Mobile Suit Gundam NT
If you've been following us the past few years you'll know that in collaboration with our friends at Bandai Visual in Japan we've given fans in the UK, Ireland and Scandinavia the opportunity to order the Japanese Import Collector's Edition sets of the Gundam The Origin and Gundam Thunderbolt films. Well today we're excited to announce that we're now taking pre-orders for the latest incarnation of the Gundam franchise, Mobile Suit Gundam NT (aka Gundam Narrative).
We are taking pre-orders for this product for a limited time (until 5pm (UK) on 8th April 2019) at our AllTheAnime.com online shop. If you're not familiar with how all this works, all the information is below for you.
ABOUT GUNDAM NT
The latest work in the “Universal Century” series telling the story after the events of “Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn”! Blu-ray release of the mega-hit movie, filled with fabulous bonus items! Is it destruction, or life eternal?
Synopsis: U.C. 0097…
One year has passed since the contents of Laplace's Box were revealed to the world at the end of the conflict called the "Laplace Incident." Despite the revelation of the Universal Century Charter that acknowledges the existence and rights of Newtypes, the framework of the world has not been greatly altered.
Meanwhile, the Neo Zeon remnants known as the Sleeves have temporarily collapsed after the Laplace Incident, and their activities are at a standstill. And the two Unicorn Gundams, the mobile suits that played a leading role in the conflict, have been deemed dangerous and secretly sealed away because they displayed power beyond human understanding.
However, the RX-0 Unicorn Gundam 03, which disappeared two years earlier and was erased from history, has shown itself in the Earth Sphere once more. This machine called "Phenex" is the focus of many people's renewed activity. As well as the Earth Federation Forces and the Sleeves, Luio & Co, a huge corporation with strong connections to Anaheim Electronics, is involved in the struggle for the Phenex. As Luio & Co. deploys the new mobile suit Narrative Gundam, what is its true objective…?
Want to sample some of the film? How about the first 23 minutes? Not even joking. The first 23 minutes have been made available to preview! Check it out below. (You activate can activate the English subtitles within the video player itself.)
HOW DO PRE-ORDERS FOR THIS PRODUCT WORK?
©SOTSU･SUNRISE
Well first of all we need to stress that this is not an AllTheAnime / Anime Ltd. product.
This is a Bandai Visual product from Japan that will be shipped once stock arrives at our office in Glasgow, UK. (Expected to be late May / Early June 2019.)
This is a pre-order scheme in conjunction with Bandai Visual that allows fans in the UK., Ireland and Scandinavia the chance to pre-order this product knowing it will be shipped by us in the U.K once stock has arrived. Each item ordered will also be shipped by the courier service UPS - this cost is already included in the price you pay at our online shop. So you'll be able to keep track of its delivery progress too once it's shipped.
Important things to note -
- As we've said already but we need to reiterate, this is not an AllTheAnime / Anime Ltd. product. This is a Bandai Visual release from Japan.
- This is a Japanese product. Though the main feature itself will include the English language dub and English subtitles to accompany the original Japanese audio, any additional features on the disc itself and/or the physical items included in the package itself will be in Japanese only.
- The cost to order this is £79.99, and the full cost must be paid immediately when placing the order. (We do not have the facility to take delayed payments.)
- This price includes it being shipped to customers via the courier service UPS. (We will not ship the product any other way.) However for any orders outside the UK, there will be an additional shipping cost added to this as well.
- Deadline to pre-order this is 5pm (UK) Monday 8th April 2019. Once this date has passed we will no longer be taking any pre-orders for this product.
- Once stock has been delivered to our HQ - expected to be in late May / early June 2019 - we'll get them shipped as soon as possible to everyone who has pre-ordered it!
- Though unlikely, should any additional stock be available once orders have been fulfilled and delivered, these will be listed on our AllTheAnime.com online shop accordingly on a first-come first-served basis.
WHAT WILL BE IN THIS PRODUCT?
Jacket illustration by Sejoon Kim
At time of writing we're unable to show you what the product will look like, but we can tell you all the contents will be housed inside a chipboard box that'll have sleeve illustrations by Hajime Katoki and jacket illustrations by Sejoon Kim (see right).
As well as the main feature there are additional contents included (with all additional content being in Japanese only- no subtitles/translation included). There will be -
- Drama CD (Japanese audio only),
- Cell & Line Art Illustrations Book (planned to be around 48 pages),
- Settings Art Book (planned to be around 32 pages),
- Special booklet (planned to be around 16 pages)
- and a special bonus Blu-ray disc with approximately 78 minutes of additional content (in Japanese only - no subtitles will be available for this content.) This disc will contain a Digest of the talk and live part in the pre-premiere event from Oct. 16th 2018, Salutations on stage at the premiere screening, and a Short lecture for "Universal Century" in 3 minutes.
