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Funimation Adds Gad Guard Robot Adventure Anime (Update 2)

The North American distributor FUNimation Entertainment has officially announced on Tuesday that it acquired the Gad Guard robot adventure anime series. The Gonzo anime studio produced this television anime series in 2003 under the direction of Hiroshi Nishikiori (Angelic Layer, Azumanga Daioh, Ghost Slayers Ayashi). The story is set several hundred years in the future when humans are living a shallow existence on a depleted Earth. A boy named Hajiki Sanada stumbles across a GAD — a magical stone that can reconstruct materials after being exposed to organic life. Hajiki's GAD transforms into a mighty "Techode" robot, and the boy soon encounter others with similar Techodes.

Another distributor, Geneon Entertainment, had released this anime series in North America in 2004 and 2005. However, 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, although Gad Guard was not named at the time. According to FUNimation's website for Gad Guard, the distributor will ship its release in 2009.

Image © Yoshitsune Izuna • GONZO • Hiroshi Nishikiori / TEAM GADGUARD

Update: More background information added.

Update 2: According to FUNimation's press release, the company acquired broadcast, digital, mobile, merchandise, and home Entertainment Rights to this 26-episode anime series directly from GDH, the parent company of Gonzo.