Welcome to the Otaku Collection haul for the month of July 2025. This update features 14 anime releases, 7 physical video games, 6 live-action Asian Cinema releases and 3 live-action European Cinema releases, plus 16 other live-action releases.
For this haul, I decided to build up the 4K Ultra HD collection with more classic films, many from distributor Arrow Video. Meanwhile we also have another anime haul from Crunchyroll & Sentai Filmworks and a catch up on Radiance Films.
Radiance Films Summer Sale Haul
Radiance Films held a new sale on their webstore which included many of their releases on offer including any partner labels they collaborated with. A lot of the limited edition releases were on offer for £9.99 which was a pretty great price, so I made use of that opportunity to grab more from the backlog that I hadn’t yet picked up that I was interested in.
In the Italian collection we have Bandits of Orgosolo (Banditi a Orgosolo), a 1961 film from Vittorio De Seta, and the UK release also includes The Lost World which is a collection of short films that were released between 1954-1959. Next we have I Vampiri (The Vampires), the 1957 horror film by Riccardo Freda and supposedly the first Italian horror film of the sound era of cinema which is interesting. And then we have Misunderstood (Incompreso), the 1966 drama film that’s caught my interest thanks to Radiance’s trailer but I never got around to picking it up until this sale.
Then we go into the Japanese collection! Japan Organised Crime Boss (日本暴力団 組長), a 1969 film by Kinji Fukasaku and Underworld Beauty (暗黒街の美女), a 1958 film by Seijun Suzuki. Two classic films that I didn’t pre-order when they were released and now I have them to further build the Fukasaku and Suzuki film collection.
Like previous releases of Radiance Films, these limited edition sets include a o-strip to cover the info and ratings, reversible cover that features the original poster artwork and a booklet with writings about the films and/or director. There’s more that I’m looking into including a few that are close to selling out.
Ring Fit Adventure
Since sometime around the start of July, I started the long journey to lose weight once again. It’s been ten years since I last made this attempt and while I’m getting older I wanted to switch things up to help improve the motivation to keep this up, and I’ve done various approaches including using the dumbbells and long walks. I revisited the cross-trainer but because my legs are pretty healthy and remembering how super slow paced the experience can be, I had to find a good alternative that would make it work whilst I don’t have access to a local gym. Nintendo’s Ring Fit Adventure for the Nintendo Switch was part of that solution.
A spiritual successor to Wii Fit in a sense, Ring Fit Adventure is a great balance between video games and exercise. Included with the package is a ring component which you hold for most of the experience, plus a strap for your leg, with each of these holding a Joycon. The game uses the motion controls for the various exercises you tackle, such as jogging and squats, and you can adjust the difficulty to fit your personal style. I picked the middle option and boy this game was pretty nuts on pushing you as far as it can. It’s really good and rewarding, and its kept my heart rate around the 150 zone constantly, though my legs have been knackered post-exercise, so my plan is to play this at least once a week for the time being and hopefully increase the amount to twice a week. As of the time of this post, I have reached the mid-way point of World 3.
So early impressions are positive. At the start of each play, the game offers pre & post workout segments that help your body get prepped before starting the gameplay. And most importantly, the game lets you breathe and take a moment if you need to and there’s no punishment whatsoever. I also forgot to mention that the gameplay starts off like you’re jogging and there’s turn-based combat where exercising lets you do damage to the monsters in the game. It’s pretty cool. I plan to provide more thoughts on the game in my completion post later down the line.
One last thing to mention is that I played this on the Nintendo Switch OLED version but you can play this on the Nintendo Switch 2, but it will require the Switch 1 Joycons for compatibility reasons.
The Big Lebowski, Constantine & The Driver
I went to town midway through the month before I watched the new Superman film which I really enjoyed. In town I visited the local HMV store as per usual which is always the first place to go, and the goal was to pick up more films, especially in their 3 for £50 4K Ultra HD deal. Now this did take a while because I struggled to pick which ones I wanted to own the most in the moment, especially as a few that I was interested in weren’t in stock in the store (for example The Gentlemen and Snatch).
