The Normanic Vault

Otaku Collection Haul for September 2024

Welcome to the Otaku Collection haul for the month of September 2024. This update features 12 anime releases, 3 manga volumes, 6 physical video games, 10 live-action Asian Cinema releases, and 2 live-action European Cinema releases.

For this haul, we have decided to collect the entire City Hunter anime series on Blu-ray, secured a number of Asian films in 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray and in a rather out of nowhere move, bought a few PlayStation 2 games.

The Project A Collection

Starting off the month with a bang is a very interesting pickup and also a double-dip. 88 Films have released their 4K Ultra HD deluxe limited edition for The Project A Collection which is a two-film set containing Jackie Chan’s 1983 film Project A (A計劃) and the 1987 film Project A Part II (A計劃續集). Now what makes this pickup interesting is the fact that it is an 88 Films USA distribution which means its not to be sold in the UK & Ireland, as Eureka Entertainment own the rights over here, but apparently they don’t have plans to release a 4K set for these films which is why I went ahead with the US release.

Now buying US versions for non-anime can be a bit of a headache and in a rather grey area move, the release was available to purchase via their online store for UK owners which is how I received my copy and I used the points that I earned for ordering various other titles to bring the cost down. While Eureka’s release is based on the 2K restoration, 88 Films release is presented with a 4K restoration with Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision support. Mandarin audio is also included which I believe was missing in the Eureka release. The 4K disc is all-region, however the Blu-rays are region locked.

Akiba Maid War

And then we finally have Akiba Maid War. I’ve been interested in checking out the series ever since I first heard about it during its broadcast season and there were a fair amount of word of mouth about how interesting it was especially given the concept of the show. While Sentai released the series in North America, Anime Limited produced a collector’s edition so I figured I’ll go for the UK release, even though it’s pretty barebones in a way but at least the show is now available.

Perfect Days, Sympathy for the Underdog & Tchao Pantin

Next to arrive is a trip to HMV in town. I’ve been behind on a number of releases for various distributors so I used this opportunity to pick a few that were in stock in the store. First up we have Wim Wenders’ 2023 film Perfect Days, a co-production between Japan and Germany starring Kōji Yakusho (13 Assassins, CURE). MUBI revealed the 4K version sometime after they scheduled the Blu-ray in a weird move but they eventually released it, presented in a big collector’s edition package. Criterion have released the film for North America but it looks like the MUBI version shares the same content (both use HDR10 and DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio).

Also picked up are two more Radiance Films titles which were released a few months ago. First up we have Kinji Fukasaku’s 1971 film Sympathy for the Underdog (博徒外人部隊) which is another yakuza type film from the director. Also picked up is that film that has caught my attention from its trailer – Claude Berri’s 1983 film Tchao Pantin, a French neo-noir film restored in 4K. Both films feature Radiance’s special limited edition packaging with reversible artwork, a booklet and Scanavo packaging.

PlayStation 2 Haul

Next up is a haul that has been one which I had been debating over for a long while. Considering the condition and price I decided it was time to roll with it. It’s been 18 years since I last received a new PlayStation 2 game physically (which was Kingdom Hearts II back in October 2006) but now it’s time to slowly build the collection.

PAL games is not the ideal world I would want because they perform worse than the NTSC releases (whether its due to frame rate or technical issues caused by going from NTSC to PAL for some titles) but given I live in the UK it’s not going to be smooth sailing for owning NTSC versions unless you pirate or buy digital versions whenever possible, so I decided to change my stance.

So I picked up three games whilst I was in town. Ironically and coincidently all three of them were released in the year 2000 which is mad.

Squaresoft and DreamFactory (Tobal No.1) made the beat em up title The Bouncer and it’s a game that I recall being meme’d on over the years (for example, the main character looks like Sora) but I wanted to check it out.

Koei & Omega Force made the iconic Dynasty Warriors 2, which is the first game in the franchise to take on the Musou genre given its previous instalment was a fighting game. While I would have wanted the third game for its infamous dub, its neat to own the game that changed the world with its ‘whack hundreds of enemies with just a few hits’.

And then we have Genki who made the sword fighting game Kengo: Master of Bushido, which is niche but is considered a spiritual successor to the awesome Bushido Blade series.

The local store also had many other retro games and around over a hundred for the PlayStation 2. Notable titles I spotted include Armored Core II, Devil Kings (the butchered version of Sengoku Basara), Makai Kingdom, Valkyrie Profile II & many more. They also have a couple of Japanese PS2 imports which I would like to make use of in the future.

