What did you RECEIVE today? PHOTOS EDITION!

[NormanicGrav]

Wait, the Zebraman films have a UK release!? I might retire my Media Blasters and Funimation releases if the UK releases are any better, on-disc wise.

Yeah they just came out by 88 Films last month as part of their Japanarchy range (which is dedicated to various Japanese films since they mainly work on Hong Kong, Italy & various genres). 88 tend to improve the discs whenever possible but I think the extras are identical from the looks of it.

 

[Magical Senshi]

Yeah they just came out by 88 Films last month as part of their Japanarchy range (which is dedicated to various Japanese films since they mainly work on Hong Kong, Italy & various genres). 88 tend to improve the discs whenever possible but I think the extras are identical from the looks of it.

Thanks. I was also referring to the presentation of the films themselves (e.g. audio and picture quality, subtitles, etc).

 

[Dragon Slayer]

Received today from Wordery.

 

[NormanicGrav]

2025 HAUL - JUNE v5

MORE PACKAGES. And there's more tomorrow for a reason.

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#12: Scifier Manga Haul - Alice in Borderland, MASHLE, Trillion Game, World's End Harem & WEH: Fantasia

Spoiler: Context

It's time for a manga haul and a bigger one than the usual. So in the past I've either bought Viz books at the Travelling Man store in town or ordered some Seven Seas books through Scifier and I decided for this occasion to combine the two - order Seven Seas and Viz Media books on Scifier. Travelling Man always never had the stock available for the volumes that I needed and with Scifier you know you're getting the books in solid condition and with a discount if possible. This haul also completes a few titles.

On the Viz Media side of things we have Alice in Borderland (今際の国のアリス) from author Haro Aso (Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead) with Omnibus 8 & 9 (Volumes 15-18) which now concludes the series - the books here were printed in Canada. Then we have Mashle: Magic & Muscles (マッシュル-MASHLE-) from author Hajime Kōmoto with Volumes 16, 17 & 18, which also concludes the series - the books here were printed in USA. And we also have Trillion Game (トリリオンゲーム) from author Riichiro Inagaki (Dr. STONE) and illustrator Ryoichi Ikegami (Crying Freeman) with Volumes 3, 4 & 5. The series is still on-going and this is currently the latest English print for now - the books here were also printed in Canada.

On the Seven Seas side of things we have Ghost Ship titles starting with World's End Harem (終末のハーレム) from author LINK (World's End Harem: Fantasia) and illustrator Kotaro Shono (Eunuch of Empire) with Volumes 17 & 18, which now concludes the series. Despite the heavy fanservice and sexual nature, in Japan, the series serialized under Shonen Jump+ next to 2.5 Dimensional Seduction, DANDADAN and SPY x FAMILY. And we also have World's End Harem: Fantasia (終末のハーレム ファンタジア) from author LINK and illustrator SAVAN (Hazure Skill Mapping) with Volumes 12, 13 & 14. The series is still on-going and this is currently the latest English print for now. In Japan, the series serialized under Ultra Jump & Shonen Jump+.

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Spoiler: Semi-NSFW artwork

#13: Discotek Media Haul from MediaOCD Store - Angel Heart, Kekko Kamen, Photon & Urotsukidoji

Spoiler: Context

It's been a few months since I last sorted out a Discotek Media haul and here we have a very different batch. The reason is because Crunchyroll Store's stock levels for the Discotek titles were pretty messy so I decided to switch things up and pick up a few titles that were available on MediaOCD Store which does ship directly to the UK with pre-paid VAT.

This haul consists of three anime releases and one live-action release from the Nihon Nights label.

Angel Heart
A 2005 television anime series by studio TMS Entertainment and director Toshiki Hirano, based on a manga written by Tsukasa Hojo. This is a spin-off series to City Hunter with a different main lead. Since I own the other City Hunter titles it made sense for me to get this one also. Discotek Media released the series on Blu-ray in May 2025.

Kekko Kamen: The Original Live-Action Movies
A 1991-1993 collection of films based on Go Nagai's manga series Kekko Kamen. The 1991 live-action Japanese film (けっこう仮面) was directed by Hikari Hayakawa (Go Nagai's Scary Zone films), and the 1992 & 1993 live-action Japanese films Kekko Kamen 2: We’ll be back… (けっこう仮面２) & Kekko Kamen 3 (けっこう仮面３) were directed by Yutaka Akiyama (Kunoichi: Deadly Mirage) starring Chris Aoki. These films were also distributed by Japan Home Video as part of the V-Cinema series which I found to be pretty interesting to discover. Discotek Media released the three films in Standard Definition on Blu-ray format in May 2025 and isn't available on Crunchyroll store.

Photon: The Idiot Adventures
A 1997 original OVA anime series by studio AIC and director Koji Masunari. Koji Masunari (Welcome to the Space Show) directed with Masaki Kajishima (Tenchi Muyo!) also worked on this series. For this release Discotek used AstroRes to upscale the master. Discotek Media released the series on Blu-ray in February 2025.

