Blog News: Back at Uni, Quick Update

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

Blog News: Just a random update

Hey everyone, I figured an update post was in order for my blog. This is something that I haven't honestly done for a while now so here it is.

Blog News - Current Situation [UPDATE]

Right, it's been a while and I feel it's probably best to provide an explanation to what's currently going on for myself and this blog.

Blog News - What's going to happen over Q2 & Q3 [UPDATE]

Hello everyone, it's Normanic here and I wanted to make a blog post just to let you all know what's going to happen over the course of this month and throughout the summer season. Now first of all, thanks to everyone who takes a look at the posts I've done over the past year or so. It's not a perfect explanation but we all know that all you really need are the photos of what the sets look like anyway, haha. But anyway I am doing this because I feel it's quite necessary to explain what's going to happen or in some cases might happen. So let's begin.

Blog News - Blogger Policies, Collection page and Pre-orders

I figured with the amount of stuff going on I decided to make a news post just to recap what's been happening lately.

Blog News - Future Updates/Plans

Hey everyone, it's time for me to provide a good update on what's been planned for Q1 2015.

First things first, I am now adding video games and visual novels to the unboxing group as some of them are pretty unique. Well I know Japanese standard sets may not be very interesting but it's nice to have something added to the blog. The previous visual novel and games will be added at a later point not as an unboxing. The visual novels I'm still working out on how I can portray them as they are mainly not safe for work so stay tuned on those.

As mentioned I have another section planned called an Overview. This is essentially an unboxing post but the item is already opened. I have done this years ago but I'm bringing it back for some titles from my shelf that were note worthy. Most of the anime titles in Overview will be UK sets.

And some of you may have noticed that I have not mentioned Giovanni's Island on this blog. Well that is because I decided to cancel the Ultimate Edition because of the inconsistency with the design that affects the other two sets (and also other priorities came into action). I do plan on getting the film at a later point however.

Now for the most important news that many would want to know, what's getting picked up next?

Blog News - November 2014 [UPDATED]

Figured I would provide a quick update on what's going on for this month and the next in terms of future pickups and my current situation.

Blog News - August 2014 Part 2

Hey all, I've got some news that I felt like mentioning sooner than later.

First things first, I have planned out half the stuff I'm collecting during the Autumn/Q4 Pickup season. Some have been pre-ordered already, some have yet to be pre-ordered but will be when it's distributor updates its shop site and others will be planned until the time comes. Here's a good idea of what I have prepared for the next four to five months.

Incoming within the next week or two:
 - C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control
 - Fractale
 - Heroic Age

September:
 - Attack on Titan (second-half)
 - Gurren Lagann (includes Childhood's End, The Lights in the Sky are Stars & Parallel Works)

October:
 - Gargantia of the Verdurous Planet
 - HAL
 - Patema Inverted

November:
 - High School DxD New
 - Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise
 - Sailor Moon (first-half)

Planned but not scheduled:
 - Anohana the Movie
 - Blood C
 - Blood Lad
 - Kill la Kill
 - Nisemonogatari
 - Shakugan no Shana Season 3

Other Notes:
 - I may pick up some light novels and manga some point, titles like Berserk are in consideration while Another's deluxe novel release is being suggested.
 - What I want to do for this season is to get a majority of the Limited Edition sets as usual before they go out of print. For the first time I'll be picking up Viz Media titles thanks to their special artbox sets (size-wise they're just smaller than the slim case Funimation artboxes) but at the same time I want to get the rest of the Funimation LE sets (not including the sets above, I now have about 9 more to collect).
 - Thanks to Sentai Filmworks and Viz Media, collecting special sets are now more complicated. Highschool of the Dead Collector's Edition is still a maybe for now while Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusion will be picked up (always wanted to watch that series for quite some time). Baring in mind they cost as much as Aniplex's sets (like £75 as a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack).
 - I spotted some Honneamise sets that I have some interest in, but I may skip on the special DVD sets since Manga UK are interested in releasing the Blu-ray versions.
 - If a particular set is going out of print then chances are I will be getting it. This has happened before with various pickups; most notably Gunbuster vs Diebuster, Shakugan no Shana Season 2 Part 1 (LE) & 2, Shiki Part 1 (LE) & 2, Tenchi Muyo! OVA (LE).

