Turning Japanese Weekly News (August 10th – August 30th)

I’d like to first apologize for the delayed news lately. Life commitments and hurricanes can preempt such things. But without further adieu~

Sentai Filmworks Announces License of Coicent and Five Numbers

Sentai Filmworks today announced its acquisition of the twin sci-fi anime mini features COICENT and FIVE NUMBERS. Although not directly connected, both films exemplify the best of Japan’s new wave of up and coming anime masters, with COICENT reuniting writer/director Shuhei Moritai and character designer Daisuke Sajiki, who previously collaborated on the seminal CGI anime hit Kakurenbo, while FIVE NUMBERS teams director Hiroaki Ando, (who handled CGI duties for Steamboy and Noiseman,) with character designer Masaru Gotsubo (Samurai Champloo,) and scripter Dai Sato, whose previous credits include HALO: Legends – The Package, Ergo Proxy and screenplays for Cowboy Bebop. Although the two titles will be available separately via digital distribution, Sentai has announced that that they will be released together on DVD and BluRay, and that both titles will be available in both English subtitled and English dubbed versions.

Get ready for a double dose of amazing science fiction as two astounding tales come together in one incredible collection of state of the art animation! First, it’s a quick time jump to the 26th century where a school trip to a rebuilt 21st century city turns into a wild adventure for teenage Shinichi. While chasing a talking deer that steals his bag, he runs into a strange girl trying to elude even stranger pursuers, and then things get wild. It’s a mad dash through a city of the past as two young people discover a chance at a new future in COICENT. Then, four people awake to find themselves in the ultimate prison: an ex-soldier, a beautiful woman, an average Joe and a young computer hacker. Why are they there? What connection links them together? And how can they escape? The answer seems to lie with the fifth prisoner, an old man who knows far more than he is telling. And then there’s the cat. It’s the ultimate locked room mystery and all their lives hinge on solving it in FIVE NUMBERS.

Watch for digital distribution of COICENT and FIVE NUMBERS to begin soon, and catch it on DVD & BluRay later this year.

 

VIZ Media Debuts Digital Version of Sci-Fi Masterpiece Evangelion

Classic Sci-Fi Action Saga Will Debut New Weekly Digital Chapters For Only $0.99!

VIZ Media has announced the digital launch today of the acclaimed sci-fi manga (graphic novel) masterpiece, NEON GENESIS EVANGELION, on VIZManga.com and the VIZ Manga App for the Apple iPad™, iPhone™ and iPod™ touch. NEON GENESIS EVANGELION will be available chapter-by-chapter for only $0.99 each, with a new chapter launching each week. To celebrate the series’ debut, VIZ Media will offer a free Chapter 1 preview; Chapter 2 is also now available for download for $0.99.

NEON GENESIS EVANGELION (rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens), is series co-creator Yoshiyuki Sadamoto’s personal interpretation of the Evangelion characters and story is sure to intrigue new and old fans alike. In 2015, the “Angels” have returned, and Shinji Ikari, a fourteen year-old child of the new Earth, is forced by his father Gendo – commander of the secret organization NERV – to pilot the monstrous biomechanical weapon called “Evangelion” to match the Angels’ fearsome power…

VIZ Media’s digital manga platform continues to expand access for fans in North America to the world’s best manga. Starting with the VIZ Manga app (the #1 app for reading manga on the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch) in 2010, the recently launched VIZManga.com is now a leading online destination for reading manga on desktop/laptop computers and on Android-powered devices with built-in web browsers. With one account, registered users can select from nearly 400 volumes across 40+ series and then enjoy their purchases through even more devices than ever.

For more information, visit VIZManga.com or www.VIZ.com/apps.

Section 23 Films Announces November Slate

Home video distributor Section23 Films today announced its November slate of releases; including LOUPS=GAROUS. The animated thriller will be released on both DVD & Blu-Ray by Section23 client, Sentai Filmworks.

