Hayao Miyazaki‘s first independently created film, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind was released on Blu-ray in Japan a couple of weeks ago, selling a record 20,000 units in the first week alone. The disc is feature packed, super-well designed and sports a gorgeous transfer sourced from a 6K scan of the original elements. I can’t wait to own this thing. But my impulse to import has been stayed with the confirmation that the film will be hitting Blu in both the U.K. and Australia sooner than I suspected!
Japanese Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind Blu-ray Packaging (images - asianblurayguide.com)
Optimum has announced that Nausicaä will be in UK shops on October 18th while Australian distributor Madman Entertainment has confirmed a November release down under. No details are known for either release yet, aside from Madman’s package art and their assurance to customers that their version will be given “the same treatment as we did with Ponyo. LOTS of extras!”
Austrailian package art for Madman's Blu-ray release of Nausicaä
What these two impending releases tell me, though, is that Disney will be gearing up to deliver their own edition of Nausicaä on Blu-ray to we poor souls caught between Atlantic and Pacific. A USA/Canada version should drop sometime before the holidays, if this pattern is any indication. And that release, though I’m certain it won’t be as feature-rich as the others, will be far more affordable than our alternative import options. So, I’ll hold off, for now. And compare the eventual domestic release of the Nausicaä Blu-ray with these others before deciding which is most worthy of my hard earned dollars.
Read more: Miyazaki’s Nausicaä announced for Blu-ray release in Japan (UPDATED)
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by theblurayblog, Tamu. Tamu said: RT @theblurayblog: 'Nausicaä' announced for Blu-ray release in Australia (@animemadman) and UK (@OptimumFilms)! US/Canada release soon? http://bit.ly/d23LyB [...]
[...] help but feel let down by the package art of the U.S. edition of the Blu-ray. The Japanese release (which you can see here in all its glory) is so classy and minimalist where ours just feels so…bland. I guess it could be worse. We [...]