Other than that, I'm now using Imgur for my unboxing pictures in case something happens. Some sets have been re-shot for a better angle or clearer picture. I'll be including all of my newer pickups on there (like the ones listed above) while at certain times I may add some catalog titles like my Anime Limited and NIS America pickups.

That's it for this update, stay tuned for the next pickup whenever it arrives.

UPDATE:
I have added/altered some sentences to make it clearer and look less rushed than before. Remember the ones I have planned may not be there in the end but might come up later on. And I still haven't forgotten about UN-GO, something I should get sooner than later.

Blog Update - August 2014

Hello to all, it's NormanicGrav here and I am going to provide a quick update for what's been going on lately over the past week and what has been planned for the rest of the year.

First of, I was away for a week on holiday and just returned so everything should progress like normal (like it has always been). In case you ask it was a great holiday, not abroad like a lot of people but it was a nice holiday resort in the middle of a forest (you can probably guess what it is if you live in the UK).

Now getting to the point of the matter.

 - Otaku Collection July 2014 didn't appear because I was away on holiday. Instead it will be merged with August since I didn't have much arriving in that month, they were big items but merging the two will make the post more interesting.

 - The reason for the lack of unboxings was because there was nothing arriving at that time or I didn't get anything so I apologise if you were expecting one every day since I generally do get a lot of titles (2014 so far has been the most out of all the years I've been collecting). I can tell you now that I have ordered another item which is expected to arrive this weekend or early next week. I will be getting some more over throughout this month.

 - In terms of Limited Edition collecting, I pretty much nearly completed my goal of getting all of the Funimation sets that are available (about 12 left to pick up, not including Attack on Titan Part 2 since that's been ordered). Once I've done that I'll go for whatever is accessible next, Viz Media titles are probably the next ones since they cost just about the same.

 - Aniplex wise, I will not be getting the US versions for Kill la Kill and Madoka Magica Movies. A few reasons with this decision. Starting with Madoka Magica, I already own the TV series in their LE form which is fine but the films themselves aren't getting the better treatment. The Japanese Limited Edition set for The Beginnings/The Eternal had both films with the booklet and OST while the US version only provides a lackluster booklet, no OST, both Blu-ray and DVDs and DTS audio (not DTS HD like the Japanese dub) for the English dub. As such I made the decision to go for the Imported versions instead as seen with my recent unboxing just before I left for my 1 week break. As for Kill la Kill, Aniplex are releasing the sets in 5 parts for about £45 with Set 1 and £50 onwards likely for Set 2-5. They each have the same treatment with the Madoka movies by which the box is not chipboard and has lackluster content. Set 1 does have an OST but they're Remix/Rearranges which generally aren't as good as the original soundtrack. So instead I'll be getting the upcoming Anime Limited UK release which is split into three parts with 8 episodes each, over 100 pages of an artbook and a planned chipboard artbox for Part 3. Each part goes for an MSRP of £59.99 on Blu-ray alone.

 - UK wise, I will be getting some more UK titles in the future. The purchased sets include Ultimate Edition versions for Gurren Lagann, Mai Mai Miracle and Patema Inverted; all of which have chipboard box with dozens of content (i.e. Movies & Parallel Works on Blu-ray for Gurren Lagann, OST & Translated Booklets straight from Japan for Patema Inverted). I also have plans for HAL & Royal Space Force: Wings of Honneamise as well as the secret untitled film that is currently scheduled for December (suspected to be Giovanni's Island). As for Manga UK sets, I'll get some of their older titles and that will be it for them as the other versions are more superior. MVM I'll be leaving out due to cover designs and QC issues.

 - Light Novel and Manga wise, I'll get some in the Autumn time. I would like to get the anime stuff out of the way before I get some more manga and novels.

I hope you will all forgive my lack of appearances on my blog but I may do some more experients some time like News on UK/US sets and much more. And I will be updating the BD/DVD regions whenever there's major changes.

Blog News: What to expect over the next few weeks

Hey everyone, it's Grav and I am here to explain what's going on currently and for the next few weeks.

