BROCCOLI/SYNCH POINT: The budding Synch Point and Broccoli had quite a lot to offer at this year's Otakon. Their first announcement was their Broccoli Books line, which is their manga division. Their first title to be released will be DiGi Charat Theatre: Digiko's Summer Vacation, which is the first of a series of many DiGi Charat manga. The DiGi Charat Theater novels will be a compilation of DiGi Charat stories done by various artists. Packed along with the regular comic stories will be the DiGi Charat line's infamous Gema Gema comics (where DiGi Charat was "born"), an interview with Koge Donbo, and comments from various members of the DiGi Charat artists, and even the president of Broccoli himself! The manga will read in right-to-left format with translations for dialogue and sound effects. The graphic novels are planned to hit reatail at an MSRP of $9.99. After Digiko's Summer Vacation, Broccoli Books will be bringing out DiGi Charat Theatre: Pyoko is Number One, which will be a compilation, like Digiko's Summer Vacation. Also announced was DiGi Charat Theatre: Leave it to Piyoko, which focuses more on Piyoko and the Black Gema Gema Gang, which will be released over two volumes. Moving away from DiGi Charat, Broccoli announced that it would be releasing Galaxy Angel by Kanan. Galaxy Angel is currently at three volumes in Japan and is still continuing. Broccoli gladly proclaimed its acquisition of Juvenile Orion. Following Juvenile Orion, DiGi Charat Theatre: Digiko's Adventure will see release.

Next on the Agenda, Broccoli announced Synch Point's products and projects. Starting with the premiere of the FLCL trailer, Synch Point moved on to their product announcements. Their first title to note, I'm Gonna Be an Angel! was given a "coming soon" status. Synch Point was happy to announce the DiGi Charat Movie, which wil feature a 30 minute run time, and a boatload of extras. Along with the DiGi Charat Movie, DiGi Charat: Leave it to Pyoko! was announced. Leave it to Piyoko is a six-episode OVA series that revolves around Digiko's "nemises", the Black Gema Gema Gang... Piyoko Specifically. While only six episodes are confirmed, it was hinted that two episodes of Leave it to Piyoko that were bundled with a DiGi Charat Playstation 2 game could see release in this package.

For overseas news, Broccoli has announced that it will be starting a new anime series: "The Samurai, and the Lord" which will be a joint project with Gainax. Not many details were given, other than the fact that Gainax was reluctant to work with Broccoli on this, and would take around two years to finish it.

MANGA: Manga opened with the panel with a stunning announcement. Rumors had been flying around as to whether or not Manga was being sold. The Manga representatives confirmed this rumor and clarified the situation. Basically, Manga will be sold away from its parent company, which will give Manga a bit more freedom as to what to release and how to do things. However, a buyer is unknown at the moment. Fortunatelly, the company will retain its licenses so it is safe to say that Manga will not be out of the running completely. Sadly, because of the situation, Manga's production schedule has been cut down. The only definite title is the Ninja Scroll tenth anniversary edition, which will be released September 30 in both widescreen and fullscreen format. Instead of a double-disc release, the feature will be on a single DVD-18 disc. Also being promised are extras that aren't the usual Manga fare of "Manga Trailers!" such as interviews with the creator. Manga was quick to announce that they will be doing some sort of cross-promotion with Urban Vision as the Ninja Scroll TV series sees release. A US theatrical release of the Ninja Scroll film is not out of the question, as Manga's marketing department seems enthusiastic about it. On their other titles, Manga announced that Gunbuster is still on schedule, however Giant Robo has sadly been dropped since the license was lost.

CENTRAL PARK MEDIA: Central Park's presence seemed unusually quiet this year, with no new title announcements. Central Park did, however, state that they were trying to update their back catalog, eventually placing all of it onto DVD format. When asked about their Test Drive line, Central Park was quite enthusiastic, but at the same time stated that the success of it would lead to the addition of more titles to the line. When asked about Iria, Central Park regrettably admitted that they lost the license and that another company had picked it up.

MEDIA BLASTERS: Media Blasters had a quiet, but also informative panel. Along with the normal upcoming releases of Samurai Deeper Kyo and Twelve Kingdoms, the words "Sentimental" and "Graffiti" subtly slipped in. Apparently, Media Blasters has bought the rights to Sentimental Graffiti and will release it in the future. On a sad note, Media Blasters has sold the rights to the Mezzo Forte TV series. A US company has it, but has yet to announce it yet.