I left with The Big Lebowski, the 1998 film directed by the Coen Brothers (No Country for Old Men) starring Jeff Bridges (TRON) and John Goodman (The Flintstones), Constantine, the 2005 film directed by Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend) starring Keanu Reeves (The Matrix) and Rachel Weisz (The Mummy) which is based on the DC comic Hellblazer series, and The Driver, the 1978 film directed by Walter Hill (The Warriors) starring Ryan O’Neal (Barry Lyndon) and Bruce Dern (Silent Running).
Detonation! Violent Riders, Gate of Flesh, Sex Rider: Wet Highway & Tokyo Emmanuelle
In the same HMV store visit, I also picked up four more recent Japanese film releases from distributor 88 Films. I didn’t pre-order them because 88 Films store shifted direction around late May which disappointed a lot of people and there’s postage to pay, plus two of these weren’t available on the Terracotta store but since the price for retail was decent, grabbing them in HMV was a solid option.
From the Japanarchy range we have Detonation: Violent Riders (爆発!暴走族), the 1975 film by director Teruo Ishii (Horrors of Malformed Men) starring Sonny Chiba (The Street Fighter), and Gate of Flesh (肉体の門), the 1988 film by director Hideo Gosha (Three Outlaw Samurai) starring Rino Katase (Yakuza Wives) which is also a remake of Seijun Suzuki’s 1964 film.
And from the Nikkatsu Roman Porno range we have Sex Rider: Wet Highway (セックス・ライダー 濡れたハイウェイ), the 1971 film by director Koretsugu Kurahara starring Mari Tanaka and Ken Yoshizawa (Violent Cop), and Tokyo Emmanuelle (東京エマニエル夫人), the 1975 film by director Akira Kato starring Kumi Taguchi (Wolf Guy) and Fujio Murakami (Gamera vs. Gyaos) which was also previously released in the UK as Emmanuelle in Tokyo.
The 100 Girlfriends & Tales of Wedding Rings
I decided out of a whim to purchase two more recent anime shows that were available on Amazon UK, because I didn’t want to hold off any longer and it helped that one of them was recently included in the Prime Day deals.
We have The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You, the first season that aired in October 2023 adapted by studio Bibury Animation Studios and also one of my favourite harem shows of all time. While I enjoyed lots of anime, this particular series I pretty much watched in one sitting and was so much fun to watch. I have the manga whilst I wait for any more seasons.
The other anime I picked up which I have yet to watch was Tales of Wedding Rings, the first season that aired in January 2024 adapted by studio Staple Entertainment. This is based on a manga written by the author behind Dusk Maiden of Amnesia and To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts, the latter of which I did enjoy the adaptation. Now this particular adaptation did receive some criticisms but at the same time it managed to receive a second season so as long as it entertains me I’m not too bothered.
VideoGamesPlus Sale Haul
VideoGamesPlus ran another sale that had a whole bunch of games on offer and for this opportunity I went after a few titles for the Nintendo Switch. Now most of these did see a release in the UK but the US versions were more readily available and at a cheaper rate.
We have Danganronpa Decadence from Spike Chunsoft, a compilation of games from the adventure visual novel franchise with Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony and the spin-off Danganronpa S: Ultimate Summer Camp. It’s an interesting decision for them to omit the other spin-off Danganronpa: Ultra Despair Girls, but I really enjoyed playing the first two on PlayStation Vita. I still have yet to play the third game but I can now choose between the PS4 and Switch for this experience.
From publisher PM Studio we have the Taiwanese music rhythm game Deemo and the platform puzzle game Marble It Up! Ultra, the latter of which is a spiritual successor to Marble Blast Ultra which was a really fun XBLA game.
