Discotek Media has announced its line-up of upcoming classic anime Blu-ray releases, which includes a number of previously out-of-print and hard to find titles.
Collectors and nostalgic anime fans should be especially happy with Discotek's new wave of releases, as the company announced via livestream and Twitter that it is re-releasing a number of anime series and movies that have not been officially available for several years. Headlining the new announcements is a brand new re-release of the original Shaman King anime from 2001. Discotek will first release all 64-episodes of the English dub, which was originally produced by 4Kids Entertainment, in a standard-definition Blu-ray set, with a release of the original, uncut Japanese version to follow.
This isn't quite final, but we're so excited we wanted you to see where the Project A-ko cover is at, for now. pic.twitter.com/psdje9e7Xt
— ?Discotek Media (@discotekmedia) June 8, 2021
Discotek also revealed the near-final box art for its upcoming re-release of Project A-Ko. The Blu-ray package will feature art by Mariel Kinuko Cartwright, the artist and illustrator best known for her work on the Skullgirls video game series. Project A-Ko is a comedy-action film from 1986 that gained a cult following in the United States after the Sci-Fi Channel repeatedly aired the movie in the early '90s. The new Blu-ray release is sourced from the original 35mm negative of the film, which was previously believed to have been destroyed.
1983's Super Dimension City Orguss will also get its first Blu-ray release from Discotek. Super Dimension City Orguss is the second title in the Super Dimension trilogy, which also includes the more widely known Super Dimension Fortress Macross and Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross. While the other two titles in the Super Dimension trilogy were re-edited and rewritten to be part of Harmony Gold's Robotech series in 1985, Orguss did not receive an official English release until the '90s. The new re-release of the series will be the first time Super Dimension City Orguss will be available in HD, and will feature a resync of the original English dub.
Discotek will also release Case Closed: The Darkest Nightmare. Originally released in Japan in 2016, The Darkest Nightmare is the 20th film in the long-running Case Closed franchise. The new Blu-ray version of the film will include a brand new English dub.
The first half of Lupin the 3rd Part V: Misadventures in France will be released this fall. The 2018 series is the sixth animated adaptation of Monkey Punch's influential Lupin the Third manga. Discotek's Blu-Ray release will include the original Japanese-language audio track with subtitles, as well as the English dub that aired on Toonami in 2019. Part 6 of the current Lupin the 3rd anime will premiere this fall.
Fans of classic video games should also look forward to the re-release of the Fatal Fury OVAs. Discotek is packaging both OVAs on one Blu-ray with a new HD transfer. Based on SNK's long-running franchise of arcade fighting games, the new release of the Fatal Fury anime will feature a new commentary track by YouTube personality Matt McMuscles and will add a new scene to the English dub that was previously cut-out of earlier dubbed releases.
Updates were also given for the upcoming re-releases of Ninja Senshi Tobikage and Mon Colle Knights -- Discotek is still actively working on getting these titles released, but the process has been delayed due to the difficulties involved in tracking down materials related to the original English dubs for these series. In the case of Mon Colle Knights, Discotek stated that it is literally waiting on materials to be physically shipped to the company. Ninja Senshi Tobikage, meanwhile, may have to be released without the English dubs for certain episodes, and Discotek has resorted to asking fans to send them any recordings they may have to help them complete the process.
Discotek Media was founded in 2005 and has primarily focused on releasing classic and out-of-print anime on DVD and Blu-ray. It is best known for its releases of the Lupin the Third franchise, as well as its re-releases of anime titles that were previously published by now-defunct distributors.
Source: Twitter
