The Asian Blu-ray Guide lists Asian films from Hong Kong, China, Korea, Japan and Thailand as well as Anime series and movies that have been released (or are available for preorder) on Blu-ray Disc. Currently the guide covers 1569 discs from countries all around the world, making it the most comprehensive and hopefully the most useful source for Asian entertainment on Blu-ray Disc.
All information about the listed releases haven been gathered from message boards, news sites and retailers across the net or have been contributed by kind visitors.

If you have further information about released (or announced) titles from Asia, region codes or got any suggestions, please feel free to contact me so this Guide can grow.

Visit the Asian Blu-ray Guide Blog for all updates

Evangelion 2.22 comes to Japan in May, Germany follows in July

Posted on February 08, 2010 at 21:08 by Ulrik 2 commentsTweet this

I won't say much about the announcement of the Japanese home video release of Evangelion 2.0: You can (not) advance because German distributor Universum Anime pretty much stomped it to the ground (if you're able to understand German that is) with their own announcement. King Records will release Evangelion 2.0 in a longer 2.22 cut on DVD and Blu-ray Disc in Japan on May 24th, 2010. As espected this release won't include English subtitles and the cover artwork (see left) isn't much to write home about.
Just a few hours after King Records' announcement, Universum Anime posted in the label's own message board that they will release this version on DVD (in a limited edition steelbook) and Blu-ray Disc just two months later on July 16, 2010! They also mentioned to release Evangelion 1.11 on Blu-ray Disc (which was only available on DVD in Germany) on the same day.
FUNimation hasn't mentioned Evangelion 2.0 so far (even though they're releasing 1.11 on Blu-ray Disc on March 8th) and if they keep up their pace, I don't think 2.0 will come to US shores in 2010.
[via SOS Brigade & Can you Moe?]

Tags: evangelion, king records, universum anime, japan, germany, anime, neon genesis evangelion

More Shaw Bros Classics coming to Blu

Posted on January 31, 2010 at 20:45 by Ulrik 0 commentsTweet this

Distributor Well Go USA announced to release four classic martial-arts titles from the legendary Hong Kong based Shaw Bros film studio on Blu-ray Disc. The Heroic Ones (Shi san tai bao), Delightful Forest (Kuai huo lin), Brothers Five (Wu hu tu long) and Brave Archer and His Mate (Shen diao xia lu) are supposed to hit the shelves on April 6, 2010.

Tags: shaw bros, heroic ones, delightful forest, brothers five, brave archer, wellgo, hong kong

Bodyguards and Assassins: English-friendly release in February

Posted on January 28, 2010 at 23:23 by Ulrik 0 commentsTweet this

And another fast release coming from our friends in Hong Kong. Teddy and Peter Chan's star-laden Bodyguards and Assassins opened in Hong Kong's theaters in December and already YesAsia is listing a DVD and Blu-ray Disc release for February 8, 2010!
English subtitles will be included in both versions, people outside of Region A will just have to wait a bit until the region code gets announced since Kam & Ramson sometimes lock their releases.
Here's one of the film's many trailer to keep you entertained until February....

Tags: bodyguards assassins, hong kong, kam & ramson, donnie yen, teddy chan, peter chan

Bloody Disaster: CJ Entertainment brings Thirst and Haeundae in March

Posted on January 26, 2010 at 23:01 by Ulrik 1 commentTweet this

Wow, talking about great timing. Just when I got my copy of Palisades-Tartan's UK Blu-ray Disc of Thirst (Region B, see 40 screen shots here), CJ Entertainment announces two new Korean releases. Next to Chan-wook Park's vampire thriller, the Korean distributor will release the first Korean disaster film Haeundae on Blu-ray Disc on March 15, 2010 according to K2DVD.com. CJ Entertainment's BD releases have been region free and technically pretty impressive (see The Good, The Bad, The Weird, Memories of Murder, Mother & Tazza) so far and maybe we will even see the longer cut of Thirst on this release...
[via Blu-ray.com Forum]

Tags: thirst, haeundae, korea, cj entertainment

Technical Specs for US release of PONYO announced...

Posted on January 25, 2010 at 22:53 by Ulrik 3 commentsTweet this

Oh boy, I hope these specs listed for the US Blu-ray Disc release of Hayao Miyazaki's Ponyo (coming March 2, 2010) on The Disney Store aren't final.
Primary Language: English and only lossy Dolby Digital for the original Japanese track? Hey Disney, Blu-ray is about high definition in picture AND sound! We're supposed to pay premium prices for your releases, so give us premium quality! Don't make Ponyo cry!
[via Anime on DVD Forum]

Tags: ponyo, hayao miyazaki, usa, japan, anime, disney

The King of Eden will Return to Eden of the East in March

Posted on January 23, 2010 at 14:35 by Ulrik 0 commentsTweet this

Kadokawa has announced the release The King of Eden, the first two theatrical sequels to the Eden of the East TV series on Blu-ray Disc in Japan on March 24, 2010. The King of Eden [Trailer] was released in Japanese theaters on December 16, 2009 and is set half a year past the incidents described in director Kenji Kamiyama's (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex) amazing 2009 series. The Blu-ray Disc will be available in two editions, the standard edition will only include the movie while the limited release will also feature Air Communication, the over two hour long compilation of the series. Sadly there are no English subtitles listed for both releases. FUNimation acquired the rights for the series last year but hasn't made any announcements about upcoming DVD or Blu-ray Disc releases yet...
[via Can you Moe?]

Tags: eden of the east, the king of eden, air communication, kadokawa, anime, japan, kenji kamiyama

Ponyo: English Subtitled Hong Kong Release in January

Posted on January 16, 2010 at 12:39 by Ulrik 0 commentsTweet this

Probably good news for those among us who finally want to see Hayao Miyazaki's Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea in high definition without waiting for a local Blu-ray Disc release (March 2nd for the USA, June 6th for the UK) our paying the premium price for the mighty fine Japanese Blu-ray Disc.
Intercontinental Video Ltd. (IVL) has announced a lower priced Hong Kong Blu-ray Disc release for January 26, 2010 that won't have Disney's English dub but English subtitles and the original Japanese language track. According to IVL the disc will also include over four hours of bonus material but only with Chinese subtitles.
IVL has always been a great resource for Studio Ghibli fans worldwide during the DVD age since their releases were always on-par with the more expensive Japanese releases.
YesAsia lists the release as Region A, but I guess we'll have to wait and see. Since IVL is the exclusive distributor for Disney titles in the area, they probably have to follow their guidelines when it comes to region coding which Disney uses a lot for newer releases.

Tags: ponyo, ghibli, ivl, anime, hayao miyazaki, japan, hong kong