Updated Conventions - Added Anime Los Angeles
July 2nd, 2008
Added Anime Los Angeles to the Conventions list. Anime LA is January 2-4, 2009.
Enjoy!!
Anime Treasure Hunters
June 18th, 2008
I have added a link on the side bar to a new web site called ‘Anime Treasure Hunters’. This site is in the beginning stages of life now. It’s goal is to offer resources to people looking for harder to find anime and manga (and releated items). Basic links and forums are now up on the site with more to follow in the future.
Enjoy!!
May 2008 new goodies
June 7th, 2008
I’m trying to get a little ahead of myself now that A-Kon is over with for the year. Anime Expo and SDCC are rapidly approaching so July updates will probably lag somewhat. That brings us to Mays group of goodness.
Here is a group shot of the DVDs for this month. Not too much quantity wise, but some cool stuff none the less. Of note here is the preview DVD for “Ikki Tousen: Great Guardians” which is scheduled to start this month in Japan. I’ll be asking Media Blasters/Anime Works at Anime Expo if and when they plan on licensing this series. But given that their release of Dragon Destiny won’t be out until late September/early October of this year (I asked at A-Kon) I suspect that even if they do pick up Great Guardians it won’t be until late 2009 for a US release. Oh well, more R2 DVDs to buy.
Moving on we have two limited edition/first press DVDs with boxes and other goodies. First is “Shana II” volume 5. This one comes with some really cool items including a mini full color book and what appear to be alternative covers for the remaining DVD volumes. Next up we have volume 5 of “You’re Under Arrest: Full Throttle” featuring another cool postcard and of course the second box for the remaining volumes.
In print this month there are a couple of items I picked up on a whim while at the local Kinokuniya in Costa Mesa. The first is Animedia DVD magazine volume 10. This comes with a preview DVD with loads of anime and game previews plus staff interview/Q&A/bonus features. It also came with a couple of mini stick-type posters as well. Next up is a rather cool magazine of Type-Moon titles. This is really more like a softbound art book and manga combined. Coming in at about 200 pages it is about half manga (second half) and half color artwork for various series from Type-Moon. It comes with a cool 2008-2009 calendar and a “Fate/Zero” CD wallet. Then of course we have the May and June issues of Megami. May comes with a poster and cool double-sided pencil board while June comes with a double-sided poster.
Lastly we have a quick couple of shots of the last two figures I had on pre-order, both from Ikki Tousen. Here they are in box and again out of box. The Ryomou actually came in sometime in April but I wanted to do them both at the same time to save space. I have no other figures pre-ordered as of now which is for the best as I am pretty much out of available display space. I’ve said it before, but while I could build more display cases I really just don’t want to go over-board. With that in mind I picked up a total of zero figures while at A-Kon (this in large part due to the whole having to take them on the plane thing and such) and while I will most likely pick up a few at Anime Expo, that will probably be it for figures this year.
Enjoy!!
April 2008 new stuff
May 31st, 2008
While I have some down time here at A-Kon 19 I thought I would take this time to update April’s new stuff. Here is a quick group shot of everything. It’s kind of a small month in general, but the Ikki Tousen Treasure Box more then makes up for that.
First up we have a shot of volume 4s of ‘You’re Under Arrest: Full Throttle’ and ‘Shana II’. Next up is Gunslinger Girl II Volume 2 LE with box. Sadly the case is a super-jewel which I dislike. I’m sure I will get over it. It also comes with some really cool cards and holder (for the other cards to be released in future volumes).
All of that bring us to the main event for the month: the Ikki Tousen Treasure Box. This is one of those items that is mainly for the hardest of hard-core fans and will likely cause most folks to say stuff like “you paid how much for this?!?”. This box comes with a number of cool little items (screen wipe, panties and boob mouse pad [because everyone needs a boob mouse pad]) and a couple of big ones including a figure. One of the big ones is a collection of the cover art used for each volume of the Japanese manga. You can see detailed views here, here, here, here and here. I’m still working on a model for the panties.
Enjoy!!
March additions
April 30th, 2008
Another one in under the wire here. Got in a few interesting things for March.
In print I picked up the latest Megami as well as Megami Deluxe #10. Also got an auction item that is kind of different. Its a Sol Bianca sketch collection. It’s not in book or anything, just loose pages, but still cool if a fan of the series.
Here is a group shot of this month’s DVDs. First up is Genshiken 2 Vol. 4 w/ (2nd) Box. I’m only grabbing the ones with boxes for this series since Media Blasters will probably put this out in R1 land sometime in the future and their boxes can be hit or miss. Next in line are volume 3s for both Shana II and You’re Under Arrest : Full Throtle. Neither of these will probably get picked up in R1, so what the heck. Finishing things off is Claymore LE 5 with DVD volumes 8 and 9. This set comes with a cool postcard set featuring the covers of all the DVDs.
