Overseas The Discotek Media Thread (plus AnimEigo)

[Dai]

Hmm. As with any slate full of licence rescues, how interesting it is depends on whether you missed out on anything you wanted the first time. For me this is mostly a mix of things I either already own or was never interested in. I'll only buy the Patlabor movies again if they include the UK dubs. Aside from that I might buy Infinite Ryvius, but that's about it.

 

[NormanicGrav]

Now awake after staying up for the Discotek stream. It's a very good panel overall and while I didn't find any of them to be super announcements that we have had in the past, I'm happy in general with what we got. The emphasis on rescue licenses is interesting but also a reminder that the doors have opened for older titles related to Crunchyroll, Funimation and Nozomi so the fact that they have more big ones to come does suggest a couple more that may have originated from those distributors.

Lupin the Third Part II being SD-BD was a surprise but I'll take what I can get especially as it'll be shelf-space friendly like Fist of the North Star was. They claim their TV Specials collections are the best way to own and watch those titles so I'll probably have to get those in the end, but I'll wait until I go through what I own first before swapping them (to be fair it will be good for shelf-space, I just wish they were more open about this approach).

I'm also happy to see more Sunrise anime from the failed package deal that Sentai Filmworks had, which in this case The Big O, Infinite Ryvius and Argento Soma are among those (the others were s-CRY-ed, Zegapain, Kurokami & Overman King Gainer) so there's still hope for Betterman, Brain Powered, The Girl Who Leapt Through Space, Sacred Seven, and Z-Mind to be rescued as well. Interestingly Tales of the Abyss is part of Funimation's package deal that included Angel Links, Banner & Crest of the Stars, Code Geass and Witch Hunter Robin so I wonder what's going on there.

I do find it funny that they say Sentai's authoring wasn't particularly great for Patlabor so I may have to double-dip for their release anyway. I have the Maiden Japan version which I checked I paid under $40 so we'll see. I get that Penguindrum has fixed subtitle positioning but it's not enough to convince me to double-dip if I'm honest.

I'll grab the 4K release for Memories as it's an excellent film with an excellent English dub (and I don't say that often). The booklet/liner notes that Anime Limited printed physically is on the disc itself so you're not missing out if you sell the CE for the 4K version.

 

[HWR]

I thought it was a pretty great slate overall - most of the license rescues were for titles I don’t already own, or had gotten pretty cheaply (i.e. Patlabor, The Big O). I had come close at some stage to getting some of the titles on DVD but looks like waiting has paid off.

Lupin the 3rd Part II finally coming to SDBD was especially nice to see, I was expecting the Lupin slate to be one or two more TV Special collections (though I imagine those aren’t that far away either and can just be announced with the relevant slate I suppose.)

Samurai Pizza Cats was interesting to see too, considering it was being advertised by a different licensor - maybe that was just for streaming.

On a side note, it’s nice that they called out Diabolik DVD as a good place to get their titles from, I’ve had no issues so far with them and have some August titles pre-ordered with them.

 

[fabio de lunatico]

I do find it funny that they say Sentai's authoring wasn't particularly great for Patlabor so I may have to double-dip for their release anyway. I have the Maiden Japan version which I checked I paid under $40 so we'll see.

They've got to sell their re-release to the potential double-dippers I suppose. The Sentai authored discs look fine to me, but I won't claim to be an expert in this area. Or any area tbh. Don't think I like the OVAs and TV series enough to buy again.

The movies, on the other hand... if they can get the Manga UK dubs for 1&2 then I will buy the damn things AGAIN. But I feel like they would've made a point of mentioning it if they had, knowing how beloved those dubs are. Also feels like a missed opportunity with 4k discs released in Japan recently, but maybe they'll come later.

In for some Joji Manabe with Outlanders, and the last Koike Lupin OVA. Not much else, but at least they're bringing out more anime than live action this time.

Oh, and Penguindrum with non-borked subtitles is an attractive proposition. I'm surprised there wasn't more fuss made about AL's release; I remember complaining years ago and nobody seemed interested

 

[Lucky_Deity]

Discotek Day live-stream announcements. Updating as we speak. "Lots of rescues"

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ANIME

#1 - Lupin the IIIrd: Zenigata and the Two Lupins

• 2025 - Telecom Animation Film - Film
• Blu-ray (New license)

The fourth instalment in the Koike film series and arriving on Blu-ray later in 2026. An English dub will also be produced.​

#2 - Toradora!

