NEWSWIRE: January 2026 Pre-Orders

Greetings everyone, and Happy New Year… we’re back back back, and it’s time for us to kick off the year properly by talking about our pre-order slate for January! Well, once we’ve gotten used to writing “2026” anyway…

First of all, a few housekeeping notes – firstly, in case you missed our huge news just before Christmas last year, we put out this exciting update about the future of Anime Limited, so please do give it a read if you haven’t already!

Secondly, we are of course aware that many of you are still waiting for orders placed during the Christmas sale to be shipped to you – now that our fulfilment centre has reopened after the festive break, they’re endeavouring to work through all outstanding orders to clear this backlog and ensure that all of your items reach you as soon as possible, so please do bear with us as orders get shipped, and we work through any customer service requests.

Finally, for those of you who pre-ordered our Diebuster Collector’s Edition – this was delayed due to a major printing issue that had to be rectified, but stock is now with us so this will be shipping out shortly to those who have ordered it!

With all of that out of the way, let’s get to looking forward to January’s pre-orders, and some big-name directors and franchises getting some love!

Read on for what we have in store to kick off a busy and exciting year!

The Place Promised in Our Early Days Steelbook

To kick off 2026 in style, let’s return to a seminal moment in the career of director Makoto Shinkai, while also offering up the opportunity to finally complete your Shinkai Steelbook collection, as we add The Place Promised in Our Early Days to this set of releases.

“In 1996, an enormous tower is constructed on the southern shore of Hokkaido, it’s purpose-unknown. Curious, three school children make a vow to discover the mysterious tower’s secrets. Will this promise have to be left unfulfilled when one of the three falls into a coma?“

This final piece in our Shinkai Steelbook collection features the film on both DVD and Blu-ray, plus – as per our other Steelbook releases – the film’s soundtrack on CD.

Pre-orders for this edition open on Thursday 8th January at 5PM, so be sure to get your order in!

Product: The Place Promised in Our Early Days Steelbook Collector’s Edition
Release date: Monday 26th January 2026
SRP: £39.99
Pre-orders open: Thursday 8th January 2026

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Wolf Children 4K Deluxe Edition

Continuing down the path of major films from beloved directors, last summer we loved giving you the opportunity to see three classic Mamoru Hosoda films on the big screen in 4K, and as 2026 begins you can now look forward to enjoying them all in UHD quality in your own home, starting with our 4K editions of Wolf Children!

“Wolf Children is a staggeringly beautiful animated feature film from director Mamoru Hosoda (SUMMER WARS). This epic cinematic achievement follows Hana, a woman who falls in love with a Wolf Man and gives birth to two half human, half wolf children. After fate intervenes and a tragic incident occurs, Hana seeks refuge in a rural town where she attempts to build a life for herself – and her children.”

We’ll be showing off a full exploded pack shot with the full contents of this release in due course, but for now we can show you our combination of rigid slipcase adorned with a classic piece of artwork from the film, enclosed in an O-card with some additional artwork that wraps around it.

Within this you’ll find the film on 4K UHD Blu-ray, the film on Blu-ray, a Deluxe Edition exclusive full bonus disc packed with extra features including a making of featurette and on-stage presentation event with the director and Japanese cast, and the film on DVD.

Also contained within this set is an acrylic stand, and a series of art cards, including one very special wooden art card!

As well as our traditional Standard Edition DVD and Blu-ray versions, alongside this fully-fledged Deluxe Edition, we’ll also be releasing a retail-wide 4K UHD + Blu-ray Steelbook Edition, which you can check out below!

Product: Wolf Children 4K UHD + Blu-ray + DVD Deluxe Edition
Release date: Monday 26th January
SRP: £79.99
Pre-orders open: Thursday 15th January

Product: Wolf Children 4K UHD + Blu-ray Steelbook Edition
Release date: Monday 26th January
SRP: £39.99
Pre-orders open: Thursday 15th January

Product: Wolf Children Blu-ray
Release date: Monday 26th January
SRP: £19.99
Pre-orders open: Thursday 15th January

Product: Wolf Children DVD
Release date: Monday 26th January
SRP: £17.99
Pre-orders open: Thursday 15th January

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Lupin Zero Collector’s Edition

I don’t know about you, but I love a good origin story, and surely few are more intriguing than the question of how the inimitable Lupin III came to be? Well, soon you’ll be able to find out, as we can reveal that we’ll be bringing Lupin Zero to Blu-ray very soon!

