Still, for a company aiming at a niche market in difficult times, they're doing remarkably well. Their gamble to invest in a theatrical release of Shinkai Makoto's Your Name paid off, with the film breaking anime records in the UK right now. And they still have an uncanny knack for picking up titles new and old. Shortly, they'll re-release the first Evangelion reboot film (1.11) as a Special Edition, a title whose fanbase should by all means be saturated to death by now but has me becoming excited nevertheless, just because it's THEM doing it.
Which brings us to their current release of Outlaw Star, a space opera anime series from the same year as Cowboy Bebop (1998) and fishing in the same bounty-hunting waters as that classic. But while the inventive Cowboy Bebop initially had a butchered broadcast in its home country, only to become legendary years later, Outlaw Star went exactly the other way. It has its fans, but was rather hard to get in recent years, and this is indeed the first HD-release in the West.
It's a good looking release too, with a terrific booklet, so... ah well, here is another gallery of shots. Click on the edge of the pictures to scroll through them, or at the center of each to see a bigger version.
And here it is, a sturdy hard cardboard slipcase.
Ehm... seeing as how the artwork copies the Japanese release, I may have this one backwards... especially since the back-end is actually more decorated. Still, both sides are beautiful.
In the slipcase are a large digipak and the thick booklet.
The contents taken out.
The contents opened. Lovely artwork on the digipak, and very indicative of the colorful art within the series itself.
The booklet is 96 pages and a great one at that.
Inside, you get character sketches, background art, conceptual art, technical details... the style used for Outlaw Star is a classic nineties caricature on,e rather than the progressive, more realistic style seen in Cowboy Bebop, but in the merit and detail of the technical designs, the two series can often shake hands.
It's a lovely booklet and really shows off Outlaw Star's strong points.
The back-end. Or is it? This one is actually embossed and shiny, and features the title, so...
Ehm...
Anyway, a great release for a fun series!