Adsense Code

Monday 30 January 2012

New Anime Blu-ray UK Release (30/01/12)

This week's first Anime Blu-ray Release of the year is none-other than Samurai Girls, which is being brought to us in the UK by both Manga Entertainment UK and Kaze UK.

I believe (correct me if i am wrong) KAZE UK are funding the Disc's while Manga UK are distributing it within the UK, a similar story of whats going to happen with the upcoming Bleach and Naruto Blu-rays.

The Samurai Girls Collection Blu-ray is a 2 Disc Set which features all 12 Episodes from the series. The harem comedy-action series is set in an alternate Japan where the Tokugawa shogunate never lost its power and all hell breaks loose when two people start fighting for this power.

Samurai Girls: Complete Collection -> £32.99 (Amazon UK / HMV UK / Play UK)

Plot: The story takes place in Japan in the early 21st century, in an alternate reality where the Tokugawa Shogunate has remained in power. In this reality, student councils are tasked with oppressing schools. Yagyuu Muneakira is a high school student who rebels against his student council with the help of girls who've had the names of famous samurai heroes passed on to them.

Wednesday 18 January 2012

Manga UK Confirms New Blu-ray Releases for 2012

Manga Entertainment UK has recently tweeted confirming a selection of Blu-rays that will be released during the 2012 year, some of which we already knew and some that come as a surprise.

In a reply to a tweet from @Punisher720 Manga Entertainment UK replied that Naruto Shippuden: Bonds and Bleach: Fade To Black would be coming to Blu-ray in the UK, which we already knew about. However it was the second part of the tweet that revealed that Fullmetal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa and Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos will be released on Blu-ray in the UK during this year.


Manga Entertainment UK have previously mentioned at the MCM Expo in London last October that both Naruto Shippuden Movies would be released on Blu-ray as a double pack, and most recently in a statement regarding the cancellation of the K-ON Blu-ray boxset, Manga UK stated that they would be working with KAZE UK to release the entire Bleach Movie collection on Blu-ray.

2011 Might have been a poor year for Manga Entertainment UK in terms of Blu-ray releases and sales, but if the above turns out to be true we could be looking at seven popular anime movies coming to Blu-ray this year.

via: Anime Focus

Friday 13 January 2012

Anime Blu-ray UK is 1 Year Old

The Anime Blu-ray UK Blog is today 1 year old and i'd like to thank everyone that has viewed or commented on the website, i hope that you have found it helpful and i hope you will find it helpful in the future.

As you may have noticed this blog isn't the most refreshed or updated blog - but as soon as i have the information (or checked it myself) regarding a particular title then i will post it up.

Top 3 Viewed Articles:

These are the top three most viewed articles in the past year.

1) Dragonball Z Kai Part 4 (Region Check)
2) MangaUK Confirms UK Release of Yu-Gi-Oh! 3D Blu-ray
3) UK Bank Holiday Anime Movie Listings Guide

The Past year has been a lot of fun and i hope the next year gets even better, if you want to get in touch with me then feel free via twitter, leave a comment below or contact me via ZOMGPlay.

Sunday 8 January 2012

Kaze UK To Release Black Lagoon Collection on Blu-ray in the UK


Kaze UK has recently confirmed via Twitter that they will be bringing the entire collection of Black Lagoon on to the Blu-ray disc platform into the UK during the 2012 calendar year.

Previously Black Lagoon had been released into the UK on DVD by MVM Entertainment, but now Kaze UK has revealed that they will be bringing the complete collection, including the Roberta's Blood Trail OVA to the UK on Blu-ray.

Apparently Season 1 and 2 of Black Lagoon will be released onto Blu-ray in May 2012, with the OVA (Roberta's Blood Trail) to be released on Blu-ray seperately later in the year. Additionally Manga Entertainment UK will be distributing the collection in the UK, with Kaze UK publishing it.

via: UK Anime Network


K-ON! - Volume 4 - REGION LOCKED

K-ON! - Volume 4

Region: A (Confirmed NOT Playable in the UK)

Price: £12.24 (Excludes Postage)

Episodes: 12 - 14 (3 Episodes)

Plot: The school festival is here again but Yui is out sick. The girls try to make do with Azusa on lead guitar and suddenly Yui shows up.

