I don't think a lot of people noticed this little bit, since most of the folks were focused on the hardware manufacturers and the big name studios but having Bandai on our side is HUGE. I mean they have a big library of Manga and animation, not to mention the Power Rangers titles. This could really push software sales a lot.

OMG just thinking there might be and HD Voltron makes me smile.

Jorge

I'm probably one of the few in existence that would actually buy Power Rangers in HD. LOL!

Screw Power Rangers, bring on Bebop and Robin.

Are they HD exclusive?
J

I don't think a lot of people noticed this little bit, since most of the folks were focused on the hardware manufacturers and the big name studios but having Bandai on our side is HUGE. I mean they have a big library of Manga and animation, not to mention the Power Rangers titles. This could really push software sales a lot.

OMG just thinking there might be and HD Voltron makes me smile.

Jorge

Sorry, but you really call Bandai HUGE news on the studio support front??? I couldn't think of any less significant "studio" out there to add support from...

Sorry, but you really call Bandai HUGE news on the studio support front??? I couldn't think of any less significant "studio" out there to add support from...

To each there own. I would rather have Bandai then have Disney. Bandai has a bunch of Anime that I would love to see in HD like Ghost in the Shell, Gundam, Escaflowne, Cowboy Bebop, Witch Hunter Robin and a ton of others.

To each there own. I would rather have Bandai then have Disney. Bandai has a bunch of Anime that I would love to see in HD like Ghost in the Shell, Gundam, Escaflowne, Cowboy Bebop, Witch Hunter Robin and a ton of others.

I fully understand this, but Bandai is for sure not winning over Joe-Six-pack, it is a niche studio without much/any mainstream appeal and therefor an insignificant weapon in the "format war".

Ghost in the Shell

Worth more than the entire Disney catalogue on its own!

I fully understand this, but Bandai is for sure not winning over Joe-Six-pack, it is a niche studio without much/any mainstream appeal and therefor an insignificant weapon in the "format war".

I guess J6Ps children don't have a sway on it. Yeah Right!

Jorge

Worth more than the entire Disney catalogue on its own!

I agree as much as I love Disney movies I love Bandai series more like Gundam :D

hmmm... Ghost in the Shell would be pretty nice in HD.

I quite liked the Escaflowne series.

Sorry, but you really call Bandai HUGE news on the studio support front??? I couldn't think of any less significant "studio" out there to add support from...

Are you kidding me? While I'm not likely to ever buy any products from Bandai personally, I'm not about to casually dismiss them. Take a look through the anime section at Best Buy, the next time you're there (and what BB carries is a tiny subset of what's out there).

It's not my cup of tea, but anime is huge.

Are you kidding me? While I'm not likely to ever buy any products from Bandai personally, I'm not about to casually dismiss them. Take a look through the anime section at Best Buy, the next time you're there (and what BB carries is a tiny subset of what's out there).

It's not my cup of tea, but anime is huge.

The question remains:

1) Is it HD-DVD exclusive?
2) When will they deliver an actual product? (e.g. New Line "support" was announced by HD-DVD even before CES 2006)

Well, a lot of questions remain on a lot of things, particularly about when studios are delivering anything so that's not a legitimate comment. As to whether they'll be HD DVD exclusive, unless Sony mentions them then they are. I would guess they are due to their heavy involvement with MS.

Whats a bit wierd is Disney is releasing Ghost in the shell 2 on Blu-Ray, but its a bandai property. I know Bandai owns a LOT of things. Hopefully they won't have Disney distribute anymore of there stuff on bluray so that bandai themselves will release it on HD-DVD

I would love to see a remastered version of The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love with English subtitles. I have both the LD and DVD of this that I payed over $100 each for, and would love to finally have a version that I could see without resorting to pirated copies.

A-men to that, xradman. It's sickening that after all of these years there is still no legal way to watch that film with English subtitles. Worse, the bootlegs are SH!T quality. Absolute crap.

For the record, I paid $70 for the Japanese DVD. Too bad that one has so many interlacing problems. :(

I'm not familiar with this studio. Does anyone know where I can find a listing of their titles?

I don't think a lot of people noticed this little bit, since most of the folks were focused on the hardware manufacturers and the big name studios but having Bandai on our side is HUGE. I mean they have a big library of Manga and animation, not to mention the Power Rangers titles. This could really push software sales a lot.

OMG just thinking there might be and HD Voltron makes me smile.

Jorge

There's a big market for Bandai stuff for kids of all ages. I know the Manga stuff will certainly appeal to a whole new market, not to mention there's going to be more titles for kids. Very good news for HD DVD, I think.

I'm not familiar with this studio. Does anyone know where I can find a listing of their titles?


Nevermind http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandai_Visual

I would love to see a remastered version of The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love with English subtitles. I have both the LD and DVD of this that I payed over $100 each for, and would love to finally have a version that I could see without resorting to pirated copies.

Well, that's a copyright issue afaik so don't hold your breath. Same with M0.

You can find a pretty long list of things here. I dont' even think this is everything either. I'm pretty sure they have a lot of stuff in Japan that isn't on this list.

http://www.bandai-ent.com/products/index.cfm?o=t&q=a

I would have been sure Bandai would have went with Blu-Ray just because there are so many video games that the company makes that are exclusive to PS2 and PS3. One of the best sellers in japan, the Gundam game is made by Bandai, and there is another one coming out this month I think.

