News
FUNimation Licenses Gonzo's Last Exile Anime
posted on by Egan Loo
The North American distributor FUNimation Entertainment has announced on Friday that it licensed Gonzo's Last Exile alternate-world anime series. Director Kōichi Chigira (Full Metal Panic!, Gate Keepers, The Tower of Druaga: The Aegis of Uruk), character designer Range Murata (Blue Submarine No.6, Mardock Scramble, The Animatrix), and production designer Mahiro Maeda (Blue Submarine No.6, Mardock Scramble, The Animatrix) worked on this 26-episode television series in 2003.
The story is set in a world that combines 19th-century geopolitics with steampunk flying vehicles. Claus and Lavia are young couriers who take on assignments in their flying Vanship. Their latest "cargo" is a mysterious 11-year-old girl who is the key in the war brewing between two sky-faring factions.
Another distributor, Geneon Entertainment (USA) Inc. (formerly Pioneer), had released this anime series in North America in 2003 and 2004. Then, Geneon Entertainment ceased in-house distribution of its own titles in September 2007. FUNimation announced at Anime Expo 2008 this past July that it agreed to manufacture, sell, and distribute selected DVD titles from Geneon Entertainment in North America. However, Last Exile was not licensed from Gonzo's corporate parent GDH until now.
Image © 2003 GONZO/Victor Entertainment•GDH
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