Aniplex of America Brewing Up Baccano! Blu-ray Disc Box; On tap For Release on May 17, 2011

SANTA MONICA, CA (March, 29, 2011) – Aniplex of America Inc. announced today that it will release Baccano! Blu-ray Disc Box (Limited Edition, while supplies last) in North America on May 17, 2011 through Bandai Entertainment's The Store and RightStuf.com. Previously released on standard DVD by FUNimation Entertainment, the wickedly smart, intricately plotted, rip-roaring Baccano! series instantly became an anime favorite amongst its contingent of fans, and just like its immortal characters, the show is finding new life-- as a high definition Blu-ray version from Aniplex.

Released just last month in Japan, the North American version of the Baccano! Blu-ray

Disc Box will have the same Blu-ray discs found in the Japan release. Additionally, the North American release will sport the same, newly drawn box artwork by KATSUMI ENAMI, the original illustrator of the light novels, while new wrap artwork (for the BD cases inside) is by TAKAHIRO KISHIDA, the character designer for both Baccano! and Durarara!! Included are both Japanese and English audio (by FUNimation) streams as well as Japanese and English subtitles. Rounding out the features are the textless opening and ending, included as an extra.

Please note: The Baccano! Blu-ray Disc Box (Limited Edition) retails for $69.98 SRP, however the release is available to pre-order between now and May 31st , through Bandai's The Store and RightStuf.com at $55.98. After May 31st, the price will be $59.48. Please also note that the number is limited.

“AICN Anime recommends Baccano! – Cowboy Bebop Meets Tarantino meets heroes set in the 30's” – Scott Green / AintItCoolNews.com

“Like Pulp Fiction changed the way we saw movies, Baccano! will be the story that will change the way we see anime.” – ActiveAnime.com

“Recommended” – DVDTalk.com

“…massively satisfying, like watching a good detective story.” – Anigamer.com

“…I damn well enjoy Baccano!. I think that it's disjointed yet interconnected nature is a huge part of its appeal, along with slick writing and fantastic character designs and animation.” – Chris Beveridge / Mania.com.

“…a must-see series for fans of American mobster stories.” – Theron Martin / AnimeNewsNetwork.com

Baccano! Blu-ray Disc Box features:

<BD Features and Bonus Contents>

• Video: 16:9 HD Widescreen / 1920×1080p / MPEG-4 AVC
• Audio: Japanese & English dialogue / Linear PCM
• Subtitles: Japanese and English
• Includes ALL 16 episodes (Broadcast episodes 1-13 + DVD-exclusive episodes 14-16) on three Blu-ray discs (Total running time: 405 mins.)
• Textless opening and ending

<Special Packaging>

• Gorgeous, new cover art exclusively drawn for the box by the original novel illustrator KATSUMI ENAMI, and new art exclusively drawn for the BD wraps by character designer TAKAHIRO KISHIDA (Durarara!!)

Baccano! Blu-ray Disc Box can be pre-ordered and purchased at:
Right Stuf: http://www.rightstuf.com/ or Bandai Entertainment's The Store: http://store.bandai-ent.com/

Product number and UPC bar code
Street Date: May 17, 2011
SKU #: AOA-0801
UPC: 850527003042
SRP: $69.98
Store Price: $55.98

For detailed information on the Baccano! Blu-ray Disc Box, visit: www.AniplexUSA.com/Baccano

About Baccano!
Based on the Dengeki Novel Prize-winning story Baccano! by avant-garde novelist Ryohgo Narita (Durarara!!), the popular light novel series-turned critically acclaimed anime series has come back like gangbusters in High Definition Blu-ray format!

Hot off the “Roaring Twenties” and headfirst into the uncertain volatility of the “Dirty Thirties,” criminal syndicates stormed into power by bootlegging alcohol during the Prohibition Era, but the most notorious “liquor” of all time is about to set off a violent chain reaction within the mafia underworld! Each of the gritty stories in Baccano! involves an eclectic cast of innocent and not-so-innocent, turbulent characters in several unrelated plots intersecting and crossing each other as events spiral further and further out of control. Immortal alchemists, mafia-operated speakeasies, and many other elements of pulp fiction are brutally mashed together for a explosive massacre straight out of crime noir movies.

STORY
The Atlantic Ocean, 1711. After leaving their home in search of a new land, a group of alchemists are given by a demon… an “Elixir of Immortality”. Those who drank the elixir also gained a strange skill; they can “devour” each other with their right hand.

