Otaku Collection Haul for August 2025

Welcome to the Otaku Collection haul for the month of August 2025. This update features 1 anime release, 9 live-action Asian Cinema releases and 2 live-action European Cinema releases, plus 1 other live-action release.

For this haul, I put a lot more focus on sorting out a bunch of orders that wouldn’t arrive on time, so as a result we have much fewer arrivals than usual. But less is more here because we have a bunch of exciting films from 88 Films, BFI, Eureka and Radiance. And also Solo Leveling.

Solo Leveling

First item of the month is the very popular Solo Leveling series which I watched in a single day. I liked the series despite the obvious repeated tropes that are used by other titles but production wise the anime looked great.

The limited edition took a while to arrive because I had originally pre-ordered the set through MVM’s Anime-on-Line store but they cancelled the order because there wasn’t enough allocated stock, which implied the release was going out of print much sooner than anticipated (I say that because a lot of other high-profile titles were still available with their limited edition releases).

In good timing, retailer Rarewaves were running a 10% discount offer and they had stock available so I ordered from them. The stock did eventually sell out for the retailer but my order managed to ship out, but didn’t arrive until the start of the month (therefore narrowly missing the July haul window).

Radiance Films Haul

Next I ordered some more films from Radiance Film’s store for a few reasons; one had a nice slipcase, another had a replacement disc available right away, and another was currently around 80% sold on its stock at the time.

We start off with Wayne Wang’s Life Is Cheap… But Toilet Paper Is Expensive, a 1989 US/Hong Kong film released in the UK on behalf of Arbelos Films, with an exclusive slipcase available on Radiance’s store. The limited edition first print also includes a booklet and scanavo packaging.

Then we have Tai Kato’s The Tale of Oiwa’s Ghost (怪談 お岩の亡霊), a 1961 Japanese film that just came out not long ago, but many people encountered a weird error on the disc not caused by Radiance but the disc production, which meant that specific players couldn’t play the film properly. Replacement discs are now available so by ordering directly through Radiance I didn’t have to go through extra hurdles to get the new disc. The limited edition release includes a booklet, scanavo packaging and reversible artwork.

Finally we have World Noir Volume 3, which brings us more European noir classics from the 40-50s era. There’s no Asian film this time around but what we do have are Henri Decoin’s Not Guilty (Non coupable) released in France, 1947, Peter Lorre’s The Lost One (Der Verlorene) released in Germany, 1951, & Hasse Ekman’s Girl with Hyacinths (Flicka och Hyacinter) released in Sweden, 1950. I read that Peter Lorre is a pretty famous actor so I’m intrigued by his film in this set. The limited edition release includes a rigid box, a booklet, scanavo packaging and reversible artwork. A fourth volume is also being released fairly soon that is mainly centred on French films.

Trouble Every Day

Eureka Entertainment have decided to release some more 4K Ultra HD films, this time from the New French Extremity movement, which are known for including extreme violence and other mature themes that fit in whether its explicit or controversial. French cinema has always gone beyond what most films tend to do so its good to see more of these make their way over here, and currently the two that Eureka are releasing have done pretty well sales wise from what I read.

This here is Claire Denis’ 2001 French film Trouble Every Day and I found it interesting that the film was produced across different regions (French, Luxembourg, Germany and Japan) and language is a mixture of English & French. The film stars Vincent Gallo (Buffalo ’66, Goodfellas), Tricia Vessey (Ghost Dog, Kiss the Girls) and Béatrice Dalle (Inside, Lux Æterna).

Eureka’s release for this film is in a unique circumstance because they unfortunately don’t have the license for particularly long, therefore we only have a limited edition 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray combo pack and a standard Blu-ray release. I suppose if the limited edition sells out right away they may be able to make room for a standard 4K Ultra HD but we’ll see. The limited edition release includes a rigid box, a booklet, 4K amaray packaging and 4 art cards.

