A new high-def collection of films by one of modern animation’s most lauded auteurs is arriving just in time for the holidays, as GKIDS and Shout! Factory announce they are teaming up to release Masaaki Yuasa: Five Films on December 19. The six-disc set gathers the visionary filmmaker’s imaginative, diverse feature films in one colorful package.
The box set features new artwork designed by Yuasa throughout the packaging, a 13″ x 21″ poster of this artwork and an exclusive 60-page book about the celebrated animator, including excerpts from his sketchbook.
Pre-orders are now open through GKIDS.com/Yuasa and ShoutFactory.com.
Widely regarded as one of the most imaginative and influential filmmakers working in animation, Masaaki Yuasa’s energetic style has been compared to Tex Avery and Max Fleischer. He is one of contemporary anime’s most prolific auteurs and has lent his humor and dynamism to genres as diverse as psychedelic thrillers, transcendent rock-operas and sweetly subversive teen romances.
This set includes Masaaki Yuasa’s five celebrated and industry-lauded feature films – 2004’s Mind Game (Fantasia International Film Festival winner for Best Film, Best Director and Best Script), 2017’s The Night is Short, Walk on Girl (winner of the 41st Annual Japanese Academy Award’s Animation of the Year), 2017’s Lu Over the Wall (2017 Annecy winner for Best Feature), 2019’s Ride Your Wave (Fantasia International Film Festival winner for Best Animated Feature), and 2021’s Inu-oh (2022 Golden Globe nominee for Best Animation) – along with a host of never-before-seen bonus features.
Mind Game
Audiences will begin to grasp what they are in for early on as loser Nishi, too wimpy to try to save his childhood sweetheart from gangsters, is shot in the butt by a soccer-playing psychopath, projecting Nishi into the afterlife. In this limbo, God — shown as a series of rapidly changing characters — tells him to walk toward the light. But Nishi runs like hell in the other direction and returns to Earth a changed man, driven to live each moment to the fullest.
The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl
As a group of teens go out for a night on the town, a sophomore known only as “The Girl with Black Hair” experiences a series of surreal encounters with the local nightlife … all the while unaware of the romantic longings of Senpai, a fellow student who has been creating increasingly fantastic and contrived reasons to run into her, in an effort to win her heart. Featuring boundless imagination and visual wit, The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl is a celebration of the unconventional, confusing routes that life and love can take, from one of the most exciting voices in anime today.
Lu Over the Wall
After his family moves from Tokyo to a small fishing village, teenager Kai spends his days sulking and adrift. When his classmates invite him to play keyboard in their band, their jam sessions bring an unexpected guest: Lu, a young mermaid whose fins turn to feet when she hears the beats, and whose singing causes humans to compulsively dance. But when an ancient prophecy threatens Lu and the village, Kai and his new friends must save the day in this toe-tapping adventure for the entire family.
Ride Your Wave
Hinako is a surf-loving college student who has just moved to a small seaside town. When a sudden fire breaks out at her apartment building, she is rescued by Minato, a handsome firefighter, and the two soon fall in love. Just as they become inseparable, Minato loses his life in an accident at sea. Hinako is so distraught that she can no longer even look at the ocean, but one day she sings a song that reminds her of their time together, and Minato appears in the water. From then on, she can summon him in any watery surface as soon as she sings their song, but can the two really remain together forever? And what is the real reason for Minato’s sudden reappearance?
Inu-oh
Born to an esteemed family, Inu-oh is afflicted with an ancient curse that has left him on the margins of society. When he meets the blind musician Tomona, a young biwa priest haunted by his past, Inu-oh discovers a captivating ability to dance. The pair quickly become business partners and inseparable friends as crowds flock to their electric, larger-than-life concerts. But when those in power threaten to break up the band, Inu-oh and Tomona must dance and sing to uncover the truth behind their creative gifts.
Special Features
- English-language dub of The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl for the first time on Blu-ray
- Two short films by Masaaki Yuasa: Happy Machine (2007) and Kick-Heart (2013)
- Filmmaker commentaries for Mind Game, Lu Over the Wall and Inu-oh
- Scene breakdowns and commentaries from each feature film
- Masaaki Yuasa draws characters from Mind Game, Lu Over the Wall and Inu-oh
- Filmmaker interviews about Lu Over the Wall, Inu-oh and The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl
- A Night Out with Yuasa: An exclusive interview with Masaaki Yuasa at a Los Angeles speakeasy, where he discusses his inspirations, favorite type of restaurants, perfect vacation, dancing and more
- A 60-page book featuring an essay by Emily Yoshida and excerpts from Masaaki Yuasa’s sketchbooks
- And more!
