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MVM enjoyed a meteoric rise in 2004 as the shrewd licensing deals
and partnerships struck in 2003 really began to pay dividends. In
the space of a few months they leapt from the small company they were in
2003 to the second biggest player in the UK anime market and the first
serious rival to ADV Films since the advent of DVD. Their
co-authoring deal with Australian company Madman Entertainment
allowed them to put out dual language releases with quality extras, much
to the delight of fans, and they also balanced money spinning titles such
as Ninja Scroll TV with more unusual ones like Serial
Experiments Lain. However, 2005 seems to promise even better,
with a jaw-dropping array of titles announced for the UK... |
Of all of the UK companies MVM's release schedule for the first quarter of 2005 is arguably the most exciting, with a balance of new and classic titles that will have most anime fans drooling. Topping the bill is one of the big potential crossover titles, Full Metal Alchemist (main pic, above). Coming our way around Easter, Full Metal Alchemist is not only highly rated but will draw more attention than most series because of the UK release of a spin-off console game created by the company behind the Final Fantasy game series, SquareEnix.
What has caught the attention of most fans though is the titles MVM have sublicensed from US distributor Geneon. First up is a brace of back catalogue releases, headed up by the excellent actioner Trigun (one of our Essentials) and the popular sci-fi romance Chobits, but these are followed by some newer titles including game tie-in Gungrave, origami actioner (no, really) Read or Die TV and the superb Haibane Renmei (also one of our Essentials). Also worth noting is the shock release of the mind bending sci-fi Texhnolyze and creepy actioner Tsukihime Lunar Legend.
Also confirmed for the year is Oh! My Goddess spin off
Adventures of Mini-Goddess, sci-fi spin off Blue Gender the Movie, and we
are especially looking forward to the reissue of the popular supernatural
actioner Yu Yu Hakusho, this time with an art box for the series and a
Japanese language track!! On top of this we have the continuation of the
comedy romance Love Hina and the stylish actioner Kiddy Grade,
with the Love Hina OVAs hopefully following later in the year. It is also possible we could also see the
likes of romantic comedy Kodocha, further shenanigans from the Tenchi
crew in Tenchi GXP and the action comedy of the Ranma 1/2 films as
the year progresses. Phew!! Our Opinion Wow. What can we say? Not only have MVM
announced all of their releases for the first half of the year already - an
unprecedented move in the UK DVD market - but all of it is of such high quality
we are only just picking our jaws off the floor! There are two absolutely
indispensable classics in there (Trigun and Haibane Renmei); some
titles with the potential to be huge (Full Metal Alchemist and Yu Yu
Hakusho); some unusual and challenging titles (Texhnolyze and
Tsukihime, Lunar Legend) and spin offs from popular titles (Adventures of
Mini Goddess and Blue Gender The Movie). But what stands out
overall is that there are no filler titles. The whole list is pretty much
made up of must buy anime, covering genres ranging from romance to action, and
with MVM also producing art boxes for the likes of Yu Yu Hakusho
they are really pulling out the stops to please fans. MVM's
partnerships with the likes of FUNimation and Geneon are really
providing an excellent mix of classic and new anime, and we can't wait to see
what they will announce next!! On the evidence of the first 6 month's
releases, 2005 is definitely going to be MVM's year... New Titles Confirmed For Release in 2005 Adventures of Mini Goddess (7th February) Blue Gender The Movie (6th June) Chobits (7th March) Full Metal Alchemist (9th May) Gungrave (4th April) Haibane Renmei (4th April) Love Hina Spring Special (9th May) Read or Die TV (9th May) Texhnolyze (6th June) Trigun (7th February) Tsukihime, Lunar Legend (6th June) Yu Yu Hakusho (7th March) Other Possibilities Kodomo no Omocha (aka. Kodocha) - Fan favourite
romantic drama |