Media Blasters in Early 2008

New Info, Cover Art, and Release Dates for Asian DVDs on the `Tokyo Shock` and `Exploitation Digital` Labels Source: Media Blasters, Inc. Special Thanks to Richard York Media Blasters has provided new cover art and information on their upcoming Tokyo Shock and Exploitation Digital releases. Look for the following Region 1 DVDs in the first quarter of 2008. January 15, 2008: RED EYE (Redeu-ai, 2005) It`s Mi-sun`s first day as a railroad attendant. Her first assignment is an overnight trip through Korea and she`s understandably nervous. But it`s not the motley group of passengers that has her feeling uneasy. It`s the train itself. It turns out that some of the cars on the train were involved in a devastating crash 16 years earlier in which 100 people died. Rumor has it those cars are haunted and it`s not long before Mi-sun starts to experience eerie visions. The train takes on a will of its own and appears headed for a very specific, very terrifying destination that may provide Mi-sun with some much-needed closure involving her deceased father — the conductor of the ill-fated train!

Kim Dong-bin — director of RING VIRUS, the Korean remake of the Japanese classic RING (Ringu) — brings this tense and harrowing tale of claustrophobia and sorrow to vivid, terrifying life. RED EYE is a Tokyo Shock release in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen with Korean audio and English subtitles. The running time for the main feature is 98 minutes. The suggested retail price is $19.95. January 29, 2008: DELINQUENT GIRL BOSS: BLOSSOMING NIGHT DREAMS (Zubeko Bancho: Yume wa Yoru Hiraku, 1970) After a life in reform school, Rika (Reiko Oshida) tries her hand at becoming a decent, upstanding citizen. But try as she might, she just can`t get the hang of the straight life. She finds herself back in the big city where the hippie revolution has taken hold and psychedelics are the drugs of choice. Back on the streets, she meets up with her old reform schoolmates and becomes embroiled in an underworld full of gangsters and shifty kidnappers who have a taste for money and women. Now, Rika must rely on her two greatest assets — her beauty and her butt-kicking skills — to help her friends take brutal revenge! DELINQUENT GIRL BOSS: BLOSSOMING NIGHT DREAMS was the first in the four part DELINQUENT GIRL BOSS series from Toei Co., Ltd. Kazuhiko Yamaguchi (SISTER STREET FIGHTER) makes his directorial debut. Exploitation Digital is proud to bring this influential classic to DVD for the first time anywhere, in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen with Japanese audio and English subtitles. Extras include a Photo Gallery. Feature running time is 87 minutes. SRP $29.95.

TAKASHI MIIKE COLLECTION 1- BODYGUARD KIBA (Contains BODYGUARD KIBA and BODYGUARD KIBA 2) Junpei, a low level gangster, is in over his head when he decides to steal a large sum of money from his Yakuza boss. Now he needs constant protection. Enter Naoto Kiba, an invincible bodyguard for hire. It`s just what Junpei needs to recover his money, rejoin his girlfriend and, hopefully, make a safe escape. But Kiba has his hands full with this assignment as he is constantly putting his fighting skills to the test. In BODYGUARD KIBA 2: APOCALYPSE OF CARNAGE, Tetsu Daito and his apprentice Kiba operate a karate dojo. In order to keep the dojo afloat, they pull in extra cash by hiring Kiba out as a bodyguard. Kiba eventually agrees to protect a beautiful woman in Hong Kong, thinking the job will be an easy one. But he was wrong. Dead wrong. The BODYGUARD KIBA Collection is a collaboration between director Takashi Miike (ICHI THE KILLER) and writer Hisao Maki (FAMILY, SILVER). Both films are 1.85:1 widescreen, with a combined running time of 157 minutes. Japanese audio with English subtitles. Extras include a Miike Trailer Reel. SRP is $19.95.

February 19, 2008: GIRL BOSS REVENGE (Sukeban, 1973) A car, loaded with delinquent girls, is headed to reform school when it crashes and the girls escape to freedom. On the run from the law, girl boss Komasa and her friends seek refuge right in the middle of Osaka`s hardcore gang territory. Rival gangs battle it out for supremacy in a corrupt world of money-hungry degenerates whose only objectives are to make a quick buck and score a quick score. When Komasa and her pals get involved, it throws the whole underworld into chaos and they soon find themselves at the mercy of some sinister thugs. Abused to no end at the hands of some rough customers, the girls find themselves the currency in a brutal transaction. But girl boss Komasa won`t consider any debts paid in full until she has her revenge! GIRL BOSS REVENGE is the fourth film in the GIRL BOSS series. Director Norifumi Suzuki (SCHOOL OF THE HOLY BEAST) guides the beautiful Miki Sugimoto through this brutal, sensational pinky violence classic. Exploitation Digital is proud to bring GIRL BOSS REVENGE to DVD for the first time, in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen with Japanese audio and English subtitles. Running time is 86 minutes. Extras include a Photo Gallery and an interview with director Norifumi Suzuki. SRP $29.99.