In order to play these games, I needed an HDMI converter for my LG C1 TV. Whilst I am fully aware that the RetroTink ones are the way to go, I couldn’t justify paying a lot to import them over here when I don’t have enough games and devices to make use of it fully. In the meantime I settled on a simple plug and play device with the Kaico adapter.

Ikiru, The Valiant Red Peony & World Noir Vol 2

I wanted to order a few classic Japanese films as it had been a while and decided on three releases.

So first up we have Akira Kurosawa’s 1952 film Ikiru (生きる) which had been recently re-released on home video by British Film Institute for Blu-ray. It is a 4K scan I believe but they felt it wasn’t worth the 4K UHD format which is fair. This is the first print edition so it comes included with a booklet. Admittedly I had missed out on the recent Ozu collection sets but they’re not as a priority as Kurosawa in my opinion.

Next we have three films in this collection released by Eureka Entertainment back in June and that’s The Valiant Red Peony aka Red Peony Gambler. This includes Kosaku Yamashita’s 1968 film Red Peony Gambler (緋牡丹博徒), Norifumi Suzuki’s 1968 film Red Peony Gambler 2: Gambler’s Obligation (緋牡丹博徒 一宿一飯) and Tai Kato’s Red Peony Gambler 3: The Flower Cards Game (緋牡丹博徒 花札勝負). The gambling theme has always intrigued me so I’m interested to see how these turn out given they’re more historical Japan compared to others.

The other release I ordered with the Japanese titles comes the latest big box release from Radiance Films with World Noir Vol. 2, which contains three more international non-English films set during the early 60s. In this volume we have Helmut Käutner’s Black Gravel (Schwarzer Kies) released in 1961 from Germany, Jacques Deray’s Symphony for a Massacre (Symphonie pour un massacre) released in 1963 from France, and Takumi Furukawa’s Cruel Gun Story (拳銃残酷物語) released in 1964 from Japan.

The first volume I’ve only watched The Facts of Murder which was excellent so I’m looking forward to more of the European noir genre. Noir was never my thing and that’s probably because Hollywood oversaturated it to death so it felt unappealing to me, but considering how it originated from Europe to begin with, seeing their own take on it combined with these newer restorations felt like a fresh change of pace.

Astro Bot

After finishing the Secret of Mana remake I finally picked up Astro Bot for the PlayStation 5. I managed to finish the game at 100% progression before my annual leave concluded and absolutely loved the experience. It’s the type of game that brings you back to the classic platforming experience from the early 3D era and I enjoyed the challenge of trying to find those bots throughout each level, a couple very surprising cameo appearances.

Tattooed Life, Another Code & Like a Dragon: Ishin!

I went to watch The Substance at the cinema which is a really good body horror film and one of the better films of the year if you need a recommendation, but to make sure I arrive on time I go to town first. I visited the HMV first and spent way more time in there than I should have done but I wanted to get something and they had a restock for a whole bunch of Radiance Films titles which included their newer releases like Seijun Suzuki’s 1965 film Tattooed Life (刺青一代) which I felt would sell out faster than the rest so I picked that one.

Also bought in two are two more video games for the collection. In CeX they had a copy for Another Code: Recollection that I’ve been meaning to pickup for a while and for £35 which was cheaper than Amazon and The Game Collection I decided to grab it now. This is a remaster of two games released years back; the 2005 Nintendo DS game Another Code: Two Memories and 2009 Nintendo Wii game Another Code: R – A Journey into Lost Memories which North America didn’t receive the latter so having both of these come back for the Switch is neat.

Then I visited the GAME which to my surprise is actually closing down in York. The staff mentioned the park area is forcing them out and they are expecting the branch to merge inside the Sports Direct like other locations have done. It’s a shame to see GAME devolve into this mess but I would rather they survive even if its a smaller game selection than be dead completely. Anyway they were having a 20% off stock sale and they had Like a Dragon: Ishin! which was actually there when I last visited the branch but miraculously they had a sealed copy for £12.99 so I got it for £10, neat. This game is a remake of the 2013 PS4 launch title Ryu ga Gotoku: Ishin! with updated visuals and tweaks to be more in-line with the newer instalments in terms of presentation and such.

The Boy and the Heron

When I got back home, HMV delivered The Boy and the Heron. This is their HMV Exclusive version which featured better artwork than the regular edition, and also comes with art cards. Now despite the Radiance style packaging, they didn’t bother to clean up the artwork so it was pretty pointless to include the mini-sleeve in the first place, because the purpose of those is to keep that type of information (BBFC, Ratings info, plot synopsis, extras etc) on there, allowing the main artwork to be look nicer. The texture of the sleeve used does make the spine look pretty good on the shelf but you get the point.