But her guitar playing is just too perfect and she's seems to be too polite to everyone. What has happened to Yui and will she be make it to the performance in time?.

Sekirei - Pure Engagement - Season 2 (Blu-ray / DVD) - REGION FREE

Sekirei: Pure Engagement - Season 2 (Blu-ray / DVD)

BD Region: A and B (Confirmed Playable in the UK)

DVD Region: 1 (Confirmed NOT playable in the UK)

-- Boxart states Region B Compatible

Price: £27.16 (Excludes Postage)

Episodes: 1- 13 (3 DVD & 2 Blu-ray)

Plot: Minato and his sexy army of Sekirei are back for more nosebleed–inducing action in this full-figured follow up to the breast action harem anime of all time!

A clandestine organization known as the MBI has issued an edict that threatens to end the lives of Minato and his luscious companions once and for all! The cutthroat organization’s Sekirei Plan will force all busty brawlers and their masters to engage in a flesh-baring fight to the finish. Only one amazing pair will be left standing when this curvaceous cavalcade of carnage has come to a conclusion. Does Minato have what it takes to survive the bombastic barrage of breast-jiggling blows coming his way in this titillating sequel? Only one thing is certain: the booby traps abound and the measurements are mesmerizing in Sekirei Pure Engagement!

Fairy Tail - Part 2 (Blu-ray / DVD) - REGION FREE

Fairy Tail - Part 2 (Blu-ray / DVD)

BD Region: A and B (Confirmed Playable in the UK)

DVD Region: 1, 2 and 4 (Confirmed Playable in the UK)

--Boxart states Region B and 2 Compatible

Price: $27.99 / £18.14 (Excludes Postage)

Episodes: 13 - 24 (2 Bluray & 2 DVD)

Plot: In the Kingdom of Fiore, powerful wizards make their living by joining magical guilds and contracting out their services to become "wizards for hire". Harnessing the forces of Dragon Fire, Ice, Weaponry, and the Zodiac, four young wizards of the infamous guild Fairy Tail team up to seek their fortunes.

Growing stronger with every mission, they travel the countryside helping people and battling rival guilds, but with personalities as different as their magic skills, this team may end up doing more damage than good.

Heavens Lost Property - Season 1 (Blu-ray / DVD) - REGION FREE

Heavens Lost Property - Season 1 (Blu-ray / DVD)

BD Region: A and B (Confirmed Playable in the UK)

DVD Region: 1 and 4 (Confirmed NOT Playable in the UK)

-- Boxart states Region B Compatible

Price: $38.99 / £25.27 (Excludes Postage)

Episodes: 1 - 14 (2 Blu-ray & 3 DVD)

Plot: Tomoki's life was normal until a wish-granting angelic android named Ikaros fell from the sky and started calling him master! Of course, thanks to his raging teenage hormones, most of Tomoki's wishes have something to do with panties. And that makes things pretty complicated, because one simple wish can lead to a rampaging robot made out of frilly undergarments.

One tiny wish can turn bloomers into bombs capable of blowing up entire neighborhoods! If Tomoki doesn't learn to control his impulses around Ikaros, and be more careful with his wishes, the chaos will only get crazier. Luckily, even with such a dirty mind, Tomoki's heart is in the right place. His hands, however, are a completely different story.

Slayers: Season 4 and 5 (Blu-ray / DVD) - REGION LOCKED

Slayers: Season 4 and 5 (Blu-ray / DVD)

BD Region: A  (Confirmed NOT Playable in the UK)

DVD Region: 1 (Confirmed NOT Playable in the UK)

--Boxart states only Region A Compatible

Price: $35.99 / £23.33 (Excludes Postage)

Episodes: 26 (4 Blu-ray & 4 DVD)

Plot: Lina Inverse is on the run from a government inspector who's ready to put her away for good. Her crime? Just being Lina! The guy's hot on her tail, but a tiny creature that actually has a tail might be Lina's biggest problem.

