SciFi Japan

    Tsuburaya Productions’ ULTRAMAN LEO is coming to North American home video for the first time in new Blu-ray sets from Mill Creek. Photos courtesy of Mill Creek. © TSUBURAYA PRODUCTIONS

    DVD Blu-ray Digital

    The seventh classic ULTRAMAN series gets its North American, high-definition debut! Source: Mill Creek Entertainment Special Thanks to Barrett Evans, Jeff Hayne and J.W. Starrett Minneapolis, MN (January 26, 2021) Mill Creek Entertainment is pleased to announce the next release from the Ultraman superhero library! ULTRAMAN LEO (ウルトラマンレオ Urutoraman Reo) will arrive on Blu-ray as both a special edition SteelBook for $55.99 and in standard packaging for $45.99 on April 13, 2021. This exciting debut comes off the back of Mill Creek Entertainment’s license of the entire available Ultraman back-catalogue via international distribution company Indigo Entertainment, from the revolutionary team at Tsuburaya Productions Co., Ltd. ULTRAMAN LEO is the seventh and final entry in the first wave of the Ultraman Series, premiering in Japan in April 1974. The mighty hero Ultraseven is crippled while defending the Earth from an

    Goro Miyazaki’s EARWIG AND THE WITCH is coming to home video from GKIDS and Shout! Factory. Image courtesy of GKIDS. © 2020 NHK, NEP, Studio Ghibli

    DVD Blu-ray Digital

    Source: Shout! Factory press release Official Site: gkids.com/films/earwig-and-the-witch (US) Special Thanks to Shannon Meehan EARWIG AND THE WITCH (アーヤと魔女, Āya to Majo, 2020), the first new release in four years from the legendary Studio Ghibli, will be released on digital platforms on March 23, as well as in both a Limited Edition Steelbook and a Blu-ray + DVD combo on April 6 from GKIDS, with distribution by Shout! Factory. Directed by Goro Miyazaki (TALES FROM EARTHSEA, FROM UP ON POPPY HILL) and produced by studio co-founder Toshio Suzuki, with planning from Academy Award-winner Hayao Miyazaki, the feature is based on the children’s novel Earwig and the Witch by Diana Wynne Jones (Howl’s Moving Castle), and marks Studio Ghibli’s first entirely 3DCG animated feature. The all-star voice cast for the English dub features the voices of Richard E. Grant (CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?,

    GAMERA THE GUARDIAN OF THE UNIVERSE is one of four films in the GAMERA: THE HEISEI ERA Blu-ray box From Arrow Video. Photo courtesy of Arrow Films. © KADOKAWA 1995 NH

    DVD Blu-ray Digital

    Source: Arrow Video US, MVD Entertainment Group press release Special Thanks to Clint Weiler Arrow Video US and MVD Entertainment are offering SciFi Japan readers a chance to win the deluxe Blu-ray set GAMERA: THE HEISEI ERA. The four disc collection includes the acclaimed 1990s trilogy of GAMERA THE GUARDIAN OF THE UNIVERSE (ガメラ 大怪獣空中決戦, Gamera Daijū Kūchū Kessen, 1995), GAMERA 2: ATTACK OF LEGION (ガメラ2 レギオン襲来 Gamera 2 Region Shūrai, 1996), GAMERA 3: REVENGE OF IRIS (ガメラ3 邪神〈イリス〉覚醒, Gamera 3: Jyashin Irisu Kakusei, 1999) plus the one-shot film GAMERA THE BRAVE (小さき勇者たち～ガメラ～, Chīsaki Yūsha-tachi Gamera, 2006). GAMERA: THE HEISEI ERA includes High Definition (1080p) transfers of all four movies, Japanese and English audio tracks, newly recorded audio commentaries, Japanese and American trailers, image galleries, featurettes and much more. The disc cases come with reversible sleeves featuring original and newly

    © Fields・Pierrot・Sotsu/ HERO MASK Production Committee

    DVD Blu-ray Digital

    Source: Sentai press release Official Site: heromask.jp (Japan), HERO MASK | Netflix Official Site (US) Sentai announced that it has acquired home video rights to the action thriller series HERO MASK (ヒーロー・マスク, Hīrō Masuku, 2018), a Studio Pierrot (TOKYO GHOUL, BLEACH) production, through a worldwide licensing arrangement (excluding Asia). Detective James Blood, member of an elite police unit, pushes the edges of law enforcement to bring down the criminal threats and terrorist organizations plaguing a beautiful metropolitan city. When the murder of Crown Prosecutor Monica Campbell crosses his desk, Blood finds himself embroiled in a conspiracy involving LIVE, a two-faced corporate conglomerate with ties to the sordid underworld of human experimentation. With Sarah Sinclair — the only witness to Campbell’s death — at his side, Blood will have to face an army of mask-wearing superhumans to uncover the truth and stop LIVE before

