The Normanic Vault

Otaku Collection Haul for October 2024

Welcome to the Otaku Collection haul for the month of October 2024. This update features 21 anime releases, 8 physical video games, and 7 live-action Asian Cinema releases.

For this haul, we have a lot of iconic anime arriving in the post but there’s also a new batch of classic Japanese films and recent JRPGs now added to the backlog.

Visions of Mana

Payday arrived at the start of the month and The Game Collection brought back their £10 Reward Points scheme which was great as I found them to be pretty useful. I ordered two Japanese RPGs though one of them had been delayed due to stock not meeting with demand (but in return I received a £10 voucher), but the other arrived without any shipping notice.

In September I played through the Secret of Mana remake which I had enjoyed (and went further to have the Platinum trophy) and while I still have yet to play Trials of Mana, I decided to order Visions of Mana sooner especially given what’s happened with the developers in Japan (downsizing/layoffs from what I read). The game has received very well which is nice to see.

Gaira’s Guts Trilogy

88 Films earlier in the year started to release Japanese films for the UK market and we knew they had roughly 20 films to go through. Now we have the latest Japanarchy release and it’s a mixture of J-Horror and Pink genres which is not to everyone’s tastes. This is the Gaira’s Guts Trilogy box set, fully uncut and not safe for work with three films by director Kazuo Komizu released in 1986 & 1987 – Guts of a Virgin (処女のはらわた), Guts of a Beauty (美女のはらわた), and Rusted Body: Guts of a Virgin III (拷問貴婦人).

The limited edition box set is rather nice with commissioned artwork, three cases (one for each film) and also a booklet that adds a bit more context for the background of these films and the genre itself.

Code of Princess EX

Next for the Nintendo Switch collection is an Action RPG that’s gotten pretty rare or rather uncommon over the past few years. It took a while but I managed to get Code of Princess EX, the remastered version of the 2012 Nintendo 3DS game by Studio Saizensen. Atlus released the 3DS version but Nicalis released the Switch version which is mostly why this game is hard to find due to their limited print run.

Now this may surprise people, but this game is actually still available to get for regular prices however it’s exclusive to Nicalis’ webstore and with a hefty shipping cost. It does look to be a second print version which would exclude the booklet, and what I have is the original release which has been a challenge to get. There were a few eBay bids here and there and I failed to get them due to last minute bids or auto-bidding so it caught me by surprise to find one that was available immediately. Price was better than the bids at least.

Kaiji: Against All Rules

The second series in the gambling franchise Kaiji: Against All Rules was finally released in the UK last September but the collector’s edition didn’t get released until much later, and at least it was readily available than having to wait a while. Like the first series, Anime Limited re-used Sentai’s discs. The collector’s edition could have had better physical features though.

Broken Oath & Future Cops

Two more Eureka Entertainment releases arrive from their October pre-order batch. The first is Jeong Chang-Hwa’s 1977 film Broken Oath (破戒) starring Angela Mao which is apparently an unofficial adaptation of the Lady Snowblood story (mainly the Japanese live-action adaptation). Despite featuring the actress Eureka didn’t follow the same packaging style as their other releases Angela Mao: Hapkido & Lady Whirlwind and When Taekwondo Strikes, but it does have a slipcase and booklet.

The second is Wong Jing’s 1993 film Future Cops (超級學校霸王) starring Andy Lau which is also an unofficial adaptation but based on Capcom’s Street Fighter II game, and released before the 1994 American live-action film. This release is also a rarity, because it’s not going to receive a standard edition. Due to the materials not being on par with Eureka’s intentions (i.e. they couldn’t do a new remaster themselves) and given how the film is loose to the Capcom IP, this release is only 1000 units which has unfortunately sold out. The release came with a slipcase, booklet and poster.

John Wick: Chapters 1-4 & The Godfather Trilogy 4K Ultra HDs

Been a while since I had bought regular films for the 4K collection and I picked up two box sets. The first is John Wick Chapters 1-4 Collection which I have enjoyed each of them a lot. I do own the first film on Blu-ray but the 4K scene started appearing just as the second film was being released, so I held off. Now initially I was going to buy them individually but I just figured having a collection would be better and it helps that given how the story goes Chapter 4 is a good stopping point.

