Welcome to the Otaku Collection haul for the month of March 2023. This update features 16 anime releases, 10 manga volumes, 4 physical video games, and 6 live-action Asian Cinema releases.
This month’s haul bring back the big batch of releases from all circles as we start to ramp up the pace with more rescue hauls, and some titles that I wanted to get sooner than later to avoid issues later!
Metroid Prime Remastered
The first item of the month is a pre-order with Metroid Prime Remastered. When it comes to Nintendo games I generally just hold off and wait, but when this particular one was announced for a physical release I decided to pre-order it because I have a feeling it’s not going to last long in print, given the rather short notice like Super Mario 3D All-Stars had (though unlike that collection, there’s no limited time window notice with this one but you never know). I bought the game from retailer The Game Collection for under £30.
Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku & Monster Vols.
Next we have some more Viz Media SIGNATURE manga volumes because I plan to go to town at some point and want to get some volumes early just in case Travelling Man don’t have them. The main ones I went for are Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku volumes 5 & 6 and Monster omnibus 5.
A Brighter Summer Day & Yi Yi
HMV was running a Criterion sale and while their price offers are rather mixed, I decided to use this opportunity to pickup a few titles given that I had not done so since 2018. I went for these two films from the late Taiwanese director Edward Yang – A Brighter Summer Day (牯嶺街少年殺人事件) and Yi Yi (一一). These were also one of Criterion UK’s earliest releases, but they were recommended to me once again.
Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku Vol. 8-13
As I was in town, I of course visited the Travelling Man store to get some more books, but this time I didn’t want to spend too much given the unpaid orders throughout the month of March (and the HMV haul I did wasn’t cheap). The store had stock available for Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku volumes 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 & 13, which almost completes the collection as they did not have volume 7. Volume 7 was eventually picked up later.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure
Last year I picked up the Switch version for Trails from Zero, but at that time I had also pre-ordered The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure for the Nintendo Switch which took a while but it was a pre-order so I did have to wait. Now it’s here and actually arrived more than a week before its official release.
This is the second instalment in the Crossbell duology (taking place after Trails in the Sky trilogy and before Trails of Cold Steel), and as I’ve mentioned before with the previous game – this is available on PlayStation 4 but the version you want is the Nintendo Switch release because it’s got more quality of life improvements. The deluxe edition i.e. first print edition, comes with a digital OST copy and mini artbook.
Electric Dragon 80000V & Punk Samurai
A while ago Third Window Films revealed some new titles and had a small discount if you ordered both together through the Terracotta store, so I went ahead. From Gakuryū Ishii (Sogo Ishii) we have Electric Dragon 80.000 V (エレクトリック·ドラゴン 80000V) and Punk Samurai (パンク侍、斬られて候) on Blu-ray with their first print edition slipcases. The reversible artwork is really cool so I would like to see more of the Japanese poster artwork on their future releases if possible. Interestingly the latter actually sold out which is a good sign for the distributor.
Lupin the Third: Island of Assassins & Voyage to Danger
Here is a ‘surprise decision’ of sorts, because last February I had decided to go ahead and look into the Discotek Media releases for the Lupin the Third franchise (at least the TV Specials and films for the time being). I waited on Anime Limited to get these for years and it’s gotten to a point where it’s probably not going to happen, and considering how cheap Discotek’s releases were for their Lupin sets, that I may as well go for them bit by bit. Here we have Lupin the Third: Voyage to Danger (TV Special #5) and Lupin the Third: Island of Assassins (TV Special #9), which were among the first to be released on Blu-ray by Discotek.
Now the other reason why I made this decision is because the latter is no longer available for purchase, and there’s been no word on any form of re-release. The lack of silence definitely didn’t help especially considering Discotek stated that popular and dubbed titles would stick around longer than others in their catalogue, but in this instance it’s possible that this special fell under the license expiration group.
Funimation Rightstuf haul
As soon as payday appeared I immediately looked into the Crunchyroll Rightstuf sale as their titles are part of my goal to catch up on getting those North American only titles that I wanted before the merger ends up creeping into the newer titles. Because of high shipping costs I focused only on six releases, but the overall price is still £70-75 cheaper than going for United Publications.
The picks were; If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan, I Would Die, both seasons of Kono Oto Tomare! Sounds of Life, Miss Caretaker of Sunohara-sou, Smile Down the Runway, and SSSS.DYNAZENON. All came with slipcases which is a relief as I figured at least one of them wouldn’t by now given how long they’ve been out for.
