Siren Visual Brings Noitamina Block to Australia and New Zealand
Melbourne, Monday, November 29, 2010 – Siren Visual is pleased to announce that it is set to release the Japanese animation titles Welcome to Irabu's Office, The Tatami Galaxy and House of Five Leaves. Having screened as part of the popular midnight animation slot – known as noitaminA– on Japan's leading commercial broadcaster, Fuji Television Network Inc., the titles will be launched during Q1, 2011. Animation in reverse, noitaminA embodies a brash innovative approach beyond the conventional wisdom usually associated with the genre. Most titles derive from literary works. Narratives, as a result, sustain fluid characterisations and engage in a sophisticated blend of comic anxiety and social commentary. In short every installment takes the viewer on a wild ride.
Directed by Masaaki Yuasa, The Tatami Galaxy dramatises and dismantles the self-imposed social barriers of a university student fast acclimatising to eye-opening life on campus. Each episode moves at breakneck pace and employs daring visuals to match. Welcome to Irabu's Office, meanwhile, showcases an eccentric doctor's motley group of patients – a man with a permanent erection, an insipid Yakuza boss, among others – with psychedelic abandon. Rounding off Siren's offering is the slow-burning autumnal period piece House of Five Leaves. A measured take on the individual versus group premise, House of Five Leaves explores the impact a displaced masterless samurai has on the members of a kidnapping gang.
To date, noitaminA, with its cerebral imagery and irreverent slacker sensibilities, has attracted an older demographic of consumers. The target age bracket sits generally with 28-38 year olds – nearly half of those female. Indeed this fan base represents yet another departure from the nominal younger male appeal of the anime market.
Siren CEO Eric Cherry expects the titles to find a dedicated audience in Australia. “We like to focus on titles that resonate with us and as we're big fans of noitaminA we're thrilled to be working in partnership with Fuji TV on these forthcoming titles” he said. “I don't know of a more exciting brand in Japanese animation today.”
Shigehiko Sato Assistant Manager International Department Fuji Creative Corporation says noitaminA has played a crucial role in reuniting the fragmented layers of the anime market with its darker undercurrents and often apocalyptic themes.
“Some fans have admitted that they bought a noitaminA DVD as their first anime DVD, distinctive proof that the brand has been successfully expanding consumer boundaries and creating its own fanbase,” he notes. “One thing these titles share in common is that they explore a positive desire for happiness.”
For more information please contact Leon O'Regan: [email protected]
Directed by Masaaki Yuasa, The Tatami Galaxy dramatises and dismantles the self-imposed social barriers of a university student fast acclimatising to eye-opening life on campus. Each episode moves at breakneck pace and employs daring visuals to match. Welcome to Irabu's Office, meanwhile, showcases an eccentric doctor's motley group of patients – a man with a permanent erection, an insipid Yakuza boss, among others – with psychedelic abandon. Rounding off Siren's offering is the slow-burning autumnal period piece House of Five Leaves. A measured take on the individual versus group premise, House of Five Leaves explores the impact a displaced masterless samurai has on the members of a kidnapping gang.
To date, noitaminA, with its cerebral imagery and irreverent slacker sensibilities, has attracted an older demographic of consumers. The target age bracket sits generally with 28-38 year olds – nearly half of those female. Indeed this fan base represents yet another departure from the nominal younger male appeal of the anime market.
Siren CEO Eric Cherry expects the titles to find a dedicated audience in Australia. “We like to focus on titles that resonate with us and as we're big fans of noitaminA we're thrilled to be working in partnership with Fuji TV on these forthcoming titles” he said. “I don't know of a more exciting brand in Japanese animation today.”
Shigehiko Sato Assistant Manager International Department Fuji Creative Corporation says noitaminA has played a crucial role in reuniting the fragmented layers of the anime market with its darker undercurrents and often apocalyptic themes.
“Some fans have admitted that they bought a noitaminA DVD as their first anime DVD, distinctive proof that the brand has been successfully expanding consumer boundaries and creating its own fanbase,” he notes. “One thing these titles share in common is that they explore a positive desire for happiness.”
For more information please contact Leon O'Regan: [email protected]
discuss this in the forum (19 posts) |
bookmark/share with:
