Monkey Punch (1937-2019)
Kazuhiko Kato, who died on 11th April, always had the air about him of a man who had won the lottery. Born in Hokkaido in 1937, his knack for cartooning soon caused him to drop out of electrical engineering college and move to Tokyo, where he moonlighted as an artist, at first in the below-the-line world of manga for rental lending libraries. Artistically inspired by the baroque, bawdy style of MAD magazine, he found early work in crime capers and detective stories, including Gun Hustler, The Murderer List, and The Man Without a Shadow. In 1966, a grumpy editor insisted that he take a pseudonym that made him sound more exotically foreign, and Kato reluctantly accepted. He recounted the story in an interview in Dallas in 2003, noting: “The editor said to me – ‘It’s hard to tell whether your art was done by a Japanese or a foreigner, so let’s create a pen-name that is indistinguishable by nationality.’ And after a lot of discussion in the editor’s room, they came up with MONKEY PUNCH.” Which was nicely inconspicuous. It was only a three-month job, and he figured he could drop the name right afterwards. Continue Reading
Re:ZERO Part 2 – Now available for pre-order!. Plus: An update on part 1 of the series.
When it comes to titles that we know you're excited about, our plans for the second half of Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World- must surely top the list amongst the series we most often receive requests for information about. We know it's been a long wait, but we're sure it'll be a worthwhile one as we can now give you the lowdown on exactly what to expect from our release of Re:Zero - Part 2... and what's more, you can pre-order it right now!
As you might expect, the series will be arriving in Collector's Edition Blu-ray and Standard Edition DVD forms, with a release currently scheduled for 20th May 2019, but today we're putting the focus on on the Blu-ray Ltd Collector's Edition set specifically - in fact, today's pre-order offer includes an exclusive bonus item that you simply won't want to miss!
Now, before we proceed with the details and links on where to order, in case you haven't checked out the series yet here's a quick refresher/introduction on what's about.
ABOUT RE:ZERO
From the studio that brought you Goblin Slayer, Akame Ga Kill, Steins;Gate, Jormungand and The Devil is a Part-Timer!
Synopsis: “Natsuki Subaru, an ordinary high school student, is on his way home from the convenience store when he finds himself transported to another world. As he’s lost and confused in a new world where he doesn’t even know left from right, the only person to reach out to him was a beautiful girl with silver hair.
Determined to repay her somehow for saving him from his own despair, Subaru agrees to help the girl find something she’s looking for…”
Check out a dubbed preview trailer for Part 1 of the series below –
WHAT'S PLANNED FOR OUR RELEASE OF PART 2?
Well first of you all you'll be happy to hear that our Blu-ray Collector's Edition for the second half of the series will very much be in keeping with the design style established with part one. It'll come packed in a rigid case, with a Digipak to house the two Blu-ray discs (which for consistency alongside part 1 will be labeled respectively as discs 3 and 4). There will also be 52-page hardback art book that, as was the case with the book included with part 1, acts as a great companion to the series. The book covers numerous details about the show, its characters and more that occur or appear in episodes 12-25 specifically, matching the part one book which covered events from the first eleven episodes.
Now, all of these words are great, but we know what you're waiting for - you want to see how this set looks for yourself. So, without further ado, here's your first look at what the Blu-ray Collector's Edition For Re:Zero Part 2 will look like!
Now, the eagle-eyed amongst you may have noticed another box in the top-left corner of the image above. "What's that?" I hear you ponder. Well, we're glad you asked - that's a little bonus we're delighted to be able to include; it's an additional box to store both parts 1 and 2 of the series! This storage box will come with all copies of the Part 2 Blu-ray Ltd. Collector's Edition set. However, this storage box is exclusive to Zavvi.com and AllTheAnime.com - it's a limited edition extra limited to 1000 units, so once it's out-of-print and out-of-stock across both sites there won't be any more.
Here's a closer look both the front and rear of the storage box for you -
Now, the only question remaining is: What's on the discs? Naturally, we can answer that for you too:
- The two Blu-ray discs contain Episodes 13-25 of the series with both English. and Japanese with English subtitles.
- Extras across the discs come in the form of Textless Opening and Closing title sequences, plus the complete set of Re:PETIT ~Re: Starting Life in Another World From PETIT~ shorts!
WHERE CAN I BUY THIS?
As we mentioned above, Re:Zero Part 2 arrives in the UK on Monday, 20th May, and you can pre-order this exclusive edition with bonus storage box right now from Zavvi.com and AllTheAnime.com. We're sure you won't want to miss out on the second half of this amazing series, so you can place your order right now using the links below.
UPDATE - 1st May 2019
The AllTheAnime.com & Zavvi.com Exclusive version of Part 2 with the Bonus Box has sold out. But you can still order the Collector's Edition of Part 2, that will be available from retailers in general, from our AllTheAnime.com online shop below
AND FINALLY: A NOTE ABOUT PART 1
Away from all of these exciting Part 2 details for the moment, we also want to take a second to acknowledge that some of you who purchased the Blu-ray Collector's Edition of Part 1 were unhappy with the video quality of the discs provided in this release. While we don't have any precise details to share at this time on how or when this will happen, as we're still in the process of finalising this, we do want to make it publicly known to anyone who purchased the Blu-ray Collector's Edition set of Re:Zero Part 1 and was unhappy with their discs that we will replace them once a new set of disc masters with improved video quality are made available to us.