• 2008 - J.C. Staff - TV Series
• Blu-ray (New license)

The series that was originally with NIS America is now back in print under Discotek Media. Includes the NIS English dub as well as any extras that were previously included on that release. Available this October.​

#3 - Lupin the Third Part II: The Red Jacket Adventures

• 1977-80 - TMS Entertainment - TV Series
• Standard Definition on Blu-ray (Re-release)

The 155 episode series originally released on four sets is now back as one compact collection in SD-BD with the existing English dub material, freshly mastered from the very best sources and more QC for any issues prior. Available this October.​

#4 - Digimon: Digital Monsters Season 4 (Digimon Frontier)

• 2002-03 - Toei Animation - TV Series
• Blu-ray (New license)

The 50 episode fourth season of the original series. The English language version is being released first this October, and the Japanese version will come later. They mentioned this series aged better than the rest on the materials for the restoration work.​

#5 - Pani Poni Dash!

• 2005 - Shaft - TV Series
• Standard Definition on Blu-ray (New license)

The 26 episode series is back! Originally released by ADV Films followed by Funimation, the series is arriving onto SD-BD format. The subtitling has been updated and includes the classic English dub. Arriving later in 2026.​

#6 - Tales of the Abyss

• 2008-09 - Sunrise - TV Series
• Blu-ray (New license)

The 26 episode series is back again! Originally released by Bandai Entertainment followed by Funimation, the series is back in print. Like before, it's Japanese with English subtitles only. Arriving later in 2026.​

#7 - Patlabor on Television

• 1989-90 - Sunrise - TV Series
• Blu-ray (New license)

The 47 episode series is back again! Originally released by Central Park Media followed by Maiden Japan, the series is back in print. A significant improvement on the video quality and subtitles for this release, and includes the classic English dub. Arriving later in 2026.​

#8 - Patlabor: The New Files

• 1990-92 - Sunrise - OVA Series
• Blu-ray (New license)

Also returning (and no surprise here) is the second OVA series for the Patlabor franchise. 16 episodes but only the first four were dubbed in English. Originally released by Central Park Media followed by Maiden Japan. Arriving later in 2026.​

#9 - Patlabor Movie Trilogy

• 1989 / 1993 / 2002 - Production I.G / Madhouse, Triangle Staff - Films
• Blu-ray (New license)

Also returning (and no surprise here either) are the three theatrical films for the Patlabor franchise. Originally released by Central Park Media followed by Maiden Japan. Includes the MiniPato shorts. Arriving later in 2026.​

#10 - The Big O: The Complete Paradigm

• 1999-00 / 2002-03 - Sunrise - TV Series
• Blu-ray (New license)

Both seasons of the classic Sunrise series is back in print. Originally released by Bandai Entertainment followed by Sentai Filmworks. Season 2 includes the 5.1 audio mix of the English dub. Also another improvement to the video quality. Extras not finalised. Available this October.​

#11 - Digimon Movies Collection 3 (Films 7-8 & TV Special)

• 2002 / 2005 / 2006 - Toei Animation - Films & TV Special
• Blu-ray (New license)

Digimon Frontier: Island of Lost Digimon (2002), Digital Monster X-Evolution (2005) and Digimon Savers: Ultimate Power! Activate Burst Mode!! (2006) are the next additions in this third collection for the Digimon franchise. Frontier film includes a restored English dub, Savers film is subtitled only and X-Evolution is a TV special that not only will be subtitled only but one that hasn't been released anywhere for 20 years. Coming soon to Blu-ray.​

#12 - Mawaru Penguindrum

• 2011 - Brain's Base - TV Series
• Blu-ray (New license)

24 episodes of Kunihiko Ikuhara's classic series with penguins is back in print for the US. Originally licensed by Sentai Filmworks which was infamously botched for home video. The Anime Limited UK release does have the 24p amendments which Discotek will use for this release (pretty much if you own the UK set, there's no need to double-dip). Includes the Sentai dub. Available this October.​

#13 - MEMORIES (4K)

• 1995 - Studio 4°C, Madhouse - Film
• 4K Ultra HD (New Upgrade)

Excellent film now on 4K Ultra HD. Same content as before including their English dub. Available later in 2026.​

#14 - Samurai Pizza Cats

• 1990-91 - Tatsunoko Production - TV Series
• Blu-ray (New Upgrade)

54 episodes of the classic series now back in print again this time in HD. This was one of Discotek's first SD-BD releases as well. Brand new HD remaster for the English broadcast version. This doesn't have the Japanese version because it will be a separate release. Includes closed captions. Available later in 2026.​

#DLC 01 - Infinite Ryvius

• 1999-20 - Sunrise - TV Series
• Blu-ray (New license)

