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Funi Adds Seikishi, Yamato: R, One Piece: Strong World, Fairy Tail Film, Akira (Updated)

North American anime distributor Funimation announced at its Otakon panel on Saturday that it has licensed the following anime: Tenchi Muyo! War on Geminar (Isekai no Seikishi Monogatari), Space Battleship Yamato Resurrection, One Piece Film Strong World, the Fairy Tail: Hōō no Miko film, and Akira. In addition, the company has added additional rights to Aquarion EVOL, Lupin III: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine, Sankarea, and Maken-Ki! Battling Venus. The company has also licensed season two of Fairy Tail and season five of One Piece.

Funimation has acquired the streaming, broadcast, home entertainment, video on demand, pay-per-view, and DTO/DTR rights to the Tenchi Muyo! War on Geminar video anime series. With this series, Funimation has now acquired the streaming, home entertainment, theatrical, and merchandise rights to most of the Tenchi Muyo! anime franchise. Tenchi Muyo! War on Geminar is set in an alternate world called Geminar, where countries have fought endless wars with replicas of humanoid Seikishi weapons that they found in ancient ruins. 15-year-old Kenshi Masaki, the half-brother of Tenchi Muyo! protagonist Tenchi Masaki, is summoned from Earth to Geminar. The 13-episode original video anime series was originally released in 2009-2010.

The company has acquired the home entertainment rights to Space Battleship Yamato Resurrection. The anime film, which was the first film from the Yamato space opera franchise in 26 years, opened in Japan in December 2009. The film is set in 2220, or 21 years after the first Yamato story and 17 years after the story of the last film, Final Yamato. A 320,000-kilometer-wide black hole threatens Earth, so 300 million people set a course for Amaaru, 27,000 light years away. The transport fleet is attacked, and the new Yamato battleship leads the counterstrike. 38-year-old Susumu Kodai, the hero of the first series, is now a space captain, and he has a daughter named Miyuki with his wife Yuki (the heroine of the first series).

Funimation has the home entertainment rights to the Fairy Tail film, Fairy Tail: Hōō no Miko. The film revolves around a mysterious girl named Éclair who appears before Fairy Tail, the world's most notorious wizard's guild. She lost all of her memories, except for the imperative that she must deliver two Hōōseki (Phoenix Stones) somewhere. The stones may spell the collapse of the magical world, and Natsu, Lucy, and the rest of the Fairy Tail guild are caught up in the intrigue. Hiro Mashima, the creator of the original Fairy Tail manga, is in charge of story planning and visual design for the film's all-new plot, and he is also drafting the guest character designs and image concept art. The film opens in Japan on August 18.

Funimation has the home entertainment rights to One Piece Film Strong World. The 10th anime film based on Eiichiro Oda's One Piece pirate manga opened in Japan in December 2009. Oda personally oversaw this film's production. The film features the Straw Hat pirates traveling back to East Blue and battling the legendary pirate Shiki after he kidnaps Nami.

The company has also acquired home entertainment rights to an additional 24 episodes of Fairy Tail, and the fifth season of One Piece. The fifth season of One Piece will include episodes 264–336, which spans the entire Enies Lobby arc and ends with the ice hunter arc. One Piece Season 5 will be released in summer 2013.

Funimation revealed it has acquired the home entertainment rights to Katsuhiro Otomo's film Akira. Bandai Entertainment had previously reissued the film on DVD in February of this year, and the most recent U.S. reissue before that was a Blu-ray Disc in February 2009 by Bandai Visual USA. Streamline Pictures and Geneon Entertainment released the film in the past.

Funimation revealed it has added home entertainment rights to the Aquarion EVOL television anime series. The anime production studio Satelight had announced earlier on Saturday that Funimation has the streaming rights to the series.

Funimation also announced it has added the home entertainment and digital rights to the Lupin III: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine television anime series. Funimation previously revealed it acquired the streaming rights to the series in April, and the company streamed the series as it aired in Japan. In addition, Funimation has added the broadcast, home entertainment, theatrical, and merchandise rights to Sankarea. The company streamed this series as it aired in Japan as well.

Lastly, Funimation has added the home entertainment, broadcast, pay per view, and merchandise rights to the Maken-Ki! Battling Venus television anime series. Funimation and the video-streaming service Niconico had streamed the series as it aired in Japan last year. Hiromitsu Takeda's original Maken-Ki! manga centers around Takeru Ōyama, a boy enrolled in an elite school where the girls (and boys) fight with mysterious items called Maken. The student body includes the enigmatic girl Kodama, a girl named Inaho who calls herself Takeru's fiancée, and his childhood friend Haruko.

Update: More information about Tenchi Muyou franchise added.

Update: Funimation does not have the rights to the complete Tenchi Muyo! anime franchise, as the company does not have the license to some of the OVA series.

Update: Funimation told ANN in October 2015 that it has not licensed Space Battleship Yamato Resurrection as it was written in the press release, and that this announcement should refer to the Space Battleship Yamato live-action film.