The Crystal Ball - 2012 Anime Preview

Written by A. H. on 12 Dec 2011

For all of its controversies and problems (let us speak not of warehouse fires, Blu-Ray cancellations and the confusion surrounding the release of a certain mega-popular shounen series here), 2011 has been a pretty packed year for anime with a number of high-profile releases for us to enjoy here in the UK.

Thankfully, 2012 is looking all set to be similarly busy, with a stacked list of releases both confirmed and possible to look forward to alongside continuing releases of anime's big guns such as Bleach and Naruto Shippuden.  So, where will your money be going over the course of next year?  Allow us to offer some food for thought on what you should be saving your cash for in 2012.

Re-releases

They might not brand new, shiny series of recent pedigree, but 2012 guarantees us some great deals and exciting releases of older series and movies that have been granted a much-deserved new lease of life.

Unsurprisingly, Beez Entertainment's Anime Legends range leads the way here, with January bringing us a couple of exciting additions to that line-up.  Indeed, the year's first release on January 2nd is currently slated to be an Anime Legends release of Cowboy Bebop Remix, bringing Sunrise's classic anime in its remastered form to a deliciously low price point.  This is backed up later in the month by Code Geass R2, which supplements the release of the first season this year to deliver complete adventures of Lelouch and company at a bargain cost.

Next year also sees MVM Entertainment bringing a couple of much-loved series back into the public arena - we can't help but be excited by the news that February 6th will see Fruits Basket return to the UK in anime form via a complete series collection box set, with that undoubtable classic followed in March by Kiddy Grade receiving a similar box set treatment.

Fans of High Definition releases will finally have a Blu-Ray release of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society to look forward to next year, as it finally receives a release in this format from Manga Entertainment after promises to do so some time ago.  This won't be the 3D release which recently hit Japanese theatres sadly, but we'll never say no to more Ghost in the Shell.

An even older classic getting the Blu-Ray treatment alongside a DVD release next May is Roujin Z, Katsuhiro Otomo's 1991 movie which gets a brand new release courtesy of Kaze, meaning that you can finally throw out those old VHS tapes of the film at last!