News topic: MCM Comic Con + Leak Announcements

This has been a big week for me. Not only did I graduate from my 13 years of school education, but there's a ton load of anime announced and arriving to the UK. These announcements are coming from the MCM Comic Con, where Manga Entertainment UK, MVM Entertainment UK, Anime Limited UK and other UK Anime shops have come to show off the latest anime and other entertainment related events. Unfortunately for Manga UK, Amazon has leaked their list of new schedules for the summer so let's start with what Manga UK has to offer.

Manga UK Announcements:

New Licences:

Attack on Titan

Blue Exorcist (English Dub Version)

Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works

One Piece: Collection 5 to 8

Space Battleship Yamato (Live Action Version)

Previous Announced Licences with a Release Date:

Berserk - The Golden Age Arc II: The Battle for Doldrey

Bleach: Series 11 and Series 12: Part 1

Clannad The First Series: Complete Collection

Clannad ~After Story~: Complete Collection

Fairy Tail: Collection 2

Hellsing: The Original TV Series: Complete Collection

Last Exile -Fam: The Silver Wing-: Part 1

Lupin the 3rd: The Woman Named Fujiko Mine: Complete Collection

Steins;Gate: Part 1 and Part 2

Part-Collection Licences with a Release Date:

Mawaru Penguindrum: Part 2

Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan: Part 2

Persona 4: The Animation: Box 3

Tiger & Bunny: Box 3 and Box 4

Other News:

Manga UK has also confirmed that Dragon Ball Z will have a complete limited edition collection of all 9 seasons for christmas 2013 on DVD.

Manga UK has mentioned a possible film screening for Madoka Magica Films 1 and 2.

Hellsing Ultimate Volumes IX and X are in discussion for licencing and will not be released in 2013.

Blue Exoricst will not have a dubbed version for DVD unless Blu-ray sales were positive.

High School of the Dead: OVA DVD will also be available for order at United Publications UK Exclusively.

MVM Announcements:

New Licences:

[C]:Control: The Money and the Soul of Possibility

Daphne in the Brilliant Blue

Heaven's Memo Pad

Pumpkin Scissors

Red Garden

Shangri-La

Previous Announced Licences with a Release Date:

Bakemonogatari: Parts 1 and 2 (Blu-ray)

ef: A Tale of Melodies

ef: A Tale of Memories

Inu X Boku Secret Service: Complete Collection

Is This A Zombie?: Complete Collection

Is This A Zombie? of the Dead: Complete Collection

Anime Limited Announcements:

New Licences:

Tiger & Bunny: The Beginning

Other News:

Andrew couldn't make it for MCM Comic Con on 26th May, therefore no announcements will be mentioned.

Blog Update: New Pages added

Quick update to the blog. I have now added two sections to make things easier for us anime folk.

Unboxing - where all of my unboxing posts are listed.
Region Free - a list of every anime title that's compatible to the UK and Australia.
Anime Schedule - decided to bring up the list of anime coming to home release over the next six months for UK and USA.

Not much activity will be shown on this blog but I will promise to showcase more next month.

Unboxing [UK]: Ninja Scroll - Film: 20th Anniversary Collector's Edition UK (BD/DVD)

My first Blu-ray title from the christmas season, the next unboxing that I will be going through is the classic Ninja Scroll. Ninja Scroll was one of many films that entertained people back in the nineties and now it's celebrating it's 20th anniversary with a release on Blu-ray and DVD uncut and uncensored (the original releases were cut by the British Board of Film Classification back when they were rather strict in terms of content).

This version is one of Manga Entertainment's products here in the UK and also the second title in the Blu-ray range to get a Steelbook Collector's Edition (the first being Akira). This edition contains both the Blu-ray and DVD of the film and an exclusive 20 page booklet explaining the film from the creators themselves. Note that this release has kept the original 4:3 ratio and includes black borders rather than cropping the film itself.

BD Language: English, Japanese

BD Video: 1080p HD Remaster 4:3 ratio (Pillarboxed)

BD Audio: English DTS Master Audio 5.1, Japanese LPCM 2.0

BD Subtitles: English (Japanese Dub with S.T.)

BD Region: B

BD Discs: 1

BD Defects: No Signs Translation for English Dub

DVD Language: English, Japanese

DVD Video: SD PAL Colour 4:3 ratio (Pillarboxed)

DVD Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1, Japanese Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0

DVD Subtitles: English (Japanese Dub with S.T. & L.)

