SciFi Japan
    Gary Oldman and Toho Actors Star in First Film of ‘John Rain’ Series Source: The Associates press release Special Thanks to Farhana Shaikh Based on the first book in the series of bestselling ‘John Rain’ novels by acclaimed author and former CIA operative Barry Eisler, the action-packed crime-thriller, RAIN FALL, brings Eisler’s half-Japanese, half-American anti-hero to the screen for the first time in the form of award winning Japanese star, Keppei Shiina (THE LAST PRINCESS; SAKURAN). RAIN FALL (cert. 15) will be released on DVD (£15.99) by Momentum Pictures on 29th March 2010. Adapted for the screen and directed by Max Mannix (DANCE OF THE DRAGON), this slickly mounted, tense thriller co-stars Gary Oldman (THE DARK KNIGHT; HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX), veteran Japanese actor Akira Emoto (GODZILLA VS SPACE GODZILLA; ICHI; MEMORIES OF MATSUKO; SINKING OF JAPAN), Kyoko Hasegawa

    Source: Section23 Films press release Special Thanks to Mike Bailiff Section23 Films has announced that TAYUTAMA: KISS ON MY DEITY is now on sale on DVD across North America. TAYUTAMA: KISS ON MY DEITY COMPLETE COLLECTION contains all 12 episodes of the magical comedy series on 2 discs. TAYUTAMA began life as a popular adult PC game, but it has since been adapted to many other media, including anime. Yuuri Mito is a typical, normal Japanese teenager. He goes to school, works on people`s motorcycles and performs exorcisms. Okay, that last part`s a little bit unusual, but his family lives in a shrine and they do that sort of thing. Still, you would think he`d know enough to be careful with an ancient relic he finds in the woods, especially when a mysterious goddess appears and tells him to leave it alone. Unfortunately, despite Mito`s best

    Hong Kong Classic Gets Ultimate Edition Treatment Source: The Associates press release Special Thanks to Paul Smith Directed by Gordon Chan (THE MEDALLION; BEAST COPS) and starring martial arts superstar Jet Li (THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR; THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM; FEARLESS; HERO), FIST OF LEGEND gets the Ultimate Edition treatment courtesy of Cine Asia with an extra features-packed Blu-ray and two-disc DVD release on 22nd March 2010. A stunning reinvention of Bruce Lee’s timeless 1972 classic, FIST OF FURY, FIST OF LEGEND delivers scene upon scene of intense and magnificently composed martial arts action for what is now considered by many to be the greatest kung fu movie of all time. In the most electrifying performance of his celebrated career, international superstar Jet Li plays Chen Zhen, the matchless number-one student of China’s preeminent kung fu master, Fok Yun-gap. Upon returning

    Premieres this Month on Anime Network VOD Source: Sentai Filmworks, Anime Network press releases Special Thanks to David Williams and Christian Lopez From the creators of AIR and KANON comes a sweeping new saga in which the sentimental, the surreal and the supernatural inexplicably become one: this is the world of CLANNAD. Prepare to meet the ambitious Tomoyo, who dreams of becoming class president; Kotomi, a troubled genius with a secret past; and most mysteriously, Fuko, whose disassociation with the world has become so severe that she is literally fading from existence! Sentai Filmworks is pleased to announce that the hit series CLANNAD will be receiving an English dub. Originally released in a subtitled only format, CLANNAD is receiving the dub as part of an agreement in which several affiliated groups have come together to create English language versions for five of Sentai’s most popular titles.

    Source: FUNimation Entertainment press releases Special Thanks to Jackie Smith FUNimation Entertainment has provided details on several new and upcoming Region 1 anime DVDs... RIN: DAUGHTER OF MNEMOSYNE Complete Series Box Set Available Now SRP $59.98 Official Site: funimation.com/rin Rin Asogi is an immortal private detective with a thirst for vodka and a talent for attracting things that go bump in the night. In a series of nightmarish vignettes spanning sixty-five years, Rin`s lush body is sadistically pierced, blown up, and mulched to a bloody pulp. The fiend behind her tortured existence is Apos, an eternal being obsessed with sacrificing Rin to Yggdrasil, the tree of all life. While Rin struggles to unravel the secrets of her endless agony, Apos lurks in the shadows, eager to tear into her ripe body and devour the memories of her countless lives. Rin`s no stranger to the realm of

