Connect with us

Technology

BLUE LOCK CEMENTS ITSELF AS AN INTERNATIONAL HIT AS EPISODE NAGI EARNS $23.3 MILLION AT THE GLOBAL BOX OFFICE!

Published

on

FANS OF THIS HIT ANIME HAVE PLENTY TO LOOK FORWARD TO AS THE SERIES GROWS 

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 29, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Today, Bandai Namco Filmworks Inc. along with Kodansha Ltd. have announced that BLUE LOCK THE MOVIE -EPISODE NAGI – earned more than $23.3 million (3.6 billion yen) at the global box office. Released in over 87 countries and regions, revenue generated outside of Japan drove the film to pass this milestone, with its international box office revenue surpassing the revenue generated domestically in Japan as of October. With season two of BLUE LOCK currently airing, Bandai Namco Filmworks Inc. and Kodansha Ltd. plan to continue their robust international promotional efforts for the soccer franchise.

International Merchandising and Promotional Efforts

A wide variety of merchandise and gaming experiences allow fans of the BLUE LOCK anime and manga to engage with this hit franchise as much as they’d like, especially with translations in over 20 languages published in more than 20 countries worldwide. Bandai Namco Filmworks is responsible for licensing in Asia, and Kodansha is responsible for licensing in Europe, the U.S., and other regions; and is actively developing localized products. The scale of licensing (number of merchandising applications) has grown significantly (approx. four times) in Asia alone, and sales (production committee income) approximately twelve times, which rivals the merchandising income generated in Japan. In Asia, pop-up stores offering BLUE LOCK goods and collectibles have been particularly well received.

US-centric promotional efforts have been both varied and widely successful. More than 2000 fans attended each of BLUE LOCK’s panels at 2024’s Anime Expo, filling those panel rooms to capacity. This rare opportunity to hear cast members, producers, and the manga’s editor speak on the franchise received a terrific response from those attending. Additionally, BLUE LOCK VS U-20 Japan was promoted at various LAFC (Los Angeles Football Club) matches throughout their season, marking the club’s first promotion of a Japanese anime.

Looking to the Future

BLUE LOCK’s success comes not only from the growing global soccer fandom, but also from its unique themes and distinctive characters. Closer to a “death game” in structure than a sports series, BLUE LOCK features enticing action sequences while also tackling difficult subjects like the nature of individuality and how human connection can rise from competition.

International BLUE LOCK fans can expect continued simultaneous releases of BLUE LOCK media and additional activations as Bandai Namco Filmworks and Kodansha remain committed to bringing incredible stories like this one to global audiences.

About BLUE LOCK:
BLUE LOCK is a TV animation series based on the popular manga of the same name, which is published in Kodansha’s “Weekly Shonen Magazine”. The BLUE LOCK manga has sold more than 40 million copies around the world (as of August 2024) and won the 45th Kodansha Manga Award in the Juvenile Division. The first film version, “BLUE LOCK THE MOVIE -EPISODE NAGI-,” premiered in April 2024. In addition, the second season of the TV series began broadcasting on October 5, 2024

About Bandai Namco Filmworks Inc.
We at Bandai Namco Filmworks develop and produce film video titles. We not only distribute them through various media such as television, movie theaters and Internet streaming but also bring them to fans throughout the world by licensing and managing their copyrights, developing and marketing film video-related merchandise and other services. As a comprehensive entertainment enterprise handling the A to Z of film & video business, we continue to create “Awesome works” and make them readily available to everyone.

Official Website: https://www.bnfw.co.jp/en/

About KODANSHA
Based in Tokyo, KODANSHA Ltd. is Japan’s leading publishing house, having delivered stories into ready hands across the globe with a wide variety of content from comic books to novels, fashion magazines, news journals and picture books for children, as well as video games and anime series and movies. KODANSHA Ltd. was founded in 1909 to “Inspire Impossible Stories,” and is globally recognized as the licensor of some of the world’s most loved comic book IPs, including “AKIRA,” “Attack on Titan” and “The Ghost in the Shell.”

For more information, visit: www.kodansha.com/

For more information, visit:
Official website: https://bluelock-anime-en.com/
Official X (Twitter): @BLUELOCK_PR (https://twitter.com/BLUELOCK_PR)
Official English Account
– Instagram:@blue_lock_enhttps://www.instagram.com/blue_lock_en/
– X:@Blue_Lock_Enhttps://x.com/Blue_Lock_En
– TikTok:@blue_lock_enhttps://www.tiktok.com/@blue_lock_en)

Additional image assets are available to download: HERE

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/blue-lock-cements-itself-as-an-international-hit-as-episode-nagi-earns-23-3-million-at-the-global-box-office-302318947.html

SOURCE Bandai Namco Filmworks Inc.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Technology

Bloomberg Introduces Spread-to-Benchmark Quoting for EUR and GBP Portfolio Trading Baskets

Published

on

By

LONDON, June 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Bloomberg today announced the launch of Spread-to-Benchmark quoting and trading for Euro (EUR) and Sterling (GBP) denominated portfolio trades through its Portfolio Trading Basket Builder (PTBB). The new functionality expands the range of quoting protocols available for European credit portfolio trading and reflects growing client demand for spread-based execution workflows, alongside increased dealer support for the convention across EUR and GBP markets.

