Mind Game (Blu-ray) Unboxing

The delayed December items finally arrived from the 12 Days of Christmas sale by Anime Limited. The third is a classic Masaaki Yuasa film that finally made an appearance in the UK in recent years.

Mind Game is a 2004 feature-length anime film based on the manga series written and illustrated by Robin Nishi. The anime was adapted by studio Studio 4°C and theatrically released in Summer 2004 season.

Mind Game has been quite well-known throughout the anime community. Masaaki Yuasa’s name wasn’t that known either but the film itself gained a cult following that was often referenced from time to time as one to watch. Then at one point, Studio 4°C added a number of their titles onto Netflix and the film gained more traction. Masaaki Yuasa himself was also gaining more worldwide attention thanks to his recent films and shows such as Devilman Crybaby and Ride Your Wave.

Mind Game was eventually made available to the English territories, with Anime Limited distributing the film for the UK, Ireland, and France, while GKIDS picked it up for the United States and Canada. Much like The Garden of Words, Anime Limited decided not to opt for a collector’s treatment probably due to lack of available materials to produce one, so what you have is a regular standard release.

Released in April 2018, Mind Game from Anime Limited contains the entire film on a single Blu-ray disc using the French Anime Limited (@Anime) master. As no English dub was ever produced, the audio options available are the original Japanese audio with English and French subtitles. The white subtitles are locked during playback, and the discs are locked to Region B Blu-ray players.

Mind Game is available to order on Amazon UK.

Blu-ray Specs:

Languages: Japanese
Audio: Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Video: 1080p High Definition Native format with 16:9 ratio
Region: B
Subtitles: English, French
Locked Subtitles: Yes
Discs: 1

Plot Synopsis (via Anime Limited):

“Nishi has always loved Myon since they were little. And now as adults, he wants to pursue his dream of becoming a manga artist and marrying his childhood sweetheart. There’s one problem, though. She’s already been proposed to and thinks Nishi is too much of a wimp.

But upon meeting the fiancé while at her family’s diner and accepting him as a good guy, they encounter a couple of yakuza, only to have Nishi grasp a certain revelation. And, with his newly acquired look on life, adventures abound as he, Myon, and her sister, Yan, escape the yakuza into a most unlikely location where they meet an old man…”