    GAMERA VS. VIRAS is one of eight films in the GAMERA: THE SHOWA ERA Blu-ray box From Arrow Video. Photo courtesy of Kadokawa. © KADOKAWA

    DVD Blu-ray Digital

    Source: Arrow Video US, MVD Entertainment Group press release Special Thanks to Clint Weiler Arrow Video US and MVD Entertainment are offering SciFi Japan readers a chance to win the deluxe Blu-ray set GAMERA: THE SHOWA ERA. The four disc collection includes the first eight movies in the series: GAMERA THE GIANT MONSTER (大怪獣ガメラ, Daikaijū Gamera, 1965), GAMERA VS. BARUGON (大怪獣決闘 ガメラ対バルゴン, Daikaijū Kettō: Gamera Tai Barugon 1966), GAMERA VS. GYAOS (大怪獣空中戦 ガメラ対ギャオス, Daikaijuu Kūchū-sen Gamera Tai Gyaosu, 1967), GAMERA VS. VIRAS (ガメラ対宇宙怪獣バイラス, Gamera Tai Uchū Kaijū Bairasu, 1968), GAMERA VS. GUIRON (ガメラ対大悪獣ギロン, Gamera Tai Daiwarujū Giron, 1969), GAMERA VS. JIGER (ガメラ対大魔獣ジャイガー, Gamera Tai Daimajū Jaigā, 1970), GAMERA VS. ZIGRA (ガメラ対深海怪獣ジグラ, Gamera Tai Shinkai Kaijū Jigura, 1971) and GAMERA SUPER MONSTER (宇宙怪獣ガメラ, Uchū Kaijū Gamera, 1980). GAMERA: THE SHOWA ERA includes High Definition (1080p) transfers of all eight movies, Japanese

    Main art by Matt Frank and Goncalo Lopest. Image courtesy of SRS Cinema LLC.

    DVD Blu-ray Digital

    Source: SRS Cinema LLC Special Thanks to Avery Guerra A SCIFI JAPAN EXCLUSIVE SRS Cinema has revealed a new trailer for the 1984 Korean movie WAR OF THE GOD MONSTERS that was released in its native country as THE UNDEAD BEAST (비천괴수, Bicheongoesu) and marketed internationally as THE FLYING MONSTER (飛天怪獸, Hiten Kaiju). The distributor will bring the movie to North America for the first time in early 2021. In WAR OF THE GOD MONSTERS, a young reporter named Kang Ok-hee is writing a story about the theories of Dr. Kim, a scientist who believes that dinosaurs still exist in the modern world. When gigantic creatures suddenly appear and cause massive destruction, the doctor and journalist must find a way to save the world. Limited edition physical media pre-sales start on January 21, 2021. Visit srscinema.com for more details in the

    ©おばけ屋／LAIDBACKERS製作委員会

    DVD Blu-ray Digital

    Source: Sentai press release Official Site: laidbackers.com (Japan) Sentai announced today that it acquired home video and digital sell-through rights for LAIDBACKERS (レイドバッカーズ-, Reidobakkāzu-, 2019), Japan’s hilarious final theatrical anime of the Heisei era. Sentai will distribute the feature in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Latin America and the Netherlands. Four former heroes are now living quiet, reincarnated lives in present day Kyoto, Japan. They bask in the warm contentment of being ordinary, modern folk without much important to do. But their idyllic lives are shattered when a precocious elementary schooler who is secretly a reincarnated demon king they once defeated shows up and starts making some serious demands! Now the former heroes must band together with their arch nemesis, because it’s do or die for team LAIDBACKERS! LAIDBACKERS is a production of Studio Gokumi

    Photo courtesy of Arrow Films. ©Myung Films

    DVD Blu-ray Digital

    Source: Arrow Video US, MVD Entertainment Group press release Special Thanks to Clint Weiler Arrow Video US and MVD Entertainment are offering SciFi Japan readers a chance to win the new, extras-packed Blu-ray of JSA: JOINT SECURITY AREA (공동경비구역 JSA, Gongdong Gyeongbi Guyeok Jeieseuei, 2000), the award winning South Korean thriller from the director of OLDBOY. Before OLDBOY, before THE HANDMAIDEN, visionary filmmaker Park Chan-wook helmed this gripping tale of deceit, misunderstanding and the senselessness of war. Gunfire breaks out in the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea, leaving two North Korean soldiers dead while a wounded South Korean soldier (Lee Byung-hun, THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD) flees to safety. With the tenuous peace between the two warring nations on a knife-edge, a neutral team of investigators, headed by Swiss Army Major Sophie Jean (Lee Young-ae, LADY VENGEANCE),