We are currently waiting to receive these revised disc masters, so as I'm sure you'll understand while we're waiting for these new materials we don't have any precise details to share at this time on how or when a replacement process can happen. Hopefully it won't be too long for you to wait, but rest assured that it will happen as soon as possible.
Until we have those materials and our plans finalised, we won't have any more to say. We appreciate your patience and understanding on this.
So there you have it folks! Re:Zero Part 2 finally arrives in the UK in May! We have no doubt that you're looking forward to adding this to your collection, and we can't wait to bring it to you, so pre-order today!
Until next time, take care. Signing out~!
Jeremy & Andy
Illang: The Wolf Brigade
By Andrew Osmond.
Now streaming on Netflix, Illang: The Wolf Brigade is the new cinema live-action remake of the 1999 anime Jin-roh: The Wolf Brigade. The original will be released shortly by Anime Limited, and there’s a certain neatness to a remake appearing now. The anime Jin-roh was a successor to Ghost in the Shell, made a few years previously by the same studio and many of the same artists. The live-action Illang came out in 2018, barely a year after Hollywood’s Ghost with Scarlett Johansson. Like the Ghost remake, Illang plays up the action spectacle at the expense of the original’s brooding poetry, and it’s another strange mix of slavishly recreated moments and outrageous story liberties. Continue Reading
New Releases: 15th April 2019. K: Missing Kings on Standard Edition Blu-ray.
Easter is almost upon us - a point you should bear in mind for later today incidentally - but before we come to that we have other important matters to discuss... the matter of another new release Monday! This week sees the theatrical instalment of the K franchise, Missing Kings, come to Standard Edition Blu-ray, with its follow-up series Return of Kings arriving at the end of the month. Let's dig into it a little deeper, shall we?
NEW RELEASES: 15th APRIL 2019
K: MISSING KINGS
FORMAT: Standard Edition Blu-ray (also available on Collector's Edition Blu-ray and Standard Edition DVD)
BBFC CERT: 12
SRP: Standard Edition Blu-ray - £19.99 | Collector's Edition Blu-ray/DVD - £34.99 | Standard Edition DVD - £17.99
LANGUAGE: English and Japanese with English subtitles
Synopsis: “Silver Clan members Kuro and Neko are on a mission to find their king, Shiro, who went missing after the battle on the School Island involving four of the seven coloured kings. During their search, the two discover that Red Clan member Anna Kushina has become the target of the mysterious Green Clan, which intends to use the girl’s special power to track down Shiro.
Now the Silver and Red Clans find themselves joining forces to protect Shiro and Anna from this new threat. But will this unexpected alliance be enough to counter the Green Clan’s top fighters, as well as its king?”
Contents: Contains the film in English and original Japanese with English subtitles.
WHERE CAN I BUY THIS?
Why not buy this release right now from our own AllTheAnime.com web shop? As well as this new Blu-ray Standard Edition, you can still purchase the Blu-ray Collector's Edition, which provides you with the series in collector's packaging, a set of art cards and a poster. You can also purchase follow-up series K: Return of Kings in both Standard and Collector's Edition forms, and you'll find them all at the links below:
Elsewhere, our Standard Edition of K: Missing Kings is also available from the following retailers:
order at Amazon
Order at Anime-on-Line
Order at Base
Order at Zavvi
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
- Learn more about the film
Aside from new release, this is also an opportune moment to remind you of our current hot pre-order product, as we're now taking orders for our Season 1 Collector's Edition of hit Netflix animated series Castlevania! This product is selling like hot cakes, so don't miss out - you can pre-order now exclusively from our friends at Zavvi, or via our very own AllTheAnime.com store.
No new releases next Monday, but we have another exciting pre-order product coming your way this week, as well as some other goodies that we hope will tempt you in the run-up to Easter... Until then though, take care!
~Andy H
Books: Shojo Across Media
By Jonathan Clements.
Jaqueline Berndt, Kazumi Nagaike and Fusami Ogi’s new edited collection, Shojo Across Media: Exploring ‘Girl’ Practices in Contemporary Japan is another welcome addition to the expanding shelf of books specifically about Japanese popular culture aimed at female consumers.
Among the high points, Akiko Sugawa-Shimada looks at girls in anime, specifically magical girls, as empowering sights for female viewers; Masafumi Monden chronicles the uses and abuses of frilly fashions and princess poses; Sonoko Azuma revisits the ever-spangly world of the Takarazuka Revue and its all-girl musical extravaganzas, and Patrick Galbraith brings up the rear with a valuable account of male fans of what are supposedly “comics for girls.” But I’d like to focus on just four chapters out of fifteen to give a sense of some of the great work to be found here. Continue Reading