Section23 Films Announces April 2015 Slate

Per PR:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

[size=16]SECTION23 FILMS ANNOUNCES APRIL SLATE[/size]
NOBUNAGA THE FOOL Collection 1 Available April 28th

HOUSTON, December 18, 2014 – Home video distributor Section23 Films today announced its April slate of releases; including Sentai Filmworks’ sci-fi fantasy series Nobunaga the Fool, which will be released on both DVD & Blu-ray.

Product details follow, in order of release
Coming April 2015

Title: SHE, THE ULTIMATE WEAPON COMPLETE COLLECTION
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 325 min.
Street Date: 4/7/2015
Format: DVD
Language: English & Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $39.98

SYNOPSIS: Not every soldier wants to fight. Not every weapon wants to be used. But when an unexpected force attacks their city, the hopes and dreams of students Shuji and Chise are shattered by the fires of war. Surviving the bombing after a mysterious defender decimates the attackers, Shuji discovers Chise in the ruins. But she is no longer the girl he has always known. Changed and twisted by military experiments, she has been altered into something no longer completely human. And even worse, though they both fight to deny it, the things that made her the person she was are slowly beginning to fade away. Can a human soul exist inside a device that was created to kill? And can any heart continue to feel love for something that is only a shell of the person it once was? The question will be answered as a young schoolgirl is transformed into the ultimate engine of mass destruction in SHE- THE ULTIMATE WEAPON!

Title: DD, FIST OF THE NORTH STAR COMPLETE COLLECTION
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 325 min.
Street Date: 4/14/2015
Format: DVD, BD
Language: Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $49.98, $59.98

SYNOPSIS: Highly trained in the secret martial art of Hokuto Shinken, Kenshiro has achieved such a high level of combat expertise that he can kill a man with his pinky. Though these skills may be useful for a wandering man trying to survive the deadly wastelands left behind by nuclear war, they’re all but useless in modern day Japan! With an apocalypse that never happened and a less-than-desirable skill set, would-be hero Ken is stuck looking for a job just like every other unemployed schmuck in Japan. And frankly, he doesn’t interview well. Things start to look up when he stumbles across an opening at a convenience store, but unfortunately he’ll have to deal with two contentious contenders if he wants the job: his own brothers Toki and Raoh, who’re just as dimwitted and muscle-headed as the mighty Ken himself. The battle for the stock shelves begins-fists will fly and no punches will be pulled as martial arts and premade snack foods collide in DD FIST OF THE NORTH STAR!

Title: THE PET GIRL OF SAKURASOU COMPLETE COLLECTION
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 600 min.
Street Date: 4/14/2015
Format: DVD, BD
Language: Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $69.98, $89.98

SYNOPSIS: Banished from normal housing for the crime of adopting stray cats, Sorata Kanda’s life has gone to the dogs and he’s been impounded in Sakura Hall, a notorious den of troublemakers, geniuses and weirdos. And since he has a penchant for taking in small, cute but sometimes not completely loveable creatures, he’s been tasked with keeping fellow resident Mashiro Shiina, an acclaimed but highly dysfunctional and unfocused artist, from forgetting to eat, brush her hair or wear clothes. Then there are the other residents of Sakura Hall, all of whom have their own unique quirks and challenging relationships. Attentions stray, passions play and sanity frays in the housebreaking complete collection of The Pet Girl of Sakurasou!

Title: DEVIL SURVIVOR 2 COMPLETE COLLECTION BLU-RAY
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 325 min.
Street Date: 4/21/2015
Format: BD
Language: English & Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $69.98

SYNOPSIS: When the world is under attack by a monstrous and seemingly unstoppable enemy, the only way to fight back is with warriors who have already died! Sidestepping a gruesome fate in a subway crash during an earthquake, two young men and a girl find themselves recruited into the ranks of the Devil Summoners, given the ability to literally call up demons, and sent into battle against the mysterious Septenriones! Can Hibiki, Daichi, and Io survive in a war where demons face demons under human command, where a person’s death can be seen in advance, where every living being is just a game piece to be saved or expended, and where each clash comes with a timeclock counting down to Armageddon? Get ready to be immersed in the ultimate conflict between good and evil as the living, the dead, and the demonic combine forces to send the invaders straight back to Hell in DEVIL SURVIVOR 2!