Next we have The Godfather Trilogy which I have not seen before but have heard so many people enjoy these films a lot. Mafia/gangster films is not something that I have watched very much of and this is a great opportunity to jump into the genre more. This box set includes all three films on 4K Ultra HD plus both the original theatrical, final director’s cut and ‘Coda’ versions for The Godfather Part III. Once I watch these films, I may look into The Godfather video games which I have also heard are pretty solid.

Fires on the Plain, Shadow of Fire & Vital

Third Window Films have taken a break from releasing new titles for a few months and so their final 2024 releases are from one of the big directors of Japan – Shinya Tsukamoto! Here I have ordered three of his films and all of them are presented in their limited edition slipcase version.

First up we have his 2015 film Fires of the Plain (野火). This was released on Blu-ray by Third Window Films way back in September 2017 and the first print did in fact sell out before I started picking up more Japanese films. Then in recent months more stock came out of nowhere which turned out to be an error in production where this release ended up being reprinted when it shouldn’t have done. I figured since it was available and for decent prices, I’ll pick it up and the artwork is pretty nice.

Next we have Third Window Film’s two most recent releases that came out in September 2024. One of those is his 2023 film Shadow of Fire (ほかげ), his latest work and also the third film in his war trilogy, after Fires on the Plain and Killing.

And probably the most interesting addition from this haul is his 2004 film Vital (ヴィタール) starring Tadanobu Asano. While Arrow Video was able to release the film for North American fans as part of their Tsukamoto box set, the UK release was still in licensing limbo because Tartan Video still technically held the rights for roughly 20 years, meaning that Third Window Films had to wait until 2024 to be able to release it themselves.

Discotek Media Haul

Another Discotek Media haul. This one is a proper batch (as the previous haul that focused on Cat’s Eye and City Hunter was a special case) because here we have a wide variety of titles that have been on my list to pick up, and they range between HD remasters, films from long-running franchises, as well as romance, slice of life and martial art shows.

Starting off with two new releases from Discotek’s September 2024 batch.

GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka the Animation

Adapted by Studio Pierrot in 1999 and directed by Noriyuki Abe, this is a classic and an experience to watch. I actually watched the whole series beforehand thanks to Discotek adding the series to Crunchyroll many years back and while the anime doesn’t adapt the whole manga, I did enjoy the anime’s conclusion. Discotek’s SD-BD release is also worth owning because the series is very difficult to remaster in HD and they were able to rescue the Tokyopop extras that were missing from their previous DVD release.

Kite Integral Version

Animated by studio ARMS in 1998 and directed by Yasuomi Umetsu, we have a hentai in the collection! Yes that’s right in case you haven’t been kept in the loop, Kite is an adult hentai OVA series which was eventually released with an edited version (to remove the adult content) in theatrical format to reach a wider audience. Media Blasters released both versions on Blu-ray and DVD, and I wasn’t aware that their license had expired, so it was a surprise when Discotek Media revealed they picked up the license.

Their release includes both versions on the same disc (with the option to pick and choose if you wish to see the adult content or not when inserting the disc), but what I also didn’t know about is there is a third version that was mainly available in Europe. Discotek’s release also amended the SD portions by using AstroRes so this release is the definitive version to own if you want to check out this anime.

Next we have a few that were restored in HD in the past few years.

Appleseed

Adapted by studio GAINAX in 1988 and directed by Kazuyoshi Katayama, I finally own the original OVA of this classic sci-fi franchise. I’ve watched the first two CG anime films many years ago and I enjoyed them, but I’ve always been interested in checking out the original OVA adaptation which is in 2D compared to the rest. Manga Entertainment previously released the anime before Discotek Media picked it up over in North America, and I think it may still be available in the UK on DVD but likely had its license expired with the whole brand takeover by Crunchyroll and Funimation. Discotek Media released the Blu-ray on January 2022.

