The Normanic Vault

Otaku Collection Haul for April 2024

Welcome to the Otaku Collection haul for the month of April 2024. This update features 11 anime releases, 6 manga volumes, 1 physical video game, 1 video game accessory, 9 live-action Asian Cinema releases and 3 live-action European Cinema releases.

For this haul we have new shelving and more collector’s edition anime releases arriving, plus another batch of Asian films from different distributors and more manga from a series I haven’t picked up for ages due to stock issues.

The Bounty Hunter Trilogy & A Story Written With Water

The first package for the month came with two Radiance Films releases, both of which are Japanese films that were part of their March line-up.

Starting with The Bounty Hunter Trilogy box set that features three films; Shigehiro Ozawa’s 1969 film Bounty Hunter: Killer’s Mission (賞金稼ぎ), Eiichi Kudo’s 1969 film Bounty Hunter: The Fort of Death (五人の賞金稼ぎ), and Shigehiro Ozawa’s 1972 film Bounty Hunter: Eight Men to Kill (賞金首 一瞬八人斬り). This box set was selling pretty fast than anyone had been anticipating so I got my copy ordered sooner than later. I suppose part of the reason is because the main actor of these films Tomisaburo Wakayama is also the same lead star in the Lone Wolf and Cub adaptations (which I never managed to get on Blu-ray because Criterion’s release was too expensive and is out of print).

Also arrived was Kiju Yoshida’s 1965 film A Story Written With Water (水で書かれた物語), a single pressing release which means once this sells out it will no longer be reprinted. Some of you may recognise the director’s name as Arrow Academy once released a box set of his films called Love + Anarchism in 2015 (and then re-released in 2021 under the Arrow Video name).

I plan to get more of the recent Radiance Films titles and a few pre-ordered as it’s clear that demand is higher than ever!

Burst Angel

Next we have an MVM Entertainment release thanks to their Deal of the Week offer with the collector’s edition Blu-ray release of Burst Angel, Gonzo’s 2004 series. Funimation released this on Blu-ray back when they used to do slip boxes with two slim amaray cases but in recent years MVM finally re-released it.

The Inspector Wears Skirts 2 & River

Next we have our Terracotta Store haul featuring two more recent releases.

First up I want to talk about Wellson Chin Sing-Wai’s 1989 film The Inspector Wears Skirts 2 (神勇飛虎霸王花) which for some reason is going out of print on its first print edition which is very surprising. Then again I mainly pre-order 88 Films’ titles and I didn’t think this one of all releases would sell as soon as it did. Terracotta were upfront on what edition they have so I went for their listing to secure a copy.

Next we have Junta Yamaguchi’s 2023 film River (リバー、流れないでよ), which is by the same team behind the recent film Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes. As I wanted to get free shipping I went for this film since I heard it was pretty good.

PlayStation 5 DualSense Controller

Since the start of the year I had noticed that my PlayStation 5 DualSense controller was experiencing drifting issues, which was annoying. While I did manage to temporarily resolve it, it came back in full force during my playthrough of Final Fantasy VIII and it made the experience really dreadful.

So I decided to get a new controller, and went with the Cyan colour which looks cool.

Samurai 7

Next we have another MVM Entertainment release, once again thanks to their Deal of the Week offer. Throughout the month MVM did end up going through their Gonzo Blu-ray upgrade titles each week, so this was a great opportunity for me to finally get a hold of Samurai 7 and its collector’s edition Blu-ray release. Similar to Burst Angel, MVM re-used the artwork from the old Funimation releases which I’m perfectly fine with.

Blue Exorcist Manga Volumes

I went to town before watching Civil War at my local IMAX Cineworld to see if there was anything of interest, which turned out to be mostly a dud. But saying that, when I visited the Travelling Man store they did have plenty of stock available for various titles and one of those was for Blue Exorcist, which has been in and out of stock for years (more specifically its first half of the current volumes available).

So I bought Volumes 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 & 13, as they did not have Volume 8 available in the store. These are the Italian prints much like my copies for Volumes 5 & 6 but it’s between that or none at all.

IKEA Billy Bookcases for Gaming Collection

Next we have an update to my collection! IKEA delivered my new Billy Bookcase shelves in white colour format as they were the only ones available online for order. It was also discounted which was handy and while I was concerned about the price and condition, it actually looked really good after setting everything up.