Product details follow, in order of release;
Coming November 2011

AMAGAMI SS COLLECTION 2
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 300 min.
Street Date: 11/1/2011
Format: DVD
Language: Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $49.98

Junichi Tachibana hasn’t exactly been lucky in love, but was that because there’s something fundamentally wrong with him, or simply because he wasn’t trying hard enough? How many girls could he have struck up a meaningful relationship with if he’d done the right things, said the right words? The answer has yet to be unveiled as new versions of Junichi’s prospective romantic future continue to appear. One boy and a whole lot of different girlfriends to be: if it sounds like wishful thinking, it is. But wishes have a habit of coming true, so the odds are definitely on Junichi’s side! It’s a whole new twist on the idea of love at sixth or seventh sight in the second and final half of AMAGAMI SS!

CLANNAD COMPLETE COLLECTION BLU-RAY EDITION
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 600 min.
Street Date: 11/8/2011
Format: BD
Language: English & Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $89.98

Tortured by his past and pained by an uncertain future, Tomoya drifts through life with an almost overwhelming anger and emptiness. But when he meets the mysterious, charming and shy Nagisa, his world seems to change. Drawn in by her gentle but lonely spirit, he begins to experience the joy life can bring. But as he discovers the reason for his newfound friend’s loneliness, Tomoya also finds that life can be frighteningly fragile. Poignant. Compelling. Heartbreaking. Clannad is one of the most cherished anime of all time. And now it’s available for the first time in beautiful, high-definition clarity.

ZOMBIE TRIPLE-FEATURE
Published by: Switchblade Pictures
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 242 min.
Street Date: 11/8/2011
Format: DVD
Language: Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $19.98

Get ready for the wildest, most insane, and incredibly over the top zombie fest ever as the all three feature films in the infamous “NIHOMBIE” saga come together in a single DVD collection so incredible that it could raise the dead – if they weren’t already running around Japan like frat boys at an all you can drink kegger! The action begins with the mind-boggling ATTACK GIRLS’ SWIM TEAM VS THE UNDEAD – When their school and the teachers start eating each other, having rabid sex and juggling, it’s up to Aki and her new found allies on the Girls’ Swim Team to send these monsters to the shower scenes! Then, a routine training mission for the Japanese Self-Defense Force becomes a blood soaked battle for survival when radiation from a crashed flying saucer causes flesh eating zombies to burst from the earth like weeds across the rural countryside in ZOMBIE SELF-DEFENSE FORCE! Finally, one SERIOUSLY ticked off Japanese schoolgirl cuts a path of revenge through the zombie hordes after a master warrior’s arm is grafted to her body in ZOMBIE HUNTER RIKA! If you’re looking for exploitation film nirvana, look no further: It’s the COMPLETE NIHOMBIE TRILOGY!

ICE COMPLETE COLLECTION
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 90 min.
Street Date: 11/15/2011
Format: DVD
Language: English & Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $29.98

Some strange virus, whether planned or accidental, has wiped out most of the population. The survivors? Beautiful women. Faced with the possible extinction of their entire race, some of these new Amazons have decided to live out their final days in the pursuit only of fleshly pleasures. Others choose to use their beauty, their might, and their minds to fight back and reclaim the planet once more. Revenge may be a dish best served cold, but anime has never been hotter than ICE!

NINJA TRIPLE-FEATURE
Published by: Switchblade Pictures
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 225 min.
Street Date: 11/15/2011
Format: DVD
Language: Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $19.98

If a ninja’s greatest weapon is to be unseen, prepare to meet three ladies who need some serious remedial ninja education. Because by the time this over the top (and out of their tops) trilogy of Kunoichi films is finished, there’ll be very little of them that the entire nation of Japan HASN’T seen. First up, a lovely ninja must choose between sacrificing her lover and using her body as her masters command, or forsaking her vows and being outcast forever in NINJA SHE-DEVIL! Then, it’s hard enough being a teenager, but being a 19-year-old ninja with an impossible assignment is even worse! Sora’s so new to the ninja game she barely knows which end of a ninjaken to stick her sheath on, but when she’s given the job of eliminating a rising shaman, she slinks forth to do her duty in I WAS A TEENAGE NINJA! And finally, a female ninja on the run finds herself taken in at a temple where nothing is as it seems and other girls keep disappearing. It’s a deadly web of slavery and deception ahead in NINJAKEN: THE NAKED SWORD!