Iria: Zeiram the Animation

Animated by studio Ashi Productions in 1994 and directed by Tetsuro Amino, this OVA series is a prequel to the live-action Zeiram film which released in Japan in 1991, and heard its a solid gem. Central Park Media released the OVAs in North America while MVM brought it over here in the UK, but Discotek Media eventually rescued the license and also brought it over to Blu-ray once they found the original negatives. Discotek Media released the Blu-ray on July 2023.

A Wind Named Amnesia

Adapted by studio Madhouse in 1990 and directed by Kazuo Yamazaki, this film is apparently not particularly good but I was intrigued to see why. Apparently Yoshiaki Kawajiri is among the staff involved which is intriguing. Manga Entertainment released the film back in the day in the UK while Central Park Media did the same for North America. Discotek rescued the license for a DVD release and then also found the original negatives for a Blu-ray release. Discotek Media released the Blu-ray on May 2023.

Here we have two lesser-known romance shows.

Kashimashi ~Girl Meets Girl~

Adapted by Studio Hibari in 2006 and directed by Nobuaki Nakanishi, this is a yuri series in a sense. Basically a “gender bender” of sorts where the main lead is now a girl, hence the yuriness. Media Blasters previously released the series in North America before Discotek Media rescued the license for a Blu-ray release. Discotek have also revised the translation so that the pronouns and gender naming are better presented than its prior release. Discotek Media released the Blu-ray on May 2021.

Mahoraba ~Heartful days~

Adapted by J.C.Staff in 2005 and directed by Shinichiro Kimura, this is a romance slice of life series that I wasn’t aware of until Discotek mentioned it during their livestreams. Apparently it was one of many shows that missed the window of being released in the west due to the market bursting or such. Discotek Media released the Blu-ray on July 2021.

Next we have a franchise that is familiar with many of you if you were buying anime since the Manga UK & Funimation era.

Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple – Seasons 1 & 2

Adapted by TMS Entertainment in 2006 and directed by Hajime Kamegaki, this is a martial arts series with fanservice elements throughout but its artstyle looks neat and it’s one that I would remember as a Funimation title because they were the ones who dubbed and released the series in North America, though Manga Entertainment handled the release over here in the UK. When I first got into anime and being more familiar with UK licenses, this series kept popping up but I didn’t bother with it because it had remained DVD only.

So I was excited when I found out that Discotek Media rescued the license (because TMS didn’t allow Funimation to renew some of their titles from what I’ve seen years back) and released the series on Blu-ray. Discotek Media released the first season in August 2021 and the second season in January 2022.

Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple: The Attack of Darkness

Adapted by Brain’s Base in 2012 and directed by Hiroshi Ishiodori, this is the continuation of the TV series but was never released outside of Japan for English audiences until Discotek Media picked up the rights. What’s great is that Discotek Media also brought back a majority of the English dub cast to reprise their roles. I believe they used both the broadcast and home video masters depending on whether you watch the series in English or Japanese. Discotek Media released the Blu-ray in May 2024.

More Lupin the Third for the collection finally, but here I focused mainly on getting the two remaining mainline films released on Blu-ray in 2022.

Lupin the Third: Dead or Alive

Animated by TMS Entertainment in 1996 and directed by Monkey Punch, the author of Lupin the Third. This was the last film in the franchise until TMS produced a crossover with Detective Conan in 2013. I have seen this film but admittedly I don’t remember much about it (it has been 12 years after all since I last watched it), though I recall it’s one of the weaker films I think. Regardless I do plan to revisit the Lupin films to see if my thoughts have changed since. The Funimation English dub is included with this release. Discotek released the Blu-ray in December 2022.

Lupin the Third: Farewell to Nostradamus

Animated by TMS Entertainment in 1995 and directed by Takeshi Shirato and Shunya Itō. Out of all of the Lupin the Third films I watched back in 2012, this one I do remember enjoying as much as The Castle of Cagliostro and its great to see its now available on Blu-ray and with the Funimation English dub. Discotek released the Blu-ray in October 2022.

To wrap up the haul I also picked up the last two remaining Urusei Yatsura films that I needed to pickup.

