Media Blasters have 'Zebraman', FUNimation have 'Beck'.

Media Blasters also have set dates for Paul Spurrier's 'P' - currently slated for mid-October 2006 release on R1 USA DVD and covered heavily here at Twitch in the past (sequel is in the works too it seems) - and 'Samurai Chicks' which has also been talked about around here for late-September 2006. Schedule is getting clogged by MB, and they're currently suffering from discs not shipping out quite as early from retailers as we would like (i.e they're coming after the release date), but I would say they will probably get 'Zebraman' out before Xmas : better late than never, and fingers crossed for a 'Man In White' appearance too because that's out in Japan. Anyway, the important thing is that 'Zebraman' - Takashi Miike's 2004 family movie with Sho Aikawa - is coming.

Great film, certainly one that stands out as being head and shoulders above 'The Great Yokai War' in every department. One thing about 'Zebraman' that struck me so hard when I watched it was how similar the film was to 'Salaryman Kintaro' in so many ways - the rise of a faltering hero, the warm family feel, the subversive violence and comedic action plus many of the trademark moments of imagination that create those particularly memorable moments. Now, memories of both films are a little faded, but I will say that the impression was so strong I can't shake it. Funny, lots of people intentionally bypassed Miike's 'Kintaro' movie when issued in the USA on DVD, and that's odd considering how we all know his ways of working - was it ever simply going to be a family movie? No. And it's not.

Oh, and it seems that FUNimation are going to release that lovely anime series 'Beck : Mongolian Chop Squad' which I and many others have been hankering for over the past year or so. Fantastic. Wonder how well it will progress beyond the early episodes I watched? [Source : Anime News Network].