I’ve watched Budokan, Kono Oto Tomare and Smile Down the Runway during simulcast, and I consider each of them to be vastly overlooked shows. Budokan is a fun series about an fan liking and supporting her favourite idol, Kono Oto Tomare has a great premise with wonderful music pieces throughout, and Smile Down the Runway is like watching hell’s kitchen go into the fashion design industry and it’s honestly brutal in the challenges they face but rewarding to see the main leads overcome these issues even if its not perfect. Check each of them out if you haven’t already.
Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku Vol. 7
The final volume I need for Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku has come. Volume 7 was out of stock in various places but retailers Blackwells had a copy so I ordered it from there. Now I don’t have to worry about stock issues for this series when the anime begins airing.
In the Line of Duty III & IV
Ordered these pretty late but I finally picked up In the Line of Duty III (皇家師姐III雌雄大盜) and In the Line of Duty IV (皇家師姐IV直擊證人) from retailer Terracotta. These are the Eureka Entertainment versions so they’ll match the first two films Yes Madam and Royal Warriors.
Tales of Blu-ray Haul
Throughout March I’ve been playing Tales of Zestiria, one of the games that’s been in my backlog the longest and as I’m making progress I decided to revisit the franchise via its anime adaptations. There’s been a fair few throughout the past decade but one of the releases was going out of print on Rightstuf so I wanted to make preparations and get the sets as soon as I could.
In perfect timing, Rightstuf held a one-day video-game focused sale and that included 3 of the 4 Tales anime adaptations. So from there I have picked up Tales of Phantasia the Animation (which wasn’t in the sale, but was cheap enough to be picked up at any time) and Tales of Symphonia the Animation from Discotek Media, as well as Tales of the Abyss and Tales of Zestiria the X from Funimation.
These are adaptations of four of Bandai’s games (from 1995 Super Famicom, 2003 Gamecube, 2005 PlayStation 2 & 2015 PlayStation 3 respectively), and I am happy to own them all. Won’t lie, the cases used for the Essentials range is cheap as Abyss‘ case is a bit of a mess plus the first disc won’t slot on properly.
Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club
The first season of Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club has finally been released in the UK after a bit of a delay. Anime Limited’s collector’s edition is also much larger than the others due to the case and thicker artcards than usual. Much like what some have said already, the cover is too big for the case but it’s not as bad as I had imagined as there’s no damage and you can take it off the case and back on without worrying about any damage either.
Resident Evil 4 Remake
And much like many have done, I have also pre-ordered and received Resident Evil 4, the 2023 reimagining/remake of the classic 2005 Gamecube hit.
My first experience with the original game was via renting the Wii Edition before eventually being able to own a digital copy via the Xbox 360. Then I got a physical version of the HD Remaster re-release via PlayStation 4 last year when the remake was first announced. After playing the Chainsaw demo I’m confident this is going to be a fun experience.
First impressions of the remake so far have been really positive. Still early in the story mode but there’s a lot of interesting tweaks they have done which makes it worthwhile for those who’ve played the original, for instance areas with added content or the order of a specific path adjusted to provide a twist.
MUSYNX
Earlier in the month I noticed that the coins from Play-Asia (which are earned for buying titles on their store) would expire in March, so I decided to use this opportunity to redeem them and use it on an order. This was a challenge as I wasn’t too sure what I wanted but because I was expanding my Nintendo Switch collection they did have a copy of MUSYNX, a music-rhythm game which was given a physical release by PM Studios in North America. While the game was released on PlayStation 4, the Switch release is considered the better version. It was pretty pricey but it was a hard to find title.
Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike
With the four Tales of anime sets imported from North America now picked up, there was one other title that I did not get, and that was because it did have a UK release in the past. Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike, the prequel film to Tales of Vesperia on Xbox 360, was released by Manga Entertainment a decade ago and with the assistance of the AUKN forum I was able to get a copy with its original first print slipcase which is a nice added bonus.
ARIFURETA Season 2 & Mieruko-chan
The final package of the month just manages to arrive in time for March and it’s another Rightstuf order, this time a pre-order for two Crunchyroll limited editions. I was rather concerned by this order as Rightstuf tend to be very picky if you use different payment details unless it’s PayPal, as in the past they requested photos of ID and card info to provide your validity, but it seems it went through as intended which is good for future pre-orders.
Anywho, this package means I now own both ARIFURETA: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest Season 2 and Mieruko-chan. The former is getting a UK release, but the limited edition will not be released over here, whilst the latter isn’t getting a UK release at all.
