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Hyouka, Shin Godzilla, Ronja Released Monday

On Monday December 4, Anime Limited will release the first volume of Kyoto Animation's series Hyouka on DVD and Collector's Blu-ray. The first volume carries the opening 11 episodes of the series, plus the OVA episode 11.5.

Kyoto Animation's television anime premiered in 2012. Yasuhiro Takemoto (Amagi Brilliant Park, Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid, Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu) directed the anime, Shoji Gatoh (Full Metal Panic!) handled series composition, Futoshi Nishiya (Free! - Iwatobi Swim Club, A Silent Voice) designed the characters, and Kōhei Tanaka (Onihei, The Laughing Salesman) composed the music.

The story follows a boy named Hōtarō who is not assertive about getting involved, but was ordered by his older sister to join the classic literature club. In the club, he gets close to the truth about an incident, involving a female member's uncle, which happened 33 years ago. The "energy-saving" boy is joined by an inquisitive girl in this adolescent mystery.

Manga Entertainment will release the live-action film Shin Godzilla film, on Blu-ray and DVD. Both formats will contain two discs. One disc will have the original Japanese version with Japanese audio, untouched Japanese on-screen text and English subtitles. The other disc will have the disc will have English audio and localised English on-screen text.

The film was directed by Hideaki Anno, the creator of Neon Genesis Evangelion. Funimation described the story:

It's a peaceful day in Japan when a strange fountain of water erupts in the bay, causing panic to spread among government officials. At first, they suspect only volcanic activity, but one young executive dares to wonder if it may be something different… something alive. His worst nightmare comes to life when a massive, gilled monster emerges from the deep and begins tearing through the city, leaving nothing but destruction in its wake. As the government scrambles to save the citizens, a rag-tag team of volunteers cuts through a web of red tape to uncover the monster's weakness and its mysterious ties to a foreign superpower. But time is not on their side—the greatest catastrophe to ever befall the world is about to evolve right before their very eyes.

Shin Godzilla represents the latest in TOHO's film series after a 12-year absence since 2004's Godzilla: Final Wars. The film has earned 5.3 billion yen (about US$51.63 million) and has sold 3.6 million tickets. It has surpassed the earnings of director Hideaki Anno's previous film, Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo. Co-directing with the Evangelion creator was Shinji Higuchi, Anno's frequent collaborator and the director of the live-action Attack on Titan films.

Studio Canal is releasing the 26-part series Ronja the Robber's Daughter on both Blu-ray and DVD. The anime adapts a children's book of the same name by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren (Pippi Longstocking). Amazon described the story:

The daughter of a professional robber, Ronja realizes the complicated nature of her father's profession when she befriends Birk, the child of a rival tribe. Ronja struggles to balance the relationship with her family and the bond with her self-proclaimed brother Birk as she comes to understand the intricate issues of family and friendship and how differences can be overcome with the help of love and understanding.

Goro Miyazaki (Tales from Earthsea, From Up On Poppy Hill) directed the Ronja The Robber's Daughter television anime series, titled Sanzoku no Musume Ronia in Japan. POLYGON PICTURES (Knights of Sidonia, The Sky Crawlers) animated the 3D CG series in collaboration with Studio Ghibli. Hiroyuki Kawasaki (The Irresponsible Captain Tylor, Sorcerer Hunters, Ryoko's Case File, Psychic Detective Yakumo) handled the series composition. NHK Enterprise produced the series, and NHK and Dwango handled production and writing.

Anime Limited will also release the series Gangsta as a Collector's Blu-ray. Kohske's original Gangsta. manga revolves around Nick (played by Kenjiro Tsuda) and Worick (Junichi Suwabe), two men who take on jobs from both the mafia and the police in the town of Ergastulum, a rotten town filled with mafia, hoodlums, prostitutes, and dirty cops. Shukou Murase (Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic, Genocidal Organ) directed the anime at Manglobe (The Unlimited - Hyōbu Kyōsuke, Hayate the Combat Butler! Cuties).

Funimation will release the second volume of the mecha series Heavy Object, carrying parts 13 to 24 of the series.