- Additional contents noted: New Gundam series film trailer, Promotional Clips & Trailers of "Gundam NT", Staff and Cast Audio Commentary.
PLUS! With every pre-order of this product at AllTheAnime.com there will also be an original squared art board (aka shikishi) with an illustration especially drawn for the occasion. (see below)
Preview of bonus item that will be included
Additional notes -
~ Duration of the main feature is approximately 95 minutes
~ Audio options for the main feature are:
1. Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio (5.1ch)
2. Japanese DTS Stereo, partly Linear PCM 2.0ch
3. English DTS-HD Master Audio (5.1ch)
4. English DTS Stereo, partly Linear PCM 2.0ch
WHERE DO I ORDER THIS
At our AllTheAnime.com online shop! A reminder that pre-orders for this are open now and close on Monday 8th April at 5pm (UK). Click on the link below to order yours.
F.A.Q. (FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS)
Chances are some of the information below have already been covered above, but we like to compile things into one section -
- Is this an All The Anime / Anime Ltd product?
No. This product is created and manufactured by Bandai Visual in Japan. We are simply giving people the opportunity to order it. - Where will this be shipped from and when?
Once stock arrives (expected late May / early June 2019) it will be shipped from our offices in Glasgow, UK. - What countries/territories are you shipping this product to?
We can ship this product to UK, Ireland and Scandinavian countries only.
- How much does it cost?
£79.99. This price includes the fact it will be shipped by the courier service UPS that will include a tracking number. (NOTE: any international orders will incur an additional shipping charge.) - Is there English in this product?
Only the main feature will have English audio and English subtitles to accompany the Japanese audio. Any additional contents (be them on the discs themselves or physical items in the package) will be in Japanese only. - What's the deadline to pre-order this by?
5pm (UK) Monday 8th April 2019. - Will there be any more of this available after the pre-order period has ended?
Though unlikely, should there be any additional units available following all pre-orders being shipped and delivered, they will be listed at AllTheAnime.com accordingly on a first-come first-served basis. - Will you release your own Blu-ray of this?
Simply put, it's something we'd like to do if the opportunity were to come about in the future. But we do not know at this time if that will be possible or not. - Is this a good jumping on point for a potentially new Gundam viewer?
This is a question that's ultimately open to personal opinions/interpretation, What we would say is that this is set after the events of Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn. So we would suggest at least having an understanding of what happened during that story. - Are you taking orders for any other version of this import product?
In short, no. This is the only version we are taking pre-orders for.
And that's what you need to know about this import release of Gundam NT! UK, Ireland and Scandinavian fans, you can pre-order your copy today from AllTheAnime.com HERE.
For those living in France and Belgium, you will be able to place an order at our French team’s AllTheAnime web shop HERE.
Signing out~!
Jeremy
Books: The Monstrous Feminine
By Shelley Pallis.
In the midst of a British media panic about "Momo", a slit-mouthed Japanese woman who supposedly exhorts children to commit crimes, there's never been a better time to investigate the world of dangerous Japanese ghost-girls. Barbara Creed’s landmark book The Monstrous-Feminine (1993) kicked off an entire subgenre of writing about Monstrous Wombs, Archaic Mothers, Castatrices and Vampires. San Diego academic Raechel Dumas has probably had a lot more fun than she is admitting to, mapping Creed’s ideas onto the femmes fatales of another country’s media, with her new book The Monstrous-Feminine in Contemporary Japanese Popular Culture.
The emphasis here is on “contemporary.” Although Dumas is plainly aware of precedents throughout Japanese literary history, she only really tips her hand in the final chapter, which deals with Natsuo Kirino’s Goddess Chronicle. Here, we get a flood of traditional resonances – the crazy ex-girlfriends that litter the Tale of Genji, for example, and Raicho Hiratsuka’s 1911 feminist polemic, “In the beginning, woman was the Sun,” which alludes to Japan’s oldest myths. A more historically minded writer might have detailed these in chronological order, but such a narrative would betray the very essence of Dumas’ stated focus. Classical touchstones don’t trouble a teenage boy shooting his way through Silent Hill, although if he really wanted to scare the willies out of himself, he should stop clubbing mutants and try reading a dreary chapter of cultural theorists Deleuze and Guattari pontificating about it. Continue Reading
Mifune: The Last Samurai
by Jeremy Clarke.