Blog News: A Recap of Autumn 2013

It's that time of season where christmas has come again and I have pretty much spent all of my spare cash that I could use on anime. Could you believe that I have spent about £1000 on one particular hobby that not many people know about? Well everyone in the States has done it and so can I, but that's not what the post is about. Christmas is arriving and I only have 1 anime, 1 manga omnibus and 1 huge box set of manga volumes requested, as it's best to let them avoid the import complications. So here's a list of items that I have bought over the past autumn season.

Blog News: Unboxing titles being reformatted

Just a quick update, over the past few occasions I have been changing the style of the unboxing titles in various ways but now I have officially stuck to one format and this is how it works:

Text
Image of front cover
Text
Specifications
Plot
Image of back cover
Extra Content (On-Disc)
Extra Content (Physically)
Images of the rest of the title
Extra text ~ optional

Only a few titles have this format but a lot of them haven't so I want them to be sorted out before I end up with more titles. This won't affect anything else it's just to clean up the post a bit better.

Blog News: Current Update

It's been a while but I have stayed for at least a week in University and I am settling very well than I expected it to be. First things first, I am now living in Sheffield and it's a big city which is good as I'm living in a decent location to pick up more anime and manga as HMV is there for the films and shows while Forbidden Planet, Waterstones and WHSmith are selling manga (with the third shop being a shocker since they didn't sell them in Peterborough and Huntingdon). My collection has been updated and I have tested out Amazon to check the address is okay (my Doom 3 BFG Xbox 360 game arrived today and it's in good condition).

The following that I have bought since arriving:

Anime:

Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic ~ Blu-ray

Eureka Seven AO: LE Part 1 ~ Blu-ray/DVD Combo = Arriving in 2 weeks

Evangelion: 1.11 You Are (Not) Alone ~ Blu-ray

Freezing: LE Season 1 ~ Blu-ray/DVD Combo = Arriving in 2 weeks

Haganai: LE Season 1 ~ Blu-ray/DVD Combo = Arriving in 2 weeks

Puella Magi Madoka Magica: LE Vol. 1-3 ~ Blu-ray/DVD Combo = Arriving around Thursday

Shigurui: Death Frenzy: Complete Series ~ Blu-ray = Arriving 8th October

Shiki: LE Part 1 ~ Blu-ray/DVD Combo = Arriving in 2 weeks

Welcome to the Space Show ~ Blu-ray/DVD Combo = Arriving 8th October

Manga:

Attack on Titan ~ Vol. 2

Blue Exorcist ~ Vol. 3

Higurashi: When They Cry ~ Vol. 1-4 (Abducted by Demons and Cotton Drifting Arcs)

Is This a Zombie? ~ Vol. 2

Neon Genesis Evangelion ~ Omnibus Vol. 4

and also some asian/live action films:

13 Assassins ~ Blu-ray

Downfall ~ Blu-ray

Flags of our Fathers/Letters from Iwo Jima ~ Blu-ray

Ichi ~ Blu-ray

Infernal Affairs Trilogy ~ Blu-ray

Ninja Assassin ~ Blu-ray

Pan's Labyrinth ~ Blu-ray

Schlinder's List ~ Blu-ray

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy ~ Blu-ray

Update 7th October 2013, with the exception of Freezing and Shiki Part 1 the rest of the new items ordered from UP1 are being processed including the limited edition Puella Magi Madoka Magica sets from Aniplex USA (which is excellent news since they should be next in line to be going out of print). I have also ordered Shigurui: Death Frenzy and Welcome to the Space Show as they were on offer for a well decent price. Due to the amount of stuff purchased I will not be buying any more anime for a short time period, for university survival reasons. Not to worry as the Anime Limited titles have been delayed to a certain point where I am able to pick them up including the second print run of Cowboy Bebop Box 1 which has the problems fixed. Titles such as the Monogatari series and Durarara!! will be picked up later in Winter 2013 (Dec-Feb). No more manga will be purchased as such until a certain point as well.

Blog News: Upcoming Plans for Q4 2013/Q1 2014

It's been a while since I have done something like this and with my place in University not far off I might as well just reveal my plans for the next few months. By the time that I start to live in the city, I will be given a set of cash to survive the environment like any other student has but like some others I have some extra for the year which means that I can literally spend whatever I want with it as long as I use a majority of it for my survival.

