Section23 Films Announces April Slate

Gintama Available for the First Time on DVD

HOUSTON, January 21, 2009 – Home video distributor Section23 Films today announced its April slate of DVD releases, including the first set of Japan's long-running hit anime series Gintama from Section23 client Sentai Filmworks. Sentai will also issue three other anime series sets in April, including Hidamari Sketch x 365, Living for the Day After Tomorrow, and Le Portrait de Petite Cossette.

Switchblade Pictures, another Section23 client, has two “live-action” DVD releases straight from Japan, including Space Ranger Complete Collection and the sexy sci-fi shoot em up Venus Ranger.

Product details follow, in order of release

Coming April 2009

Title: HIDAMARI SKETCH X 365 COMPLETE COLLECTION
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 400 min.
Street Date: 4/6/2010
Format: DVD
SRP: $39.98

SYNOPSIS: You didn't think Yuno's story was over, did you? Of course it isn't, but if you've seen the first series of Hidamari Sketch, you should know not to expect the "A happens after B after C" pattern of the rest of the world. In fact, instead of just taking place after Yuno's first year at Yamabuki High, X365 continues the saga on both sides, around and in-between, filling in the details in an ever-expanding collage that's both avant-garde and slice of life! And if the format's not completely unexpected, we guarantee that some of the things that you never knew about before WILL be!

Title: LIVING FOR THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW COMPLETE COLLECTION
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 300 min.
Street Date: 4/13/2010
Format: DVD
SRP: $39.98

SYNOPSIS: There are far worse things than having to deal with your ex-boyfriend's little sister or your older brother's ex-girlfriend. But that's something Karada Iokawa and Shōko Nogami have to learn the hard way when a magic wishing stone inexplicably grants Karada's wish to be older. And does it by stealing the years from Shoko! Now Shoko, who's already graduated and studied overseas, is Karada's age, just about to enter junior high school. Meanwhile Karada must suddenly face the real facts about what being grown up entails. And just to make a bizarre situation even more awkward, there's the issue of how to handle their existing romantic interests!

Title: SPACE RANGER COMPLETE COLLECTION
Published by: Switchblade Pictures
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 120 min.
Street Date: 4/13/2010
Format: DVD
SRP: $19.98

SYNOPSIS: With the power of the Treasure Sword at his command, the King of Valhalla has maintained peace and prosperity across the universe. But when the sword goes missing it's up to three magnificent female warriors - Sting Blue, Orna Black and Caliban Red - to set forth on a mission and recover it before the forces of darkness can steal it for their own! Unfortunately, while the warriors are magnificent, they really don't get along well and foolishly divide their forces, even as the nefarious Dron Brothers of the Dark Planet close in on the sword itself! Now, in a horribly backwards part of the galaxy, on an insignificant world known as Earth, the fate of all creation will be determined in a knock down, hand to hand battle to the finish!

Title: LE PORTRAIT DE PETITE COSSETTE
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 120 min.
Street Date: 4/20/2010
Format: DVD
SRP: $19.98

SYNOPSIS: What happens when the face you see in a reflection isn't your own? That's the shock that awaits Eiri Kurahashi when he sees the living image of Cossette d'Auvergne in a glass in his uncle's antique shop. Infatuated, he becomes possessed and mysteriously makes contact with the beautiful young aristocrat, only to learn that she was murdered 250 years earlier. Now, her soul trapped inside the goblet, she can only be set free if someone is willing to pay for the sins of her murderer, the artist Marcelo… who may very well have been reincarnated as Eiri! As shadowy forces surround Eiri, his love for Cossette drives him down a tortuous path of self-destruction, while those who love him in the real world can only watch in horror!

Title: GINTAMA COLLECTION 1
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 325 min.
Street Date: 4/27/2010
Format: DVD
SRP: $39.98

SYNOPSIS: Life isn't easy in feudal Japan… especially since the aliens landed and conquered everything! Oh sure, the new health care is great, but the public ban on the use of swords has left a lot of defeated samurai with a difficult career choice! This is especially true if they're not particularly inclined towards holding a day job, which is why Gintoki Sakata's opted for the freelance route, taking any job that's offered to him as long as the money's right. Unfortunately, in a brave new world filled with stray bug-eyed montsters, upwardly mobile Yakuza and overly ambitious E.T. entrepreneurs, those jobs usually don't pay as well as they should for the pain, suffering and indignities endured!

Title: VENUS RANGER
Published by: Switchblade Pictures
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 95 min.
Street Date: 3/30/2010
Format: DVD
SRP: $19.98

SYNOPSIS: When four beautiful girls sneak into the hideout of a shadowing organization, they suddenly find themselves being drafted as holy warriors in the ancient war of good versus evil! On the side of darkness is the Golden Venus, on the side of light, the Mysterious Silver! Scheming beastly goddesses, massive girl on girl battles and an epic spin on the entire powered ranger genre propel the V-Forces through an epic tribute to classic Japanese live action entertainment! No punches are pulled! All breasts are mostly real!

About Section23 Films
Section23 Films provides home video marketing and distribution services for a variety of companies, including Sentai Filmworks, Switchblade Pictures, and AEsir Holdings. With its special focus on genre entertainment, Section23 Films distributes some of the very best anime, martial arts, and horror titles on the market today.