Porco Rosso headed to Blu-ray in Japan

This summer, Studio Ghibli fans in Japan will not only be celebrating the theatrical premiere of Hayao Miyazaki's new film Kaze Tachinu, but also the Blu-ray release of his 1992 classic Porco Rosso (Kurenai no Buta).



Japanese Blu-ray cover art

Set for a release date of July 17, 2013 in Japan, the title is currently available for pre-order on Amazon.jp, among other online vendors.

Although typically released in pairs, Porco Rosso is, thus far, the only title announced for release this summer.  It is possible that an additional title was planned to be paired with Porco Rosso, possibly one from Isao Takahata, to coincide with the release of his next feature film Kaguya-hime no Monogatari, originally scheduled to premiere alongside Miyazaki's new film.  However, now that Kaguya-hime no Monogatari has been pushed back for a release this fall, any plans to release one of Takahata's older films on Blu-ray has probably also been delayed.

With a little luck, fans in North America can expect to see a Porco Rosso Blu-ray release from Walt Disney Studios around this time next year, possibly alongside Kiki's Delivery Service (Majo no Takkyūbin).  Disney seems to favor May as a release month for the Studio Ghibli titles, so we'll just have to wait (a year) and see!