If you’re in the mood for a Ghibli-esque fantasy adventure, new Altitude Film Entertainment release Mary And The Witch’s Flower should hit the spot. Out today on DVD, Blu-ray and limited edition steelbook, the film is directed by former Studio Ghibli helmer Hiromasa Yonebayashi (The Secret World of Arrietty, When Marnie Was There) and is the first feature from Studio Ponoc, founded in 2015 by fellow Ghibli alum Yoshiaki Nishimura.
Adapted from 1971 novel The Little Broomstick by British author Mary Stewart, Mary and the Witch’s Flower tells the story of bored 12-year-old Mary, who stumbles upon a mysterious glowing flower that give her magical powers and a flying broom that whisks her off above the clouds to Endor College for Ewoks witches.
Also out today is a double bill from Anime Limited – Twin Star Exorcists: Part 1 and Eureka Seven: Hi-Evolution 1. Featuring the first 13 episodes of Studio Pierrot’s supernatural series, the first volume of Twin Star Exorcists introduces us to brash 14-year-old Rokuro and ambitious young exorcist Benio, who are destined to marry and have a child who will save the world. Shame they take an immediate dislike to each other, then…
Meanwhile, Eureka Seven: Hi-Evolution 1 is the first of BONES’ trilogy of movies based on its original 2005-06 sci-fi series. Available both as a Blu-ray/DVD Collector’s Edition complete with a 52-page art book and as a standard DVD, Hi-Evolution re-tells the story of teen sky surfer Renton and mysterious mecha pilot Eureka while also adding new material.
MVM’s anime offering for the week is 12-episode romcon And You Thought There Is Never A Girl Online?. Produced by animation studio Project No.9, the series follows fantasy MMO-playing teen Hideki who discovers that not only does his in-game wife Ako attend the same school as him, but that his two male guildies are classmates too – and also happen to be girls IRL. Even better, Ako really likes him! All of which would be totally awesome – if weren’t for Ako’s problems telling reality and their gaming world apart.
