Welcome to the Otaku Collection haul for the month of July 2024. This update features 10 anime releases, 3 manga volumes, 11 physical video games, 7 live-action Asian Cinema releases, and 1 live-action European Cinema release.
For this haul, we have another Sentai Filmworks haul after many months of holding off, plus some more video game backlog to pick up and the latest releases from Eureka & Third Window Films arrived alongside a few more extras.
The Holy Virgin vs The Evil Dead
First item of the month is a last minute pickup because I’ve been meaning to get this film for a while and figured it’ll sell out fast if I didn’t order it sooner. Tony Lou Chun-Ku’s 1991 film The Holy Virgin Versus The Evil Dead (魔唇劫) starring Donnie Yen, which is part of their Category III line-up of films, following their releases like Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky and The Untold Story. Despite the promotional artwork prior to its release it did feature the CATIII logo on the spine of the set.
So this film was released with two versions for theatrical screens and both of them are included on this Blu-ray release. The main feature is the ‘safe for work’ version rated in Hong Kong as Category II which is the version that received the HD restoration treatment, and then we have the ‘raunchy’ version rated Category III which is uncut for the first time in the UK, however the original masters were apparently missing so the distributor had to make do with the best available materials for this release.
Since the film was made in Thailand, 88 Films opted to use their poster for the reversible artwork which is a neat touch.
Babylon & Mobile Suit Gundam: The Movie Trilogy
Next we have two new Anime Limited releases; one arrived late because of stock delays and the other arrived on time.
Starting with the thriller series Babylon which streamed on Amazon Prime as part of the Twin Engine deal a few years back. The first half is really good while the second half is not particularly great but overall I didn’t mind the show and the collector’s set is pretty decent.
And then we have Mobile Suit Gundam: The Movie Trilogy back again but this time in 4K Ultra HD format. Interestingly the booklet is the same (or at least has most) as the Japanese 4K UHD-Box released a few years back. Does make me wonder if Char’s Counterattack will get the same treatment since it’ll be a big improvement over the current Blu-ray given how those discs turned out. However saying that, unfortunately Sunrise provided Anime Limited with the older translation rather than the Nozomi translation so this release is not recommended unless you want a nice looking 4K transfer.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak
The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak is the latest Trials release by NIS America and Falcom, and yes I still haven’t played the previous games in the franchise. I’m still waiting on a re-release for Trails in the Sky but on consoles, and this franchise has been notorious for going out of stock or print on numerous occasions so I wanted to play it safe and just pre-order it when I could.
Tsukihime -A Piece of Blue Glass Moon-
It’s surreal to see an English version of the classic Type-Moon visual novel, though it’s just one half. Tsukihime -A Piece of Blue Glass Moon- was localised by Aniplex of America and just like the anime, they went for the limited edition only model like Witch on the Holy Night (though this game was given an import friendly release in Japan & Asia). Since Tsukihime already received a release in Japan months ago, I had to go for the North American release from Aniplex of America.
I went with Video Games Plus because I’m happy with their handling of the UK market. £76 to get the limited edition over here (free shipping & VAT covered). There is a European physical version but it’s handled by a Taiwanese distributor and not only is it way more expensive to get, it’s not even released in Europe. Thank goodness for Switch being region free. Not opened the artbook due to spoilers.
The Agitator: Three Provocations from the Wild World of Jean-Pierre Mocky
Been a while since I picked up a World Cinema Radiance title and one that’s been on my radar recently released in the June line-up. This is the limited edition Blu-ray box set for The Agitator: Three Provocations from the Wild World of Jean-Pierre Mocky, featuring three films from the French director – 1982’s Litan: The City of Green Ghosts (Litan: La cité des spectres verts), 1984’s Kill the Referee (À mort l’arbitre) and 1987’s Agent Trouble.
While people were watching the Euro finals I was actually watching Kill the Referee which was a rather intriguing film and I enjoyed the story and characters. There were some building designs that looked really good as well and the middle act in particular is probably my favourite with the residential building layout and setup. The ending was not perfect but it got the point across I suppose. Looking forward to watching the other two films in the set.
