Welcome to the Otaku Collection haul for the month of February 2023. This update features 13 anime releases, 6 manga volumes, 9 physical video games, and 3 live-action Asian Cinema releases.
This month’s haul puts more focus on both games released years ago for the PlayStation 4 and another round of games for the Nintendo Switch collection. In addition, we also have another Discotek batch of releases amongst a couple of other items in the mix.
How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom Part 2
How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom Part 2 is the first item of the month and it’s one that I ordered through Amazon UK using the AmazonGlobal shipping service as the seller was technically Amazon US. Because I imported the North American version of the limited edition release, I wanted to keep it consistent for both parts of the series even if the UK release is much cheaper. I waited for the right opportunity and the price that Amazon had was just about right to go ahead and get it.
Travelling Man Manga Haul
Earlier in the town I had to travel to town because the One Piece: World Seeker game I received from CeX was the German version which I didn’t want for my collection, so I wanted to return it in-store. Whilst I was there I also visited the Travelling Man store and picked up more Viz Media volumes under their VIZ SIGNATURE label. I could have bought more than the six volumes, as it’s a 3 for 2 deal, but the SIG books are pretty pricey so I wanted to keep the price as low as possible.
For once, all of the titles are more volumes for existing series that I started collecting. Starting off with Alice in Borderland Omnibus 3 (covers Vol. 5-6), which I had tried to acquire much earlier on in-store but they didn’t have the stock for it. Next we have Golden Kamuy Volumes 2-3, which was available online but I figured I’ll get them in-person whilst they were available.
Then we have Hell’s Paradise Volumes 3-4, and this one has had stock issues of sorts for its earlier volumes so seeing them in the store was handy though I was worried the spine wasn’t aligned properly for the ones that I have but it seems to be fine. I do want to get the series sorted before the anime airs though. And last but not least we have Monster Omnibus 4 (covers Vol. 7-8), which still has stock issues for the rest of the series but it’ll come back as it’s a popular manga for Viz.
Discotek Media Rightstuf Haul
Throughout last year I’ve done monthly hauls for this distributor, but for this year I am looking into making it bi-monthly instead (one haul every 2 months) so that there’s room for other things to sort out, but pre-orders will be an exception to the rule (see GaoGaiGar in January as an example). The plan to get at least 50 titles this year still remains.
Now one difference here with this haul is that I have ordered it through Rightstuf, with the combination of both its GotAnime membership (10% discount) and a coupon code (also 10% discount) which brought the price down to make the overall haul roughly £30 cheaper than United Publications. The exchange rate between USD to GBP will be a key component to whether ordering through Rightstuf will make the difference in cost, in other words the better the rate the better the price.
This batch we have 10 releases with the usual goal focusing on various titles released throughout the Discotek years. More titles were going to be added but the price of the shipping getting higher was too much.
Starting off with the three films released for the 4K Ultra HD format.
Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro
An interesting one to pickup because of my stance with the Lupin franchise in regards to home video. I am expecting Anime Limited to tackle the rest of the Lupin catalogue (for instance they have Lupin the Third Part 6), however this film was licensed and released by Studio Canal, and while they have done 4K releases for various films, it’s easy to assume their release won’t be on the same scale as Discotek’s. In addition, Discotek has had the license to Cagliostro since 2014 and given how popular it is, it is also easy to take a guess that the window of availability could reach its end. In any case I decided to get the film sooner than later.
Robot Carnival
Also picked up a film I have been intrigued by for a while. Discotek released the film as a region free Blu-ray a while back, and despite the 4K release I was hoping Anime Limited would license the film because they would then release it as a combo pack, as some extras were not brought over to the 4K disc, but for now I am focusing on making sure I have access to the film.
Space Adventure Cobra the Movie
Also known as the first 4K release for anime in the west. I checked out the HDR comparison and yeah it’s quite the difference. Now I have yet to delve into any of the Cobra titles so this will be my first entry into the franchise, and this did get a UK release in the past but it was time to grab the 4K release.
Next we have two released from the first era of Discotek Blu-rays where they just released titles without a slipcase.
Golgo 13: The Professional
When I got into anime in 2012 a friend sent me a recommended list from Sky Movies (UKTV channel stuff) and amongst the ones mentioned was this. I also knew the film for its inclusion of having a nicely designed helicopter. Manga Entertainment did release the film on DVD in the UK, but it was Discotek who made the film available on Blu-ray in the US which had me interested. Surprisingly nothing was done for the UK side so in the end I decided to get the Discotek release considering it’s an old license by this point.
