Anime News

Bandai Visual USA To Launch Honneamise Label
Date: 12/5/2005
At a press conference in Beverly Hills today, Bandai Visual USA announced the details behind their new North American release label, Honneamise.


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In a partnership with DVD distributor Image Entertainment, Bandai Visual announced today that their new American subsidiary, Bandai Visual USA, is launching a new DVD label called Honneamise, which will be releasing DVDs of Bandai Visual films to the North American release market. The label's new logo was also unveiled:





The label, named for Gainax and Bandai Visual's groundbreaking 1987 animated film Wings of Honneamise, will focus on providing both standard edition releases and feature-packed limited editions. At the press conference, it was mentioned that Image Entertainment distributed the Criterion Collection laserdiscs; Honneamise will be using the Criterion Collection template as a guide for the quality of their releases.

As of press time, only two titles had been officially announced, although the possibility of more was hinted at several times. The first two titles from Honneamise will be Patlabor: The Movie and Patlabor 2: The Movie. Both films will be released in a standard disc-only release and a special edition that will include, according to the press release, "exclusive packaging illustrations by Yutaka Izubuchi, remastered 5.1 audio channel, a new English-dubbed audio track, a making of documentary, Japanese trailers and TV commercials, the complete 300-page storyboard book drawn by Mamoru Oshii with an English translation, and a second book that includes past interviews, articles, artwork and drawings."

Final release details will be made available early next year. Patlabor: The Movie is scheduled for release on April 25, 2006, with the second film following in the summer.

Image also announced that they'd be working in a number of ways with Bandai Visual USA, including the possible release of Bandai Visual's live action films, and perhaps even co-productions in both live action and animated formats.
Source: Anime News Network