The Double Crossers & Message from Space
A while back I pre-ordered the July line-up for Eureka Entertainment’s latest releases and they arrived ahead of their release dates.
The first is Jeong Chang-hwa’s 1976 Hong Kong film The Double Crossers (鬼計雙雄) which is part of the Eureka Classics range and comes with a slipcase and booklet. The other is Kinji Fukasaku’s 1978 Japanese film Message from Space (宇宙からのメッセージ) as part of the Masters of Cinema line-up, comes with a slipcase, booklet and poster. I ordered both from their July early bird offer when they revealed both titles.
Ferrari & Monkey Man 4K Ultra HD
There were a lot of interesting films that I missed out on in the cinema last year and two of them were Michael Mann’s Ferrari and Dev Patel’s Monkey Man. They were recently released on 4K Ultra HD in the UK. It is interesting to see these are using US slim-cases and have on-disc extras on the 4K disc itself rather than being a combo pack or lock them to the Blu-ray only.
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind & Stone Ocean Manga Vols.
While I decided not to get any games in CeX or any other store around that had any, I visited the local Travelling Man store and picked up JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind Volumes 8 & 9 as well as JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean Volume 1. They didn’t have Golden Wind Volume 6 in stock so I’ll have to order it online to complete that part of the series.
Third Window Films Director’s Company Wave 2
The second wave of Director’s Company titles was released in the UK by Third Window Films over the past few months and I’ve finally ordered them.
Last year we had DOOR 1 & 2, The Guard from Underground and Typhoon Club, so what we have here are Shinji Sōmai’s 1987 Luminous Woman (光る女), Sōgo Ishii’s 1984 The Crazy Family (逆噴射家族) and Shinji Sōmai’s 1985 Love Hotel (ラブホテル).
Third Window Films have more incoming that have been either hinted or leaked by the BBFC, and currently what we know so far are Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Bumpkin Soup as well as Toshiaru Ikeda’s Mermaid Legend and Scent of a Spell. These will likely be released either at the end of this year or early next year.
I presume they are able to license at least up to about 12-15 titles by the end of it, but it’s great to see more older films from this time period be released and restored for UK home video. 88 Films will likely take some for their Japanarchy label which I’m also looking forward to owning.
Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore & Triangle Strategy
Next I decided to make an eBay order for two more Nintendo Switch titles. First we have Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore, the remaster of the Wii U cult classic that combines Fire Emblem with Shin Megami Tensei (though using a Persona style aesthetic). A controversial game given the western release was toned down in some aspects but the gameplay as a whole was apparently pretty solid so why not.
Then we have Triangle Strategy by Square Enix and the team behind Octopath Traveler. This game is a homage to the classic tactical RPG games from the publisher and the physical releases are still around but seem to be using the European/Italian artwork so I decided to take the pre-owned route to secure a UK based copy.
Chaos;Head Noah & Chaos;Child Double Pack
Since I have decided to move the visual novel genre over to the Nintendo Switch that does mean I need to make sure I have picked up specific titles that are available on the platform before the prices go up in value. One of those is a recent double pack collection called Chaos;Double Pack featuring Chaos;Head Noah and Chaos;Child. This was published by Numskull Games and Spike Chunsoft in the west.
Now its worth noting Chaos;Child used the same translation as the one used for the PS4 & Vita release by PQube, which hasn’t been well-received in terms of accuracy. In addition, Chaos;Head Noah is not uncut and that’s because of the version used in Japan that they kept re-using for other platforms since (Xbox 360 & Vita versions are uncut but never released outside Japan), and what this means is specific key scenes were removed in one of the routes that is considered integral for the whole story. PC users have made mods to bring those scenes back.
On a positive note, I do like the steelbook design and its good to have the choice to own a regular Switch case and the steelbook case.
Police Story 3: Supercop
This is probably one of the biggest surprise pickups of the year as I actually didn’t think I would be able to get my hands on this. This is Stanley Tong’s 1992 film Police Story 3: Supercop (警察故事3超級警察), the third film in the Police Story franchise starring Jackie Chan. I own the Eureka Entertainment 4K Ultra HD Trilogy box set, which features this film as well as the first two in the series.
While Criterion have the rights to the first two over in North America, 88 Films were able to secure the rights for the third film for them and produced their own 4K limited edition box set.
In terms of on-disc content, it’s almost identical but we do have a different 4K restoration by Fidelity in Motion and the Export Cut also presented in 4K (compared to 1080p on the Eureka release). What also made me want to own this was the physical packaging because 88 Films does a great job with these releases and Eureka’s was pretty lacking (they did have last minute issues so reversible special artwork was missing, and the booklet is dedicated to the trilogy as a whole).
I don’t plan on getting every single 88 USA release because the UK versions for the other titles were very good and pretty much identical for disc content on what’s been released so far (In the Line of Duty I-IV and Magnificent Warriors as examples), but I would like to own their upcoming USA exclusive 4K Ultra HD release of Project A Parts I & II which is currently scheduled to be released later this year.
Quake II
Keeping the Limited Run Games physical release bandwagon going, Video Games Plus finally had in stock Quake II and I ordered it for the Nintendo Switch. I have already played this game twice (first from the Xbox 360 HD remaster and the second on PlayStation 5 4K remaster) but I wanted to own it on Switch for the platform and to be alongside the DOOM collection and other Nightdive Studio remasters.
Anonymous;Code
Also picked up from the visual novel side of things is the latest Science Adventure title in the franchise which was in development hell for a while called Anonymous;Code, published by Numskull Games and Spike Chunsoft for the west. The reviews for the game seemed promising so I’m intrigued to check this one out but it’ll be once I’ve read through the Chaos games and Robotics games first.
CeX PlayStation 3 Haul
After watching Deadpool & Wolverine (which I really enjoyed), I went to town and visited the local CeX to see if they had two specific games that I was interested in owning, and I found them alongside two others that I also decided to pick up.
One of them was Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, which was released around two years after the 2008 reboot and taking place in the same timeline as The Sands of Time games. As I already owned both the 2008 reboot and the HD Trilogy on PlayStation 3, I decided to look into owning this one to complete the set on the platform. It was available for £3 which is a solid bargain compared to eBay prices that average at £5-8.
Another game I was searching for was Spec-Ops: The Line, pretty much a cult classic third-person shooter from the seventh generation era of gaming, and was notable for its storyline. The game used to be pretty cheap but in recent months it had been delisted from digital storefronts so the value of the physical version went up. I picked it up for £20 which is cheaper than the £25+ range it currently goes for on eBay. I do own the Steam version (thanks to the free game offer the publisher did years back) but I wanted to play it on consoles.
I also picked up the first MotorStorm game in the racing franchise for £2, which included the promo booklet that goes over PSN which was neat, and also Tekken 6 for £6 because I was interested. The only other games in own in the franchise is a digital version of Tekken 2 (on PlayStation 3 & 5) as well as Tekken Hybrid (which contains Tekken Tag Tournament HD).
I did check the local Sore Thumbs Retro games store but they didn’t have a few games I was also interested in getting.
Sentai Filmworks Summer Sale Haul
As expected Sentai Filmworks ran their Summer sale throughout the month of July and overall it had an interesting selection of titles to pick up, now they didn’t include all of the ones I wanted and there were a number of which weren’t at the price range that I was hoping for, but for what we got it was solid enough.
So this haul could have arrived a week or two ago, and the delay was because I was hoping for Crunchyroll Store to run a Summer sale of their own and they didn’t. Therefore I decided to focus on shipping out this one package with extra packaging protection and that was it. We have a total of 8 anime releases here for $148 (£116) which is pretty decent considering Crunchyroll & Rightstuf’s prices would have been way higher.