And from Aksys Games we have an otome visual novel called Jack Jeanne from developer Broccoli and designer/artist/writer Sui Ishida of Tokyo Ghoul fame, which I believe is the first in its genre to join my video game collection as the other visual novels I own are either eroge, harems or sci-fi stories with some routes. The main reason I bought this was because of Sui Ishida’s involvement but I did hear good things about this.
Also from Aksys Games is a very niche Dungeon RPG game called Undernauts: Labyrinth of Yomi from developer Experience Inc., known for their Stranger of Sword City game. This developer is known for offering a traditional but pretty difficult experience so hopefully I don’t get wrecked when I start this. Their Stranger of Sword City game was also one that I had wanted to pick up but currently the game is not compatible with Nintendo Switch 2.
Arrow Video 4K Ultra HD Haul
The big haul of the month goes to this big batch of films from UK distributor Arrow Video. While I’ve been picking up their Asian Cinema titles here and there, I’ve neglected their other films as they’re more readily available and not focusing on their limited edition box sets for the most part. But I wanted to own a lot of classic films that they have brought over to the 4K Ultra HD format.
We have a total of 13 films here, some of which are limited editions due to including additional discs that have different versions of the film. The packages arrived from HMV, Rarewaves and Zavvi, with a majority of them from Arrow’s Summer sale.
We’re going to start off with three films that are in their limited edition packaging, and the reason for this is because they have additional versions that may or will be locked behind this edition, which Arrow are rather notorious for. For example, Dark City recently released with both theatrical and director’s cuts on 4K but only the director’s cut is available on the standard edition with no notice whatsoever.
Tarsem Singh’s 2000 film The Cell starring Jennifer Lopez (Hustlers), Vince Vaughn (Dodgeball), and Vincent D’Onofrio (Daredevil). I hadn’t heard of this film prior to Arrow’s home video announcement but it’s gotten a cult following over the years and the story sounds like it’ll be an interesting watch. The limited edition features a second disc on Blu-ray that offers a previously unseen version of the theatrical cut.
Tobe Hooper’s 1985 film Lifeforce starring Steve Railsback (The Stunt Man) and Peter Firth (Spooks). A classic horror film about space vampires that I hadn’t heard of prior, but it looked like a fun watch. The limited edition (not listed but you never know after how Dark City turned out) features a second disc on 4K Ultra HD that offers the theatrical cut whilst the first disc has the International cut. Shout! Factory’s release in North America does offer both versions but only the theatrical cut is on 4K.
Larry Cohen’s 1985 film The Stuff starring Michael Moriarty (Troll) and Andrea Marcovicci (Someone to Love). The limited edition features a second disc on Blu-ray that offers a pre-release version of the theatrical cut, which has half an hour’s worth of extra footage and a different music score. I watched the theatrical cut and I liked the premise in general and the direction, but I did think they missed an opportunity to showcase more of the body horror because the practical effects were great.
From here on, we have the standard edition releases for these films. These editions omit the slipcase, booklet or any additional disc that may have been kept exclusive to the limited edition.
Bernard Rose’s 1992 film Candyman starring Virginia Madsen (Dune) and Tony Todd (Final Destination). I watched this for the first time and I was really caught off guard by how psychological the story was with its direction. It’s not your typical slasher and especially with how it ends, I really enjoyed it. I went with the UK theatrical cut version for this viewing experience.
Brian De Palma’s 1976 film Carrie starring Sissy Spacek (Badlands) and John Travolta (Pulp Fiction). I also watched this for the first time and I knew of the famous prom scene but in general I hadn’t seen any footage of this film at all. Going in, I was pretty impressed with its story-telling as it offers an unsettling direction especially with how it ends. There’s a lot of awful things that happens to the main lead and you can see why it goes into the direction that it does. Apparently this is one of the best Stephen King adaptations so I’m glad to watch this and in 4K none-the-less.
