Anime Studies: Ten Books To Own
By Andrew Osmond.
So you love Japanese animation, and want to make yourself an expert. Of course you use Google and Wikipedia to broaden your knowledge, but web sources are reliably unreliable, especially when discussing a medium rather older than the internet. Sometimes there’s no alternative to hitting the books. Continue Reading
Anime Limited to release the original Fullmetal Alchemist series on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK
We’ve had some great announcements over the past week but we have one more to share with you that we're super excited tell you about. Today we are delighted to announce that we (Anime Limited) are bringing the original Fullmetal Alchemist TV series to the UK on DVD and for the first time on Blu-ray.
© HIROMU ARAKAWA/SQUARE ENIX, MBS, ANX, BONES, dentsu 2004.
Synopsis: After losing their mother, Alphonse and Edward Elric attempt to bring her back using the forbidden science of human alchemy. However, alchemy operates on the theory of equivalent trade, and breaking the human alchemy taboo carries a heavy price. Ed loses his leg, and Al loses his body. Ed is able to seal Al's soul inside of a huge suit of armor, at the cost of his arm. Years later, Ed (now with two mechanical limbs) and Al (still trapped in the armor) leave their childhood home, each brother concerned with the other's happiness. Ed, who has a natural talent and skill for alchemy, becomes nationally certified and is soon known everywhere as the "Fullmetal Alchemist.”
Their true objective is to search for any information on the fabled Philosopher's Stone, hoping it will allow them to regain their old bodies. All of their hopes rest with this mythical stone, which may not even exist at all. However, the brothers soon learn that they are not the only ones after the powerful stone.
"The original Fullmetal Alchemist has a strong place in all of our hearts here at Anime Limited” says Andrew Partridge, President of Anime Limited. “It’s a show that for many people in the UK was a gateway into anime, and after being out-of-print for a long time what better way to celebrate it having been a decade since the series received it's first release in the UK, yes it has been that long, than being able to bring the series out on DVD and for the first time on Blu-ray. Well there is one way we can think of; an Ultimate Edition Blu-ray set."
The original Fullmetal Alchemist series will be coming to Blu-ray and DVD in 2016. More details will be forthcoming so please tuned accordingly for those.
Signing out~!
Jeremy
Kill la Kill standard edition Blu-ray and DVD releases coming in 2016
We know lots of you have been enjoying our Collector’s Edition releases of Kill la Kill Parts 1, 2 & 3 up until now but we also know there are lots of you who have been waiting patiently on news for when a Standard Edition style release might be coming. Up until now we have only been permitted to release Collector’s Editions versions but today we are happy to confirm that in 2016 Anime Limited will be making the series available in standard edition form on both DVD and Blu-ray.
Our standard edition release of the series will be over three parts on each format coming packed in an amaray case. The on-disc content including extras will be identical to what was included in our original Collector's Edition releases. The episode split being:
- Part 1: Episodes 1-9
- Part 2: Episodes 10-19
- Part 3: Episodes 20-24+OVA Episode 25
The Blu-ray Standard Edition and DVD Standard Edition releases of Part 1 and Part 2 will each have an RRP of £29.99, while the RRP of Part 3 will be £24.99, though we expect the actual prices retailers will charge for each to be lower than that.
More details will be forthcoming, such as release dates, but we wanted to make you aware of this news as soon as possible. In the mean time check out our trailer for the series below.
Be sure to keep an eye on us over the weekend as we have one more announcement to share with you!
Signing out~!
Jeremy
Akiyuki Nosaka 1930-2015
By Andrew Osmond.
“My sister’s death is an exact match with the novel,” Akiyuki Nosaka said in 1987, while his book Grave of the Fireflies was being turned into an anime film by Isao Takahata. “It was one week after the end of the war. At the countryside of Fukui prefecture where I was, it was the day the restrictions on lighting were removed… It was evening, and I was picking up my sister’s bones. I was coming home in a daze when I saw the village lit up. There was nothing like my surprise then. My sister died in my side of the world and the light was coming back in the other.” Continue Reading
Selector Infected WIXOSS
By Andy Hanley.
We’ve probably all heard – or perhaps even used – disparaging remarks around an anime series that refer to it as a “glorified trading card commercial” or “blatant toy advertisement”. It’s an accusation that can have some merit at times, but it also forgets that the very foundations of anime are its ability to market various goods, be it the source material in the form of a manga, light novel or game, or other merchandising goods such as model kits, figures or card games.
This kind of cheap shot also ignores the fact that you can build an anime merchandising powerhouse while still creating works that hold up to critical scrutiny – Mobile Suit Gundam is more than just an advert for model kits to those who watch it, as a prime example of a franchise that juggles marketability with decidedly grown-up ideas and narratives. Continue Reading