26 episode sci-fi series. Originally licensed by Bandai Entertainment and was supposed to have been released by Sentai Filmworks via a package deal. Discotek mentions it's a mixture of native and upscaled HD throughout the series. Includes the classic English dub. Japanese audio is available in 5.1 mix. Available later in 2026.​

##DLC 02 - Argento Soma

• 2000-01 - Sunrise - TV Series
• Standard Definition on Blu-ray (New license)

26 episode sci-fi series. Originally licensed by Bandai Entertainment and was supposed to have been released by Sentai Filmworks via a package deal. Includes the classic English dub. Available later in 2026.​

#DLC 03 - Outlanders

• 1986 - Tatsunoko Production - OVA
• Blu-ray (New license)

Anime adaptation of Johji Manabe's manga. Remastered with AstroRes which turned out very well. Japanese with English subtitles and both English dubs. Originally licensed by Central Park Media. Available this October.​

​

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LIVE-ACTION

#1 - Kamen Rider Super-1 (仮面ライダースーパー１)

• 1980-81 - Created by Shōtarō Ishinomori - TV Series
• Blu-ray (New license)

48 episodes of tokusatsu action. Never been released on physical media in HD before (has been streamed in HD before). Available this October.​

#DLC 01 - New Female Prisoner 701: Scorpion (新女囚さそり 701号)

• 1976 - Directed by Yutaka Kohira - Film
• Blu-ray (New license)

A reboot by Toei starring Yumi Takigawa (Graveyard of Honor). First time on Blu-ray anywhere. Available this October.​

#DLC 02 - New Female Prisoner Scorpion: Special Cellblock X (新・女囚さそり 特殊房X)

• 1977 - Directed by Yutaka Kohira - Film
• Blu-ray (New license)

A second instalment to this reboot with the returning main lead. First time on Blu-ray anywhere. Available later in 2026.​

​

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US ANIMATION

#DLC 01 - Roswell Conspiracies: Aliens, Myths and Legends

• 1999-00 - Created by Kaaren Lee Brown - TV Series
• Standard Definition on Blu-ray (New license)

BKN Studio cartoon series coming to home video for the first time. All 40 episodes on SD-BD format, mastered from the best surviving materials which turned out well. Available this October.​

​

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OCTOBER 2026 SLATE​

Here's a recap of what's arriving on 27th October 2026.

ANIME	Audio​	Content	SRP	Format
The Big O: The Complete Paradigm	Japanese English​	26 episodes	$49.95	Blu-ray
Digimon Digital Monsters - Season 4 (Digimon Frontiers English Broadcast Ver.)	English​	50 episodes	$79.95	Blu-ray
Lupin the Third Part II: The Red Jacket Adventures	Japanese (Partial) English​	155 episodes	$79.95	SD-BD
Outlanders	Japanese English​	OVA	$24.95	Blu-ray
Penguindrum	Japanese English​	24 episodes	$39.95	Blu-ray
Toradora!	Japanese English​	26 episodes	$59.95	Blu-ray

NIHON NIGHTS	Audio​	Content	SRP	Format
New Female Prisoner 701: Scorpion 新女囚さそり 701号	Japanese​	Film	$24.95	Blu-ray

TOKU TIME	Audio​	Content	SRP	Format
Kamen Rider Super-1 仮面ライダースーパー１	Japanese​	48 episodes	$79.95	Blu-ray

US ANIMATION	Audio​	Content	SRP	Format
Roswell Conspiracies: Aliens, Myths and Legends	English​	40 episodes	$39.95	SD-BD

The following mentioned "later in 2026" so they're likely to be end of November:

• Argento Soma
• Infinite Ryvius
• Lupin the IIIrd: Zenigata and the Two Lupins
• MEMORIES (4K Ultra HD)
• New Female Prisoner Scorpion: Special Cellblock X
• Pani Poni Dash
• Patlabor on Television
• Patlabor Movie Trilogy
• Patlabor: The New Files
• Samurai Pizza Cats (English Language Version)
• Tales of the Abyss

What a fantastic line-up imo, I'll definitely be picking up both Lupin releases (still need to pick up Part 1 and 3).

I did sell my MVM Toradora CE set to go for the standard edition but I may as well go for this release now.

Patlabor, The Big O and Pani Poni Dash are all series I've wanted to check out and though I'm yet to play Tales of the Abyss, it's one of the entries that intrigues me the most so I'll consider this release.

Memories already looked stunning on blu-ray so I'll double-dip for the 4K.

EDIT: Along with AnimEigo having a number of rescues as well and AL picking up a decent amount of titles exclusive to Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+ plus the entire Ghibli catalogue now, anime on home video is starting to look promising again, only catch is that we'll have to wait years for licenses to expire from Crunchyroll to finally get a physical release for a lot of the series they've picked up and though Sentai doesn't get many titles, at least they release everything they do get.

