ADV Films has announced the July release of King of Bandit Jing, a Robin Hood-style saga that is based on the manga series by Yuchi Kumakura.  Jing is a bit more of a ladies man than the green-clad Saxon partisan of Sherwood Forest, and rather than a band of rowdy confederates, Jing travels with a wise-cracking, girl-crazy bird (an albatross, actually) sidekick.  Hiroshi Watanabe, who worked with Miyazaki on Kiki's Delivery Service, has directed King of Bandit Jing with great style and panache. ADV's first volume in this new DVD-only series contains four episodes (100 minutes) and has a suggested retail price of $29.98.  A special Collectors Edition, which is priced at $39.98, comes in a colorful art box that has room for all the volumes in the series.

Tokyopop will publish Yuchi Kumakura's original King of Bandit Jing manga series starting with Volume #1 in June.  With both the manga and anime series appearing almost simultaneously, the lighthearted, adventure-packed King of Bandit Jing is a property to watch.