Game Stooge

Anime Goes Hi-Def

• Scribbled on July 16th, 2007 by Mitch Dyer
• Filed in Blu-Ray/HD-DVD, Industry News

Anime News Network reported today (via an IGN article) that the shift to Blu-Ray will be made by American anime titan FUNimation, and that the legendary Bandai will support HD-DVD as well as Blu-Ray. What does this mean to you, an owner of one of these fine high definition machines? Well…

Debuting on HD-DVD from Bandai are Freedom, Wings of Honneamise and Patlabor, two ‘classic’ action anime, and one (Freedom) which is strong in Japan - that being said, it doesn’t look as if that specific anime will be coming Stateside just yet. Bandai itself is a fairly large company, with many extremely successful American Anime releases. What can HD-DVD owners (and some Blu-Ray, since they are going with both, but favoring HD-DVD) expect from the company in the future? While nothing is official, it’s likely that Akira, Escaflowne, and Cowboy Bebop will be among the list of inevitable releases. Anime series’ are expensive as is, and will be boosted in price for the HD versions no doubt.

From IGN:

The plan at Bandai is to now focus on old-school titles as well. “We have started with some of the best known, older, classic titles to go with HD DVD releases such as Wings of Honneamise and Patlabor,” explains Maeda. Interestingly, Bandai’s Japanese arm is reportedly embracing both HD DVD and Blu-ray.

What does FUNimation plan on releasing? Nothing’s been said, but it would be foolish not to include Full Metal Alchemist and the Dragon Ball series’, and they’re strictly on the Blu-Ray bandwaggon at this point. Why?

Ward Thomas, Senior VP of Sales and Operations at FUNimation:

“We feel that the fanbase and our customers are very much trailblazers on the technology side, so it’s something we wanted to get involved in right away. We really felt that the introduction of the PlayStation 3 last year was kind of a foray for our customers and fans to at least get into the next-gen platforms.”

Geeks rejoice, anime is coming to a next-gen console near you very soon. What do you guys think, is it a waste of time or a good move? What are you looking forward to most?