Pokota's a powerful little furball, and his path of destruction is getting pinned on Lina. With so much explosive magic between them, you know things will go boom when they face off. But there's more to Pokota than anyone knows, and if Lina's gang can get to the bottom of his habit of blowing stuff up, they could end up with an awesome new ally.

Friday 6 January 2012

Manga UK Cancels Blu-ray Release of K-ON Boxset & Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya

Manga Entertainment UK has confirmed this morning that the UK Blu-ray release of the K-ON Boxset, which featured all 12 episodes of Season 1 in High Definition and The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya Movie will now be officially cancelled.

The reason for the delay is due to the Economic climate with the cost of remastering and manufacturing the titles being excessively high, with little return and low sales.

Additionally Madman Entertainment who release the disc's in Australia, and who author the disc's for Manga Entertainment UK will still be releasing the Blu-rays in Australia, and since Australian discs are Region B they will work fine over here.

Via: UK Anime Network

***UPDATE***

Since the Confirmation of the Blu-rays being cancelled, Jerome Mazandarani, Head of marketing & acquisitions for Manga Entertainment UK, has released the following statement (and its an extremely good read).

On behalf of Manga I wanted to apologize to all of those UK-based customers who have been left bitterly disappointed by our decision not to release these titles on Blu-Ray after publicly suggesting on this forum that we were planning on doing so. Please allow me to explain our decision.

I will start with K-ON first. My original plan was to release K-ON as a complete season set on double disc DVD and Blu-Ray at the same time. However, we were reliant on Bandai US supplying us their English dub and when they announced they would release K-ON as 4 individual DVD and BD volumes in America we had to agree to follow suit if we wanted to release K-ON around the same time as them. I made the decision to delay our 2-disc BD release until Spring 2012 rather than copy Bandai and produce 4 very expensive single disc BD releases. Once we got to the end of 2011 we learnt that the cost of access to the dubs plus the high cost of accessing the HD master, authoring and mastering of the discs and manufacturing was prohibitively expensive. In addition, we also realised that we would not be able to break even on the production of the Blu-Ray.

With regards to the Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya we were meant to release a Blu-Ray in November and found out that the BD disc replication master we were sharing with Madman and which was supplied by Bandai USA did not work on Region B Playstation 3 consoles, so we had to scrap it and start again. Once again, we had to pay high access fees for the dub, and would have to pay a very steep access fee for the HD master (we cloned Madman's PAL DVD replication master for our DVD) and that, combined with new authoring and mastering fees, left us with another release that was going to lose Manga money. If Manga keeps losing money we go out of business and everyone loses!

I spend all of my time at the Manga office fighting tooth and nail for you guys, the British anime fans, to ensure that we pick up the best new series and movies and get them out here as soon as possible. I listen to your comments; every last one of them, every day here on Twitter and Facebook and I answer most of them too. No-one should doubt how much I and my colleagues here at Manga UK care about you, the customer. We do not take decisions like this lightly. I personally fought to maintain these Blu-ray releases against stiff opposition from my superiors, but the commercial considerations of running a successful company overruled my objections about the damage to our brand's credibility should we not release these titles.

In summary, I would say that while we have made a sensible commercial decision, we have created a situation that is alienating to a good deal many of you and I sincerely hope that over time we can make it up to you.

So, there you have it. Straight from the horse's mouth. I cannot apologize enough to the customers we have disappointed with this decision. I hope that with time you can appreciate us for what we tend to get right, more than what we tend to get wrong. I am personally looking forward to 2012 and you have my assurance that any new BD releases announced for this year will be released. We already have Samurai Girls, Bleach Movies 1,2 and 3, Mardock Scramble and Roujin Z confirmed by @KazeUK plus a whole heap more to confirm later in the year. We have learnt a lot from 2011, particularly when it comes to Blu-Ray and I am confident we will start making better decisions that benefit both the business and you, our valued customers going forward.

Yours sincerely,

Jerome Mazandarani
Head of marketing & acquisitions
Manga Entertainment Ltd (UK)


via: UK Anime Network