So the goal here was to finally replace the old bookshelf placed on the corner of my room covering the games. This was the same shelf that was initially used for the light novels and manga but it was never supposed to be a long-term solution. The plan was to get this replaced last year, but things happened and it just took many months longer than I had wanted and now was finally the opportunity to get it out of the way.

There was enough room to have both a main shelf and a half-shelf. There will be stacking involved (i.e. a game in front of a game) which I’m fine with.

Venus Wars

Venus Wars is now back in the UK and on Blu-ray, but it’s also the weirdest Anime Limited release I’ve seen in a while.

The packaging has fewer pieces of artwork than the Sentai release which is a shame, and while the booklet is filled with content it is missing the manga portion included in the Sentai limited edition. But hey at least we got the disc right? I put the disc in and I don’t get the usual Sentai logos, instead after the Anime Limited logo popped up, I see Eastern Star’s logo instead.

Yep that’s right – this 2024 UK Blu-ray release is using the 2015 US Discotek Media master instead, which is based on an older HD transfer of the film but also came included with the classic Manga Entertainment English dub that wasn’t brought over to Sentai’s release.

As a result of this, you’re not going to have the newer improved HD master that Sentai Filmworks have with their release, and you’re also not going to receive the newer Sentai Studios English dub either. This is an awkward release as the assets used for the packaging and booklet are from the newer master. It is good to see an older dub become available again (as Discotek’s 2015 release is out of print), but it’s not a good look for Anime Limited to market this release using the newer materials when in reality its just an older inferior version.

Trinity Blood

Next I received the third MVM Entertainment collector’s edition release from their Gonzo Blu-ray upgrades and that was Trinity Blood, the vampire series that Funimation also released back in the day. This collector’s edition is actually pretty good in value because it included a booklet which I believe was once provided in the old Funimation releases prior to the Anime Classics line-up. This is an upscale done by Funimation so expect that type of quality when you go into it.

Beauty of Beauties & The Inspector Wears Skirts 3 & 4

Next we have our latest 88 Films releases which were all scheduled for this month and because of how one of their newer releases sold out on its first print I decided to pre-order all three of these via their online store.

Starting off with the Taiwanese film from Li Han-Hsiang released in 1965 called The Beauty of Beauties (西施). From what I have read, this was originally a four hour epic split into a two-part film but here we have a shortened version at 2 hours 35 mins.

Next we have The Inspector Wears Skirts 3: Raid on Royal Casino Marine (霸王花之皇家賭船) and The Inspector Wears Skirts 4 (92霸王花與霸王花), both directed by Wellson Chin and released in 1990 & 1992 respectively. These two films complete the main series and while many have asked for a box set approach, 88 Films did mention that licensing restrictions prevented that from happening hence the four individual sets.

Fate/Samurai Remnant

Only one video game for this month and it’s Fate/Samurai Remnant, the latest Fate/Stay Night video game for the franchise and this time worked on by Koei Tecmo and Omega Force. I recall this is a Warriors ‘Musou’ type of game (which the franchise is no stranger to) but has been well received by fans and such, so I wanted to own it when I could. The game had been fairly expensive for a while until recently when there was a price drop on Amazon.

Gundam Build Fighters Try Part 1 & Rent-A-Girlfriend

Next we have two more Anime Limited collector’s edition releases, though the former was delayed without telling anyone.

First up is Gundam Build Fighters Try Part 1, which you may have noticed is still sealed as I plan to wait until Part 2 has arrived (currently estimated for May) before opening it up together. I expect it to be using the VDMS discs like the first season did. Still pretty stupid to split the series into two parts and then release a complete series collection not long after though – it invalidates the whole split the series up when it could have easily been released as a complete set without issue.

Next we have Rent-A-Girlfriend Season 1 which is the start of the harem cringe journey. I watched the first season during simulcast and its a challenging one to watch because of Kazuya as a character. I do love the premise and the female cast but it’s just a shame the show goes the way it does. I liked it enough to own it on Blu-ray though. This collector’s release is a mixed bag, because I do love the key art on the rigid box but there should have been more effort to the rest. The booklet is the same as Sentai’s which is fine and the art cards are good quality, but I feel like there’s something missing to make it more appealing.

Allonsanfàn, Goodbye & Amen & Tony Arzenta

Keeping the World Cinema collection rolling we have three more Italian films from Radiance Films that were released in their January, February & March line-ups.

Starting with the January title, we have Goodbye & Amen (L’uomo della CIA), the 1978 film by Damiano Damiani whom Radiance Films have also released a few of his works via the Cosa Nostra box set that was released last year. I’ve not watched those films yet but this one is interesting for various reasons. The first being the premise and the second are some of the actors involved. The film stars Tony Musante (featured in Dario Argento’s The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, released in the UK by Arrow Video) and Claudia Cardinale (featured in both The Pink Panther and also The Facts of Murder from Radiance’s World Noir Vol. 1 box set).

From the February line-up is Allonsanfàn, a 1974 film by Paolo Taviani and Vittorio Taviani. This is a historical piece film set during the 1800s which I found interesting given we generally see Italian films in a more modern setting for action or horror. The film stars Marcello Mastroianni (featured in La Dolce Vita which was released in the UK by Criterion) in the leading role. I also want to make note that this is also a ‘Single Pressing Only’ release which means once all 3000 units have sold out, this will no longer be available in print.

And most recently from the March line-up is Tony Arzenta, also known elsewhere as either Big Guns or No Way Out, a 1973 film by Duccio Tessari. The premise reading it upfront literally sounds like many action films that came after with a retired assassin getting dragged back into the role by various factors. The film stars Alain Delon (featured in Le Samouraï and Le Cercle Rouge, both released in the UK by Criterion and Studio Canal respectively). This release by Radiance Films is also selling at a faster rate than expected with only 25% stock remaining for its limited edition release when I last checked their recent stock updates in the newsletter.

Black Mask

There’s been a lot of interesting Eureka releases as per usual but I can’t get every single one of them upfront. For the time being I went for Daniel Lee’s 1996 film Black Mask (黑俠) as it’s being released as a limited edition rather than a first print edition. The reason here is because there are some additional versions of the film that are included exclusively on a second Blu-ray disc (so it’s pretty much like how The Millionaires’ Express was handled).

I am interested in getting the China O’Brien 4K release but was priced out for the time being (the Eureka pre-order bundle didn’t have the 4K option included in the selection last I checked).

Witchblade

With Burst Angel, Samurai 7 and Trinity Blood all arriving throughout the month, the fourth and final Gonzo Blu-ray upgrade makes its appearance with Witchblade. This one I am familiar with thanks to the comic book’s ties to The Darkness but the Gonzo anime is an original story that is more or less set within the universe but not adapting the comic’s story and characters.

Like Trinity Blood we have a booklet to go with the release which is pretty much from the Funimation release. The Blu-ray is also an in-house Funimation SD Remaster upscale type so this won’t be a native HD release like the others.

As Miss Beelzebub Likes It

While I have a Discotek Media haul being worked on, there was one series that I had wanted to pick up but had been unable to because it’s currently sold out on Crunchyroll’s store. As Miss Beelzebub Likes It is a comedy fantasy series that has romance involved, which from first glance reminded me of the Place to Place series. Now even though Discotek Media released it on Blu-ray in May 2022, this is a Crunchyroll title and if you haven’t paid much attention as of late, the CR licensed shows under Discotek have started to discontinue.

Since the series was currently sold out on Crunchyroll’s store, the only option available to me was through Amazon. Thankfully it arrived without issue but its a shame it’s not in stock as it’s going to get harder for folks to own the series if they wanted to. On a plus side, the series does work for Region B players using the Top-Menu.

Beautiful Bones: Sakurako’s Investigation & Lupin the Third Part 6

Keeping the new Anime Limited releases going, here we have two more that just came out with some delays from their initial dates as per usual.

First up we have Beautiful Bones: Sakurako’s Investigation which is a series that I had wanted to check out for a while but Anime Limited licensing and offering a collector’s set was a good way to jump into the series. This also has a really nice booklet of artwork.

Then we have Lupin the Third Part 6 which is the latest series in the franchise that I hadn’t yet watched. I wasn’t able to watch the series during simulcast because it was tied to HIDIVE so I waited for the home video release, and here we are.

