MVM to release Berserk 1997, Chobits and Ergo Proxy on Blu-ray to the UK this Q4 2016!

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MVM Entertainment have gone to social media to announce their latest updates on their release slates. Their Q4 line-up has been rather quiet until now so it’s time for them to unveil what they have in store!

Back at MCM Comic Con London in May, MVM Entertainment already revealed they had plans to release Chobits on Blu-ray along with a couple others (Serial Experiments Lain, Tenchi Muyo! OVA Collection) but now they have two more titles joining the Blu-ray upgrade as well as release dates!

Chobits-1.jpg


Starting off with Chobits, the 26 episode TV series will be released as a complete series collection set for SRP £39.99 on 10th October 2016 with English & Japanese audio (with English subs). You can also stream the series on Funimation Now if you like.


Chobits Plot Synposis
A country boy from Hokkaido, Hideki arrives in the big city (Tokyo) to go to college. Instantly, he is shocked and amazed by the variety and prevalence of Persocoms: personal computers designed to look and act like animals or even people! Too poor to afford one of his own, Hideki is overjoyed to discover a discarded Persocom in a trash heap. However, this gift of fate turns into a mystery as his Persocom, Chi, appears to be able to operate without her OS… How real is real?
​

Berserk-1.jpg


Next up we have the classic 1997 anime adaptation of Berserk. The 25 episode TV series will be released as a complete series collection set for SRP £49.99 on November 21st 2016 with English & Japanese audio (with English subs). The franchise has already received numerous anime adaptations including a 2012-2013 movie trilogy (already released by Kaze UK) and the recent 2016 adaptation that’s available on Crunchyroll (with a future UK home release planned by Universal Pictures).


Berserk Plot Synposis
In the castle of Midland, a new king has come to power through treachery and violence. His demonic agents terrorize the citizens relentlessly, until the night when a battle weary soldier known as the Black Swordsman come to destroy them. However, his true motives and unrelenting grudge against the king are buried in the past – when a young mercenary named Guts joined the charismatic, graceful, and deadly Griffith and the Band of the Hawk.
​

Ergo-Proxy.jpg


And finally we have the cult classic Ergo Proxy. The 23 episode TV series will be released as a complete series collection set for SRP £49.99 on December 12th 2016 with English & Japanese audio (with English subs).


Ergo Proxy Plot Synposis
The domed city of Romd is an impenetrable would-be utopia where humans and robots coexist, and everything is under complete government control – or so it appears. While working on a mysterious murder case, Re-l Mayer, a female detective from the Civilian Intelligence Office, receives a foreboding message that something is going to “awaken.” That night, she’s attacked by a deformed super-being.
​

All three TV shows MVM are putting out have already been released on DVD. Berserk and Ergo Proxy have been given HD Native remasters in Japan whereas Chobits is an upscale from Funimation. Images above for Chobits and Ergo Proxy are cover arts of the Japanese Blu-ray Disc Boxes and not the final MVM covers.

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Wow I really hope this is a sign of things to come. Just finished Ergo Proxy yesterday & would be interested in that & chobits. Not sure about Beserk because I really don't like cliffhanger endings in anime & price is a little high when I have the movies that have the same arc.
 
I agree that the SRPs seem a bit steep, if only because the material has been available on DVD for some time. But I expect the pric in real terms will be a bit below that. The closer Amazon asking prices get to £30, for example, the better these will start looking.

That said, Berserk and Ergo Proxy are going to be unmissable!
 
Yeah probably going to pick up ergo proxy on blu ray as I tried to watching it on a treaming site but uhhh the banding was terrible. Might blind buy berserk 1997 too. Definitely picking up lain though obviously :p
 
I hope these releases do well; we know that MVM were burned on their previous experiment with a fan favourite BD rerelease but all three are popular, so it would be nice to see things pick up. I'm most interested in Berserk.

(Nice picture choices for the article!)

R
 
SamCham had been out for ages on a region B compatible release. Even I had imported! Ergo Proxy, Tenchi Muyo and Berserk on the other hand are going to be mint. They might have import issues with Chobits and Lain though (I imported the latter from AU as I tired of waiting on that one too).
 
Rui said:
I hope these releases do well; we know that MVM were burned on their previous experiment with a fan favourite BD rerelease but all three are popular, so it would be nice to see things pick up. I'm most interested in Berserk.

(Nice picture choices for the article!)

R
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Thanks. I like to pick the BD-Box art since they look cooler for the announcements (as you may remember with the MCM articles I made). Granted I made this article asap (due to having to go to the cinema today) but I got the info there thanks to Anime-on-line's listings.

I'm sure Berserk and Ergo Proxy will do well, especially with Berserk since not even North America has the rights at this point in time (Media Blasters license expired). Chobits may flop but that price point may help it out.
 