Toshiro Mifune (1920-1997) is director Akira Kurosawa’s iconic star of his samurai movies Rashomon, Seven Samurai and Yojimbo. He’s the subject of three time Oscar-nominated documentary film maker Steven Okazaki’s useful documentary Mifune: The Last Samurai (2015). As narrator Keanu Reeves says in voice-over, without Mifune there would have been no Magnificent Seven, Eastwood would not have had A Few Dollars More and Darth Vader would not have been a samurai. Continue Reading
Little Witch Academia
By Paul Browne.
For trainee witch Akko Kagari, things never appear to go as planned. Inspired at a young age by the spectacular public shows hosted by professional witch Shiny Chariot, Akko enrols at the Luna Nova Magical Academy in a bid to emulate her idol.
But the fledgling witch struggles to keep up with lessons, is clumsy in her efforts to ride a broom and appears incapable of keeping out of trouble. Akko also manages to embroil her best friends Lotte and Sucy into her ill-advised antics. Meanwhile, she has to contend with Diana, the school's top student, who takes a very dim view of both Akko's clumsiness as well as her faith in the showy antics of Shiny Chariot. When her class is tasked with exploring a dungeon beneath the school, Akko finds a threat to the school that only her faith in Shiny Chariot is capable of defeating. Continue Reading
UNBOXING: Pigtails Collector’s Edition. Have a look at what to expect from this AllTheAnime.com Exclusive set!.
The time has finally arrived! It's been a long time since we first announced we'd be bringing a collection of short films from Production I.G to the UK, but we're delighted to say the wait is over as our AllTheAnime.com Exclusive Blu-ray/DVD Collector's Edition release of Pigtails and Other Short Stories from Production I.G has arrived at All The Anime HQ and is shipping from our online shop now!
This post is going to give you a rundown on what's included in this set along with a photo and video unboxing of the finished product!
Read on below for all the details.
ABOUT
PIGTAILS AND OTHER SHORT STORIES FROM PRODUCTION I.G
The world famous Production I.G have been involved in some of the biggest, unique and ambitious anime to ever grace a cinema or television screen including Ghost in the Shell, B: The Beginning, Eden of the East and Giovanni's Island, but they've also produced some perhaps lesser known works that give an equally unique viewing experience. This collection of short films brings together 5 works in particular for the first time to the United Kingdom.
© 2015 Machiko Kyo/SHUEISHA, ITSV
-- Pigtails is the directorial debut of up-and-coming animator Yoshimi Itazu (Miss Hokusai, Paprika, Denno Coil).
Based on the Osamu Tezuka Cultural Prize-winning comic book Mitsuami no Kami-sama by Machiko Kyo, and visually inspired by Derek Jarman's garden in Dungeness -an oasis of life and beauty growing in front of a nuclear power station- the film metaphorically depicts the conflicting and unspeakable feelings that engulfed the author in the aftermath of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster of 2011, and faithfully recreates the contrast between Kyo's naïve-looking designs and the story's extreme and thought-provoking twist.
© 2012 Masaaki Yuasa, Production I.G
-- Kick-Heart is a creative effort by award-winning Japanese animator Masaaki Yuasa (Lu Over the Wall, Night is Short, Walk on Girl), produced by an international team of professionals under the umbrella of Production I.G, and financed through the Kick Starter crowd-founding system.
Synopsis: Kick-Heart is a love story between Romeo, a successful pro-wrestler, and Juliet, a nun who lives a secret double-life as a female pro-wrestler. Romeo's secret is that he enjoys taking a beating in the ring, while Juliet feels invigorated when facing her opponents as a wrestler. When the two meet in the ring, the fireworks fly. Their story is set in the colourful backdrop of the professional wrestling world. Will Juliet reveal her true identity to the one she loves? Will Romeo be able to share his secret to the world?
© 2012 Production I.G
-- Li'l Spider Girl (aka: Wasurenagumo) is one of the four segments from the 2012 Anime Mirai ("the future of animation"), a collective project created by four Japanese animation studios selected by the Japan Animation Creators Association (JAniCA) under the patronage of Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs for the purpose of training young animators on-the-job. Anime Mirai debuted theatrically on March 24th, 2012.
Synopsis: Everything started from an old book telling the story of an expert yin-yang master who defeated a giant spider in ancient times. Antique book dealer Amane Suzuri, who is trying to sell the book in order to pay the rent, would have never imagined that after reading this story to Mizuki, the building owner's young nephew, he could find himself face-to-face with a scared, twenty-centimeter-tall, eight-legged baby arachnid girl. And she's the sweetest thing in the world... or not?
© 2011 Kazuchika Kise/Production I.G/Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs
-- Created as part of the Young Animators Fostering Project in 2010, Drawer Hobs marked the directorial debut of Kazuchika Kise (who would go onto to be the chief director of Ghost in the Shell Arise and it's sequel film,) has worked on various anime as an animator, including being animation director on your name., Blood: The Last Vampire and Evangelion: 1.11 You Are (Not) Alone. The project saw all key animators being staff with less than five years experience, and also saw people who had worked on the likes of Angel Beats, Ghost in the Shell, Oblivion Island and Jin-Roh heavily involved as well.
