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As someone who does not even own a Blu-ray player, it might seem weird for me to get so excited over a Blu-ray release, but cool news is cool news. Yes, folks, Katsuhiro Otomo's groundbreaking 1988 anime Akira is coming to Blu-ray next year.

One of quotes I remember most from Spaced is one where Tim (Simon Pegg) bails on his promise to take Daisy (Jessica Hynes) to a screening of Akira. "We can watch it on video." "You're the one who's always going on about having to see it on the big screen." "So we'll just sit closer to the telly."

Yes, if you have the chance, Akira deserves to be seen in a movie theater (and there are opportunities for that), but if you have an HDTV, a home theater set up and a PS3, you're all set. If not, well, go join your local otaku club, I guess.

AnimeNewsNetwork reports that the Blu-ray release of Akira will hit US shelves on February 24th, 2009.

The finalized disc will have 124 minutes on one side in two layers. The video will be in MPEG-4 AVC format with 16:9 aspect ratio and 1080p resolution. The Japanese soundtrack will be in both Dolby TrueHD 5.1-channel sound (24 bit/192 kHz) and linear PCM Dolby Surround. The English soundtrack will be in 5.1-channel sound. Both Japanese and English subtitles will be included, as well a special booklet, the teaser and standard trailers, and a video storyboard collection.

I know a lot of the more hardcore anime enthusiasts like to claim that Akira is overrated and that the reason it's so well-regarded is because it's the movie that first introduced serious anime to Western audiences. Sorry, but that's crap. Akira has one of the most memorable third acts, influencing countless works that came after, and anyone can see how meticulously and beautifully animated that movie was. The visuals alone grant it position as a landmark anime. And it's going to look sweet on HD.

Now let's see if I give in to Sony by February.

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