Books: Totoro for Two
By Motoko Tamamuro.
For months after the release of Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986), Hirokatsu Kihara waits for news of the next production for Studio Ghibli. The studio suddenly gets lively when the announcement comes that the next film will be Grave of the Fireflies, directed by Isao Takahata. However, nobody says anything to Kihara. He feels left out, until suddenly Hayao Miyazaki pats him on the back and says: “Mr Kihara, we two will start Totoro.”
Totoro for Two: Hayao Miyazaki and the era of My Neighbour Totoro is Kihara’s second memoir of his career at Studio Ghibli, currently only available in Japanese. The first one, Another Balse: Hayao Miyazaki and the Era of Laputa: The Castle in the Sky, was published to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of Laputa, and it was only a matter of time before a similar volume followed on My Neighbor Totoro (1988). If anything, this volume improves on Kihara’s insightful, interesting earlier account, possibly because Totoro itself remains dearer to his heart. Although the director is king in an anime production, the reader is left sometimes feeling as if Miyazaki and Kihara were more like a married couple or a comedy duo. Continue Reading
Kokkoku Blu-ray release details!. Coming to Blu-ray in June 2019.
It was just over a month ago when we announced we would be bringing the series Kokkoku: Moment by Moment to the UK on Blu-ray!
Originally this was slated to be a title that would arrive during the third quarter of the year, but sometimes plans change in this instance it's plans that now mean you'll be able to add it to your collection sooner than that, as it'll now be arriving as a Blu-ray Collector's Edition set on 17th June 2019; literally in one month time (at time of writing).
Before we get to the details on the release itself, here's a quick introduction/refresher about the series for you.
ABOUT KOKKOKU
Studio: Geno Studio (Golden Kamuy, Genocidal Organ)
Synopsis: "Juri Yukawa needs a timeout from her life. She's failed 19 job interviews, she's stuck living with her crazy family, and her chances of escaping to a life of her own are becoming increasingly remote. Suddenly, all of that becomes unimportant when her brother and nephew are kidnapped and held for an impossibly high ransom. That's when Juri's grandfather reveals an incredible secret: a mystical stone that allows Juri, her father and her Grandpa to enter the state of Stasis, where everyone else in the world is frozen in time! That should make rescuing their family easy, right? Wrong, because there's a sinister organization working against them who also can literally beat the clock!"
You can watch a trailer for the series below:
WHAT'S PLANNED FOR THE RELEASE?
Well first things first, it'll be available as a Blu-ray Ltd Collector's Edition Blu-ray set. Here's a visual for you
Kokkoku: Moment by Moment - Blu-ray Collector's Edition
Following the traditional AllTheAnime Collector's edition formula, it'll be presented in a rigid case and inside that you'll find a digipack that holds the two Blu-ray discs. Additionally inside you'll find 5 art cards and an A3 poster.
Across the two discs you'll get the entire 12 episode series with English and Japanese with English subtitles viewing options. Extras wise there will be some Japanese commercials for the series along with Clean Opening and Closing title sequences.
WHERE CAN I ORDER THIS?
Well as mentioned earlier, this isn't not out until 17th June, but we happy to say that our AllTheAnime.com online shop is taking orders for this right now! And until Thursday 23rd May 2019 we're having special offer on pre-ordering this!
Of course you can order this release from other retailers too including following
Order at Amazon UK
Order at Zavvi
Order at Anime-On-Line
And that concludes this preview of our release of the series Kokkoku: Moment by Moment! We hope you're looking forward to adding this to your collection.
Signing out~!
Jeremy
[UNBOXING] Castlevania: Season 1. Blu-ray Collector's Edition out now | Standard Blu-ray available from 27th May.
A lot of you have been very excited about AllTheAnime.com & Zavvi.com release of Castlevania: Season 1 as Blu-ray Ltd. Collector's Edition set - so much so that's it's pretty much out-of-print already! - and have been looking forward to receiving it and seeing how the final product turned out.
Well today the wait is over we're delighted to bring you a full unboxing of this set!
If you need a quick primer about the series before we get to the unboxing proper, we've got you covered. Read on below.
ABOUT CASTLEVANIA
Inspired by the classic video game series, Castlevania is a dark medieval fantasy following the last surviving member of the disgraced Belmont clan, trying to save Eastern Europe from extinction at the hand of Vlad Dracula Tepes himself.
SEASON ONE SYNOPSIS: "Trevor Belmont, embittered and excommunicated, finds himself drawn into a battle for the survival of Europe–a region that has brought doom upon itself by taking away the one thing its greatest monster loved."
Adapting the story of the hit game "Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse" the series written by renowned writer Warren Ellis (Transmetropolitan, Astonishing X-Men) is a fantastic viewing experience for fans of the franchise and those completely new to it as well. The success of the first season on Netflix led to a second being produced and a third season also being green lit for production!
You can watch a preview of this below
WHERE I CAN BUY THIS?
The Blu-ray Ltd Collector's Edition Blu-ray set that's exclusive to AllTheAnime.com and Zavvi.com is available right now! But as I mentioned above, it's pretty much out of print - meaning sold out - already, so if you want it, you better act fast.
But, this also gives us the perfect opportunity to make it known that a standard edition Blu-ray of Castlevania: Season 1 is going to be released in just a few weeks time on 27th May! You can order this right now from our AllTheAnime.com online shop below
and at retailers including the following
Order at Amazon UK
Order at Zavvi
Order at Anime-On-Line
WHAT'S IN THE BOX? WHAT'S ON THE DISC?