School Days
The infamous NTR show that wrapped up on a nice boat. I have not actually seen the anime adaptation outside of its ending scene because that was all over the place. I own the visual novel and played through that instead of the anime (and somehow got the best route from the looks of it) and I personally found the VN to be a much better experience than what was said about the anime. That said, the Blu-ray does work on Region B as known before.
Moving on we have the modern Discotek era of Blu-rays where almost everything had a slipcase and a Blu-ray.
Ayakashi: Samurai Horror Tales
An anthology horror series with one director for each story; Tetsuo Imazawa (Yotsuya Kaidan), Kouzou Nagayama (Tenshu Monogatari), and Kenji Nakamura (Bake Neko). I actually hadn’t heard about this until Discotek picked it up but I was aware of the Mononoke series, so hearing that this was basically the start had me interested even further. It’s not often you get horror themed anime these days as well.
Kamen no Maid Guy
Like Ayakashi I hadn’t heard of the series before, but that’s what makes Discotek interesting as they bring back niche titles back into the spotlight. Madhouse during the 00s released a lot of great stuff so hearing about what this series is and having the Cautious Hero director Masayuki Sakoi involved makes for a fun watch I reckon.
The Legend of Black Heaven
From director Yasuhito Kikuchi we have a 90s anime series with rock music references. This one I have heard about but mainly because of the infamous clip with a black male character (the dub is better even if it basically sounds like a GTA clip). Either way, Discotek rescued the series and gave it an upscale, plus the more 90s anime we get the better. Fun trivia: When you play this on a Region B player it’s stuck to a live-action bonus feature.
Library War
Every time I read the name of this series, I keep thinking it’s based on a video game property (because Sakura Wars) but jokes aside I honestly haven’t heard anyone mention this series, given the studio and some staff mentions like director Takayuki Hamana and music done by Yoko Kanno. I actually thought this show was released without a slipcase until just recently so that’s a nice bonus.
Stellvia
Wanted to own some more sci-fi anime and this one hasn’t been referenced as much as others so I wanted to check it out, even though this has been available for UK streaming in a long while. Blu-ray is my preferred viewing experience for anime whenever possible anyway. Having the director of Nadesico’s Tatsuo Satō tied to the anime is also neat. The discs do work on Region B, but Disc 2 starts off with an extra.
Cytus Alpha
After watching the Nintendo Direct I decided to revisit the Switch catalogue and look into acquiring more of the physical games. There’s a lot of games now discontinued for print which is disappointing, but I did find a copy of Cytus Alpha over on eBay which arrived on Monday. This is a music rhythm game published by PM Studio and for Europe with the assistance of Numskull Games (the same folks who brought over Spike Chunsoft titles). The copy that I got was pretty rough, but the goal was the main physical game itself rather than the bonus item which was a soundtrack CD.
One Piece: World Seeker
A while back I mentioned that I bought One Piece: World Seeker with Pirate Warriors 4 from eBay but my copy ended up being the German version so I returned it back in store. I found the correct copy on eBay for £2 less which arrived on Tuesday but the case was a bit battered. Either way, got the game now out of the way and I believe that’s all of the major One Piece games picked up for the PlayStation 4 since the next one is on PS5.
CeX Video Game Haul
Speaking of CeX, I have found that for the most part their online deliveries are pretty good and other than the previous order, I had no problems for the most part. So I decided to use their online store once again for three more older PlayStation 4 games that I had wanted to get for a while but I didn’t want to spend tons on. And they arrived together across two packages.
One of those games was CRYSTAR from Spike Chunsoft & Numskull Games, which is an action RPG that I’ve had my eye on for a few years even before it was localised for release. Honestly surprised I haven’t picked the game up sooner but I suppose price was a factor to this as I felt it could have gone for cheaper but at this point there was no point waiting any longer.
Next two are from Bandai Namco. Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth – Hacker’s Memory is a sequel to the Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth game that came out quite early on for the PlayStation 4 cycle as I remember getting that game back in 2017. The sequel has been around for a while and stock-wise has been up and down over the years. As I enjoyed the gameplay for the first game I wanted to get this one.
Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4: Road to Boruto is the expanded version of the original game, which includes content covering the Boruto: Naruto the Movie film and some other stuff. Since the content is on the disc, it made sense for me to go for this version over the original which I believe is more readily available.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna – The Golden Country
Last year Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna – The Golden Country was one of the rarest physical games released and was super expensive to get, but then in recent months it started to go down in price and even in the US it received reprints. Since Amazon kept recommending me the same seller who’s had stock from the start I suspected they were selling the US versions, so I decided to get a physical copy from eBay instead.
SD Gundam Battle Alliance
On Valentine’s Day, Nectar ran a very limited offer that provided you with 30x bonus points if you bought a £10+ item on eBay between 12-1pm, so I remembered at the last second whilst I was at work and the first thing that popped in my mind was Bandai Namco Asia’s release of SD Gundam Battle Alliance for the PlayStation 5.
The game was available on Bazaar Bazaar’s eBay store for £49.99 which is interesting given their online store is £66.99. Either way I earned 1499 Nectar points from this offer. The game also includes a DLC code that lasts until August 2023 so for those interested in the game should look into it before that month occurs. I used the DLC code via my Singapore PSN account which is what I use for anything Bandai Namco Asia DLC-code related.
Magnificent Warriors, Royal Warriors & Violent Streets
A while back, when Third Window Films announced some of their new releases were available for pre-order on Terracotta, the online store also revealed a 10% discount code to celebrate the Lunar Year. So I used this opportunity to order a few more of Eureka Entertainment’s new releases that recently released in January & February.
Released in January first, was the second film in the film series In the Line of Duty with David Chung’s 1986 film Royal Warriors (皇家戰士), starring Michelle Yeoh and Hiroyuki Sanada. While 88 Films is releasing a box set for the four films for the US market, Eureka released them separately so now I own half of the series thus far. The other two are scheduled for March.
Next we have the two releases from February. David Chung’s 1987 film Magnificent Warriors (中華戰士), also starring Michelle Yeoh, was among the titles announced by Eureka many months ago with Yes Madam and Royal Warriors so it’s now here. Coincidently 88 Films are also releasing this film for the US market.
Last but not least we have a release for the Masters of Cinema line-up with Hideo Gosha’s 1974 film Violent Streets (暴力街). Really nice artwork on the package and it’s the first of many older Japanese films that Eureka had started to bring over to the UK. Now the distributor didn’t bring this up publicly, but it was worth noting that 1.5 seconds of animal cruelty was removed for this film.
Metroid Dread
Went to the cinema to watch the new Ant-Man film and since I had already gone to town two weeks prior, I decided to skip that portion of the trip and instead check the GAME store that was nearby. After the Nintendo Direct appeared early on, I was interested in checking out the Metroid franchise and noticed there were stock issues for Metroid Dread across multiple retailers, except for GAME and eBay. I wanted to own a proper new copy of the game so I went to the GAME store and bought it, and to be honest £32.99 was a decent price for a Nintendo IP.
Senran Kagura Peach Ball
It’s been just over four years since I made an order through Canadian retailer Video Games Plus, and now I finally picked up another game from them – XSEED’s Nintendo Switch release of Senran Kagura Peach Ball, which they reprinted a while back. This is also the last game I needed for the franchise ever since I first picked up their 3DS title nine years ago.
Video Games Plus’ is a site I appreciate but years ago their site was rough (and responsible for having my funds compromised due to the lack of security). But since then they redesigned the site and it’s improved. What honestly caught me off guard was the shipping cost at $9.99 CAD & pre-paid VAT which was unexpected, and the speed of the shipping was pretty good, having took about 12 days to arrive so I’m happy with the turnout.
Cyber City Oedo 808
Next we have a two month early release from Anime Limited with the HD remaster version of Cyber City Oedo 808 on Blu-ray. A few years ago, Anime Limited released the OVA’s first Blu-ray release but it was using very old masters that didn’t upscale as good as people had wanted. Then the original materials were recovered and a HD remaster was now possible, but Anime Limited took about a whole year before they finally brought the better version over to the UK. Everything from the previous Blu-ray disc is kept in-tact so you can still experience the dubs, the UK music score and the documentary that Anime Limited made for its release.
