Due to the small number of items, I decided to combine the months of April and May together. The journey to acquire a new job is still taking its time, but at least I was able to acquire a few rare anime along the way.
For this update, we have 1 video game, 5 anime titles, and 1 live-action Asian cinema title.
April 2019
#01 | Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody
The first anime of April was a delayed anime order. Death March came out in March 2019 and I initially ordered it through United Publications, however, Funimation never sent them any stock because it actually went out of print already. So I had to re-order it through Amazon US which eventually shipped and arrived at the beginning of the month.
Death March is an isekai series that’s not for everyone, but I liked it enough to go for the limited edition release. It’s got some nice artwork throughout.
#02 | Ringu
Arrow Video recently released the classic 1998 Japanese horror film back in March, and I actually did intend on getting the limited edition trilogy box set. I decided to switch in favour of the standard edition version of the first film as I wasn’t sure if I wanted to pay lots for the box set (plus the first film is more well-known than the others after it).
I did enjoy the film a lot, in fact, the ending caught me way off guard even though it was the big thing throughout the entire franchise and even in the J-Horror & film community. At the time of this post, Arrow has yet to provide standard editions for the sequels and if they do I’ll pick them up.
#03 | Perfect Blue Ultimate Edition (2019 Blu-ray Remaster)
Anime Limited released another Perfect Blue set once again. This time it’s an Ultimate Edition set that comes with a storyboard covering the entire film, the original soundtrack, and a brand new transfer. I liked Perfect Blue when I watched it, back in 2013 which oddly enough was my first Anime Limited purchase, and while this release doesn’t have the best transfer it does, however, amend the technical issues that plagued the previous release (such as audio options being the wrong way around and the subtitles being messy).
Considering I got this for the early bird price of £59.99 I would say as a fan I got some value out of it. It’ll go on sale every now and then on Zavvi, and if it does I recommend waiting for that to happen.
#04 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel
Amazon sent me a £5 coupon code which unfortunately only worked on items sold directly from Amazon and not third-party sellers nor sellers that were fulfilled by Amazon. Eventually, I decided on Trails of Cold Steel, Falcom’s JRPG that was once expensive to acquire is now available at a decent price on PS4 with added stuff none the less. I won’t be playing it just yet, as you need knowledge of Trails of the Sky’s arc beforehand (for added context with the world’s lore).
May 2019
#01 | High School DxD HERO
The first item of May 2019 is the return of High School DxD with the show’s fourth season. Considering how the previous three seasons sold out it was no surprise for me to pre-order this beforehand, and it’s a good thing that I had done that because it’s already sold out.
This release from Funimation is, in my opinion, one of their best, primarily because there’s enough content to make up for the suggested retail price. Previous sets had like one or two added things while this has a couple more. It’s a great package for the fans of the franchise.
#02 | 5 Centimeters Per Second
While I was in town with a friend I found a copy of Makoto Shinkai’s 5 Centimeters per Second. The Blu-ray version for this film for some reason is no longer in print and if I had to suspect why this had happened, chances are their license was running out.
Regardless this release is a replica of the Discotek Media version and the UK case even comes with a reversible cover which is a nice addition to the set. This film is also one of the titles I initially pirated many years ago so it’s nice to finally have a solid physical copy to support the industry.
#03 | Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Part 2
The last item of the haul is the second half of Re:ZERO. This release is the special shop exclusive version that comes with a box to house both collector’s edition parts. It sold out surprisingly fast and there were 1000 units printed for this particular version. The collector’s edition itself still has another 1000 or so units left but it won’t have the box.
The show is great and this transfer uses the correct masters after Funimation were sent poor transfers from Japan, which Anime Limited eventually used for their release. Anime Limited is working on a replacement for Part 1 but there’s been no word since.
Additional Notes
That’s every item I received during the month of April and May. My job search has been going fine, managed to get another 4 interviews so far but unfortunately, a couple of them never got back to me which is not pleasing whatsoever.
I have pre-ordered Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online Part 1 which may ship out sometime in June. In addition, it is also my Birthday month so I’m hoping to have some items to make up for it. The currency rate has been getting pretty weak for US imports so I’m undecided on whether to import, to be honest.
The Normanic Vault 