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Mary and the Witch's Flower Released Monday
posted on by Andrew Osmond
On Monday September 10, Altitude Film will release Studio Ponoc's Mary and the Witch's Flower on DVD and standard and Steelbook Blu-ray.
The DVD will include a Film Completion Press Conference, a Theatrical Promotional Movie and interviews with director Hiromasa Yonebayashi and producer Yoshiaki Nishimura. The standard Blu-ray will also include an NTV Special: Creating Mary and The Witch's Flower and A Special Conversation: SEKAI NO OWARI, Hiromasa Yonebayashi, and Yoshiaki Nishimura. The Steelbook will additionally include a booklet and art cards.
Director Yonebayashi also directed Studio Ghibli's Arrietty and When Marnie Was There. He both directed and wrote Mary alongside Riko Sakaguchi, who wrote the screenplay for Isao Takahata's The Tale of the Princess Kaguya. Takatsugu Muramatsu (When Marnie Was There) composed the music. Yoshiaki Nishimura is credited as producer. Many former staff from Studio Ghibli joined Ponoc in the film's production.
The BFG's Ruby Barnhill stars in the English dub as the titular character Mary, and Kate Winslet (Titanic, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Mountain Between Us) plays school chairwoman Madam Mumblechook. Jim Broadbent, who co-starred with Winslet in Iris, plays Mumblechook's colleague Doctor Dee. Other cast members include Ewen Bremner, Lynda Baron, Rasmus Hardiker, Teresa Gallagher, Morwenna Banks, and Louis Ashbourne Serkis.
The film is based on Mary Stewart's book The Little Broomstick. Studio Ponoc scouted locations in Shropshire, U.K., the setting of the original novel. The Japanese version stars Hana Sugisaki (When Marnie Was There, live-action Blade of the Immortal) as Mary and Ryunosuke Kamiki (The Secret World of Arrietty's Sho, your name.'s Taki) as Peter.
MVM will release the series And You Thought There Is Never a Girl Online? on Blu-ray and DVD. Funimation described the series:
After Hideki Nishimura confesses to a girl online, he is shocked when she turns out to be a boy. Traumatized, he swears to never trust any “girl” players. That is, until one confesses to him! Ako Tamaki is a beautiful loner who has trouble differentiating between what's reality and the online world she spends so much of her time in. Can Hideki and his guild friends help fix socially inept Ako?
The anime adapts Shibai Kineko and Hisashi's original light novel series of the same name. Shinsuke Yanagi(Ro-Kyu-Bu! SS, Momo Kyun Sword) directed the anime at project No.9, and Tatsuya Takahashi (The IDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls, Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky) was in charge of series composition. The five-member idol group Luce Twinkle Wink☆ performed the opening theme song "1st Love Story."
Anime Limited is releasing the first volume of Twin Star Exorcists (carrying the first 13 episodes), as a standard DVD and a Collectors Blu-ray; the latter includes an art box slip case.
Anime Limited describes the series:
Follow the exciting tale of two star-crossed rivals as the fate of the world is placed in their young hands. He vows to never use his incredible powers after surviving a tragedy. She wants revenge for the loss of her family. But when a prophecy states that 14-year-olds Rokuro and Benio will be the parents of the child destined to save the world, things don't go quite as planned. While the unlikely duo refuse to be paired, more and more monsters known as Kegare are spilling from the mirroring world of Megano, and a familiar face from the past is behind it all. Soon, Rokuro and Benio discover that their powers are stronger combined, and before these two can have a baby, they'll have to raise a little hell.
Tomohisa Taguchi (Persona 4 the Golden Animation, Persona 3 the Movie #2 Midsummer Knight's Dream, Persona 3 the Movie #4 Winter of Rebirth) directed the series at Studio Pierrot (Naruto Shippūden, Tokyo Ghoul, Yona of the Dawn), based on the manga by Yoshiaki Sukeno. Shishō Igarashi (Unlimited Psychic Squad director) was assistant director, Naruhisa Arakawa(MAOYU, Outbreak Company, Kingdom) handled the series composition, Kikuko Sadakata (Corpse Princess, Muromi-san, Devils and Realist) designed the characters, and Itsuko Takeda (Level E, Kingdom) was the chief animation director.
Anime Limited is also releasing the first film in the Eureka Seven: Hi - Evolution trilogy, as a standard DVD and a Collectors Blu-ray/DVD. (The latter includes a 52-page materials book.) This is a reworking of the original Eureka Seven TV series by Studio Bones with new footage. Anime Limited describes the story.
Renton is a teenager trapped working as a mechanic in a backwater town. He dreams of joining up with a daredevil group of pilots known as Gekkostate and following in his father's heroic footsteps. When a mysterious beauty named Eureka shows up asking for a tune-up, Renton soon finds himself drawn into a high lying mecha dogfight that makes him a target of the military. When the dust settles on the spectacular battle, Renton is invited to join Gekkostate, but he soon discovers that even a dream come true has a dark side.
