What did you RECEIVE today? PHOTOS EDITION!

[HWR]

I received my latest Stackry haul today after some delays owing to the Labor Day Weekend in the US:

Firstly from DiabolikDVD a selection of Discotek Media, Nihon Nights and Toku Time titles.


I also placed two orders during Sentai Filmworks’ summer sale. Their packaging leaves a lot to be desired as TEAHWOL arrived with various dents and I know Stackry wasn’t responsible as there was a ton of bubblewrap in this package (that $15 goes a ways.)



And the final anime offerings from Amazon.com, Crunchyroll Store, and eBay (I forgot to add Pita-Ten to this photo from CR.)

Non anime titles:

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From Amazon.com and eBay.


From Gruv via two of their multi deals.


More from DiabolikDVD and Vinegar Syndrome (not pictured due to potentially being NSFW). I essentially had to reverse-import two of these titles as they’d sold out everywhere but the pricing was reasonable enough and DD do reward points now which is handy.

 

[demonix]

Now I have the physical PS5 version of little kitty, big city to go alongside the switch version, but at least it wasn't little kitty, big shipping box after my last preorder PS5 game came in a box big enough to hold several games.

 

[CommanderZx2]

My latest arrivals:

 

[NormanicGrav]

September Haul #1

Forgot to post a couple pickups earlier in the month so here we are. I'll be splitting the post into two parts. Here we have pickups from 4th, 5th & 8th September.

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#1: Onimusha: Way of the Sword

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The month begins with a brand new video game release from Capcom. Onimusha: Way of the Sword is the first mainline instalment since the PlayStation 2 era and is a fantastic action game. I finished it after 30 hours of playtime and I've really enjoyed the characters, story, gameplay and the overall challenge it gives. The Game Collection had a version that came with a lenticular slipcase so I opted for that edition.

#2: Limited Run Games Haul

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Next we have a Video Games Plus haul that consists of a couple Limited Run Games releases thanks to a brief sale they ran in late August. Here I went with a couple more for the Nintendo Switch of varied genres, mostly niche releases remastered for modern platforms.

Killing Time: Resurrected is a first-person shooter that ultilises live-action footage and imagery which created a very unique experience compared to other shooters back in the day. Originally released in 1995 exclusively to the 3DO (created by 3DO developers as well) on consoles, Nightdive Studios remastered the game for modern platforms with better resolution, frame rate and other enhancements to make the experience even better. They also managed to get better quality images for the live-action content which is an neat addition.

Moon, also known in Japan as Moon: Remix RPG Adventure, is a very unique JRPG by Japanese developer Love-de-Lic (who later made UFO: A Day in the Life which was also re-released for modern platforms under Console Archives) which was only released in Japan for the original PlayStation. Supposedly Undertale creator Toby Fox was inspired by this game which helped bring this game to the west. This is not part of Limited Run Games' numbered releases, instead their distribution partner label so reprints are generally possible.

Plumbers Don't Wear Ties: Definitive Edition is a slideshow live-action adventure game created in 1994 by United Pixtures. Released during a time where Full-Motion Video and live-action adult stuff was pretty popular in the video game scene especially in the west, it was considered one of the worst games ever made but also a cult classic on the 3DO. Limited Run Games remastered the game for modern platforms with an added behind-the-scenes section with various interviews going over how the game was made and the people's reception towards it which is a fun way of making the package more entertaining. The physical release does require a massive patch likely to fix some issues on the launch release so not everything is on the cart itself.

#3: Crunchyroll Summer Sale Haul

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The Crunchyroll Summer sale was coming to a close and I sorted out my haul when Rarewaves finally began their brief 10% discount promotion. I went through the selection and picked six fantasy titles for the collection. As I held off on watching anime during simulcast, sometimes it's better to wait for the home video version if its been long enough.

I was worried about my order at first because Rarewaves in my previous anime haul did provide one of the titles without a slipcase when other retailers did so it put me off but thankfully each of these have their slipcases.



First we have ARIFURETA: From Commonplace to World's Strongest Season 3, an isekai fantasy harem series that had a rough first season but eventually studio Asread slowed it down to adapt the material more faithfully. Surprised it reached three reasons. I've not watched Season 2 yet as I wasn't sure if I wanted to read more of the light novel first. The anime aired during the Autumn 2024 season with some episodes pushed into the Winter 2025 season.



Next we have Berserk of Gluttony Season 1, a dark fantasy series that's been on my radar ever since I first heard of the light novel. Studio A.C.G.T. handled the adaptation. The anime aired during the Autumn 2023 season.



Gods' Games We Play is a modern fantasy series which wasn't on my radar initially but the art style and premise had me intrigued. Studio Liden Films handled the adaptation. The anime aired during the Spring 2024 season.



