First Manga dates for 2004
Manga Entertainment have confirmed the dates for their first DVD releases this year:
1st March: Four addition to the 'Manga Collection' range - Tokyo Revelation, Dangaioh, Madox-01 and Armageddon.
29th March: A 10th anniversary edition of Ninja Scroll.
5th April: Two series complilations: New Dominion Tank Police and Orguss 02. Both releases will contain an entire series in one package with bonus extras.
Hyper Street Fighter II to have anime bonus
Capcom have announced a European release date for 'Hyper Street Fighter II', a definitive Playstation 2 version of the classic video game that they have produced to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the original. The anime connection is that a free copy of 'Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie' will be included with every copy. The game is due out on 30th April.
Sci-fi-London festival details
The full programme for the 'Sci-fi-London 3' film festival next week has been unveiled. Included in the festival is the anime film 'Tamala 2010', and the documentary 'Invasion Anime'. If you can take anime in large doses, the 'Anime Allnighter' on the Friday will feature the UK premiere of 'Nadesico: The Movie' as well as 'Ghost in the shell', 'Kai Doh Maru, 'Voices of a Distant Star' and 'Patlabor the Movie'.
Full details are on the festival website at http://www.sci-fi-london.com
'Spirited Away' nominated for BAFTA award
The nominations for this year's BAFTA awards have been announced, and the anime film 'Spirited Away' has been include in the category 'film not in the English language'. Full details of the nomination are at
http://www.bafta.org/film/announce.htm.
ADV Films February press releases
ADV Films have sent me their press releases for February. Here are the important ones:
ADV FILMS ANNOUNCES RELEASE DATE FOR FIRST VOLUME OF MARTIAN SUCCESSOR
NADESICO: THE MOTION PICTURE - PRINCE OF DARKNESS
FEATURE-LENGTH FILM SEQUEL TO THE POPULAR TV SERIES MARTIAN SUCCESSOR
NADESICO TO BE AVAILABLE 16th FEBRUARY 2004
LONDON, UK, 19th January 2004 - ADV Films has set a street date of 16th
February 2004 release date for the DVD-only release of the MARTIAN SUCCESSOR
NADESICO: The Motion Picture - Prince of Darkness, the feature film sequel to
the popular TV series MARTIAN SUCCESSOR NADESICO. ADV Films is releasing
Prince of Darkness as an uncut Region 2 DVD with content identical to its
Region 1 counterpart.
On its 1998 theatrical release, MARTIAN SUCCESSOR NADESICO: The Motion
Picture - Prince of Darkness received acclaim from Japanese fans and critics
alike for being a true-to-form follow-up to the television series, screened
in the UK several times on the Sci-Fi Channel. MARTIAN SUCCESSOR NADESICO was
renowned for being a thrilling futuristic adventure tale (including loads of
explosive mecha action) with an underpinning of satire. Knowing that the film
sequel stays on track, fans have been eagerly anticipating its UK release,
which has its theatrical premiere at this year's Sci-Fi-London, the 3rd
Annual London Science Fiction and Fantasy Film Festival.
MARTIAN SUCCESSOR NADESICO: The Motion Picture - Prince of Darkness (RRP
£19.99) is a DVD-only release presented in letterboxed widescreen format
with an English 5.1 language version and a Japanese 2.0-language version,
with English subtitles. Extras include a reversible cover and ADV Previews.
Running Time: 90m approx. BBFC Classification: PG
Street Date: 16/02/04 Cat#: DNAD/007
Format: DVD RRP: £19.99
ADV FILMS ANNOUNCES RELEASE DATE FOR SAKURA WARS OVA COLLECTION
COMPLETE SERIES AVAILABLE FOR FIRST TIME IN UK 16th FEBRUARY 2004
LONDON, UK, 16th January 2004 - ADV Films today announced a 16th February
2004 release date for the 3-disc set of SAKURA WARS OVA COLLECTION. ADV
Films is releasing SAKURA WARS OVA COLLECTION as an uncut Region 2 DVD set
with content identical to its Region 1 counterpart.
The year is 1919. The World has barely survived the first Demon War and the
next is about to begin. Conventional weapons won't cut it, neither will
conventional soldiers. Humanity needs the Few, the Proud, the Pure: the
Spirit Warriors. Recruited from around the world, these women are beautiful
both inside and out, but can they master their steam-powered spirit weapons
in time? This is the world of SAKURA WARS, an animation epic based on the
best-selling video game that took Japan by storm.
Sakura Wars OVA Collection (RRP £29.99) is a DVD-only release, including 10
episodes on three discs. Extras include clean opening animation; production
sketches; character bios; original Japanese artwork and promos, and ADV
Previews.
Running Time: 300m approx. BBFC Classification: PG
Street Date: 16/02/04 Cat#: DSW/BX1
Format: DVD RRP: £29.99
ADV FILMS ANNOUNCES RELEASE DATE FOR NAJICA BLITZ TACTICS: VOLUME 1
FIRST VOLUME IN RACY ACTION SERIES SERIES AVAILABLE 16th FEBRUARY 2004
LONDON, UK, 19th January 2004 - ADV Films today announced a 16th February
2004 release date for the first volume of the thrilling and racy 12-episode
Japanese anime series Najica Blitz Tactics.ADV Films is releasing Najica
Blitz Tactics: Volume 1 as an uncut Region 2 DVD with content identical to
its Region 1 counterpart.
Directed by Katsuihiko Nishijima (Project A-ko, Labyrinth of Flames), and
with animation direction by Noriyasu Yamauchi (Guyver: Out of Control),
Najica Blitz Tactics is a fast-paced 'spy-fi' thriller, packed with
hard-hitting action and more than a little eye-candy for the fans.
Najica Blitz Tactics: Volume 1 (RRP £19.99) is a DVD-only release, including
four complete episodes in both English- and Japanese-language versions, with
English subtitles. Extras include: clean opening and closing animations;
production sketches; commentary by Kira Vincent Davis (Najica) and Monica
Rial (Lila); and ADV Previews.
Running Time: 100m approx. BBFC Classification: 15
Street Date: 16/02/04 Cat#: DNJ/001
Format: DVD RRP: £19.99
ADV UK aquires new Fist of the North Star anime
ADV UK have announced their aquisition of a new Fist of the North Star anime. The new anime is a three part straight-to-video series that is currently being released in Japan.
The full press release is here:
http://www.advfilms.co.uk/news/index.asp?id=72
Manga Entertainment News
Manga Entertainment have confirmed a list of some of the titles they are currently working on for release this year:
- The next additions to the 'Manga Collection' line: Tokyo Revelation, Armageddon, Madox-01 and Dangaioh.
- A boxed set of the Fist of the North Start TV Series containing more episodes than the original release.
- A 10th anniversary edition of Ninja Scroll, which is being resubmitted to the BBFC in the hope that it can be release uncut this time.
Unfortunately, due to a recent 'technical disaster', there are no release dates for any of these yet, but they are hoping to get something out in March.