    Natural Disasters and Mutant Animals Terrify and Entertain Source: Madman Entertainment Two of the biggest box office hits in Korea last year were the mega-tsunami thriller HAEUNDAE and the killer wild boar horror/comedy CHAW. The Australian distributor Madman Entertainment has picked up both films and is releasing them on Region 4 PAL DVD. HAEUNDAE went on sale last month, and CHAW is scheduled for April. Neither movie has been released on home video in North America. HAEUNDAE There is no escape. Korea`s first disaster movie has arrived, with special effects by acclaimed Hollywood CGI specialists Polygon, the team behind the STAR WARS prequels, THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW and THE PERFECT STORM. During the busy summer months, the beach resort of Haeundae is packed with up to 1 million vacationing Koreans. On one such day, marine geologist Kim-hwi detects some seismic activity which

    New Anime and Live Action Region 1 DVDs Source: Section23 Films press release Special Thanks to Mike Bailiff Genre distributor Section23 Films has announced two new DVDs hitting shelves today. From Section23 client Sentai Filmworks comes the first collection of YOU`RE UNDER ARREST: FULL THROTTLE, the outrageous follow-up to YOU`RE UNDER ARREST: FAST & FURIOUS. Next up is BUYUSENKI BATTLE CHRONICLE, a motorcycle gang action thriller from Switchblade Pictures. YOU`RE UNDER ARREST: FULL THROTTLE The ladies of Bokuto Police Station are back, but there have been some BIG changes! Miyuki`s been in the U.S., studying American police techniques while Natsumi`s actually been serving in the military! So have these world-changing experiences had any effect on how everyone`s favorite girls in blue carry out their duties protecting the Japanese public? Have they gained a more "mature" perspective? Well, let`s just say that, if anything, they may be

    Hong Kong Legends Donnie Yen and Sammo Hung Face Off in Martial Arts Hit Source: The Associates press release Special Thanks to Farhana Shaikh Winner of the Best Action Choreography Award at the 2006 Hong Kong Film Awards and hailed by Variety as “a must see” for martial arts and action movie fans, the action-thriller KILL ZONE (aka SPL: Sha Po Lang, 2005) comes to Blu-ray and DVD (as a two-disc Ultimate Edition) in March packed with special features that include behind the scenes featurettes, plus exclusive interviews with the stars and filmmakers. Directed by Wilson Yip and featuring the work of many of the creative talents who helped him in bringing IP MAN, FLASHPOINT and DRAGON TIGER GATE to the screen, KILL ZONE stars Donnie Yen (IP MAN; AN EMPRESS AND THE WARRIORS), Simon Yam (IP MAN; TRIANGLE), Sammo Hung (THREE KINGDOMS;

    HALO LEGENDS on DVD and Blu-ray; DEATH NOTE RELIGHT and NARUTO SHIPPUDEN Source: Madman Entertainment The Australian distributor Madman Entertainment is releasing the following anime titles this month on Blu-ray and Region 4 DVD... HALO LEGENDS Go deeper into the Halo universe than ever before with HALO LEGENDS, an all-new, CG and traditional anime experience that presents enthralling new stories from one of the world`s most popular video game franchises. HALO LEGENDS is a seven-story anthology - told across eight spectacular episodes - that explores the origin and historical events of the Halo universe and its intriguing characters. Studios involved in the Halo Legends project include Bones Inc., Casio Entertainment Inc., Production I.G, STUDIO4°C and Toei Animation. Bones: Founded in 1998, Bones has become one of the top animation studios in Japan in less than a decade. The studio is best known

    Source: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, Inc. Official Movie Site: disneypictures/ponyo Special Thanks to Jackie Cavanagh Today, March 2, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment releases several titles from legendary filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. Miyazaki`s latest, PONYO, will be available in both Blu-ray and DVD, while the classics CASTLE IN THE SKY, KIKI’S DELIVERY SERVICE, and MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO are returning as Special Edition DVDs with brand new extra features. WDSHE has provided the trailer and a number of video clips from PONYO. For additional information, DVD and Blu-ray specs, and images please see the previous report here on SciFi Japan. Behind the Scenes Video About Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, Inc. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, a recognized leader in the home entertainment industry,