Now I’ll be completely honest. I haven’t been watching as much anime for the past year and the reason is because my job has had so much going on to which I’ve spent extra time to make sure I am up to speed on a number of tasks, this results in me being too exhausted or feeling like there’s not enough time each evening to watch an anime or two. Now arguably I could manage but I don’t want to force myself for the sake of it which is why I stopped taking part in Anime Planet’s simulcast challenges. There is light at the end of the tunnel but will take a few more months before it can fix itself unfortunately.

Watching The Boy and the Heron at the cinema in IMAX during this ordeal felt like I was back in that excitement again for watching anime and I’m glad to own it on home video, especially in 4K Ultra HD which does include Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision on top of Elysium using GKIDS’s assets so at least the disc is in good shape. I watched the film in Japanese but I have heard the English dub is very solid.

Cat’s Eye & City Hunter

It’s that time again, another Discotek Media haul! Well this is an out of left field one.

Back in August, stock came back briefly for City Hunter 2 Sets 1 & 2 which went out of print earlier in the year alongside the Galaxy Express 999 sets. I prioritised the latter because I was convinced that Anime Limited would license and release the City Hunter franchise because after all Discotek only have the rights to US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, and Anime Limited have the rights to the new film Angel Dust which adapts the final arc of the manga. But it was clear that as time goes by, as months and year pass, the likelihood of the distributor ever releasing them over here was becoming more and more unlikely.

Waiting patiently for a UK release also has its consequences, and I decided enough was enough and put in the effort to look into owning the Discotek releases as soon as possible. The good news is that I was able to secure all of them, though there were a few mini-challenges.

Cat’s Eye – Seasons 1 & 2

Adapted by studio TMS Entertainment in 1983-1985 and directed by Yoshio Takeuchi for Season 1 & Kenji Kodama for Season 2. Cat’s Eye is Tsukasa Hojo’s earlier work which I actually didn’t realise came before City Hunter until very recently, and it was also serialised in Weekly Shonen Jump which is cool. The series has received a release in the west partially by ImaginAsian Entertainment (i.e. just the first season) and then Nozomi Entertainment released the whole series across two DVD sets, before Discotek Media eventually rescued the license for a Blu-ray release. Discotek Media released the Blu-ray seasons in April & November 2022 respectively.

City Hunter

Adapted by studio Sunrise in 1987-1988 and directed by Kenji Kodama. City Hunter is an adaptation of the Weekly Shonen Jump manga series featuring JUMP FORCE star Ryo Saeba. It’s considered a classic series and it’s one that I’ve always wanted to check out ever since I first saw the chunky DVD sets that were released by ADV back in the day (I think the first time I saw them was via BlaizeV’s videos on his YouTube channel).

The first season was initially released in two parts before Discotek Media then re-released the series as a complete season set which was an experiment that failed due to poor sales and also impacting the sales for the second season. Discotek Media released the Blu-ray collection in October 2021.

City Hunter 2 – Sets 1 & 2

Adapted by studio Sunrise in 1988-1989 and directed by Kenji Kodama. The second season aired way more episodes than the first and also the first to discontinue from Discotek’s catalog in the franchise. Since I had missed out on the Crunchyroll Store listings, the only option I had left was eBay (or Robert’s Anime Corner Store for scalper prices). Admittedly this result was not as bad as I had expected. Set 1 was used but in pretty solid condition and priced reasonably to be on par with Crunchyroll Store’s prices so I was very happy with that, while Set 2 was £30 more.

The plan for Set 2 was to order it through Crunchyroll Store because it was available at the time, but I wanted to make sure that Set 1 dispatched first before proceeding, but unfortunately stock sold out before I had to chance, hence why I had to pay scalper prices but it was new and sealed and both shipped to Stackry without issue. Discotek Media released the Blu-rays for Sets 1 & 2 in July & September 2021 respectively.

City Hunter 3

Adapted by studio Sunrise in 1989-1990 and directed by Kenji Kodama. These once again continue the adventures of Ryo Saeba and Kaori Makimura, though this time we switch from having multiple cours worth of episodes down to a single cour, with 13 episodes total. My guess is by this point they were catching up on the source material and toned it down on the adaptation. Discotek Media released the Blu-ray in March 2022.