Ane Log: Big Sister Moyako’s Never-ending Monologue
Animated by studio Brain’s Base in 2014-2015 and directed by Tetsuo Ichimura, this is a mini OVA adaptation of the manga and was one of many three episode OVAs that Sentai picked up out of nowhere. It was a pretty good price as well. Sentai Filmworks released the OVAs on Blu-ray in January 2022.
Farming Life in Another World
Animated by studio Zero-G in 2023 and directed by Ryōichi Kuraya, this is a more recent isekai that I had wanted to watch when it first aired but because Sentai picked it up for their HIDIVE service I wasn’t able to (due to how I manage my time and the quality of the service, I don’t want to get a subscription). At least it’s now available on Blu-ray so I waited until the latest sale to pick it up. Sentai Filmworks released the complete series on Blu-ray in December 2023.
Majestic Prince
Animated by studios Doga Kobo & Orange in 2013 and directed by Keitaro Motonaga, we have another sci-fi mecha series and it’s a series that I’ve been aware of for years but only started taking interest in recent months as I wanted to grow my mecha anime collection. It’s also interesting to see Orange animated this considering their newer works are CG only projects. This collection also includes Wings to the Future, an OVA special treated as ‘Episode 25’ of the series from 2016, and Genetic Awakening, a theatrical film also released in the same year, both of which Seven Arcs Pictures stepped in replacing Doga Kobo on the animation. Sentai Filmworks released the complete collection on Blu-ray in May 2023.
Medaka Box & Medaka Box Abnormal
Animated by studio GAINAX in 2012 and directed by Shouji Saeki, this is a pretty interesting series for a few reasons. First it’s written by the Monogatari writer NisiOisin and it’s a Weekly Shonen Jump title so Medaka herself made an appearance in J-Stars Victory Vs. which is how I first discovered the series. It’s taken me this long to finally have a copy of the series on Blu-ray as Sentai eventually re-released it with both seasons together. Sentai Filmworks released the complete collection on Blu-ray in July 2023.
MM!
Animated by studio Xebec in 2010 and directed by Tsuyoshi Nagasawa, this is a series that I was not planning on picking up until I learned that Xebec worked on it and they are one of those wildcard studios in my opinion for their diverse line-up of anime titles. The series is also a harem so that also fits. Sentai Filmworks released the complete series on Blu-ray in July 2021.
Needless
Animated by studio Madhouse in 2009 and directed by Masayuki Sakoi, it’s a series that I have also been aware of for as long as I started getting into anime and that was mainly due to MVM releasing DVDs of the show. Eventually Sentai re-released the show which is very handy. Sentai Filmworks released the complete collection on Blu-ray in April 2022.
Problem Children are Coming from Another World, Aren’t They?
Animated by studio Diomedéa in 2013 and directed by Yasutaka Yamamoto, an isekai before the genre got oversaturated and I knew about it mainly through the visuals but as someone who likes the genre I decided to look into it in recent years and eventually Sentai re-releasing the series and adding it to the sale was an opportunity to pick up. Sentai Filmworks released the complete series on Blu-ray in July 2021.
Venus Wars Remastered
Animated by studio Kugatsusha in 1989 and directed by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko. A classic film that was recently released in the UK by Anime Limited, but as you know already they provided us with an older transfer rather than the remastered version from Japan despite the marketing and packaging using that version. Not a good look but fortunately Sentai added the film in its sale so I double-dipped. Sentai Filmworks released the film in May 2021 (with the standard edition releasing in October 2021).
Unboxing Links
You can view more photos & specs for the titles below:
- Babylon (CE Blu-ray)
- Mobile Suit Gundam: The Movie Trilogy (CE 4K Ultra HD)
What’s to Come for the Hauls
August 2024
The month of August I plan to feature more anime from both the US and UK distributors, though I do need to pick and choose what to order first. Currently here’s what is expected to arrive below:
- Akiba Maid War (Collector’s Edition Blu-ray)
- The Girl from the Other Side (Blu-ray)
- Handyman Saitou in Another World (Blu-ray)
- One Punch Man Season 1 (Blu-ray)
- One Punch Man Season 2 (Limited Edition Blu-ray)
September 2024
A few items are expected to make their appearance this September!
