license

Yesterday, anime licensor/publisher Bandai Entertainment announced that they will no longer release DVDs or Blu-Rays. According to an interview at Anime News Network with Ken Iyadomi today, the decision was made in October by parent company Namco Bandai Holdings. February will be the last month they release anime and all planned releases for after then are cancelled. Cancelled titles include Yoshiyuki Tomino-directed Turn A Gundam. Their entire manga division is also cancelled. However, they will continue to handle licensing and sub-licensing for "group companies". Iyadomi added his gratitude to the fanbase for supporting the company. 

Funimation has announced that it has licensed Dragon Ball Kai, the new version of Dragon Ball Z now airing in Japan on Fuji TV. Kai is a cut of the show touched up for HD, with some redrawn scenes and filler removed for a smoother pace that resembles Akira Toriyama's manga. A new musical score has been composed by Kenji Yamamoto, known for his work on Dragon Ball Z video games like the Budoukai series, Burst Limit, Infinite World, and Raging Blast. Most of the original Japanese cast, including Masako Nozawa (Son Goku/Gohan/Goten), Ryo Horikawa (Vegeta), Toshio Furukawa (Piccolo) have returned to their original roles, but some roles have been recast, such as Aya Hirano as Dende.