City Hunter ’91

Adapted by studio Sunrise in 1991 and directed by Kiyoshi Egami. This is the final season for the City Hunter anime that continued to cover the manga’s story up until a specific point near the end of the material. Compared to the previous releases, City Hunter ’91 was still in print but not in stock on Crunchyroll’s Store so I had to order from Amazon US. Discotek Media released the Blu-ray in April 2022.

City Hunter: Movie & TV Special Collection

Adapted by studio Sunrise, this collection features the films City Hunter: .357 Magnum from 1989, City Hunter: Bay City Wars and City Hunter: Million Dollar Conspiracy released together in 1990; all three directed by Kenji Kodama. We also have the television specials City Hunter: Secret Service from 1996 by director Kenji Kodama, City Hunter: Goodbye My Sweetheart (also known as The Motion Picture) in 1997 by director Kazuo Yamazaki, and City Hunter: Death of the Vicious Criminal Ryo Saeba from 1999 by director Masaharu Okuwaki. The latter of which wasn’t released in English before so it’s presented subtitled only whilst the ADV dubs are included with the other films/specials. Discotek Media released the Blu-ray collection in January 2023.

City Hunter: Shinjuku Private Eyes

Adapted by studio Sunrise in 2019 and directed by Kenji Kodama, this is a newer film in the franchise that pretty much takes the cast to present day Shinjuku but I heard it was pretty solid. The Japanese cast reprise their roles and Discotek provided an English dub to keep it consistent with the previous films receiving one. This was also Discotek’s first release for the franchise before eventually releasing the rest. Discotek Media released the Blu-ray in May 2020.

A Bittersweet Life & Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum

A few months ago, UK distributor Second Sight Films decided to release two South Korean titles to the UK for home video. I’ve been meaning to pick both of them up but funds weren’t ready given they were only available at full price. Recently I was given some vouchers from work and used some of it towards these two sets.

Starting with Kim Jee-woon’s 2005 film A Bittersweet Life (달콤한 인생), starring Lee Byung-hun (JSA: Joint Security Area, The Good, the Bad, the Weird, I Saw The Devil) which I consider to be one of the biggest Korean films released in the past few decades and I’m so happy that it was rescued after being out of print for years (Tartan Video previously released the film on DVD) and not only that, it’s also on 4K Ultra HD which was a surprise. I picked up the limited edition which uses a digipack packaging for the 4K and Blu-ray discs, a 120+ page booklet with various essays (and a nice texture to each page) and a few art cards. I think this edition has sold out but Amazon still had some stock left.

Also picked up is Jung Bum-shik’s 2018 film Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum (곤지암), starring Wi Ha-joon (Midnight, Squid Game), a found-footage type film that I hadn’t heard of before until Second Sight mentioned it earlier in the year. Korean films are a rarity and I want to pick them up whenever possible so I’m interested to see how Korea’s directors tackle this style of filmmaking. This limited edition includes an Amaray case, 80-page booklet with various essays and a few art cards.

The Legend of Hei

The Legend of Hei arrived this week. A Chinese anime film that Shout! Factory released a few years ago and Anime Limited decided to release it this past month. This isn’t my first Chinese animated title as I own Discotek’s To Be Hero/To Be Heroine collection but neat to see another one from China make its way onto home video, given how a vast majority stick to streaming.

My copy arrived earlier in the week but it was damaged, and I was able to receive a replacement which had no issues.

Legacy of Rage & The Tai Chi Master

Rounding up the month is another 88 Films haul with two of their latest Hong Kong film releases.

Here we have Ronny Yu’s 1986 film Legacy of Rage (龍在江湖), starring Bruce Lee’s son Brandon Lee (The Crow) in his first and only role in Hong Kong’s film industry apparently as he worked with Hollywood for the remainder of his short-lived career. The deluxe limited edition Blu-ray release includes a rigid box, booklet and double-sided poster.

Also here is Yuen Woo-ping’s 1993 film The Tai Chi Master (太極張三豐), starring Jet Li (Fearless, Hero) and Michelle Yeoh (Yes, Madam!, Everything Everywhere All at Once). This is another release by 88 Films for the 4K Ultra HD format and much like the previous Jet Li films that the distributor has released, this one is also subtitled only. The limited edition combo pack includes a slipcase, booklet and double-sided poster.

In terms of other 88 Films releases, I have yet to order the recent Shaw Brothers titles as well as the latest Japanarchy release Gaira’s Guts Trilogy. That’s going to be sorted at a later point because they weren’t pre-ordered due to timing of my hauls or the dates kept getting shifted around.

