Gunslinger Girl Anime Licensed?

Yomiuri Online has published a short report on statements made by the president of Marvelous Entertainment regarding the influence of foreign investors on Japanese animation. In terms of business, foreign sponsorships are taking the traditional control and marketing of anime out of the hands of traditional sponsors including TV networks, toy companies and ad agencies, and putting greater control of the distribution and marketing of anime in the hands of anime producers themselves.

The article also states that the 13 episode Gunslinger Girl anime TV series has a budget of 13 million yen per episode (nearly $120,000 per episode), half of which has already been contributed by European and North American licenses. Common speculation within the fan community is that AD Vision has licensed the show for American release since AD Vision has already announced the acquisition of the manga translation rights.

Source: Natsume Goushin Ryu Dojo