So this month’s collection haul is rather abnormal than the others from the past couple of months, and most of that was down to my Birthday and the money I was given around it. Some titles I was expecting to arrive in July also ended up appearing in this month so that’s another factor.
For this update, we have 8 video games, 5 anime titles, 2 light novel volumes, 2 manga volumes, and 7 live-action Asian cinema titles.
#01 | Blue Spring, Burning, and Shoplifters
The first pickups of the month was a trip to HMV for more Asian cinema goodness. From distributor Third Window Films comes Blue Spring (青い春), a 2002 Japanese drama film from director Toshiaki Toyoda, based on Taiyō Matsumoto’s manga. The first print edition included a nice slipcover and it is region free (plus it’s the only Blu-ray version of the film last I heard).
From the distributor Thunderbird Releasing is a film that I was able to watch at my local cinema. Burning (버닝) is a 2018 South Korean drama film from director Lee Chang-dong. It is based on a short story written by Haruki Murakami via his The Elephant Vanishes book. This film came out a couple days before it so I waited for this moment to get both this and the other film also from the same distributor called Shoplifters (万引き家族), a 2018 Japanese drama film from director Hirokazu Kore-eda. I have yet to watch both Blue Spring and Shoplifters at the time of this post.
#02A | Before We Vanish and Terra Formars
Next after a few weeks of avoiding any in-store hauls (partially due to falling ill early on), I went to HMV once again because it was the 10th anniversary for Arrow Video, a UK distributor known for releasing cult films, horror, unique titles and of course some Japanese films.
They had a couple that I was interested in so I picked up Before We Vanish (散歩する侵略者), a 2017 Japanese sci-fi film from director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, and also Terra Formars (テラフォーマーズ), a 2016 Japanese sci-fi film from director Takashi Miike, based on Yū Sasuga’s manga. I have yet to watch both films but I have some prior knowledge of the Terra Formars franchise via the anime and first few volumes of the manga.
#02B | Siren Blood Curse, Tekken Hybrid, and Touch My Katamari
On the same day as the Arrow Video haul, I went to CeX as my initial plan was to pick up some more PlayStation Vita games. I actually hesitated because while the selection was huge, the pricing was higher than I had wanted for a lot of the titles, and a fair amount was available in better versions on other platforms (PC or PlayStation). In the end I chose Touch My Katamari which was a spin-off and exclusive title to the PlayStation Vita.
Along the way, I decided to break out of my shell in terms of my PlayStation 3 collection and expand beyond the 100 games by acquiring two more; Siren Blood Curse and Tekken Hybrid. Siren Blood Curse was one motivator in a similar way to how Folklore convinced me to pick up the original PS3 banner titles, it was basically pretty rare to acquire nowadays and I got a good price for it (manual is also included). Tekken Hybrid was also a similar case as I later discovered that Tekken Tag Tournament HD and Tekken Blood Vengeance could only be acquired through this physical PS3 collection (the game isn’t available digitally, and the anime CG film is only available on DVD outside of this release). I have finished Tekken Tag Tournament HD and Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Prologue, but I have yet to start the other two.
#03 | Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi and Steins;Gate Elite
Next, we have another Japanese import which I was actually supposed to order back in February until I lost my job. The game I picked up during Solaris Japan’s x10 loyalty points scheme week was Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi (戦国BASARA4 皇), and it was one of three games I wanted to pick up to build up the amount. Sumeragi is also one of the older PS4 games available so the sooner the better in terms of availability.
On the same day, Steins;Gate Elite had also arrived after it went on sale for a good price over at 365Games. I was initially going to get the limited edition but I decided against it due to the price itself, and considering how 428 lasted I figured sooner the better for this game also. I have yet to start both games at the time of this post, though I did take some screencaps for Sumeragi’s blog post.
#04 | Taiko no Tatsujin V Version and Utakumi 575
Alongside Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi, I ordered two more Japanese imports from Solaris Japan. These two are for the PlayStation Vita and while I ordered these later on they actually shipped out around the same time as the former. The two games are music rhythm titles Taiko no Tatsujin V Version (太鼓の達人 Vバージョン) and Utakumi 575 (うた組み575).
I managed to get the Platinum trophy for Taiko and am currently having a go through Utakumi 575. The latter is interesting due to its gameplay mechanic of having to match the correct musical lyric as well as hit the correct notes on the screen at the same time.
#05 | Birthday 2019 Haul
It’s my 24th birthday and I decided to go for a bit of a wide variety rather than focus solely on anime or video games. That’s right I got some more books and Asian cinema into the mix also.
For the Asian cinema section, we have the 2002 Japanese horror film Dark Water (仄暗い水の底から) from director Hideo Nakata, based on Koji Suzuki’s short story. This release was distributed by Arrow Video and also came with the first print booklet. Then we have the 2008 Japanese drama film Departures (おくりびと) from director Yōjirō Takita, which is loosely based on Coffinman, a memoir by Shinmon Aoki. This release was distributed by Arrow’s other label called Arrow Academy. This film has been with Arrow for many years so it came to my surprise that it has the first print booklet. Lastly, we have the 2002 Korean action thriller film Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (복수는 나의) from director Park Chan-wook, which is also part of the director’s vengeance film trilogy. It was distributed by Palisades Tartan. At the time of this post, I have yet to watch all three of these films.
For the anime section, we have Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex from Manga Entertainment. This is the standard edition 2018 release on Blu-ray with both seasons together. It’s been over half a decade since I last watched the first few episodes of Stand Alone Complex so I’m happy to finally go back and check out the rest of the series at some point.
For the light novel section, we have the first volume of the 2016 fantasy series Defeating the Demon Lord’s a Cinch (If You’ve Got a Ringer) from writer Tsukikage and distributed by Yen Press. Plus, we also have the first volume of the 2016 isekai fantasy series How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom from writer Dozeumaru and distributed by Seven Seas with the translation done by J-Novel Club.
For the manga section, we have the complete hardcover omnibus collection of the 1998 horror series Uzumaki from writer Junji Ito and distributed by Viz Media. In addition, I also received the first omnibus volume of the 2000 sci-fi horror series Gantz from writer Hiroya Oku and distributed by Dark Horse. Gantz’s omnibus compiles the first three volumes. I’ve actually read the first three volumes of Gantz online so I’m happy to finally own it and check out the rest of the story (even if it turns out bad).
And last but not least for the video game section, we have Yakuza 6: The Song of Life in its Essence of Art Edition release for PlayStation 4. This has been a long time coming, as I have pretty much every Yakuza game to date (outside of the original PS2 versions of the first two installments, though I own its HD remaster, and the PSP spin-offs).
#06 | Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online Part 1
Next, we have a title that is actually supposed to come out in July but it arrived early! Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online Part 1 is one of the best Anime Limited releases to date for not only having nice packaging and a solid price point but also uses the Aniplex masters which is an SSS rank in my books.
I’ve already watched Gun Gale Online but I really enjoyed it overall. It’s surprising as well because it’s not about survival but more so our main lead wanting to have fun and win a tournament with her companion and her friendly (or perhaps batshit insane) rival.
#07 | Armed Girls Machiavellism, Made in Abyss, and Princess Principal
And last but certainly not the least is something I honestly never thought of doing. That’s right I have decided to go for some MVM Entertainment collector’s sets. MVM as a distributor has been hit or miss on my books due to its history of bad packaging and quality control issues. Eventually, over time they improved and now they’re at the point where I have decided to put aside my differences and get some of their releases. I chose these three titles because they’re more affordable and have the offerings I would have for a toned down version of the overseas collector’s sets.
Sentai’s release of Armed Girls Machiavellism, Made in Abyss, and Princess Principal were all fancy and nice looking, but the price is a real killer and the current currency situation doesn’t help that case either. Thus I decided to get the MVM sets and they arrived much sooner than I had thought. Armed Girls Machiavellism is almost the exact same (it doesn’t have the stickers but I honestly don’t care for those), Made in Abyss matches the Madman release though it swaps the poster with some art cards, and Princess Principal drops the fat by focusing on the three books (in other words, no poster or coasters).
Of the three sets, Made in Abyss is the weakest of the bunch as I found the booklet to be weak in quality (mostly down to the images used were low res) though I have watched the series and I do recommend watching it regardless. The other two I have yet to check out but I am excited to check them out. Despite the logos of MVM & Madman being used on the discs, these are actually Sentai discs as it seems the geo-lock is still in-tact.
Additional Notes
That’s every item I received during the month of June. The job search is still on-going but I have been given enough support to last the whole of Summer at the very least. There’s enough to spare for any items to acquire in July and potentially August depending on what happens.
In terms of what you can expect for the month of July, both MIRAI and Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack from Anime Limited are expected to show up. Plus Super Robot Wars V from Play Asia and Bandai Namco’s Asian English branch is expected to appear very soon (probably on the same day as I post this update).
I also ordered the DanMachi OVA called Is it Wrong to Expect a Hot Springs in a Dungeon? from its original first print run to keep consistency with the franchise and plans to acquire Sword Oratoria pretty soon (and the sooner I get up-to-speed, the less hassle especially with Arrow of the Orion movie very likely to turn up later this year).
I actually was going to order How Not to Summon a Demon Lord, but Funimation delayed it to the end of October so it’s currently out of my range in the meantime. In return, I went for various items throughout June.
As you saw with the recent MVM pickups, I am tweaking my ‘to-acquire’ list in order to catch up on the anime and game releases. So Attack on Titan Seasons 2 & 3 limited editions will very likely be picked up via the UK versions as they are pretty much identical.
The Normanic Vault 