In a Stellar Six-Disc Collection is MASAAKI YUASA: Five Films

 

Jeri Jacquin

Coming in a stunning five film pack from director Masaaki Yuasa, GKids and Shout Studios comes a MASAAKI YUASA: Five Films.

Written and directed by Yuasa, MIND GAMES arrived in 2004 comedy that came about from Robin Nishi’s manga. In his directorial debut, Yuasa tells the story of Nishi from Osaka who wants to become a comic book artist. On night on the subway, he runs into Myon who happily takes him to meet her family.

But things turn bad and Nishi must come to Myon’s rescue in a violent turn-about. In a moment of life, death and brave choices, Nishi is on the run with Myon and her sister Yan. The yakuza men that started all of this are hot on their trail. Finding refuge in the most unlikely of places, it only buys them a little time before they once again must make life and death choices.

In 2017, director Yuasa brings the romantic comedy THE NIGHT IS SHORT, WALK ON GIRL based on an earlier novel of the same name written by Tomihiko Morimi. Two university students as Kohai meets Todo at a club but it is at a party where she participates in a drinking game with Rihaku (who is a powerful being) and wins.

At a school festival, Senpai and Kohai go to a book festival and Rihaku is also there but this time is having a food contest to win a rare book. Senpai wins a book but everything is side tracked as people fall ill. Finally, Senapi returns something meaningful to Kohai!

Also in 2017, director Yuasa brings LU OVER THE WALL which is also written by Yuasa and Reiko Yoshida. Kai is a young man who lives in Hinashi Town with his grandfather. He is part of a bank with his friends Kunio and Yuho. When Kai arrives on Merfolk Island, he meets Lu, a girl who has both a fin and legs. Along with her abilities come dangers.

When grandfather reopens a merfolk park, Kai’s band opens in a show but it is Lu who makes a splash. Yuho is upset and causes an uproar in the town that leads to Lu’s dangers becoming even more so. It becomes clear that the two sides must find a way to live together.

RIDE YOUR WAVE comes in 2019 as director Yuasa brings a stunningly beautiful story to the screen. Hinako Mukaimizu is a college student who takes on surfing the clear waves. The young woman is nineteen and quickly deals with life when a fire breaks out and she is rescued by Minato Hinageshi, a local firefighter.

Tragedy is not done with Hinako who leaves her beloved waves but Minato is not out of her life. Visiting his family, she meets sister Yoko and learns more about what inspired him to be a firefighter. Her brother also told her to ‘ride her own wave’. Again, tragedy strikes Hinako and her friends but now they have a choice on how they survive and grow stronger.

Finally, in 2021, Yuasa directs INU-OH based on the novel Tales of the Heike: Inu-Oh by Hideo Furukawa. The story is about Inu-Oh and his friend Tomoari. Living in Japan during the 14^th century, the dancer and musician have shunned by those around them but nothing is going to stop them from being creative.

Their performances bring unwanted attention but the troupe they perform with tell the story behind what has happened to Inu-Oh. How a young boy, a father and a mask all bring about a performance that will come again in the future with Tomoari’s patience.

SHOUT! Studios has grown into a tremendous multi-platform media company. Releasing new animated features such as the exquisite Long Way North, and the epic fantasy Beauty and The Beast. Also, their own original horror film, Fender Bender gives fans a good scare. For more of what SHOUT has to offer please visit www.shoutfactory.com.

GKIDS brings award-winning feature animation for both adult and family audiences. The company has received ten Best Animated Feature Oscar nominations including The Secret of Kells, A Cat in Paris, The Tale of Princess Kaguya and The Breadwinner. GKIDS is also a distributor for Studio Ghibli films including Spirited Away and Princess Monokie and many more. To learn more about GKIDS please visit www.gkids.com.

Special Features include English-language dub of THE NIGHT IS SHORT, WALK ON GIRL for the first time on Bluray, Two Short Films by Masaaki Yuasa – Happy Machine (2007) and Kick-Heart (2013), Filmmaker Commentaries for MIND GAME, LU OVER THE WALL and INU-OH, and Scene Breakdowns and Commentaries from Each Feature Film, Masaaki Yuasa Draws Characters from MIND GAME, LU OVER THE WALL, and INU-OH.

Also, Filmmaker Interviews About LU OVER THE WALL, THE NIGHT IS SHORT, WALK ON GIRL, and INU-OH, A Night Out with Yuasa: An Exclusive Interview with Masaaki Yuasa at a Los Angeles Speakeasy, Where He Discusses His Inspirations, Favorite Type of Restaurants, Perfect Vacation, Dancing, and more, a 60-Page Book Featuring an Essay by Emily Yoshida and Excerpts from Masaaki Yuasa’s Sketchbooks and more!

This is a stunning collection and any anime fan would be absolutely thrilled to receive it as a gift. There are intense stories here but also vivid color, fantastic scenes, and brilliant animation from start to finish. The story telling is ethereal and, in fact, mesmerizing to watch come to fruition. If allowed to have a favorite, it would be RIDE YOUR WAVE because I live near the ocean and the colors are stunning in the film with a story that touches my heart.

Yuasa brings visual artistry and is the most visionary animator who is beloved and celebrated all over the world. This collection includes stunning art by Yuasa in the packaging, a 13x21 poster of the new art and an exclusive 60-page book celebrating the work of this one-of-a-kind storyteller. There are excerpts from the creative’s sketchbook and this six-disc set of MASAAKI YUASA: Five Films can be ordered on GKIDS.com/Yuasa and ShoutFactory.com.

Adding MASAAKI YUASA: Five Films to your own home entertainment library is going to be the crown jewel in any collection. Now, you still have time to ask Santa for that last special treat in time for Christmas too! Happy Holidays!

 

GKids Brings the Delights of Animation with OKKO’S INN

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to Bluray from GKids and SHOUT! Factory comes the look at a young girls life changing with OKKO’S INN.

After losing her parents in a car accident, Okko (Seiran Kobayashi) must go live with her grandmother Mineko and other family. It is immediate that she is a city girl as the local bugs and lizards are something that cause her panic. What Okko can’t explain to the others is that she sees a ghost in the house and is surprised to learn who the ghost truly is!

Mineko also run the inn and once the young boy ghost Uribo gets Okko to admit to wanting to help at the inn, grandmother puts her in a kimono and the training begins. She finds a bell and doesn’t realize she has released the food stealing ghost named Suzuki. Grandmother also announces that Okko will be starting at the local school. She meets Matsuki who is very standoffish and classmates call her ‘Frilly Pink’ and their meeting doesn’t go very well.

But the class embraces Okko very quickly and good thing too because she doesn’t want them to know she’s seen another ghost. On her way home from school she meets a father and sick son who need a place to stay. After the boy Akane gets upset and yells at Okko, it is her grandmother that must intervene to teach her to be kind to the guests.

Okko finds a way to make the ghosts she is meeting help around the Inn. They aren’t happy about it but it’s a way for them to stay with Okko. When grandmother tells her to check on guests Ms. Glory Suiryo, Okko discovers that she is a fortune teller! She tries to talk to Matsuki about it but she only wants to make Okko feel bad.

Glory and Okko become friends and decide to go on a shopping spree together. On the drive Okko remembers the day about her parents and the ghost friends help her through it. After a day of shopping together, Okko discovers that Akane’s father was a writer and did a review of their inn! It was such a success that now the inn is crowded with people who want to meet her.

Matsuki is upset with Okko thinking she doesn’t take her dancing seriously. That’s when she explains that both of their dances is how the girls will be taking over their family’s respective inn’s. Uribo also learns that there may come a time when Okko doesn’t see all of her friends anymore.

Arriving at the Inn is the Kise family and their little boy name Shota. The problem is Shota’s father is having problems with the food their inn is serving. Okko realizes that she needs help from the most unlikely of places – Matsuki herself. The surprising thing is that Shota’s father loves the food.

That is when Okko realizes who Shota’s father is that she must come to terms with the path her life has taken. It is the good friends she has made along the way as well as those who have watched over her that has her seeing a bright future.

SHOUT! Factory has grown into a tremendous multi-platform media company. Releasing new animated features such as the exquisite Long Way North, and the epic fantasy Beauty And The Beast. Also their own original horror film, Fender Bender gives fans a good scare. For more of what SHOUT Factor has to offer please visit www.shoutfactory.com.

