Pony Canyon releasing "Honokaa Boy" on DVD with English subs

Soon after Atsushi Sanada’s Honokaa Boy premiered at Honoka’a People’s Theater in Hawaii back in February, I started getting an inordinate number of emails asking when this movie would be available on subtitled DVD (apparently the film went over really well on the big island). Obviously DVD specs hadn’t been finalized at the time because the film didn’t open in Japanese theaters until March 14th, but now comes word that Pony Canyon will be releasing the Japanese region 2 DVD in September with English subtitles included.

Shot on location in Honoka’a last October, the film revolves around a love-scorned Japanese college student named Leo (Masaki Okada) who travels to Hawaii where he finds work as an assistant projectionist at the Honoka’a People’s Theatre. He meets various people that have an impact on his life, not the least of which being an eccentric master chef named Bee (Chieko Baisho), an elderly woman with a zest for life. One day he meets a beautiful older woman named Mariah (Jun Hasegawa) whom he promptly falls for, leading to unexpected consequences.

Region 2, NTSC, 16:9 anamorphic widescreen, DVD-9, 2 discs. Japanese/English Dolby 5.1 audio with selectable English subtitles (main movie only). Bonus features include audio commentary and 80 minutes of additional featurettes (no subtitles).

Available at the following retailer(s) on September 16, 2009: