CUTIE HONEY UNIVERSE Available July 23rd; DEVILS’ LINE Available August 27th Source: Section23 Films press releases Special Thanks to Mike Bailiff Home video distributor Section23 Films has announced its July and August slate of releases featuring new retrofuturistic series that relaunches Japan’s most legendary cyberpop heroine, CUTIE HONEY UNIVERSE, and the new TV animation adapted from Ryo Hanada’s best-selling manga, DEVILS’ LINE. Both series will be available on Blu-ray and in a special Limited Edition Premium Box Sets! Product details follow, in order of release...
THOSE WHO HUNT ELVES BLU-RAY Published by: Sentai Filmworks Distributed by: Section23 Films Run Time: 600 min. Street Date: 7/2/2019 Format: BD Language: English & Japanese with English Subtitles SRP: $49.98 When an unlikely trio of humans find themselves transported to a world populated by elves and other mystical beings, all they want to do is go home. Fortunately, the sorceress Celsia has a spell that can send them back! Unfortunately, things go horribly wrong and the spell is scattered to the winds, with different parts attaching like tattoos to the bodies of elves across the entire planet! Now, the only way to put it back together is for strongman Junpei, actress Airi and teenage gun-fanatic Ritsuko to travel around the world in a T-74 tank, convincing random elves to strip down for a "spell check"! Get ready for the weirdest, most un-PC road trip ever as the tank treads hit the road and the elf-clothes go a-flying in THOSE WHO HUNT ELVES!
PET SHOP OF HORRORS BLU-RAY Published by: Sentai Filmworks Distributed by: Section23 Films Run Time: 100 min. Street Date: 7/9/2019 Format: BD Language: English & Japanese with English Subtitles SRP: $19.98 Are you seeking something unusual in a pet to fill an empty space in your heart? Then venture, if you dare, into a strange little pet shop in Chinatown, where the mysterious proprietor knows your every need and desire. But watch out. When you buy from Count D, what you get may be what he thinks you deserve rather than what you want. So even if that rare rabbit does somehow look just like your lost child, perhaps you`d be safer shopping somewhere else. That`s certainly what Detective Orcot of the LAPD would advise, as nightmarish things seem to keep happening to the shop`s customers. Unfortunately, there`s never been quite enough evidence to implicate the Count. And until there is, business will continue to boom at the PET SHOP OF HORRORS.
ASURA CRYIN` BLU-RAY Published by: Maiden Japan Distributed by: Section23 Films Run Time: 650 min. Street Date: 7/16/2019 Format: BD Language: Japanese with English Subtitles SRP: $89.98 Some people are haunted by memories, but Tomoharu is haunted by his friend Misao, who died in a horrible plane crash that Tomo somehow survived. While having a girl that no one else can see hanging around is a little odd, it`s not until Tomo`s mom gets remarried, leaving Tomo alone, that things get really weird: A mysterious girl appears with a package that Tomo is supposed to guard. A second girl breaks into the house, demanding something called an "extractor". And both girls can inexplicably see Misao! As more people target the package and Tomo, the mystery only deepens. What`s in the package, why are so many people after it, and is it connected to the plane crash or something even more sinister? The shocking answers will be unleashed in ASURA CRYIN`!
ARMORED TROOPER VOTOMS OVA 2 Published by: Maiden Japan Distributed by: Section23 Films Run Time: 290 min. Street Date: 7/23/2019 Format: BD Language: Japanese with English Subtitles SRP: $59.98 The fires of war don`t create heroes, only legions of the wounded and the dead. For a pilot of an easily-destroyed VOTOMS unit, every foray into battle is one more calculated bet with your own life as the prize, another day of cheating death. When your commanding officers send you into a fight that can`t be won, or set goals that can only be achieved through massive sacrifice, then a decision has to be made. Are you going to be a hero? Or a survivor? The brutal realism of the acclaimed anime series returns, as men and machines are thrown into the meat grinder of war, in the epic second Original Video Animation collection of ARMORED TROOPER VOTOMS!
