Looks like the last few copies of CJ Entertainment’s Korean Blu-ray Disc releases of Bong Joon-Ho’s Memories of Murder und Kim Ji-Woon’s The Good, The Bad and the Weird went OOP. YesAsia (and other retailers) are now listing re-releases of both films that come in standard Blu-ray Disc amaray cases instead of those nice digipaks (see here and here) like the previous special editions. But at least the prices remain the same…

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British retailer Amazon.co.uk is currently having a small sale that includes several anime films and series on Blu-ray Disc. The best bargain in the sale is Shigurui (Death Frenzy) The Complete Series for £6,49 (~7,20€), that is identical (except for the packaging) with FUNimation’s US release (screen shots are available in the Asian Blu-ray Guide) I bought a year ago for a lot more and still haven’t seen yet…
For less that £10 you can also get Blood – The Last Vampire (£7,85), Afro Samurai S1 (£5,00), Afro Samurai – Resurrection (£7,85), Origin: Spirits Of The Past (£8,00), Final Fantasy VII – Advent Children (£9,45), Paprika (£7,97) and Tekkonkinkreet (£6,98) (a must-have!). For a few quids more there are also the complete Devil May Cry Series (£11,85) and the Ghost in the Shell 2.0 + Innocence box (£17,85).

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Gotta love those Hong Kong based distributors. Only six weeks after the theatrical opening, Mei Ah announced the HK DVD and Blu-ray Disc release of Mei Hu’s Confucius.
The biopic starring Chow Yun-Fat as the famous philosopher will be released on March 11th with English subtitles, according to DDDHouse and YesAsia the Blu-ray Disc will be codefree.
Preorder Confucius on DVD or Blu-ray Disc from YesAsia.com.

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Evangelion 1.11: You Are (Not) Alone – FUNimation

Specifications [BD50] BDInfo Report
Region: A+B
Video: MPEG-4 AVC Video 1080p 23,976fps
Audio: Japanese Dolby TrueHD 6.1 48kHz 16bit, English Dolby TrueHD 6.1 48kHz 24bit
Subtitles: English
Screenshots

Evangelion 1.11: You Are (Not) Alone @ Asian Blu-ray Guide

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wheeee! While I could just update the yesterday’s article regarding this topic, I thought that this piece of news just deserves its own little entry. During an HDTV broadcast of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind it was announced that Hayao Miyazaki’s 1984 masterpiece will be released on Blu-ray Disc in Japan this summer!
To give you a small hint of what at least to expect from those releases, check out these HD screenshots from the Joe Hisaishi in Budokan – Miyazaki Anime to Tomo ni Ayunda 25 Nenkan Blu-ray Disc. But I sure hope Disney Home Entertainment will use better source material for their upcoming releases.

[via Can you Moe? & AV Watch, thanks to r3d-3agl3!]

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During an award ceremony for the Japanese Blu-ray Disc release of Hayao Miyazaki’s Ponyo, Walt Disney Home Entertainment made a very exciting announcement. As expected after the success of Ponyo on Blu-ray Disc, the studio announced to begin Blu-ray Disc releases of Studio Ghibli’s classics (probably in Japan) in 2010! Specific titles haven’t been mentioned, but based on some comments from Toshio Suzuki during his radio show, The Ghibli Blog assumes that My Neighbors The Yamadas (ホーホケキョとなりの山田くん) will be the second Blu-ray Disc from the studio.
[via GhibliWiki, thanks to AnimeOnBlu!]

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AV Watch reports that Geneon Universal Entertainment will release Quentin Tarantino’s quote-laden roaring rampage of revenge Kill Bill on Blu-ray Disc in Japan on May 12, 2010.
Now some of you might point out that fine BD releases of the two films are already available in the rest of the world since September 2008, but the older ones among you might remember that Tarantino decided to bestow the Japanese audience with some alternative footage and extra juicy scenes. The most well known of these scenes would be the Bride’s fight against the Crazy 88 Killers in the House of Blue Leaves that comes in full-bloody-colors in Japan while the rest of the world switched to black/white.
Unfortunately none of the news sources currently indicates if the upcoming Blu-ray Disc releases (Kill Bill Vol.1, Kill Bill Vol.2 and a Kill Bill double-feature) will eventually include these exclusive Japanese versions of the two films. And with the (for Japanese standards) moderate price for the discs, I don’t think we can expect any special gimmicks like the stuff that came with the legendary Japanese DVD Limited Editions…

Update: meh! CD Japan added [US Version] to all three releases…looks like we won’t see some eye-plugging in HD…

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And another fast release coming from our friends in Hong Kong. Teddy and Peter Chan’s star-laden Bodyguards and Assassins opened in Hong Kong’s theaters in December and already YesAsia is listing a DVD and Blu-ray Disc release for February 8, 2010! English subtitles will be included in both versions, people outside of Region A will just have to wait a bit until the region code gets announced since Kam & Ramson sometimes lock their releases.
Here’s one of the film’s many trailer to keep you entertained until February….

Preorder Bodyguards and Assassins on DVD or Blu-ray Disc from YesAsia.com

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Wow, talking about good timing. Just when I got my copy of Palisades-Tartan’s UK Blu-ray Disc of Thirst (Region B, see 40 screen shots here), CJ Entertainment announces two new Korean releases. Next to Chan-wook Park’s vampire thriller, the Korean distributor will also release the first Korean disaster film Haeundae on Blu-ray Disc on March 15, 2010 according to K2DVD.com. CJ Entertainment’s BD releases have been region free and technically impressive (see The Good, The Bad, The Weird, Memories of Murder, Mother & Tazza) so far and maybe we will even see the longer cut of Thirst on this release…
[via Blu-ray.com Forum]

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Kadokawa has announced the release The King of Eden, the first two theatrical sequels to the Eden of the East TV series on Blu-ray Disc in Japan on March 24, 2010. The King of Eden [Trailer] was released in Japanese theaters on December 16, 2009 and is set half a year past the incidents described in director Kenji Kamiyama’s (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex) amazing 2009 series. The Blu-ray Disc will be available in two editions, the standard edition will only include the movie while the limited release will also feature Air Communication, the over two hour long compilation of the series.
Sadly there are no English subtitles listed for both releases. FUNimation acquired the rights for the series last year but hasn’t made any announcements about upcoming DVD or Blu-ray Disc releases yet…
[via Can you Moe?]

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