DVD Region: 2

DVD Discs: 1

DVD Defects: No Signs Translation for English Dub

Plot:

Jubei Kibagami has always been the master dealer of death, but in rescuing a ninja woman from a monster he sets loose a chain of events that puts death in his own veins and sends them on a nightmarish odyssey through a surreal and devil infested ancient Japan. How do demonic possessions, an annihilated village and a man Jubei thought safely buried in his past all connect? If Jubei can't piece the blood-soaked clues together, his only consolation will be that he won't live to regret it for very long! Prepare your mind and steel your gut for the insanely gore-packed orgy of violence that still stands alone and unchallenged as the ultimate anime action feature.

Extra Content:

Exclusive Commentary with Director Yoshiaki Kawajiri
Trailers
TV Spot

Ninja Scroll is available on DVD and Blu-ray from Manga Entertainment UK (United Kingdom), Madman Entertainment (Australia) and Sentai Filmworks (North America).

Unboxing [US]: Baka & Test: Summon the Beasts - Season 1 (BD/DVD)

A re-post for the new unboxing format I will be doing for my blog. To start of, here's the first season of Baka & Test: Summon the Beasts, distributed by Funimation Entertainment. My first imported copy from the United States and also bought rather cheap from United Publications.

This product contains the Blu-ray release and DVD release in Standard edition as the Limited Edition was sold out everywhere and now out of print. Both editions are exactly the same in terms of disc content. The Standard version that I have bought includes all thirteen episodes through two Blu-ray discs and three DVD discs (the third disc is just extras). Alongside the main episodes is the special christmas footage that was released before the first season aired. A reversible cover is also included.

BD Language: English, Japanese

BD Video: 1080p HD Native 16:9 ratio

BD Audio: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0

BD Subtitles: English (Japanese Dub with S.T. & L.), English (Sign Translations and Lyrics)

BD Region: A, B

BD Discs: 2

BD Defects: None

DVD Language: English, Japanese

DVD Video: SD NTSC Colour 16:9 ratio

DVD Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1, Japanese Stereo 2.0

DVD Subtitles: English (Japanese Dub with S.T. & L.), English (Sign Translations and Lyrics)

DVD Region: 1, 2, 4

DVD Discs: 3

DVD Defects: None

Plot:

The story centers around Akihisa Yoshii, the "baka" of the title. His academy rigidly divides up the student body into classes based on the results of tests. The prodigies are in the A class with reclining seats complete with air conditioning, but Akihisa is in F class, the lowest rung of the school ladder which is furnished only with low, decrepit tables and worn-out straw tatami mats. A girl named Mizuki Himeji is actually one of the smartest girls in Akihisa's sophomore year, but she had a fever on test day and was pigeonholed into the F class. Besides Mizuki (who Akihisa secretly adores), the F class also has Yuuji Sakamoto, the class president who has been Akihisa's friend and partner-in-crime since the freshman year. The school happens to have developed experiments to summon fantasy creatures, and Akihisa decides to rally F class to take on the higher-tiered classes and seize their perks. The F class uses the summoned creatures in an all-out battle for school supremacy.

Extra Content (On-Disc):

Baka-Only Cross-Dressing Contest
Mission: Impossible: Baka Preview
Mission: Impossible: Baka Mission 01
Mizuki Himeji Girls' Meal
The King Game in Fumizuki Academy
Special Christmas Footage
Promo Videos
Original Commercials
Original DVD Spots
Baka and Test Tales
Textless Songs & Trailers

Unboxing [UK]: Freedom - Complete Series: Collector's Edition (BD/DVD)

Next unboxing title for this post is the seven episode original video animation, Freedom.

Note that this post has been updated (3rd June 2015) to reflect the new blog format and add additional notes to the release.

Anime/Manga Collection Update: Freedom, Origins: Spirits of the Past and Neon Genesis Evangelion Vol. 4-6

After a few weeks with no blog updates, I have finally managed to post another update about my collection by purchasing two anime titles and another 3-in-1 manga book. The two anime titles are; Freedom, the Collector's Edition OVA and Origins: Spirits of the Past movie. Both titles are on Blu-Ray so I can experience these in glorious high definition. Un-boxing posts will be shown soon.

The manga however, is the second 3-in-1 version of the Neon Genesis Evangelion Manga series, based on the popular anime (though the manga was released first, the anime started production before the manga did). This one includes Volumes 4 to 6 and I hear the manga series has finally started to reach its climax this summer in Japan, so expect the rest of the series to be released completely this year (or early 2014).

Stay tuned for more posts, including the latest shows I have been recently watching and more un-boxing anime posts.