Bandai has announced a partnership with Image Entertainment Inc. (not to be confused with Image Comics) to produce limited collector’s edition box sets for the first two Patlabor movies. They actually sound pretty nice, coming with several actual books as well as the standard extras you’ve come to expect from these macked out editions. If you don’t want to pony up the cash that you know will be needed to own one of those puppies, they’ll also be re-releasing the films in a standard remastered format as well.

The initial terms of the distribution agreement call for Image to exclusively release both a newly remastered standard DVD version and a limited collector’s edition box set for each of two of the most highly regarded Japanese animation (“anime�) films ever produced in the history of the genre, Patlabor The Movie and Patlabor 2 The Movie. The street date for both versions of Patlabor The Movie will be April 25, 2006 followed by both versions of Patlabor 2 The Movie in the summer of ‘06. Additional titles are currently being discussed between the parties and will be added to the distribution agreement by amendment.

Bandai Visual USA, based in Torrance, California, will oversee the production, creative design and manufacturing of the programming released under this agreement with Image handling all North America sales, marketing and distribution responsibilities. The films will be released in North America under a newly formed Bandai Visual label called HONNEAMISE, named after the 1987 animation film that Bandai Visual first produced.

Bandai Visual USA is currently producing extra materials for the newly mastered DVD releases of Patlabor 1 and Patlabor 2. The limited collector’s editions will include such items as exclusive package illustrations by Yutaka Izubuchi, remastered 5.1 channel audio, new English-dubbed audio tracks, a making of documentary, Japanese trailers and TV commercials, the complete 300-page original storyboard drawn by the director Mamoru Oshii with English translation, and a second book which includes a full collection of past interviews, articles, artwork and drawings. The final release details of the Patlabor films will be made available early next year.

Animation