Title: SPACE BROTHERS COLLECTION 2
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 325 min.
Street Date: 4/21/2015
Format: DVD, BD
Language: Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $49.98, $59.98

SYNOPSIS: As the competition to become an astronaut continues to heat up, the candidates are subjected to a grueling series of tests designed to test their physical and mental qualifications to the utmost. Trapped inside a sealed environment with his closest rivals, Mutta’s challenge is to force himself to think as a team player even as he jockeys for one of the two open seats to the stars. And when things start to go wrong with the test mission, however, the tension really begins to build. It’ll take the combined resources of the whole team to solve the life and death problems being thrown at them… but what are they supposed to do when it becomes apparent that one of the team members is intentionally sabotaging their assignments? Will any of Mutta’s team survive the ordeal and move up to the next phase of training? Or will they all wash out before they ever hit the launch pad? The clock is ticking. The pressure is building. And if they fail this test, their shot at the stars may be gone forever in the second out of this world collection of SPACE BROTHERS!

Title: UNLIMITED PSYCHIC SQUAD COMPLETE COLLECTION
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 300 min.
Street Date: 4/21/2015
Format: DVD, BD
Language: Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $49.98, $59.98

SYNOPSIS: You don’t have to be psychic to know that Hyobu Kyosuke is trouble waiting to happen, but having psychic powers of your own may be your only chance if you want to stand against him. One of the most powerful espers on the planet, Hyobu’s incredible range of abilities extends as far as controlling his own aging process, and the potential strength of all his talents combined is so terrifying that he wears a device that limits their use except in cases of extreme emergency. The time is coming, however, when Hyoba will need to unleash everything he has. Because sometimes it takes a villain to do what heroes can’t, and as the leader of the secret organization P.A.N.D.R.A., Hyobu’s dedicated his life to fighting those who would entrap, enslave, or kill anyone with psychic powers. Now P.A.N.D.R.A. itself is in danger and, to combat that deadly threat, the gloves and limiter are coming off! The dark side of the world of PSYCHIC SQUAD is unveiled in an incredible new series, where the lines between the good and the bad cease to exist and the only goal is survival in UNLIMITED PSYCHIC SQUAD!

Title: HAYATE THE COMBAT BUTLER SEASON 3
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 300 min.
Street Date: 4/28/2015
Format: DVD, BD
Language: Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $49.98, $59.98

SYNOPSIS: Hayate Ayasaki’s life has never been easy, though after being sold to Yakuza who want to harvest your organs to pay off your parents’ debts it’s hard to imagine things sinking much lower. But since becoming employed as the butler/bodyguard for teenage heiress Nagi Sanzenin, Haytate’s misery has been primarily focused around Nagi’s insecurity, laziness and the frequent attempts by various parties to kidnap her (with the occasional scheme cooked up by her Grandfather on the side.) However, when a new and unexpected relative arrives without warning, and issues concerning Nagi’s long dead father rear their ugly head, Hayate finds himself thrust even further into the deep, dark, messy drama of the Sanzenin clan’s affairs. And that is only the beginning of his troubles, as somehow aliens, haunted swords, an untrustworthy kitten and even a cross-dressing curse all come into the mix as well. Will our embattled butler fight his way through these epic complications? Or will his undoing come special de-livery? When you have REALLY unusual domestic problems, only a REALLY exceptional domestic servant will do in HAYATE THE COMBAT BUTLER: CAN’T TAKE MY EYES OFF YOU - THE COMPLETE COLLECTION!