Their second New French Extremity film is Martyrs which did so well in pre-orders they added more units to its release and I had mine pre-ordered alongside Trouble Every Day but Eureka decided to ship them out separately.

Devil Fetus & Her Vengeance

It’s been a while since we have had any more Category III Hong Kong releases from 88 Films since their last ones were technically for last year but arrived at the start of the year (which were Erotic Ghost Story & Sex and Zen). But recently we got some more and while they did get delayed a fair bit, they’re now finally here and also uncut.

First up we have Devil Fetus (魔胎), Lau Hung-Chuen’s 1983 film, and is an interesting one because it was released theatrically before the film rating board was introduced in 1988, and as a result the film was retroactively added to the Category III group. It’s not 88 Films’ first title they have released which was retroactively rated, since we also saw releases for The Golden Lotus, Seeding of a Ghost, and The Seventh Curse (the former was released in the UK after they started their CATIII series but as it’s produced by Shaw Brothers they placed it with that series instead), but I like how we got an older title prior to the more erotic stuff.

Also here, which was released last July, is Her Vengeance (血玫瑰), Lam Nai-Choi’s 1988 film, and one of the first to be officially given the Category III rating. Lam Nai-Choi’s catalogue is full of violent, erotic and wacky stuff so it’s great to see more of his works make it over to the UK (plus there’s two more films coming later this year based on the Peacock King manga to look forward to). This film also includes the Category IIB version which is longer so I’m curious to see what the differences are between the two.

Both of these releases include an o-card sleeve, rigid slipcase, scanavo case, art card and a booklet that includes various essays and illustrations from the films.

Thief

Keeping the Arrow Video collection growing but this time not buying a whole bunch all at once as that was pretty pricey before, but in this instance I decided to pre-order a new release which also contains another limited edition exclusive disc. With the many issues Arrow titles have had for pre-orders I ordered mine from Rarewaves which arrived at a solid pace considering how slow their shipping speeds can be.

The film I ordered was Michael Mann’s 1981 film Thief starring James Caan (The Godfather, Elf) and Tuesday Weld (Once Upon a Time in America, Falling Down), and it’s the director’s feature debut who would eventually make Heat, Ali, Collateral, Blackhat and Ferrari throughout his career.

Arrow have released the film previously but this release is now presented in 4K Ultra HD for the film’s director’s cut. Also included for the limited edition only is a Blu-ray disc featuring the theatrical cut version as well as the usual o-card sleeve and booklet.

Terracotta Store Haul

Earlier in the year I did a few pre-order hauls through Terracotta to get the latest releases on a monthly basis, and that got stalled a fair bit due to delays with various titles so I held off after that. But now I have another one with a few interesting picks from distributors British Film Institute, Radiance Films and Third Window Films.

From British Film Institute (BFI) we have The Hidden Fortress (隠し砦の三悪人), Akira Kurosawa’s 1958 film and the last one to be upgraded to 4K Ultra HD from their Samurai collection as the others were released in the past nine months (Seven Samurai, Yojimbo & Sanjuro, and Throne of Blood). This one is presented with an o-card sleeve, UHD amaray case and a booklet with various notes about the film and specs.

As a reminder, this is not a combo pack release which is funny considering most distributors tend to include a Blu-ray version. Now Criterion have recently released High and Low on 4K UHD so I’m curious to see if BFI have any plans to upgrade more Akira Kurosawa films to 4K.

From Radiance Films it’s the second Shinobi box set consisting of the franchise’s fourth to sixth films; Shinobi: Siege (忍びの者 霧隠才蔵), Tokuzō Tanaka’s 1964 film, Shinobi: The Return of Mist Saizo (忍びの者 続・霧隠才蔵), Kazuo Ikehiro’s 1964 film, and Shinobi: The Last Iga Spy (忍びの者 伊賀屋敷), Kazuo Mori’s 1965 film.

Similarly to the first volume we have a rigid slipcase with two scanavo cases, reversible artwork, postcards and a booklet with essays about the films. Apparently another volume may also be in the works to cover the remaining films. Considering how well the first volume performed, picking up this second volume much sooner was a priority.