A Place Further Than the Universe

A Place Further Than the Universe arrived a day earlier than I had anticipated, and its also a bigger box that expected. Much like To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts, Anime Limited have both the UK & US home video rights from Crunchyroll so the discs not only are Region AB, but they also have Crunchyroll’s font format and an English dub not available for streaming. I had a short listen to the English dub and I think it sounds great.

Dark Water

Last item of the month is a recent Arrow Video release! Hideo Nakata’s 2002 J-Horror film Dark Water (仄暗い水の底から) was re-released for the 4K Ultra HD format not long ago and I wanted to pick it up as I did enjoy the film when I watched it on Blu-ray years back.

Unboxing Links

You can view more photos & specs for the titles below:

What’s to Come for the Hauls

May 2024

So for the month of May we don’t have much on order already. This is pretty much going to be a whole bunch of last minute purchases, but I do plan to sort out a Discotek Media haul.

  • Gundam Build Fighters Try Part 2 (CE Blu-ray)
  • Memories of Murder (LE 4K Ultra HD)
  • The Shape of Night (LE Blu-ray)
  • Suzhou River (LE Blu-ray)

June 2024

June is my Birthday month but we’re still in the same situation as May as there’s not much to show just yet.

  • Rental Magica Parts 1 & 2 (CE Blu-rays)

July 2024

July has some new updates!

  • The Double Crossers (Blu-ray)
  • Message from Space (Blu-ray)

Other Tidbits

The new shelving is now here and that’s pretty much almost all of the goals I had in my mind for the collection covered. Going forward its just a matter of shifting the collection around and making sure I focus on getting some things sorted here and there.

Anime

Honestly I don’t think much has happened over the past few months on new releases. I haven’t even watched any new anime that’s been on streaming for the past year and it’s down to too much going on. That said there’s been some neat progress for home video this Summer.

Anime Limited have finally planned pre-orders for InuYasha Season 2 which will be available later this week, while they have also teased Castlevania Season 3 which is good for those who want to own more of that series. Their recent line-up of offers I picked up with many of them already here.

Discotek Media seems to be going for a bi-monthly approach which means there’s no new anime from them for April and June which is perfectly fine by me as there are still hundreds of titles that I want to own from them and them constantly releasing content each month does cause problems, especially as they receive more and more discontinued notices.

For now what they have scheduled so far in May are Belladonna of Sadness in 4K Ultra HD, Chie the Brat, Digimon: Digital Monsters Season 2 (which is the English version of Digimon Adventure 02), the live-action film Hurricane Polymar, IGPX: Immortal Grand Prix on Blu-ray, Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple: The Attack of Darkness, Lightspeed Electroid Albegas, and the live-action film Sex & Fury.

Then in July we have Futakoi Alternative, Lupin the Third: Princess of the Breeze and Lupin the Third: The Secret Page of Marco Polo television specials, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A’s, Mazinkaiser OVAs, the live-action television series Mobile Cop Jiban, Space Emperor God Sigma, and the Urusei Yatsura OVAs.

I have yet to decide how I’ll be selecting my next Discotek Media haul titles but at least the Crunchyroll titles are pretty much out of the way now as I have picked the ones that I am most interested in.

Crunchyroll has been putting in more effort for the UK branch, though the multi-language titles are still a problem with them replacing artwork to save costs for multi-region distribution and not to mention the high costs. It’s annoying as there’s a lot of titles that I am interested in which are stuck in this group. At least Tomo-chan is a Girl is getting a UK release with its limited edition so that helps, though waiting a month is a gamble if it sells out fast on the US edition especially as we have ended up in situations where the UK edition ends up with an adjustment or modification that makes it less appealing and due to waiting, being left with a choice between either that or nothing.

Asian Cinema

A lot of Asian films on the horizon by pretty much every single distributor.

From Curzon Artificial Eye, they are re-releasing Bong Joon-ho’s Memories of Murder (살인의 추억) for the 4K Ultra HD format sometime at the end of May so I have that on order. I recall the Blu-ray double pack with Barking Dogs Never Bite was barebones on extras whilst the Criterion release had tons of content, so it looks like this upcoming release is making up for that.

There’s also Second Sight of all distributors also releasing a South Korean film this June called Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum (곤지암) which is a 2018 found-footage horror film. They have a limited edition also planned which looks interesting.