Title: NOBUNAGA THE FOOL COLLECTION 1
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 325 min.
Street Date: 4/28/2015
Format: DVD, BD
Language: English & Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $59.98, $69.98

SYNOPSIS: Long ago, in an age when the cosmos was still known as Chaos, the world was split into two planets, forming the West and East Stars. After years of war and strife, the Western Star has finally become united under a single king, the legendary Arthur. But conflict still threatens to consume all until hope arises in a vision: a vision of a champion who could save the futures of both worlds. Setting forth on a dangerous journey, Joan d’Arc must travel from the West world to the East, seeking the man she believes can use the devices of the great Leonardo Da Vinci and become their savior. But will Nobunaga Oda be the kind of man they are expecting? Will history’s greatest heroes find themselves choosing not a liberator, but a destroyer? Or is Nobunaga’s role that of the Fool from a deck of Tarot, the wild card whose purpose is to invoke change, no matter what the cost? Expect the unexpected as super-technology and giant robots collide with samurai warriors, and a pantheon of characters drawn from across history wage the ultimate battle against the forces of chaos in NOBUNAGA THE FOOL!

Title: SAIYUKI TV COMPLETE COLLECTION
Published by: AEsir Holdings
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 1250 min.
Street Date: 4/28/2015
Format: DVD
Language: English & Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $49.98

SYNOPSIS: Once demonkind and man lived together in harmony. But when a band of rogue demonic forces seeks to resurrect a diabolical monster, a dark spiritual energy begins to cover the land. Now, it’s up to a renegade priest, a monkey king, a lecherous water sprite and a sympathetic demon to stop the resurrection and return harmony to a dangerous land. Enter the world of Saiyuki! A unique universe of beauty and betrayal. Where sacred scrolls battle enchanted weaponry and where dragons can transform into jeeps. A land where four reluctant heroes are just as concerned about having a good time, a stiff drink, and a beautiful woman as they are about saving the world.

About Section23 Films:
Section23 Films provides home video marketing and distribution services for a variety of companies, including Sentai Filmworks, Switchblade Pictures, Maiden Japan, Kraken Releasing and AEsir Holdings. With its special focus on genre entertainment, Section23 Films distributes some of the very best anime, martial arts, and horror titles on the market today,

So Nobunaga the Fool got a dub after all? That’s good to see. I am wondering how it’ll turn out as that show wasn’t all that different from Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere and the genius behind that has thrown in the towel.

Now that Devil Survivor 2 has a confirmed bluray I can resume checking that series out.

For these shows that Sentai isn’t dubbing themselves but for which there are preexisting English dubs-like Hayate the Combat Butler-I do wish that Sentai would explore using those dubs; If the dubs are at least on par with the Nodame Catabile dub then relative quality isn’t an issue.

[size=16]Right Stuf Links[/size]
Devil Survivor 2: The Animation Blu-ray Complete Collection (Hyb)
DD Fist of the North Star (2011) DVD Complete Collection (S)
DD Fist of the North Star (2011) Blu-ray Complete Collection (S)
Hayate the Combat Butler: Can’t Take My Eyes Off You DVD Season 3 Collection (S)
Hayate the Combat Butler: Can’t Take My Eyes Off You Blu-ray Season 3 Coll. (S)
Nobunaga the Fool DVD Collection 1 (Hyb)
Nobunaga the Fool Blu-ray Collection 1 (Hyb)
The Pet Girl of Sakurasou DVD Complete Collection (S)
The Pet Girl of Sakurasou Blu-ray Complete Collection (S)
Psychic Squad, Unlimited DVD Complete Collection (S)
Saiyuki DVD Complete Collection (Hyb)
She, The Ultimate Weapon DVD Complete Collection (Hyb)
Space Brothers DVD Collection 2 (S)
Space Brothers Blu-ray Collection 2 (S)
Unlimited Psychic Squad Blu-ray Complete Collection (S)

My first Sentai Free month next year.

Looks like it’s going to be a full 6 month delay for the IS2 BD…

I know you all do dub upgrades for a lower price, but how about doing complete collection upgrade options as well.

This is the first slate in awhile that there isn’t at least one thing I planned on getting.
And probably even longer since a slate popped up that I had absolutely no interest in anything on it.

Maybes:

DD, FIST OF THE NORTH STAR COMPLETE COLLECTION
THE PET GIRL OF SAKURASOU COMPLETE COLLECTION
UNLIMITED PSYCHIC SQUAD COMPLETE COLLECTION

I already have the split release of the series, out of all of the titles listed, it would have been on the buy list if I had not bought the split release.

Unless I buy the split release during the holiday sale, I might hold out for the combine release.

I’m a bit concerned on the short delay for Sakurasou’s complete collection when older releases like Horizon are still separate as I wonder what that might mean.

Sakurasou was one complete continuous series.
Horizon was two completely distinct seasons with a two season space in-between.

There’s really nothing to think about on that, so I wouldn’t look too deeply at it with your “expectation goggles” on.

Hayate doesn’t have a pre-existing legitimate dub cast (unless you count the Animax dub done in Hong Kong). I listened to that dub, and it sucks. Hayate sounds like a a more annoying and poor man’s version of Ash Ketchum (post-4Kids). And I don’t think Sentai’s going to go to great lengths to include the Animax dub in their release of season 3 like what NISA did with their release of Cardcaptor Sakura. If anything, I’ll probably wait for at least a year until Sentai can consider dubbing it (it’ll need at least 2500 copies of its existing release sold and good enough streaming numbers once it debuts on TAN, taking into account the overall dubbing costs, distribution, manufacturing, etc.). By around that time, Sentai also would have gotten the much better season 2 (and also consider dubbing that as well if S3 dubbed edition does well enough for them) and probably have enough budget to outsource more titles (considering that they were able to outsource what totals to 4+ cours (P4: The Animation, and K-ON! S2); if they could outsource titles to LA and NYAV without much difficulty (and some of the titles are probably just as nice as Hayate S3, such as K-ON!), then they could possibly try outsourcing a title to Vancouver since it probably costs just as much as having the dub outsourced to LA or NYAV (back in the ADV Days, they were able to get Ocean to dub part of Nurse Witch Komugi)) and even get talent not local to appear in Houston dubs (so far, they got Ian Sinclair, Tia Ballard, Chuck Huber, and now Terri Dotty).

Anyways, here’s my choice of VAs for voiceing Hayate Ayasaki

Houston: Blake Shepard; Clint Bickham, Corey Hartzog; Greg Ayres; Leraldo Anzaldua, Josh Grelle
LA: Johnny Yong Bosch, Todd Haberkorn, Erik Scott Kimerer; Bryce Papenbrook; Benjamin Diskin; Lucien Dodge; Steve Staley
Vancouver: Brad Swaile; Gabe Khouth, Kristian Ayre, Vincent Tong; Matt Hill; Andrew Francis; Samuel Vincent

I’ve heard a few Vancouver dubs that I’ve liked, but I can’t say that I’ve heard any that gave me the impression that they could dub a show like this. I wouldn’t mind if they outsourced to Vancouver but I’m not seeing why they would; while Sentai has definitely let me down, they’ve been at or above the level of the CA studios and they have a history of greatness that the CA studios don’t.

Bryce Papenbrook? Is the lead in this supposed to sound cheesy and melodramatic? :wink:

For Vancouver, I don’t recognize a single name on your list besides Swaile and Tong. :frowning:

I try to avoid split releases unless it’s the only way to acquire it (or you think anyway). It saves money, keeps my collection clean, less cluttered and up to date. I only hope people understand that stack packs are no more.

