SciFi Japan

    High school student Akari Yoshiyama (Riisa Naka) travels back nearly 40 years in TIME TRAVELLER: THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME, the live-action adaptation of the classic novel. Photo courtesy of The Associates. © 2010 Time Traveller Film Partners

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    Source: The Associates press release, Pictures Dept. Official Movie Site: tokikake.jp (Japan) TIME TRAVELLER: THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME (???????, Toki o Kakeru Shojo, 2010), the latest live-action movie incarnation of Yasutaka Tsutsui`s frequently adapted 1967 sci-fi/fantasy novel The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, gives the tale a contemporary spin as Akari, the teenage daughter of the novel`s protagonist, Kazuko Yoshiyama, travels back in time from the present in search of a mystery man from her mother`s past. TIME TRAVELLER: THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME is the debut feature of director Masaaki Taniguchi, a longtime assistant to some of Japan`s most eminent directors; Kichitarou Negishi, Kazuyuki Izutsu, Yojirou Takita, Hideyuki Hirayama, and Tetsuo Shinohara. The film stars Riisa Naka (female star of Takashi Miike`s ZEBRAMAN 2: ATTACK ON ZEBRA CITY), who provided the voice for Makoto Konono, Kazuko`s time-travelling niece, in

    GOEMON, the action film from the director CASSHERN and the producers of THE GRUDGE, has been released on DVD and Blu-ray in North America. Photo courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment. © 2009 “Goemon” Film Partners.

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    Source: FUNimation Entertainment Official Movie Site: Goemon (Japan), funimation.com/goemon (US) Special Thanks to Jackie Smith The enterprising director of CASSHERN weaves Japanese folklore and history into GOEMON (????, 2009), a tour de force evocative of the classic Robin Hood tale. The film is now available on DVD and Blu-ray in North America, courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment. Both home video editions present GOEMON in its original theatrical aspect ratio, with Japanese and English dub audio tracks, supplemented by an hour of extra features. After the infamous ninja-turned-thief Goemon cracks a deputy’s stronghold, he discovers a conspiracy that proves the poverty-stricken country is under the thumb of a false, warmongering ruler. Armed with the blade of truth, Goemon tears a warrior’s path to cut down the decadent king. Saturated with captivating visual effects and explosive action, the fantastical world of GOEMON surpasses the reaches of

    The Japanese monster movie classics MAJIN, RETURN OF MAJIN, and MAJIN STRIKES AGAIN are coming to Blu-ray in North America from Mill Creek Entertainment. © 1966 Kadokawa Pictures, Inc.

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    Author: Keith Aiken Source: Golden Media Group, Tower PR Special Thanks to Roy McAree and Amy Gorton A SciFi JAPAN EXCLUSIVE The North American sales agent for Kadokawa Pictures has revealed that the classic Daimajin monster movie series has been licensed to distributor Mill Creek Entertainment for a home video release in 2011. The Daiei Motion Picture Co. released all three films— MAJIN (???, Daimajin), RETURN OF MAJIN (?????, Daimajin Ikaru), and MAJIN STRIKES AGAIN (?????, Daimajin Gyakushu)— in 1966. But unlike the studio`s Gamera franchise, the Daimajin series were period films set during Japan`s Sengoku (Warring States) period, and combined elements of the kaiju eiga (monster movie) genre with Daiei`s extremely popular jidai-geki (period stories) and chanbara (sword-fighting) films. These movies each followed a similar pattern; telling the story of a giant statue of Daimajin (the name roughly meaning "Great Angry God") that would

    Doctors Eiko Kobayashi (Rei Dan) and Tsuyoshi Matsuoka (Satoshi Tsumabuki) race to stop a plague threatening to wipe out mankind in PANDEMIC, a sci-fi thriller from TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System) and Toho. Photo courtesy of The Associates. © 2009 PANDEMIC` Production Committee

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    The End of the World is Near in Japanese Sci-Fi Thriller Source: The Associates press release Japanese director Takahisa Zeze (FLYING RABBITS; MOON CHILD) combines the apocalyptic excitement of the disaster movie with the high tension of a medical thriller in PANDEMIC (????, Kansen Retto, 2009), which stars Satoshi Tsumabuki (DORORO; THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS: TOKYO DRIFT), Kanningu Takeyama (MEMORIES OF MATSUKO) and celebrated veteran actor Tatsuya Fuji (IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES; EMPIRE OF PASSION) in a terrifyingly topical tale of a world threatened by a mysterious virus. When a lethal avian flu outbreak hits a small village in the Northern Philippines, the international medical team working to contain the virus hears unconfirmed reports that one of the residents has left the village to attend a relative’s wedding and has taken a chicken as a gift. Three months later, a

