2024 HAUL - NOVEMBER CHAPTER: BATCH #3
Another day off and the weekend work stuff is done for the year. More packages arrived on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
Eureka Entertainment held a mini sale with a number of first print editions on offer, and while I have ordered many of their titles, there are a few that I missed due to timing issues or not on offer during their pre-order run.
Two of the titles I missed were on offer and I picked up both, especially considering it looked like their first print editions are selling out. These are Ryuichi Takamori's 1973 films
Bodyguard Kiba (ボディガード牙) &
Bodyguard Kiba 2 (ボディガード牙 必殺三角飛び), also known as Karate Kiba, and Ryuichi Takamori's 1972 film
Yakuza Wolf: I Perform Murder (狼やくざ 殺しは俺がやる) & Buichi Saitô's 1972 film
Yakuza Wolf 2: Extend my Condolences (狼やくざ 葬いは俺が出す).
All four of these films are pretty much part of a series of films that were being released back to back because they star Sonny Chiba. Eureka have released a few more films starring the actor but that one collection is only available in the US (because the films have animal cruelty and therefore wouldn't make it over here uncut).
Another new Anime Limited collector's edition Blu-ray release and it's
TONIKAWA: Over the Moon for You (Fly Me to the Moon) Season 1. I missed out on watching the series during simulcast but I have heard its good when you compare the show to every other Crunchyroll Original show they produced. This set does only include the first OVA and not both.
You can view more photos & specs
on my blog.
The final Discotek Media haul for the year (though it may not be the final order just in case a few out of print notices occur in the coming weeks) and these all came from Crunchyroll Store's Discotek Media sale which was earlier than I had expected to appear this month, and to be honest I forgot about the idea of another publisher sale. I used this opportunity to grab a few franchises.
First up we have a classic franchise that's been available for half a decade at this point and should have been released over here already.
Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Stood Still
Adapted by Mu Animation Studio & Phoenix Entertainment in 1992-98 and directed by Yasuhiro Imagawa, this is a sci-fi mecha and apparently martial arts?! Either way, when it came to notable robot shows this one was brought up a lot and I remembered a lot of people were excited when Discotek rescued the rights for a Blu-ray release. Manga Entertainment released the series over here in the UK many years ago but since then it's yet to have been re-released. Discotek Media released the OVA series on Blu-ray in December 2019.
GinRei
Adapted by Phoenix Entertainment in 1994-95 and directed by Yasuhiro Imagawa, this is a spin-off or side-story to Giant Robo that was produced around the same time as the main series focusing on the character Ginrei. Discotek Media released the OVA series on Blu-ray in December 2020.
Next we have more Lupin the Third releases for the collection.
Lupin the Third versus Detective Conan
Animated by TMS Entertainment in 2009 and directed by Hajime Kamegaki, this is a TV special cross-over between Monkey Punch's Lupin the Third and Gosho Aoyama's Detective Conan (Case Closed) which surprisingly works. It has been 11 years since I last watched this crossover but I'm happy to finally own it. This came out on Blu-ray after the film did due to the masters if I recall correctly, but it did get an English dub. Discotek Media released the TV Special on Blu-ray in August 2022.
Lupin the Third versus Detective Conan the Movie
Animated by TMS Entertainment in 2013 and directed by Hajime Kamegaki, the crossover returns with a theatrical film which pretty much continues where the TV special left off and I had the opportunity (like many others did) to watch this for the first time during Screen Anime back in 2020. Like the TV special, this also received an English dub. Discotek Media released the film on Blu-ray in November 2021.
Lupin the Third: Episode 0: The First Contact
Animated by TMS Entertainment in 2002 and directed by Minoru Ohara. I thought this was an OVA but it's actually a TV special, the 14th one in the list. This is also an origin story of sorts hence the Episode 0 in its name. In addition to be provided with an English dub, a new upscale was done to improve the quality of the release. Discotek Media released the TV Special on Blu-ray in April 2022.
Lupin the Third: Prison of the Past
Animated by TMS Entertainment in 2019 and directed by Hatsuki Tsuji. This is the 27th TV special in the franchise and the most recent one to date if you exclude any films and cross-overs that came after. I keep thinking I own this but I don't, and it was also dubbed into English which is neat. Discotek Media released the TV Special on Blu-ray in July 2022.
Hey look it's that show that everyone loves.
Symphogear: Meteoroid-falling, burning, and disappear, then...
Symphogear G: In the distance, that day, when the star became music...
Symphogear GX: Believe in justice and hold a determination to fist
Symphogear AXZ: By shedding many tears, the reality you face is...
Symphogear XV: Create a history, with the light God could not know
Animated by studio Satelight in 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017 & 2019 and directed by Tatsufumi Itou (Season 1) & Katsumi Ono (S2-5). 65 episodes of anime girls using relic suits singing their way to victory. The franchise started a bit rough in terms of exposure with Funimation having the streaming rights for Season 1 and then from GX onwards Crunchyroll started streaming the series bit by bit. Surprisingly Crunchyroll don't own the home video rights and Discotek managed to release each season bit by bit. Also the co-creator of the franchise Noriyasu Agematsu was also involved with the Wild Arms games which was a fun fact to discover. Discotek Media released each season on Blu-ray in October 2020, January 2021, September 2022, November 2022 & February 2023 respectively.
Amazon's Black Friday sales have been on-going and I decided to pick up this indie card rougelike game called
Balatro, which I discovered for the first time thanks to The Game Awards nominating it for Game of the Year. Apparently it's really good and addictive to play so I figured I'll grab a physical copy of the Switch version whilst it's on sale. It's rated 18+ due to prominent gambling imagery according to PEGI despite the publisher getting it approved for a 3+ rating before its initial release.
