Bandai Visual USA Inc. today announced that it will be continuously screening Freedom, the first anime title to be released on HD DVD in North America, at Anime Expo 2007. The event takes place June 29-July 2 at the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, Calif.

The first two episodes of Freedom will play on a loop in a specially built 30-seat theatre located inside Bandai’s booth (#1605). Select screenings will also feature special live demonstrations of Web-enabled network functions contained in the DVD. Freedom Volume 1 also be available for purchase at the booth.

Freedom director Shuhei Morita and series planner Dai Sato (Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell: Stand-Alone Complex) will participate in a panel discussion on Friday, June 29, at 6 p.m. in Live Programming Room #1. Both Morita and Sato will be on-hand for the first screening on Saturday, June 30, at 10:20 a.m.

Fans who purchase Freedom Volume 1 and related products at the booth will be eligible to get their merchandise signed by Morita and Sato during an autograph session on Sunday, July 1 at 4:30 p.m.

The first of six volumes, Freedom Volume 1 will be simultaneously released in HD DVD and standard DVD in a twin format that offers an HD DVD layer and a DVD layer on a single side of one disc. Listing for $39.99, the title hit retail in Japan and the U.S. on June 26. While the release marks the North American debut of Freedom, the series has already seen more than 100,000 DVDs sold in Japan. It also won top honors at the Tokyo International Anime Fair 2007. See the official site (www.bandaivisual.us/freedom/) for more information and learn more about Anime Expo 2007 at www.anime-expo.org.