New York, 1930's A variety of people exist in the underground community: the young boy Firo, from the Martillo family, and family bookkeeper Maiza; the foolish thieves and lovers Isaac and Miria; the Gandor brothers, joint heads of the local mafia; the young thug Dallas and his sister Eve; and the alchemist Szilard, now over 200 years old, and his assistant Ennis. They have all lived their own lives, separate from one another… But when Szilard recreates the “Elixir of Immortality,” their lives begin intersecting as if led by fate.

The transcontinental train, The Flying Pussyfoot, makes its way from Chicago to New York. Several passengers are aboard: Goose and Chane, from the revolutionary terrorist group; Jacuzzi, Nice and their gang; the hitman Ladd and his fiancée Lua; Senator Beriam's wife and their daughter Mary; an immortal boy; a mysterious conductor and an informant… But it's not only “humans” who are on this train. Could it be that the legendary Rail Tracer, rumored to erase passengers one by one as it moves from the back of the train to the front, may appear as well!?

STAFF
Original Story: Ryohgo Narita (Media Works Dengeki Bunko)
Original Illustration: Katsumi Enami
Planning: Masuo Ueda, Toshiyuki Hisaki, Naohiro Tafu, Kazumitsu Ozawa
Planning Cooperation: Dengeki Bunko, Dengeki hp, Media Works
Director: Takahiro Omori
Screenplay: Noboru Takagi
Character Design: Takahiro Kishida
Art Director: Akira Ito
Animation Production: Brain's Base

Produced by Project Baccano! Aniplex, Movic, Brain's Base

CAST (Japanese / English)
ISAAC: Masaya Onosaka / J. Michael Tatum
MIRIA: Sayaka Aoki / Caitlin Glass
FIRO: Hiroyuki Yoshino / Todd Haberkorn
MAIZA: Mitsuru Miyamoto / Sean Hennigan
ENNIS: Sanae Kobayashi / Brina Palencia
LADD: Keiji Fujiwara / Bryan Massey
JACUZZI: Daisuke Sakaguchi / Joel McDonald
NICE: Yu Kobayashi / Colleen Clinkenbeard
DONNY: Yoshinori Sonobe / Bob Carter
CLAIRE: Masakazu Morita / Jerry Jewell
CHANE: Ryo Hirohashi / Monica Rial
SZILARD: Kinryu Arimoto / R Bruce Elliott
CZESLAW: Akemi Kanda / Maxey Whitehead
LUCK: Takehito Koyasu / Jason Liebrecht
GUSTAVO: Seiji Sasaki / Chris Rager
EVE: Marina Inoue / Jad Saxton
DALLAS: Atsushi Imaruoka / Ian Sinclair

About Aniplex of America Inc.
Aniplex of America Inc. (Santa Monica, California) is a subsidiary of Aniplex Inc. (headquartered in Tokyo, Japan), a group of Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc. and leading provider of anime content and music production and distribution in Japan. Aniplex Inc. has introduced a variety of properties including such hits as “Gurren Lagann,” “Fullmetal Alchemist,” “Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler),” “Rurouni Kenshin,” “R.O.D -THE TV-,” and “Blood+,” all of which are licensed and distributed worldwide. In addition to licensing business, the company launched its direct video release business, starting with Gurren Lagann the Movie –Childhood's End- and –The Lights in the Sky Are Stars- in summer 2010. The company continues to release selected titles in North America including R.O.D –THE COMPLETE- Blu-ray Box, the Garden of sinners Blu-ray Disc Box (now sold out) and Durarara!! DVDs.

Official Websites:
www.AniplexUSA.com/Baccano!
www.youtube.com/aniplexUS

About Bandai Entertainment Inc.
Bandai Entertainment Inc. is a subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings (USA) Inc. and the premier distributor of Japanese animation on DVD and programming for television broadcast in North America. Titles include Gundam 00, Code Geass: Lelouch of Rebellion, Lucky Star, Gurren Lagann, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Cowboy Bebop, Outlaw Star, Escaflowne, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, My Otome, and many more.

www.Bandai-Ent.com

About Right Stuf
Currently celebrating its 23rd year in business, Right Stuf, Inc. was one of the first players in the U.S. Japanese Animation ("anime") industry, as both an anime producer/distributor and a retailer. Right Stuf works to promote knowledge of its own products, as well as the anime and manga industry, through its online storefront at RightStuf.com and a variety of media including podcasts and special publications. For more information, visit www.RightStuf.com.