Urusei Yatsura: The Final Chapter

Adapted by Magic Bus in 1988 and directed by Satoshi Dezaki, this film covers the ending of the manga’s storyline and forms a conclusion to the TV series. Apparently this was also released alongside the final chapter for Maison Ikkoku‘s anime. AnimEigo released the film prior with an English dub before Discotek Media rescued the license. Discotek released the Blu-ray on September 2022.

Urusei Yatsura: Always My Darling

Animated by Madhouse in 1991 and directed by Katsuhisa Yamada, this is the final film in the franchise which celebrated the tenth anniversary of the franchise. Apparently it’s also the least enjoyed film among the bunch. AnimEigo released the film prior with an English dub before Discotek Media rescued the license. Discotek released the Blu-ray on November 2022.

Event Horizon & Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga 4K Ultra HDs

I went to town to watch Terrifier 3 but before I went to the cinema I picked up two more films for the 4K Ultra HD collection at the local HMV store – Paul W. S. Anderson’s 1997 science fiction horror film Event Horizon which is a film that I’ve been wanting to watch in its entirely for a long while and looking at it it gives me System Shock vibes (though I am aware its not a cyberpunk film).

The other film I picked up was George Miller’s 2024 action film Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, the latest film in the Mad Max franchise and one that I missed out on watching in the cinema because the marketing made the film disinteresting and I also caught a cold at one point. While I do own Mad Max: Fury Road on Blu-ray I don’t own the previous film on 4K just yet.

Getsu Fūma Den: Undying Moon

Also bought in town today was Konami’s Getsu Fūma Den: Undying Moon for the Nintendo Switch from CeX. This is a roguelike-vania Action RPG type game that has pretty much gone under the radar but I heard it was pretty solid so for £12 it was a solid deal. This game also includes the original Getsu Fūma Den released back in 1987 for the Famicom.

SaGa Frontier Remastered

We have a classic PlayStation JRPG that received a HD remaster a few years ago by Square Enix finally picked up and will be my first venture into the SaGa franchise – SaGa Frontier, originally released in 1997 and was also not released in Europe back in the day.

SaGa is an odd franchise because of its non-linear style of gameplay where you can choose between different characters and play how you want it to go. There is a linear story but a lot of options. I have also heard the difficulty can be pretty tough at parts but this remaster does support 2x speed like Final Fantasy‘s remasters have. Similarly to Chrono Cross, the remaster’s physical release was only available in Asia but it supports English which is nice.

Metaphor Re:Fantazio

The latest Atlus JRPG from the developers of Persona 3-5 finally released and that’s Metaphor: ReFantazio. Earlier I mentioned that I had a pre-order from The Game Collection that was delayed due to stock issues, and this was the game. Metaphor: ReFantazio is a game that I’ve honestly kept blind towards to go in with not knowing much as I found that learning more about the game can sometimes spoil the experience, but I’m glad that its done well in reviews and I am aware its as challenging as Shin Megami Tensei than Persona which is fine.

But playing it so far it’s a really good game. It’s definitely taking what makes the previous Atlus games work and give it its own spin. It can be challenging but so far I’m making solid progress and I heard it is much shorter than Persona 5 which is good. I’ll have more thoughts on this game in my big post on what games I’ve played in 2024 at the end of the year.

J-Horror Rising

This was a surprise to find arrive a week early than its expected release date. Arriving from Terracotta is Arrow Video’s new limited edition box set called J-Horror Rising, which features seven Japanese films from six directors.

The films included are Shunichi Nagasaki’s 1999 film Shikoku (死国), Toshiyuki Mizutani’s 2000 film Isola: Multiple Personality Girl (ISOLA 多重人格少女), Masato Harada’s 2001 film Inugami (狗神), Ten Shimoyama’s 2001 film St. John’s Wort (弟切草), Kōji Shiraishi’s 2007 film Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman (口裂け女), Takashi Komatsu’s 2000 film Persona (仮面学園) and Kōji Shiraishi’s 2005 film Noroi: The Curse (ノロイ).

Always neat to have more slightly modern Japanese horror films given we already have various classics from different distributors or the most common ones already released in either Blu-ray or in 4K. There’s still more left to be rescued or brought over to the UK so I’m curious to see if Arrow will plan more box sets like this in the future.