- Naruto Part 1 (Collector’s Edition Blu-ray)
- Triggerheart Exelica (Deluxe Edition Nintendo Switch)
October 2024
I ordered some more titles in recent months and currently here’s their latest expected arrival:
- Broken Oath (First Print Edition Blu-ray)
- Future Cops (Limited Edition Blu-ray)
- Macross Plus (Ultimate Edition Blu-ray)
November 2024
Also ordered are a few anime imports but because I ordered them altogether they won’t ship until all of them are in stock, therefore they won’t arrive until sometime in November.
- Megazone 23 Trilogy (Blu-ray)
- Otaku no Video (Blu-ray)
- Riding Bean (Blu-ray)
Sometime in 2024
Normally I don’t provide a timeframe like this but given the potential delays I’ve bundled all of the titles in this batch. These are mostly from Limited Run Games as I had decided to pre-order direct from their store which wasn’t that bad actually for the UK since shipping was reasonable and VAT is pre-paid upfront.
- Beyond Good & Evil 20th Anniversary Edition (PlayStation 5)
- Clock Tower Rewind (Nintendo Switch)
- Cosmic Fantasy Collection (Nintendo Switch)
- Hatsune Miku: Logic Paint S (Nintendo Switch)
- HUMANITY (PlayStation 5)
- Macross II: Lovers Again (Premium Edition 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray)
- Toaplan Arcade Garage: Kyukyoku Tiger-Heli (Nintendo Switch)
Other Tidbits
Another messy month for work, with 50 extra hours spent trying to make sure my workload wasn’t escalating into disaster and that’s caused by covering two jobs at once. There is some light at the end of the tunnel with more newcomers potentially making their appearance to the company, but it’s too early to make the call. It is fortunate the overtime is being paid but there is a cost of mental health at the end of the day. I want a break but I can’t, and I’m close to reaching the three years that I have spent with the business so it’s another case of let’s see how it goes from here.
Anime Limited
So Anime Limited have revealed their home video details for both Bleach and Naruto. Let’s start with Naruto since that was revealed first.
Naruto is going to have its entire series on Blu-ray, including the non-canon content, and interestingly they’re self-authored which means they’re not going to be using the Viz Media discs at all. They’re going for two models; the standard editions will have 8 sets (2-cours worth of episodes) to cover the first series, while the collector’s editions will have 4 sets (4-cours worth of episodes). I have gone for the latter since price-wise is pretty much identical which was interesting. As I ordered directly from Anime Limited’s store, there is a shop exclusive storage box for the series which is neat.
Bleach is also going to be released on Blu-ray, including the non-canon content, however will be using the Viz Media discs (though there’s some mention of perhaps the latter portions being self-authored due to complaints of the Viz discs not looking great, even though the issues apparently started from the beginning). The series is being released in 13 sets, with 3 of them also offering a collector’s edition that includes a storage box (for Parts 1-5, then Parts 6-9, then Parts 10-13). I do plan to get this series since the big three of anime has always been of my interest, even if there’s flaws throughout.
Outside of those, they did have some new titles revealed in the past month. Devilman Crybaby is a notable one which is exciting, however because it’s a Netflix series, the English dub may not be included since licensing costs aren’t cheap for those. Tekkonkinkreet was rescued for Blu-ray, after previously been released in the UK by Sony Pictures. I do own the Sony Blu-ray and thought the film was pretty interesting.
Meanwhile the American stop-motion animation studio Laika will have four of its films be released by Anime Limited which is interesting. Those films are Henry Selick’s 2009 film Coraline, Sam Fell & Chris Butler’s 2012 film ParaNorman, Graham Annable & Anthony Stacchi’s 2014 film The Boxtrolls, and Travis Knight’s 2016 film Kubo and the Two Strings. I do own Kubo and its a great film, but Coraline I’m definitely interested in checking out.