Giuseppe Tornatore’s 1988 film Cinema Paradiso (Nuovo Cinema Paradiso) starring Philippe Noiret (Il Postino), Jacques Perrin (Girl with a Suitcase) and Antonella Attili (Prima del tramonto). This is a pretty famous Italian film that I haven’t gotten around to watching but it was recommended a lot every now and then, so I decided to pick it up in this haul. While there was a limited edition and oddly enough the only title to be released under the Arrow Academy brand on 4K Ultra HD before Arrow discontinued it, the standard edition does retain the additional Blu-ray disc that features the director’s cut whilst the theatrical cut, which most people prefer, is on 4K Ultra HD.
David Cronenberg’s 1996 film Crash starring James Spader (Avengers: Age of Ultron), Holly Hunter (The Incredibles) and Elias Koteas (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button). I think other than The Fly, Crash is probably the one that I’ve heard about the most when it comes to Cronenberg’s works and I’m intrigued to see how it plays out considering the film’s very unique premise of erotic horniness from car crashes.
Marco Brambilla’s 1993 film Demolition Man starring Sylvester Stallone (Rocky), Wesley Snipes (Blade) and Sandra Bullock (Speed). I cannot believe I hadn’t heard of this film previously because I watched the trailer to see why people were talking about it, and it had that 80s action sci-fi vibe that was right in my alley.
Terry Gilliam’s 1998 film Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas starring Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean) and Benicio del Toro (Snatch). The poster for the film I find to be pretty iconic because its one that I remember the most when it comes to late 90s film releases especially when I was younger going into the cinema and seeing the posters to know what’s to come. I look forward to watching this for the first time.
Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1987 film The Last Emperor (L’ultimo imperatore) starring John Lone (Rush Hour 2), Joan Chen (Saving Face) and Peter O’Toole (Caligula). An Italian director producing a Chinese epic and this was one that I actually regret missing out on the limited edition because it included the extended TV cut on Blu-ray which fortunately is included on the Criterion US release, but there’s different restorations between the UK & US so I settled on the standard edition.
David Cronenberg’s 1983 film Videodrome starring James Woods (The Virgin Suicides) and Debbie Harry (Hairspray). This is the first David Cronenberg film that I watched and I had no idea the story was going into such a direction considering the concept of TVs and absurdity it has. The body horror was pretty good and the second half goes into such a cool direction and offered a satisfying conclusion.
John Hughes’ 1985 film Weird Science starring Anthony Michael Hall (The Breakfast Club), Ilan Mitchell-Smith (Superboy), and Kelly LeBrock (Hard to Kill). This particular film is one that I have vaguely seen many years ago and since Arrow has brought it back for 4K Ultra HD I wanted to pick it up and plan to revisit it someday. The iconic Weird Science song is great too.
Martin Scorsese’s 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street starring Leonardo DiCaprio (Killers of the Flower Moon), Jonah Hill (21 Jump Street) and Margot Robbie (Barbie). The last time I have seen this three-hour epic was back in Cineworld Sheffield in January 2014 and it was a blast though I think someone complained at me at the time. Either way I wanted to rewatch this film, and funny enough I already own the Blu-ray steelbook so consider this an upgrade.
AMAIM: Warrior at the Borderline, Seven Mortal Sins & Tomodachi Game
It had been a while since I had picked up any North American releases from Crunchyroll and there was a sale on their store so I ordered a few titles. Granted they weren’t super cheap and I did miss out on one Essentials release, but we have three anime here to go over. This arrived via Stackry and was bundled with another package.
From studio Sunrise Beyond is the original mecha series AMAIM: Warrior at the Borderline which I heard mixed things for, but I wanted to own more mecha shows especially if they were rather recent and it’s by a studio that not only originated as Xebec, but is also defunct because they were absorbed into Bandai Namco Filmworks.
Next we have Seven Mortal Sins, an ecchi series that I did own the UK release but for shelf space I opted for the US version and it was on sale for a very cheap price which was expected given this is a Funimation release so they’re trying to shift stock.
