Pre-order ‘Welcome to the Ballroom: Part 1′ today!. First English language Blu-ray release in the world arrives 29th June 2019!.
Some of you eagle eyed folks out there have likely noticed that this title has had a listing on our online shop and other retailers for a fair few weeks at this point, but today we've got our dancing shoes on and are putting the spotlight on our upcoming release Welcome To The Ballroom: Part 1, that'll be arriving as a Ltd Collector's Edition Blu-ray set on 26th June 2019... just a few weeks from now!
If you're not familiar with the series, don't fret as we'll give you an introduction before diving into what you can expect from our release - which it's worth noting that we're the first English-speaking territory in the world to bring this series in any form to home video!
ABOUT WELCOME TO THE BALLROOM
Welcome To The Ballroom
Synopsis: "Middle school student Tatara Fujita is a young man living a directionless existence - desperate to change and find a true calling to pursue though he is, there’s simply nothing in his life to provide the spark that he needs to ignite his passions.
All of this changes one day when Tatara spots a fellow student entering the door of the Ogasawara Dance Studio. Saved from bullies by a cool, calm and collected stranger, the next thing Tatara knows he’s dragged into the studio for an impromptu trial and is transfixed by a whole new world - a world of supreme confidence borne from an upright posture… of almost inhuman body movements and gyrations… of talented dancers shouting out to the world to look at them.
There’s no doubting Tatara’s determination to look good on the dance floor, but does he have what it takes to make a name for himself in the cut-throat realm of professional ballroom dancing? With professional and personal rivalries to deal with, and a cornucopia of new demands both mental and physical providing plenty of new challenges, it’s going to take more than sheer will to reach the heights of the competitive ballroom scene. As he makes friends and mentors along the way, Tatara soon learns that it takes far more than two to tango."
Director: Yoshimi Itazu (Pigtails)
Studio: Production I.G (Ghost in the Shell, Haikyu!!, Kuroko's Basketball)
You can check out a subtitled trailer for the series, originally published prior to it's Japanese broadcast, below
WHAT'S PLANNED FOR THIS RELEASE?
As we mentioned earlier, Part 1 will be available as a Blu-ray Ltd Collector's Edition set from 26th June 2019. We're the first English speaking territory in world to be giving this series a home video release of any kind, so we're very excited about this! Here's a look at what Part 1 will look like:
As you can see, following in our traditional Collector's Edition formula, the set will come packed in a rigid case. Inside that you will find a Digipak that holds the two Blu-ray discs. Additionally inside you'll find an A3 poster, a set of art cards and a 24-page booklet that includes character art & information, a gallery of images from the series, an interview with director Yoshimi Itazu commenting on the opening title sequence to the series and an interview with Masako Sato (ending theme storyboard and director for episodes 1-11) commenting on the ending title sequence.
On the two Blu-ray discs themselves - which for those of you curious are both BD50s - you'll get the first half of the series (episodes 1-12). Worth noting that the series has never had an English dub produced, so the series is in Japanese with English subtitles only.
WHERE CAN I ORDER THIS?
We're happy to say that we're taking orders for this right now at our AllTheAnime.com online store right now, so don't miss your chance to grab it early at a special price!
~ AllTheAnime.com Special Offer ~
Until Thursday 13th June 2019 pre-order Welcome to the Ballroom for £34.99 (SRP: £59.99)
You can also pre-order this from retailers right now including the following -
Order at Amazon UK
Order at Zavvi.com
Order at Anime-On-Line
That concludes this preview of our release of Welcome to the Ballroom: Part 1. We hope you're looking forward adding this series to your collection!
Signing out~!
Jeremy
Interview: Naoki Urasawa
By Andrew Osmond.
“I have been told that the UK is one of the countries where manga hasn’t really been culturally assimilated,” declares the manga giant Naoki Urasawa. “I couldn’t quite grasp why the country which had the Beatles, who loved rock music, couldn’t understand manga.” Continue Reading
Martian Successor Nadesico
By Andrew Osmond.
Martian Successor Nadesico is an epic space opera, running 26 parts and the better part of ten hours. It’s also a farcical comedy, targeted knowingly at fans of epic space opera. Its trick – which defies physics in ways to give any Scot spaceship engineer conniptions – is to continually have its cake and eat it. It wears its decades-long anime heritage proudly, yet it’s very much of its moment, the mid-1990s. Nadesico came out just before two American fantasy hits would do much the same as it had done first: Galaxy Quest in cinemas and Buffy the Vampire Slayer on television. More on them later. Continue Reading
Manga: My Brother’s Husband
By Andrew Osmond.
The manga My Brother’s Husband is a family drama, like some of the best-known Japanese films. Like Tokyo Story, it centres on an absence, a family member who’s died, and on characters bonding round the missing person. Like many Kore-eda films (and Hosoda’s The Wolf Children), it’s about an alternative family, not yet accepted by mainstream Japanese society, yet with its strength and authenticity. The manga depicts two men; a divorced Japanese man, and a bereaved Canadian who’d married the Japanese man’s twin brother.