Ys X: Nordics

Another Japanese RPG arrives! Here we have Ys X: Nordics, the 10th main instalment in the Ys franchise by developer Falcom. NIS America once again is distributing the game in the west and I plan to play this at some point, given I’m still going through Metaphor. I enjoyed Ys Origin, Ys: Memories of Celceta (Ys IV remake), Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana and Ys IX: Monstrum Nox so far, and there’s sadly no buzz for this one which is a shame. More people need to play the Ys games.

Much like NISA’s recent releases, the deluxe edition is essentially their first print editions that come with a mini-booklet and a digital soundtrack. There’s no reversible cover here compared to previous titles.

Macross Plus Ultimate Edition

Macross finally reached the west in the modern age with Macross Plus Ultimate Edition from Anime Limited. While AnimEigo are still cooking their Macross II release and Nozomi/Crunchyroll are in limbo on Macross 7, Macross Frontier and Macross Delta, Anime Limited ended up being the first to get theirs out of the door. It’s a very nice release and while the discs are quite hard to remove from their slots, the overall package is great.

BLEACH & Naruto

Arriving close to the end of the month marks my entry into two iconic Shonen Jump anime shows, and I have never watched either of these two when they first aired or streamed on Crunchyroll for simulcasts.

Let’s start off with 2004’s BLEACH from Tite Kubo. This series had a mixed reception because while a lot of people enjoyed its cast and story, the filler impacted the anime to which it ended before they could reach the final arc. My first experience or interaction with the BLEACH franchise was watching the second to fourth films that aired on Sky TV back in 2013. I liked the English dub but I am undecided if I’ll watch the entire anime in English or go with Japanese.

Either way, this is Part 1 of 13 for the anime arriving from Anime Limited. This release covers the first 27 episodes while also re-using the Viz Media Blu-ray assets. Each part will have a limited edition slipcase and small art cards but Part 1 also has a collector’s edition box to house Parts 1-5 and a very big artbook.

Next we have the other huge anime that inspired many fans across the world – 2002’s Naruto from Masashi Kishimoto. Similar to BLEACH, Naruto suffered from having way too much filler but the series was so popular the anime managed to reach the end of the story after 720 episodes. My first experience or interaction was picking up the first three manga volumes back in 2014 during my second year of University and I was actually invested in its story. So for a shonen I say it did the job really well. Sadly I never managed to buy more volumes because I believe the manga box sets got reprinted not long after.

Either way, I didn’t watch the anime knowing its filler but I figured I’ll go all the way with these new releases from Anime Limited. There’s two versions of Naruto’s first series for the UK in terms of its releases. If you went for the standard editions, you’re dealing with 8 parts. But if you went for the collector’s editions, you’ll have 4 sets to pick up.

So here I have Set 1 of 4 for the anime, covering the first 55 episodes and re-authored in an attempt to improve the video quality of the series rather than use Viz Media’s discs. Each set will have a collector’s rigid box with two Amaray cases and a mini booklet, but if you purchase this box set through Anime Limited’s store they have limited quantities of a storage box to house all 4 sets.

BLEACH: Thousand Year Blood War

Also arriving alongside the two Shonen Jump shows is the recently aired series BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 1: The Blood Warfare, also released by Anime Limited. The anime has a long history and I’m happy to see fans are able to get closure with the anime through this four-part season, which is still currently airing.

The packaging for this release is similar to Viz Media’s release but interestingly the discs were instead authored by Com ‘om Screen in France. I am aware that Viz’s discs aren’t well made and given the reputation of this authoring company I don’t know if they’re better or worse than Viz.

Megazone 23, Otaku no Video & Riding Bean

Also arriving early as well are three classic anime titles distributed by AnimEigo, which is now owned by the folks over at MediaOCD, the authoring group well known for their work on producing discs for Anime Limited and Discotek Media.

AnimEigo has a long history in the anime scene, much like Manga Entertainment they helped introduce anime to a wider audience and were able to keep hold of a number of anime licenses throughout the past 30+ years at this rate. While they have worked on a few Kickstarter campaigns in the past 10 years, supposedly the disc work wasn’t particularly perfect and neither were the standard editions that came after.

