Frontier Works is digging into the past a bit with a new project as they’ve got a three-disc SDBD box set lined up for Monster Rancher. With over 1800 minutes running time, the set arrived in Japan today priced at 34,000 yen and Frontier Works has put together a release-day promo for it. No extras are listed at the moment with it and one suspects space might be a bit tight with as many episodes as there are. It’ll be in Japanese only with no English subtitles or dub included.
The series ran in Japan back in 1999 and saw US broadcast on Fox Kids and had some episodes released, dub only, on DVD by ADV Films. Discotek Media recently took a two-tiered approach as they can’t do a true bilingual set due to edits and cuts as they released separate dubbed and subtitled editions of the series on DVD.
Plot Concept: Winning the Monster Farm video game tournament was the high point of Genki Sakura’s young life. Every day since then has been so boring in comparison. He’s been waiting and waiting for his tournament prize, a game disc that he will be the first in the world to get to try out, but every day without it is agony. The real world is so boring in comparison to the world of monsters. Wouldn’t it be better if he could just go live there? Finally, his prize arrives, and it’s everything he’s ever dreamed of – literally, in this case, as somehow he ends up transported into the world of the video game!
There, he meets Holly, a young girl who is trying to summon the Phoenix by using a disc stone (strangely similar to the CD Genki just got!), and Suezo, a monster just like from the game. And of course, the swarm of monsters that had been chasing the two introduce themselves as well! Genki isn’t worried, though. Even with the wicked tyrant Moo trying to conquer the world by turning all the monsters evil, Genki wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. Besides, they’re going to need an expert like him!
