Online Simulcast of One Piece

A lot of fans will be happy to hear this

Starting Saturday, May 30th at 9:00 p.m. CDT, just one hour after airing in Japan, FUNimation and the consortium will stream the first, free, professionally-produced, accurately English-subtitled “One Piece” series episode beginning with episode 403 via the official One Piece website www.onepieceofficial.com followed soon thereafter by FUNimation partner sites.

Each new episode of the current season will be rolled out weekly as “One Piece” continues its Japanese television run.

Read more about it here.

Tears To Tiara Simulcast

Animax Asia in historical broadcast deal to offer world’s first same-time simulcast of an anime TV series with Tears to Tiara, premiering 06 Apr 09, airing Mondays 12.35am (SEA/PH/HK/TW) on Animax (Astro Channel 715), simultaneous to the series’ 1.35am (Tokyo) debut in Japan on Chiba TV.

“The inaugural deal to bring Tears to Tiara to Animax viewers across Asia simultaneous with viewers in Japan is a milestone not only for Animax Asia, but also for the anime business as the speed of international broadcast is brought to its pinnacle. We are very proud to provide viewers with what was previously seemingly impossible,”

said Gregory Ho, Vice President & General Manager, Animax Asia.

Tears to Tiara is set in a magical and fantasy medieval world. The story unfolds with the Divine Empire’s rise to power as it conquers lands far and wide.

The island of Erin is still ruled by the Ancient Kingdom, and the Goidelic people are attempting to sacrifice priestess Riannon to revive protagonist and demon king Arawn to lead the resistance against the Empire.

Although the ritual fails and Riannon survives, Arawn’s seal is broken and resurrected.

Armed with mysterious and devastating powers as well as a human’s demeanour, Arawn joins Riannon, her brother and battalion commander Arthur, along with their team of fighters comprising a swordsman, an archer and a quintet of pixies, in an epic struggle against the Divine Empire.

Tears to Tiara draws its inspiration from the gaming arena where it originates as a captivating fantasy role-playing game on the PC and Sony PlayStation 3 platforms. Published by Aquaplus, the Japanese games publisher behind titles like ‘To Heart’ and ‘Utawarerumono’, the ‘Tears to Tiara’ game proved so popular that it sold out across Asia at Sony as of March 2009.

via Animax-Asia.

Latest Naruto Shippuden Series In US - Same Day as In Japan

For the first time, VIZ Media will stream an all-new episode of Naruto Shippuden online the same day it first airs in Japan. The episode will stream for free with English subtitles on March 26 at the Naruto Shippuden official US website, www.naruto.com. This is the first time that the official U.S Naruto web site will simulcast an episode with the broadcast in Japan.

The web site is the ultimate destination for anything Naruto and currently contains nearly 100 full-length Naruto episodes, all offered in high quality streaming video, and is completely free for viewers,

says Ken Sasaki, VP of strategy and business development, VIZ Media.

Looks like more US sites are following the trends of showing Anime series at the same day it airs in Japan.