Long Beach, Calif. – Hot on the heels of the Geneon panel followed ADV’s time slot in Live Programming room 2 at Anime Expo 2007. While the waiting line for the Geneon panel was surprisingly long, those who stuck their backsides firmly to their seats afterward were spared the wait in another unending line. ADV heads and long-time (think fifteen years) anime fans Matt Greenfield and John Ledford took stage front and center to announce upcoming titles and answer attendee questions. The panel opened with a Q & A session, or was suppose to until it was decided that important announcements should be made first. No complaints.
In the moments before the first announcement, the panelists took a second to mention a shifting focus towards slow and steady releases throughout the year all the while providing fans with great deals of information. In brief: slow and steady wins the fans, indeed.
Without wasting anymore time, the lights dimmed and ADV unveiled its first upcoming title, Kyoshiro and the Eternal Sky. Slated for stateside release later this year, Kyoshiro tells the story of Kuu Shiratori, a young school girl who endures the doldrums of school life by fantasizing about her “prince” and the day when she is able to meet him. In a twist of fate, a new transfer student whose appearance uncannily resembles the prince from her dreams transfers into her class. His name is Kyoshiro Ayanokoji, and little does Kuu realize that his coming would set off a wondrous adventure filled with strange, mechanical creatures and magic to which the likes of are unknown to her young eyes.
The second announcement from ADV and an indifferent shrug from this writer followed quickly after the teaser trailer for the first announcement. The lights come back up then dim once again, and technical snafues aside, ADV shows off their second title, Gainax’s big hit series Gurren Lagaan. The show takes place in the distant future, in which humans are forced underground by oppressive beastmen and the hope of a bright future is laid upon the shoulders of a young driller named Simon and his cohorts Kamina and Yoko. With the help of a powerful weapon, the heroic trio fight back against the nefarious Beastmen and their Human Eradication Army to ensure the survival of mankind.
The currently running series recently met its halfway point of a total 26 episodes. No stateside release date has been announced.
ADV’s final announcement was Devil May Cry, a new series based on the popular videogame franchise published by Capcom. The show follows the game series mainstay Dante, a half-human, half-demon, and all-around badass demon hunter-for-hire. Through his business, “Devil May Cry”, services involving demon elimination may be contracted.
The Madhouse produced show is slated for American release in the winter of 2007, possibly to coincide with the release of the next installment of the game franchise, Devil May Cry 4, which sees release in the fourth quarter of this year.
Among the new announcements, ADV also mentioned some of its other upcoming titles such as Air Tv, Xenosaga, Welcome to the NHK, and 5cm per Second.
With the announcements over and done with, ADV opened the panel for questions and comments. The questions and comments ran the gamut from requests to do a certain project to queries about MIA projects long overdue (I.E. The 10th Anniversary Evangelion box set). However, there was one question that sparked interest in the audience - Will the U.S. Voice cast return for the upcoming Rebuild of Evangelion project? Matt Greenfield and John Ledford expressed their interest in the project and definitely seemed genuinely excited about its progress, but aside from that little tidbit, there was no official confirmation.