GKIDS brings award-winning feature animation for both adult and family audiences. The company has received ten Best Animated Feature Oscar nominations including The Secret of Kells, A Cat in Paris, The Tale of Princess Kaguya and The Breadwinner. GKIDS is also a distributor for Studio Ghibli films including Spirited Away and Princess Monokie and many more. To learn more about GKIDS please visit www.gkids.com.

The Blurays Special Features include Interview with the Director, Interview with Seiran Kobayashi (Okko), Question & Answer with Director and Producers at Japanese Premier and Trailers.

OKKO’S INN is absolutely delightful in every way! The story is that of a girl who loses her parents but also understands the importance of friendship, family, love, loyalty and surprises she never saw coming.

The animation is stunning and beautiful which adds such richness to the story that is being told. This is a story that is relatable in its telling on so many levels which means that although sad at moments, it is those around Okko that help her reclaim her the life she so richly deserves.

‘The waters of the Harunoya springs are a gift from the gods; they welcome everyone and heal everyone’. What a lesson it is for us all to learn!

In the end – all are welcome here!

MIA AND THE WHITE LION is a Compelling Story on Bluray

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to Bluray and DVD from SHOUT! Studios and director Gilles de Maistre is the beautiful story of MIA AND THE WHITE LION.

Mia (Daniah De Villiers) is a ten year old girl who isn’t happy about leaving her life in London for a farm in Africa. It isn’t just any farm, it is a lion farm! Run by Dad John (Langley Kirkwood), Mom Alice (Melanie Laurent) and joined by brother Mick (Ryan MacLennan), this is a farm that supports the family.

It doesn’t help that Mia is absolutely grumpy about being in Africa or that brother Mick keeps trying to get her interested in the animals – she just won’t be happy. That is until Mia meets Charlie, a beautiful white cub who seems to take a shining to the young girl.

Eventually Charlie wins her over and the two become inseparable. As the cub grows older, John and Alice become more and more worried that Mia is becoming too attached to Charlie. Trying to explain to her that he is still a wild animal isn’t sinking in, even when Mick is accidentally hurt.

When a decision is made about Charlie, Mia isn’t about to let anything happen to her friend. Once the secret is revealed, Mia will never be the same and what her parents don’t know is that Mia wants something more for Charlie.

De Villiers as Mia is a young girl who at first isn’t happy about living in Africa. Once she accepts it with the help of Charlie, she isn’t about to let anyone destroy what she has come to love – no one. It is a concept to watch De Villiers grow up on the screen from a young angry girl to a young angry woman, except that anger changes into positive action and that’s the glory of this film.

Kirkwood as John is trying to make a go of a business that that almost went bust which is the reason they all came to Africa. He wants the best for his family and that means making decisions that some might see as abhorrent. Laurent as Alice just wants her family to be safe, her son to be well and Mia to be happy. That is a load for any mother to deal with let alone the mother of a young girl who is taken with a lion.

MacLennan as Mick wants to help his sister acclimate to Africa but also has his own set of problems to deal with. That doesn’t stop him from helping for the greater cause.

Let’s give a shout out to Charlie, one of the most beautiful and stunning creatures on the planet. Looking so regal and majestic from the moment he is on screen as a cub until he is grown and playful I just loved watching him. Of course I realize Charlie is a wild animal but this film gives us all a look at what that truly means.

SHOUT! Factory has grown into a tremendous multi-platform media company. Releasing new animated features such as the exquisite Long Way North, and the epic fantasy Beauty And The Beast. Also their own original horror film, Fender Bender gives fans a good scare. For more of what SHOUT Factor has to offer please visit www.shoutfactory.com.

The Special Features include Interview with Director Gilles de Maistre, Interview with Actress Daniah De Villiers, The Making of MIA AND THE WHITE LION Featurette, The Extraordinary Friendship Featurette, Deleted Scenes, Casting Footage, Theatrical Trailer and Still Gallery.

MIA AND THE WHITE LION is filmed over a course of three years. Brought to life by French director, Gilles De Maistre, the expansive production was filmed at the Welgedacht Reserve in South Africa. De Maistre chose to shoot throughout a three-year period so that the film’s young stars Daniah De Villiers and Ryan MacLennon could bond and have a real relationship with the lions and other animals that appear in the film.