    Photo courtesy of Well Go USA Entertainment.© 2020 CRAZY SAMURAI MUSASHI FILM PARTNERS

    DVD Blu-ray Digital

    The Over-the-Top Action Epic Starring Action Icon Tak Sakaguchi Debuts Exclusively on Streaming Service Hi-YAH! February 12 Before Hitting Digital, Blu-ray & DVD March 2 Source: Well Go USA, ddPR press release Official Site: wiiber.com (Japan), wellgousa.com/films/crazy-samurai-400-vs-1 (US) Special Thanks to Leif Helland #CrazySamurai Leading Japanese martial arts icon Tak Sakaguchi (VERSUS, RISE OF THE MACHINE GIRL) stars in the groundbreakingly innovative action epic CRAZY SAMURAI: 400 vs. 1 (狂武蔵, Kyō Musashi, 2020), which will debut exclusively on the martial arts streaming service Hi-YAH! on February 12, before hitting Digital, Blu-ray and DVD March 2 from Well Go USA Entertainment. The highlight of this extraordinary film is a 77-minute action sequence shot in one continuous take, a “marathon battle [that] rivals any ever filmed” (Forbes). Director Yuji Shimomura (DEATH TRANCE, RE: BORN) has crafted an epic achievement in action choreography

    Photo courtesy of MVD Entertainment. © 1968 Toei Co., Ltd.

    DVD Blu-ray Digital

      From the Debauched Mind of Exploitation Legend Teruo Ishii, an Anthology of Taboo Delights and Horrors! Source: Arrow Films, MVD Entertainment Group Special Thanks to James Flower and Clint Weiler   From the outrageous imagination of cult director Teruo Ishii (ORGIES OF EDO, HORRORS OF MALFORMED MEN) comes SHOGUN’S JOY OF TORTURE (徳川女刑罰史, Tokugawa Onna Keibatsu-shi, 1968), the infamous omnibus of three shocking tales of crime and punishment based on true-life documented cases set during the reign of the Tokugawa shogunate. The first tale sees the beautiful Mitsu (Masumi Tachibana) going to horrifying lengths to tend to her older brother Shinzō (Teruo Yoshida), a carpenter injured in a work accident, but the law catches up on them and metes out a terrifying retribution after they violate the ultimate taboo. In the second, unfettered passions in a

    KONGA TNT DVD cover art. Photo courtesy of MVD Ent. ©Gray Chance Films

    DVD Blu-ray Digital

    Source: MVD Entertainment Group Special Thanks to Clint Weiler On March 16, SRS Cinema and distributor MVD Entertainment present the independent monster movie KONGA TNT (2020) from director Brett Kelly (ATTACK OF THE JURASSIC SHARK). KONGA TNT is an experimental movie project made while in isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Kelly took unused footage from previous movies and combined it with new footage shot by himself and actor/FX artist John Migliore along with writer Trevor Payer. After becoming injected with a formula derived from an alien ship, a lab gorilla escapes from his containment and befriends two young boys. The alien formula causes the gorilla to grow to gargantuan size and rampage throughout the city and the boys must find a way to save their simian friend before the army takes him down.

    Photo courtesy of Mill Creek. © TSUBURAYA PRODUCTIONS

    DVD Blu-ray Digital

      Source: Mill Creek Entertainment Special Thanks to Barrett Evans and Noah Sawyer   SciFi Japan is kicking off the New Year with a new contest! Mill Creek Entertainment is offering our readers a chance to win their new Blu-ray + Digital set of Tsuburaya Productions’ ULTRAMAN TARO (ウルトラマンタロウ, Urutoraman Tarō, 1973-74). The set contains stunning high definition video for all 53 half-hour episodes with DTS-HD Master Audio of the original Japanese soundtrack with English subtitles. In this sixth entry in the Ultraman series, young boxer Kotaro Higashi is severely injured during a Kaiju attack shortly after being scouted to the Earth defense team ZAT (Zariba of All Territory). At the chasm between life and death, Mother of Ultra appeared and saved Kotaro by merging his life with a young Ultra Hero, thus giving birth to the sixth

