The Canadian release of Mamoru Hosoda’s The Boy and the Beast has been a bit mysterious. First we heard the news that while Funimation held the US rights to the film, they didn’t have the distribution rights to Canada. That almost never happens. Then we found out that Toronto’s Mongrel Media had picked up the film for a late May theatrical and on-demand release. I’ve managed to get in touch with Mongrel to clear up any unanswered questions.

The film will open theatrically in select Canadian markets on May 27th. The confirmed cities are Calgary (Globe Cinema), Edmonton (Metro Cinema at the Garneau), Halifax (Cineplex Park Lane), Saskatoon (Roxy Theatre), Toronto (Cineplex Yonge-Dundas), Ottawa (The Mayfair Theatre) and Vancouver ( venue to be confirmed Rio Theatre). These screenings will be presented in Japanese with English subtitles.

If you’re unable to make those runs, or you just prefer to watch movies at home, you can get the jump on theatre goers as the film will be available digitally on May 24th. Confirmed platforms include iTunes, Google Play, Microsoft Movies & TV and the PlayStation Store. Language track availability may differ depending on the outlet, though iTunes has been confirmed to include all options.



What are those language options? Well, I’ve been saving that for the last component of Mongrel Media’s release: the company’s physical home video launch. Available on June 7th (the same date as Funimation’s US home video release), Mongrel will put out The Boy and the Beast on DVD and Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital (code redemption through Google Play) combo pack. Both will include the Japanese audio track with matching English and French subtitles, as well as Funimation’s English dub and Gaumont’s French dub of the movie. If you’re into your audio, you’ll be pleased to know the DVD will be presented in 5.1 Dolby Digital, while the Blu-Ray will be in 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. Amazon’s already got the DVD and Blu-Ray Combo Pack up for preorder.

The film will also launch through On Demand providers on June 7th. Same language availability as the download platforms.

That answers everything, right?

Update: Anime News Network’s report on the release confirms the Vancouver location, as well as an Ottawa screening.

Shifting gears onto something completely different, Toei Animation has announced the main cast for its English dub of the World Trigger anime, and they’re Canadian! When was the last time you’ve heard a Canadian anime dub for something that wasn’t aimed exclusively at kids (Future Card Buddyfight, Beyblade, LBX, etc.) or was a continuation of an older project (InuYasha: The Final Act, Black Lagoon: Roberta’s Blood Trail)? Yeah, I can’t remember either.

Brian Doe as Osamu Mikumo

Cathy Weseluck as Yuma Kuga

Caitlyn Barstow as Chika Amatori

Andrew Francis as Yuiji Jin

Marco Soriano as Replica

World Trigger begins when a mysterious gate to another world is opened in Mikado City, letting invaders from another dimension called “Neighbors” overrun the area.A new defense league called “Border” is created in order to protect the City from these apparitions. The fighters are equipped with an amazing weapon called “Trigger” allowing them to put on an armor and use special powers. The story takes place four years after those events, when a young student, Yuma Kuga, arrives at Mikado City. He witnesses, along with another student Osamu Mikuno, a portal opening. To fight the creature, Osamu finds himself forced to reveal his affiliation to the Border and pulls his Trigger out. When Osamu is injured, Yuma joins the fight and saves him. Yuma turns out to be very powerful! Who is really Yuma? Why did he come to Mikado City?

Toei’s adaptation of Daisuke Ashihara’s World Trigger manga premiered on TV Asahi in October 2014. While the source material is still being serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump, the show concluded earlier this month with its 73rd episode. Toei originally announced the English dub last summer, but given that was only a pilot-ish order of six-seven episodes, there was no guarantee they’d keep the Canadians if they’d do the full thing.

So far every cast member is from Vancouver, but don’t be surprised if you hear some Alberta voices in there too. Some recent western Canadian anime dubs, like LBX and B-Daman Fireblast, have had a shared cast between Ocean’s Vancouver talent and Blue Water’s Calgary/Edmonton pool.

No word on how the dub will be distributed.

Is this enough to make you care about World Trigger?