For Vancouver VAs you don’t recognize as much as aside from Swaile and Tong, here’s the other VAs’ notable roles: Matt Hill (Ed from Ed, Edd, 'N Eddy; Kira Yamato from Mobile Suit Gundam SEED), Andrew Francis (Dilandau from Escaflowne; Prince Shining Armor from MLP:FIM; Mega Man from Mega Man NT Warrior; Vert Wheeler from Hot Wheels World Race and Acceleracers; Max Steel in Max Steel 2013), Kristian Ayre (Yuji Sakai from Shakugan no Shana season 1; Coud “Cou” Van Giruet from Elemental Gelade), Samuel Vincent (Athrun Zala from Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, Edd from Edd, Edd 'N Eddy), and Gabe Khouth (Goten from Dragon Ball Z (Ocean Dub)).

For a Vancouver dub that might give you the impression that Ocean could dub Hayate, there’s Dokkoida?!.

As for suggesting that Sentai outsource a title to Vancouver, Sentai has the capacity to outsource to LA and NYAV without too much trouble (and more so than Funimation) (so far they totaled to 4+ cours, and some of their titles, such as K-On! S2 is probably just as niche as Hayate S3), so they could to the same with outsourcing to Vancouver, just as long as the USD/CAD ratio remains at a favorable level (which already it’s almost there). Also, I’m not sure how Houston has this greatness that the CA studios don’t since LA’s been active in the dubbing game a lot longer than any other city with a sizeable dubbing pool and that they produced several of the best dubs ever made (GITS series, Haruhi Suzumiya, Cowboy Bebop, Wolf’s Rain, Hellsing series, etc.). Anyways, how should the lead sound like (and by extent which VA should be used depending on where it’s dubbed at? (Houston, LA, Vancouver))?

4 of those CA dubs that you mentioned aren’t by the CA dub studios that do all that much nowadays though. Studiopolis and Bang/Zoom are the ones churning out the CA anime dubs nowadays and, frankly, I’m not all that big a fan of those two studios.

With Sentai dubs, I do wish that they’d “slow their roll” when it comes to recording for their dubs. Is outsourcing a solution to Sentai’s break-neck dubbing pace? If anyone ought to outsource to Ocean it is Viz: they’ve done it before and IMO Ocean is a heckuva lot better than Studiopolis :wink:

I saw some of the Hayate dub for Season 1 and, except for the really low-fi audio, it wasn’t bad at all. Most importantly, the dub script was worlds above the sub script; Adaptive writing FTW. For Season 3 I realize that I couldn’t watch it subbed as not only does Hayate sound like a Japanese girl (for the obvious reason) but he sounds exactly like, for the obvious reason again, Macaron in Amagi Brilliant Park (coincidentally another char whose gender is belied by the obviously female seiyu).

New Generation Pictures (which dubbed the Hellsing TV series & OVA) is still around, just at a severely reduced pace ever since the recession (I wished NGP got more titles to dub since their VA pool’s very talented, hence why Funimation picked them for their dubs instead of hiring a Bang Zoom! regular when they were shopping for LA VAs). I do agree that Bang Zoom!'s pretty much homogenized the LA dubbing landscape, which has pretty much been like this as early as the early 2000s since Bang Zoom! is cheaper to outsource compared to Animaze (which was the then-premiere LA dubbing studio) and even moreso when Animaze went extinct by 2009.

For Sentai outsourcing more of their titles, it could help give Seraphim Digital more time to dub, thus resulting in overall better quality, since I find their dubs to be of questionable quality (they feel more like LA dubs than Dallas dubs).

For the Animax dub, the biggest pet peeve I have with it is that Hayate sounds too much like a more annoying version of Ash Ketchum. Having a male voice him (in this case Blake Shepard or Leraldo Anzaldua for Houston; Johnny Yong Bosch, Todd Haberkorn, Erik Kimerer or Lucien Dodge for LA; Brad Swaile or Andrew Francis for Vancouver) in a legitimate dub would be so much better-sounding. Script-wise, I would prefer that it to be more faithful to the JP track.