For the next few months this will allow me to build up my anime and manga collection one bit by bit ranging from imports from North America to Blu-ray releases available in store nearby. The following that I have considered to get for the next few months are as follows, note that the list may change in the future:

UPDATE ~ Titles highlighted in red mean they have been purchased

Anime (UK) ~ Priority:

Afro Samurai - Complete BD
Evangelion: 1.11 You Are (Not) Alone - BD

FLCL - Complete BD

Anime (UK) ~ Not Major but will be considered:

Deadman Wonderland - Complete BD

From Up on Poppy Hill - BD/DVD

Wolf Children - BD/DVD

Anime (US) ~ Priority:

Bakemonogatari - LE Complete BD
Freezing - LE Season 1 BD/DVD

Haganai: I Don't Have Many Friends - LE Season 1 BD/DVD

Puella Magi Madoka Magica - LE Volume 1 BD/DVD

Puella Magi Madoka Magica - LE Volume 2 BD/DVD

Puella Magi Madoka Magica - LE Volume 3 BD/DVD

Anime (US) ~ Not Major but will be considered:
Durarara!! - LE Complete BD
Eureka Seven: Astral Ocean - LE Part 1 BD/DVD
Guilty Crown - LE Part 1 BD/DVD
Last Exile: Fam - LE Part 1 BD/DVD

Nisemonogatari - LE Complete BD
Samurai Champloo - Complete BD
Shiki - LE Part 1 BD/DVD

Blog News: UN-GO and Future Plans

This post will be much different than my other posts as they directly go towards what will happen over the next few months.

The first thing that I should mention now is that the unboxing for UN-GO will be put on hiatus because the version published by KAZE has been condensed and does not contain all the special content and quality that previous versions of UN-GO have; for instance the Sentai Filmworks release which came out months prior. As much as I want the show itself, it is unacceptable to shove all 11 episodes and the OVA film on a single Blu-ray disc and not to mention KAZE's usual locking problem and bad quality control affecting the product as a whole. UN-GO has already been a defective by not allowing Panasonic Blu-ray owners to play the series on their players due to incompatibility issues. The DVDs I cannot yet confirm however other than they are two discs due to the usual DVD standards.

As a UK anime fan, I would recommend you skip this release if you want a decent Blu-ray version and purchase the Sentai Filmworks version which is compatible with Region B players using the same method carried out to other releases such as Angel Beats!, Clannad and The World God Only Knows. Not only will you still be supporting the industry but you will also contribute to getting KAZE out of the UK market for their own faults with other precious products gone defective due to their stupid quality assurance. It is not Manga UK's fault that their collaborations have provided us with this situation so don't go and blame them for this.

The second thing to mention is that because I got UN-GO as a birthday gift, I don't want to spend my own money for it due to money shortage so in exchange for this I will be getting the Aniplex release of Baccano! on Blu-ray whom have confirmed it will be going out of print soon, so it was best to pick this up before it goes away. I apologise that I haven't got a good unboxing for UN-GO but I will get this release before the end of the year passes by.

The third notice is the money shortage, I have spent about £200 of anime over the past few weeks due to being late to the otaku phrase and as an adult now I have to earn money. With university in the next few months, I will still be able to get future anime releases under the condition that I can't simply get an import every now and then. Imports released by Sentai Filmworks, Section 23 and Maiden Japan will always be available for the next few years whereas Funimation and Aniplex will limited in terms of stock. I have planned to purchase the All the Anime release of Cowboy Bebop on Blu-ray plus some of their releases in October, MVM's Another and possibly Monogatari Season 1 depending on the quality of the product. For imports, Funimation's High School DxD is planned in case the BBFC censors the release like they did with Ikki Tousen Dragon Destiny, and finally Section 23's Elfen Lied release is on the cards though I will wait in case of Sentai's new locking system takes effect.

The fourth notice is for the blog posts in general, I will be inactive from 25th July to 8th August for Holiday reasons I cannot avoid. I will continue to post the remaining unboxings for the rest of my titles including Code Geass so stay tuned and support the industry.