Angel’s Egg 4K Remaster Gets a Companion Art Book by Oshii

Publishing company Two Virgins has announced it will release Angel’s Egg: The Visual Collection, a companion art book tied to the upcoming 4K remaster of the 1985 original video anime Angel’s Egg, created by Mamoru Oshii and Yoshitaka Amano. The book ships on November 26.

The collection will feature 100 short poems and epigrams newly written by Oshii himself, printed in both Japanese and English. Each piece accompanies one of 100 selected stills from the 4K remaster, giving the book a visual and literary depth that mirrors the film’s own quiet strangeness. The book will also include a detailed 100-question interview with Oshii. The dimensions of the book replicate the film’s original aspect ratio, making it a wide oblong shape. It will be printed entirely in color with a polyurethane reactive binding. The standard softcover edition is priced at 3,960 yen (around US$27 including tax). A limited special hardcover edition signed by Oshii is also planned, with pricing and sales venue to be announced separately.

The 4K remaster of Angel’s Egg will have its Japanese theatrical debut at Dolby Cinemas on November 14, followed by a wider national rollout on November 21. The remaster has already had a busy festival run: it received its world premiere at the Cannes International Film Festival’s Cinéma de la Plage in May, then screened at Fantastic Fest in Austin in September and at the 63rd New York Film Festival in the Revivals section. Beyond Fest in Los Angeles hosted its U.S. West Coast premiere on October 5, and Spain’s Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival screened it during its October run.

GKIDS will screen the 4K remaster in North America beginning November 19 and will also release it on home video. The remaster is drawn from a new scan of an original 35mm film negative. HBO Max is adding Angel’s Egg to its catalog through a partnership with GKIDS. Tokuma Shoten announced the remaster in May 2024, and France-based Gebeka International acquired worldwide sales rights at the same time.

The original Angel’s Egg OVA debuted in Japan in 1985. Oshii directed the film at Studio DEEN from a story he conceived with Amano, who also handled art direction. Yoshihiro Kanno composed the music.

My take: Angel’s Egg is one of those films that stays with you long after watching, and the idea of Oshii writing 100 poems specifically to accompany its visuals is the kind of deeply personal project that feels entirely right for this work. The art book sounds like something special.