Bonus: 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Haul
Next we have some live-action non-Asian films for the 4K Ultra HD collection, both of which were part of the 2 for £30 deal in HMV. One of them is Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 film Elvis which is sealed because it’s for Mother’s Day on 19th March, while the other is Luc Besson’s 1994 film Léon: The Professional that I had wanted to pick up for a while.
Unboxing Links
You can view more photos & specs for the titles below:
- ARIFURETA: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest Season 2 (LE Blu-ray & DVD)
- Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club Season 1 (CE Blu-ray)
- Mieruko-chan (LE Blu-ray & DVD)
What’s to Come for the Hauls
April 2023
We have a few titles already ordered for the month of April. There was supposed to be more, but they were delayed into May or later in the year. I will be sorting out another massive batch of anime so stay tuned for that at least.
Currently what should be released in this month are the following:
- Goodbye, Don Glees! (CE Blu-ray)
- Yu Yu Hakusho (30th Anniversary LE Blu-ray)
May 2023
May will have some new additions, so look forward to them!
Currently what should be released in this month are the following:
- Attack on Titan: The Final Season Part 2 (LE Blu-ray & DVD)
- Jujutsu Kaisen Season 1 Part 2 (CE Blu-ray)
- Levius (CE Blu-ray)
Later into 2023
One title I want to mention is Ascendance of a Bookworm Seasons 1 & 2 which was supposed to be released in March, and has now been pushed further back into September due to production issues with the booklet.
Other Tidbits
Because of how messy my workload had been for the latter half of February and the continuing efforts that myself and others in the team have done, each of us are getting a bonus which is very nice. This time it’ll be bundled with the payday slip compared to last time.
Anime
Anime Limited are celebrating their 10th anniversary and have confirmed they have a whole bunch of announcements to go over, which includes more early bird releases and an Easter sale to begin with. With Jujutsu Kaisen Season 1 Part 2 now re-announced and out of the way, they still have a whole bunch of titles stuck in their backlog that needs to be released – namely their film line-up like Cardcaptor Sakura: The Sealed Card, Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna, EUREKA: Eureka Seven: Hi-Evolution, Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko, The House of the Lost on the Cape, Inu-Oh, and Pompo the Cinephile. I’m expecting at least half of their film slate to be released on Blu-ray over the course of the next six months. They may also have Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 as not only does GKIDS have the rights but the distributor’s name was featured in the credits which is a good indication.
Moving onto Crunchyroll, they have another small line-up for June which has another multi-language release with Skeleton Knight in Another World and another limited edition with My Senpai is Annoying, an interesting choice but I’ll pick it up as I’ve heard good things about the show and manga. The UK branch revealed some titles for once, but considering the current state of the distributor I’m only going to be focusing on their US line-up going forward outside of a few titles here and there. I was also notified that their European multi-language releases are seemingly replacing the artwork that’s inside the Amaray case with a reversible cover of the front cover that’s just in German, which is not surprising but disappointing none-the-less.
Discotek is still going well. Their releases continue to provide more variety each month, and now that I have decided to go and get their Lupin the Third titles, there’s a lot to order but it can be done in batches as they released just a few per year which makes it easier to be assured given their OOP titles tend to be rather old licenses or ones that were given the heads up in advance.
Asian Cinema
We have more Asian films incoming from Arrow Video and Eureka Entertainment with their upcoming slates. Arrow’s next big release is a 4K Ultra HD box set for a collection of Bruce Lee films which is exciting, and they have scheduled Toru Murakami’s Game trilogy to along with their retro Japanese line-up like The Executioner and The Street Fighter Trilogy.
Eureka has Lady Reporter incoming for their Classics line-up and both Revenge and Samurai Reincarnation for their Masters of Cinema range for the month of June. There’s also The Bullet Train in April and Burning Paradise in May to also get. They will also be releasing a collection of Mr. Vampire sequel films but I missed out on the first print releases for their horror-themed titles so I’ll wait until it’s gotten another print to keep it consistent unless something changes.
Meanwhile Third Window Films is releasing Isao Yukisada’s GO! and I like the look of the artwork on its physical release so I’ll be picking that up sooner than later.
And that’s a wrap for the Otaku Collection update for March 2023. I will admit that I didn’t think that March would be filled with tons of items due to the amount of unpaid orders to deal with, but it looks to have paid off. I am expecting April to be a lot bigger due to the increased budget so look forward to that.
The Normanic Vault 
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