loan Shark arrived to inform him of a friend’s default on a loan that Kaiji foolishly co-signed, making Kaiji responsible for a soul crushing 3,000,000 yen! But there is one possible way out; if Kaiji goes to a secret gambling ship and plays successfully for one night, his debt could be absolved. It’s a trick, of course, but what choice does Kaiji have? Trapped into playing a series of increasingly ruthless contests that are hopelessly rigged against the players, Kaiji finds himself a pawn in a competition where the game pieces aren’t expected to survive… and the real players are all actively betting against KAIJI!” Plot Synopsis via Sentai Filmworks

Shirobako

Shirobako is an original 2014 television anime series by studio P.A. Works (Skip and Loafer), and the staff credits include director Tsutomu Mizushima (Genshiken), screenplay writer Michiko Yokote (Prison School), character designer Ponkan8 (My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU) and music composed by Shiroh Hamaguchi (One Piece).

Anime Limited have confirmed it will receive a collector’s edition Blu-ray release. Sentai Filmworks have licensed & released the series for North America with an English dub.

“Once upon a time, five girls made an animated film and it was so much fun that they pledged to get jobs in animation so that someday they could make another film together. Now, two years later, Aoi, Shizuka, Ema, Misa and Midori have learned the truth about the anime industry: it’s not always fun, it’s anything but easy, and having talent isn’t always enough to open the right doors. Which is why Aoi’s overwhelmed by her job as a production assistant, Shizuka’s waiting on tables between auditions, Midori’s currently scriptless, Misa’s switched to C.G., and Ema’s working long hours as a key animator. Is it what they imagined? No. But are they ready to give up? Not just yet! Sometimes, when things happen in animation, they can happen in the most wonderful ways in SHIROBAKO!” Plot Synopsis via Sentai Filmworks

Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Season 2

Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- (Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu) Season 2 is a 2020-21 television anime series based on the 2014 light novel written by Tappei Nagatsuki. The series was produced by studio White Fox (Goblin Slayer), and the staff credits include director Masaharu Watanabe (Granbelm), screenplay writer Masahiro Yokotani (Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai), character designer Kyuta Sakai (Higurashi: When They Cry) and music composer Kenichiro Suehiro (The Eminence in Shadow).

Anime Limited have confirmed it will receive a collector’s edition Blu-ray release. Crunchyroll have licensed & released the series for North America with an English dub.

Previously Crunchyroll UK were the first to announce the license with listings available for people to pre-order, only to then cancel the release because they didn’t have the rights for UK home video.

“After being suddenly transported to another world, Natsuki Subaru discovers a terrible truth – he can’t die. Or rather, he can’t remain dead. With this terrifying new ability, he experiences reset after reset and it begins to take its toll on his mental state. But, determined to protect his new friends and the woman he’s fallen in love with, Subaru suffers to save.” Plot Synopsis via Crunchyroll

Harmonie

Harmonie is an original 2014 short anime film produced by studio Rikka (Time of Eve) & Ultra Super Pictures (BanG Dream!), and the staff credits include director and writer Yasuhiro Yoshiura (Patema Inverted), character designer Atsushi Ikariya (Sabikui Bisco) and music composer Tomohisa Ishikawa (Kurokami the Animation). The film was part of the Anime Mirai 2014 line-up.

Anime Limited have confirmed it will receive a collector’s edition Blu-ray & DVD release which includes a 32-page booklet.

“Every person has his or her own little world. Among the 34 bustling students of classroom 2-1, there are many such worlds. Akio Honjō’s world — my world — is filled with passionate talk about last night’s anime with Yoshida, Watanabe, and other friends. It’s an fun, comfortable place…. But, I always wonder. Wonder about the world of Juri Makina, smiling and surrounded by gorgeous friends on the other side of the classroom. One day, I enter her world. But it’s not as simple as it sounds.” Plot Synopsis via Anime News Network

New License Rescues:

Next we have a batch of shows that have been released in the UK before but are now returning to home video under Anime Limited.

