Blog News: Back at Uni, Quick Update

Hey folks, just wanted to give a quick update since I'm now back at University.

So first things first, yes I can confirm that The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Ultimate Collector's Edition Blu-ray has dispatched from Rightstuf, however since I've set the address to home I won't receive it where I am so you'll have to wait until I head home (most likely in December) before I can provide an unboxing for the set here. It's annoying but it's safer to have it at home when you have no idea what the new address is, heh.

Next up is the current update on Anime Limited's kickstarter for Mai Mai Miracle. I know it's been a very long time on this title but the main reason for this is because of the English dub localisation and the very delayed responses from the Japanese committee who's overseeing the project. The director and his team have also been busy promoting the next film In this Corner of the World (Kono Sekai no Katasumi ni). The current update is that all the approvals are pretty much done with the artbook still going through some progress. They estimate that it will be delivered to the backers between late October to November. Like Haruhi I will have the address set to home so I won't be able to open my copy until I return home.

Now that I provided updates on those two, now let's talk about my future pickups because as of this moment I haven't ordered anything just yet. In fact my current position is that the post can't be used I don't think so I may not be able to order anything for a short while.

Anywho so let's talk about what type of anime, games, whatever, that I'll be getting. Hmm..

Well let's start with Funimation because in case you have noticed I haven't picked up any limited editions (minus Haruhi) for well over a year now. And the main reason for this is because I've gotten pretty tired with their handling, and let me explain. For starters Funimation had always put out a limited edition for practically every show that I want each month and it gets to the point where there have been too many with a couple that honestly didn't need them in the first place. Another reason is due to the price increase from $69.98 to $84.98 and combining that with the recent currency rate spike on the pound, it's basically gotten too much for me to afford. And my third reason is whether I want to get the recent sets for the content they provided. I got Haruhi because they basically placed the Blu-ray versions of the Haruhi-chan/Nyoron ONAs exclusively to the collector's edition which is a stupid move in my opinion (thankfully the Japanese import does have English subtitles, but the dub is still worth a listen).

So basically I have interests in acquiring Danganronpa, High School DxD BorN, Overlord and Prison School, despite the latter three having a high price tag, but the others I've decided to pass on; like Black Butler: Book of Circus, Blood Blockade Battlefront, Code Geass, Death Parade, Escaflowne, Rage of Bahamut: Genesis, Shimoneta, Tokyo ESP and many more from this year. It's worth noting that some of these titles have been given Anime Limited collector's edition sets with the same art but different layout (for example Blood Blockade Battlefront is a CE with a digipack and a booklet compared to the Funi release).

Outside of the limited edition sets there's also the need to acquire the remaining Part 2 sets that I haven't yet picked up during my time at home; I've managed to narrow it down to only 2 titles now - Eureka Seven and Eureka Seven: Astral Ocean. Both have received re-releases so I'll need to acquire both as soon as possible. There's also Space Dandy Season 2 which should be around for a fair bit longer. Also there are a couple Aniplex produced titles that I'll need to acquire because of the license expiring so for this current season it's Birdy the Mighty: Decode and Sekirei.

With Sentai Filmworks I'm a fair bit behind on their special edition sets but given their current situation it looks like they'll be releasing less titles per month for next year so I may be able to catch up, if the rate is any good. In any case I am currently planning on getting Knights of Sidonia: Battle for Planet Nine and Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions! Heart Throb at the moment. I am aware of Beyond the Boundary and Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun but I'm not sure if I'll be able to get them at this point.

Now Aniplex is a big issue now with the currency rate bumped up, as their sets are now even more expensive. I still plan on trying to acquire the rest of Monogatari series: Second Season (Kabuki, Otori, Oni, Koi, Hana), notably as my original plan was to get Kabuki and Otori during the summer but that went out of the window with Otori going out of stock for a very long time and the pound going up thanks to the interest rate in August. Aldnoah.Zero has been discarded for the Anime Limited version to save funds, while Durarara!!x2 is on-hold until the UK sets are all released (so that I can make a final decision).

Discotek is still a publisher that I haven't yet acquired any sets for. And yes I do plan on getting some titles from them but I'm waiting for a good opportunity to pick their sets up. I am planning on acquiring some classic anime OVAs/films like Crying Freeman, Violence Jack and Wicked City. And there's also NIS America which is leaving the anime business (heavily implied), so I want to get some of their sets in case they end up going out of print.

Let's talk about Anime Limited, because I have a fuck ton of titles that I want to get from them (some titles may not get acquired until 2017). It's a long list so I'm just going to name them here. For the TV series I am getting Blood Blockade Battlefront, Free! Eternal Summer, Ouran High School Host Club, Psycho Pass 2, Samurai Flamenco Part 2, Sword Art Online II Parts II-IV and The Tatami Galaxy plus all those Gundam shows scheduled. For films there's Belladonna of Sadness, The Case of Hana & Alice, Genius Party, Miss Hokusai, Pigtails & Other Shorts from IG, Psycho Pass: The Movie, Tokyo Marble Chocolate and many more. Bare in mind that Anime Limited has had a ton of delays lately so expect a couple of these to be pushed back to 2017.

As for video games I plan to acquire some more PS3 games before they finally discontinue, not too many because I don't want a massive backlog again. For Vita I'll try and get some more. And with PS4 there's a ton of games to get but I'll only be focusing on the ones on sale.

That seems to be pretty much it for now. I'll try and get some more unboxings set up for the next couple of months. Thanks to all the readers who were patient over the past 16 months, I know my pickups speed was slow but just bare with me I'll try and get more this time around.