Discotek Media Reveals 25 New Releases

Discotek Media revealed 25 new upcoming releases at both at its industry panel at Otakon on Saturday and during a livestream event on Saturday.

Discotek will release the Space Sheriff Shaider tokusatsu television series in Japanese with English subtitles fully remastered in HD on Blu-ray Disc in September. The release will include a photo gallery, karaoke opening, a new retrospective essay by Mike Dent, and a 35-year reunion.

The series first aired in 1984-1985.

Discotek Media will release the Lupin III Italian Game special on Blu-ray Disc in September 2024 with English subtitles. The special is the 25th in the Lupin III franchise, and it originally aired in January 2016.

The special’s story centers on the kidnapping of Rebecca Rossellini (voiced by Yukiyo Fujī), a beautiful business owner. Upon hearing of her kidnapping, Lupin rushes to her rescue. Additionally, Lupin receives a written challenge from a mysterious person named “The Masked Count” suggesting a contest: who can obtain the “inheritance of Count Cagliostro” first.

Discotek teased more Lupin III-related news in the future.

Discotek Media will release all 42 episodes of the Space Pirate Captain Harlock anime upscaled in 1080p (the same upscale that was released in Japan) on Blu-ray Disc in September. The release will include English subtitles. Discotek previously released the anime on DVD in 2013.

The anime first aired in 1978-1979. Rintarō directed the anime at Toei Animation. Leiji Matsumoto‘s original Space Pirate Captain Harlock manga ran from 1977 to 1979.

Discotek will release Mamoru Oshii‘s historic OVA Dallos on Blu-ray Disc in September. The release will include English subtitles and feature a recent HD transfer.

Originally released with its first VHS volume in December 1983, Dallos is widely considered to be the first direct-to-video animation project to ever be released, and is thus also the first OVA (original video anime) project to be released. Mamoru Oshii, then a director for Urusei Yatsura, worked on the original anime as his first independent anime work, alongside Hisayuki Toriumi. Oshii directed and wrote the second episode (actually the first to be released in December 1983), while Toriumi directed the first episode (January 1984). Oshii again directed the third episode (April 1984), while Oshii and Toriumi share co-directing and writing credit for the fourth episode (July 1984).

Bandai Namco Arts released the anime on Blu-ray Disc for the first time in March 2023 as part of a 40th anniversary project for the company’s Emotion label.

Studio Pierrot animated the project, and produced it alongside Bandai.

Discotek Media most recently released Dallos in the United States on DVD in 2014.

Discotek will release all 26 episodes of Yoshikazu Yasuhiko‘s Giant Gorg mecha anime on Blu-ray Disc with English subtitles later this year. The release will feature an HD remaster from the original films.

Yoshikazu Yasuhiko (Crusher Joe: The Movie, Mobile Suit Gundam character designs) directed the 26-episode series, which premiered in 1984. Discotek released the series on DVD in 2016. The company describes the story:

Yuu Tagami was never close with his father. Yet after the old man’s accidental death, Yuu finds himself on a plane to New York City, following instructions written in a letter from his late father. New York is as strange as it gets for the boy from Japan, but stranger still is Dr. Wave, the man he’s supposed to meet. Dr. Wave shares an obsession with the deceased concerning the mysterious New Austral Island.

Discotek will release the Space Musketeer Bismark (Sei Jūshi Bismarck) anime in HD on Blu-ray Disc. The release will include all 51 episodes with new English subtitles.

Studio Pierrot produced the original television series. The series aired in 1984 to 1985.

World Events Productions(WEP) later recut the series and released it as Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs. Discotek released Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs on SD Blu-ray Disc last year.

Discotek will release all 52 episodes of the Kamen Rider V3 tokusatsu series with English subtitles on Blu-ray Disc later this year. The release will include interviews, a cast reunion, promo videos, liner notes, and a photo gallery.

The series originally aired in 1973 to 1974. It is the second installment of the Kamen Rider series and a direct sequel to the original Kamen Rider.

Discotek will release Chie the Brat 2nd TV Series (Chie-chan Funsenki Jarinko Chie) on SD Blu-ray Disc later this year. The release will include English subtitles and a clean opening and ending. The release will mark the first release of the anime in English.

Kazuyoshi Yokota directed the anime at Tokyo Movie Shinsha. The anime originally aired for 39 episodes in 1991 and 1992.

The original Chie the Brat television anime aired in 1981-1983. Discotek released the anime on Blu-ray Disc in May. The anime follows the exploits of the unluckiest little girl in Japan as she lives in Osaka in the 1970s.

The anime are based on the manga by Etsumi Haruki.

Discotek will release all 43 episodes of GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka on SD Blu-ray Disc featuring upgraded English subtitles as well as the Tokyopop English dub in September. Discotek stated it fixed a part of the dub where the audio drops out with a “somewhat less janky” audio.

Extras on the release will include a clean opening and ending, dub outtakes, and an interview with Tohru Fujisawa.