Another negative though is that the majority of us on here have to pay import costs as we're outside the U.S. but at least we can get them which is what matters most.

Due to the time I got into collecting anime properly and that I didn't start importing until some years later there are a lot of releases I missed out on which never saw the light of day in the UK which are now OOP and expensive in the U.S. which makes these license rescues more exciting for me.

 

[Aion (Retired)]

Ffwarded thru disco's 90m powerpoint presentation last eve, as I'm subbed to their channel on YT. 'Twas a tad disappointing as only 2-3 things for meee, despite the huge amount of anime vs live-action being nice to see. AnimEigo's 'less is more' quality>quantity holds more sway.

Cbasso re-buy Patlabor given already own that cheapo Maiden complete set (unwatched), and there are JP 4k releases (one of which I own). Depends how big of an improvement disco's re-author is, perhaps. Memories 4k meanwhile: pretty sure the JP release has subs/dub, like Patlabor's movies.

Started strong with Koike's final(?) Lupin chara OVA. Own other three, and Zenigata's Inspector Javert-esque oft comical obsession with catching Lupin makes him my favu character. Koike's recent movie was sent by Amazon other day, so this a winrar as far as I'm concerned... although 'tis a pity that not a discotek release too for consistency.
Outlander at the very end also a +1/will go nicely with Ruin Explorer's forgotten OVAing: the animation shown made me think of Urusei Yatsura. Owned/read the manga a few years back--all recall bar the old school cool spaceship detail is humanoid alien waifu with sword X bug invasion she part of. Think male lead a human reporter. Or something.

Only other thing of some interest given mostly license savious is, of course, Tales of Abyssu. Watched during 720p fansub era. The ED credits playing as preview next ep plays ingraved in head. It's definitely one of the better game adaptations but a 7/10 at best sorta thing.
Wish disco would acquire Funi licenses like X TV: KawajirixCLAMP if not Desert Punk/Basilisk etc. That will have aged well visually. Liked Torabora blue hair girl, not so much. Not sure if wan brave Infinite Ryvius: Ferret Chronicles again, having sold DVD art box. Pamponi SDBD. Mneh.

 

[awadama]

Just Kamen Rider and maybe Tales of the Abyss for me this time!

 

[Scrambled Valkyrie]

Otakon had some good announcements for me. Infinite Ryvius and Argento Soma! Wooooo! Looking forward to revisiting both of those. Definitely not shows I envisaged getting a re-release. Outlanders too! It's a good time to be an old dude Cannot wait for those to be gracing my shelves and Blu ray player.

Also glad to see Zenigata and the two lupins finally getting a release for us Takeshi Koike Lupin fans. I'm also gonna pick up Lupin Part 2 on BD for space saving reasons, hopefully all the commentaries and liner notes are ported across from the old DVDs.

Memories in 4K sounds like it would be worth picking up as long as it's a good remaster.

I really want Legendary Ninja Cats (Kyatto Ninden Teyandee) the JP original version of Samurai Pizza Cats but I hope the discotek subs are better this time round as they omitted a lot of jokes and did a very odd translation last time.

As a Mecha guy although I have Patlabor and Big O already I'm happy for those who don't and were awaiting a re-release. If the video is significantly better maybe I'll swap out the sentai release for the Discotek one.

 

[sniper_samurai]

Otakon had some good announcements for me. Infinite Ryvius and Argento Soma! Wooooo! Looking forward to revisiting both of those. Definitely not shows I envisaged getting a re-release. Outlanders too! It's a good time to be an old dude Cannot wait for those to be gracing my shelves and Blu ray player.

Also glad to see Zenigata and the two lupins finally getting a release for us Takeshi Koike Lupin fans. I'm also gonna pick up Lupin Part 2 on BD for space saving reasons, hopefully all the commentaries and liner notes are ported across from the old DVDs.

Memories in 4K sounds like it would be worth picking up as long as it's a good remaster.

I really want Legendary Ninja Cats (Kyatto Ninden Teyandee) the JP original version of Samurai Pizza Cats but I hope the discotek subs are better this time round as they omitted a lot of jokes and did a very odd translation last time.

As a Mecha guy although I have Patlabor and Big O already I'm happy for those who don't and were awaiting a re-release. If the video is significantly better maybe I'll swap out the sentai release for the Discotek one.

It's already been confirmed that the subtitles are being redone.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2084024478976057676

 

[Invisible Crane]

HOLY FREAKING CRAP!, I was not expecting Samurai Pizza Cats to get a proper HD release!. That is a DVD to Blu Ray upgrade I am so getting!