Nippon Ichi Software of America (NISA), a company better for known for its niche videogame titles in the U.S. than anything else, has announced that it will be entering the U.S. anime market later this year with the release of four different anime series later this year.

The four titles announced are:

1. Toradora!
2. PERSONA – trinity soul-
3. Pandora Hearts
4. Our Home’s Fox Deity

Exact release dates have yet to be announces as are any details concerning packaging, formats and pricing. Interested readers can find info about each of the titles after the jump.

Toradora!

Details:
The twenty-five episode romantic comedy premiered in October 2008 in Japan and is based on a series of light novels written by Yuyuko Takemiya. The series seems to have a lot of positive buzz about it in various otaku circles, so hopefully its impending stateside release will prove to be a boon to fans of romantic comedies.

Plot:
Female protagonist, Taiga, and male protagonist, Ryuji, both have the same problem: They secretly have a crush on the other person’s best friend. Unfortunately, they both have some major barriers they must overcome if they hope to obtain their heart’s desire. In Ryuji’s case, it’s his thug like appearance that keeps people for seeing what a gentle and kind person he is. Taiga on the other hand is the exact opposite, a tiny petite girl with a reputation for being meaner and more dangerous than the tiger she’s named after. Despite their general dislike for each other, the two characters form an unlikely bond as they agree to work together to win the hearts of the people they’re in love with.

Toradora! wiki

PERSONA -trinity soul-

Details:
Based on the Shin Megami Tensei: Persona series of games for the Playstation. Trinity Soul picks up ten years after the events depicted in the Persona 3 game. Based on my personal viewing sessions with the first few episodes, it’s not required that viewers need to have played the game in order to follow the anime, but a working knowledge of the game and its plot does lend itself to providing a better understanding of the anime series. Personally, I’m really looking forward to finishing this series on DVD =^_^=

Plot:
Persona: Trinity Soul takes place ten years after the end of Persona 3. It is set in Ayanagi City, a city located near the Sea of Japan (East Sea), where the police force is investigating several cases involving a mysterious illness called the Apathy Syndrome, which causes its victims to fall into a near catatonic state and eventually die.

In the midst of the crisis, two brothers named Shin and Jun Kanzato move back to Ayanagi to see their elder brother Ryō, who is now the Superintendent of the Ayanagi City Police. It has been ten years since the three siblings last met with each other, but rather then receiving a warm welcome from their older brother, the two younger siblings are surprised to discover that their older brother wants them gone and as quickly as possible. To make matters worse, it soon becomes apparent that Ryō is somehow connected to whatever is causing the Apathy Syndrome in the first place…

PERSONA – trinity soul – wiki

Pandora Hearts

Details:
The gay shota anime “Loveless,” combine it with Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland” series and this is probably what you end up with. Never heard of it before, but it definitely had me going “WTF?” and I was only half way through the opening.

Plot:
Wiki had this to say about the series:

Oz Vessalius, heir to one of the dukedom, has just turned fifteen. His life is rich and carefree, darkened only by the constant absence of his father. At his coming-of-age ceremony, however, everything changes. For no reason that he can discern, he is cast into the prison known as the “Abyss”, only to be saved by a “chain” known as Alice, the bloodstained black rabbit or B-rabbit for short. The mystery there begins as Oz unravels the mystery behind Alice, the Abyss and the strange organization known as Pandora

Pandora Hearts wiki

Our Home’s Fox Deity

Details:
I caught a little bit of this a few years ago. It was okay, but nothing special. I probably liked it more because I have a fox girl fetish more than anything else. Still, it ran for 24 episodes and it has gotten some above average ratings over at Anime News Network, so I’ll probably rent it on DVD when it’s released.

Plot:
Brothers Toru and Noboru are out visiting their grandparents when they discover that their family has a secret. Turns out that their family can channel the power of water and has been fighting demons for centuries (who knew!?) Even more amazing, younger sibling Toru, has inherited the gift and is now the target of a local demon. In order to save Toru, the grandparents take the kids to visit a mischievous fox deity that has been imprisoned by the family for generations to beg it to help them. The fox deity ultimately agrees, but only on the condition that they take her with them when they return home…

Our Home’s Fox Deity wiki
Anime News Network article