Otaku Collection 2014: February Update | Bakemonogatari, Guilty Crown, Tenchi Muyo, The Garden of Words

We're now in March and looking back at our February pickup I had picked up tons of stuff. Here's an idea of what I got overall:

Let's start with the first pickup.

Pickup 1 - PS3 Games
As my games needed some love every now and then, I bought four more games in GAME for about £45 overall. Two of them were re-purchases as I already own them on Xbox 360, while the other two were new ones for my games collection. Call of Duty 4 had a repackaged design with the latest version of the PS3 brand spine and the PEGI rating (the discs are the same as the original) which fits nicely with the rest of the catalogue but can only play offline due to a debug error. Saints Row the Third was the other re-purchase, the difference is that the PS3 version is the 'Full Package' edition which has all DLCs on the disc, saves cash and less time to finish the game's completion. The two new titles are Max Payne 3 and Persona 4 Arena, both were in good condition and at a good price. I've played bits of all four with my main focus on Saints Row since I have finished the game before and it's a nice fun game to play around in Uni.

Collection Update - PS3 Games

Pickup 2 - Tenchi Muyo: Movies Collection
The first item to arrive was the Tenchi Muyo Movies Collection which includes three Tenchi Muyo movies in the series franchise. This was only released as a Limited Edition set like the OVA collection was. Now I had been keen on collecting the Tenchi franchise but I put it on hold mainly due to the Movie and OVA sets. Both of these had LE DVD sized releases from Funimation (previously from Geneon Universal) and the OVA's LE sold out until recently and you probably already guessed I managed to get them both in the end. The rest of the franchise will still be around, though GXP S.A.V.E. and War on Geminar's LE Part 1 will be limited. I should note that I also started to use Rightstuf which is essential for LE sets closing out.

Unboxing - Tenchi Muyo: Movies Collection (Limited Edition)

Pickup 3 - Bakemonogatari, Guilty Crown Part 1, One Piece: Strong World, Shiki Part 2
These next set of items were initially supposed to arrive back in January but due to the US snow storm, the batch of items got delayed by a week but they all arrived in nice condition. Shiki was upgraded to priority because the original sets were closing out and I initially thought they would be released in standard form, unfortunately the show is going into S.A.V.E. which is a shame because Shiki is one of my favourite shows. As for the other three, I finally have my hands on the Monogatari franchise with Bakemonogatari. Aniplex have done an amazing job with this release with the character commentaries, excellent subtitles and packaging. They just announced the release date for Nekomonogatari Black (OVA set before Bakemonogatari) so in April expect Nisemonogatari to appear. This pickup is also the first time I've witnessed One Piece in anime form and with the English dub. I thought the movie was excellent and now they're continuing the Collection sets so I should at some point start picking up these sets in the second quarter. Last but not least I have Guilty Crown finally, this show really reminds me of Code Geass which is odd but the anime overall is good and not to mention the music opening is very good.

Unboxing - Bakemonogatari (Limited Edition)
Unboxing - Guilty Crown, Part 1 (Limited Edition)
Unboxing - One Piece: Strong World
Unboxing - Shiki, Part 2

Pickup 4 - Appleseed: Ex Machina, Batman: Gotham Knight, The Animatrix, The Garden of Words
This pickup is a different one. Rather than going for the special import sets, I decided to hunt down UK versions of existing anime sets that were released for a long time. Appleseed: Ex Machina and The Animatrix were one of the rarer animes on Blu-ray for UK owners. I spent not too much (about twice as what you would normally pay for an anime film). I have yet to watch Ex Machina but I should probably put the film on hold until I can get a copy of the first film, which is available for cheap on Blu-ray from Sentai Filmworks. The Animatrix was an upgrade from my DVD set which I have kept in my Ultimate Matrix set because it's a digipack. And regarding Batman: Gotham Knight, this OVA series was decent and had the Animatrix treatment so it was nice to get a hold of. Along the way, one of my pre-orders arrived at the same time; The Garden of Words. This film is relatively short but is stunning to watch on Blu-ray. The film doesn't have a signs only subtitle track for the English dub owners but as a fan of Shinkai's works I went for the sub route which is excellent.

Unboxing - Appleseed: Ex Machina
Unboxing - Batman: Gotham Knight
Unboxing - The Animatrix
Unboxing - The Garden of Words

Pickup 5 - Rurouni Kenshin
Finally, the film that I have been dying to have on my shelf has finally been released by Warner Bros who I thank a lot for bringing this film out to the cinema back in october and releasing it on Blu-ray. The steelbook is cheap but it's nice to get the film in glorious high definition. The next film to probably receive this treatment will most likely be The Unforgiven which stars Ken Watanabe based on a classic Clint Eastwood movie, oh yeah.

Unboxing - Rurouni Kenshin (Limited Edition)

Pickup 6 - Robotics;Notes Part 1, Tenchi Muyo: OVA Collection
The last batch of items of the month are Robotics;Notes Part 1 and Tenchi Muyo: OVA Collection. Robotics;Notes Part 1 just came out and was one of my pre-orders from January. I have yet to start watching Robotics;Notes due to tons of other shows in my watchlist but I'll begin watching the show in March. Tenchi Muyo OVA's LE is out of print and I managed to pick one up on Rightstuf which is the first time I've used their service, it did take some time because I'm not American and it arrived in about the same amount of days that B Gata H Kei took which to me is great because sites like Amazon US would generally estimate to take about 4 weeks.

Unboxing - Robotics;Notes, Part 1 (Limited Edition)
Unboxing - Tenchi Muyo: OVA Collection (Limited Edition)

So that's all for my February collection update, I have a few more planned for March. Psycho Pass will probably be postponed to April due to a manufacturing issue on the artbox. So with that further due, here's a list of upcoming titles that I will be getting in March:
 - Baka & Test: Summon the Beasts - Season 2 Limited Edition
 - Blood-C: The Last Dark - Film Limited Edition (UK Edition)
 - Durarara!! - Complete Series Limited Edition (UK Edition)
 - Gunbuster vs Diebuster: Aim for the Top! GATTAI! BD-Box
 - Tiger & Bunny: The Beginning - Film Limited Edition (UK Edition)

With these lot arriving in the second quarter:
 - Attack on Titan, Part 1 - Limited Edition
 - Eureka Seven, Part 1 - Limited Edition
 - Gurren Lagann - Ultimate Edition (UK Edition) ~ Includes uncut TV Episodes, OVA Episodes & Movies
 - Haganai: I Don't Have Many Friends NEXT - Season 2 Limited Edition
 - Psycho Pass - Season 1 Premium Edition