Unboxing Links

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

What’s to Come for the Hauls

October 2024

A lot of titles have been shifting arrival windows as of late, but October does have a few titles in the mix.

I don’t think Macross Plus will arrive in time this month so expect that to slip. Either way, here’s what you can expect to appear:

  • Appleseed (Blu-ray)
  • Broken Oath (First Print Edition Blu-ray)
  • Future Cops (Limited Edition Blu-ray)
  • GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka the Animation (SD-BD)
  • Iria: Zeiram the Animation (Blu-ray)
  • Kashimashi ~Girl Meets Girl~ (Blu-ray)
  • Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple Season 1 (Blu-ray)
  • Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple Season 2 (Blu-ray)
  • Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple: The Attack of Darkness (Blu-ray)
  • Kite Integral Version (Blu-ray)
  • Lupin the Third: Dead or Alive (Blu-ray)
  • Lupin the Third: Farewell to Nostradamus (Blu-ray)
  • Macross Plus (Ultimate Edition Blu-ray)
  • Mahoraba ~Heartful Days~ (Blu-ray)
  • Urusei Yatsura: Always My Darling (Blu-ray)
  • Urusei Yatsura: The Final Chapter (Blu-ray)
  • A Wind Named Amnesia (Blu-ray)

November 2024

Currently no new additions to this list for the time being.

  • Bleach Set 1 (Collector’s Edition Blu-ray)
  • Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 1 (Collector’s Edition Blu-ray)
  • Clock Tower Rewind (Nintendo Switch)
  • Hatsune Miku: Logic Paint S (Nintendo Switch)
  • Megazone 23 Trilogy (Blu-ray)
  • Naruto Set 1 (Collector’s Edition Blu-ray)
  • Otaku no Video (Blu-ray)
  • Riding Bean (Blu-ray)
  • TONIKAWA: Over the Moon for You Season 1 (Collector’s Edition Blu-ray)
  • Triggerheart Exelica (Deluxe Edition Nintendo Switch)

December 2024

I’m confident these remaining few will just show up in December at this point. The holiday season could delay the packages into January but who knows until we get to that point.

  • Beyond Good & Evil 20th Anniversary Edition (PlayStation 5)
  • Godzilla Minus One (Deluxe Edition 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray)
  • HUMANITY (PlayStation 5)
  • Macross II: Lovers Again (Premium Edition 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray)
  • Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Season 2 – Parts 1 & 2 (Collector’s Edition Blu-rays)

Other Tidbits

The workload has been rather chaotic as of late and my new starter in the marketing team agrees. I’ve been working non-stop overtime to make sure I am getting stuff done but this past week has been hell to put it bluntly. Next week should be better but I have no clue at this point. At least we’re getting new staff for the other parts of the business.

Anime Limited

Godzilla Minus One is officially confirmed to be distributed by Anime Limited for home video, which includes the deluxe edition 4K release that over in North America was mostly untranslated outside of the main feature film whereas the UK release is translated. Steelbooks have been selling out across different retailers so be warned.

I did end up double-dipping for Re:ZERO Season 2 but to be honest I had always intended on getting the UK version, the problem was there was so much uncertainty and fear of missing out that I wasn’t sure what was going on at the time. The annoying part is that Crunchyroll’s limited edition is still in print, though it is cheaper to import that release than just pick up the UK version.

Outside of those two they did reveal collector’s edition releases for Chaika: The Coffin Princess Seasons 1 & 2 and Gibiate though I have no plans to get either of them. The former is a decision I made mainly due to the fact that splitting the seasons up and having one of them not offer much value is not worth spending a lot on when you consider the fact that Sentai’s complete series set goes for super cheap prices during sales.

All that’s left to say is that there’s MCM London Comic Con later this month which I expect to have more license announcements. Last year their announcements were mainly license rescues or came from the old Animatsu line-up.

Discotek Media

I have been keeping the Discotek hauls going though to be honest I think the upcoming haul that I have recently made may end up being the last one to arrive this year, unless another surprise out of print alert appears. I have changed the format to how I want to pick up the titles that I want to own, by splitting the list into two groups; those that I want to own the most and those that I do want to get but aren’t in a rush.

Before going over that, they did reveal their November release slate plus Digimon the Movies 1-3 collection for December on its own. The slate for November features Giant Gorg (an HD Blu-ray upgrade), Groizer X, Humanoid Monster Bem and Sgt. Frog Seasons 5-7 collection, the latter of which wraps up that long-running franchise from Sunrise. Also scheduled are the live-action films Dororo and Electric Dragon 80,000V as well as the US English edited version of Takashi’s Castle called MXC (Most Extreme Elimination Challenge) with the first volume from Nihon Night’s label. The live-action series Kamen Rider V3 is also scheduled as part of the Toku Time label.