And a series that I did watch during simulcast was Tomodachi Game which was a lot better than I expected and wasn’t exactly liked by many, but I did enjoy the premise and I would love to see more from the series (whether its a second season or the manga licensed for print).
Sentai Filmworks Summer Sale Haul
It’s that time of year where Sentai Filmworks brings back their Summer sale haul and to be honest the selection was pretty mixed in general. The prices weren’t as strong as I remember compared to previous years but there are some decent discounts for the newer releases. This sale was also timed pretty well considering I needed another package to bundle with the Crunchyroll haul for Stackry to save on costs.
First up, we have the three-episode OVA series Alice in Borderland, based on the manga series. Now this is not a complete adaptation but rather a teaser for what’s to come for this franchise. The live-action adaptation that’s on Netflix is really good (I’ve watched Season 1 so far) and I’m intrigued to see how the anime holds up. Now I did own the UK version but for shelf-space reasons I opted for the US version. The anime released in October 2014 and was adapted by studios SILVER LINK and Connect (Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody).
The Blade of the Immortal adaptation from 2019 is surprisingly solid and I dig the art style and music. While the anime does speed through the manga’s source material it’s still worth watching if you can deal with samurai gore and violence. The series streamed exclusively on Amazon Prime and I’m surprised it had yet to be released in the UK on Blu-ray. The anime streamed in October 2019 and was adapted by studio LIDEN FILMS (Call of the Night).
My first entry in the Go Nagai world was Cutie Honey Universe which is a modern ecchi instalment celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Cutie Honey franchise. I enjoyed the series and was gutted to miss out on Sentai’s premium edition release. Since I’ve been building the Go Nagai anime collection over time, it was time to finally get the series from Sentai in case it eventually sells out. The anime aired in April 2018 and was adapted by studio Production Reed aka Ashi Productions (Macross 7).
A recent show, one that has been on my radar for a short while and that’s Endo and Kobayashi Live! The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Lieselotte. The premise is what caught my interest as well as the main visual of the anime adaptation. Sounds like a lot of fun to watch, but we’ll see. The anime aired in January 2023 and was adapted by studio Tezuka Productions (The Fable).
Another anime series that I did own the UK version for and swapped to the US release is Kandagawa Jet Girls, a multimedia project from Senran Kagura creator Kenichiro Takaki. I love the game and I think its a hidden gem, but the anime is more on the fanservice side. The anime aired in October 2019 and animated by studio TNK (Immoral Guild).
Next is a classic anime film that, much like Venus Wars, was originally released by Discotek Media but Sentai managed to rescue the license. Locke the Superman is a film that I’m not too familiar with outside of the artwork and licensing history but Sentai released it on Blu-ray, though it is missing the classic English dub which was on the Discotek release. The anime theatrically released in April 1984 and was adapted by studio Nippon Animation (Future Boy Conan).
Another relatively newer series is Otaku Elf, which as you can probably guess is a fantasy anime with an elf in modern Japan who loves games. I’ve been aware of the manga for quite sometime and the anime also looked like a lot of fun to watch. The anime aired in April 2023 and animated by studio C2C (Shangri-La Frontier).
And last but not least is a surprise pickup by Sentai from the classic Sunrise catalogue which you would normally expect Discotek to eventually get their hands on. Panzer World Galient is a sci-fi fantasy series where what if you have a giant robot in the middle of a medieval world. Interestingly it’s part of a series called Takahashi Mecha that VOTOMS is also part of. I’ve not picked up VOTOMS yet because it had a HD remaster not long after Sentai released a SD-BD. The anime aired in October 1984 and animated by studio Sunrise (Armored Trooper Votoms).
Bleach Part 6
Nearing the end of the month we have a new Bleach release which is not Part 5, but rather Part 6. Now the reason for why this one arrived first was because Anime Limited has a rule where all items in an order have to be in stock before they are dispatched and unfortunately the other item that’s bundled with that release was I’m Standing on a Million-Lives which was supposed to have been released last May.
