Penguin Highway (Collector’s Edition Blu-ray & DVD) Unboxing

Penguin Highway (ペンギン・ハイウェイ) is a 2018 theatrical anime film based on Tomihiko Morimi’s novel of the same name with illustrator Keito Yano. The film was adapted by Studio Colorido, and the staff credits include director Hiroyasu Ishida, writer Makoto Ueda, character designer Yōjirō Arai, and music composed by Umitarō Abe. The film was theatrically released in Japanese theaters in August 2018, distributed by TOHO Animation.

Note: This post has been updated in May 2024 to reflect the current blog layout and some minor tweaks to the original write-up.

Background:

“Aoyama is a boy in the 4th grade. Every day he learns about the world, and he writes what he’s learned into his notebook. He’s smart, and he studies hard every day, so there’s no telling how great he’ll grow up to be! He’s friends with “The Lady”, a young woman who works at his dentist’s office. The Lady finds his intelligence, his grown – up attitude, and the fact that he can be a bit of a brat to be very cute.

One day, penguins appear in the suburbs where Aoyama lives. These penguins appear out of nowhere far from the sea, and then simply disappear. Where did they come from and where did they go? Aoyama begins his research in order to solve the mysteries of the penguins.

One day he sees the Lady throw a can of soda into the air, and watches it transform into a penguin. As he stares in astonishment, the Lady gives him a challenge. “Try and solve this mystery. Well? Do you think you can do it?” What’s the relationship between the lady and the penguins? Can he solve the mystery? This is the story of a slightly mysterious and completely unforgettable summer experienced by a little boy”

Plot Synopsis via Anime Limited, March 2020.

Penguin Highway is the second major project from the animation studio after the release of their short film Typhoon Noruda, and also their first theatrical anime film. In case you didn’t know, author Tomihiko Morimi is known for writing The Eccentric Family and The Tatami Galaxy novels, so it’s great to see this film make its way to the western markets for festivals and theatrical screenings.

In the UK & Ireland, distributor Anime Limited acquired the rights and interestingly, they actually thought that Penguin Highway was a children’s film because they picked up very early in the process. The film is actually a bit more mature due to the main character’s unique taste and because there was a ‘sort-of’ identity crisis with the advertising, they decided not to opt for a nationwide theatrical and focused on festivals instead.

I was lucky enough to watch Penguin Highway at a local cinema who screened the film as part of the Japan Foundation Programme 2019 festival line-up. In the US & Canada, distributor Eleven Arts acquired the theatrical and home video rights and produced an English dub ahead of its theatrical release. Since they have a good relationship with Shout! Factory, it was also released on Blu-ray. which Shout! Factory eventually released on Blu-ray (and Nozomi Entertainment has plans for a limited edition set).

Speaking of which, Eleven Arts also worked with Rightstuf and their home video label Nozomi Entertainment for a special limited edition release that replicated the Japanese Blu-ray Disc Box set. However in an update, a couple months after Anime Limited’s release the limited edition was cancelled due to unfortunate circumstances but the artbooks included (one of which was not included in the UK release) were made available standalone.

Collector’s Edition Contents:

Penguin Highway received a pretty special collector’s edition release, which was probably helped by the fact that it was a newer anime film which was slowly gathering attention, as well as the staff behind the adaptation.

This release is presented with a rigid box containing an digipack housing the Blu-ray & DVD discs, in addition to a 300-page ‘Storyboard of Penguin Highway’ Book and a Certificate of Authenticity card. The book pretty much covers the whole film in storyboard format which is neat.

The artwork is free of any information or BBFC content and the info sheet covers the information and specification like previous Anime Limited releases. The collector’s edition Blu-ray was 1100 units printed for an SRP of £49.99. A standard Blu-ray was also released on the same day.

I pre-ordered the film from Anime Limited’s online store as I was a fan of the film and didn’t want to spend lots on the Nozomi limited edition release (which paid off as the latter was eventually cancelled).

Physical Contents:

• Rigid Box with Digipack packaging and clean artwork
• Info sheet for specification and BBFC description
• 300-page ‘Storyboard of Penguin Highway’ Book
• Certificate of Authenticity card

On-Disc Contents:

Distributor: Anime Limited
Released: 9th March 2020

The collector’s edition release for Penguin Highway contains the film on a single Blu-ray and DVD disc, with the encode & authoring done by Shout! Factory. The audio options available are Japanese with English subtitles and the SDI Media English dub commissioned by Eleven Arts with optional English HOH subtitles also available.

The white subtitles were locked during playback and the disc regions were accessible to Blu-ray players set to A & B but locked to DVD players set to 2.

Blu-ray Specs:

Languages	English, Japanese
Audio	English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Video	1080p High Definition Native format 2.19:1 aspect ratio
Region	A B
Subtitles	English, English HOH
Locked Subtitles	Yes
Discs	1 BD-50

DVD Specs:

Languages	English, Japanese
Audio	English Dolby Digital 5.1 Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1
Video	Standard Definition in NTSC format 2.19:1 aspect ratio
Region	2
Subtitles	English, English HOH
Locked Subtitles	No
Discs	1

Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:

• Director Hiroyasu Ishida Interview
• Author Tomihiko Morimi Interview
• Ishida Past Works Promotional Video
• Good Night Promotional Video

DVD On-Disc Extra Features:

• Director Hiroyasu Ishida Interview
• Author Tomihiko Morimi Interview
• Ishida Past Works Promotional Video
• Good Night Promotional Video

Unboxing Photos:

Final Notes:

Penguin Highway is available to purchase on Blu-ray by Anime Limited in the UK & Ireland. The collector’s edition Blu-ray release can be bought through Amazon UK, AllTheAnime Store and Anime-on-Line.

For the standard edition, it is also available across different retailers including Amazon UK, AllTheAnime Store, and Anime-on-Line.

(Disclaimer: Amazon links are also included when available. They are affiliated so if you decide to order them, I’ll earn a small percentage if they ship which will help me with any hauls or small bills.)