Anchor Bay Entertainment has acquired the U.S. rights to First Squad, an award-winning animated feature with a supernatural World War II storyline.  It’s directed by Yoshiharu Ashino (Pokemon:  Jirachi-Wish Maker) and produced by Molot Films and Studio 4C, which produced Tekkonkinkreet and oversaw the Animatrix. 

First Squad will be released on DVD and Blu-ray later this summer.  Anchor Bay Entertainment also includes the Manga Entertainment brand; the company has not announced the imprint for the release. 

The First Squad story, written by Misha Sprits and Aljosha Klimov, is set on the Eastern front in the opening days of World War II.  A group of Soviet teens with extraordinary abilities are preparing to fight the invading German army, which is attempting to raise a supernatural army from the dead to battle for its cause. 

The film has traveled the international festival circuit, and won Best Animated Feature at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards and the Kommersant Newspaper’s Prizes at the Moscow International Film Festival.