Urotsukidoji Collection 1: Legend of the Overfiend
A 1987 original OVA anime series by studio Phoenix Entertainment (Project Team Muu & West Cape Corporation) and director Hideki Takayama. Yep, this is the peak of hentai now back again and the second one for Discotek to release on Blu-ray.

In addition to the OVA series, which is fully uncut and uncensored with the materials still available in Standard Definition, we also have the 1989 theatrical version from a brand new historic 2K scan and restoration of the last known existing uncut 35mm prints from a private collection. To recap what I've mentioned on the Discotek thread, Media Blasters did release this on Blu-ray previously but theirs was cropped and censored, so Discotek found one of the last prints and scanned them. AstroRes was used on a badly damaged print that took 9 months to restore.

As you may have noticed, the packaging does state Collection 1 which leads me to believe they may have plans to release the second OVA series & second theatrical film known as Legend of the Demon Womb but currently nothing has been said. Discotek Media released the collection on Blu-ray in May 2025 and isn't available on Crunchyroll store.

 

[NormanicGrav]

2025 HAUL - JUNE v6: BIRTHDAY EDITION

Yep it's another post. This time one batch is from my Birthday today, and another arrived in the post.

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#14: 30th Birthday Haul

Spoiler: Context

It's that time of year and I was happy with how I handled last year's haul so I continued the trend here.



For anime we have Psycho-Pass Providence, a film and latest instalment in the franchise by Production I.G. I've not watched Season 3 but the LE that Crunchyroll put out was decently priced. Unboxing on my blog will be available later.



For video games we have Suikoden I & II HD Remaster from Konami. I was hopping between PS5 or Switch but I settled on PlayStation 5 (Switch 2 would have won had it been an in-cart physical release). Not played the PS1 versions even though I have both on PS3 but looking forward to checking these out later.



For Asian Cinema we have Takeshi Kitano's 2000 film Brother, released in the UK on Blu-ray by British Film Institute (BFI). This film intrigues me due to its premise so I'm curious to see how it holds. The BFI first print release also includes a booklet.



For European Cinema we also have Jacques Rivette's 2001 film Va Savoir from France, released in the UK on Blu-ray by Radiance Films. I didn't bother with L’Amour fou but this film interested me more. Radiance's release includes both the theatrical and director's cut across 2 discs.



For books, we have Hurt Me Plenty: The Ultimate Guide to First-Person Shooters 2003–2010, the second volume covering the FPS genre by Bitmap Books. This released last month so it was good timing. The book covers various well-known games like Halo, F.E.A.R., Star Wars: Republic Commando and more.



And I also received a Mobile Suit Gundam shirt from UNIQLO. Most of the shirts sold out in its size by the time I found out about them but I am happy with what I was able to receive considering the timing.

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#15: Armour of God II & Crime Story in 4K Ultra HD

Spoiler: Context

Also arriving on my Birthday but is completely separate is another Terracotta package featuring two brand new 88 Films releases for the 4K Ultra HD format collection. Both of these are also double-dips as I own their Blu-ray versions when they came out in 2019/2020.

That's right we have the deluxe limited edition release for Jackie Chan's 1991 Hong Kong film Armour of God II: Operation Condor (飛鷹計劃) and Kirk Wong's 1993 Hong Kong film Crime Story (重案組). These were one of the first 88 Films releases that I had picked up back in 2020 and I was fortunately to get the first print editions before they sold out, especially with the latter as I think I had one of the very last copies available on Amazon.

Both films pretty much include everything from the Blu-ray release and more, with the 4K Ultra HD discs using 4K restorations and Dolby Vision HDR. Unboxings on my blog will be available later.

 

[TakamakiJoker]

 

[RadFemHedonist]

As I've been eating a lot less, not had much of an appetite, and recently got pretty badly constipated (all better now!), a friend gently suggested taking a multivitamin, I went to look online to order some and ended up getting these from Sainsbury's local via Deliveroo a couple of days ago, would def recommend if you feel like you would benefit from a multivitamin but don't want to swallow yet another bitter pill, they taste really nice and they're not too chewy either, they make me feel like a kid again taking my dinosaur shaped lemon and lime flavoured ones! Just don't pull a Homer Simpson and eat them all in one sitting (I emphasise I did not do that, I take only one a day, but I could see how it might be tempting for some people with a sweet tooth who've cut back on sugar)

 

[HWR]

My latest Radiance Films haul arrived Saturday but opened today, including their first UHD release in Palindromes.

 

[Lucky_Deity]

From  ebay.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii), Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (Wii U), SEGA Superstars (PS2) and SEGA Superstars Tennis (Wii)



Some more Sonic games to add to the collection, this time a number of crossover titles. Outside of Rio 2016 the rest are more re-buys of games I had when I was younger.

It's up for debate if the SEGA Superstars games count as Sonic games but as Sonic is front and centre on both and that these games were the predecessor to the Sonic & All-Stars Racing games which transitioned to the Sonic Racing series I'd say they're honorary Sonic games.

The disc on Mario & Sonic '08 does look a bit scratched so I will need to test it, hopefully it'll work okay.

