This month Central Park Media has announced a number of innovative marketing moves including an 'Industry First' Anime Test Drive promotion. This fall CPM will release six different Anime Test Drive DVDs, which will come packaged in a clear THINpak case and will retail for only $7.99. The Anime Test Drive DVDs include the first couple of episodes from some of CPM's best-selling series as well as a $10 mail-in rebate coupon that can be used if the consumer buys the corresponding DVD box sets. The six Anime Test Drive DVDs are: Legend of Himiko, Now and Then, Here and There, Record of the Lodoss War: Chronicles of the Heroic Knight, Patlabor The Mobile Police: The TV Series, The Ping-Pong Club, and the Maze TV Series. CPM has reduced its prices on the corresponding box sets: Legend of Himiko DVD Collection (300 minutes, $69.99); Now and Then, Here and There DVD Collection (325 minutes, $69.99); Record of the Lodoss War: Chronicles of the Heroic Knight DVD Collection (620 minutes, $69.99); Patlabor The Mobile Police: The TV Series DVD Collection (440 minutes, $99.99); The Ping-Pong Club DVD Collection (700 minutes, $89.99), and the Maze TV Series DVD Collection (600 minutes, $69.99).
In another innovative maneuver, CPM plans to issue the Alien Nine Ultimate Collection in October, just in time for Halloween. The box set will include the Alien Nine DVD and all three Alien Nine graphic novels (with story and art by Hitoshi Tomizawa). The DVD contains sequences that further explain the story, while the graphic novels continue the story beyond the scope of the DVD narrative. The Alien Nine Ultimate Collection has a suggested retail price of $59.99 and includes the DVD plus three volumes of Alien Nine manga in the now popular 5' x 7.5' size, formatted in the Japanese manner, right-to-left.
This fall CPM is also starting the process of re-issuing a number of its popular manga series in the 5' x 7.5' format at the $9.99 price point. The series involved include: Call Me Princess, Nadesico, Aquarium, and Dark Angel, as well as the new series Popcorn Romance by Tomoko Taniguchi.