It’s a very strong week for home entertainment releases, led by J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens that also includes the latest season of Doctor Who and The Expanse plus the brilliant comedy series Episodes, and a bevy of great anime titles including a new Ghost in the Shell movie and an Attack on Titan OVA created by the same team that made the AoT TV series.

Theatrical Releases

This week’s top release is J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Disney, “PG-13,” 137 min., BD/DVD Combo $39.99), which just happens to hold the all-time domestic box office record (not adjusted for inflation).  Abrams’ film has been criticized for recycling too many elements from the original trilogy, but the important point (and the element that connected with audiences) that such criticism misses is that Abrams’ managed to recapture the spirit and tone of the original films, integrate cast members from the original series with a talented group of newcomers, and deliver an extremely entertaining (if just a bit too familiar) space opera. 

Just as no major studio had the temerity to open a major film opposite Batman v. Superman, there are no successful, or even moderately successful, movies willing to do battle with The Force Awakens on the home entertainment front.  The thriller Mojave (Lionsgate, “R,” 93 min., $19.98, BD $24.98) is a misfire that was written by William Monahan (The Departed), which in spite of the best efforts of a talented cast led by Oscar Isaacs, only had “a cup of coffee” in theaters and could manage only a 31% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

TV on DVD

The top release in this category is Doctor Who: The Complete Series 9 (BBC, 585 min., $79.98, BD $89.98), which includes all 11 episode from the ninth season of the revived Doctor Who (and the 35th season of the series as a whole).  Series 9 is the second one to feature Peter Capaldi (the 12th Doctor) and the third and final one to star Jenna Coleman as the Doctor’s companion Ciara Oswald.  Producer Stephen Moffat wrote four episodes for this series and co-wrote an additional two with the benefit that this series’ overriding arc about the mysterious Hybrid fits seamlessly into the individual episode narratives.

For fans of hard-hitting crime drama’s this week’s top release might just be Banshee: The Complete Third Season (HBO, 600 min., $39.99, BD $49.99), which contains all ten episodes of the penultimate season of the saga of a strange ex-con who takes over the identity of the murdered sheriff of a small Pennsylvania town.

But for those who love comedies, this week’s top offering is definitely Episodes: The 4th Season (Showtime, 256 min., $29.98), the hilarious series about a British husband and wife team of comedy writers who go to Hollywood to write an American version of their hit UK TV series.  Behind-the-scenes satire doesn’t get much better than this show, which skewers the affectations of Hollywood with deadly accuracy and inside savvy.

And then there is The Expanse: Season 1 (Universal, 428 min., $39.98, BD $49.98), the Syfy space opera based on the novels of James S.A. Corey that blends science fiction elements with a real “film noir” detective story arc that features Thomas Jane (The Punisher) as a police detective uncovering a vast conspiracy in a future in which mankind has colonized the solar system.

Other shows of interest include the period supernatural series created by Brandon Braga (Star Trek) Salem: The Complete 2nd Season (Fox, 540 min., $29.95), the first season of the sitcom revival, The Odd Couple: Season 1 (Paramount, 257 min., $36.98), which is still trying to find its groove, the Hulu comedy series directed by Jason Reitman, Casual: Season 1 (Lionsgate, 262 min., $29.98), the cutthroat business comedy House of Lies: The 4th Season (Showtime, 332 min., $29.98), and the short-lived 2006-2008 “partially-scripted” TBS series 10 Items or Less: The Complete Series (Mill Creek, $14.98).

Vintage series due out this week include NYPD Blue: The Complete 9th Season (Shout Factory, 1050 min., $34.99), which contains 21 episodes that aired in starting in November of 2001, and which reflected the momentous events that occurred in NYC that year, and the final season of the adult animated Comedy Central sitcom Brickleberry: The Complete 3rd Season (Fox, 286 min., $29.95).

 Anime

This week’s top release is Ghost in the Shell: The New Movie (Funimation, $29.95, BD/DVD Combo $34.95), the 2015 movie from Production I.G. that is based on the Ghost in the Shell: Arise story arc, which aired as 4 TV movies in Japan in 2015.  Of course the source material for all the various iterations of Ghost in the Shell is Masamune Shirow’s groundbreaking cyber-thriller manga.  In the near future world of Ghost in the Shell: The New Movie, Major Kusanagi’s Section 9 team investigates the assassination of Japan’s Prime Minister.  Ghost in the Shell remains one of the most popular anime properties here in the States because of the consistent quality of the Ghost in the Shell productions, and The New Movie, which is the first theatrical GIS film since Stand Alone Complex: Solid State Society in 2006.

Also of paramount interest is the Attack on Titan: Vol. 18 Manga With “No Regrets” Part 1 (Kodansha/Funimation, Subtitles Only, 30 min., $19.99), which not only includes the latest volume (in North America) of the hugely popular manga series, but also the first of two OVAs that were produced by the same staff that created the Attack on Titan TV series that were released in 2014 and 2015.  The second OVA episode will be released with Vol. 19 of the manga on August 2, 2016.

The best week of anime releases in 2016 so far continues with Parasyte-The Maxim: Collection 1 (Sentai Filmworks, 300 min., $59.98, BD $69.98, BD/DVD Combo Ltd Ed. $139.98), which collects the first 12 episodes of the 2014-15 Madhouse series that is based on Hitoshi Iwaaki’s brilliant science fiction/horror manga (originally published here by Tokyopop, and now by Kodansha).  The entire 24-episode series was simulcast by Crunchyroll, and aired on the Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim as well.

If those titles weren’t enough, Tuesday will also see the release of Naruto Shippuden Uncut: Set 26 (Viz Media, 300 min., $44.82), which includes episodes 323 to 335 of the long-running anime adaptation of Masashi Kissimoto’s ninja manga.  There are no filler episodes in this collection, which continues the anime’s “Fourth Great Ninja War” story arc.

Plus there is Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, Part 2 (Right Stuf, 625 min., $59.99, BD $74.99), which includes episodes 26-50, the second half of Yoshiyuki Tomino’s 1985 mecha series—a mecha classic that has been unavailable here in any form since Bandai Entertainment went belly up in 2012.

For fans of Lupin the Third there is Lupin the Third: Jigen’s Gravestone (Discotek, $19.95, BD $24.95), which contains the 2014 anime film directed by Takeshi Koike, a director and illustrator whose work has been influenced by Frank Miller and Mike Mignola.

Other anime releases due on Tuesday include a Bluray edition of the Rail Wars: Complete Collection (Sentai Filmworks, Subtitles Only, BD $59.98), plus a re-priced edition of the Sakura Wars: Complete Collection (Sentai, $29.98).