Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms (Collector’s Edition Blu-ray & DVD) Unboxing

Continuing the trend of the January sales, HMV and Anime Limited ran a sale on a select number of titles. One of them was this particular film. While I would ideally prefer to own the Nozomi release, the UK version at £20 was suitable enough.

Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms (Sayonara no Asa ni Yakusoku no Hana wo Kazarou) is a 2018 original feature-length anime film directed by Mari Okada, animated by studio P.A.Works and published by Showgate. The film is both Mari Okada’s first directed feature and P.A.Works’ first stand-alone film.

Maquia has been received by many viewers to be one of the best films of the 2010s era. It had a lot of attention throughout the community so it’s no surprise that someone like Anime Limited would license the film, bring it over to the UK & Ireland for theatrical in June 2018 and even produce the English dub with NYAV Post. The license in the US & Canada was handled by Eleven Arts who sub-licensed the film to Shout! Factory for a regular release and Nozomi Entertainment for a special Japanese limited edition replica release. Here in the UK, Anime Limited gave the film the traditional collector’s edition treatment though the film’s release overall has been rather messy.

For starters, there is ideally no definitive method to own the film. The UK release is watchable but offers no on-disc extra content. The Shout! Factory release was subject to licensing restrictions with two versions of the film for each audio with burnt subtitles for the sub. The Nozomi version is the closest you can get, but only if you can cop-up the high price, own a Region A player, and also deal with high shipping and customs because it’s exclusive to Rightstuf only. Because of monetary reasons, the Anime Limited Collector’s Edition release on sale is the best way to go if you can’t afford the Nozomi version.

Both the Anime Limited and Nozomi release offers the special 88-page booklet. If you were one of the lucky folks who pre-ordered the film during the Anime Limited 12 Days of Christmas sale back in December 2018, the script was also included and that was also the same script offered in the Nozomi release. In other words, if you had pre-ordered the UK release way back then, the only difference between the two releases is essentially the video transfer and on-disc content.

Released in May 2018, Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms from Anime Limited contains the entire film on a single Blu-ray and DVD disc, using the French Anime Limited (@Anime) master. The audio options available include the Anime Limited NYAV Post English dub and the original Japanese audio with English subtitles. The white subtitles are locked during playback, and the discs are locked to Region B Blu-ray players and Region 2 DVD players. The DVD disc is in PAL format due to Showgate’s licensing restrictions.

Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms is available to own as a collector’s edition Blu-ray & DVD combo pack as well as a standard Blu-ray and DVD release through Amazon UK.

Blu-ray Specs:

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

DVD Specs:

Languages: English, Japanese
Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1, Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1
Video: 576i Standard Definition in PAL format with 16:9 ratio
Region: 2
Subtitles: English, French
Locked Subtitles: Yes
Discs: 1

Plot Synopsis (via Anime Limited):

“”If you ever meet anyone from the outside, you mustn’t fall in love. If you do, you’ll truly become alone”

For young Maquia, a member of the long-lived and practically immortal Iorph race, this warning from the tribe’s elder seems both confusing and irrelevant. When the Iorph are attacked by those who wish to take their powers of longevity for themselves, Maquia finds herself fleeing her home and venturing into the outside world for the first time.

As a result of her escape, Maquia comes across an orphaned baby and, taking pity on him, decides to raise him. So begins a journey of discovery through the ages which gives weight to the elder’s words, as time moves on and Maquia’s world is changed irreversibly by the many meetings and partings which cross her path.”

Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:

Japanese Trailer
French Trailer
United Kingdom Trailer

DVD On-Disc Extra Features:

Japanese Trailer
French Trailer
United Kingdom Trailer

Collector’s Edition Extras:

88-page Booklet
Fold-out Poster

Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms is available to own on Blu-ray and DVD from Anime Limited.