Pretty much all that’s left for anime are Chie the Brat Series 2, Digimon Adventure 02, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS, Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva, and Space Musketeer Bismark. They probably will sort out one more Discotek Day stream before the year is over but honestly I’m liking their bi-monthly model because its more sustainable to catch up.

Excluding the November & December line-ups as well as the live-action titles, there’s 46 releases that are on my priority list left to get. Out of those releases, 11 are titles before 2023’s slate which pretty much consists of Giant Robo & GinRei, Kekkaishi, four Lupin the Third releases (VS Detective Conan the Movie & Special, Episode 0: The First Contact, Prison of the Past), and four of five Symphogear seasons. Giant Robo was going to be part of the latest Discotek haul that I recently made, but I decided to hold off because I felt that it does have a potential chance of being released in the UK, though I am going to wait and see what happens in the coming months from Anime Limited.

88 Films

As we are now in the final quarter of the year, I’m still sorting out the write-ups for the latest UK release slates in anime and Asian Cinema. Asian Cinema has pretty much exploded in the past year with more and more getting UK releases on Blu-ray and in some cases 4K Ultra HD.

88 Films has also branched out from Hong Kong towards Japan with their Japanarchy and Nikkatsu labels; Kazuo Komizu’s Gaira’s Guts Trilogy box set, Shōgorō Nishimura’s Apartment Wife: Affair in the Afternoon, Noboru Tanaka’s Watcher in the Attic and Tatsumi Kumashiro’s Woods are Wet. Will be ordering the former very soon though I’m not too sure on the Nikkatsu titles in all honestly.

Their Shaw Brothers collection have recently continued. In September they released Li Han-Hsiang’s The Golden Lotus, Lau Kar-leung’s The Shadow Boxing and Sun Chung’s To Kill a Mastermind and in October they have Li Han-Hsiang’s Facets Of Love, Hsu Hsia’s Kid From Kwang Tung, Sun Chung’s The Kung Fu Instructor. Definitely interested in these titles, but I want to pick the right opportunity to get them altogether.

Meanwhile I’ll be pre-ordering Stephen Shin’s Black Cat II, Lo Wei’s Dragon Fist, Corey Yuen’s The Legend Of Fong Sai Yuk Collection, Lo Wei’s Magnificent Bodyguards, and Michael Mak’s Sex and Zen when they have release dates finalised and are all available to get from 88’s store. There’s also the Erotic Ghost Story I-III Collection to pick up which is weird considering the first film was already released over here but I suppose this was the only way to earn the best revenue after Shout! decided to compile these films with a few others for a single box set.

Outside of that, they’ve been teasing more 4K Ultra HD releases though Miracles: The Canton Godfather is one that I know of that’s been hinted numerous times so far.

Arrow Video

Arrow seem to have gone for a resurgence on the Asian cinema scene with a few releases planned for the final few months of year, some pretty intriguing ones. On the first print edition model (basically a slipcase and booklet), there’s Kinji Fukasaku’s The Threat recently released and also Ataru Oikawa’s Tomie adaptation planned for November.

But in October we have a really cool J-Horror Rising box set that includes seven horror films from Japan; Shunichi Nagasaki’s Shikoku, Toshiyuki Mizutani’s Isola: Multiple Personality Girl, Masato Harada’s Inugami, Ten Shimoyama’s St. John’s Wort, Koji Shiraishi’s Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman, Takashi Komatsu’s Persona, and Koji Shiraishi’s Noroi: The Curse. The latter of which I’ve heard of the most. I expect this box set to sell out pretty fast so I plan to pre-order it.

Then in November we have ShawScope Volume 3. Now I recall the reason we didn’t get a third volume last year was because of the Bruce Lee box set which makes perfect sense, but it’s good to see more of these being released. There’s a lot of films listed in this box set but I do plan to order this as well, though it may not be day one like the others are.

And last but not least recently we have Kim Jee-woon’s The Good, the Bad, the Weird heading to 4K Ultra HD this December in a limited edition set. So far I own at least three of his films in my collection (A Tale of Two Sisters, A Bittersweet Life and I Saw the Devil) and looking forward to owning this western film.

And that concludes my monthly post for September. Stay tuned for more posts on the blog in the coming months.

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