UK Anime Distributor Crunchyroll/Funimation/Manga UK Discussion Thread

Rarewaves I believe also kinda just mark things as dispatched (maybe they do send it and just takes forever to be picked up), but just bare that in mind, may still not actually arrive soon.

Eecent example, christmas present bought on 11th Dec, dispatched 14th, and did not arrive before christmas (but that kinda in the christma period). but I have had this happen before too during none christmas time..
 
SnowWolf said:
Hopefully, do Rarewaves package things well? This is my first order with them.
Click to expand...

Nope. :confused:
Regular blu-rays will usually be sent in cardboard envelopes, or sometimes bubble mailers. Yona LE will probably be in the latter, and if it's like the one I got from them about a year ago will have corner damage from the process. I knew that going in though and mainly wanted it for just the inner slipcase and case+discs (since the regular edition doesn't have a slip) so wasn't too upset with the condition of the outer hard case.

Also they usually ship every item individually no matter how large the order, which given how they package is preferable. Very rarely they'll send multiple items in a box, and more often than that three or so loose in a big bubble envelope so they can make imprints on each other as heavy items get put on top during transit.

Bubble envelopes are the bane of my existence and I have far better luck with the cardboard envelopes. I know why businesses use bubble envelopes, but will never understand people who think that is good and safe packaging for discs like ebay sellers with rare Criterions or such sold at high prices and then toss it in a bubble envelope to ship.

The reasons to order from Rarewaves is something not found elsewhere or for lower prices if that's the case. If you care primarily about condition things arrive in then AL is greatly preferable.

I'm not in the UK so things travel further to me, so experiences could be better within the UK.
 
cfx said:
Nope. :confused:
Regular blu-rays will usually be sent in cardboard envelopes, or sometimes bubble mailers. Yona LE will probably be in the latter, and if it's like the one I got from them about a year ago will have corner damage from the process. I knew that going in though and mainly wanted it for just the inner slipcase and case+discs (since the regular edition doesn't have a slip) so wasn't too upset with the condition of the outer hard case.

Also they usually ship every item individually no matter how large the order, which given how they package is preferable. Very rarely they'll send multiple items in a box, and more often than that three or so loose in a big bubble envelope so they can make imprints on each other as heavy items get put on top during transit.

Bubble envelopes are the bane of my existence and I have far better luck with the cardboard envelopes. I know why businesses use bubble envelopes, but will never understand people who think that is good and safe packaging for discs like ebay sellers with rare Criterions or such sold at high prices and then toss it in a bubble envelope to ship.

The reasons to order from Rarewaves is something not found elsewhere or for lower prices if that's the case. If you care primarily about condition things arrive in then AL is greatly preferable.

I'm not in the UK so things travel further to me, so experiences could be better within the UK.
Click to expand...
Oh well, lesson learned. Explains why they still have collector's edition on their website. Everyone doesn't want to risk it. At least, I didn't do a big order and can hopefully return it if damaged. I'll upload photos when it finally gets here.
 
Surprisingly from Rarewaves it looks like my Frieren CE has been sent via Evri with tracking. At least I don't need to deal with their awful last mile service as they don't operate here, the parcel will be handed to An Post.
 
Relaxo said:

Sailor Moon - Staffel 1 - Gesamtausgabe - Steelbook - [Blu-ray] Limited Edition: Amazon.de: keine, Junichi Sato; Kunihiko Ikuhara, keine: DVD & Blu-ray

Amazon.de - Buy Sailor Moon - Staffel 1 - Gesamtausgabe - Steelbook - Limited Edition at a low price; free delivery on qualified orders. See reviews & details on a wide selection of Blu-ray & DVDs, both new & used.
www.amazon.de
Sailor Moon S1 Steelbook listed for Germany April release - so the UK release might be somehow around that
Click to expand...
Germany has been releasing Sailor Moon since 2020. Don't think that's an indication of a UK release date.
 
...on the other hand Crunchyroll usually tries to release the same Steelbooks in all territories they have the rights for (albeit with different discs).
 
sniper_samurai said:
Surprisingly from Rarewaves it looks like my Frieren CE has been sent via Evri with tracking. At least I don't need to deal with their awful last mile service as they don't operate here, the parcel will be handed to An Post.
Click to expand...
Just received it there, well packaged reusing the box Crunchy sent it to them in which shows that 1500 units were made for the UK version.

Unfortunately it is damaged, one of the corners is dented, and it appears to have been this way prior to being shrink wrapped by whoever was assembling it. Almost impressive as the box is not chipboard.
PXL_20260113_094748845.PORTRAIT.jpg
 
Aion said:
View attachment 43040View attachment 43039View attachment 43041
Posting this 'ere, in case anyone else wants to turn S&W's bizarre pt1-only box set, into a more complete set. First picture/on the left is with the new case inserted. Lighting naff as had to turn light on during day, given the typically grim weather in Warsaw.

Purchased this 14mm case ('tis the smallest 4-disc case could find), and it does fit if remove the art cards (can't fit the blurb sheet anyway, so eh), with the cover also fitting the spine. There is however an issue if you push the case all the way in: won't come out, even if pretend it's a rattle and violently shake it. 12mm case + art cards are loose; 14mm goes in/out smoothly but is a bit too snug. So, you'd need to leave a part of the case jutting out to grip or else shove finger awkwardly into the box, bulging it.