Maybe they'll use this as an excuse to finally do a decent release of 'The Wings of Honneamise'. Man I'd love to see that.

Sanjay

Nevermind http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandai_Visual

Yeah that is a pretty complete list of everything they do in Japan and America.

Wow, this is great news. They have a lot of titles that I would be interested in.

This isn't new. MS annnounced they were partnering with Bandai to provide support for Bandai's use of VC-1 for their HD releases a month or two ago.

Here's the thread that was started back in November:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=751009

Here's a link to the japanese bandai announcement, dated at 11/5:
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/20061115/hddvd.htm

The real question is, does this announcement include the US arm of the company, or just the Japanese division? As I understand it, Bandai Visual is not Bandai America, so a closer examination of the situation is needed to find out what this really means.

Build it and they will come! :)

If they own Urotsukidoji, then I'm excited. How about Akira? Other than those two I'm not a very big anime fan.

Since HD-DVD is currently not region coded we should be able to buy any HD-DVD's released in Japan and play them here without any issues.

I think it is great news that the announcement is more "offical" now.

Laters,
Jeff

Ooh nice. Bandai should release The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya on HD-DVD before the SD-DVD first to sway a lot of fans into the HD-DVD camp.

If they own Urotsukidoji, then I'm excited. How about Akira? Other than those two I'm not a very big anime fan.

Check the wiki entry. Akira was released on DVD by bandai so its definitely possible.

Pioneer distributes Akira in America and Bandai for Japan.

From Chris at AnimeonDVD.com:

Bandai Visual (Japan) has been neutral for some time. They've made noise about releasing on HD DVD more than BD but it's a weird thing because there is practically no HD DVD support in Japan. The "format war" there in general is really messed up as very few announcements have been made since the PS3 launched, giving it a wait and see mentality. HD DVD hardware sales are Xbox sized though.

Bandai Visual has numerous subdivisions, something they cleaned up a bit after the deal with Namco last year. In the US, there are 3 subdivisions. Bandai America handles the toys, deals with the game division and so forth. They also handle areas like Power Rangers and other live action material that gets shuttled around for broadcast. Bandai Entertainment is where the anime division deals with things. A new company was also started last year called Bandai Visual USA and opted to use a specific label called Honneamise. This is a boutique publisher right now that is looking to try to do some potential theatrical stuff in the future while handling DVD movies and OVAs. Right now, they have two releases out for all of 2006 and one set for 2007. They all are gorgeous and top quality, essentially ports of the Japanese release. Hell, everything was authored and replicated in Japan.

The US anime industry in general is slowly - very slowly - coming out of the biggest downturn yet. Every company I've talked to at conventions, email and on the phone has said that they're sitting this out for awhile. There's no incentive on either side at the moment because of the very limited audience compared to Hollywood movies. It's all being watched and there is certainly interest because of the potential, but unlike DVD they don't intend to jump and there isn't the same incentive level. DVD was ideal because it removed two SKU's from their inventory (subtitled tapes and dubbed tapes) and moved it to just one.

The "news" of Bandai Visual Japan intending to bring out HD DVDs is just a repeat of the last CES where they showcased boxart of Ghost in the Shell TV but then never released anything

To date, anime releases in Japan are:

Brave Story - both (Warner)
Project Papo - both (Gonzo; HD DVD available directly only, BD via retail)
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence - Blu-ray
Air TV Box Set - Blu-ray

Bandai Visual certainly has plenty of projects they can do on both, but like DVD, I would in no way expect to see things with subtitles or dubs. The dynamics simply don't work that way because of pricing, distribution, contracts and so forth.

I'm excited to see more anime in HD, but this is some of the biggest non-news of the show yet to me.

http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=4636

If they own Urotsukidoji, then I'm excited. How about Akira? Other than those two I'm not a very big anime fan.

Urotsukidoji is by far the weirdest piece of anime I have ever seen. Even by anime standards.

Jorge

Since HD-DVD is currently not region coded we should be able to buy any HD-DVD's released in Japan and play them here without any issues.

I think it is great news that the announcement is more "offical" now.

Laters,
Jeff

Unfortunately, Rahxephon the movie is region-coded.

It's classified under Region-2 (like Reign of Fire, Full Metal Jacket are region-2 HD-DVD discs in Japan)

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=ZMSZ-3249

You can only hope that Toshiba didn't set a region. Otherwise, this would result in a block-out for this title.

Unfortunately, Rahxephon the movie is region-coded.

It's classified under Region-2 (like Reign of Fire, Full Metal Jacket are region-2 HD-DVD discs in Japan)

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=ZMSZ-3249

You can only hope that Toshiba didn't set a region. Otherwise, this would result in a block-out for this title.
Stop spreading the false information! Jeez, enough already. :mad:

Stop spreading the false information! Jeez, enough already. :mad:

Answer my questions in the other thread first.

Quick to accuse? Definitely shows that you didn't even give a straight answer yet and you go ahead with your accusation.

Wonderful, just wonderful indeed. :rolleyes:

time