CUTIE HONEY UNIVERSE Published by: Sentai Filmworks Distributed by: Section23 Films Run Time: 300 min. Street Date: 7/23/2019 Format: BD, PBS Language: English & Japanese with English Subtitles SRP: $69.98, $129.98 The girls at Saint Chapel Academy all think Honey Kisaragi is just another sweet, kind and incredibly beautiful girl, but what they don`t know is that Honey is actually the world`s most advanced android, with the capability to transform her lovely body into multiple forms with their own special abilities! Unfortunately the evil Sister Jill, head of the sinister organization Panther Claw, knows Honey`s secret, and the malevolent mistress of mayhem will stop at nothing in her attempts to capture Honey and use her body for her own twisted purposes. With Jill`s army of half-human hotties on one side and Honey and her stalwart allies at the PCIS (Panther Claw Criminal Investigation Service) on the other, it`s going to be the wildest, sexiest battle ever! Watch out evildoers! The original magical girl is back in CUTIE HONEY UNIVERSE!
ELFEN LIED STEELBOOK BLU-RAY Published by: ADV Films Distributed by: Section23 Films Run Time: 325 min. Street Date: 7/30/2019 Format: BD Language: English & Japanese with English Subtitles SRP: $99.98 Critics have described Elfen Lied as "weird," (Anime Planet), "surprisingly sadistic," (Gamers Edge), and "addictive"(Animesou). No wonder, when you consider what makes this series hum! Lucy, a beautiful young mutant, is bred by the military to be the ultimate weapon. Now, with government killers on her trail, the disposition of a five year old, and a hair trigger for ultraviolence, Lucy and her young friends must unravel the dark secret of her legacy before it`s too late.
LOVE STAGE BLU-RAY Published by: Sentai Filmworks Distributed by: Section23 Films Run Time: 275 min. Street Date: 7/30/2019 Format: BD Language: English & Japanese with English Subtitles SRP: $69.98 As a child actor, Izumi Sena was following the rest of his family into the entertainment business until he quit after a humiliating incident while shooting a certain commercial. Now, ten years later, Izumi`s trying to juggle college and becoming a manga author, but nothing seems to be working out for him. Until he`s asked to reprise his part in that infamous commercial opposite one of Japan`s most popular up-and-coming actors! Which wouldn`t be so bad... except for the fact that Izumi was dressed as young girl in the ad, and everyone, including his infatuated potential co-star Ryoma Ichijo, still thinks that he`s a she! Is Izumi going to have to kiss a guy and will he like it? And what will Ryoma think when the girl of his dreams turns out to be a guy in jeans? Get ready for a tale of crossed stars and shifting alignments as a completely unexpected drama unfolds in prime time across the LOVE STAGE!!
BPS: BATTLE PROGRAMMER SHIRASE Published by: Maiden Japan Distributed by: Section23 Films Run Time: 125 min. Street Date: 8/6/2019 Format: BD Language: Japanese with English Subtitles SRP: $39.98 What is it that passes behind those dry, sorrowful eyes? Akira Shirase, the solitary programmer who has an unusual aptitude for problem solving: He is called a legendary hacker, and few know his true identity. What has he lost, what has he gained, and what has he seen in pockets of the vast internet? How now does he feel, on what is false and what is true and what exists in code? This is the man they call Battle Programmer Shirase - also known as BPS!
SAKURA WARS TV Published by: Sentai Filmworks Distributed by: Section23 Films Run Time: 625 min. Street Date: 8/13/2019 Format: BD Language: English & Japanese with English Subtitles SRP: $29.98 In 1918, a giant demon appeared in Tokyo, and although the monstrous creature was finally defeated, the Imperial forces knew that something had to be done in anticipation of future attacks. The solution was the development of the Imperial Assault Force, an assembly of secret teams of dedicated young women gifted with a unique spiritual power that enables them to operate Kobu, steam-powered mechanical armor that combines the attributes of humanoid robots and tanks. While pretending to be normal, ordinary girls in everyday life, these brave battle maidens and their international counterparts stationed around the world must remain ever vigilant for assaults by demons sent by the leagues of evil magic users. Get ready for the wildest monster versus mecha fantasy ever in the incredible alternate history that is SAKURA WARS!