Third Window Films have revealed their second batch of Director’s Company releases which were leaked beforehand thanks to the BBFC ratings board. Arriving in May, June & July are Shinji Sōmai’s 1987 film Luminous Woman (光る女), Sōgo Ishii’s 1984 film The Crazy Family (逆噴射家族), and Shinji Sōmai’s 1985 film Love Hotel (ラブホテル). Considering the licensing issues and other challenges like other distributors picking up some of these titles, I wonder how many are remaining in their line-up.

88 Films have teased more Shaw Brothers films which is great, and I suspect these titles might be the ones that Shout! Factory have released across their multi-volume box sets since a few of 88 Film’s own titles are included in them. In the meantime there’s still a few exciting releases incoming like 4K Ultra HD releases for Gordon Chan’s 1994 film Fist of Legend (精武英雄) starring Jet Li and Lo Wei’s 1977 film To Kill With Intrigue (劍花煙雨江南) starring Jackie Chan. Other noteworthy releases are Tony Lou Chun-Ku’s 1991 film The Holy Virgin Versus The Evil Dead (魔唇劫) starring Donnie Yen with both Category II and III versions included in the release, and Stephen Chow’s 2008 film CJ7 (長江七號) which is an out of left field pick for the distributor but means more of his films getting released here.

Eureka Entertainment have pushed more Hong Kong and Japanese films in the coming months, especially with them now entering the North American market which will cause some issues for me as I have yet to figure how to get the US versions for these sorts of films without spending too much or having them get damaged. So far for May we have Teruo Ishii’s 1965 films Prison Walls: Abashiri Prison 1-3 and King Hu’s 1975 film The Valiant Ones (忠烈圖) in 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray, both under the Masters of Cinema range as well as Ting Shan-hsi’s 1976 film A Queen’s Ransom (鱷潭群英會), also known as International Assassin, for the Classics range.

In June the UK will have The Valiant Red Peony: Red Peony Gambler I-III from directors Kosaku Yamashita, Norifumi Suzuki & Tai Kato under the Masters of Cinema range and Yuen Woo-ping’s 1982 film The Miracle Fighters (奇門遁甲) in the Classics range, while the US will have the Beast Fighter collection featuring Sonny Chiba in Karate Bullfighter (けんか空手 極真拳) and Karate Bearfighter (けんか空手 極真無頼拳), both from 1975 in Japan. This collection is not receiving a UK release likely due to numerous cuts required because of animal cruelty. Then in July which I have already ordered are Jeong Chang-hwa’s 1976 film The Double Crossers (鬼計雙雄) for the Classics line-up, and Kinji Fukasaku’s 1978 film Message from Space (宇宙からのメッセージ) for the Masters of Cinema line-up.

Last but not least we have Radiance Films with a few more Japanese films incoming. In June there’s Kinji Fukasaku’s 1971 film Sympathy for the Underdog (博徒外人部隊), followed by Tai Kato’s 1967 film Eighteen Years in Prison (懲役十八年) in July.

World Cinema

There’s also an interesting selection of European films planned for Radiance Film’s catalogue in the coming months. In May we have Mario Bava’s 1965 Italian sci-fi horror film Planet of the Vampires (Terrore nello spazio) and Laura Citarella’s 2022 Argentine-German two-part film Trenque Lauquen, both of which are pricier than the others with the former in a special 5000 unit box set and the latter is a two film collection.

In June we also have another box set this time focused on French director Jean-Pierre Mocky called The Agitator. This one features his 1982 horror film Litan, 1984 thriller film Kill the Referee (À mort l’arbitre) and 1987 mystery film Agent Trouble in June. Alongside this box set is another collection type with Vittorio De Seta’s 1960 Italian film Bandits of Orgosolo (Banditi a Orgosolo) featuring a short film programme The Lost World consisting of 10 films.

In July we have another interesting French film by Claude Berri with his 1983 noir film Tchao Pantin. The trailer that Radiance Films provided looks really good. There’s also another Italian MGM title with François Truffaut’s 1969 film Mississippi Mermaid (La Sirène du Mississipi) coming soon.

Speaking of French films, Criterion UK are releasing Jean-Pierre Melville’s 1967 film Le Samouraï in 4K Ultra HD which is neat.

And that concludes the April haul for 2024. Spent less this time around but we shall see how the next month’s haul does next.

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