“The exploding megalopolis of 1968 Tokyo is a wonderland filled with constant innovations, tempting opportunities, and beautiful girls! Unfortunately for the young Lupin, his father, Lupin II, insists that young Lupin stay on the right side of the law and avoid those temptations… even though the boy’s Granddad, Lupin I, the world’s greatest thief, has stuffed young Lupin’s head with the tricks of his nefarious trade! Then Lupin encounters similarly trouble-prone schoolmate Jigen, and when bad boy meets bad boy, what do you think they’re going to do? It’s the start of a beautiful friendship and the wildest crime spree of all time in LUPIN ZERO!”

This six-episode OVA occupies a single Blu-ray disc housed inside an Amaray case, which of course itself resides in our traditional rigid slipcase.

Also included in this release is a 32-page booklet packed with production artwork from the series, comprising the main cast of characters as well as a plethora of props and vehicles. Honestly, if you’re a car, train or gun nerd, this is a great resource for you too!

With a Standard Edition Blu-ray also available, pre-orders for both that and this Collector’s Edition open on January 22nd.

Product: Lupin Zero Collector’s Edition
Release date: 26th January 2026
SRP: £69.99
Pre-orders open: Thursday 22nd January 2026

Product: Lupin Zero Blu-ray
Release date: 26th January 2026
SRP: £39.99
Pre-orders open: Thursday 22nd January 2026

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Love Live! Superstar!! Season 3 Collector’s Edition

We know how you all love a new Love Live release (as do we!), so we thought we should start the year with one, as we continue to follow those idol superstars in their quest to be the best courtesy of Season 3 of Love Live! Superstar!!

“Yuigaoka Private Girls High School. A school that lies in between Omotesando, Harajuku, and Aoyama and the birthplace of the school idol group Liella! and they begin their third year. For Kanon Shibuya and the other first gen students, this is their final year of high school. Before the school’s rooftop where they resonated their voices with all they had, the road lined with trees that they ran through, and everything else changes into just a memory…“Let’s make a promise.”

This school idol project started off with 5, they made their dream come true with 9, and they will come together with 11. Take flight! Our Love Live!”

We continue with the bright and appealing theme of the show with our Collector’s Edition releases, with this vibrant slipcase housing an Amaray case packed with even more artwork, which of course is the home for our two Blu-ray discs containing the series in Japanese with English subtitles. Accompanying all of this is a 12-page booklet of character profiles and artwork.

Let the arguments over whether the “best” characters are on the slipcase begin!

Pre-orders for this release open on Thursday 29th January at 5PM – get set and ready to complete your Love Live Superstar collection so far! Of course, a Standard Edition Blu-ray is also available – this one has all the characters on the cover, to avoid any fights breaking out in your local HMV.

Product: Love Live! Superstar!! Season 3 Collector’s Edition Blu-ray
Release date: Monday 23rd February 2026
SRP: £69.99
Pre-orders open: Thursday 29th January

Product: Love Live! Superstar!! Season 3 Standard Edition Blu-ray
Release date: Monday 23rd February 2026
SRP: £39.99
Pre-orders open: Thursday 29th January

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So, that’s how our January is shaping up! After a lot of teasing we’re also hoping to finally be able to bring SPY x FAMILY Code: WHITE to you on home video very soon, and there is, of course, a cornucopia of new titles coming your way to home video and cinemas throughout this year – we’ll be keeping you updated constantly throughout 2026 of course, and we can’t wait to share more of what we have in store!

On which note, maybe we’ll squeeze in some time to confirm more of our recent acquisitions and upcoming home video titles soon to leave you with even more to tantalise you… as ever, watch this space!