Gurren Lagann, Gundam 00 Licensed By Bandai

A-ha! Okie, now it all makes sense. As you might recall from earlier this year, ADV went through various changes, and at one point even removed over 30 titles from its catalogue. Most of them returned at the end of February, however some didn't... And one in particular caught our attention: Gurren Lagann.

Well, as it turned out at the New York Comic Con from this past weekend, the Gurren Lagann anime is still planned for release in North America, although not by ADV anymore, but by Bandai Entertainment (in partnership with Aniplex). The surprising announcement was made during Bandai's panel at the show, and the good news is that it's coming quite soon - starting from July of this year, in a sub-only format for starters. Below are a few more details from ANN:

"In July, August, and September, the entire series will be brought out in a bare-bones sub-only format, at nine episodes per DVD. This will be followed in the first months of 2009 by a more standard release, containing both the original Japanese audio and a completely new English dub. Scenarios for online distribution are also being considered."

Finally a released not hampred by some shitty and totally useless English dubs. That's the spirit! Oh, and also during Bandai's panel, the company announced the upcoming release of Gundam 00 in North America. That's... super. So, anyway, I heard you liek Yoko.

Update: Might as well squeeze this here - Bandai also announced this Saturday that they will re-release Ghost in the Shell: Innocence (the second GitS animated movie) on DVD and Blu-ray. This will be their first title released in Blu-ray format, and it will include a new English dub - along with a subbed version with Japanese audio. No release date yet...