    Photo courtesy of Arrow Films. ©Myung Films

    DVD Blu-ray Digital

    One People, Two Countries, Every Life on Earth at Stake Source: Arrow Films, MVD Entertainment Group Special Thanks to James Flower and Clint Weiler On January 19, Arrow Video will release a deluxe Blu-ray edition of JSA: JOINT SECURITY AREA (공동경비구역 JSA, Gongdong Gyeongbi Guyeok Jeieseuei, 2000), the award winning South Korean thriller from the director of OLDBOY. Before OLDBOY, before THE HANDMAIDEN, visionary filmmaker Park Chan-wook helmed this gripping tale of deceit, misunderstanding and the senselessness of war. Gunfire breaks out in the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea, leaving two North Korean soldiers dead while a wounded South Korean soldier (Lee Byung-hun, THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD) flees to safety. With the tenuous peace between the two warring nations on a knife-edge, a neutral team of investigators, headed by Swiss Army Major Sophie Jean (Lee Young-ae,

    ©2021 Atto・KADOKAWA Publishing / Asahigaoka Project III

    DVD Blu-ray Digital

    Source: Sentai press release Official Site: nonnontv.com/tvanime (Japan) Sentai announced today that it acquired exclusive rights to NON NON BIYORI NONSTOP (のんのんびより のんすとっぷ, Non Non Biyori Non Sutotsupu, 2021), the highly anticipated third season of the charming slice-of-life anime series NON NON BIYORI. Since its premiere, NON NON BIYORI swelled the hearts of anime fans with endearing characters, engaging storylines and laugh out loud moments. Sentai’s licensed territory includes the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Scandinavia, the Netherlands, Aland Islands, Portugal, Spain and Latin America. The cast and main creative team from the earlier installments of NON NON BIYORI teamed up again for NON NON BIYORI NONSTOP! Now fans can rejoin Renge, Natsumi, Komari and former big-city-girl Hotaru as they experience an idyllic life in the Japanese countryside. Fresh excitement brews as someone

    ©2021 Rui Tsukiyo / KADOKAWA / Redo of Healer Production Committee

    DVD Blu-ray Digital

    Source: Sentai press release Official Site: kaiyari.com (Japan) Sentai announced today that it acquired exclusive rights to REDO OF HEALER (回復術士のやり直し 〜即死魔法とスキルコピーの超越ヒール〜, Kaifuku Jutsushi no Yarinaoshi: Sokushi Mahō to Sukiru Kopī no Chōetsu Hīru, 2021), the dark fantasy anime series based on the light novel series written by Rui Tsukiyo. Sentai’s licensed territories include the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, Greenland, Faroe and Åland Islands, Scandinavia, Spain, Portugal and Latin America. In a dark world of monsters, adventurers and mages, some of the most gifted healers are subjugated to brute force even by the hands of their compatriots. But one mage, Kayal, gains the ability to rewind time, turn the tables and right all wrongs. REDO OF HEALER is a production of Studio TNK (KANDAGAWA JET GIRLS). It

    The sea monsters Ikara, Takkora and Kanira tear through Tokyo in MONSTER SEAFOOD WARS, the new daikaiju film coming to home media in North America from SRS Cinema. Photo courtesy of Avery Guerra. ©2019 Monster Seafood Wars Production Committee

    DVD Blu-ray Digital

    Source: SRS Cinema LLC Official Site: sandaikaijyu.pal-ep.com (Japan) Special Thanks to Avery Guerra A SCIFI JAPAN EXCLUSIVE Distributor SRS Cinema has licensed North American home media rights to the 2020 daikaiju movie MONSTER SEAFOOD WARS (三大怪獣グルメ, San Daikaijū Gurume). Preorders are scheduled to begin in February for Blu-ray and VHS Special Editions which will ship in early 2021. MONSTER SEAFOOD WARS is the latest production from writer/director Minoru Kawasaki, the internationally renowned cult filmmaker behind such works as THE CALAMARI WRESTLER (いかレスラー, Ika Resurā, 2004), THE WORLD SINKS EXCEPT JAPAN (日本以外全部沈没, Nihon Igai Zenbu Chinbotsu, 2006), CRAB GOALKEEPER (かにゴールキーパー, Kani Gōrukīpā, 2006), MONSTER X STRIKES BACK/ ATTACK THE G8 SUMMIT! (ギララの逆襲／洞爺湖サミット危機一発, Girara no Gyakushū / Tōyako Samitto Kiki Ippatsu, 2008), EARTH DEFENSE WIDOW (地球防衛未亡人, Chikyū Bōei Mibōjin, 2014) and KAIJU MONO (大怪獣モノ, Daikaijū Mono, 2016). Kawasaki specializes in comedic