So MediaOCD have decided to re-do the discs for the anime licenses that are still under AnimEigo one by one, and what I have here are the first three under their new ownership – Riding Bean, released last September, Otaku no Video, released for October, and the Megazone 23 Trilogy, releasing in November. Re-authored and even including a few extra audio/subtitle tracks and extras whenever available. So while I missed out on these Kickstarter box sets, owning these versions makes up for it. If you order through MediaOCD’s store (which supports UK pre-paid VAT and friendly shipping plus a points-based system for future discounts) you can also receive a slipcase for each of these whilst stock lasts.

I haven’t yet ordered their next few titles but I am looking forward to owning both Bubblegum Crisis and Bubblegum Crash! when I get around to it. I believe Gunsmith Cats is the only one that’s unlikely to return due to licensing issues that have occurred in recent years but at least I’ll be able to own most of them. I have Macross II: Lovers Again via their Kickstarter to keep the consistency of owning Macross in nice box sets on-going.

Tetris Effect Connected & Thumper

Another final arrival for the month but arriving from Canada by the good folks over at Video Games Plus are two more Limited Run Games releases for the PlayStation 5 and for PlayStation VR2.

Tetris Effect Connected is the newer version of the well-received puzzle game that adds a new style to the mix with its visual and music appeal. I remember the announcement trailer really well and it was funny how it turned out to be Tetris of all things, but jokes aside I am very interested in checking this one out and I may hold out for the VR experience if I can.

Also picked up is the rhythm violence game Thumper which has also intrigued my interest for years. I’m a big fan of the rhythm genre and this game looks like it’ll be a ride worth checking out. This horror tone actually reminded me of Japan’s pinball cult classic game Paranoiascape of all things. It does support VR but I reckon I’ll probably get motion sick if I went with that approach.

Unboxing Links

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

What’s to Come for the Hauls

November 2024

New additions and date shifts have occurred, especially thanks to some titles arriving in October instead. The holiday season is soon upon us which will mean if any import hauls are planned, there may be some additional delays in shipment. Here’s what you can expect to appear:

  • Clock Tower Rewind (Nintendo Switch)
  • Ghost Ship & Seven Seas Haul (Manga)
  • Hatsune Miku: Logic Paint S (Nintendo Switch)
  • TONIKAWA: Over the Moon for You Season 1 (Collector’s Edition Blu-ray)
  • Yohane the Parhelion: Sunshine in the Mirror (Collector’s Edition Blu-ray)

December 2024

December is also the same month that Anime Limited will run their Xmas sale hauls and much like recent years I don’t think I’ll make much use for it outside of pre-orders. In the meantime, we do have a few items expected to make their appearances before the year is over.

  • 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)

Arriving in 2025

There’s a lot of pre-orders for the new year, primarily video games thanks to Limited Run Games and Red Art Games. Here’s what to expect.

  • Assault Suits Valken DECLASSIFIED (Nintendo Switch)
  • Castlevania Dominus Collection (Nintendo Switch)
  • C-SMASH VRS (PlayStation 5)
  • Glover (Nintendo Switch)
  • Penny’s Big Breakaway (Nintendo Switch)
  • Triggerheart Exelica (Deluxe Edition Nintendo Switch)
  • Valis: The Fantasm Soldier Collection III (Nintendo Switch)

Other Tidbits

Well that escalated badly. Long story short, work went rough for most of the month. I overworked myself to about 75 hours in a single week alone as I also had to work that weekend as well. I ended up having to go to hospital to make sure I didn’t cause any permanent damage and thankfully I received the all-clear (though I did experience a form of pain around my chest but it was curable). I lost six working days in September due to being forced to go on annual leave which is part of the cause for that messy week and even though I was trying to commit to a deadline, they can’t stop me from working extra hours in a sense so the blame is down to ‘communication’, in other words I’m technically to blame for the mess. No point fighting over it, but I’ve been told that they won’t have someone on our team work both events in the same week like that again.