THE BIG O STEELBOOK EDITION Published by: Sentai Filmworks Distributed by: Section23 Films Run Time: 650 min. Street Date: 8/20/2019 Format: BD Language: English & Japanese with English Subtitles SRP: $79.98 Forty years ago, the minds of Paradigm City`s inhabitants were wiped clean of all recollections of the past. Now, ruled by a powerful corporation and cut off from the rest of the world by desolate wastelands, Paradigm has become a virtual police state where Negotiators like Roger Smith keep the wheels of progress, commerce, and society turning. As a combined hybrid of detective, mediator, and enforcer, Smith`s primary resource is his keen, analytical mind, but it doesn`t hurt to have a mansion filled with gadgets, his butler Norman, and his attractive assistant Dorothy to fall back on. Additionally, for those times when cases end up "in dispute," he also has the biggest, baddest back-up that any cop or small army could ever hope for: the Big O, a giant robot loaded with all the extras. Film noir thriller meets mecha mayhem masterpiece as the acclaimed classic series returns in the complete collection of THE BIG O!
ORPHEN Published by: Sentai Filmworks Distributed by: Section23 Films Run Time: 1175 min. Street Date: 8/20/2019 Format: BD Language: English & Japanese with English Subtitles SRP: $49.98 When an experiment goes horribly awry and transforms the Sorceress Azalie into a monstrous dragon, the sorcerers of the Tower of Fang callously decide to pretend that Azalie died in order to preserve the Tower`s reputation. And to make sure that the magic beans never get spilled, they also decide that Azalie needs to be destroyed. Disgusted by their cravenly actions, Azalie`s friend Krylancelo renounces his allegiance to the Tower, changes his name to Orphen and sets forth to save the damsel/dragon in distress. It won`t be easy: there`ll be minions with nefarious plans to defeat, and along the way Orphen will pick up an apprentice, a spoiled rich girl and a couple of trolls. But it wouldn`t be a heroic journey without a few bumps in the road, would it? The epic quest is on in Sorcerous Stabber ORPHEN!
WAITING IN THE SUMMER Published by: Sentai Filmworks Distributed by: Section23 Films Run Time: 325 min. Street Date: 8/20/2019 Format: BD Language: English & Japanese with English Subtitles SRP: $69.98 When a group of friends decide to make a movie over a long summer holiday, they end up learning a little about filmmaking and a lot more about each other and themselves. What begins as a simple way to avoid the summer doldrums quickly turns into something much more complex, intimate, and downright revealing. As the summer heats up, so do the maturing relationships between the young cast members, taking some new, and sometimes unexpected, turns. Get ready for a whole new look at summer romance as hidden emotions get captured and secrets meant to be kept hidden inside young hearts instead spill off the screen for your viewing pleasure in WAITING IN THE SUMMER!
DEVILS` LINE Published by: Sentai Filmworks Distributed by: Section23 Films Run Time: 325 min. Street Date: 8/27/2019 Format: BD, PBS Language: English & Japanese with English Subtitles SRP: $69.98, $129.98 Everything you thought you knew about vampires is wrong. They can walk in the daylight and holy water doesn`t burn them. In fact, vampires can pass as normal humans so perfectly that even other vampires have trouble spotting them. Until they drink human blood, that is; then they transform into monstrous beasts who mindlessly rape and murder. But not all vampires are evil. The secret task force that patrols Tokyo`s vampire population has several fanged operatives, including half-human Yuki Anzai, who believes that his human heritage lets him resist his species` basest cravings. But after Yuki rescues college student Tsukasa Taira from a vampire stalker, he realizes that he`s succumbing to urges he`s never felt before. And like moths to the flame, he and Tsukasa find themselves being pulled into a potentially fatal attraction in DEVILS` LINE!
About Section23 Films
Section23 Films provides home video marketing and distribution services for a variety of companies, including Sentai Filmworks, Switchblade Pictures, Maiden Japan, Kraken Releasing and AEsir Holdings. With its special focus on genre entertainment, Section23 Films distributes some of the very best anime, martial arts, and horror titles on the market today.