And from Third Window Films we have a new limited edition collection called Takashi Ishii: 4 Tales of Nami that includes four of director Takashi Ishii’s works that received restorations in Japan in the past few years. In the set we have 1992’s Original Sin (死んでもいい), 1993’s A Night in Nude (ヌードの夜), 1994’s Angel Guts: Red Flash (天使のはらわた 赤い閃光), and 1994’s Alone in the Night (夜がまた来る).

The key theme across all four films is each of them share the same name for the main female lead called Nami, hence the box set’s title. Each disc includes various extras like previous Third Window releases and this release is packaged in a digipack with a short essay booklet. While the box set has ordered them by alphabetical order, apparently it’s recommended to watch them by release order as there’s references to each one from what I read online.

The Cat & Come Drink With Me

Arriving in the final week of the month are more 88 Films releases. We’re starting off with another Lam Nai-Choi film called The Cat (衛斯理之老貓) released in 1992 and while its not rated Category III, the film does feature more bizarre antics that the director’s known for. Similarly to Devil Fetus and Her Vengeance, the packaging here offers an o-card sleeve, rigid slipcase, scanavo case, art card and a booklet that includes various essays and illustrations from the films.

And to wrap up the haul, Come Drink With Me (大醉俠), King Hu’s 1966 film, has finally been picked up. I’ve known about this film as early back to when I first started picking up 88 Films releases. The difference here is that the film has been re-released for the 4K Ultra HD format with new artwork to fit in line with their newer Shaw Brothers releases. The limited edition includes an o-card slipcase and poster.

Unboxing Links

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

• Solo Leveling Season 1 (Limited Edition Blu-ray & DVD)
• Takashi Ishii: 4 Tales of Nami (Limited Edition Blu-ray)

More unboxings are planned later down the line for The Cat, Devil Fetus, Her Vengeance, The Hidden Fortress and Shinobi Volume 2.

What’s to Come for the Hauls

September 2025

Because August was a smaller haul, that doesn’t mean the next few months will be the same because there’s a fair amount of items on their way. There have been a couple of delays once again, but here’s what you can expect to see arrive in the month of September:

• Bleach Part 7 (Limited Edition Blu-ray)
• The Colors Within (Collector’s Edition Blu-ray & DVD)
• Cromartie High School (Blu-ray)
• EUREKA: Eureka Seven Hi-Evolution (Collector’s Edition Blu-ray)
• Gradius Origins Collection (Nintendo Switch)
• Il posto + I fidanzati (Limited Edition Blu-ray)
• The Inquisitor + Deadly Circuit (Limited Edition 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray)
• Lady Georgie (SD-BD)
• Lupin the Third Part I (Blu-ray)
• Lupin the Third Part III (Blu-ray)
• Lupin the Third: Angel Tactics (Blu-ray)
• Lupin the Third: Seven Days Rhapsody (Blu-ray)
• Naruto Set 4 (Collector’s Edition Blu-ray)
• Tetsujin 28 FX (SD-BD)
• Virtua Fighter (SD-BD)

October 2025

Finally we have a lot of exciting releases arriving in the month of October. Many of which are pretty much pre-orders and I do expect almost all of them to arrive on time. Here’s what you can expect to see arrive in the month of October:

• Bleach Part 5 (Limited Edition Blu-ray)
• Daiei Gothic: Japanese Ghost Stories Volume 2 (Limited Edition Blu-ray)
• Daughters of Darkness (Limited Edition 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray)
• Furious Swords and Fantastic Warriors (Limited Edition Blu-ray)
• I’m Standing on a Million-Lives (Collector’s Edition Blu-ray & DVD)
• The Island (Limited Edition Blu-ray)
• Malpertuis (Limited Edition Blu-ray)
• Martyrs (Limited Edition 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray)
• Pocket Money (Limited Edition Blu-ray)

