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AnimEigo Licenses Time of Eve, Full Moon wo Sagashite Anime

AnimEigo announced at its industry panel at Otakon on Saturday that it has licensed the Time of Eve film and ONA, as well as the Full Moon wo Sagashite anime. The company also announced it will release the Bubblegum Crash anime on Blu-ray Disc.

AnimEigo also announced that it has new merchandise and apparel in the works, and that the release of Macross II is making progress. The Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for its Blu-ray Disc edition of The Super Dimension Fortress Macross II: Lovers, Again original video anime (OVA) reached its funding goal last December.

Additionally, Robert Woodhead will be launching a new Kickstarter campaign for a Blu-ray Disc release and an artbook for the The Dagger of Kamui anime film. The campaign will likely go live later this month.

The preview for the campaign, which is subject to change, states the release will include the HD transfer of the original film with English subtitles, SDH subtitles, and captions; color and line art galleries; a brand new full-length commentary track by director Rintarō and anime historian Masahiro Haraguchi; and a reversible cover slip. The release will not be region-locked. AnimEigo will also produce an artbook and a digital archive of additional production materials.

Rewards include the BD-50 Blu-ray Disc, the artbook, and a chipboard case.

Rintarō directed the film at Madhouse. The film first opened in Japan in 1985. AnimEigo released the film on VHS and LaserDisc in the 1990s, and released the film on DVD in 2003.

AnimEigo describes the story:

On the eve of the Meiji restoration, as a slumbering Japan awakens and turns its eyes westward, an innkeeper finds a baby named Jiro in a drifting boat; his only companion a glittering blade, the Dagger of Kamui. When Jiro is thirteen, his adoptive family is murdered and Jiro is blamed, only to be rescued by Tenkai, a priest, who trains him in the mysterious arts of the Ninja. Seeking revenge for the loss of his adoptive family, Jiro kills the mysterious one-armed Ninja who reportedly slew them.

Years later, acting on a tip from Tenkai, Jiro tracks down his real mother, only to learn that Tenkai had tasked his father with finding a clue to the lost treasure of Captain Kidd. With the treasure in hand, the Shogun will be able to retain control, and Japan will once again isolate itself from the world. However, his father fell in love, abandoned the search, and had a child -- and for this failure, Tenkai exacted a terrible revenge!

Now the chase begins, as Jiro, with only the Dagger of Kamui to help him, searches for the great treasure, a search that will take him all the way to the American Old West, with Tenkai's minions always close behind.

If Jiro can find the treasure and return to Japan, then, perhaps, Jiro can exact his revenge, and thrust the Dagger of Kamui into Tenkai's black heart!

AnimEigo will release the "Time of Eve: Complete Collection" that will include both the ONA and the film version on Blu-ray Disc and on video-on-demand in December 2024. The release will include NYAV Post's English dub for the film version. The episodic version will have English subtitles only.

The release will include all the extras from the previous Kickstarter campaign release. AnimEigo describes the anime:

An auteur work by writer/director Yasuhiro Yoshiura. In the near future, humanoid robots are everywhere, and every home has one as a servant. One day, two teen boys discover an unmarked coffee shop, with only one rule: no discrimination between humans and androids. With their heads-up displays switched off, it turns out nobody can actually tell the difference! A critical darling that speaks directly to prejudice and political extremism, this film has only gotten more timely since its release in 2010. Includes the English dub by NYAV Post.

The release will include the short films Pale Cocoon and Aquatic Language.

The six-episode Time of Eve net anime series originally released in 2008. Yasuhiro Yoshiura directed the anime, wrote the story and script, and storyboarded the anime. He was also the sound director and was in charge of the anime's CG. A compiled film version released in Japan in March 2010. Pied Piper released the film on Blu-ray Disc in North America in 2014 and 2015.

AnimEigo will release Full Moon wo Sagashite with all 52 episodes remastered in HD on Blu-ray Disc in 2025. The company describes the anime:

Based on Arina Tanemura's classic shoujo manga. 12-year-old Mitsuki wants to be a singer. Unfortunately, she has cancer, and can't sing above a whisper. One day, two “death gods” appear and inform her she only has one year left to live. So, in order to make her dream come true, they'll transform her… into a real idol singer.

This will be the first time the anime will have a complete English release. Viz Media previously released part of the anime on DVD in 2006 and 2007.

Toshiyuki Kato directed the anime at Studio DEEN.

Arina Tanemura published the original seven-volume manga from 2001-2004 in Shueisha's Ribon magazine. Viz Media released the manga in English.

AnimEigo will release the HD remaster version of Bubblegum Crash on Blu-ray Disc and on video-on-demand in January 2025. Episodes 1 and 3 will have an AstroRes upscale, and episode 2 will feature a new film scan.

The three-episode OVA is a sequel to the Bubblegum Crisis anime, and it debuted in 1991. Hiroshi Ishiodori and Hiroyuki Fukushima directed and storyboarded the anime, and Emu Arii wrote the scripts. AnimEigo previously released the series on VHS, LaserDisc, and DVD.

AnimEigo also highlighted its upcoming releases, including Riding Bean on September 10, Otaku no Video on October 8, and Megazone 23: The Complete Trilogy on November 10.

Sources: Email correspondence, AnimEigo panel at Otakon (Jeremy Tauber)