Kevin Richardson, a lion expert known as the ‘Lion Whisperer’ oversaw the entire production process and all interactions between the lions and the children ensuring the safety of the animals, cast and crew on set.

The film also brings awareness to ‘canned’ lion hunting and what that means to the lion population in future years to come. Awareness to tourists can be a huge step into understanding and helping the future of these amazing animals.

MIA AND THE WHITE LION is truly a story about a young girl finding that place in herself that has meaning and the story of a lion who has found friendship in a human being. It isn’t an easy world for an animal to live in but Mia is going to make sure her friend finds his place.

In the end – it is a quest for freedom!

SATELLITE GIRL and MILK COW Visits Earth in Stunning Bluray

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to Bluray and DVD from director Chang Hyung-yun, GKids and Shout! Factory is the extraordinary story of two amazing individuals with SATELLITE GIRL AND MILK COW.

When a satellite going around the planet picks up the sound of a song, it wants to find out more about it. Coming to Earth is Cat-1 who meets Merlin who himself has been turned into a walking roll of paper and giving her a human-like form.

The song came from Kyung-Chun, a young man who is dealing with a broken heart and after a strange twist of fate it turns him into a milk cow. If that isn’t bad enough, there is a man with a plunger trying to take his liver! Cat-1 protects Kyung-Chun but also learns that her satellite form might be in trouble.

When she discovers that getting back might be difficult, Kyung-Chun aka Milk Cow feels bad for her. Actually, it’s more than that as he finds himself having feelings for Cat-1 although he is having a hard time admitting it. The struggle isn’t helped by the Witch of the North who wants to take Milk Cow somewhere he can be safe.

But Kyung-Chun can’t leave Cat-1 behind and in the morning light the two are confronted by an incinerator monster mid-argument. Even when people try to separate the two, they protect one another without even a thought to it. But Cat-1 believes the only way to stop their feelings is by leaving.

Cat-1 faces the incinerator monster alone and Merlin reaches out to Kyung-Chun to use the one thing he knows will reach her. Inside the monster is a world of gray and he finds the real Merlin who tells him to be strong and find Cat-1.

Being different doesn’t mean love isn’t possible!

Satellite Girl may be an arm-firing rocket shoe wearing un-girl but that doesn’t mean her feelings aren’t human. She is strong, powerful and yet has the same fragile emotions as any teenage girl.

Kyung-Chun as Milk Cow is a young man who has had his heart broken or has he? Being around Cat-1, he is more secure about his alter ego and starts to understand what caring about someone truly feels like – even if her arm and head can take off at a moments notice.

Merlin is hilarious as a role of toilet paper, I mean really? He wants to help both Cat-1 and Milk Cow and tries to keep the chaos from getting out of hand. That doesn’t mean he isn’t hilarious to look at.

SHOUT! Factory has grown into a tremendous multi-platform media company. Releasing new animated features such as the exquisite Long Way North, and the epic fantasy Beauty And The Beast. Also their own original horror film, Fender Bender gives fans a good scare. For more of what SHOUT Factor has to offer please visit www.shoutfactory.com.

GKIDS brings award-winning feature animation for both adult and family audiences. The company has received ten Best Animated Feature Oscar nominations including The Secret of Kells, A Cat in Paris, The Tale of Princess Kaguya and The Breadwinner. GKIDS is also a distributor for Studio Ghibli films including Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke and many more. To learn more about GKIDS please visit www.gkids.com.

SATELLITE GIRL AND MILK COW includes the Bonus Features of Coffee Vending Machine and Its Sword Short Film and Trailers.

This is a beautiful story about hope, love, music, friendship, silliness, loyalty and wanting to do what’s right for the person you care about. In the midst of the chaos they are constantly in, Cat-1 and Kyung-Chun find that others may see them as different but their feelings are the same.

Of course they spend time avoiding their feelings and actually Cat-1 doesn’t think she has a right to ‘human’ emotion but Kyung-Chun, even as Milk Cow, changes that. The most touching moment is when Cat-1 gives Milk Cow a kiss because she sees beyond his outward appearance and that is beautiful.

In the end – love always finds a way!