    Source: VIZ Pictures Official Movie Site: 20thboysfilms.com (US), 20th Boys (Japanese) Special Thanks to Rieko Fuji A SciFi JAPAN EXCLUSIVE Thank you to everyone who entered VIZ Pictures and SciFi Japan`s contest for a free 20TH CENTURY BOYS 2 DVD Gift Pack. The following randomly drawn entrants correctly answered all contest questions: Evan Brehany Joseph W. Whalen Wilton E. Newman Congratulations to the winners! Each of you has won a Gift Pack containing the 20TH CENTURY BOYS 2: THE LAST HOPE DVD, button, and theatrical poster. VIZ Pictures will be shipping the Gift Packs shortly so keep an eye on your mailbox. Contest Answers: 1. Who was blamed for the attacks on the Bloody New Year`s Eve of 2000? A: Kenji Endo (or Kenji and his friends) 2. The 20th Century Boys manga was created by Naoki Urasawa. Name the anime series based

    Toho Box Office Hit Coming from MVM Entertainment on March 8th Source: The Associates press release Special Thanks to Louise Rivers The 2006 disaster film SINKING OF JAPAN (Nihon Chinbotsu) will be released on DVD in the UK next week by MVM Entertainment. The movie is based on the best selling novel Japan Sinks by Sakyo Komatsu, and the previous film adaption, Toho`s blockbuster SUBMERSION OF JAPAN (1973). SINKING OF JAPAN was a co-production among several companies; most notably Toho and Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS). It was co-written and directed by Shinji Higuchi, the acclaimed FX director on the Heisei Gamera series who has gone on to helm hit films such as LORELEI: THE WITCH OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN (Lorelei, 2005). The special effects were directed by Makoto Kamiya of GODZILLA, MOTHRA AND KING GHIDORAH: GIANT MONSTERS ALL-OUT ATTACK (Gojira, Mosura, Kingughidora: Daikaiju

    Source: VIZ Media, MediaLab press releases Special Thanks to Evelyn Dubocq and Erik Jansen VIZ Media, LLC has announced their list of DVD titles scheduled for release in April 2010. This includes the final box set release of NANA, the next episodic releases of the popular BLEACH and NARUTO SHIPPUDEN series, and the latest box set release of NARUTO SHIPPPUDEN. Also releasing is the live action feature film, K-20: THE FIEND WITH TWENTY FACES, from VIZ Pictures. VIZ Media DVD titles are distributed (in English) in the U.S and Mexico by Warner Home Video and in Canada by Allegro. New NARUTO and NARUTO SHIPPUDEN Releases Include: NARUTO SHIPPUDEN Box Set 2 Special Edition MSRP: $69.97 US / $99.99 CAN Available April 20 Team Kakashi is joined by Team Guy in their pursuit of Gaara`s kidnappers, Deidara and Sasori, but their way to the Akatsuki hideout is

    Biker Vengeance on Region 1 DVD Source: Section23 Films press release Special Thanks to Mike Bailiff Next month, genre film distributor Section23 Films and Switchblade Pictures will release the unrated limited edition DVD of BUYUSENKI BATTLE CHRONICLE. BUYUSENKI BATTLE CHRONICLE Mix motorcycles, drugs and yakuza under pressure and the result is bosozoku, the brutal motorized street gangs that terrorize Japan armed with swords and baseball bats. Kyosuke Jinnai was the leader of the "Buyusenki," the largest group of its kind in the Kanto region, but sick of the violence, he had planned to give it all up to make a family with his pregnant girlfriend. Instead, all of that was stolen from him in a moment of savage betrayal, and the man who dreamed of a life of peace has instead been transformed into an angel of death! The streets of Japan will be paved with

    Source: Section23 Films press release Special Thanks to Mike Bailiff Home video distributor Section23 Films today announced its May slate of DVD releases, including the second season of the hit anime series HELL GIRL from Section23 client Sentai Filmworks. Sentai will also release three other anime series sets in May, including YOU`RE UNDER ARREST: FULL THROTTLE COLLECTION 2, SAMURAI HAREM - ASU NO YOICHI COMPLETE COLLECTION and EYESHIELD 21 COLLECTION 1. Also releasing in May from Sentai Filmworks, APPLESEED BLU-RAY EDITION which includes an all new English dub featuring the cast of APPLESEED EX MACHINA! May 2010 product details follow, in order of release... YOU`RE UNDER ARREST: FULL THROTTLE COLLECTION 2 Published by: Sentai Filmworks Distributed by: Section23 Films Run Time: 300 min. Street Date: 5/4/2010 Format: DVD SRP: $39.98 They’re tough, tenacious and would take no prisoners… Except it’s their job! Miyuki, Natsumi and the

