At Anime Expo 2026, AnimEigo and parent company MediaOCD announced a handful of titles set for release next year. And one of them has been desired for a long time. And for fans of the Bubblegum Crisis saga, it’s about time The AD Police Files is getting a Blu-ray release.
No, we are not talking about the television series. Instead, it’s the three original video animations that predate Bubblegum Crisis. So the story goes, it seems some of the original material was lost, and it was impossible to remaster back then. But now, with someone discovering what’s needed to finally get it done, it now is! And who knows, maybe afterward, there may be a Mega Tokyo Mega Set that packages them all. While that’s hard to say if that will happen, this fan wants to be hopeful.
But there’s more than just one announcement. The two companies also said they will be releasing the following series to North America.
Sakon the Ventriloquist
26 episodes | Crime mystery
An Edo-era puppeteer travels Japan solving murders with the help of his wisecracking puppet. Written by Sharakumaro and illustrated by Death Note‘s Takeshi Obata, the source manga ran in Weekly Shonen Jump according to the release. It’s worth noting the series, titled Ningyo Zoushi: Ayatsuri Sakon in Japan, also lives on through Shonen Jump+, Shueisha’s digital platform.
And when Sakon plays puppetmaster, what’s presented may feel familiar, perhaps even The Twilight Zone. Once he manipulates Ukon, a finely crafted doll dating back to the early Meiji era, his personality flips into someone sharp, deductive, and fearless enough to crack the case. It’s less “ventriloquist solves crimes” and more a Jekyll-and-Hyde setup wearing a period mystery costume. That framing alone makes this one worth a look, even outside the murder mystery crowd.
Drucker in the Dugout (Moshidora)
10 episodes | Production I.G
This series isn’t like Slam Dunk. Instead, it’s about Minami Kawashima, who manages a baseball team using Peter Drucker’s management theory to whip her teammates into shape. What makes this series matter is how it shows success as more than a simple reward. When Yuki, the team captain, is hospitalized due to illness, Minami takes over as a favour and chases her own dream of helping this group reach the nationals.
What began as a blog post by Natsumi Iwasaki on Hatena Diary in July 2008 quickly picked up interest. It was fast-tracked into an anime series, and a live-action film soon followed. To say Japan loves baseball goes without saying. It may not have started there, but the sport became an international phenomenon long ago.
AD Police Files
3-episode OVA | First-ever 4K restoration
Curiously, this prequel to Bubblegum Crisis never had a proper Blu-ray release. There was an attempt before, but at the time, not everything was available to make such a remaster possible. Now, hope has been restored, and Leon McNichol’s story can finally be told in better form.
Viewers follow what this rookie cop faces alongside his partner, Jeena. In part one, a fellow officer dies, and finding the cause becomes a problem. In the second episode, an android has gone rogue, and she’s not easy to take down. As for the third, another officer is given a second chance at life in a way that may remind viewers of RoboCop. This is a collection a lot of fans have been waiting for, and who knows, maybe there can finally be a megaset that brings together all the side stories into one MegaTokyo collection.
House of Five Leaves
12 episodes | Tomomi Mochizuki
Based on Natsume Ono’s manga Sarai-ya Goyou, which ran in Shogakukan’s Monthly IKKI from 2006 to 2010, this series offers a different look at samurai-era culture. Akitsu Masanosuke is a ronin, but can he get what he wants? After losing his job with one master, he’s hired by another. On the surface, this new group is little better than petty thieves. But when a mystery surrounds why they are known as the Five Leaves, Masanosuke starts investigating.
Baby & I (or Baby and Me)
35 episodes | Directed by Takahiro Omori
This slice-of-life drama follows how Takuya Enoki keeps going after the loss of his mother. Life with his father is tough, and what’s witnessed here concerns a child forced to grow up fast. Not only does he have to take care of his two-year-old brother, but he also has to show what it means to become the man of the house far too soon.
