Home video collectors are a particular breed who feel a personal connection to particular movies and cinema, urging us to want to own particular favorite films. We want the films we like to be nearby, like a domestic pet, to gratify and validate us. Ordinary people purchase the movies or TV shows they enjoy in order to re-watch them periodically, thus a watchable copy is perfectly sufficient. But collectors are more deeply engaged with their favorite films. Since we feel personally invested in those films and associate those films with our own self-identity, we want the versions of those films which satisfy us most. And because we always want the film close at hand, we feel obligated to constantly upgrade with newer formats, fancier and more comprehensive editions, and remastered, more pristine presentations. Although perhaps not with such psychologically scrutiny, the home video distribution industry recognizes and capitalizes on this compulsion with the “double dip.” An extra scoop is usually welcome. An improvement is commendable. But when relevant to home video, the “double dip” is like ice cream sprinkled with jalapeno. It’s a bitter pleasure that collectors face with equal amounts of anticipation and frustration. We’re being taken advantage of, but at heart the situation still involves something pleasurable, so we grit our teeth, rationalize, and concede.

After purchasing The Evil Dead again I was struck by an ironic realization.

I was stunned just a bit by the ephphany that although anime is my foremost love, the movies I’ve purchased most often have not been anime. I wonder if any film in the history of Hollywood has been released to commercial home video more times than The Evil Dead. While I never owned the film on VHS or LD, I first purchased the “Cover I” edition Anchor Bay DVD in 1999. Then I upgraded to the 1999 Elite Entertainment Special Edition DVD. Then I purchased Anchor Bay’s 2002 “Book of the Dead” DVD. Then in 2007 I upgraded again to the Anchor Bay “Ultimate Edition.” Then I grudgingly upgraded yet again to the 2010 double-disc limited edition Blu-ray. Purchasing the same film five times seems to be a record for me. By comparison, I’ve only purchased Evil Dead 2 three times, and Army of Darkness twice. My record with The Evil Dead is tied by the five times I’ve purchased Highlander: Republic Pictures’ 1996 10th Anniversary Director’s Cut laserdisc, Republic Pictures’ 2000 10th Anniversary Director’s Cut DVD, Anchor Bay’s 2002 Immortal Edition DVD limited edition, Optimum Releasing’s UK exclusive 2007 Immortal Edition Steelbook DVD, and most recently Lionsgate’s 2010 Blu-ray. (I also take pride in the fact that I’ve never purchased any Highlander video besides the original movie.) Ranking just below The Evil Dead and Highlander, I purchased Toho’s Lone Wolf & Cub movie sextet on AnimEigo’s VHS, then laserdisc, then DVD. And I’m certain that I’ll upgrade again to the forthcoming Blu-ray release.

Anime is not without its multiple iterations, upgrades, and re-releases, with Robotech certainly dwarfing all other titles. The Macross Saga hit American VHS from F.H.E. in 1985, 1987, and 1993, laserdisc in 1993, Perfect Collection VHS from Streamline in 1994, a single-episode CD-ROM from GameTek Cinema in 1994, DVD from AD Vision in 2001 followed by ADV’s 2004 Robotech Remastered release, then A&E’s 2011 DVD release. Excluding the American edited Robotech, I can only recall two Japanese language anime that have had five distinct domestic releases. Akira hit VHS in 1991 then subtitled VHS in 1999. It premiered on domestic DVD in 2001 then got a DTS upgrade in 2002 followed by an American Blu-ray release in 2009. Project A-ko hit domestic VHS and LD from Central Park Media, 1999 letterboxed DVD from Image Entertainment, full screen “Collector’s Series” DVD from CPM in 2002, and remastered DVD from Discotek in 2011. The Fist of the North Star movie first hit American VHS in 1991 thanks to Streamline. Image Entertainment then released it on DVD in 1998. DiscoTek released the film on bilingual DVD in 2009 then quietly rolled out a second edition DVD with “propered” subtitles, creating a fourth distinct release. MD Geist has had four distinct American releases on VHS, CPM DVD, Director’s Cut DVD, and then a DVD re-release by AD Vision. I don’t know if ADV’s release was merely a repackage of the CPM DVD or a new encode, but it ought to count as a distinct fourth release just by virtue of it coming from a new distributor.

Numerous anime titles have had three distinct American releases, excluding mere changes in packaging; among them, the Dirty Pair OVA series (ADV VHS & DVD, Nozomi DVD), Cowboy Bebop & Trigun (VHS, DVD, Remix DVD), Rhea Gall Force (VHS, Image DVD, CPM DVD), Darkside Blues (VHS, CPM DVD, ADV DVD), Megazone 23 (VHS, Image DVD, ADV DVD), My Neighbor Totoro (Fox VHS & DVD, Disney DVD), and Rei Rei (Softcel VHS & DVD, Critical Mass DVD). Evangelion has been released in VHS, DVD, Perfect collection DVD, Platinum DVD, Platinum Perfect Collection DVD (with tin case), Platinum Collection DVD (in thinpak), and Platinum Collection Limited Edition Holiday Special DVD, but those seven iterations constitute only three different release versions: VHS, DVD, and Platinum Edition DVD. I’m consciously excluding the two “Director’s Cut” DVDs since they only cover four out of 26 episodes.

