iwNEWS: iTunes goes anime

Some of the world's best Anime series including Desert Punk," Speed Grapher and Akira Kurosawa's "Samurai 7 are available on the iTunes Store. FUNimation Entertainment, with the market share of the home video sales for Japanese animation in the United States, struck a deal with Apple to allow download of its top titles for $1.99 (U.S.) per episode.

Said Cary Deacon, CEO of Navarre Corporation, FUNimation's parent company, "Bringing this compelling content to iTunes is a first step in Navarre's new digital distribution initiative."

FUNimation anime series available for immediate purchase and download on iTunes include:

"Desert Punk"

This series is a fresh take on traditional anime. It is a stark and darkly comedic series that employs strikingly realistic weaponry, alongside gritty and rough character design. Desert Punk shocks those who think they know what "anime" looks like! It is a bold new direction in both story and style.

"Speed Grapher"

Speed Grapher is a stylish near-future action series full of intensity, forbidden lust and conspiracy. Using a fast-moving, high stakes plotline, the series breaks new ground with its realistic, fashionable character design and acrobatic fight choreography. Speed Grapher creates an experience that is founded on great story and real-world trendsetter style, but is also laced with exactly the kind of cool tech and sci-fi elements that make anime so unique! This combination is geared specifically to attract fans outside of anime circles as well as satisfy the core anime audience.

Akira Kurosawa's "Samurai 7"

At long last, an anime retelling of the legendary Akira Kurosawa epic, Seven Samurai. Akira Kurosawa has inspired generations of filmmakers and Samurai 7 is the anime retelling of the legendary Kurosawa epic, Seven Samurai. Samurai 7 is set in a futuristic world that has just seen the end of a massive war. Many villages are being terrorized by Nobuseri bandits, but the Nobuseri are no normal bandits. They were once men, but during the war they modified themselves with machines to become living weapons and now appear as more machine than man. A group of villagers decide to hire samurai to protect their village. These men of valor are as skilled as they are unique.