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Discotek Licenses Classic Urusei Yatsura Anime, City Hunter Films, More

Discotek announced during its panel at Otakon on Saturday that it has licensed the following titles:

• The 1981-1986 Urusei Yatsura anime
• The City Hunter films and specials
• Machine Robo: The Running Battlehackers
• Senki Zesshō Symphogear XV
• The Princess and the Pilot
• The Tales of Symphonia OVAs

Discotek also revealed more details for its release of Project A-ko 3: Cinderella Rhapsody, Shaman King, and Cat's Eye. The company will also re-release Dino Mech Gaiking and Sherlock Hound.

Discotek's Urusei Yatsura release will have four box sets that will begin shipping in 2023, and will include all 195 episodes. The release's English subtitles will be based on AnimEigo's earlier releases of the anime (AnimEigo released the anime on VHS, LaserDisc, and DVD from the 90s to the early 2000s, before its license expired in 2011). Discotek's release will only include Japanese audio and will not include new or previously produced English dubs.

The new City Hunter licenses by Discotek include City Hunter - Magnum of Love and Fate, City Hunter: Bay City Wars, City Hunter: Million Dollar Conspiracy, City Hunter: Secret Service, City Hunter Special: Good-bye My Sweet Heart, and City Hunter: Death of the Vicious Criminal Ryo Saeba. City Hunter: Death of the Vicious Criminal Ryo Saeba is previously unreleased in English. The releases will be upscaled into HD, and all except City Hunter: Death of the Vicious Criminal Ryo Saeba will also feature the ADV English dubs. The release, which will feature all the above anime in two Blu-ray Discs, will ship in early 2023.

Discotek's release of Machine Robo: The Running Battlehackers will include all 31 episodes on one standard definition Blu-ray Disc release scheduled for later this year, and will include the anime's toy commercials. The release will be the first time the show will be released with English subtitles.

The release of Senki Zesshō Symphogear XV, the final season in the Symphogear franchise, will ship in early 2023. The release will include the subtitled episodes, omake episodes, creditless opening and ending sequence, and footage of the anime's premiere event. The anime premiered in July 2019, and Crunchyroll streamed the anime as it aired in Japan. Discotek has released all previous seasons of the Symphogear anime.

The Princess and the Pilot release will only have "minor tweaks" from NIS America's original release of the anime, and will ship later this year. NIS America previously released the 2011 anime on Blu-ray Disc in 2013 and 2016.

The Tales of Symphonia OVA releases will include all 11 episodes across Tales of Symphonia the Animation, Tales of Symphonia the Animation: Tethe'alla Episode, and Tales of Symphonia the Animation: The United World Episode, and will ship later this year. Discotek previously licensed the anime and streamed it through Crunchyroll.

For its previously announced release of Project A-ko 3: Cinderella Rhapsody, Discotek clarified that the release will ship later this year, and will be an HD scan from the anime's negatives. The release will include liner notes, and the music video for BeBe's "Get a Chance!" theme song for the film.

In addition, Discotek clarified that its previously announced release of the 2001 Shaman King anime will be in full HD using the AstroRes upscale method for the entire series, and will ship later this year. The company also noted that its Cat's Eye Season 2 release will ship later this year.

The Dino Mech Gaiking re-release will ship later this year, and will include all 44 episodes on one standard definition Blu-ray Disc release, and will also include a creditless opening and ending sequence. The subtitles will only have "minor fixes" from Discotek's 2016 DVD release of the series.

The Sherlock Hound re-release will ship later this year, and will be based on a new Japanese HD transfer version, and will also have an all-new restoration of the anime's longer English version, as well as the English-dubbed pilot episode. The release will include liner notes, an art gallery, and restored promotional clips for the anime.

Source: Email correspondence