Great Teacher Onizuka aired in Japan in 1999. Tokyopop initally licensed the anime series in 2001, releasing it on DVD singles and two boxsets. Discotek previously released the anime on DVD in September 2013.

The anime adaptation is inspired by Tohru Fujisawa‘s manga series of the same name.

Discotek will release the Digimon Adventure 02 anime on AstroRes Blu-ray Disc with a new English-subtitle translation. The release will include clean openings and endings, end cards, production art galleries, and other extras.

Discotek had announced in July 2023 that it would release Digimon Adventure 02 on Blu-ray Disc. Similar to the release of Digimon Adventure, Discotek will release the English-dub version of the anime separately first, followed by the Japanese version. The English-dub version shipped on May 28.

Discotek released the English version of Digimon Adventure on Blu-ray Disc on December 2022 under the title Digimon: Digital Monsters. Discotek released the Japanese version in July 2023.

Discotek will release the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS television anime on its first-ever home video release in North America later this year. The Blu-ray Disc release will include English subtitles and to-be-determined extras.

The anime originally aired for 26 episodes in 2007.

Discotek will release the 12-episode Kiss×sis television anime series uncensored on HD on Blu-ray Disc in September. The release will include English subtitles, a clean opening, a clean version of episode 9, an extended version of the ending dance, the clean ending for episode 12, and promo videos and commercials.

The anime originally aired in 2010, and is based on Bow Ditama‘s manga. The manga also inspired an OVA series bundled with manga volumes from 2008-2015. Discotek also released the OVA on home video.

Discotek will release the Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva anime film on Blu-ray Disc in native HD. The release will include English subtitles as well as an English dub featuring the cast of the Professor Layton games. The release will also include trailers as extras.

The film originally opened in Japan in December 2009. Viz Media previously released the anime on DVD in 2011.

Discotek Media will release Kite: Integral Version on Blu-ray Disc in September. The release is based on earlier Media Blasters restorations. It will include missing shots restored with AstroRes and color corrected, fixed framing mistakes, and re-rendered original titles.

The release will include three versions of the anime: an adult-only “uncut” version, the “U.S. general release” version, and an “International” cut version, the latter of which has not been released in the U.S. before. The release will include English and Japanese audio in 5.1 and 2.0 for all three versions. The release will also include all existing bonus features, including a previously unseen next-episode preview and an all-new documentary featurette exploring the release history of the anime.

Yasuomi Umetsu‘s action anime originally released in 1998 in Japan.

Discotek will release Humanoid Monster Bem (Yōkai Ningen Bem) remastered on Blu-ray Disc later this year. The release will include all 26 episodes with English subtitles, and TV ads as extras. This will be the first disc release of the anime in North America.

Yōkai Ningen Bem (Humanoid Monster Bem) is a classic supernatural adventure anime that aired from 1968 to 1969. In the original 26-episode anime, Bem, Bela, and Belo are ugly humanoid monsters (yōkai) who fight for justice. The monsters live among humans and protect them from evil yōkai. The three find themselves ostracized from both humans and other yōkai, but the three continue to fight in hopes of one day becoming humans themselves.

Discotek will release Gō Nagai‘s classic anime Groizer X on SD Blu-ray Disc with English subtitles. The release will include all 36 episodes.

The series originally aired from 1976 to 1977 and has not previously had an English release. Hiroshi Jinsenji directed the series at Knack and Tama Production with scripts by Toyohiro Andō.

Discotek will release the live-action Dororo film based on Osamu Tezuka‘s manga for the first time on Blu-ray Disc in North America. The film stars Satoshi Tsumabuki as Hyakkimaru and Kou Shibasaki as Dororo.

The film debuted in Japan in January 2007. Akihiko Shiota directed the film. Universal Pictures previously released the film on DVD in 2008.

Discotek will release the live-action Ouran High School Host Club film on Blu-ray Disc in HD with English subtitles later this year. The film is a standalone follow-up to the live-action television series.

The release will include interviews, behind-the-scenes videos, a spinoff short, premiere event footage, outtakes, and more.

The live-action series debuted in 2011, and the film debuted in 2012. Both adapt Bisco Hatori‘s manga of the same name.

Discotek also confirmed that the Reborn! special fan disc is releasing in September.

Additionally, Discotek will release the Katsuhito Ishii‘s surreal action comedy live-action film Party 7, the Robo Geisha tokusatsu action film featuring English subtitles and Funimation‘s English dub, Gakuryu Ishii’s tokusatsu action film Electric Dragon 80,000V, the Kekkō Kamen film trilogy, the Android Kikaider series, and the Special Rescue Police Winspector series.

Lastly, Discotek will release MXC, the re-edit of the Takeshi’s Castle game show that aired with an English dub on TNN / Spike TV. The release will include 51 episodes on SD Blu-ray Disc with volume 1(comprising the first three seasons). Volume 2 will follow later to finish the series, minus a few episodes that Discotek said “can’t be cleared for release anymore due to licensing issues.”

Source: Email correspondence