Anyway with Part 6 we have a new collector’s edition box set that will house Parts 6-9 of the limited edition sets. While there were comments about Anime Limited potentially improving the video quality of the latter half of the series, I don’t see that happening because of how fast these parts are arriving in the UK.
Stellar Blade
And the final item of the month arrives on the final day of the month. From Korean developer Shift Up, the folks behind the very successful gacha game Goddess of Victory: NIKKE, comes a sci-fi action RPG that has caught my attention for a while – Stellar Blade. The main reason why this took me a while to purchase was because it was pretty pricey for the most part. Amazon out of nowhere finally discounted the game to the £40 range and I went for it before it sold out. It did take a while to ship out but it’s here.
Unboxing Links
You can view more photos & specs for the titles below:
- Bleach Part 6 (Collector’s Edition Blu-ray)
What’s to Come for the Hauls
August 2025
I have lost track on what’s arriving to be honest, due to focusing more on items that are in stock than pre-orders, and there’s also delays to take into account. But below is what we have in store for the month of August:
- Devil Fetus (Deluxe Limited Edition Blu-ray)
- Her Vengeance (Deluxe Limited Edition Blu-ray)
- Solo Leveling Season 1 (Limited Edition Blu-ray & DVD)
- Thief (Limited Edition 4K Ultra HD)
September 2025
We have a few delayed packages shifted over to the month of September:
- Bleach Part 5 (Limited Edition Blu-ray)
- Bleach Part 7 (Limited Edition Blu-ray)
- The Colors Within (Collector’s Edition Blu-ray & DVD)
- Gradius Origins Collection (Nintendo Switch)
- I’m Standing on a Million-Lives (Collector’s Edition Blu-ray)
- Naruto Set 4 (Collector’s Edition Blu-ray)
Also Arriving in 2025
And a reminder that one particular title is still planned for later this year. Should be sorted before 2026 at least.
- Macross II: Lovers Again (Premium Edition 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray)
Other Tidbits
I’ve been working hard as per usual and the annual pay increase has arrived, but they forgot to note down some student loans so fortunately its been sorted so I know more accurately what I should receive each month at this point. A good chunk of the haul spending did go towards Arrow Video which won’t be a regular routine here, so there’ll be room for other titles, especially on the Asian Cinema side of things.
Anime Limited
It’s revealed! Anime Limited have rescued Macross Delta and Macross Frontier from Nozomi Entertainment for the United States and picked it up for the United Kingdom as well. I expected them to secure the UK license but it’s great news for the Americans considering the Crunchyroll buyout on Nozomi & Rightstuf definitely messed things around. It does leave Macross 7 in an unknown state but I suspect they’ll get around to it at a later point.
Their early birds for July were mainly wrapping up the original Naruto series, The Colors Within (which won’t include the Garden of Remembrance short film but you could argue they may include it with a different title), I’m Quitting Heroing! and the second season of Arcane: League of Legends animated series. While they haven’t mentioned it yet and they probably will as soon as I write this post, but I expect DAN DA DAN will be available for pre-order pretty soon and maybe Cyberpunk: Edgerunners as well (Aniplex will be starting pre-orders on the latter at the end of August).
AnimEigo & Discotek Media
I plan to sort out another Discotek Media haul as it’s been a while that I had made a big batch like the ones last year and the start of this year, but let’s not forget that Otakon is soon and that also means more new announcements for both AnimEigo and Discotek Media. I’m still committed to supporting AnimEigo but I won’t be collecting their slipcase editions due to restrictions with their MediaOCD store but also because it’ll eventually be oversaturated with releases each month. They have recently made Sasuke and Looking Up the Full Moon two-part releases available for pre-order which I’ll definitely pickup the latter but not decided how to approach it yet.