ZEBRAMAN (Zeburaman, 2005) Back in 1978, Shinichi was obsessed with a short-lived TV superhero show called ZEBRAMAN, set in the year 2010. When 2010 actually rolls around, Shinichi is a grade school teacher and family man who can’t get any respect from his students or his family. To escape this not-so-wonderful life, he makes himself a Zebraman costume and begins to prowl around the city at night. But what begins as escapism soon becomes a bizarre reality as a monster from the original show actually appears. Shinichi then realizes that his beloved TV show wasn’t science-fiction, but prophecy foretold! And by dressing up as Zebraman, he elects himself as the fulfillment of that prophecy. Now he has no choice but to take seriously the role of Zebraman and protect the world from an alien invasion! Tokyo Shock presents Takashi Miike’s hilariously entertaining ZEBRAMAN in the original 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen with 2.0/5.1 Japanese and English audio and English subtitles. Running time is 115 minutes. Extras include a trailer for the 1978 TV series, a look at the singer of the ZEBRAMAN theme song, Hero Show, the “Special Announcement” teaser, the theatrical trailer, TV spots, and a Photo Gallery. SRP $19.99. February 26, 2008: TAKASHI MIIKE COLLECTION 2- FAMILY (Contains FAMILY and FAMILY 2) Acclaimed director Takashi Miike explores a different type of family dynamic with FAMILY; the tale of rival yakuza families constantly at war with each other. Based on the serialized Weekly True Stories manga by Hisao Maki, FAMILY is part of Media Blasters’ “Maki Collection” of collaborations between Maki and Miike that also includes BODYGUARD KIBA (Bodigaado Kiba, 1993) and SILVER (Silver: Shirubaa, 1999).

In FAMILY 2, it is discovered that the order to assassinate the Mitsumikai Boss was given by the one and only Boss of the Japan Mafia: Mr. Nishiwaki. Hideshi finds something odd about the killing and launches and investigation that uncovers the true motives behind this murder. The FAMILY saga continues with a sequel packed with harrowing boat chases, big explosions, beautiful women, sex, and drugs. Both films are 1.85:1 widescreen, with a combined running time of 158 minutes. Japanese audio with English subtitles.Extras include a Miike Trailer Reel. SRP is $19.95. March 11, 2008: DEVILMAN (Debiruman, 2004) Best friends Akira and Ryo (played by real-life twins, Hisato and Yusuke Izaki) are just your average high school students. That is, until they receive word that Ryo`s father has accidentally unleashed a horde of demons while conducting experiments in Antarctica. These demons spread like an infection throughout the world, possessing ordinary people and turning them against each other. When Akira is possessed, he becomes Devilman, a powerful demonic entity who somehow retains his human conscience. It is up to Devilman to do battle with the heartless demons, including Ryo whose become an equally powerful yet diametrically evil demon, in a climactic, apocalyptic showdown. Based on the popular manga by Go Nagai (Cutey Honey, Kekko Kamen), DEVILMAN runs 115 min and is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. Complete specs to be announced, but extras include a “Making Of” featurette, cast interviews, and a TV Spot. DEVILMAN is a Tokyo Shock release. ZATOICHI TV Collection One A threat is uttered, a blade is drawn, a flash of cold steel and then… A dozen attackers lay dead, dispatched by the lightning sword of one blind man: Zatoichi. A humble masseur and gambler, Zatoichi wanders from town to town plying his trade and rolling the dice. With a kind heart and lethal sword skills, he is a protector of the innocent and the ruin of wicked men. A pop culture icon since 1962, Zatoichi was featured in 26 films starring Japanese film legend Shintaro Katsu, and resurrected in the 2003 update from Takeshi “Beat” Kitano. Katsu brought the character to the small screen in 1974, and 100 episodes of ZATOICHI aired over four seasons through 1979. Tokyo Shock collects the first 13 episodes of the show’s first season, THE TALE OF ZATOICHI. The 6-disc set features each episode in the original full screen format. The Japanese mono audio presented in 2.0 Dolby Digital, plus removable English subtitles. Running time 585 minutes. March 18, 2008: SUKEBAN DEKA Pack Two DVD pack containing SUKEBAN DEKA THE MOVIE (1987) and SUKEBAN DEKA: COUNTER-ATTACK OF THE KAZAMA SISTERS (Sukeban Deka: Kazama San-shimai no Gyakushu, 1988). Extras include a Photo Gallery, theatrical trailers, the Making of SUKEBAN DEKA and Yui`s Diary. Coming Soon: HEROES TWO (Fang Shiyu yu Hong Xiguan, 1974) Classic Hong Kong martial arts film from the Shaw Brothers. DEATH TRANCE Special Edition Tin (2005) In an unknown place and unknown time a lone Samurai known only as Grave (Tak Sakaguchi) thirsts for the ultimate battle. Grave has stolen a mysterious coffin from the holy Tougan Temple a coffin said to contain a great power. Trapped inside the sealed coffin is the Goddess of Destruction confined and held at bay from laying waste to this world. Grave fearlessly travels the land dragging the coffin… and so begins the deadly race to re-capture the coffin and its hidden power from Grave for good or evil. LONE WOLF AND CUB Television Series Vol 1 (Kozure Okami, 1973)