    UK DVD and Blu-ray covers for the Japanese Academy Award-winning CONFESSIONS. Photo courtesy of The Associates. © 2010 Confessions Production Committee

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    Third Window Films to Release Acclaimed Psychological Thriller on April 25th Source: Third Window Films, The Associates press release Official Movie Site: kokuhaku-shimasu.jp (Japan), thirdwindowfilms.com/confessions (UK) Special Thanks to Adam Torel Following the critical acclaim of his previous features, KAMIKAZE GIRLS (Shimotsuma Monogatari, 2004) and MEMORIES OF MATSUKO (Kiraware Matsuko no Issho, 2006), genre-busting auteur Tetsuya Nakashima returns with CONFESSIONS (??, Kokuhaku, 2010), a notably darker but equally absorbing and typically idiosyncratic work, this time adapted from the award winning debut novel by Kanae Minato. Written and directed by Nakashima, CONFESSIONS was selected as Japan’s official entry in the Best Foreign Film category of the 83rd Annual Academy Awards and was the winner of the awards for Best Film, Best Screenplay and Best Director (Tetsuya Nakashima) at the 34th Japanese Academy Awards earlier this year. Reigning in his impulse to create surreal candy-coloured

    It looks like North American Godzilla fans will have to keep waiting for an official GODZILLA VS MEGALON DVD. © 1973 Toho Co., Ltd.

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    Media Blasters Not Releasing Special Edition Disc of 1973 Godzilla Film Author: Keith Aiken Source: Media Blasters, Inc., Toho Co. Ltd, various Special Thanks to Steve Ryfle, Carl Morano, and Emiko Jade Frost Over the past few days, Godzilla fandom has been abuzz over rumors that the 1973 film GODZILLA VS MEGALON was being readied for a deluxe release on US DVD and/or Blu-ray. Well known Japanese film historian August Ragone (author of Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters) broke the news, providing details in several online postings and an article which ran on his blog March 31st. Stressing that the report was "not some April Fool`s post", Ragone stated that his source was "a relative of one of the people who worked on MEGALON" who had revealed that "a licensed DVD is being prepped, replete with special features — including an audio commentary

    Ten SciFi Japan readers have won free copies of EVANGELION: 2.22 YOU CAN (NOT) ADVANCE on Region 1 DVD or Blu-ray. © 2009 Khara

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    Source: FUNimation Entertainment Official Movie Site: funimation.com/evangelion (US), evangelion.co.jp (Japan) Special Thanks to Jackie Smith A SciFi JAPAN EXCLUSIVE Thank you to everyone who entered FUNimation Entertainment and SciFi Japan`s EVANGELION 2.22 Blu-ray and DVD contest. We received hundreds of entries, and the ten randomly drawn winners are: Willie L. Calvert (DVD) Bret Lonsway (Blu-ray) Will Frazier (Blu-ray) Robert Haney (Blu-ray) Mike Palumbo (Blu-ray) Christopher Monk (Blu-ray) Thomas Singleton (Blu-ray) Derek Shepard (DVD) Robert Wright-Stasko (Blu-ray) Helen McNamara (Blu-ray) Congratulations to the winners! FUNimation will be shipping the prizes soon so keep an eye on your mailboxes. EVANGELION 2.22 is the upgraded home video release of the second chapter in the four part "Rebuild of Evangelion" (Evangelion Shin Gekijoban) film series by Hideaki Anno and Studio Khara, which re-imagines Anno`s blockbuster sci-fi animated series NEON GENESIS EVANGELION. Now the landmark anime

    Sentai Filmworks has acquired the North American rights to the hit anime series ANGEL BEATS! Promo art featuring the characters Otonashi, Yuri, and Angel. © 2009 VisualArt`s/ Key/ Angel Beats! Project

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    Source: Sentai Filmworks press release Official Site: angelbeats.jp (Japan) Special Thanks to David Williams Sentai Filmworks has announced its acquisition of Japan’s white-hot anime series, ANGEL BEATS! (????????!, Enjeru B?tsu!, 2009). A multi-media mega-franchise with two manga volumes, a series of illustrated short stories, an OVA (original video animation) and two internet radio shows, each new volume of ANGEL BEATS! has consistently ranked in the top three nationwide bestselling Blu-ray releases in Japan. Now the series is coming to the U.S. on both DVD and Blu-ray. Both releases will include an all new English dub, with the first episodes of the dub set to premiere at Anime Boston, April 22-24 at the Hynes Convention Center. Synopsis: It sucks being dead. Sucks even more to be trapped in a surreal afterlife where you’re caught between the living and the dead— where a mysterious, violent

    UK (left) and Australian (right) DVD covers for the sci-fi film MONSTERS. Photos courtesy of The Associates and Madman Entertainment. © 2010 Vertigo Films, Ltd.

