Anime Beyond Adventure: 'Moonlight Mile' on Sale

Embarking on an adventure requires more than a passion for the life-changing, a desire to challenge the limits of human endurance, and the goal of naïvely doing all that has never been done before… to embark on an adventure requires one to satiate his competitive nature, by tip-toeing around danger every so often, living for the drama, politics, and otherworldly longing that results.

In the Japanese animated television series Moonlight Mile, two men quest for the highest of highs, venturing out into space, only recently becoming bored with the passé daredevilism of mountain climbing.

In Moonlight Mile, Goro Saruwatari and Jack "Lostman" Woodbridge are competitive buddies whom although from far different backgrounds -- one is a construction worker and the other is a naval aviator -- each share the drive to take a risk. Chiefly challenging one another to mountain climbing feats every so often, Goro and Lostman are two gritty characters who stop for nothing on their way to the top. But having recently ascended Everest, the two men are left feeling a little bit empty. Is there any higher point to ascend? And then it occurs to them that there is one: the moon and beyond.

Meshing the genres of science-fiction and political drama with care, Moonlight Mile subsequently identifies all of the realistic elements that come into play for two adventurers to get their hands on a rocket, and jettison into space. For Goro and Lostman, it also doesn't help matters that a pricey new element has been discovered in outer space, and now everyone is heading out that way. Throwing caution to the wind and searching for a way through the highs and lows of action and intrigue associated with an international space race, the two aging men couldn't care less about who gets in their way.

With a heavy use of computer graphics to emphasize realistic action sequences, Moonlight Mile has already made its way to western anime fans, when ADV Films began releasing the series on individual discs in February and March last year.

However, since FUNimation Entertainment has taken over the licensing rights for the title, a new DVD Set release is already on its way. Already on sale, the two-disc, twelve-episode DVD Set of Moonlight Mile currently retails for $49.98.

Moonlight Mile is a human drama at heart, profiling the desperate, inspiring, and on frequent occasion, perverted motivations of the future adventurer. The anime series is rated TVMA no doubt in part for its strict adherence to these humanizing motifs. Animation production for Moonlight Mile was spearheaded by Studio Hibari, the group who successfully crafted the touching cross-gender drama, KashiMashi: Girl Meets Girl.

on FUNimation Entertainment: FUNimation Entertainment (www.FUNimation.com/MoonlightMile), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Navarre Corporation, is a leading company for home video sales of Japanese animation in the United States. FUNimation has a formula for launching and advancing brands, and manages a full spectrum of rights for most of its brands including broadcasting, licensing, production, internet, and home video sales and distribution.

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