Rui said:
I hope these releases do well; we know that MVM were burned on their previous experiment with a fan favourite BD rerelease but all three are popular, so it would be nice to see things pick up. I'm most interested in Berserk.

(Nice picture choices for the article!)

R
Click to expand...

That was never a very good BD in the first place (I do own it).

I always felt that MVM just uses that as an excuse because it suits them better to pick up the cheaper DVD releases & abscond from the more modern Blu-ray.

MVM only seem willing to put the minimum possible effort into BD releases (I.E only if it's already authored and region B compatible.)
When you look at their release history for blu-rays it seems to correlate with this more than actual popularity of a series.
 
serpantino said:
That was never a very good BD in the first place (I do own it).

I always felt that MVM just uses that as an excuse because it suits them better to pick up the cheaper DVD releases & abscond from the more modern Blu-ray.

MVM only seem willing to put the minimum possible effort into BD releases (I.E only if it's already authored and region B compatible.)
When you look at their release history for blu-rays it seems to correlate with this more than actual popularity of a series.
Click to expand...

MVM is a very small business (from what I hear, there's only 2 of them), self-authoring BDs probably isn't viable for them. I'm not sure it's fair to criticise them for this.
 
Yeah, I don't think they have the resources or goal to be another AL. MVM seem very positive about BD (they've gone on record to say they try to pick up the rights for BD too wherever they can in case a release can be done), but as they focus on more affordable, simple releases they can't really justify figuring out how to make them break even in this tough market. They have demonstrated that they're willing to experiment by partnering up with other foreign distributors from the outset for some titles (NagiAsu is the most obvious example) instead of just copy/pasting an existing release, which is probably the best option when possible.

I feel as though Lain probably has a fair bit of crossover outside of the core fans so it might do ok, even if it has been released a number of times now. Chobits is a bit of a dark horse since it was mega popular back in the day but I have absolutely no idea how well it's stood the test of time.

R
 
To be fair too, these are among MVM's best-selling shows, so for them to not have them on Blu-Ray eventually, it would kind of stick out a little - especially as the DVD box sets are basically just re-packs of all the discs from the original DVD singles. I believe Berserk is like 8 discs, right? With around 3 eps per disc. To the modern consumer, that just feels outdated.

If these do well, the next ones I'd love to see get the BR treatment are:

X / 1999
Trigun
Basilisk
Romeo X Juliet
Aquarion
Welcome To The NHK
Rozen Maiden
Shana
 
Assuming Berserk is using the Madman master, we should be getting 4 Blu-ray discs and these extra features:
  • Textless Opening and Ending
  • Original Japanese Opening and Ending
  • Forces Full Version
  • Encore TV Opening
  • Paint it Berserk
  • Production Sketches
  • Art Gallery
  • Outtakes (aka the best thing you will ever see)
  • TV Spot
 
Buzz201 said:
MVM is a very small business (from what I hear, there's only 2 of them), self-authoring BDs probably isn't viable for them. I'm not sure it's fair to criticise them for this.
Click to expand...
That's weird. I always thought they were one of the biggest. Being such a small company makes more sense I guess.
 
Well I will be picking up Chobits. I still need to see Ergo Proxy before I buy and ditto with Berserk. I hope they manage to re-release Ah My Goddess at some point if they still have the licence
 
Lutga said:
If these do well, the next ones I'd love to see get the BR treatment are:

X / 1999
Trigun
Basilisk
Romeo X Juliet
Aquarion
Welcome To The NHK
Rozen Maiden
Shana
Click to expand...

I'd love to see Paranoia Agent released on BD, if for no other reason than to see if the BBFC will let it through uncut this time...
 
IncendiaryLemon said:
I'd love to see Paranoia Agent released on BD, if for no other reason than to see if the BBFC will let it through uncut this time...
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Either Discotek or RightStuf was rumoured to be releasing it in the US (maybe an announcement at Otakon this weekend?), and there's definitely a release coming in France, so there's probably no reason why it couldn't happen.

I suspect the BBFC would still have problems, even they would allow more of it through uncut, so I doubt a UK release would happen.
 
Buzz201 said:
Either Discotek or RightStuf was rumoured to be releasing it in the US (maybe an announcement at Otakon this weekend?), and there's definitely a release coming in France, so there's probably no reason why it couldn't happen.

I suspect the BBFC would still have problems, even they would allow more of it through uncut, so I doubt a UK release would happen.
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The Rightstuf rumour was confirmed to be false as the hidden silhouette turned out to be a character from Big Windup! Season 2.

Chances are it'll end up in Discotek's hands since it fits their catalogue.
 
IncendiaryLemon said:
I'd love to see Paranoia Agent released on BD, if for no other reason than to see if the BBFC will let it through uncut this time...
Click to expand...
I'd kill for this as well as the rest of Satoshi Kon's work. Tokyo Godfathers Blu-ray... Anime Limited releasing Perfect Blue on BD still makes me super happy and grateful.
 
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