April 18, 2005 - Even though the UMD format is still in the early stages of its life, with just a handful of dedicated video releases in Japan and America, Bandai Visual is already set to try out a new distribution technique. While all UMD video releases until now have been standalone products, Bandai Visual has an industry-first DVD/UMD bundle planned for the home release of its new Eureka Seven anime.

The first volume of Eureka Seven, containing fifty minutes of video across two episodes of the show, will be released to the Japanese market on 7/22/2005. Bandai has two packages planned. One, a DVD-only package, will cost 3,990 yen. The other package, called the "UMD Special Pack," combines a DVD and UMD together as one for the price of 5,250 yen. The bundle is meant to allow fans of the show to watch both when in the home and on the road.

Following the initial release of the first volume, Bandai Visual plans to release the rest of the series in volumes containing four episodes, with one volume arriving every month. Pricing for these releases will be 8,190 yen for the UMD Special Pack and 6,300 yen for the DVD version.

Eureka Seven is, incidentally, also being converted to a videogame for the PS2.

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