2024 HAUL - SEPTEMBER CHAPTER: BATCH #2.2
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.
City Hunter & City Hunter 2 Sets 1 & 2
Adapted by studio Sunrise in 1987-1988 for the first season and 1988-1989 for the second season, both 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-releasing 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-rays for City Hunter Season 1 collection in October 2021, and City Hunter 2 Sets 1 & 2 in July & September 2021 respectively.
The first season I ordered perfectly fine through the Crunchyroll Store however for the second season the only option 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.
City Hunter 3 & City Hunter '91
Adapted by studio Sunrise in 1989-1990 for the third season directed by Kenji Kodama and in 1991 for the fourth season directed by Kiyoshi Egami. These continue the adventures of Ryo Saeba and Kaori Makimura across more seasons, though compared to before, these two only contain a single cour's worth of episodes but cover the manga's story up until a specific point near the end of the material. City Hunter '91 I had to order from Amazon US because Crunchyroll Store didn't have stock. Discotek Media released the Blu-rays in March & April 2022 respectively.
City Hunter: Movie & TV Specials Collection
Adapted by studio Sunrise, the Movie & TV Specials 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.
Cat's Eye
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: Shinjuku Private Eyes
Adapted by studio Sunrise in 2019 and directed by Kenji Kodama, this is a newer film in the City Hunter franchise that pretty much takes the cast in present day Shinjuku but I heard 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.
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.
City Hunter & City Hunter 2 Sets 1 & 2
Adapted by studio Sunrise in 1987-1988 for the first season and 1988-1989 for the second season, both 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-releasing 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-rays for City Hunter Season 1 collection in October 2021, and City Hunter 2 Sets 1 & 2 in July & September 2021 respectively.
The first season I ordered perfectly fine through the Crunchyroll Store however for the second season the only option 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.
City Hunter 3 & City Hunter '91
Adapted by studio Sunrise in 1989-1990 for the third season directed by Kenji Kodama and in 1991 for the fourth season directed by Kiyoshi Egami. These continue the adventures of Ryo Saeba and Kaori Makimura across more seasons, though compared to before, these two only contain a single cour's worth of episodes but cover the manga's story up until a specific point near the end of the material. City Hunter '91 I had to order from Amazon US because Crunchyroll Store didn't have stock. Discotek Media released the Blu-rays in March & April 2022 respectively.
City Hunter: Movie & TV Specials Collection
Adapted by studio Sunrise, the Movie & TV Specials 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.
Cat's Eye
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: Shinjuku Private Eyes
Adapted by studio Sunrise in 2019 and directed by Kenji Kodama, this is a newer film in the City Hunter franchise that pretty much takes the cast in present day Shinjuku but I heard 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.
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All 3 versions of the movie are included on the Blu-ray.