The Iceblade Sorcerer Shall Rule the World Season 1 is a fantasy series where the MC pretends to be a commoner and attends a school so you can figure out what happens next, but I personally am a fan of the overpowered MC shocking the cast in these situations. Studio Cloud Hearts handled the adaptation. The anime aired during the Winter 2023 season.



I also finally got around to picking up In Another World With My Smartphone Season 2, another isekai fantasy harem series. The first season was rather entertaining and popularity from the west helped bring in another season which is a rarity. Studio J.C.Staff takes over the adaptation this time around. The anime aired during the Spring 2023 season.



And last but not least we have The Strongest Magician in the Demon Lord's Army Was a Human, a fantasy series where a human is part of the Demon Lord army. There's a few anime in recent years that have done this but it's not an isekai this time. Crunchyroll decided not to dub this series so it's probably gone under the radar. Studio A-Cat handled the adaptation. The anime aired during the Summer 2024 season.

The quality of the anime here is of course down to you but I have a soft spot for these genres and tropes. Considering Crunchyroll have been slowing down on their physical releases I do plan to grab more from their UK catalogue and hopefully more before the end of the year.

 

[NormanicGrav]

September Haul #2

Here we have pickups from 17th & 18th September.

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#4: ACA Neo Geo Selection Vol. 9-10 & Gundam SEED Battle Destiny

Spoiler

Once again Video Games Plus ran another 2x points sale and I figured I'll have a look. Ended up going for a Nintendo Switch Japanese import haul and picked up three titles.



Starting off with ACA Neo Geo Selection Volumes 9 & 10, which conclude the Arcade Archives Neo Geo series of SNK games. There's 10 games per volume which means I now own 100 Neo Geo/SNK games for the Nintendo Switch which is a weird feeling but on the shelf it's pretty neat.

ACA Neo Geo Selection Volume 9 includes Fatal Fury 3: Road to the Final Victory, Karnov’s Revenge, The King of Fighters 2001, King of the Monsters, Magical Drop II, Magician Lord, Samurai Shodown II, Street Hoop (Dunk Dream), Super Sidekicks 3: The Next Glory and World Heroes.

ACA Neo Geo Selection Volume 10 includes The King of Fighters ’97, Magical Drop III, Metal Slug 3, Ninja Master’s: Hao Ninpo Cho, Pop’n Bounce, Real Bout Fatal Fury 2: The Newcomers, Samurai Shodown V Special, Sengoku 2, Stakes Winner and Super Baseball 2020.

Interestingly I noticed that a couple of the games included in the 10 volume series were in fact delisted from digital storefronts but are on the physical release; Neo Geo Cup '98: The Road to the Victory (in Vol. 4), The Ultimate 11: SNK Football Championship (in Vol. 6), Super Sidekicks 2 (in Vol. 8) and Super Sidekicks 3: The Next Glory (in Vol. 9). The delistings had something to do with references to China and Taiwan.

The other import game that I picked up was Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Battle Destiny Remastered, which is a remaster of a Japan only 2012 PlayStation Vita release. It's a battle action game and honestly such a random pick to get the re-release treatment but I suspect it's because it's probably received fairly well in Japan and considering the anime's anniversary they decided to bring it back.

The Nintendo Switch release was also localised for the west but the physical was only available in Japan and Asia but includes English support which is handy, so props to Bandai Namco for providing that option.

#5: Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter

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Also arriving on the same day as the VGP package is Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter, Falcom's latest remake of the The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky series. The main key difference here is that instead of Clear River Games handling distribution it's PM Studios for GungHo but at least it's still a proper physical release.

I won't be playing this game any time soon as I want the whole trilogy first, but unfortunately Falcom have pretty much admitted they haven't even started a remake for 3rd Chapter yet so this will pretty much be the final physical release for PlayStation at this point (Switch 2 owners won't have this problem, but it would be nice if 1st Chapter got a Switch 2 physical to match).

#6: Paprika

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This took longer than it should to arrive from Amazon but I finally have the 4K Ultra HD release for Satoshi Kon's Paprika now in the UK. Sony Pictures distributed the Blu-ray almost twenty years ago and they kept it to themselves for this release (probably better than having Anime Limited release a padded out overpriced set) with a pretty nice steelbook to go with it.





I own Sony's Blu-ray release and this one is pretty much a big upgrade overall. Also the first Satoshi Kon film to incorporate HDR with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos as well. Now you may have noticed the film is rated 18 compared to the previous release being a 15. The main film wasn't re-rated but when Sony rated the extras for this release the commentary bumped it up to an 18 so I would assume the main film probably would have been the same rating had they got it re-submitted.

 

[Type_VII]

 

[Anime1977]

My moded gamecube that came yesterday.