November 2025

Looking into November I’m expecting either fewer items or a lot of items depending on the sales that tend to appear in this time of the year. We have a few pre-orders that are expected to slip here. Here’s what you can expect to see arrive in the month of November:

• DearS (Blu-ray)
• Golden Boy (Blu-ray)
• Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! (Collector’s Edition Blu-ray)
• Metal Skin Panic MADOX-01 (Blu-ray)
• Urotsukidōji Collection 2: Sequels of the Overfiend (SD-BD)

December 2025

Before we venture into 2026 there’s a couple pre-orders that should be released before the holiday season ramps up. AnimEigo are making good progress with their kickstarter release and could arrive much earlier, but to keep expectations in tact I’ve slotted it here for the time being. Here’s what you can expect to see arrive in the month of December:

• Devilman Crybaby (Deluxe Edition Blu-ray)
• Macross II: Lovers Again (Premium Edition 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray)
• Vanity Fair: The Pursuit (PlayStation 5)

Other Tidbits

Another month has passed. Overtime was reduced but I actually almost used up my funds which is a first in a long while. They changed the payslip setup so parts of the month’s overtime won’t be included until the month after which is a stupid idea, but what can you do. Because a lot of the spending was primarily put towards the Discotek haul and pre-orders, there were fewer items this month than before but expect the next few months to have the usual quantity.

Anime Limited

The early bird for August revealed a few things. Black Bullet was acquired, now back in print after previously being released by Animatsu back in the day. The Case Files of Jeweler Richard was finally revealed, which was leaked by the BBFC and is another one of the older Crunchyroll titles sub-licensed over to Anime Limited for home video in both the UK & US territories. Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! is now available to pre-order with a November release and is pretty much the same set as the Sentai Filmworks Premium Edition which is uncommon. Also available to pre-order after over 18 months of delays is EUREKA: Eureka Seven Hi-Evolution which lost the storyboard book that was initially revealed and instead we get a few art cards and a poster. This film was also one of Anime Limited’s oldest anime license so at least that’s now out of the way.

Not long ago, they also opened pre-orders for Devilman Crybaby which was known beforehand but we now know the Netflix English dub has been secured and the packaging is in the same style as BLUE GIANT with the square box set. This release is set for December for both the UK & US territories. And in terms of new license announcements outside of the early bird deal, Anime Limited also rescued Grave of the Fireflies for the UK & Ireland, which was initially out of print as Studio Canal’s license to the Studio Ghibli catalogue expired. The film is an oddity in the Studio Ghibli catalogue because TOHO is the main licensor, hence why Sentai managed to get the rights whilst Disney and GKIDS had the rest back in the day. Since TOHO bought GKIDS, Sentai’s license eventually expired and GKIDS managed to rescue the US & Canada rights. GKIDS is including multiple English dubs for their release, so I expect Anime Limited may do the same for theirs.

In terms of how my collecting goes for Anime Limited, I’ve changed my stance so it does come down to whether or not the collector’s offering has enough value or not. Artcards and a poster for a show isn’t enough to warrant the purchase even if there’s nice artwork. Since we have the Back to School sale coming up I may look into more standard edition Blu-rays.

AnimEigo & Discotek Media

Since the last collection update, both distributors held their Otakon panels with new updates to their catalogue.

AnimEigo secured the rights to release the 2005 TV Special Hotori: Simply Wishing for Hope, the 2001 OVA series Alien Nine and separately from the panel, the 1983 TV Special A Time Slip of 10000 Years: Prime Rose on behalf of distributor SkySet Entertainment. During the panel they also added more titles to their Whole Grain Pictures label with Big Boobs Buster (巨乳ハンター), Hisashi Watanabe’s 1990 film, and MARS, The Whitest Kids U’ Know’s 2024 animated feature film formed by Weapons director Zach Cregger and the late Trevor Moore. All are planned for 2026 on home video.