For Hayate sounding too much like a schoolgirl in the JP track, I have that same feeling as you do. If they gotten a different female seiyuu like Megumi Ogata, Romi Park or Mitsuki Saiga (all of which have naturally deeper voices than Ryoko Shiraishi and can give a much more believable tenor, especially for the last one), or even get a male seiyuu like Akira Ishida, Hiro Shimono, Toshiyuki Toyonaga, Soichiro Hoshi, Tetsuya Kakihara or Miyu Irino to voice him, he would have sounded more tolerable.

umm…yeah. I don’t see Hayate getting a dub…at all. Not now or later.

I’d prefer a male actor to voice Hayate (Isn’t he supposed to be 16?) but, in regard to the 2 audio tracks that already exist, I prefer the “woman doing a little boy voice” Ash sound, even though it is not appropriate for his age, to the Japanese where the seiyu doesn’t even sound like she’s trying to sound male. The English accents in the Animax dub give it bonus points as well IMO.

The Japanese track, in subs, made references to The Dog of Flanders, a Western work that I only know of because of anime references to it. The Animax dub changed it to Old Yeller, which was more familiar and got the point across better.

Not all Sentai dubs are created equally, that’s for sure. But if Sentai is rushing in order to cut costs…

I thought Funi picked them for cast continuity. Though it certainly couldn’t have been cheap for Funi to hire NGP as their dub director (Klein) has involved dub studios in CA, NY and England & has flown to 'em during dub production. Side-note: While there’s some bias as I don’t particularly care for Ikki Tousen as a show, IMO Funi does better fanservice dubs in-house than NGP does: Highschool DxD (2013/2014) dub > Ikki Tousen (2013/2014) dub.

If Sentai decides not to make/have made a dub for this then I’d prefer it if they’d just pull in the one that already exists, like what Siren Visual did with Nodame Cantabile, as that’s better than no dub IMO. I wouldn’t award “Best dub ever” to either of those 2 animax dubs but I’ve bought releases with shakier dubs.

Well that certainly is true with Sentai rushing on the dubs to cut costs in an attempt to outdo Funimation in terms of dubbing output, but that could be the reason why their dubs are often of questionable quality. Given their current budget, Sentai probably should go a little slower with their dubs and focus more on shows that did well streaming-wise and sales-wise for sub-only DVDs (and that also means refraining from dubbing utter dreck that is clearly hated here like Diabolik Lovers). I do think, however, that by 2015, their budget would probably stabilize (since they’re pretty fast-growing) to the point they won’t have to resort to frequently rushing dubs as much as before.

New Generation Pictures talent like Carrie Savage, Patrick Seitz and Taliesin Jaffe have appeared in Funimation dubs in as early as 2006. Heck, Carrie Savage managed to appear in a Houston dub with Xenosaga: The Animation in 2007.

Sentai did dub several titles that probably are just as niche or even moreso than Hayate, like Mayo Chiki! (which got a dub almost 2 years after it was released in sub-only form back in 2012). So a dub of S3’s going to be eventually inevitable if there are enough sales to justify giving it a dub (it also helps that it has a sizable enough fanbase and even moreso if Sentai gets S2 and starts releasing it since most people consider that season to be the series’ best season).

I’d like to see them get away from crutching on the streaming numbers like they’re some sort of infallible oracle (Funi/Sentai love those streaming numbers like DC pols love polls) and the “release it sub only and if enough people buy that, rerelease it with a dub” plan as I don’t believe it is a long-term solution.

Is that why Sentai rushes? I’d have to count to make sure but I’m pretty sure that Sentai buried Funi in dubs in 2014 as anything that wasn’t Space Dandy or Attack on Titan was on the Funi backburner this year. I’m thinking there’s more to the story.