AnimEigo Licenses Five Anime for 2027 Blu-ray Releases
The announcement brings several titles that have been out of print for years back into circulation, with Welcome to Irabu's Office receiving its first North American home video release and Dog of Flanders: The Movie getting a 4K restoration that preserves both its original and English-dubbed versions.
Key Facts
- AnimEigo announced five anime licenses at its Otakon 2026 panel on Friday, all planned for Blu-ray release in 2027.
- Dog of Flanders: The Movie will receive a 4K restoration in late 2027 featuring both the uncut original and the edited Pioneer English dub with Robert Loggia.
- ReLIFE will be released as a new edition combining the 13-episode television series and four-episode OVA with subtitled and dubbed versions.
- Welcome to Irabu's Office will receive its first North American home video release, with AnimEigo producing an English dub.
- Ruin Explorers: Fam & Ihrie, the four-part 1995 OVA directed by Takeshi Mori, will get an HD restoration.
Reporting from 2 sources: Anime News Network, OtakuKart Anime.
AnimEigo announced five new home video licenses during its Otakon 2026 panel on Friday, all slated for Blu-ray release in 2027. The slate spans multiple genres and includes both previously released titles and a North American home video debut. Antique Bakery, the 12-episode 2008 adaptation of Fumi Yoshinaga's manga, will arrive on Blu-ray in 2027. Dog of Flanders: The Movie, the 1997 remake of the 1975 series, will receive a 4K restoration in late 2027 featuring both the uncut original and the edited Pioneer English dub with Robert Loggia. ReLIFE, the 2016 comedy series based on Yayoiso's manga, will get a new edition combining its 13-episode television run and four-episode OVA with subtitled and dubbed versions. Ruin Explorers: Fam & Ihrie, the four-part 1995 OVA directed by Takeshi Mori, will receive an HD restoration. Welcome to Irabu's Office, the 2009 Noitamina series directed by Kenji Nakamura at Toei Animation, will be released in North America on home video for the first time, with AnimEigo producing an English dub.
AnimEigo's Otakon 2026 panel revealed a five-title slate that mixes previously distributed works with a long-unavailable series. Several of these titles have cycled through other distributors over the years: Right Stuf and Nozomi Entertainment handled Antique Bakery on DVD in 2011 and 2014, Geneon Entertainment released Dog of Flanders: The Movie on DVD in 2000, and ADV Films put out Ruin Explorers on DVD in 2000 and 2004 before Maiden Japan released it again in 2013.
The ReLIFE edition will combine the 13-episode series with its four-episode OVA finale, which originally shipped on Blu-ray and DVD in Japan in 2018. The series first debuted in full on the Comico app in June 2016 before its Japanese television broadcast the following month. Welcome to Irabu's Office, adapted from Hideo Okuda's short story collection, reunites director Kenji Nakamura with character designer Takashi Hashimoto, who previously worked together on Ayakashi: Samurai Horror Tales and Mononoke. Australian distributor Siren Visual previously released that series on DVD in February 2011, but it never received a North American release until now.
- Antique Bakery: 12-episode 2008 series, Blu-ray in 2027
- Dog of Flanders: The Movie: 1997 film, 4K restoration in late 2027 with uncut original and Pioneer English dub
- ReLIFE: 13-episode series plus four-episode OVA, new edition with subtitled and dubbed versions
- Ruin Explorers: Fam & Ihrie: Four-part 1995 OVA, HD restoration in 2027
- Welcome to Irabu's Office: 2009 Noitamina series, first North American home video release, new English dub
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 2 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.