COICENT / FIVE NUMBERS
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 60 min.
Street Date: 11/22/2011
Format: DVD/Blu-Ray
Language: English & Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $29.98/$39.98

Get ready for a double dose of amazing science fiction as two astounding tales come together in one incredible collection of state of the art animation! First, it’s a quick time jump to the 26th century where a school trip to a rebuilt 21st century city turns into a wild adventure for teenaged Shinichi. While chasing a talking deer that steals his bag, he runs into a strange girl trying to elude even stranger pursuers, and then things get really wild. It’s a mad dash through a city of the past as two young people discover a chance at a new future in COICENT. Then, four people awake to find themselves in the ultimate prison: an ex-soldier, a beautiful woman, an average Joe and a young computer hacker. Why are they there? What connection links them all? And how can they escape? The answer seems to lie with the fifth prisoner, an old man who knows far more than he is telling. And then there’s the cat. It’s the ultimate locked room mystery and all their lives hinge on solving it in FIVE NUMBERS. Two larger than life stories, one astonishing DVD or Blu-Ray: it’s the COICENT / FIVE NUMBERS Collection!

LOUPS=GAROUS
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 98 min.
Street Date: 11/29/2011
Format: DVD/Blu-Ray
Language: English & Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $29.98/39.98 (Blu-Ray)

After a virus claims millions, most live in the safety of a closed-off world, relegating themselves to an on-line existence. But when a young girl decides to brave life outside the virtual world, she finds a group of friends-and a killer. Someone is hunting and violently murdering children. Who? And why? And is she the next target? Get plugged in to this year’s most riveting animated thriller, the cyber-shocker Loups=Garous!

Experience the Lavish Gothic Art of Vampire Knight in New Artbook fr. VIZ Media!

Announcing THE ART OF VAMPIRE KNIGHT, in stores September 6th, sure to delight fans of bestselling series! This hardcover artbook also features an extensive character gallery with comments from creator Matsuri Hino, a how-to tutorial, and an exclusive full-color VAMPIRE KNIGHT poster!

Vampire Knight takes the audience to Cross Academy, attended by two groups of students: the Day Class and the Night Class… Yuki Cross and Zero Kiryu are the Guardians of the school, protecting the Day Class from a terrible secret – the Night Class is full of vampires!

VIZ Media Calls for Artists to Submit Work For Art For Hope, For Ongoing Japan Disaster Relief

Unique Art Book Project In Partnership With Autodesk Will Curate Digital Artwork Created With Autodesk SketchBook® Software

VIZ Media reaches out to visual, graphic and manga/comic-inspired artists to submit original work and participate in ART FOR HOPE, a special limited edition digital art book anthology, to be sold through VIZManga.com and the VIZ Manga App for iOS devices, with 100% of net proceeds supporting ongoing disaster relief efforts in Japan. Artists interested in submitting work to be considered for the collection can get the full details at www.viz.com/artforhope.

The unique project was launched in partnership with Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK), a leader in 3D design, engineering and entertainment software, and was initially announced at the 2011 Comic-Con International. All of the artwork for the ART FOR HOPE collection will be rendered using Autodesk SketchBook® digital paint and drawing software applications.

VIZ Media’s editors will collaborate with Autodesk to review and select works for inclusion in the digital anthology, which will be released later this fall through VIZManga.com and the free VIZ Manga App, available on iPad™, iPod Touch™ and iPhone™.

Samurai Girls Complete Collection, Now on Sale

Section23 Films is pleased to announce the release of the hit series SAMURAI GIRLS. The uncensored Complete Collection is available on both DVD and Blu-Ray is now on sale.

SAMURAI GIRLS COMPLETE COLLECTION
Running Time: 300 min.
Age Rating: TV MA (V, D)
Language: English & Japanese with English Subtitles
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Street Date: 8/23/2011
Format: DVD/BD
SRP: $59.98/$69.98

Muneakiru Yagyu is a gifted student of the samurai way. But until he arrives at his dojo, he never knew how gifted he truly was. Because there, a beautiful girl, Jubei, falls-naked-from the sky and right into his arms. And when they kiss, he magically transforms her into a powerful master samurai. So, naturally, every beautiful girl at the dojo can’t wait to kiss him. And some, like the sexy Gisen, want to do even more. It’s a tale of power and lust, filled with beautiful, scantily clad swordfighters who will do anything to please their master and attain even greater power. Get your sword ready for Samurai Girls!