“The (Japanese) protagonist is Yaichi, who’s a single father and has a daughter called Kana,” explains the manga’s creator Gengoroh Tagame during a talk at Japan House London. “One day a big Canadian man called Mike arrives. Mike was married to Yaichi’s brother Ryoji, who died in Canada. So Mike decides to visit his deceased husband’s family in Japan, and that’s how he arrives at Yaichi’s house. Yaichi, who didn’t know about this visit, is very confused, while Kana is excited, and that’s where it all starts.”
It’s impossible not to be charmed by the two-volume manga, available in English from Blackfriars in hardback and Kindle editions. It’s a story of connection and learning, of a central male relationship that’s not romantic but still deeply emotional, due to the deceased person linking the men’s lives. Although Yaichi is our viewpoint, one supporting characters is a teenage boy scared by his own sexuality, and his story will resonate with many readers his age. Continue Reading
[UNBOXING] Silver Spoon – Season 1
If you were lucky enough to join us this past weekend at MCM London Comic Con, you might have already glimpsed a peek of our Blu-ray Collector's Edition release of Silver Spoon Season 1. Regardless, now that the final product is ready and has landed on our proverbial doorstep, we can now unwrap it and revel in all of its finery! Whether you've already pre-ordered your copy prior to its release next Monday (3rd June 2019) or are still planning to do so, we wanted to give you a proper look at our release of this long-awaited and frankly quite marvellous show from the creator of Fullmetal Alchemist.
First though, let's start with a recap of what the show is all about, before we move on to the real meat of our unboxing.
ABOUT SILVER SPOON
© Hiromu Arakawa, Shogakukan/EZONO Festa Executive Committee
Original Creator: Hiromu Arakawa (Fullmetal Alchemist)
Director (Season 1): Tomohiko Ito (ERASED, Sword Art Online)
Studio: A-1 Pictures
Synopsis: “The only reason why Yugo Hachiken decided to attend the Oezo Agricultural High School (a.k.a Ezono) was simply because the school had a dormitory. Entering Ezono was a way for Yugo to run away from the stifling academic pressures in the city, however, it didn’t take long for him to realize that life is not that simple.
Yugo is soon forced to face more hurdles in his new environment surrounded by all the farm animals and the magnificent Mother Nature. He also begins feeling a different kind of pressure as he deals with his classmates who, unlike him, all have a clear view of what they want for their futures. Even so, as Yugo overcomes one challenge after another at Ezono and deepens his bonds with his classmates, he begins to grow stronger both physically and mentally.
This is a coming-of age story filled with sweat, tears, and literally a lot of dirt!”
Here’s a quick trailer for you:
WHAT'S IN THE BOX? What's on the discs?
No more horsing around or milking the situation, let's get our first glimpse at this Collector's Edition!
Silver Spoon Season 1 Collector's Edition
As you can see, following our traditional Collector’s Edition style this first season comes packaged in a rigid case, inside of which is Digipak to house the two BD-50 Blu-ray discs. Additionally, this edition comes complete with a series of five art cards as well as an A3 sized poster!
In terms of what's on those two Blu-rays, across the discs you’ll find the entire first season (totalling 11 episodes), with episodes 1-6 on the first disc and episode 7-11 on the second. It’s worth noting that the entire series was never dubbed into English, so this is a subtitle-only release, in Japanese stereo LPCM audio with English subtitles.
Additionally to the series itself, you also get some promotional videos for the series plus textless opening and ending title sequences as extras across both discs.
WHERE CAN I ORDER THIS?
Why not order your copy of Silver Spoon Season 1 right now from our very own AllTheAnime.com web shop? You can do so via the link below:
Alternatively, this Collector's Edition can also be found at a number of other retailers, including:
Order at Amazon UK
Order at Zavvi
Order at Base
Order at Anime-on-Line
PHOTOS OF THE FINISHED PRODUCT!
Okay... at last! The part that you're actually here for. Let's get inside that box! (You can can click on the images below to enlarge them to get a better look)
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- Don’t have a cow, Hachiken… it’s just the front cover of our slipcase
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- On the rear of the box, you’ll find this onsert attached by a couple of glue dots. Peel it away gently to reveal…
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- …a surprise principle appearance!
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- As you might have guessed, the image on this slipcase wraps around, so here it is in all its glory.
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- Speaking of spines, here’s how the four sides of the box look.
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- Now, what’s inside? Let’s take a look.
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- Here’s the Digipak, containing the two Blu-ray discs which comprise the series.
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- Remove those discs, and here’s the artwork you’ll find beneath
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- Let’s moo-ve in closer for a look at disc one
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- Moving on, we seem to have made a pig’s ear of disc two
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- As noted, this release comes with a set of five art cards for your enjoyment
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- Here’s what you’ll find on the rear of each card
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- Art card 1
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- Art card 2
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- Art card 3
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- Art card 4
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- And (surprise!) art card 5
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- Finally, we have the A3 poster included in this release. Aww, aren’t they cute together? (Hachiken and the sweetcorn, that is)
So there you have it - we hope you're as excited to finally be able to own Silver Spoon's first season on Blu-ray as we are to bring you the opportunity! Don't forget, we're the first English-speaking distributor to bring you this series on Blu-ray, so we're sure you'll agree that it's been worth the wait!
Now that the unboxing is done, I can put away my "Big Book O' Farm Puns", and harvest the satisfaction of a job well done.
Until next time, take care!
~ Andy H