Otaku Collection Haul for September 2020 Ain’t Happening (Here’s Why)

Welcome to the Otaku Collection haul for the month of September 2020. This is not going to be the usual post because I didn’t receive anything for the entire month outside of one last minute surprise package. So I decided I would provide a few quick reasons on why this happened throughout this short blog post. Various things had happened and life can eventually get in the way.

Reason #1: Gundam SEED Ruined All of My Plans

A few months ago, thanks to the support of everyone who had decided to buy something from Amazon using my affiliate links, I managed to earn enough money to pickup a couple of items like for instance a few limited editions.

And then out of nowhere, Anime Limited announces their plan to release an Ultimate Edition for Mobile Suit Gundam SEED which sounds great, except it is not cheap. They currently have no plans to offer a collector’s edition version for those who didn’t want the larger artbook and original version of the series, so therefore I had two options; lose consistency by going for the standard edition in 2021, or acquire the release via the early bird at £108.

I decided to stick with the consistency because to be honest, I am interested in owning the original version for the show especially with the fact that it’ll be the first UK anime release to be presented on a Standard Definition Blu-ray format (SD on BD). It is scheduled for December so it will be a while before it is officially released and I don’t expect the second half (SEED Destiny) to be released for a long while, considering Nozomi is busy with The Irresponsible Captain Tylor for the time being.

So pretty much, Gundam SEED took almost all of my funds and as a result I couldn’t order anything else that would take payment immediately.

Reason #2: Everything Got Delayed

But there was some hope. I was going to receive some more funds from various factors, most of which comes from the results of my previous living location i.e. my flat.

Starting with the bills in terms of the electric and water. Sadly the water bill ended up in debt, but the electric bill was in credit so I got some money back from that. The annoying part was that apparently by disabling the direct debit a bit early, the money had to arrive by cheque. I did provide a final meter reading early on, but they never seemed to have got that info, though the estimation was pretty accurate. Regardless the cheque arrived and was added to my account, but it took more time than needed.

Next was the flat deposit, which can make or break the haul for the rest of the year. The deposit was not cheap and thankfully it’s one of those instances where you can get the money back. The results came a couple weeks after I had officially left the place and thankfully it’s good news because only a small portion had to be taken for cleaning and redecoration. No damage charges which is great because that would have been a whole other issue if it did show up. The money arrived just before the month was over. I did hear some horror stories about other people’s outcomes but I guess I was lucky in this case.

And finally there’s the Postgraduate Master Loan, which is what I had been using for my survival and also the hauls over the past year. COVID came and essentially forced me to change plans mid-way so I ended up finishing my degree a year early and cancel plans to get a work placement. By finishing early, the loan status was in limbo because it requires confirmation of re-enrolment which is not possible. Fortunately Student Finance’s Postgrad support was helpful in reassuring that I would still get the remainder but it’s taking a bit longer than usual.

What Happens Next & The Rest of 2020

So pretty much, most of these hurdles did not get resolved until the end of the month. The October 2020 haul will definitely happen as I now have more funds to keep them going all the way for the next few months. I will also start the job hunt, but that may take as long as the gap between May 2017 to September 2018 due to COVID which is hurting a lot of businesses and may put off companies who want to hire more folks.

In the meantime I do have some more anime incoming so let’s recap what’s 100% paid and confirmed to arrive! This October we have the Collector’s Edition releases for Birthday Wonderland and Konosuba Season 1, the former I was able to order during its early bird thanks to the electric bill money refunded. This November we have the 4K Ultra HD Deluxe Edition variant for Weathering With You which may take a while to ship as I changed my mind late in the game. And this December we have the Ultimate Edition release of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED.

After ordering SEED, a bizarre price glitch occurred on Amazon which generally happens once every year or so (and I remember taking advantage of one years ago for Elfen Lied and Tenchi Muyo War on Geminar Part 2 as a reference). The glitch was that Amazon somehow swapped the price tags for numerous Anime Limited titles by accident with only some of them being fixed. From the batch the ones I ordered as a test are Code Geass: Lelouch of the Re;surrection, Sword Art Online: Alicization Part 1, Tamako Market & Tamako Love Story, and Turn-A Gundam Part 1 – which actually helps because they don’t take money until dispatch compared to Anime Limited’s store which is instant.

And that’s pretty much it for this quick blog update. The items getting released in these next few months is going to be pretty nuts. There’s a couple titles from Manga, 88 Films, Third Window Films, and various others like light novels, manga and games that I want to acquire.