April order just shipped so assuming I get off my ass sooner I might have something with-in a week or two this time. Or not.
Enjoy!!
Paul Champagne DVD cases - New arrivals
March 29th, 2008
Just another quick update today. Got in another order of custom DVD cases from Paul recently. The latest acquisitions include cases for ‘Utena’, ‘Battle Athletes’, ‘Haibane Renmei’ and ‘Fate/Stay Night’ (thought I already had the original box for that one). Here are some shots of the spine; side one; side two and the tops of this round.
Enjoy!!
February 2008 new arrivals
March 29th, 2008
Kind of a small group this month. Here is a quick group shot for the latest DVDs. The Macross Flashback 2012, while not a remastered print like the recent DYRL, was still kind of cool to sit back and just… well ‘Flashback’ I guess. Here is a shot of Bamboo Blade Vol. 2 with it’s disc and extras. I like the box, especially the bottom which will presumably match up with the next box. Then we have the next volume of Shana II with calendar card and disc. Here is another shot of Shana II with the other side of the calendar card and the back of the DVD as well as You’re Under Arrest: Full Throttle back side and card. That’s all she wrote for this month.
Enjoy!!
January new items
February 29th, 2008
Nothing like coming in under the wire with this. Just think if I didn’t have the extra day! Anyhow, I’ve posted up all the new items for January. Here is a quick group shot of the various R2 DVDs that arrived.
Since I had several sets and LE boxes this month I decided to do some detailed shots for each of the more notable ones. First up we have the Blu-ray (Japanese version, the US version is set for April) box for Yukikaze. I will one day finish watching this series, but probably only after having bought a few more versions of it. Next up we have the original Gundam movie trilogy set. This is cool since it comes with the original audio and English subtitles. They did a great job on this set as each disc comes with it’s own booklet in addition to the poster booklet and the general booklet. And it comes in a cool box. Moving on, we have Claymore LE Box 4, which comes with two DVDs plus bonus item. Unless Funimation does something truly great with their release for this series on the singles, I may just stick with the R2s for now. Then we get to You’re Under Arrest: Full Throttle (aka Season 3) Volume 1 with box for the first four volumes. I love YUA; it’s like the Simpsons of anime…. decades pass but no one ever ages. Finishing up the DVDs we have Shana II Volume 1 LE. This set came with some really neat items and the First Press came with both the mini poster in the box and a larger poster as well.
Not to forget print, here is a group shot showing both the February and March issues of Megami. I also picked up a Divergance Eve art book. It really is a good show if you can get beyond the ginormous breasts.
Ending things up for this round, here is a quick shot of one of the last figures I had on order. This one is Max Factory’s Shiranui Mai from King of Fighters. You can read the HD review here. With this one in hand, I only have two figures left on order (both Ikki Tousen no less - what a shock!).
Enjoy!!
December 2007 items added
January 9th, 2008
I’ve added in the last round of items for 2007. Since I have been scaling back considerably on buying new figures (with only two remaining on order) this and future months will be lighter then in the past. On that note I have also been scaling back on some DVD purchases as well (though mainly from the R1 side of things) so as to only pick up releases that are in some way “special” such as having a series box or English subtitles (or dub track).
With that, here is a group shot of Decembers R2 DVDs which include the HD re-master of the Macross 1984 movie, Kodomo no Jikan volume 1 with First Press box (I don’t even know what I’m going to do with this) and Genshiken 2 volume 1 also with First Press box. You can see a more detailed look at what is in the Macross set here. It comes with two massive books (one with storyboards for the film and another of artwork and sketches) as well as a pencil board and a mini-puzzle in addition to the three discs (HD re-master, theatrical version and bonus disc).
In print (and “other”) we have the January issue of Megami. I dropped Comic Gum as I mentioned previously since, while cool and all, wasn’t really worth it in the long run. The other item I included is what one might call a “novelty item”. Yeah. I saw this first over at HD a while back and decided that everyone needs a boob mouse pad.
Enjoy!!
Added new ‘AIKa R-16′ pillow cover
January 4th, 2008
I’ve updated the ‘pillows, etc.’ section with the latest addition. This is from the new-ish OVA series AKIa R-16. Bandai Entertainment USA said they have the rights to this and the original OVA series as well (formerly from Central Park Media) at Anime Expo last year. In any case, you can see both sides here and here. This will likely be the last new item in this section for some time. The simple reason is that I seem to buy them and then just store them. It seems kind of pointless given the cost involved. Of course if some new Ikki Tousen cover comes out, well you can guess what might happen then.
Enjoy!!