In a double-edged development for anime fans, Crunchyroll and Sony have officially acquired the US theatrical distribution rights for the upcoming and highly-anticipated cinematic entries in the Blue Lock, Haikyu!!, and Overlord series.
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On the second day of this year’s CinemaCon, Crunchyroll revealed that the Sony owned anime streaming platform had acquired the North American and select global rights for the cinematic anime adaptations of Blue Lock spin off Episode Nagi, the first part of the Hailkyu!! Final duology Decisive Battle at The Garbage Dump, and the third cinematic entry to the Overlord anime franchise The Sacred Kingdom.
Set right after the anime’s fourth season Haikyu!! To the Top, Decisive Battle at the Garbage Dump is the first entry of the Haikyu!! Final film duology intended to serve as the conclusion to Production I.G.’s anime adaptation of Haruichi Furudate’s beloved volleyball manga. The first Haikyu!! Final movie Decisive Battle at the Garbage Dump will cover the Karasuno High School’s Crows highly anticipated decisive clash against the Cats of Nekoma High School.
Haikyu!! Final Movie Decisive Battle at The Garbage Dump will spike into North American theaters in Japanese with English subtitles and English language dub on May 31st
The cinematic anime adaptation of Kouta Sannomiya and Yusuke Nomura Blue Lock spinoff manga, Episode Nagi is a retelling of Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura Blue Lock story from soccer prodigy Nagi Seishiro’s (CV: Nobunaga Shimazaki – Hayato Suou in Wind Breaker) perspective starting from his life changing encounter with best friend Reo Mikage (CV: Yuuma Uchida – Sunraku in Shangri-La Frontier) through the treacherous Blue Lock project.
Crunchyroll and Sony Pictures Entertainment will kick off Blue Lock The Movie -Episode Nagi- into North American theaters in Japanese with English subtitles and English language dub on June 28th
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Picking up where the anime’s fourth season left off, Madhouse’s third cinematic anime entry to the Overlord anime franchise, The Sacred Kingdom adapts The Paladin of the Holy Kingdom Arc of Kugane Maruyama and So-Bin’s fantasy isekai light novel.
In order to stop Demon Emperor Jaldabaoth’s invasion, Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom sees Sorcerer King of the titular Sacred Kingdom Ains Ooal Gown’s undead army joins forces with the kingdom’s enemies in the neighboring human territory the Slane Theocracy to take on the Demon Emperor’s evil demi-human army.
At the time of this writing, Crunchyroll and Sony Pictures Entertainment have yet to confirm the North American theatrical release dares for Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom.
Further, before fans rush out to buy tickets, it should be noted that neither entity have yet to promise that any of the three films will release without any unnecessary alterations made to its English-language dub and subtitle scripts.
As such, audiences should be wary that there remains a stark possibility, especially in light of Crunchyroll’s recent controversies related to the matter, that screenings of each may end up being censored or filled with ideological buzzwords in some way.