NIS America Licenses Katanagatari and Arakawa Under the Bridge

by Naruleach
Apr 15, 2011 8:38 PM | 41 Comments

According to their official website, NIS America announced their licenses for Katanagatari and Arakawa Under the Bridge. Both series will be released in a Blu-ray Disc and DVD combination pack with English subtitles.

Katanagatari Volume 1 Premium Edition will be released on July 5, 2011 with the second volume being released in September. Volume 1 will include 6 episodes on 2 Blu-ray discs and 2 DVDs with a hard cover art. Included is also a book titled “Togame’s Travelogue.”

Katanagatari on NIS America's site

Arakawa Under the Bridge Volume 1 Premium Edition will contain all of the 13 episodes from season 1 and will also be released on July 5, 2011. Included is a 30+ page, full color, hardcover art book.

Arakawa Under the Bridge on NIS America's site

Sources: NIS America, NIS America's Katanagatari press release, NIS America's Arakawa Under the Bridge press release

20 of 41 Comments Recent Comments

AironicallyHuman said:
Going on the little I know about NIS, they don't make many copies of their releases and charge a lot. This means their titles go OOP quickly and are expensive. Their "Premium" release style also adds to the costs.

OOP quickly? Volume 1 of Toradora's the only one to go out of print so far, and it took nine months. Even then it doesn't really matter because they're going to release it later in a regular edition.

Apr 17, 2011 8:22 PM by Kippy

Those covers are really cute!!

Apr 17, 2011 4:52 PM by ImNotLulexiaa

And this is why I love NIS.

This gives me hope that they'll also pick up Madoka and Bakemonogatari.

Apr 17, 2011 3:09 PM by Seasonreaper

I can finally give purchase to one two of my all-time-favorite Anime.

Apr 17, 2011 1:03 PM by RickyFromVegas

Kyzix said:

I hope they don't dub them. I'm not a fan of dubs in general, but Katanagatari and Arakawa Under the Bridge would just not work very well dubbed at all.

And exactly who is forcing you to watch this dub?

Apr 17, 2011 9:30 AM by Lindle

Onibokusu said:

Kyzix said:

I hope they don't dub them. I'm not a fan of dubs in general, but Katanagatari and Arakawa Under the Bridge would just not work very well dubbed at all.

They'd work fine, don't be a hater.

I'll be definitely buying these releases, that packaging is just awesome. NIS America may not have the kind of budget to dub anime yet, but they certainly have enough to product good products.

While I can't speak for Arakawa and while they would definitely "work fine", Katanagatari is drenched in eastern uses and painted with word jokes that are vital to the story and great dialogue that is inherently Japanese in the way the author is renowned for.

It would "work fine" as a dub, but it would hardly be Katanagatari.

Apr 17, 2011 7:06 AM by Likewise

So happy.

Apr 17, 2011 6:33 AM by Centent

Going on the little I know about NIS, they don't make many copies of their releases and charge a lot. This means their titles go OOP quickly and are expensive. Their "Premium" release style also adds to the costs.

I'll keep on ete on Katanagatari at the very least because of how appealing period pieces with romantic subplots are to me. Maybe Arakawa because of its popularity, too. But with me being in the UK, the cost of importing will probably prove too much of a turn-off, in this instance...

Apr 17, 2011 6:30 AM by AironicallyHuman

I have a feeling that this is related to NIS bringing Weiss Schwarz over here. They're just trying to get all of the licenses to all of the sets.
Expect to hear a license announcement for Bakemonogatari, Macross F, and Index II/Railgun soon.

Apr 16, 2011 9:35 PM by cr4sian_phil

Kyuubey said:
I'm actually disappointed. NIS seems to have a bad time with sales. For example I looked on Amazon for Working!! which was just released last month and it seems to essentially be out of stock with only one copy available for $70. The same thing seems to be happening with Toradora.

Unlike Funimation, NIS is more niche-oriented, like Atlus really. And just like Atlus they tend to make small prints, only increasing them if the demand far exceeds their expectations. Also, while I wouldn't say there isn't a chance for a true dub, NIS doesn't aim for mainstream appeal like Funi, so the cheaper english sub/japanese audio combo is likely more attractive to them.

BTW, if NIS is really selling the Toradora anime, I will try to get my hands on it. NIS as a whole seems far more dedicated to their fans. It doesn't surprise me that they've gotten on the anime scene considering their games are pretty much stylized the same way.

Apr 16, 2011 6:27 PM by Leon-Gun

awesome :D

will buy this for sure :P

Apr 16, 2011 5:15 PM by SomaHeir

Hopefully Katanagatari gets dubbed. Arakawa Under the Bridge dubbed just wouldnt sound right imo, but if it is done, I'll be looking forward to the release anyway.

Apr 16, 2011 4:08 PM by chocolaetmaelk

Always loved NIS and it's nice seeing them release anime now especially these two titles. A pleasant surprise.

Apr 16, 2011 1:55 PM by PF

McRib said:
Now license Bakemonogatari and I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

This, so hard.

Onibokusu said:
NIS America may not have the kind of budget to dub anime yet, but they certainly have enough to product good products.

And they definitely have a dedication to it that you can't even expect out of the big domestic licensing companies. When was the last time you saw a company admit they screwed up on authoring and have an option for customers to be sent properly mastered replacements for free*? I certainly don't remember Bandai doing it with the early Mai-HiME discs, despite those things' horrible reputation (I saw screenshots; it was a blended mess, far far worse than what NIS was making up for).

*This happened with Toradora Vol.1 - this is why Vol.2's release was pushed back by a month or two, and the resultant discs (in Vol.2 and the replacement Vol.1) are probably the most pristine DVDs I've ever seen released in North America, video quality-wise.

Apr 16, 2011 1:40 PM by qyot27

Yes, yes, awesome, finally something worth being watched is licensed! Love Katanagatari. Roar.

Apr 16, 2011 10:48 AM by DragonsWhip

oh hell ya, thank you nis america.

Apr 16, 2011 10:46 AM by musashi7

Might just have to go out and get Katanagatari when it's released... If nothing else for that last episode. That was one amazing finale.

Apr 16, 2011 10:01 AM by Kippercha

nice i really like the both of them

Apr 16, 2011 9:56 AM by Mr_Gutts

Kazeshini said:
i'll be getting my hands on them when they're released

Same, Arakawa is an anime I've wanted to pick up since it came out, and Katanagatari is a series that I haven't watched, but have been planning to for awhile.

The covers seem great! Although truthfully, I'll wait until a sale goes on, so it'll be a while till I end up buying them after they're released.

Apr 16, 2011 8:33 AM by xXC64Xx

i thought they were a gaming company? interesting. i may purchase arakawa if i get the dinero.

Apr 16, 2011 8:22 AM by Algazero

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