Funimation has acquired the rights to the 26-episode period science fiction anime series Oh! Edo Rocket, which was produced by Madhouse (Black Lagoon) and aired in Japan in 2007.  Based on a stage play by Kazuki Nakashima (Gurren Lagann), Oh! Edo Rocket is the story of Seikichi, a young fireworks maker living in Edo (Tokyo) in 1842.  New government rules have outlawed fireworks, but Seikichi keeps on testing new more powerful sky rockets and the day after seeing aliens in a forest late at night a strange girl knocks on his door and asks him to build her a rocket that will reach the moon.

Oh! Edo Rocket, which was directed by Full Metal Alchemist helmer Seiji Mizushima and adapted by FMA script supervisor Shou Aikawa, is a quality production and, along with Nabari no Ou (see Funimation Nabs Nabari no Ou”) one of the crown jewels of Funimation’s latest string of announcements.  Nakashima’s play has proven to be so popular that it has been adapted as a novel (written by Nakashima himself), a live-action TV drama, a seinen manga (published by Kodansha), as well as the TV anime.  Funimation plans on releasing the Oh! Edo Rocket anime in the U.S. in 2009.

Funimation’s Friday announcement was the acquisition of the rights to another retro science fiction series, the 26-episode science fiction adventure anime Last Exile, which is set in a Victorian-like floating world.  Last Exile was produced by Gonzo and aired in Japan in 2003.  Geneon distributed Last Exile here in the States, where the stylish retro steampunk series with character designs by Range Murata and production design by Mahiro Maeda aired on Tech TV’s Anime Unleashed block in 2004.  Last Exile was not among the Geneon series originally announced by Funimation when it took over the stewardship of a large number of Geneon titles last July (see “Funimation to Distribute Select Geneon Titles”).  Funimation plans to release the complete Last Exile anime in 2009.