Spread-to-Benchmark quoting is a well-established protocol for USD credit portfolio trades and is used by market participants to evaluate and execute portfolio trades. By extending this workflow to EUR and GBP portfolio trades, Bloomberg enables clients and dealers to transact using a familiar spread-based methodology across additional credit markets. 

The introduction of Spread-to-Benchmark quoting for EUR and GBP baskets reflects increased client interest in evaluating portfolio trades through a spread-based lens and the growing adoption of spread-based execution workflows in European credit markets. The workflow provides market participants with an additional framework for assessing the relationship between credit spread risk and underlying government bond yields when pricing and executing portfolio trades. 

Additional Workflow Flexibility 
The workflow complements Bloomberg’s existing portfolio trading capabilities, which support the full range of market-standard quoting conventions, including Price, Yield, Spread-to-Benchmark and Spread based workflows that reference Bloomberg’s evaluated pricing service (BVAL). This gives clients flexibility to compare and execute portfolio trades using the quoting methodology that best aligns with their investment objectives, execution preferences and internal risk management processes. 

“European credit clients continue to look for execution workflows that reflect how they evaluate risk and monitor portfolio trading outcomes,” said Harry Street, Global Head of Credit and Equities Trading Product at Bloomberg. “By expanding dealer support for Spread-to-Benchmark quoting for EUR and GBP baskets, Bloomberg is broadening the range of workflow options available to clients trading European credit portfolios.” 

“Portfolio trading workflows in fixed income continue to become more sophisticated as institutional investors look for ways to evaluate execution quality in changing market conditions,” said Kevin McPartland, Head of Market Structure & Technology Research at Crisil Coalition Greenwich. “Spread-based quoting helps market participants more clearly distinguish between the impacts of credit spread and underlying rates movements when determining how best to execute a portfolio trade.” 

Bloomberg’s Electronic Markets solutions are used by leading financial institutions to trade efficiently in over 175 markets around the world. More than 9,000 client firms use Bloomberg Electronic Markets to access industry-leading depth and breadth of liquidity across asset classes from over 800 dealers globally. Bloomberg Electronic Markets provides market participants with comprehensive solutions across the trading lifecycle, including robust price transparency, analytics, automation and execution, powered by Bloomberg’s high-quality, multi-asset class data and tools.

About Bloomberg
Bloomberg is a global leader in business and financial information, delivering trusted data, news, and insights that bring transparency, efficiency, and fairness to markets. The company helps connect influential communities across the global financial ecosystem via reliable technology solutions that enable our customers to make more informed decisions and foster better collaboration. For more information, visit Bloomberg.com/company or request a demo.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bloomberg-introduces-spread-to-benchmark-quoting-for-eur-and-gbp-portfolio-trading-baskets-302787922.html

SOURCE Bloomberg L.P.

Continue Reading

Technology

Dr. Sunho Kang, a senior battery-technology executive with leadership experience at major global battery and EV manufacturers, joins TeraWatt Technology as Head of Product and Technology

Published

on

By

SAN FRANCISCO, June 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — TeraWatt Technology Inc. (Headquartered in California, USA) is pleased to announce that Dr. Sunho Kang has joined the company as Head of Product and Technology.

Dr. Kang is a globally recognized battery-technology executive with more than 25 years of leadership experience spanning the United States, Asia, and Europe, and a distinguished track record of advancing innovations from laboratory research through gigafactory-scale production. He has held senior executive positions at world-leading organizations including Samsung SDI, Apple, and Volkswagen Group of America, and brings deep expertise in lithium-ion battery materials, cell engineering, and product industrialization across a broad range of applications, including electric vehicles and energy storage systems.

At TeraWatt, Dr. Kang will lead global product development and the commercialization of TeraWatt’s battery technology platform, aiming to accelerate the delivery of TeraWatt’s competitive products as well as the technology and commercialization roadmap including manufacturing scale-up.

Dr. Kang commented:

“I am thrilled to join TeraWatt Technology as Head of Product and Technology. TeraWatt’s innovative battery platform presents a tremendous opportunity to push the boundaries of lithium-ion technology, and I look forward to working with the team to accelerate product development and commercialization to deliver meaningful impact.”

TeraWatt Technology founder CEO Ken Ogata, Ph.D. commented:

“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Kang as our Head of Product and Technology. His deep expertise in battery materials, cell engineering, and productization will be instrumental in accelerating TeraWatt’s product roadmap and technology leadership. Together with Dr. Kang, we will continue to drive our mission forward.”