Is This a Zombie? & Is This a Zombie? of the Dead
The final item of the month is from MVM’s Anime-on-Line deal of the week offer which I’ve kept missing out on due to poor timing. Their latest one was for the Is This a Zombie? & Is This a Zombie? of the Dead collection which is both seasons together on Blu-ray. Now because Kadokawa is picky, the Season 1 OVA was DVD exclusive so that’s not included in either this or the Funimation Blu-ray releases, so if you still own the previous DVD set then it’s worth holding onto that. The offer was £14.99 which is enough to make up for the missing OVA either way.
Unboxing Links
You can view more photos & specs for the titles below:
- Cyber City Oedo 808 (LE Blu-ray)
- How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom Part 2 (Blu-ray & DVD) – added to Part 1’s post
What’s to Come for the Hauls
March 2023
March is going to be a pretty big month I reckon. In addition to the existing pre-orders, there’s going to be more titles expected to make an appearance.
Currently what should be released in this month are the following:
- Ascendance of a Bookworm Seasons 1 & 2 (CE Blu-ray)
- Electric Dragon 80000V (Blu-ray)
- Goodbye, Don Glees! (CE Blu-ray)
- The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Azure (Nintendo Switch)
- Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club Season 1 (CE Blu-ray)
- Metroid Prime Remastered (Nintendo Switch)
- Punk Samurai (Blu-ray)
- Yu Yu Hakusho (30th Anniversary LE Blu-ray)
In addition I am sorting out another order which I’ll keep as a surprise until then!
April 2023
April is technically an empty month, but just in case there’s delays in shipping I’m going to mention a few titles below which could land in March’s line-up.
Currently what should be released in this month are the following:
- ARIFURETA: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest Season 2 (LE Blu-ray & DVD)
- Mieruko-chan (LE Blu-ray & DVD)
I do plan to pre-order more, but it’s just a matter of both timing and whether the orders need to be paid immediately or when it dispatches.
Other Tidbits
Despite February being the first month to be part of my new pay structure, I had to put a lot of funds aside for a few things so the haul as a whole was smaller than usual. March is also going to be a busy month in terms of paying off pre-orders and other stuff so there may be some impact on that, but stay tuned.
Anime
Anime Limited unveiled their home video plans for Over the Sky and I didn’t pre-order it due to bad timing, though I am aware it’s not a well-liked film so I suppose it’s fine to hold off until it goes on sale later, but we’ll see. There’s also early bird plans for Levius in mid-March and Jujutsu Kaisen Part 2 at the end of March, both of which I’ll definitely pre-order when they go live.
The distributor also launched their titles on the new ITVX streaming service which includes Patlabor the Movie and Princess Jellyfish. The latter is interesting as it’s another one of the titles that KAZE UK released many years back and never received a Blu-ray release despite Funimation releasing one in the US. Looking for Magical DoReMi is also on the service and I recall that was among the films released for festivals in 2021 so I expect Anime Limited has that as well as other festival titles like Blue Thermal and The House of the Lost on the Cape.
Crunchyroll US revealed a big batch of anime for the month of May and interestingly we have a limited edition release for Restaurant to Another World Season 2 and not for Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie and Trapped in a Dating Sim. Disappointed but I suspect they’re being more picky with limited editions to speed up the pace of the backlog, especially considering they still have My Dress-Up Darling and The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 amongst many others that might get the treatment instead.
Asian Cinema
88 Films revealed their second quarter of titles with a bunch of Hong Kong releases planned in regular and deluxe limited edition sets. So far we have God of Gamblers, Magic Cop, and Taxi Hunter for regular releases followed by Fight Back at School Trilogy, Twin Dragons, and The Untold Story in deluxe formats. Plus, The Untold Story was also confirmed to be released uncut which is a surprise. The distributor did say there’s more Category III films on their way, but it looks like it’ll be saved for later, and it looks like films by Stephen Chow will make an appearance going by how the artwork was presented for Fight Back at School Trilogy.
Eureka Entertainment have revealed their plans for Burning Paradise in May as well as a collection of Mr. Vampire sequel films which is pretty cool. Third Window Films meanwhile have confirmed a box set of Katsuhito Ishii films with Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl, Party 7 and 1 other title not yet mentioned.
And that’s a wrap for the Otaku Collection update for February 2023. February as a whole was smaller than I had anticipated and I expect March to be a somewhat similar case, but like any haul things can change at the last second so stay tuned.
The Normanic Vault 
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