Welcome to the Otaku Collection haul for the month of July 2022. This update features 8 anime releases, 10 light novel volumes, 4 manga volumes & a manga box set, 8 physical video games, and 3 live-action Asian cinema releases.
This month’s haul includes a bunch of items picked up in town plus sale deals, pre-orders finally appearing and a couple more items that were out of stock now in the collection.
Haibane Renmei
The first item of the month came from MVM’s deal of the week offer in late June, which was Haibane Renmei. This is the Blu-ray collector’s edition set they put out earlier in the year, which pretty much has the same design that Paranoia Agent received prior (this approach is also going to be applied to the upcoming Blu-ray titles MVM has planned later this year).
Failure Frame Light Novel Vol. 2
Next we have Failure Frame light novel volume 2, which I had to re-order because Amazon lost it somehow. This time I ordered it through Blackwells. I have yet to read the series but it’s nice to fill the missing gaps on the book collection whenever possible.
One Piece Manga Box Set 4
First we have another manga box set! This time it’s One Piece Box Set 4, covering Volumes 71 to 90. These volumes go over the Dressrosa, Zou, Whole Cake Island and Levely (Reverie) story arcs, and therefore what remains before being completely up-to-date is Wano.
It felt like the third box set was only a few years ago, until I double-checked and realised I acquired it back in December 2016 so… wow it’s been a long time since I read those volumes.
Resident Evil 5 & 6
Continuing the Resident Evil haul from last month, we have the re-releases of Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 6 for the PlayStation 4. Both include all of the previously released DLC content on the disc, which does help with the value of the set. I replayed Resident Evil 5 and had a good time, but I have not played Resident Evil 6 before.
BELLE
Mamoru Hosoda’s BELLE arrived from Anime Limited on schedule. The UK deluxe edition is pretty stacked, with the 4K Ultra HD version as well as two Blu-ray discs dedicated to bonus features. It’s a very nice release when you consider the tons of physical items also included, and the UHD came out before the US release which is a nice added bonus.
I didn’t get the chance to watch this film at the cinema due to work so it’s nice to be able to have access thanks to the home video release. All of the on-disc extras are exclusive to the two bonus discs, though the Hosoda interview is on the 4K disc.
Chainsaw Man Vol. 11
We have the “final” volume of Chainsaw Man. Technically not final in terms of the series as a whole, but was the final volume for the series when it serialised on Weekly Shonen Jump. The author moved the story over to Shonen Jump+ and went on a break in Japan until recently.
Klonoa: Phantasy Reverie Series & Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania
More PlayStation 5 games were acquired through retailer Base, and these are basically remakes of classic games released generations ago. First came Bandai Namco’s Klonoa: Phantasy Reverie Series which includes two classic platformers from PlayStation 1 & 2, and a day later was SEGA’s Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania, a puzzle collection covering 1, 2 & Deluxe from the Gamecube. In other words we have Klonoa’s Wahoo in 4K 60FPS and Kiryu Kazuma trapped in a monkey ball.
Catherine Full Body & GOD EATER 3
Also picked up were two more games that have been on my list for a while now, and since they were available for pretty good prices on retailer The Game Collection I decided to get them when I could. Those two were Atlus’ Catherine Full Body and Bandai Namco’s GOD EATER 3.
I do plan to play the original Catherine before jumping into the remake but it’s nice to be able to finally get my hands on that game considering it’s been going in and out of stock for a while now.
HELLO WORLD
The latest film that ‘hasn’t yet to be released in North America but came out in the UK first’ arrived from Anime Limited’s store. HELLO WORLD is also animated in CG and had some pretty favourable reviews so I am curious to check it out.
How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom & Trapped in a Dating Sim Light Novel Vols
From Blackwells we have two packages – the first that arrived on Thursday was How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom light novel volume 11, which was one of the few that I needed to get but had to wait a while due to stock issues. The package did arrive slightly damaged by the dents which is unfortunate.
The next one to arrive, which came today, was Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games Is Tough for Mobs light novel volume 1. I enjoyed the anime a lot, so wanted to acquire the light novels which also had some stock issues, but the first volume was starting to slowly return to print so it arrived finally.
Sheffield Trip Haul
Next we have a trip to Sheffield, which is the first time I went back to the city since late November last year (though properly since July 2020). It was a sort-of sudden plan but I figured why not, and despite how hot the day was and the train going back being delayed, it was a good time. I did pick up a bunch of items which are below.
In HMV, they had a 2 for £30 offer on 4K Ultra HD titles and so I picked up Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite (기생충) and Akira Kurosawa’s RAN (乱). Both still have their slipcases. I watched Parasite when ODEON had their surprise screenings and really enjoyed it, and while I do own RAN on Blu-ray I had yet to watch that release.
In CeX, I found Resident Evil Revelations and Resident Evil Revelations 2 on PlayStation 4 for £25 overall. Pretty good deal since the copies were pretty much brand new in terms of the condition.
At the Sheffield Space Centre, I know their prices are basically SRP for all of their books, so I decided to focus on Seven Seas as they tend to be pretty much the same range online also. And what we got was a surprising selection, but the overall cost was close to £100 so it’s a lot spent.
For manga we have Booty Royale: Never Go Down Without a Fight! omnibus 3 (covering volumes 5-6), The Dungeon Of Black Company volume 7 and GIGANT volume 7.
We also have Skeleton Knight in Another World light novel 1-3 and Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games Is Tough for Mobs light novel 2-3. The anime adaptations for both of these helped with the decision to go after the source material.
Drive My Car
The UK release of Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car (ドライブ・マイ・カー), the award-winning Japanese film based on Haruki Murakami’s short story of the same name (the Korean film Burning was also based on a short story by Murakami for those curious), arrived from distributor MUBI.
While Criterion are releasing the film in North America, the UK release includes the entirety of the Making-of documentary which is 2 hours in length on a separate disc.
The Quintessential Quintuplets 2
Because I own the US release for the first season, I acquired the Crunchyroll US release for The Quintessential Quintuplets Season 2 on Blu-ray. This is the first non-LE (& non-part) standard Blu-ray I had imported from this distributor since 2017 when I bought Space Dandy Season 2.
I like Quints, was a surprisingly enjoyable harem series and each girl is great. Itsuki being my favourite as some will know already (Nino is second place). The US set includes a slipcase and 5 artcards which I expect won’t be included in the UK release.
El-Hazard: The Alternative World & Emma: A Victorian Romance Season 1
Next we have two recent pre-orders that managed to arrive on-time or even earlier than expected from Anime Limited.
The first is El-Hazard: The Alternative World, the next one in the El-Hazard franchise to make its way into the UK on Blu-ray so we just need The Wanderers now to pretty much complete the set. I expect Anime Limited will sort that out either later this year or early next year.
Next we have Emma: A Victorian Romance Season 1 which came in a really nice texture for its set. The show also took this long to finally get a UK release considering its set in Victorian England time. That said, the fact that it waited this long did mean we get Nozomi’s English dub at least.
Cardcaptor Sakura
One of the biggest releases of the year has finally arrived after months of delays due to quality control issues and some manufacturing issues. Cardcaptor Sakura is one of the classics that I didn’t get to watch over the years and now I finally can with this 10 disc release, which also uses the second HD remaster that Japan did which is in 4K so that’s neat. Shame the booklet is barebones but the point here is to have a better looking disc which this set delivers on.
How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom Light Novel Vol. 6 & 12
Another batch of light novels arrived from my Blackwells order finally arrived and that’s How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom light novel volumes 6 & 12, which were out of stock for months so now I’m almost up-to-speed with the series. Annoyingly volume 6 is slightly taller and doesn’t match the others on the spine but I suppose this may be an issue with every version of this print run.