Aye, it does my head. So much so that, if not for Prime coming with next day shipping I'd not subscribe to nothin'. Not unless something worth 1month appears. And since most anime on CR isekai trash - some they even produced themselves - and Netflix not that great anymore, that's not often.

Do weekly syncronised co-watches (don't ask), and my friend insists his Prime got ads... yet he gets none, whilst I get 3-5; some being 2m each. Not sure if a lower/middle class area issue or he mistaken, but alas~ Think they added up to 8-9m per ep before I went fark orf and paid the £2.99. Netflix wanting £12.99 or £5.99 with ads is pisstake.
Click to expand...

Just a quickie follow-up on this, now that I have S&W pt2 (which, fyi, is the sum of all fears and ain't a seperate pt2 CE):

Initially I said the 14mm 4-disc case got stuck and, even if shake like a 🪇, it won't easily come out. I think over time though it's either loosened - without the aid of Girly's mythical box stretcher - or I didn't put enough energy into my lethargic shaking, as now it comes loose. Yay?...

T'would appear CR were trollin' with these S&W releases, honestly: the first set came with 3 large art cards; ones too large to fit inside the amaray case. Pt2 comes with one art card that is much smaller, and fits neatly inside the amaray case (see img). Soooo, now I have the descrip card/3 art cards with the pt2 slipcover, and all 4 discs inside the pt1 CE. 🫨

The things I do for Howo~

20260112_111107.jpg
 
I'm probably just extra picky, but looks to me like the upper right corner has some damage so while I've seen worse, it's not what I consider unharmed. Otherwise from what I can see in the picture, it's in much better shape than the one I got from them.

That's their typical packaging. How well it works depends on what happens during the trip. If it's dropped, or something heavy gets put on top, that packaging is not going to protect the contents. I've had reasonably good luck, but I've also had standard blu-rays arrive with the cases completely demolished. Those are shipped just in the cardboard envelope.

So given a choice, I'll always order from somewhere that packs better.

Given Crunchyroll's recent slates for the US, the new season of this will probably never get a blu-ray release. :(

I prefer "The Complete Series" even if it turns out being wrong, than how they started putting "The Complete Season" on instead in case something else comes later. If there is no more, that just sounds dumb, and if there is, it's still wrong because it doesn't say "Season 1" but that's what the rest would say i.e. "Season 2" etc.
 
cfx said:
I'm probably just extra picky, but looks to me like the upper right corner has some damage so while I've seen worse, it's not what I consider unharmed. Otherwise from what I can see in the picture, it's in much better shape than the one I got from them.

That's their typical packaging. How well it works depends on what happens during the trip. If it's dropped, or something heavy gets put on top, that packaging is not going to protect the contents. I've had reasonably good luck, but I've also had standard blu-rays arrive with the cases completely demolished. Those are shipped just in the cardboard envelope.

So given a choice, I'll always order from somewhere that packs better.

Given Crunchyroll's recent slates for the US, the new season of this will probably never get a blu-ray release. :(

I prefer "The Complete Series" even if it turns out being wrong, than how they started putting "The Complete Season" on instead in case something else comes later. If there is no more, that just sounds dumb, and if there is, it's still wrong because it doesn't say "Season 1" but that's what the rest would say i.e. "Season 2" etc.
Click to expand...
Top right corner is fine. It’s probably just the plastic.image.jpg
Though now that I look more closely, there is a small dent in the top left. So not unharmed, but not worth returning it, at least for me.image.jpg
I’ll keep that mind going forward, but who does pack better these days?
 
SnowWolf said:
Though now that I look more closely, there is a small dent in the top left. So not unharmed, but not worth returning it, at least for me.
View attachment 43463
I’ll keep that mind going forward, but who does pack better these days?
Click to expand...

Yeah I was probably seeing that big clump of plastic from the shrinkwrap.

That kind of corner bend is one of the common issues here, because there's little protection from that, and that annoys me quite a bit especially when it's on the spine side as it is here. My copy of this has more than one of those, and some surface dents on the box in various places as well; it's pretty beat up. I'm not even sure if all of that happened in shipping or if some was already there as my shrinkwrap was fairly worn as well.

I get Crunchyroll UK titles from AL, because Lime Wood Media's packaging is good and generally better than any alternative. It may be less so for a single title like this though. They were using the cardboard mailers with the "ears" on the ends (I don't know the right name for those) with the item inside in a layer of bubble wrap, but I've seen reports lately that they're just using those mailers alone. I always make larger orders since I'm outside the UK to save on shipping and to be sure of getting a box.

Deff.com might still package well. They used to but that was before they went away and reappeared, so not sure now.

Zavvi uses the mailers with the ears and I've had generally good luck with them; something like this they might ship in a box but I'm not sure as I haven't ordered anything like that lately. They used to just throw things in bubble mailers but in my experience no longer do that. I think their focus on exclusive steelbooks made them improve their packaging.
 
Back
Top