With my co-worker back from their holiday break, I have managed to slowly get through some backlog over the past week. That way going into November I can reduce the overtime to bring it back to traditional levels. We’ll see how that turns out.

Anime Limited

MCM happened and they did reveal a few interesting anime to join their catalog. The big ones were Blood: The Last Vampire, Blood+, Akira and Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro. Most of these are license rescues from Manga Entertainment and Studio Canal for the latter but Blood+ is a big one. It’s an anime that, like Evangelion and Macross, has some challenges due to being under Sony so I have to wonder how Anime Limited managed to secure the UK & French rights for that 50 episode series.

Blood: The Last Vampire was one of Manga Entertainment’s classic titles and one of their earliest Blu-ray releases which I do own. I’m curious to see how it fares if there’s a better restoration as I recall the Blu-ray released in the UK was a bit rough in quality. Akira is also another one of Manga’s big titles and I had no idea they lost the rights considering they only just released the film in 4K Ultra HD under Funimation a few years ago. I suspect when Crunchyroll took over as a brand name a lot of anime under Manga Entertainment and Funimation had their licenses expire or revoked for various reasons. Either way, Akira is back under Anime Limited with theatrical also.

Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro is the first Lupin license announcement in a long while and it’s a good pickup considering Studio Canal’s release is flawed due to using an older Blu-ray master, having themselves released it on Blu-ray early in the cycle, and only using one of the English dubs. Discotek Media were able to use all of the English dubs and edits available, so I expect Anime Limited will re-use their disc for home video after the theatrical.

Other new license announcements are from Sentai’s catalogue. Two of them, Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! and I’m Standing on a Million Lives, are both part of a deal they did with Crunchyroll and since Anime Limited have already released a few from that batch already this was to be expected. Both shows I did enjoy watching. Other titles they secured include The Eminence in Shadow Season 1 which was noted by them to be highly requested which makes sense given its one of the newer and more popular isekai titles to date. I own Sentai’s release and not yet watched it but if Anime Limited’s collector’s edition is appealing then I may double-dip. I’m Quitting Heroing was also licensed which is an odd choice but I’ll check it out.

From Twin Engine’s line-up they have also licensed both Karakuri Circus and Pet, which are the last ones from that line-up with Amazon (Anime Limited already had Babylon and KOKKOKU while MVM picked up VINLAND SAGA). I’ve watched the latter but not the former. They were good picks for the distributor so I did predict those when I was looking into what to import from Sentai’s catalogue.

For theatrical, joining Akira and Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro are Ghost Cat Anzu and Totto-Chan: The Little Girl At The Window which are nicher films than the others but always good to see the distributor keeping that trend of picking up anime films of various genres that often have less attention outside of festivals going.

Other Anime Distributor Notes

Figured I’ll combine the various thoughts for other distributor news and whatnot here since there’s not much to say across all of them.

Sailor Moon has finally been licensed in the UK, this time by Crunchyroll. I have been aware of this news for a while but I figured it was either in limbo or plans changed given how Toei Animation are especially with their European but this is good news since we’re one step closer to having more of Toei’s properties accessible in the UK market. Now I am expecting these to likely use the Madman discs as Crunchyroll so far haven’t re-used the US discs that belong to other competitors thus far, for example 86: EIGHTY SIX is authored by Crunchyroll for UK & Australia while Viz Media did their own.

Discotek collecting is slowing down a bit with the expectation that more titles may be discontinuing in the coming months like what had happened last year. So far I have 26 releases from their anime selection that are on my to-want list compared to the rest which are all before 2024’s line-up. I’ve filtered my list a bit more so that the ones that I desperately want to own are prioritised more than others. Those titles include Aim for the Ace!, Cromartie High School, Giant Robo, GinRei, Kekkaishi, any remaining Lupin the Third releases, Saint Tail, Symphogear, Tetsujin 28 FX, Urusei Yatsura and Virtua Fighter.

Sentai should be offering another bunch of their titles for sale in the coming weeks and I want to pickup more from their batch. Now if the timing is right I may be able to receive them before Christmas but it depends on the funds.

And that concludes my October 2024 otaku collection haul update. A lot of releases as per usual.

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