Synopsis: Noeru is a young woman with an uninteresting job who lives alone in an ageing apartment in a big city. One day, without notice, her mother sends her an old and bulky chest of drawers. Not exactly the most welcome piece of furniture for Noeru's small room!
That night, as Noeru comes back from work, she finds a chubby little boy sitting on the floor and peacefully munching a pack of rice crackers. The next morning, she wakes up at the delicious smell of breakfast waiting for her on the table... but she does not recall of having cooked any! And isn't the kitchen all clean and tidy instead of the usual mess? And aren't there two weird kids in her room now?
Noeru has just met the drawer hobs... but who are they, and why on earth are they in her apartment, anyway?
© 2005 Imaitoonz/Production I.G
-- The masterminds behind the outrageous anime Dead Leaves, Hiroyuki Imaishi and Imaitoonz, have teamed up once again in 2005 to create Oval x Over, pronounced Oval Over, a promotional animation for the Bridgestone Indy Japan 300 Mile race. Composed of three 3-minute shorts, it is an experiment to portray Indy car racing with animation and music. The narrative style itself is a straight, over-the-top parody of the sports anime classics of the '70s, and cleverly mixes a professional-style live commentary of the race with flashbacks regarding the three main characters' past, with both dramatic and hilarious results. The animation staff also created the music video for the official song Over Top, performed by legendary singer Maki Oguro.
Synopsis: Burn is eager to defeat the champion, Earth, to overcome some past trauma. The glamorous Gravis is also after the championship. And there is Earth, the champion himself, who is waiting to face a challenger capable of defeating him.
Each pilot skillfully exploits a variety of difficult driving techniques, and they run neck and neck in this car-action-filled animation. In fact, the three racers' destiny is bound by an accident occurred five years before...
WHAT'S INSIDE? WHAT'S ON THE DISCS?
First of all, as some of you may be wondering, this AllTheAnime.com Exclusive Collector's Edition set is the same height as our traditional Collector's Edition sets. It comes packed in a rigid case and inside that you will find a digipack containing both the Blu-ray and DVD discs. In addition to that are two books!
On the disc themselves you'll find each short film (as noted above). Each film is in Japanese with English subtitles only. You'll also find some promotional videos for some of the shorts as extras too.
As we mentioned, there are two books included. First of all we have a 156-page Pigtails Storyboard book! This is something we're absolutely delighted that can be include as it's contains the whole story board of the film with comments from director Yoshimi Itazu translated into English! It's a truly unique companion to a short film that adds an even deeper level of depth and understanding about the overall production of this short film when you factor in the information that's included in the other book. Speaking of which...
The second book included in this set is a 140-page Material Archive Book! This book is divided into 6 sections, five of them on each short film included in this release. The sections and contents of each being -
- Section 1: Pigtails
- Messages from the original author and producer of Pigtails
- An essay going into depth about not only the production of the film, but also the Fukushima disaster in 2011, of which that and the aftermath were the inspiration for this story.
- Staff, Cast and Character Profiles
- Background Art
- Section 2: KickHeart
- An overview about the short
- A profile about director Masaaki Yuasa
- Character Art
- Background Art
- Kickstarter Art
- Section 3: Li'l Spider Girl
- An overview of the film
- A profile of director Toshihisa Kaiya
- Character Art
- Section 4: Drawer Hobs
- An overview of the short
- A profile on director Kazuchika Kise
- Character Art
- Section 5: Oval x Over
- An overview of the film
- A profile of director Hiroyuki Imaishi
- Character Art
- And there's also some information on Production I.G to conclude the book as well.
All of this over the 140 pages!
Both books are included this Ltd Collector's Edition set that's exclusive to AllTheAnime.com
WHERE CAN I BUY THIS?
Well, you've probably figured it out by now but this is currently exclusive to AllTheAnime.com. You can place your order at our online shop by clicking on the link below -
Also worth noting that this set will be available at events that we (All The Anime / Anime Ltd.) are exhibiting at too.
WHAT DOES THE FINISHED PRODUCT LOOK LIKE?
In a slight change from the norm, along with photos to show you we've also got a full video unboxing of this collection too! Check out the video and photos (which you can on click to enlarge) below.
VIDEO UNBOXING
In a change from the norm we've also got a video unboxing in addition to the photo version. Check out the video below to see the video unboxing.
PHOTO UNBOXING
You can click on the images below to enlarge them too if you want. Continue Reading