アニメ Republic

Updated the gallery with some new items for March.

Enjoy!!

For all those who hate the deadly Neo-ADV StackPak cases, I took some pics of the conversion of the recent Rozen Maiden set into it’s new home. These replacement cases can be had from U.S. Plastic Corp. in 4, 5, and 6 disc versions. Note that the low counter on it, so act soon if you want any.

Enjoy!!

In 2007, Super Dimensional Century Orguss was released under the (now-defunct) TMS Anime Classics line via the (now-defunct) ImaginAsian Entertainment on DVD-R manufactured by the (now-defunct) TitleMatch Entertainment. This was an effort to release more classic anime on a smaller scale in an attempt to minimize costs while at the same time releasing titles that might otherwise never see the light of day in the region 1 market.

Along with two other titles released at the same time using the same process (Cat’s Eye – Season 1 and Nobody’s Boy Remy), these currently rank as some of the rarest releases in the R1 market. This set also included the English dub produced by US Renditions for the old VHS release, though only for episodes 1-17 as that was as far as the VHS release ever got.

Some shots of the case, discs and cover can be seen here.

Enjoy!!

I’ve embarked on a massive (for me anyway) update of the site. Most notably including the addition of a new theme that doesn’t look like it came from 1997 and a new gallery (also from the 21st century). I have moved the “DVD Collection Visual History” into the new gallery as it now allows for comments on each section as well as comments on each picture. Also, the long suffering “Quote of the Day(s)” has been converted to PDF and moved here. I have left the old gallery up for now until I can convert all the links in all the posts to the new gallery. This will probably take a while.

Enjoy!!

Item of the Month – June 2011

Ai Yori Aoshi and Ai Yori Aoshi ~Enishi~ Region 2 DVD sets

I decided that given the decrease in the number of R2 DVDs/BDs I’ve been getting recently as well as to try something new I would start a new section called the “Item of the Month”. The concept is that each month I’ll highlight one item (or a set in the case of say a DVD box set or things of that nature) from my collection. This could be something recent or from the way back machine and could include VHS, DVD, BD, and LD, as well as manga and other print items.

I will start things off with this set of Japanese region 2 DVDs of the 2002-2003 series ‘Ai Yori Aoshi’ and the second series/season ‘Ai Yori Aoshi ~Enishi~’ both based off the manga by Kou Fumizuki. I found these on eBay a while back. The seller was looking to unload them and set the starting price fairly low. Not only that but most if not all of the first press items are included.

In this group shot of the whole set you’ll see a pencil board and soundtrack that were also included in the set. This bonus box includes some nice items including some kind of inflatable standee. The first series, ‘Ai Yori Aoshi’, is broken up into two box sets with four discs each seen here and here.  The sequel or second season, ‘Ai Yori Aoshi ~Enishi~’, is also broken up into two box sets but with 3 discs in each set (due to the lower episode count for the series) and can be seen here and here.

While I already have the Region 1 release by Geneon from back in the mid-2000’s I found this a great addition to the collection as there is a lot of great art as well as a number of cool bonus items throughout. Not to mention it was sold for the nice price. Together with the complete TokyoPop manga series, the additional soundtrack CDs and the Paul Champagne custom DVD case for the R1 DVDs this completes an ultimate ‘Ai Yori Aoshi’ collection.

Enjoy!!

Here is another update very late in the making. These are the final two volumes (5 & 6) of the fourth Ikki Tousen series ‘Xtreme Xecutor’ on Blu-ray. These were released in October and November 2010 respectively. Here is a shot of the contents including bonus cards, booklet and insert for volume 5 and volume 6.

Enjoy!!

I thought I would take the opportunity to share some pictures of the Funimation LE release for this show. While the series wasn’t earth shattering it was fun. But what made it better in my mind was the way Funimation did the LE packaging. This set included a booklet with lots of art from the series as well as a fold out poster. There was another bonus item in the form of a small towel. Here is a shot of the art on the insides of the DVD cases as well as the front and back covers of the box, DVD cases and booklet. They have done a few others since and I hope the trend continues.

Enjoy!!

For whatever reason I never got around to posting these from last year’s Anime Expo. Hobby Japan had a booth at AX 2010 and was selling these four Queen’s Blade game books in English. They are essentially the same as the Japanese version (same art, etc.). Sadly it looks like these may have been it even though there was mention of releasing more it seems nothing has materialized. It also doesn’t look like they will be back for AX this year so any chance of asking is pretty much nil.

Also in this set are some pictures from the panel(s) I did at last year’s AX on laserdiscs and collecting anime. One shot makes it look like there were a lot of people there!

Enjoy!!

I’ll be hosting two panels next weekend in San Diego for Anime Conji. I’ll also be on a couple of other panels as well throughout the weekend. Stop by and check them out if you are there.

Anime Treasure Hunters (Friday, March 25 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM)

Looking for that hard to find item? Questing for an out-of-print DVD or manga? Look no further as we show some of the various different places, both on the web and off, that one can look for that anime treasure you have been seeking.Warning: this panel may be harmful to your wallet.

Laserdisc Collectors Forum (Sunday, March 27 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM)

Do you still maintain a laserdisc collection? Have more than one LD player? This round-table discussion focuses on the anime laserdisc collector and their collections. Find out some of the places to search for that anime LD that never made the leap to DVD. Whether you have hundreds of LDs or just a few, share part of your collection and get a chance to see what others have found. Never heard of laserdiscs? No problem! Stop in and check out the old-school media that got many into anime back in the day.

Enjoy!!

I’m doing this update in a ‘batch’ format as there are only a small number of new items consisting of volumes 2 through 4 of Ikki Tousen: Xtreme Xecutor on Blu-ray. Here is a quick group shot of all three front covers plus the back side of the box (again using the exact same box for the Blu-ray and DVD versions as the disc cases are the same size). Then we have the front side and back side of the Blu-ray cases.

Moving to a more detailed close up we have the inside contents for volume 2 of the Blu-ray complete with four postcards, insert and promo card. The same can be seen here for the August release of volume 3 again with postcards and inserts. Finally here is the September release for volume 4 (with box of course) including four different postcards, insert and promo card plus bonus CD. No reversible covers on any of these however.

And just for the fun of it here is a quick shot of the Ikki Tousen shelves in their current (and most likely final unless they do another series) configuration. Any eventual R1 DVD (or dare I say Blu-ray!?) releases will go in the empty space in the extra boxes as planned. Though I doubt we will see singles for Great Guardians (that is assuming it actually gets released in R1 land).

Enjoy!!