This Ltd Collector's Edition Blu-ray set that's exclusive to AllTheAnime.com and Zavvi.com comes packed in a rigid case with a digipack to hold the Blu-ray disc.
But that's not all - with so much fantastic artwork on show within this series, we've collected a wealth of it into a 92-page art book featuring character designs from the series, monsters and background art aplenty. It's exactly the kind of definitive collection of material you've come to expect from us and we haven't let you down - if you want to know what character feature caused the designer to apologise to the animation team for making their lives difficult, this is where you'll find it!
Last but not least, on the disc itself you'll get the entire first season of Castlevania (all 4 episodes) with English audio and optional English subtitles; in addition to that you'll also find some bonus features in the form of storyboards and production animatic galleries.
PHOTOS OF THE FINISHED PRODUCT
And now it's time for photos of the finished product! You can click on the images to enlarge them too if you want.
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- The front of the rigid case
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- The reverse side of the rigid case. This info sheet can be removed. It’s just attached by a few glue dots. Just peel it away gently and carefully to remove.
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- And here’s the reverse side of the rigid case with the info sheet removed.
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- All four spines of the rigid case
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- Let’s get inside
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- The digipack. The outer side (top) and the inner side with disc in place.
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- The inner side of the digipack with disc in place (top) and removed (bottom)
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- Let’s move onto the 92-page booklet
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- The contents page. We’re now just going to show some select pages from the booklet
And that concludes this unboxing of Castlevania: Season 1 Blu-ray Ltd Collector's Edition. Available now!
Signing out~!
Jeremy & Andy
Books: On Kurosawa
By Jasper Sharp.
The robustly-designed and impressively laid-out new tome On Kurosawa: A Tribute to the Master Director by Peter Tasker inevitably prompts the same questions I raised a year ago in my review of Paul Anderer’s Kurosawa’s Rashomon. Does the world really need another book on this director, and what exactly is it about Kurosawa that keeps authors coming back again and again? Continue Reading
[UNBOXING] Re:ZERO Part 2. Available from 20th May 2019 | Order now!.
The time is nearly here! The long awaited second part of the (literal) death defying series Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- is arriving on Blu-ray and DVD from 20th May! And today we're delighted to be able to bring a full unboxing of what to expect from the Blu-ray Ltd Collector's Edition version of this release.
Before we get to the beautiful details, a quick refresher/introduction to the series for you.
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 –
Before getting onto the details of Part 2, a quick reminder that you can see a full unboxing of Part 1 HERE
WHAT'S IN THE BOX? What's on the discs?
Keeping in the theme set with our release of Part 1, Part 2 has a similar design presentation so it'll look wonderful next Part 1 on your shelf.
Re:ZERO Part 2 Blu-ray Ltd Collector's Edition
It comes in a rigid case and inside that you'll find a digipack to hold the two Blu-ray discs. Additionally inside that you'll find the 52-page hard back companion book that includes information and artwork of characters you encounter during the second half of the series, examples of key frames of animation used in the series and also collection of backgrounds artworks showing locations as seen in the series with some information about them as well.
Over the two Blu-ray discs you'll get the remaining episodes of the series, 13-25 with both English and original Japanese with English subtitles viewing options. There's also some extra content in the form of the "Re:PETIT -Re: Starting Life in Another World From PETIT-" shorts, as well as the Clean Opening an Closing Title sequences.
WHERE CAN I ORDER THIS?
You can order this from our AllTheAnime.com online shop from the link below
or alternatively you can also orders from retailers including
Order at Amazon UK
Order at Zavvi
Order at Anime-on-Line
PHOTOS OF THE FINISHED PRODUCT!
Okay, I know I've been keeping you waiting long enough. Have a gander at the photos below. (You can can click on them to enlarge them too if that helps.)
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- The front of the rigid case. When it arrives there’ll be a layer of cellophane over the top of it.
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- On the reverse of the rigid case when it arrives you’ll find an info sheet attached to the back by a couple of glue dots. Simply remove it gently and you’ll reveal what’s underneath which is…
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- The reverse side of the rigid case, info sheet removed!
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- All four spines of the rigid case
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- That’s the outside, now let’s get inside
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- The digipack. The outer side (top) and inner side (bottom) with discs in place
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- The digipack once again, this time with the outer side (top) and discs removed from the inner side (bottom)
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- A closer look at the first disc in the set (which is the third total in the series, which is why it’s labeled as ‘3’)
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- And the second disc in the set. This being the fourth disc in the series which is why it’s labeled with ‘4’
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- Now onto the hardback book. Here’s the front, back and spine of it. Just to say now, potential SPOLER WARNING for photos we share of the contents in the book.
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- Here’s the contents page of the book.
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- Quick note: “Re: Life in a Different World from Zero” is the name of the show in Japanese ;)
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- Now let’s show you some page from the book.
But wait there's more...
If you were able to order the AllTheAnime.com & Zavvi.com Exclusive version of this release - that came with the bonus limited edition storage box to hold both parts - before it sold out, you'll likely be wanting to see how that's turned out. Well here's a glimpse at that for you. (Again, you can click on the photos to enlarge them.)
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- *Part 1 sold separately
*Bonus storage box was a limited edition item exclusive to AllTheAnime.com & Zavvi.com while stock lasted. This bonus has sold out.
**Part 1 shown in video sold separately
Re:ZERO Part 2 Blu-ray Ltd Collector's Edition set w/ AllTheAnime.com & Zavvi.com Exclusive Ltd Ed Bonus Box
And that concludes this unboxing for our release Re:ZERO Part 2! We hope you're excited to complete your collection.
Signing out~!
Jeremy