Paranoia Agent said:
Well for a start Ian I work in a cinema and any kind of anime related theatrical release is pretty big news.
KDS ran in one cinema for a week. Laputa / Whisper of the heart were shown once at the Cambridge Film Festival. Even by anime standards, that's a non-event.
I'd also warn against thinking that the BBFC classifcation has any bearing on the DVD rights to Kiki / Laputa, though I'm quite positive that we'll see Whisper of the Heart now.
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Also, Just trying to find a ghibli thread to dump these in:
http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B0 ... ZZZZZZ.jpg
http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B0 ... ZZZZZZ.jpg
The boxarts for PAL R2 Nausicaa / Cat Returns. Compare with:
http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B0 ... ZZZZZZ.jpg
http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B0 ... ZZZZZZ.jpg
Frankly, I think as far as DVD art goes, the Optimum versions look far, far nicer than the Disney R1s. For starters, Ghibli is foregrounded over "Look! Disney released it!". I also suspect that the silver on those cases will be a nice shiney material, which will make them look less cheap.
Nausicaa Extras
* Complete storyboards: a look at the film's artistry
* 'The Birth Of Studio Ghibli' featurette
* Original Japanese theatrical trailer
* Studio Ghibli trailer reel
The Cat Returns
* Complete storyboards: take an insider's look at the film's artistry
* 'The Making Of The Cat Returns' featurette
* Original Japanese trailer
However, what isn't clear is whether these are 2 disc sets. I think this depends on whether 2 discs were actually necessary on the Disney release or an extravagence - the only extras seemingly ommited from the UK release (according to Play.com) are the "behind the microphone" featurettes. The "Making of The Cat Returns" / and "The Birth of Studio Ghibli" features are 30 mins long on the Disney discs. They sound tasty