Kids on the Slope

Kids on the Slope (Sakamichi no Aporon) is a 2012 television anime series based on the 2007 manga written by Yuki Kodama. The series was produced by studios MAPPA (Jujutsu Kaisen) & Tezuka Productions (The Quintessential Quintuplets), and the staff credits include director Shinichirō Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop), screenplay writers Ayako Katō (Chihayafuru 2) & Yuuko Kakihara (Persona 4: The Animation), character designer Nobuteru Yuki (Space Battleship Yamato 2199) and music composer Yoko Kanno (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex).

Anime Limited have confirmed it will receive a collector’s edition Blu-ray release. Sentai Filmworks have licensed & released the series for North America with an English dub.

The series was previously released in the UK by distributor MVM Entertainment on Blu-ray and DVD in June 2013.

“Kaoru Nishimi has spent his life on the move, always struggling to fit in to new schools and having to push on just when he’d started to set down roots. But when he comes to stay with his extended family in seaside Kyushu, things will be different. Kaoru wanders through high school, meeting friends who change his life forever, and discovers a new kind of music that affects him like nothing ever has before.Ritsuko, the girl whose family owns the music store, and Sentaro, the high school delinquent, both set in motion Kaoru’s fascination with this amazing thing called Jazz. Fashions may change and fads come and go, but when you put a couple of musically obsessed teens together and let them follow their muse, magic is sure to happen in KIDS ON THE SLOPE.” Plot Synopsis via Sentai Filmworks

Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma Season 1

Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma is a 2015 television anime series based on the 2012 manga written by Yūto Tsukuda. The series was produced by studio J.C.Staff (Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?), and the staff credits include director Yoshitomo Yonetani (The King of Braves: GaoGaiGar), screenplay writer Shogo Yasukawa (Reign of the Seven Spellblades), character designer Tomoyuki Shitaya (If My Favorite Pop Idol Made it to the Budokan, I Would Die) and music composer Tatsuya Katō (Dr. STONE).

Anime Limited have confirmed it will receive a collector’s edition Blu-ray release. Sentai Filmworks have licensed & released the series for North America with an English dub.

The series was previously released in the UK by distributor Animatsu (founded by members of Manga Entertainment) on Blu-ray and DVD in August 2017.

“Ever since he was little, Soma Yukihira’s main goals have been to beat his father in a cooking contest and take over the family diner. That’s why, when his dad suddenly announces that he’s shutting the restaurant down and sending Soma to cooking school, Soma is shocked. However, Totsuki Academy is no ordinary cooking school. This elite institution is filled with culinary giants like Erina “God Tongue” Nakiri, who does her best to keep a lowly short-order like Soma from even making it inside the door. However, if the snobs can dish it out, Soma can serve it up, and when he learns that only a handful of the students manage to graduate every year, he swears that the only way he’ll leave is as number one! Will he make the cut, or will his pot boil over in the first season of Food Wars!” Plot Synopsis via Sentai Filmworks

Flowers of Evil

Flowers of Evil (Aku no Hana) is a 2013 television anime series based on the 2009 manga written by Shūzō Oshimi. The series was produced by studio ZEXCS (The Great Passage), and the staff credits include director Hiroshi Nagahama (Uzumaki), screenplay writer Aki Itami (The Comic Artists & His Assistants), character designer Shuichi Shimamura (Honey and Clover) and music composer Hideyuki Fukasawa (Fate/stay night [Unlimited Blade Works]).

Anime Limited have confirmed it will receive a collector’s edition Blu-ray release. Sentai Filmworks have licensed & released the series for North America.

The series was previously released in the UK by distributor MVM Entertainment on DVD in November 2015.

