Pioneer Anime DVD Announcements

Pioneer has officially announced release dates for Hand Maid May and NieA_7. Both titles will premier on August 14th with 4 episodes on the initial volume. Hand Maid May will be released on bilingual dual layer DVD and dubbed VHS at $24.98 and $24.98 respectively. NieA_7 will be a single layer DVD exclusive with a retail price of $29.98, and each DVD volume will include a limited edition paper character standee while supplies last. Hand Maid May had 10 broadcast episodes and an 11th home video only episode. The 13 episode NieA_7 was produced by Triangle Staff, the studio responsible for Lain and Boogiepop Phantom. Pioneer describes each show in this way:

Hand Maid May: Maid to Order (Volume 1)
Nanbara is furious! Nanbara, the self-absorbed, pompous, overbearing villain of our show has always resented Kazuya, the constantly distracted hero, and developed a virus to exact his ultimate revenge. Unfortunately, “revenge” became an accidental delivery of a 1-foot tall cyborg maid whose sweetness is only exceeded by her cheerfulness! Will Nanbara’s schemes of revenge ever become realized? Will Kazuya be able to pay the $1,450,000 bill? Join May and our new cast of lunatics for a wild ride to explore the cutting edge of computer peripherals…

Niea Under 7: Poor Girl Blues (Volume 1)
As a starving student, Mayuko’s life consists of many part-time jobs, a small apartment over a bathhouse, and sleepless study nights. Unfortunately for her sanity, this hard life is complicated by Niea. Niea is a young 7th class under-alien who is living in Mayuko’s closet, building flying saucers out of trash, eating Mayuko’s food and being a bum. Compared to this stress, the man-eating plants and the curry wars are nothing…