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    Source: The Associates, Madman Entertainment press releases Official Movie Site: monstersfilm.com (US), monstersthemovie.com (UK) Following a US home video release in February, the critically acclaimed MONSTERS comes to DVD and Blu-ray in the UK on April 11th courtesy of Vertigo Films, and in Australia on April 13th from Madman Entertainment. MONSTERS recently completed a hugely successful theatrical release in Britain that saw it earning Five Star reviews in Empire (“a sci-fi picture which never loses sight of the human factor… an amazing achievement”), Total Film (“the most audacious debut since THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT”), the Financial Times (“a lollapalooza… so edgy it hardly needs monsters… a masterpiece of high-amp anxiety”), the Daily Express (“an intelligent, inventive film… highly recommended”) and the Sunday Mirror (“a road trip blending romance with sci-fi thrills”). It was also an Official Selection at the 2010 Melbourne International Film

    Photo courtesy of Section23 Films.

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    CLANNAD: AFTER STORY COMPLETE COLLECTION Available on April 19th Source: Section23 Films press release Special Thanks to Mike Bailiff Home video distributor Section23 Films has provided details on its April 2011 slate of releases, including one of the most beloved anime series ever, CLANNAD: AFTER STORY. The complete collection will be released April 19th with a new English dub, by Section23 client Sentai Filmworks. Product details follow, in order of release... SPECIAL A COMPLETE COLLECTION Published by: Sentai Filmworks Distributed by: Section23 Films Run Time: 600 min. Street Date: 4/5/2011 Format: DVD Language: Japanese with English Subtitles SRP: $59.98 Until she was six, Hikari was always the best at everything she did. Right up until the moment she challenged Kei to a wrestling match and HE won. Ever since that wretched day, Hikari`s entire life has been structured around beating Kei at SOMETHING, but try as

    Cover art for the Warner Archive Collection DVD of the Rankin/Bass- Tsuburaya co-production THE LAST DINOSAUR. © 1977 Rankin Bass Productions Inc.

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    Cult Favorite Rankin/Bass-Tsuburaya Co-production Available March 22nd Author: Keith Aiken Source: Warner Archive Collection Special Thanks to Gabriel Vicuna and Ed Godziszewski “It eats meat! Us!!” It is a Tyrannosaurus, ruler of a lost world hidden within a dormant polar volcano. Us are members of expedition led by a big game hunter and überzillionaire (Richard Boone). And eats – well, you get the idea, tyrant lizard fans! Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass, who charmed families with THE YEAR WITHOUT A SANTA CLAUS and more animated and stop-motion holiday heartwarmers, relied on dinomight for THE LAST DINOSAUR, the sort of thrill-a-minute popcorn-seller that gives bad movies a good name. Join the adventurers as they encounter a perilous array of prehistoric beasts, a tribe of savage cavemen and a T. rex who, despite its less-than-special effect appearance, can kick some serious Triceratops butt. -synopsis courtesy

    Cover art for VAMPIRE KNIGHT GUILTY Volume 1. Photo courtesy of VIZ Media. © 2008 Matsuri Hino, Hakusensha/ VAMPIRE KNIGHT Project

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    Source: VIZ Media, MediaLab press releases Special Thanks to Jane Lui and Erik Jansen VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced their new DVD releases for this month. These include the first episodic volume of VAMPIRE KNIGHT GUILTY (the second season of the hit gothic melodrama VAMPIRE KNIGHT), the latest Box Set for BLEACH, and 3 new releases from the latest installment of POKÉMON, POKÉMON DP GALACTIC BATTLES. VAMPIRE KNIGHT GUILTY Volume 1 Rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens MSRP: $19.97 U.S. / $28.99 CAN Available Now! In the opening of the second season, Zero is accused of Shizuka Hio`s murder and becomes the target of the Senate. When Kaname refuses to attest to Zero`s innocence, Yuki`s loyalties are torn between the two. Then Yuki meets a mysterious little boy whose seemingly

    DVD and Blu-ray cover art for the UK release of SUMMER WARS. Photo courtesy of The Associates. © 2009 Summer Wars Film Partners

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    Japanese Academy Award-Winner Coming March 28th Source: The Associates press release Official Site: s-wars.jp (Japan), funimation.com/summer-wars (US) From Mamoru Hosoda, the visionary director of THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME, comes a brand new, award winning animated feature, SUMMER WARS (Samaa Woozu, 2009), the story of an ordinary family forced to go to extraordinary lengths to avert an impending cyber-apocalypse. Described by Jonathan Clements (author of Schoolgirl Milky Crisis: Adventures In The Anime And Manga Trade) as “GHOST IN THE SHELL for the Facebook generation”, as a “contemporary romance for the Facebook generation... [that] rivals the work of Ghibli” (Tom Smith, Neo) and by Anime News Network as “a triumph… incredibly entertaining and intriguingly intelligent… pretty much perfect”, SUMMER WARS was the winner of the 2010 Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year, the 2010 Japan Media Arts Festival’s Animation Division Grand

    Evangelion Unit 02 goes into Beast Mode in EVANGELION: 2.22 YOU CAN (NOT) ADVANCE, coming to Region 1 DVD and Blu-ray this month. © 2009 Khara

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    Get the Second "Rebuild of Evangelion" Film For Free, Courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment and SciFi Japan! Source: FUNimation Entertainment Official Movie Site: funimation.com/evangelion (US), evangelion.co.jp (Japan) Special Thanks to Jackie Smith A SciFi JAPAN EXCLUSIVE Our friends at FUNimation Entertainment are offering SciFi Japan readers the opportunity to win DVD or Blu-ray editions of EVANGELION: 2.22 YOU CAN (NOT) ADVANCE, the digitally mastered and upgraded version of the anime theatrical feature EVANGELION: 2.0 (Evangelion Shin Gekijoban: Ha, 2009). FUNimation will be releasing EVANGELION: 2.22 on Blu-ray (SRP $29.98) and 2-disc DVD ($24.98) to retailers across North America on Tuesday, March 29th. The movie is the second chapter in the four part "Rebuild of Evangelion" (Evangelion Shin Gekijoban) film series by Hideaki Anno and Studio Khara, re-imagining the sci-fi animated series blockbuster NEON GENESIS EVANGELION (Shin Seiki Evangelion)— also written and directed by Anno— which first

    Helen Wallace (Arlene Zoellner) and Kenny Ishikawa (Yasushi Sakagami) root for Gamera, the friend of all children, in a publicity shot from GAMERA VS. ZIGRA. Photo courtesy of Kadokawa Pictures and Golden Media Group, Inc. © 1971 Kadokawa Pictures, Inc.

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    Who will Receive the Complete Gamera Set DVD for Free from Shout! Factory and SciFi Japan? Source: Shout! Factory Special Thanks to Tom Chen, Roy McAree and Richard Noboru Kekahuna A SciFi JAPAN EXCLUSIVE Our thanks to everyone who entered Shout! Factory and SciFi Japan`s contest for the complete Shout! Factory Gamera DVD Collection. We`ve received hundreds of entries, and the randomly chosen winners are: Jared P. Foust Mike Powell Rob Walicki Kevin Blackwell Abelardo D. Flores Congratulations to the winners! Each of you has won a DVD set of the original series of Gamera movies, including GAMERA THE GIANT MONSTER, GAMERA VS BARUGON, GAMERA VS. GYAOS /GAMERA VS. VIRAS Double Feature, GAMERA VS. GUIRON /GAMERA VS. JIGER Double Feature, and GAMERA VS. ZIGRA/GAMERA: THE SUPER MONSTER Double Feature. Shout! will be shipping the prizes soon so keep an eye on your

    EVANGELION: 2.0 YOU CAN (NOT) ADVANCE is coming to DVD and Blu-ray this month as the upgraded edition EVANGELION 2.22. Photo courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment. © 2009 Khara

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    Second "Rebuild of Evangelion" Film Streets March 29th Source: FUNimation Entertainment press release Official Movie Site: funimation.com/evangelion (US), evangelion.co.jp (Japan) Special Thanks to Jackie Smith Brutal mechanized action explodes on a grand scale as towering cyborg gladiators— the Eva Units— fight for the fate of the world in the new feature film EVANGELION: 2.22 YOU CAN (NOT) ADVANCE, coming to Blu-ray and 2-disc DVD in North America on Tuesday, March 29th. The home video editions from FUNimation Entertainment present the theatrical anime movie EVANGELION: 2.0 (Evangelion Shin Gekijoban: Ha, 2009), digitally mastered and with upgraded scenes. In the earliest battles against the monstrous Angels, young Eva pilots Shinji Ikari and Rei Ayanami were forced to carry humanity’s hopes on their shoulders. Now, with the deadly onslaught of the Angels escalating and the apocalyptic Third Impact looming, Shinji and Rei find their burden shared

