Kadokawa & Paramount Japan BD/DVD announcements

Kadokawa Pictures

March 16:

• Red Sun BD (first time) / DVD (previously available from other publishers)
  
  
• One From the Heart (2003 restored version) BD (first time) / DVD (reissue)
  
• Hammet DVD (reissue)
  
• Abel Gance's Napoleon (222 mins Coppola version) DVD (reissue)
  

Paramount Pictures Japan

April 13:

• Ken Russell's Tommy BD (DVD is already available) seems to have most of the extras of the previous UK DVD special edition (as with the Japanese DVD)
  
  

May 11:

• Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here BD/DVD
  
• 55 Days in Peking DVD (reissue)
  
• Terence Young's The Christmas Tree DVD
  

June 8:

• David Lean's Summertime BD (first time) / DVD (already available from other publishers)
  
• Ken Russell's Mahler BD/DVD
  
• Paper Tiger BD/DVD
  
• Monty Python's And Now For Something Completely Different BD/DVD
  
• Trouble In Mind BD/DVD
  
• The Whales of August DVD
  

I saw some BD titles listed above are not available in the US,
but Amazon.com have them as instant video.
On the other hand Amazon Japan doesn't offer instant video at all.
So this may mean the difference of the markets.
I mean, Americans are more toward online viewing than Japanese.

[EDIT Sep. 27, 2012: Repaired some broken links]

Steve Hackett & GTR reissues on HQCD mini-LP

On March 28, 2012, WHD Entertainment will release 2 Steve Hackett-related albums
remastered with K2HD technology, manufactured as HQCD, packaged in mini-LP replica.

• GTR - GTR (WHD page)
• Steve Hackett - Tokyo Tapes (WHD page)

While mini-LP CDs of both albums were already released some years ago,
this is the first time as K2HD+HQCD.

Amazon Japan and several other sources claim GTR is to include 5 bonus tracks (details unknown),
but they are not mentioned on the WHD website, as of this writing.

[UPDATE (Apr. 9): According to Amazon Japan's customer reviews,

GTR actually has only one bonus track, which is the single version of "When The Heart Rules The Mind" sourced from analog vinyl because the master tape has been lost.

Strangely, WHD website doesn't list this bonus track on their official site.]

The Byrds on Blu-spec mini-LP CD in Japan

[Edit (Apr. 14): I've added updated informations here]

On May 2, 2012, Sony Music Japan will release the Byrds albums on Blu-spec CD,
in paper sleeve mini-LP replica package.
The albums will feature both stereo & mono versions,
with some bonus tracks.

• Mr. Tambourine Man
• Turn! Turn! Turn!
• Fifth Dimension
• Younger Than Yesterday
• The Notorious Byrd Brothers

This may upset some fans though,
since Sony had just re-released Mr. Tambourine Man
in mini-LP style (albeit not Blu-spec CD) in this January.

Neu! - remastered mini-LP replica CDs in Japan

On March 21, 2012, P-Vine will release 4 remastered CDs of German experimental band Neu!
in miniature LP-replica paper sleeve packages.

Namely Neu!, Neu! 2, Neu! 75 and Neu! 86, as seen below:

Bunraku - Japanese BD info

Shochiku will release Bunraku on Feb. 22 in 3 variations: DVD, BD, and BD+DVD combo.

The first 2 are not different from the US releases,
but the BD+DVD combo comes with an extra DVD
which has approx. 40 mins of interview with GACKT.

source: Shochiku official shop

I've opened a shop of Japanese products

I've been preparing an Amazon Japan affiliate site for a while.
And I've just made it public. It's here.
Far from satisfactory, but I hope the site has enough items to show where I'm going.

Even if you are not interested in buying items in this kind of affiliate site,
I hope it works as an information source that you can find what products are available in Japan.

Eraserhead and Lost Highway on BD in Japan

Paramount Japan will release David Lynch's Eraserhead and Lost Highway on BD and DVD on Apr. 27, 2012.

The ads read like they are both "David Lynch restoration" versions,
but it's not clear what it exactly means..

Since Lynch has devoted himself to music these days,
it seems unlikely he personally supervised the restoration of his old works. But who knows?

Anyway, here's the descriptions on Paramount Japan's website (here and here):


Eraserhead

Running time: 89 mins
Video: VistaVision 16:9
Audio: English 2.0
Subtitles: Japanese

Special features:

• Eraserhead Stories (video commentary by David Lynch) (85 mins) [*]
• Original trailer
• The Short Films of David Lynch (60 mins):[*]
1. Six Men Getting Sick
2. The Alphabet
3. The Grandmother
4. Amputee
5. Lumiere

Lost Highway

Running time: 135 mins
Video: VistaVision 16:9
Audio: English 5.1
Subtitles: Japanese

Special features:

• Dumbland (8 shorts, 34 mins) [*]
• Original trailer

[*]: BD only, not included in DVD.
BDs are packaged in stylish slipcase.
All specs are TBC as of this writing.

(You may wonder why Short Films and Dumbland are in special features.
But they have been unavailable in Japan.)

While BD of Lost Highway was released in Germany some time ago,
and both movies were once available on DVD in Japan years ago,
they were released from third party companies.

Since these new editions are from Paramount Japan
perhaps we can expect they will be released in other countries around the same time as well.


You can pre-order them at Amazon JP: