Welcome to the Otaku Collection haul for the month of April 2020. This update features 6 video games, 4 anime titles, 2 manga volumes, and 13 live-action Asian cinema titles.
As the global situation continues, I decided to put more emphasis on Asian Cinema and video games once again thanks to the Easter sales and a couple change of plans were in place. Delays for anime and manga also made an appearance.
#01 | I Want to Eat Your Pancreas
The first anime to arrive for the month of April is the Aniplex film I Want to Eat Your Pancreas which Manga Entertainment brought over to the UK. I acquired this through Amazon UK for a pretty good price so I decided to get it sooner than I had expected.
You can view more photos & specs for I Want to Eat Your Pancreas here.
#02 | Soul Eater
The second anime to arrive, Soul Eater, was ordered alongside Pancreas but for some reason didn’t get shipped until a little bit later so it arrived a day after the former did. Anywho I watched the first seven episodes back in 2013 and now I can finally finish the series thanks to the Manga Entertainment release that was recently brought over to the UK.
You can view more photos & specs for Soul Eater here.
#03 | Persona 5 Royal
The first of two video-game pre-orders which I don’t generally do these days. I loved Persona 5 enough to double dip for the Persona 5 Royal version which is basically the same game for the most part with some additional content and tweaks. Since I ordered it pretty late I chose Base for the lowest possible price and it arrived not long after everyone had received theirs.
You can view more photos & specs for Persona 5 Royal here.
#04 | Plus-Sized Elf vol. 2-3
These two manga volumes of Plus-Sized Elf were supposed to arrive in March but for some reason Amazon didn’t even ship them out until after the expected delivery date. Then I had missed a delivery with Hermes so I ended up waiting at the reception to try and catch it. Thankfully it did arrive and they were safe and sound. I have yet to read the first volume but when I saw these two going for a lower price than usual I decided to grab them sooner than later (especially as Seven Seas loves to make titles go out of print at random).
#05 | Final Fantasy VII Remake
The second of two pre-ordered video-games arrived a lot earlier than expected due to the global situation. Like Persona 5 Royal, I ordered Final Fantasy VII Remake very late through GAME and it still arrived early. Basically I wanted the steelbook and the only way to get it was through the Deluxe Edition. I did actually finish the game with 37 hours playtime (all side-quests completed also) and it was really good, though it has some minor issues like texture problems, camera being hit or miss, and padding in numerous parts but it was worth checking out. I did download the original Final Fantasy VII not long after which I also finished in April at 35 hours playtime as well.
You can view more photos & specs for Final Fantasy VII Remake here.
#06 | Crime Story and Dragons Forever
Next we have a few films featuring Jackie Chan from distributor 88 Films. I have known about these releases since late last year and I only decided to acquire Crime Story and Dragons Forever at the beginning of the month through Amazon UK. Out of nowhere I found out after receiving them that Crime Story had actually sold out of its first print run so I got pretty lucky on that.
You can view more photos & specs for Crime Story here and Dragons Forever here.
#07 | The 25th Ward: The Silver Case and Onechanbara Z2: Chaos
So eBay had a Nectar points offer which didn’t work with my account because I changed tab window, but regardless I was after a few more video-games that were released years ago but looked as though it were going up in price in recent times. The 25th Ward: The Silver Case has been on my list for as long as I could remember and since the seller had an offer if you buy 2 items, I chose Onechanbara Z2: Chaos to go alongside it.
#08 | Miracles: The Canton Godfather
Not long after I had received Crime Story and Dragons Forever, it came to my attention that another Jackie Chan film was going to sell out of its first print run, so I decided to order the other three films that 88 Films had released during late 2019 and early 2020. The first to arrive was Miracles: The Canton Godfather through Amazon UK which was still in the safe zone but better to get it sooner than later to play it safe. The plan was to get this next month but plans can change.
You can view more photos & specs for Miracles: The Canton Godfather here.
#09 | Saga of Tanya the Evil
Distributor MVM held an Easter sale where you can get 20% off on all items on their webstore and that included Manga Entertainment titles. While I used this opportunity to pay off Wise Man’s Grandchild (currently scheduled for May 2020), I didn’t want to spend too much during this sale due to its ‘pay immediately’ concept, so I decided to get Saga of Tanya the Evil since I liked the show during its simulcast.
You can view more photos & specs for Saga of Tanya the Evil here.
#10 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III and Utawarerumono: Zan
NIS America is very hit or miss on the treatment of physical releases, but for some reason The Legend of Heroes franchise just loves to not go down in price and remain in print for very long, so I decided to play the tactical approach and get The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III during its special offer sale on NIS Europe’s website. I also decided to add Utawarerumono: Zan to go alongside the order since it was reasonably priced. The order did give me some points for a £5 discount which was neat but I might try and save up for future deals if I can.
#11 | Arrow Video & Third Window Films Easter Sale
Last year I bought a ton of Asian films from distributors Arrow Films and BFI in HMV thanks to its sales, however Third Window Films had their sales go through FOPP instead which was frustrating so I held out ever since. But back in March I was able to grab a number of their out of print titles (with just one film left) which gave me the motivation to grab the rest of their Blu-ray catalog as much as I could possible. Fast-forward to April and we have the Easter sale from Arrow Films’ website which included Third Window Films titles.
I wanted to go for a big haul so I chose seven sets which had a total of nine films overall:
- 9 Souls (ナイン・ソウルズ), released in 2003 and directed by Toshiaki Toyoda, it was included as part of the Toshiaki Toyoda: The Early Years collection.
- Antiporno (アンチポルノ), released in 2016 and directed by Sion Sono.
- Cold Fish (冷たい熱帯魚), released in 2010 and directed by Sion Sono.
- Hana-Bi (はなび), released in 1997 and directed by Takeshi Kitano.
- Kotoko (KOTOKO), released in 2011 and directed by Shinya Tsukamoto.
- Lowlife Love (下衆の愛), released in 2015 and directed by Eiji Uchida.
- Pluto (명왕성), released in 2012 and directed by Shin Su-Won.
- Pornostar (ポルノスター), released in 1998 and directed by Toshiaki Toyoda, it was included as part of the Toshiaki Toyoda: The Early Years collection.
- Unchain (アンチェイン), released in 2000 and directed by Toshiaki Toyoda, it was included as part of the Toshiaki Toyoda: The Early Years collection.
You can view more photos & specs for Toshiaki Toyoda: The Early Years here.
#12 | The Protector
At the same time as ordering Miracles, I ordered The Protector as well but through an eBay seller because this film was the one that was going to lose out on its first print edition contents. Thankfully my copy arrived and it was the first print so that was a relief.
You can view more photos & specs for The Protector here.
#13 | Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz
Arriving a little bit early was the final part of the Gundam Wing UK collection with Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz from Anime Limited’s webstore. Like the previous Gundam titles I pre-ordered this through their early bird and acquired the Shop Exclusive addition of an outer box for the whole franchise which is a nice feature.
You can view more photos & specs for Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz here.
#14 | Heart of Dragon
The final title to arrive for the month of April is once again another Jackie Chan, but at least this one arriving meant that I was up-to-date with 88 Films’ nicely packaged releases (outside of the first four but those were reportedly not as good as the films from Crime Story onwards in terms of quality). Heart of Dragon was hyped up as much as Dragons Forever was so I couldn’t wait to check it out, though Amazon UK delayed my order by a week so that was annoying but understandable given the global situation.
You can view more photos & specs for Heart of Dragon here.
Additional Notes
And that wraps up the April 2020 haul. This haul was a lot different in a sense since there were no imports planned. In fact this haul was actually going to be a lot smaller, but because I decided to remain at my location during the Easter break, I was given some extra funds to support me. The idea of smaller items still came to fruitition thanks to the Asian films that I bought from 88 Films and Third Window Films.
The plan for May’s haul is to try and bring back the import hauls if possible, as some locations are still offering international shipping to UK. The first example is The Quintessential Quintuplets Season 1 limited edition which is scheduled for the latter half of May in the US.
In terms of other ventures, I have Love Live! Sunshine!! Season 2, Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory and Wise Man’s Grandchild, all are currently on target for arrival throughout the month of May. There will be more Asian films acquired as well, as I want to get as many as I can but on the condition that the price is about right. So far I can confirm that Sion Sono’s Tokyo Tribe and Takashi Miike’s For Love’s Sake are both on target for arrival in May. I might acquire some more Eureka Ent. titles but again these plans could change.
Overall, a pretty solid month of pickups. The UK lockdown is still in effect but the peak has supposedly passed since very recently so hopefully everything will improve throughout the month of May.
The Normanic Vault 