MAGICAL SHOPPING STREET ABENOBASHI

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ADV FILMS ACQUIRES ?MAGICAL SHOPPING STREET ABENOBASHI? FOR BOTH TELEVISION BROADCAST AND HOME VIDEO

MAGICAL HILARIOUS 13-EPISODE ANIMATED (ANIME) SERIES COMBINES JAPANESE SPIRITUALISM ADVENTURE AND SAVVY GENRE PARODY

HOUSTON April 28 2003?ADV Films today formally announced the acquisition of the rights to release the hit 13-episode Japanese animated (anime) series ?Magical Shopping Street Abenobashi? (AKA ?Abenobashi Maho Shotengai?). ADV plans an Anime Network? broadcast debut followed by a DVD-only release for the acclaimed title. ?Magical Shopping Street Abenobashi? was originally broadcast in Japan in 2002 earning favorable comparisons to such disparate titles as the satirical ?Excel Saga? and Hayao Miyazaki?s spiritually informed ?Spirited Away.?

?Magical Shopping Street Abenobashi? was directed by Hiroyuki Yamaga (?Neon Genesis Evangelion? ?Wings of Honneamise? ?Automatic Maiden?) from a script by Satoru Akahori (?Sorcerer Hunters? ?K.O. Beast?). It was produced by the Japanese animation powerhouses GAINAX (producers of the seminal titles ?Neon Genesis Evangelion? ?FLCL? ?His and Her Circumstances? ?Otaku no Video? and many others) and Madhouse (?Vampire Hunter D? ?Trigun? ?Cardcaptor Sakura? ?Doomed Megalopolis? ?Ninja Scrolll? etc.).

About ?Magical Shopping Street Abenobashi?
While in pursuit of the truth about a bit of minor family intrigue the two friends Sasshi and Ayumi discover that courtesy of a cross-shaped layout and a quartet of animal deities (cleverly disguised as signs) their familiar neighborhood shopping district is actually a portal to a series of parallel existences. The two are mistakenly transported to an alternate Abenobashi shopping area and the series details their efforts to return home with each episode structured as a side-splitting parody of an specific anime or film genre.

ADV Films leadership is excited about the acquisition. ? ?Magical Shopping Street Abenobashi? is arriving on U.S. shores with an outstanding reputation among anime fans and its charm humor intelligence and striking animation quality are really going to draw in U.S. viewers? said ADV Films President CEO and Co-Founder John Ledford. ?We?re looking forward to putting it forward into the U.S. market.?

Release Plans
ADV Films has not yet announced specific release dates for the title but Ledford says he expects an Anime Network broadcast debut toward the end of 2003 with a DVD release in 2004.

Posted on Monday, April 28, 2003 (Archive on Wednesday, May 28, 2003)