I wasn’t planning on going over everything that happened at AWA, especially since I wasn’t even there. (Crisu was though!) But since tons of very relevant tidbits happened there, I might as well summarize them here.

First of all, Funimation indirectly confirmed that yes, the release date-less D.Gray-man will be dubbed (dunno if we knew that already or not, but their website says nada on the matter) by saying at their panel that they have started recording the voices. (Giapet’s panel report included that news; the report also briefly mentions Nanoha, Fullmetal Alchemist and Ouran, so check it!) There is, of course, still absolutely no word on DGM’s dub VAs, because they’re Funimation and they love keeping us in the dark in suspense. Strangely, Nanoha went almost completely unmentioned at AWA; the season 1 DVD box set has been confirmed by various distributors (not by Funi’s website, notably!) for a November 11 release date.

Nextly, Code Geass R2 will start airing on Adult Swim in October right after season one ends. That’s really, really soon after the series ends in Japan. Kudos to Bandai for getting that license taken care of so fast. Also, Rolo’s voice in R2 will be provided by Spike Spencer, the voice of Shinji Ikari in Evangelion. IMHO, it’s a solid choice that will improve fans’ opinions of the dub, for sure. No info yet on Hayate no Gotoku!, Shigofumi, sola or True Tears releases, or a Macross Frontier license. (That would be lovely, Bandai.) (Also via Giapet, fabulous blogging there gia! :D)

Bandai also mentioned putting Gurren-Lagann and Gundam 00’s entire series on iTunes soon, and Funimation will be adding Witchblade to iTunes, according to ANN’s panel reports.

Finally, as mentioned in a previous article, Cartoon Network announced Saturday that its Toonami animation block would be ending for good; more on that here. Old School Fridays (an Adult Swim anime block) is also being taken off the air, according to another ANN panel report. What bumtastic announcements to make at a con…

~CJ