    © Ranjo Miyake・KADOKAWA/Twin Engine

    DVD Blu-ray Digital

    Source: Sentai press release Official Site: mujina-company.com (Japan) Sentai announced today that it acquired CUTE EXECUTIVE OFFICER (幼女社長, 2021), the delightful short-format anime comedy series based on the manga Youjo Shacho. Sentai will deliver the series to audiences in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, Scandinavia, the Netherlands, South Africa, Spain and Portugal. She’s not a genius. She’s not a prodigy. Heck, she’s not even old enough to vote! But somehow Najimu Mujina scored a totally above-average job as the president and “CEO” of the Mujina Company, where she navigates the world of adults with infectious, bright-eyed charm and enthusiasm. Whether it’s golfing with colleagues, negotiating contracts or pestering her executive assistant, Yuki, her hilarious antics are sure to captivate audiences of all ages. CUTE EXECUTIVE OFFICER is produced by Project No.9 (GIRLS BEYOND THE WASTELAND,

    Image courtesy of Well Go USA Entertainment.© 2019 Beijing Enlight Pictures Co., Ltd.

    DVD Blu-ray Digital

    Source: Well Go USA, ddPR press release Official Site: jiang-ziya-2020 (US) Special Thanks to Leif Helland JIANG ZIYA (姜子牙) — the acclaimed follow-up to the international blockbuster NE ZHA (哪吒之魔童降世, Nézhā zhī Mótóng Jiàngshì, 2019) and the second chapter in the magical Fengshen Cinematic Universe—is a fate-defying, action-packed legendary tale retold through vibrant Chinese animation and debuts on Digital, Blu-ray and DVD February 9 from Well Go USA Entertainment. To earn his place with the gods, commander Jiang Ziya must vanquish the fox demon behind a brutal clan war. Upon learning the creature’s fate is tied to that of a young girl, he faces an impossible choice: can he sacrifice one to save many? JIANG ZIYA NVINCIBLE DRAGON debuts on Blu-ray (SLP: $29.98), Digital and DVD (SLP: $24.98) February 9, 2021 from Well Go USA Entertainment. The film has a

    Photo courtesy of Shout! Factory. © Fuji Television Network, Inc.

    DVD Blu-ray Digital

    Source: Shout! Factory press release Special Thanks to Tom Chen Every drink has a story, and every story has a drink to accompany it. Hidden in the Ginza district’s back alleys in Tokyo, we find Eden Hall, an intimate bar run by Ryuu Sasakura, the bartender prodigy known to mix the most incredible cocktails anyone has ever tasted. However, not anyone can find Eden Hall, but it must find you! Anime series BARTENDER (バーテンダー, Bātendā), based on the best-selling Japanese manga of the same name by Araki Joh and illustrated by Kenji Nagatomo, is a charming and heartfelt anthology series that brims with captivating slice-of-life narratives and scrumptious-looking anime. Since its initial debut in 2006, BARTENDER developed a worldwide cult following. This acclaimed series was directed by Masaki Watanabe (BATTLE SPIRITS, BAKUMATSU, KADO – THE RIGHT ANSWER), written by Yasuhiro Imagawa

    Blu-ray cover art, courtesy of MVD Entertainment. © KADOKAWA

    DVD Blu-ray Digital

    Source: Arrow Films, MVD Entertainment Group Special Thanks to James Flower and Clint Weiler In March 2021, Arrow Video will release a Blu-ray double feature of THE INVISIBLE MAN APPEARS (透明人間現わる, Tōmei Ningen Arawaru, 1949) and THE INVISIBLE MAN VS. THE HUMAN FLY (透明人間と蝿男, Tōmei Ningen to Hae Otoko, 1957). Finally released outside Japan for the very first time, these unique riffs on H.G. Wells’ classic character (though undoubtedly also indebted to Universal’s iconic film series) are two of the earliest examples of tokusatsu (special effects) cinema from Daiei Studios, later the home of Gamera. In THE INVISIBLE MAN APPEARS, written and directed by Nobuo Adachi in 1949, a scientist successfully creates an invisibility serum, only to be kidnapped by a gang of thugs who wish to use the formula to rob a priceless jewel. In addition to being the

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