I received another pre-order title from Crunchyroll yesterday. I've been anxiously waiting for this one, it was definitely a favorite of mine from the Spring 2023 season:
Arrived last Wednesday. Keeping the Limited Run Games physical release bandwagon going, Video Games Plus finally had in stock Quake II and I ordered it for the Nintendo Switch. I have already played this game twice (first from the Xbox 360 HD remaster and the second on PlayStation 5 4K remaster) but I wanted to own it on Switch for the platform and to be alongside the DOOM collection and other Nightdive Studio remasters.
Awesome good memories with this title - Back in the late 1990's I worked in IT for a local telephone company. It was a sizeable enough company to have 20 employees in their IT department at the corporate headquarters building. What was totally unbelievable was that the upper management of the company actually allowed IT to setup a private Quake II server directly on the company's network in the server room, and about 15 of us would play against each other during our hour-long lunch, and then again for an hour after work before going home. We later upgraded the server to Quake III. We played Quake every day like that for over two years. Just as I was leaving the company for another job, they were upgrading the server again to Call of Duty, so I missed out on playing that one at work. But yeah, how many companies would ever allow something like that on their corporate network?
A blast from the past, I used to play this all the time on PS2 when I was younger so was real glad when this remake was announced. I still have a soft spot for SpongeBob and watch it here and there as well.
On the topic of great licensed games which need remakes / re-releases, The Simpsons Hit & Run and Scooby-Doo! Night of 100 Frights for sure deserve it (plus the latter was also developed by the same studio who did the original Battle for Bikini Bottom).
SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated (PS4)
I have been getting super lucky with CEX for OOP stuff recently. Firstly, I purchased the Third Window Films release of Dolls (2002) online, so I was incredibly fortunate to get the slipcover with it! Only £15 delivered, so pretty good for an OOP TWF title.
Secondly, during my lunch break at work today I headed to my local CEX (as I usually do), which is only a 5 minute walk from my office. Whilst there, I managed to find a copy of Himizu (2011) for a decent price, always nice to avoid the CEX postage costs!
As expected Sentai Filmworks ran their Summer sale throughout the month of July and overall it had an interesting selection of titles to pick up, now they didn't include all of the ones I wanted and there were a number of which weren't at the price range that I was hoping for, but for what we got it was solid enough.
So this haul could have arrived a week or two ago, and the delay was because I was hoping for Crunchyroll Store to run a Summer sale of their own and they didn't. Therefore I decided to focus on shipping out this one package with extra packaging protection and that was it. We have a total of 8 anime releases here for $148 (£116) which is pretty decent considering Crunchyroll & Rightstuf's prices would have been way higher.
Ane Log: Big Sister Moyako’s Never-ending Monologue
Animated by studio Brain's Base in 2014-2015 and directed by Tetsuo Ichimura, this is a mini OVA adaptation of the manga and was one of many three episode OVAs that Sentai picked up out of nowhere. It was a pretty good price as well. Sentai Filmworks released the OVAs on Blu-ray in January 2022.
Farming Life in Another World
Animated by studio Zero-G in 2023 and directed by Ryōichi Kuraya, this is a more recent isekai that I had wanted to watch when it first aired but because Sentai picked it up for their HIDIVE service I wasn't able to (due to how I manage my time and the quality of the service, I don't want to get a subscription). At least it's now available on Blu-ray so I waited until the latest sale to pick it up. Sentai Filmworks released the complete series on Blu-ray in December 2023.
Majestic Prince
Animated by studios Doga Kobo & Orange in 2013 and directed by Keitaro Motonaga, we have another sci-fi mecha series and it's a series that I've been aware of for years but only started taking interest in recent months as I wanted to grow my mecha anime collection. It's also interesting to see Orange animated this considering their newer works are CG only projects. This collection also includes Wings to the Future, an OVA special treated as 'Episode 25' of the series from 2016, and Genetic Awakening, a theatrical film also released in the same year, both of which Seven Arcs Pictures stepped in replacing Doga Kobo on the animation. Sentai Filmworks released the complete collection on Blu-ray in May 2023.
Medaka Box & Medaka Box Abnormal
Animated by studio GAINAX in 2012 and directed by Shouji Saeki, this is a pretty interesting series for a few reasons. First it's written by the Monogatari writer NisiOisin and it's a Weekly Shonen Jump title so Medaka herself made an appearance in J-Stars Victory Vs. which is how I first discovered the series. It's taken me this long to finally have a copy of the series on Blu-ray as Sentai eventually re-released it with both seasons together. Sentai Filmworks released the complete collection on Blu-ray in July 2023.
MM!
Animated by studio Xebec in 2010 and directed by Tsuyoshi Nagasawa, this is a series that I was not planning on picking up until I learned that Xebec worked on it and they are one of those wildcard studios in my opinion for their diverse line-up of anime titles. The series is also a harem so that also fits. Sentai Filmworks released the complete series on Blu-ray in July 2021.
Needless
Animated by studio Madhouse in 2009 and directed by Masayuki Sakoi, it's a series that I have also been aware of for as long as I started getting into anime and that was mainly due to MVM releasing DVDs of the show. Eventually Sentai re-released the show which is very handy. Sentai Filmworks released the complete collection on Blu-ray in April 2022.
Problem Children are Coming from Another World, Aren't They?
Animated by studio Diomedéa in 2013 and directed by Yasutaka Yamamoto, an isekai before the genre got oversaturated and I knew about it mainly through the visuals but as someone who likes the genre I decided to look into it in recent years and eventually Sentai re-releasing the series and adding it to the sale was an opportunity to pick up. Sentai Filmworks released the complete series on Blu-ray in July 2021.
Venus Wars Remastered
Animated by studio Kugatsusha in 1989 and directed by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko. A classic film that was recently released in the UK by Anime Limited, but as you know already they provided us with an older transfer rather than the remastered version from Japan despite the marketing and packaging using that version. Not a good look but fortunately Sentai added the film in its sale so I double-dipped. Sentai Filmworks released the film in May 2021 (with the standard edition releasing in October 2021).
Today, I had my once in blue moon trips into town. At Travelling Man, I was surprised to find Seven Seas manga in the 3 for 2 deal. Usually it's just Viz.
Got these Gundam Film books which are basically the films formatted as a comic book using screenshots and sound effects. I have a small affinity for these kind of books.
(Not pictured but I got the Gundam Wing Endless Waltz Special Edition book from same publisher years ago)
These books are from Mandarake and got each for £1.50 to £3 plus postage is about £20 with DHL
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