 

[Titan]

Received today, from All The Anime:

 

[Girls with Guns]

I ordered the two Queen's Blade seasons 1 & 2 Blu-rays from Media Blaster's eBay site on Saturday, and I received them today. They were fairly cheap at $55 for the pair, so I figured I may as well get them, especially since Sentai is re-releasing Queen's Blade Rebellion soon...

 

[demonix]

Here's a little blast of what I've received over the past few days..


First, I got the other two story of seasons games that were just remakes of older harvest moon games on the switch, along with a double ended 3.8mm and 4.5mm gamebit screwdriver which I decided was necessary after I got screwed about by CeX when I tried to sell my copy of pokemon blue and they refused it on the ground of the PCB having missing a missing component which thanks to said screwdriver and the assistance of someone who actually knew gameboy cartridge PCBs and what components should be on them I found that the knowledge of the "tester" is severely lacking since they referred to a crystal as a resistor and even mentioned that other gen one pokemon game cartridges had the component on their PCBs, including pokemon yellow which I found out after checking my copy (thanks nintendo cartridge production facility for not putting a screw in my copy of pokemon yellow) was utter BS because it didn't even use the same PCB as blue and crystal and didn't have any places for a crystal to be put onto the PCB (my copy of pokemon yellow had a PCB that uses a soldered on CR2016 battery where as blue and crystal has a PCB that uses a soldered on CR2025 battery).


Now that rant is over, it's time for another as I begin ridding myself of anything that uses the android operating system (after google decided to block use of the wallet app with a massive scare tactic and potentially scammy message stating that my phone was either rooted or running insecure software when in fact xiaomi hadn't been installing security patch updates) by getting an apple TV 4K (the 128GB variant with ethernet) which was extremely painless to set up as well as being able to control my dumb TV without any configuration because control through HDMI was already enabled which is something that Amazon can't comprehend since they only allow control through IR.

 

[Otomo]

I ordered the two Queen's Blade seasons 1 & 2 Blu-rays from Media Blaster's eBay site on Saturday, and I received them today. They were fairly cheap at $55 for the pair, so I figured I may as well get them, especially since Sentai is re-releasing Queen's Blade Rebellion soon...

Nice pick up and thanks for mentioning it was through eBay.

I hadn't realised they had a shop there. It would make it easier for me to buy something.

I've got them all on DVD but I have been thinking about the Blu-ray versions.
For a back up.

I always remember getting Rebellion and being impressed that you got a bonus disc with the soundtrack.
Of course, I'm not saying the music is great but I like to see someone trying to give us extras.

 

[HWR]

Dark City UHD Limited Edition from Arrow Video. This is sold out everywhere now but Zavvi came in clutch.

 

[Dai]

Macross Delta - Walkure Edition box set. This is the JP release with English subtitles. Includes a bonus disc that I think has a live concert recording, and a booklet that surprisingly is almost all seiyuu photos. Goes to show how hard they were pushing the idol singer angle for this series, I suppose.

This is the last time I order an expensive item from Amazon Japan. They shipped this £120 set in a flimsy cardboard envelope with no padding. Props to DHL for getting it to me undamaged.

 

[ActionFaust]

View attachment 40518
Macross Delta - Walkure Edition box set. This is the JP release with English subtitles. Includes a bonus disc that I think has a live concert recording, and a booklet that surprisingly is almost all seiyuu photos. Goes to show how hard they were pushing the idol singer angle for this series, I suppose.

This is the last time I order an expensive item from Amazon Japan. They shipped this £120 set in a flimsy cardboard envelope with no padding. Props to DHL for getting it to me undamaged.

I've got the volume releases. The Foreign Legion as they were known to JP fans did a fantastic job on the subtitles.

The Western community's reaction to the idol theme always struck me as funny considering how Macross always changes things up with each installment be it a rock band or a rogue AI. Idol series were a big thing in Japan at the time with series like Idolm@ster and Love Live (both also under the Bandai Namco banner) so it was only natural. Could well see them doing a girls band next considering series like Bocchi the Rock and Ave Mujica have been very popular over there.

 

[cfx]

This is the last time I order an expensive item from Amazon Japan. They shipped this £120 set in a flimsy cardboard envelope with no padding. Props to DHL for getting it to me undamaged.

Amazon Japan's packaging has been as bad as Amazon US for a few years now.

Use CDJapan instead, who package well.

 

[Dai]

Use CDJapan instead, who package well.

They're my usual choice and I've always been impressed by how securely they package things. The only reason I didn't use them this time was a ¥2000 price difference on the box set.

 

[ActionFaust]

Could've gone for Mandarake as well. All my JP Blu-rays have been bought used. Their packaging, condition and pricing has been fantastic.

 

[Dai]

Could've gone for Mandarake as well. All my JP Blu-rays have been bought used. Their packaging, condition and pricing has been fantastic.

Good point. I went with Mandarake for the Frontier movies, since the English subbed release of those is long out of print. I wanted to vote with my wallet where possible though, to show there's demand for subbed Macross releases. With Nozomi functionally gone, I suspect the only hope for a subbed BD of the Frontier TV series in the next decade is if it happens in Japan. I could see that maybe, maaaaaybe happening in the run-up to the BDs of the next Macross series, whenever they finish making that.