Now that I've wound up somehow buying two copies of Escaflowne: The Movie and losing one of them, Bandai has announced that they'll be bringing the film to Blu-ray, so that I can check it out in its nice, hi-def format. The film was the topic for an early Japanator Recommends, and just talking about it makes me want to watch it again.

The film is a recap of the anime Vision of Escaflowne, about a girl named Hitomi who gets transported to a fantasy world where people fight with giant mecha. So, it's got both your Gundam-like robot fighting, while knightly honor is still alive and well. The film was animated by Bones (Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, Fullmetal Alchemist, Ouran High School Host Club), and so it takes a much darker, yet beautiful route. It's well worth checking out, even if it is just a plot rehashing.

All you have to do is wait until September 15th, when it'll be hitting store shelves for $39.98. The disc will include cast and staff interviews, along with the audio in 5.1 surround sound. Exciting! It'll be good to add some more anime to my Blu-ray shelf, and I'm glad to see Bandai is bringing over whatever Blu-ray titles they can from Japan -- living up to their promise from before that if Japan releases it in hi-def, they will too.