Also picked up is the first season of Arcane: League of Legends by French animation studio Fortiche which I have heard is really good and is available on 4K Ultra HD, though I have yet to order it given I’ve been occupied by other things but I’m definitely interested.
Crunchyroll
So here’s something that I had never expected to say – they have actually resolved the last issue I had with their releases. For some background, when they released the multi-language titles over to the UK, they cheapened out by removing artwork to appeal to three regions; the UK, France and Germany. This also resulted in higher prices and I don’t want to own a cut-down version especially when some of them happen to be my favourites of recent years. It’s why I imported those releases, especially given the price point was roughly the same or a little bit more so it didn’t make a difference to me.
Recently I found out the newer titles, like I Got a Cheat Skill in Another World and Became Unrivaled in The Real World, Too, no longer have this issues. I knew the retail prices were lowered but because barely anyone posts unboxing photos for these releases, I wasn’t made aware that they kept the artwork. Now they still have French text but my thought process is that as long as everything is on equal terms with the US release, I don’t mind extra text on the back cover. It’s why I have no issue with the European releases for video games because that’s how its managed (nothing is removed for EU physical releases).
Now from the looks of it, this change first began with The Legendary Hero is Dead! released last April onwards, so I’ll honour my stance and support these releases from here on (unless they botch it later). I have ordered The Girl from the Other Side which was released last year but is a special exception because the OVA was part of a kickstarter campaign that only covered English & French subtitles.
On a different note, they are currently running a Summer sale. I have a few titles ordered through retailer Rarewaves, but I plan to grab some more when payday arrives. The October UK slate was also revealed which is pretty much the remainder of September’s (like Mushoku Tensei Season 2 Part 1, My Hero Academia Season 5 complete collection and Trigun Stampede) plus Hell’s Paradise which is neat. In the US, their October slate is more focused on re-releases from the Funimation catalogue but they have scheduled The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Part 2, Classroom for Heroes and Goblin Slayer Season 2.
Discotek Media & AnimEigo
I have officially bought some AnimEigo titles as of late, namely their new releases of three titles planned for release later this year. In September, they start off with a new release of Riding Bean, then in October we have Otaku no Video, and in November we have Megazone 23 Trilogy. Each of these I have ordered directly through MediaOCD’s store and to the UK rather than use Stackry. The reason I went for direct to UK is because they have slipcases exclusive to their store but it’s not wrapped with the Amaray case but handled separately which is an interesting move but I figured going direct may protect the slipcases than having them go through consolidation.
Also in AnimEigo’s catalogue that I have yet to own are Bubblegum Crisis, Gunsmith Cats and Metal Skin Panic MADOX-01. Their latest Kickstarter campaign is for The Dagger of Kamui while MediaOCD mentioned they plan to work on a remastered version for Bubblegum Crash.
While I have supported their Kickstarter campaign for Macross II: Lovers Again, I don’t plan on going for all of them because of cost and other factors. I do find it amusing that the MediaOCD re-releases are technically better than the originals but at least they’re affordable. I look forward to what they have to announce at Otakon alongside the Discotek Media panel. Discotek will have two versions of the announcement panel, one via Otakon and another online for those who can’t attend. The difference is mainly down to some titles not going to be revealed at the panel due to time constraints which they said a while back.
Sentai Filmworks
Since we have picked up some of their titles, there’s been a few more titles that they have on my to-buy list. One of those is their new re-release of Outbreak Company, an isekai that I had wanted to own on Blu-ray for years so waiting has certainly paid off. They have also scheduled newer shows Level 1, Demon Lord and One Room Hero and The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen: From Villainess to Savior for home video which are on my radar, and weirdly they have a classic Sunrise series called Panzer World Galient so I have no clue what’s going on there.
And that wraps up the July 2024 haul. With the extra funds I plan to sort out a few hauls but there’s also backlog to address like the titles from the Asian Cinema scene.
The Normanic Vault 
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