Discotek Media announced dozens of new titles and upgrades for their catalogue over at Otakon and an online stream that continued after the panel concluded. At the panel they secured the rights to release the Funimation English dub version of Shin-chan in SD-BD format, a new Steelbook Blu-ray release for Lupin the 3rd: The Castle of Cagliostro featuring a brand new English dub from the same cast who have worked with Discotek Media on a number of instalments, the remaining OVAs & films from the Urotsukidoji franchise with the second collection called Sequels of the Overfiend (that’s Legend of the Demon Womb, Return of the Overfiend, Inferno Road & The Final Chapter plus the films) on SD-BD format, a Blu-ray upgrade for Golden Boy, all five films in the Sgt. Frog franchise on Blu-ray, Sunrise’s sci-fi mecha series Zegapain on Blu-ray with the two films Zegapain ADP & Zegapain STA included in one collection, the next three films in the Digimon franchise in a second collection (Digimon Adventure 02: Revenge of Diaboromon, Digimon Tamers: Battle of Adventurers & Digimon Tamers: Runaway Locomon) on Blu-ray, and Naoki Urasawa’s Monster from studio Madhouse on Blu-ray with the English dub.

At their online stream, they also revealed an SD-BD upgrade for Project ARMS, Blu-ray releases for Higurashi: When They Cry Kai & Higurashi: When They Cry Rei, Sunrise’s adaptation of Zone of the Enders in a collection that includes both the TV series Dolores, I and the OVA Idolo on Blu-ray, and Shin Aim for the Ace! on Blu-ray. They also confirmed the October slate which featured Cyborg 009 vs Devilman, Golden Boy, Higurashi: When They Cry Season 1, Shin-Chan, and Urotsukidoji Collection 2: Sequels of the Overfiend.

For their live-action content, we got Bangkok Dangerous (บางกอกแดนเจอรัส เพชฌฆาตเงียบ อันตราย), The Pang Brothers’ 1999 Thai film and Sars Wars: Bangkok Zombie Crisis (ขุนกระบี่ผีระบาด), Taweewat Wantha’s 2004 Thai film, both coming to Blu-ray under Nihon Nights (the latter of which was also previously released on DVD by Discotek Media in their earlier days). Both Ouran High School Host Club (映画 桜蘭高校ホスト部) and Terrifying Girls’ High School: Women’s Violent Classroom (恐怖女子高校 女暴力教室) were scheduled for October also.

Toku Time also received a few more updates with 1974’s Kamen Rider Amazon (仮面ライダーアマゾン) series coming to Blu-ray, 1973’s Android Kikaider 01 (キカイダー01) series coming to SD-BD, and 1975’s Kamen Rider Stronger (仮面ライダーストロンガー) series coming to Blu-ray. The former of which is scheduled for October.

In terms of animated shows, Mega Man (Rockman USA) also received an SD-BD upgrade and will be released in October alongside Darkstalkers USA, King Arthur & the Knights of Justice and Stone Protectors.

In terms of stock updates, Gunbuster is officially confirmed to be going out of print though its not known if the UK release is impacted right away but will probably be in a similar situation. Whilst not officially added to the OOP list, it’s been mentioned that there’s very low stock available for Fighting General Daimos and Machine Robo: Revenge of Cronos as well. As per usual, if a title was released 2 years ago or longer then its probably going to sell out at any point.

I’ve updated my priority list for what’s left to pickup for Discotek’s catalogue. Currently have 23 releases remaining to purchase; Fist of the North Star: The Legends of the True Savior (4 releases), Kodocha (2 releases), Lupin the Third TV Specials (4 releases), Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha (4 releases prior to 2025), Mazinkaizer (2 releases), Urusei Yatsura (5 releases) as well as Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid and Lovely Complex. Stock issues tend to get in the way so I do my best to work my way around that.

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That’s all for the month of August for the latest collection update. A shorter haul than my usual routine, I think this was the smallest I’ve received since I first got my current job. Still a lot of many folks but quite the change.