Fire Force Season 2 Part 1
The final item of the month is picking up Fire Force Season 2 Part 1 from Funimation UK before they rebranded as Crunchyroll UK. Pretty much went for the same approach as Season 1 with one half from the UK and the other based on the US release. I can confirm that the limited edition set is on its way and so this part will be covered in that unboxing when that happens.
Bonus: Falcom T-Shirt & SteelSeries Arctis 7P+ Headset
I wanted to own a nice gaming related T-Shirt and especially one from official sources, so I picked up the ‘apparently hard to find’ Falcom 40th Anniversary one from NIS Europe. This includes characters from Falcom’s Legend of Heroes and Ys titles as well as their mascot Mishy the Cat.
In addition, Amazon Prime Day was a thing, and one of the items I was after went on offer for a pretty solid deal – the SteelSeries Arctis 7P+ Headset. I wanted a more recent but nice headset so I went for this version, which also supports 3D audio for PlayStation 5.
Unboxing Links
You can view more photos & specs for the titles below:
- BELLE (DE 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray)
- Cardcaptor Sakura (CE Blu-ray)
- El-Hazard: The Alternative World (CE Blu-ray)
- Emma: A Victorian Romance Season 1 (CE Blu-ray)
- Haibane Renmei (CE Blu-ray)
- HELLO WORLD (CE Blu-ray)
What’s to Come for the Hauls
August 2022
August has a bunch of items on their way. In the anime side we have a Rightstuf Birthday haul featuring Fire Force Season 2 Part 2, as well as 5 Sentai/Maiden Japan titles; Cross Ange: Rondo of Angel and Dragon, GODANNAR!!, Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Arrow of the Orion, Patlabor Ultimate Collection, and Redo of Healer.
We also have Combatants Will Be Dispatched, Emma: A Victorian Romance Season 2 and Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? III on their way sometime in the month, alongside Asian film releases of Dragons Forever (4K Ultra HD), Running Out of Time 1 & 2 and the Tiger Cage Trilogy.
September 2022
We also have a lot of anime arriving in this month. This includes The Irresponsible Captain Tylor, Memories, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny, and Violet Evergarden the Movie. Alongside the anime sets, there’s also the deluxe edition releases of On the Run and Righting Wrongs as well.
Also Coming Soon
Also arriving later this year is the Anime Limited’s second half of Future Boy Conan and the Crunchyroll limited edition release of How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom Part 1.
Other Tidbits
Anime
Anime Limited have a summer sale incoming, though chances are it won’t have anything that I don’t yet own that’s on my list unless perhaps the Dragon Dentist or K: Seven Stories, but they may have some new titles as surprise early birds within the sale like they did last year.
Discotek meanwhile had some trouble because a few of their titles just went out of print literally out of nowhere, which is concerning because it legit could happen again at any point now. Therefore I should seriously put more effort on picking up their titles, especially those that are definitely in a limited run like Aho-Girl and Holmes of Kyoto.
Sentai I would like to get more of, but the issue is they keep re-releasing titles that potentially have better discs. And sometimes when you wait long enough, you end up losing the series instead so there’s no good middle ground here.
Books
The book collecting continues as per usual, and I plan to get some more box sets later this year, especially the second half of The Quintessential Quintuplets. The Viz ones will get harder to find due to the current global situation affecting production, but if I can get my hands on a couple like Claymore and Rosario+Vampire that would be neat.
Video Games
While my backlog is still pretty large, the video game collecting for PlayStation 4 has been going quite well, but saying that there’s still tons to get like Fairy Tail, Legend of Mana, One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 and more.
The PlayStation 5 and Switch will still have some games picked up here and there, but I intend to put more focus on these two in more depth in 2023 so that I can use the rest of this year to get as many games from the older generations as much as possible.
That’s it for the month of July 2022. A solid haul with some titles finally making their appearance. Hoping for another good batch in August.
The Normanic Vault 
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