“It takes only a second for evil to take root in the human heart, and for Takao Kasuga, the germination begins when his obsession with his beautiful classmate Nanako leads him to steal her used gym clothes. Unfortunately, this loathsome act of theft is witnessed by Nakamura, the strange girl who sits behind Takao in class, and she quickly blackmails him into fulfilling her own dark obsessions. As Nakamura’s twisted tendrils worm their way into Takao’s miserable psyche, their relationship blossoms, entwining him in a nightmarish existence as her virtual slave. But what is Nakamura’s final goal? And will even poor Nanako be ultimately drawn in? The harvest has only begun as Takao finds himself led down the garden path to damnation when the seeds of sin and a soiled gym suit give birth to the FLOWERS OF EVIL.” Plot Synopsis via Sentai Filmworks

Parasyte -the maxim-

Parasyte -the maxim- (Kiseijū Sei no Kakuritsu) is a 2014 television anime series based on the 1988 manga written by Hitoshi Iwaaki. The series was produced by studio Madhouse (A Place Further Than the Universe), and the staff credits include director Kenichi Shimizu (All Out!!), screenplay writer Shoji Yonemura (Wave, Listen to Me!), character designer Tadashi Hiramatsu (Jujutsu Kaisen) and music composer Ken Arai (Pingu in the City).

Anime Limited have confirmed it will receive a collector’s edition Blu-ray release. Sentai Filmworks have licensed & released the series for North America with an English dub.

The series was previously released in the UK by distributor Animatsu (founded by members of Manga Entertainment) on Blu-ray and DVD in June 2016.

“They’re the perfect killing machines, blending invisibly into human civilization by taking the form of their last victim. For Shinichi Izumi, infected with a deadly parasitic organism that’s determined to devour his brain and turn his body into the Earth’s new apex predator, they’re the ultimate nightmare. But instead of being consumed, Shinichi manages to partially foil the attack, leaving him with the parasyte known as Migi taking the place of his right hand. Now forced to share the same body, the two must become unwilling allies. Because Migi isn’t the only one of his kind, and unless they work together, they’ll both be killed as abominations. Prepare yourself for a horrifying new world where monsters lurk behind every corner and every face as the human race becomes prey in PARASYTE ~ THE MAXIM.” Plot Synopsis via Sentai Filmworks

Akame ga Kill!

Akame ga Kill! is a 2014 television anime series based on the 2010 manga written by Takahiro. The series was produced by studio White Fox (Steins;Gate), and the staff credits include director Tomoki Kobayashi (Infinite Dendrogram), screenplay writer Makoto Uezu (KonoSuba), character designer Kazuhisa Nakamura (Jormungand) and music composer Taku Iwasaki (Bungo Stray Dogs).

Anime Limited have confirmed it will receive a collector’s edition Blu-ray release. Sentai Filmworks have licensed & released the series for North America with an English dub.

The series was previously released in the UK by distributor Animatsu (founded by members of Manga Entertainment) on Blu-ray and DVD in March 2016.

“When Tatsumi set off for the Capital, it was with fantasies of earning riches for his poverty-stricken hometown. Instead, his friends were murdered and Tatsumi finds himself at the center of a bloody revolution. With an evil Prime Minister, the Secret Police, and the armies of an Empire on one side, and the elite assassins known as Night Raid and a handful of rebels on the other, it might sound like an impossible battle for Tatsumi’s new allies to win. However the playing field is leveled with the addition of a legendary set of unstoppable weapons, the Imperial Arms. Unfortunately, to use an Imperial Arm is practically a death sentence in itself, for while the Arms are indestructible, few wielders can survive using them for long in AKAME GA KILL.” Plot Synopsis via Sentai Filmworks

New Packaging Artworks:

Last but not least Anime Limited also revealed a few upcoming home video releases with some new packaging artwork shown.

Great Pretender Deluxe Edition includes a 196-page book, double-sided A3 Poster & 10 art cards, all housed inside a rigid box. There’s also 5 Blu-ray discs and four Amaray cases (each Amaray represents a CASE storyline by the looks of it).

Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club Season 2 Collector’s Edition includes a 36-page book & 9 art cards, all housed inside a rigid box. There’s also 2 Blu-ray discs and one Amaray case.

Mobile Fighter G Gundam Collector’s Edition Part 1 will include a rigid box and a Damon Kasshu Family Photo. Collector’s Edition Part 2 is scheduled for Q1 2024. Each part will have 4 Blu-ray discs and an Amaray case.

That concludes all of the announcements revealed at the MCM London Comic Con October 2023 panel. Special credit & thanks to Anime in the UK and AUKN forum member HellCat for both live-tweeting the panel and taking photos of the announcements.