About TeraWatt Technology Inc.
TeraWatt Technology Inc. is a California-based company that produces lightweight, high-power, and safe next-generation lithium-ion batteries.

Company Overview
Name: TeraWatt Technology Inc.
Representative: Co-founder and CEO Ken Ogata
Headquarters: 28 Geary St, Suite 650, San Francisco, CA 94108, United States
Founded: January 2020
Established: December 2019
URL: https://www.terawatt-technology.com/

 

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dr-sunho-kang-a-senior-battery-technology-executive-with-leadership-experience-at-major-global-battery-and-ev-manufacturers-joins-terawatt-technology-as-head-of-product-and-technology-302786854.html

SOURCE TeraWatt Technology Inc.

Continue Reading

Technology

Tencent Cloud and Soniox Announce Strategic Partnership: Combining Advanced Speech-to-Text (STT) Technology with Global Real-Time Infrastructure

Published

on

By

HONG KONG, June 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Tencent Cloud, the cloud business of global technology company Tencent, today announced a strategic partnership with Soniox, a San Francisco-based speech AI company that specializes in developing high-accuracy, low-latency speech AI solutions. The collaboration integrates Soniox’s speech-to-text (STT) technology with Tencent Cloud’s Real-Time Communication (TRTC) enterprise-grade global infrastructure, enabling enterprises to build and deploy multilingual voice AI applications across 200+ countries and regions.

Elevating Enterprise Voice AI at a Global Scale

In enterprise voice AI deployments, latency directly affects user experience and application reliability. The integration of Soniox’s high-accuracy, low-latency STT with TRTC’s global transmission infrastructure reduces latency across the entire pipeline, creating a comprehensive end-to-end solution for enterprises deploying conversational AI applications worldwide.    

Soniox is the voice platform for every language. Unlike legacy speech AI, which was built primarily for English-speakers, Soniox delivers native-speaker accuracy across 60+ languages. Its technology can handle mid-sentence language switching — a user can switch between English and Chinese in a single utterance, and Soniox will capture every word with complete accuracy. All of this works through a single API that works for both speech-to-text and text-to-speech.

By integrating TRTC, the partnership leverages an enterprise-grade real-time communication backbone featuring more than 3,200 global nodes, sub-300 ms worldwide latency, and advanced capabilities such as AI noise suppression and weak-network resilience. These capabilities enable conversational AI applications to operate reliably across diverse network environments, including regions such as Southeast Asia and Africa.

With the roll out of this partnership, developers can integrate the Soniox STT API directly within the Tencent Cloud console. Whether targeting English-speaking markets or supporting languages such as Arabic, Hindi, and Malay, enterprises can build global voice applications — including intelligent customer service, voice assistants, real-time translation, and meeting transcription — to address the demands of expansion into emerging markets and multilingual scenarios.

Wison Xie, Head of Product at Tencent RTC, stated: “Tencent RTC has always been committed to providing reliable real-time communication infrastructure for global enterprises. Our partnership with Soniox brings together our strengths in enterprise-grade audio transmission and Soniox’s advanced speech recognition technology. Together, we are making it easier for businesses to deploy accurate, low-latency voice AI applications across any language and any market.”

Klemen Simonic, CEO at Soniox Inc., stated “At Soniox, our mission is to help businesses understand every word, in any language, with native speaker accuracy and exceptional speed. Partnering with Tencent Cloud combines our speech AI with world-class real-time infrastructure, enabling enterprises to build voice AI experiences that scale globally with low latency and reliability.”

About Tencent Cloud:

Tencent Cloud, one of the world’s leading cloud companies, is committed to creating innovative solutions to resolve real-world issues and enabling digital transformation for smart industries. Through our extensive global infrastructure, Tencent Cloud provides businesses across the globe with stable and secure industry-leading cloud products and services, leveraging technological advancements such as cloud computing, Big Data analytics, AI, IoT, and network security. It is our constant mission to meet the needs of industries across the board, including the fields of gaming, media and entertainment, finance, healthcare, property, retail, travel, and transportation.

About Tencent RTC:

Tencent RTC provides real-time communication solutions, including audio/video calling, live streaming, and in-game voice. With enterprise-grade security, AI-powered enhancements, and a global network of over 3,200 nodes, Tencent RTC powers mission-critical communication for customers worldwide.

About Soniox:

Soniox is a next-generation voice AI company bringing about the end of English-first speech AI. Most people on the planet did not grow up speaking English and often mix languages mid-sentence; and yet legacy speech AI was built for just English. Soniox is different: native-speaker accuracy across 60+ languages, true mid-sentence language switching, and flawless alphanumeric recognition that legacy providers still can’t match. For developers building global apps, Soniox is the only option. Try it for yourself at soniox.com.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/tencent-cloud-and-soniox-announce-strategic-partnership-combining-advanced-speech-to-text-stt-technology-with-global-real-time-infrastructure-302786832.html

SOURCE Tencent Cloud

Continue Reading

Trending