We talked about this back in February when Amazon started listing listing a new edition of the Metropolis anime is being released this year. Planned for June 5th, 2018 priced at $19.99, it’s coming from distributor Mill Creek Entertainment, that’s now changed as that edition has been cancelled and it’s now scheduled for an October 30th, 2018 release. Perhaps the number of preorders put in were good because they’ve bumped it up to $34.98 for the set and are doing it as a DVD/BD combo release with a limited edition steelbook. The dub is getting a DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix while the Japanese is uncompressed PCM. It’ll include the making of it featurette and interviews with the creators and concept comparisons as extras.
The film saw a release from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment years ago when they first brought it out and they got one more edition out back in February 2017, presumably just before the domestic rights to it lapsed, resulting in Mill Creek grabbing it and putting together their edition.
Directed by Rintaro based on the screenplay by Katsuhiro Otomo, the film was animated at Madhouse. Working from the original manga by Osamu Tezuka, Yasuhiro Nakura handled the character designs and served as the chief animation director. The Japanese cast includes Kei Kobayashi as Kenichi, Yuka Imoto as Tima, Junpei Takiguchi as Dr. Laughton, Kouki Okada as Rock, Kousei Tomita as Shunsaku Ban and Tarô Ishida as Duke Red.
The English language dub was produced by Animaze and was directed by Kevin Seymour based on the translation from Shoko Oono and scripts by Marc Handler and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn. The cast for that includes Brianne Siddall as Kenichi, Rebecca Forstadt as Tima, Jamieson K Price as Duke Red, Michael Reisz as Rock, Simon Prescott as Dr. Laughton and Tony Pope as Shunsaku Ban.
Plot concept: In the great city of Metropolis, severe community structures and prejudice dominate a world where humans and robots live together. Unrest and violence increase with each new day.
Searching for the scientist Dr. Laughton, suspected to violate human rights by trading organs, the Japanese detective Shunsaku Ban and his nephew Kenichi arrive at Metropolis. In the scientist’s laboratory, Kenichi discovers a girl without any memory of her past life. He decides to help her, so they run away together. His uncle follows him and penetrates the dark secrets of the city to find Duke Red, the man ruling from the shadows. Meanwhile, Kenichi desperately tries to protect the mysterious girl from the people hunting her. However, Duke Red and his adoptive son have their own deep reasons for chasing the girl. These reasons are connected to her true identity and the struggle for the domination of Metropolis…