Amazon.com to Exclusively Distribute Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn V. 1 Blu-ray; Other Gundam Series Available for Streaming

January 14, 2010 – Bandai Visual Japan announced today that Amazon.com will release the Mobile Suit Gundam UC (Unicorn) Vol.1 Blu-ray with a two-month exclusive window in North America under the “Honneamise” label. Amazon.com will be taking pre-orders starting on January 10 with a street date of March 12, 2010 at a SRP of $49.98. Bandai Entertainment, INC. distributes this Blu-ray product for Bandai Visual Japan.

Since its inception in 1979, the Gundam franchise is considered the introduction of the giant robot or “Mecha” genre in the U.S. Mobile Suit Gundam UC is a series of popular novels by Harutoshi Fukui, which was originally serialized from 2006 to June 2009 in the monthly Gundam Ace magazine by Kadokawa. Ten volumes of the novel have sold over 2 million copies. The story is set in Universal Century, three years after the events of the film Char's Counterattack. The series will be comprised of six 50-minute episodes directed by Kazuhiro Furuhashi.

The Blu-ray will feature Episode One with Japanese and English TrueHD 5.1 and Japanese and English Dolby Digital 2.0 audio with a 16:9 / 1080P High Definition transfer. Subtitle tracks will include Japanese, English, French, Spanish, and Chinese (in both Cantonese and Mandarin). The English voice cast features the talents of Steve Cannon, Stephanie Sheh, Rachael Lillis, Tara Platt, and others.

Additionally, to celebrate Gundam UC's Blu-ray release, Bandai Channel will begin streaming classic Gundam series starting February 1. This is a long-awaited opportunity for existing fans to revisit their favorites or for newer fans to become familiar with the world of Gundam before watching Gundam UC. Six TV series of Gundam (Mobile Suit Gundam, Mobile Suit Z Gundam, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, Mobile Suit Gundam Seed, Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny, and Mobile Suit Gundam 00) are planned for free streaming in North America and Europe for limited time only on AnimeNewsNetwork (www.animenewsnetwork.com), Crunchyroll (www.crunchyroll.com) and YouTube (www.youtube.com/AnimeChannel). More series are to be added later.

For streaming schedule and more information, visit Gundam UC's official site:
http://www.gundam-unicorn.net/en

*streaming information will be available on February 1.

For more information on Bandai Entertainment please visit: www.bandai-ent.com
For more information on Amazon.com please visit: www.amazon.com