Studio Ghibli is about to start a massive assault on the credit card accounts of HD anime lovers on November 16th. Together with Disney Home Entertainment, the studio will release three of their titles on Blu-ray Disc in Japan.
While Hayao Miyazaki’s Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea is already available on Blu-ray Disc since 2009 and will only be re-released to match the package of the current Studio Ghibli BD releases, his 2004 feature Howl’s Moving Castle has never been available in high definition except for one obscure Mexican release. Judging from the screenshots taken from the Joe Hisaishi in Budokan – Miyazaki Anime to Tomo ni Ayunda 25 Nenkan Blu-ray Disc this should be a real treat! Hayao’s son Goro Miyazaki will get the chance to show off Tales from Earthsea (Gdo Senki), his first feature for the studio.
All three discs will include English subtitles and the English dub. French, Italian, German, Korean and Chinese language options are also available on some of the releases. See the Asian Blu-ray Guide listings below for more details.

Howl’s Moving Castle – Tales from Earthsea – Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (Re-release) @ Asian Blu-ray Guide

[via Can you Moe? & WTK]

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Nice one! Looks like German distributor Universum Anime decided to mimick the amazing cover style of Studio Ghibli’s Blu-ray Disc releases for their own upcoming Blu-ray Disc of Hayao Miyazaki’s Ponyo.

[Thanks to droppingpenny for the heads-up]

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The DVD Times has posted a first picture of the limited UK Blu-ray Disc Deluxe Edition of Hayao Miyazaki’s Ponyo coming from Optimum Home Entertainment on June 7th. At least package-wise, this edition should please those who don’t want to import the expensive limited Japanese Blu-ray Disc but want something more than the simple standard design of Disney’s US release. The fold-out digipak looks almost like the one used in the Japanese release but without the premium price.
Plus, the extra features listed in the article will have English subtitles. Maybe Optimum even manages to please audiophiles by beating Disney and including the Original audio in a lossless compressed track. Currently this limited edition is only listed at HMV for 16.99GBP. It’s now also available from Amazon.co.uk, thanks Marco!

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Frohe Kunde für alle, die ihr Animefutter gerne im Großbildformat und mit deutscher Synchro erleben möchten. Nach mehreren Verschiebungen ist bei AnimaniA zu lesen, daß Hayao Miyazakis Ponyo nun am 16. September 2010 dank Universum Anime in die deutschen Kinos kommen wird! Wer Ponyo in der deutschen Synchro in den eigenen vier Wänden erleben möchte muss sich noch ein gutes Jahr gedulden, eine DVD Veröffentlichung ist erst für März 2011 geplant…
[via @ConanUndCo]
Update: Passend dazu der deutsche Trailer zum Film:

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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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Probably good news for those among us who finally want to see Hayao Miyazaki’s Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea in high definition without waiting for a local Blu-ray Disc release (March 2nd for the USA, June 6th for the UK) our paying the premium price for the mighty fine Japanese Blu-ray Disc.
Intercontinental Video Ltd. (IVL) has announced a lower priced Hong Kong Blu-ray Disc release for January 26, 2010 that won’t have Disney’s English dub but English subtitles and the original Japanese language track. According to IVL the disc will also include over four hours of bonus material but only with Chinese subtitles.
IVL has always been a great resource for Studio Ghibli fans worldwide during the DVD age since their releases were always on-par with the more expensive Japanese releases. YesAsia lists the release as Region A, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see. Since IVL is the exclusive distributor for Disney titles in the area, they probably have to follow their guidelines when it comes to region coding which Disney uses a lot for newer releases.
Preorder Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea HK Blu-ray Disc from YesAsia.com

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Sorry, but I’m a bit lazy busy today and so I’m only posting a few photos of the Japanese Limited Blu-ray Disc Edition of Hayao Miyazaki’s Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea I picked up from the post office today. If you got any specific questions, just drop them in the comment section and I’ll answer them asap.

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Here are some more fresh technical details from the Japanese Blu-ray Disc release of Hayao Miyazaki’s Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea that hit the Japanese stores today.
According to Blu-ray.com forum member kslee from Hong Kong, the English dub is indeed included in this release as an extra feature. However, it seems like this “North American version” can only be watched with Japanese subtitles, so it’s more like a bonus feature for curious Japanese buyers than a treat for English dub fans. English subtitles are (as expected) available for the Japanese language track.
Reliable Asian Blu-ray Guide informant AnimeOnBlu has tested the disc and it plays fine on Region A and B Blu-ray Disc players, Region C machines haven’t been tested yet. Also, the first few but amazing looking screenshots (just look at the details in the background artwork!) have been posted in the comment section by DCJuggler:

My limited edition has been shipped this morning, so it should arrive early next week.
Stay tuned for much more screenshots and some nice package shots to celebrate Studio Ghibli’s first full feature film on Blu-ray Disc!
Check out the full technical specs posted by DCJuggler below:
Length: 1:40:50
Total Bitrate: 34.02 Mbps
Video: MPEG-4 AVC Video / 23515 kbps / 1080p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio:
Japanese: DTS-HD Master / 6.1 / 48 kHz / 4537 kbps / 24-bit
Japanese: LPCM / 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit
English: Dolby Digital Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz / 256 kbps
French, Italian, Korean, Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese: Dolby Digital / 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps
Subtitles:
English, French, Italian, Korean, Spanish, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Japanese

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Disney producer Frank Marshall announced some cuddly details for the US video release of Hayao Miyazaki’s Ponyo. Perfectly fitting the missed Christmas sales, Walt Disney Home Entertainment will release Ponyo in a limited gift set that will include a plush toy of our favourite goldfish on March 2, 2010. The day-to-day Blu-ray Disc release will have to live without the fluffy companion.

The avid importers among you who pre-ordered the December Ponyo Blu-ray Disc releases from Japan or France don’t have to wait till march to get the Ponyo plush, J-List has the same plush toy in small and medium size ready to order.
[via The Blu-ray Blog, thanks to Brenden!]

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Good news for those of us who want to see Hayao Miyazaki’s latest Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea in glorious HD as soon as possible without paying a premium price for the Japanese Blu-ray Disc release.
According to Rope of Silicone, Walt Disney Home Entertainment will bring the significant cheaper US DVD and Blu-ray Disc release on the same day as in Japan, meaning December 8th. So the October date mentioned back in July was (just as espected) just some retailer related date.
[Oct. 20] Update: According to Disney producer Frank Marshall, Ponyo will be released in the US in March 2010! I asked him about the date Rope of Silicone stated but I didn’t receive an answer yet. Hard to believe that Disney won’t take advantage of the upcoming Christmas sales, especially since a French BD release for December was announced two days ago. [via The Ghibli Blog]

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