Discotek Media so far haven’t announced any out of print updates for a while which does worry me because I don’t like being thrown off-guard but I am still committed to grabbing as many as I can for the shows and films that I want to own the most. At the moment I have 29 releases in the priority list which includes 7 Lupin the Third TV specials, Lupin the Third Part I & Part III, Urusei Yatsura TV Series Collections 1-4 & OVAs, and various other releases but the earliest non-Lupin titles are Tetsujin 28 FX and Virtua Fighter from early 2023 which is not recent but better than any that were much older in the release schedule.
In terms of announcements and what to expect, I actually don’t know if they plan to run streaming exclusive announcements like they did before where most of the Nihon Nights releases weren’t announced in-person but online. But I do expect a similar outcome to the last Discotek Day event where there won’t be as many anime releases as before, but I still appreciate the live-action content. If Discotek expands to Chinese and Korean films for Nihon Nights or perhaps a new sub-label then I’ll be down for that.
Asian Cinema
We have a fair bit of catching up to do in a way for the Asian Cinema releases here in the UK.
88 Films has kept their slate a bit uiet given the amount of delays but outside of the ones we know about for August and early September, there is another Jackie Chan re-release for the 4K Ultra HD format with Heart of Dragon (龍的心), Sammo Hung’s 1985 film which I have seen and down to upgrade the release.
From Arrow Video they have a lot of older titles but the newest one I’ve not yet picked up is The Invisible Swordsman (透明剣士), Yoshiyuki Kuroda’s 1970 film which released last June. Speaking of Arrow, they also revealed more Asian releases arriving this October with the Three Extremes collection featuring both 2002’s Three (三更/쓰리) and 2004’s Three Extremes (三更2/쓰리, 몬스터) from different Asian directors on Blu-ray, and the US/Taiwanese film The Sadness (哭悲), Rob Jabbaz’s 2021 film that was part of the Shudder deal.
One more thing that I forgot to mention is that we do in fact have signs of another ShawScope box set on their way (I recall they had enough to go up to Volume 4 anyway) as a postcard for The Oily Maniac (油鬼子), Ho Meng-Hua’s 1976 film was revealed with one of the newer Arrow releases. This would be the fourth film previously released by 88 Films to be rescued by Arrow for the UK, and I’m down for it because those early releases are out of print. This film was also released in Australia by distributor Imprint in a box set alongside Seeding of a Ghost which is another film 88 Films used to have so I’ll be curious to see if that one will be rescued as well, especially if this next volume went for a horror themed collection.
Eureka Entertainment are bringing more Hong Kong films including one big box set from director Chang Cheh called Furious Swords and Fantastic Warriors which includes 10 films released between 1967-1983 and is scheduled for September. This is a box set that Eureka should have done before with their other releases because there are a lot of Shaw Brothers films out there and this model is the best way to get them over to the UK but also easier for shelf-space. Also arriving that aren’t Shaw Brothers are Flaming Brothers (江湖龍虎鬥), Joe Cheung’s 1987 film starring Chow Yun-Fat in September, and The Island (生死線), Po-Chih Leong’s 1985 film in October. I still have a fair amount of Shaw Brothers collection sets
Radiance Films have a couple more on the way. In September we have The Betrayal (大殺陣 雄呂血), Tokuzō Tanaka’s 1966 film, and in October we have another volume for Daiei Gothic: Japanese Ghost Stories collection featuring three films; The Demon of Mount Oe (大江山酒天童子) & The Haunted Castle (秘録怪猫伝), Tokuzō Tanaka’s 1960 & 1969 films, and The Ghost of Kasane Swamp (Masseur’s Curse) (怪談累が渕), Kimiyoshi Yasuda’s 1970 film. I’ve not ordered any of their recent Japanese releases especially Shinobi Volume 2 which I’ll get sooner than later since the previous set sold out.
That’s all for the month of July for the latest collection update. Less packages but still the same number of items! I have no clue what August will bring but stay tuned.
The Normanic Vault 
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