    Young lovers struggle to stay true despite time and distance in director Makoto Shinkai`s 5 CENTIMETERS PER SECOND. Photo courtesy of The Associates. ©2007 Makoto Shinkai /CoMix Wave Films

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    Source: The Associates press release Official Movie Site: 5cm.yahoo.co.jp (Japan) Hailed by many fans and critics as Japanese animation’s successor to Hayao Miyazaki (PONYO; HOWL`S MOVING CASTLE; SPIRITED AWAY), director Makoto Shinkai (THE PLACE PROMISED IN OUR EARLY DAYS) presents his most mature and complicated work yet, 5 CENTIMETERS PER SECOND (Byoosoku Go Senchimeetoru: a Chein Obu Shooto Sutoriizu Abauto Zea Disutansu, 2007), coming to DVD on 14th March 2011 and featuring a brand new and superior audio dub produced by Bang Zoom! Entertainment. Taking its title from the speed at which cherry blossoms fall, 5 CENTIMETERS PER SECOND comprises three interconnected short stories, each centered on the hopes and dreams of a boy named Takaki Tono, beginning in the 1990s and end in the present day. The story begins when a new girl, Akari Shinohara, transfers to Takaki’s elementary school, the two

    Dot Matrix and her brother Enzo announce the winners of the REBOOT Seasons 1 and 2 DVD contest. Photo courtesy of Shout! Factory. © 2011 Rainmaker Inc.

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    Source: Shout! Factory Special Thanks to Tom Chen A SciFi JAPAN EXCLUSIVE Thank you to everyone who entered Shout! Factory and SciFi Japan`s contest for free DVDs of REBOOT Seasons 1 and 2. The winning entries are: Andrew Stengele Jeffrey Richardet Richard Shirley Mark Martucci Lucas Micromatis Congratulations to the winners! Shout! will be shipping the prizes soon so keep an eye on your mailboxes. And be sure to enter our new contest for free copies of Shout! Factory`s upcoming GAMERA VS ZIGRA/GAMERA: THE SUPER MONSTER Double feature DVD. The REBOOT Seasons 1 and 2 DVD is now on sale. The four disc set includes all 23 episodes from the first two seasons plus new audio commentary by producer Christopher Brough, designer and storyboard artist Blair Peters and animator Zeke Norton. The set`s total running time is approximately 570 minutes. The SRP is $29.93.

    Shout! Factory is giving SciFi Japan readers the chance to win the complete Gamera DVD collection, including the new GAMERA VS. ZIGRA/GAMERA: THE SUPER MONSTER Double Feature DVD. Photos courtesy of Shout! Factory © 1965-1980 Kadokawa Pictures, Inc.

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    Get the Entire Series of Classic Gamera Movies for Free, Courtesy of Shout! Factory and SciFi Japan! Source: Shout! Factory Special Thanks to Tom Chen, Roy McAree and Richard Noboru Kekahuna A SciFi JAPAN EXCLUSIVE This month, Shout! Factory completes their DVD releases of the early Gamera movies (1965-1980) with the GAMERA VS. ZIGRA/GAMERA: THE SUPER MONSTER Double Feature. In celebration, Shout! is offering SciFi Japan readers a chance to win their complete Gamera collection before the final DVD arrives on store shelves! The GAMERA Collection from Shout! Factory includes all eight movies on five DVDs... GAMERA THE GIANT MONSTER GAMERA VS BARUGON GAMERA VS. GYAOS /GAMERA VS. VIRAS Double Feature GAMERA VS. GUIRON /GAMERA VS. JIGER Double Feature GAMERA VS. ZIGRA/GAMERA: THE SUPER MONSTER Double Feature The first four Gamera DVDs are now available in stores and from online retailers with

    Photo courtesy of Madman Entertainment. © 2010 National Arts Films Production Limited

    DVD Blu-ray Digital

    Source: Madman Entertainment Special Thanks to Ben Pollock and Philippa Lamb The "Asian Eye" line from Australian distributor Madman Entertainment will be releasing the following anime and live action titles on Blu-ray and Region 4 DVD in March, 2011... IP MAN: THE LEGEND IS BORN Featuring some of the most spectacular, innovative and explosive martial arts ever staged, The Legend is Born is the remarkable true story of the early life of Ip Man, the formidable kung fu genius who would become Bruce Lee’s mentor. Beginning at the start of his journey from his initial training through to the ultimate battle to become the supreme master of the art of Wing Chun, The Legend is Born has already been hailed as one of the greatest martial arts films of all time and features an all-star cast, including Sammo Hung (Enter The Dragon), Yuen Biao and Ip

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