    Source: 4Digital Media, Arias UK Ltd. press releases Official Movie Site: VAMPIRE GIRL VS FRANKENSTEIN GIRL (Japan) Special Thanks to Chris Meyer From Yoshihiro Nishimura, the man behind the outrageousness of TOKYO GORE POLICE and THE MACHINE GIRL comes this crazed response to both TWILIGHT and LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, a film that consistently overwhelms the viewer in its sheer dementia... Based on a manga by Shungiku Uchida, VAMPIRE GIRL VS FRANKENSTEIN GIRL (Kyuketsu Shojo tai Shojo Furanken, 2008) will be released on DVD (£15.99) in the UK by 4Digital Media on 15th March, 2010. Synopsis Handsome high school student Mizushima (Takumi Saito) receives Valentines Day chocolates from a new student, Monami Arukado (Yukie Kawamura). Little did he know that the chocolates contained traces of Monami`s vampire blood. He gets infected from eating them and Monami confesses that she wants

    New Anime and Live Action Region 1 DVDs Source: Section23 Films press release Special Thanks to Mike Bailiff Section23 Films, America’s fastest-growing genre film distributor, is pleased to announce two new DVDs that will blow your mind. From Section23 client Sentai Filmworks comes the fun new anime MARIA-HOLIC COMPLETE COLLECTION, collecting the entire series in one cool set. Next up is RYUJI THE YAKUZA, a hard-boiled thriller from Switchblade Pictures. Both DVDs were released on February 23rd. MARIA-HOLIC COMPLETE COLLECTION MARIA-HOLIC COMPLETE COLLECTION is a romantic comedy set in an all-girls school, where androphobic transfer student Kanako searches for her yuri partner but instead runs into a cross-dressing boy with a sadistic personality. Featuring unusually lush, playful art direction from studio Shaft, MARIA-HOLIC veers wildly from serious send-up to outrageous parody of popular anime tropes. This is one over-the-top series! It’s not easy to find the

    Author: Ed Godziszewski Official Site: KK DeAgostini Japan One of the recent trends in Japan is take movie and TV series that have long been marketed on video, LD, and dvd and repackage them a new way to sell them yet again to the public. The preferred approach is to produce a bare bones DVD, bundle them with an A4-size booklet, and introduce a new volume every 3-4 weeks, thus bypassing video sales arrangements and allowing the product to be sold as a book in bookstores. Always one to look for ways to sell the same movies to collectors many times over, Toho jumped on this bandwagon recently and intends to sell 55 titles from their special effects film catalog. Sold by a company named DeAgostini starting in September of 2009, the Toho SFX DVD Collection has been a huge seller in its

    Source: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, Inc. Press release Official Movie Site: disneypictures/ponyo Special Thanks to Jackie Cavanagh On March 2, 2010, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment will release several titles from legendary filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. Miyazaki`s latest, PONYO, will be available in both Blu-ray and DVD, while the classics CASTLE IN THE SKY, KIKI’S DELIVERY SERVICE, and MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO are returning as Special Edition DVDs with brand new extra features. PONYO Disney Presents a Studio Ghibli Film From Oscar-Winning* Director Hayao Miyazaki. A Fantastic Re-imagination of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid” Comes to Blu-Ray Hi-Def and DVD on March 2, 2010 A heartwarming and lushly animated retelling of a beloved fairytale, PONYO comes to Blu-ray Hi-Def and DVD on March 2, 2010 from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. Presented by legendary filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki and

    Source: Section23 Films press release Special Thanks to Mike Bailiff Section23 Films, America’s fastest-growing anime distributor, is pleased to announce the TO LOVE RU COLLECTION 2 DVD set from Sentai Filmworks, which goes on sale today at finer retailers everywhere. TO LOVE RU is the story of the alien princess Lala who runs away from home and ends up on Earth, where she ends up with a high school boy named Yuuki Rito. Lala falls for the hapless Rito, even while he tries to hook up with his long time crush. It’s a cosmic love triangle with lots of laughs and plenty of fan service. As if being accidentally engaged to a demon-like alien princess while attending high school and still making points with the girl he REALLY likes wasn’t enough to keep Rito on the edge of insanity, he’s now stuck with an more dangerous

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