In terms to total number of anime releases, I may top out with Dirty Pair after buying the domestic ADV OVA series VHS tapes, the domestic ADV DVDs, the Japanese complete series DVD boxed set, then the current Nozomi domestic DVDs, not to mention a random few Japanese laserdiscs along the way. I bought the Blood: The Last Vampire movie on Japanese limited edition DVD, then domestic DVD, then domestic Blu-ray. I also purchased Mononoke Hime on Japanese VHS, Japanese DVD, then domestic DVD. I purchased A-Kite on two Japanese laserdiscs, on uncut & uncensored German DVD, then finally on uncut & uncensored domestic DVD. But the only purely domestic release besides Dirty Pair that I’ve purchased three times may be Project A-ko. I own all three American DVD editions of Project A-ko but never purchased the movie on domestic VHS or LD. The number of times I’ve purchased an anime title twice, either to upgrade to a new format or supplement an extinct release with a newer release, is far too many to list or even, honestly, recall.

So how about you? How often have you upgraded or succumed to “double-dipping” or even “triple-dipping”? (Remember that relatively few American anime releases have had more than three distinctly different releases, excluding simple changes in packaging or SRP.) Which titles convinced you to re-buy?

The third episode of writer Kazushige Nojima & director Romanov Higa’s web-anime mini-series Buso Chugakusei Basket Army is now online. The story revolves around military school students under seige by international mercenaries seeking to recover a military secret that the children are protecting.

Source: Anime News Network

Source: Anime News Network

A new 36-second trailer for next month’s Blood-C: The Last Dark motion picture has hit the web. The action-filled trailer is entirely new footage, but may also reveal a small spoiler, so viewer discretion is suggested. The movie sequel to last year’s TV series will hit Japanese theaters on June 2.

Source: Anime News Network

Bandai’s Sunrise studio has formally announced that the Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn OVA series will be extended by one episode. The anime adaptation of Harutoshi Fukui’s ten-volume novel series was announced as a six-episode anime series in 2009. Sunrise now reports that the adaptation will be extended to seven episodes. The seventh episode will be more than one hour long.

Source: Anime News Network

Answer:
I’m not entirely certain that the Lyrical Nanoha manga spin-offs will eventually get anime adaptations, but a Nanoha Strikers movie seems almost an inevitability. Certainly, the third season of the Lyrical Nanoha anime was less popular among international fans than the second season, but the Nanoha franchise was primarily created for Japanese viewers, and the movies have been practically exclusive to Japanese audiences. Thus I can’t envision why a limited international interest in Nanoha Strikers would have any impact at all on the development of a third Nanoha movie. Since the “Strikers” season was successful in Japan, producing only two films out of a seemingly obvious three-film cycle seems illogical. The Nanoha movie are taking quite some time to see release. They’re not appearing swiftly like the Berserk trilogy that’s debuting all three films within a single year. So fans may have to wait a while yet for word of a Nanoha Strikers movie since the A’s movie has yet to hit theaters.

The success of the second and possibly even third Nanoha movies may determine the probability of additional Lyrical Nanoha anime adaptations. After all, there is precedent for anime adaptations of spin-offs from popular franchises. The Carnival Phantasm manga parody spin-off from the Type-Moon universe recently got an anime adaptation, and the “Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya” spin-off manga has had an anime adaptation announced. The Gundam Unicorn novel series has an ongoing anime adaptation. St. Seiya, Saki, and Hokuto no Ken have had spin-off manga adapted into anime series – namely St. Seiya Lost Canvas, Saki Achiga Hen, and Raoh Gaiden. So anime adaptations of Masaki Tsuzuki & Takuya Fujima’s Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Vivid and Tsuzuki & Yuari Higa’s Magical Record Lyrical Nanoha Force spin-off manga series should definitely be considered viable possibilities.

A new live-action & CG trailer introducing director Kenji Kamiyama’s full CG anime film 009 Re:Cyborg has appeared on the movie’s official website. This latest adaptation of the classic Cyborg 009 manga by the late Shotaro Ishinomori will hit Japanese theaters in 2D and stereoscopic 3D on October 27.

Source: Anime News Network

The homepage for the upcoming sci-fi/action anime TV series K has released a new streaming trailer highlighting the series’ background art.

Source: Anime News Network

Answer:
I can’t refute the theory that certain individuals opposed to militaristic structures may reject mecha anime as an insidious form of propaganda, but I can argue that for the majority of reasonable analysts, mecha anime as a genre is not as limited as the provided observation presumes. First, I must assume that “mecha” anime actually refers to robot anime. Broadly speaking, “mecha” is an abbreviation for “mechanical,” thus anime like Eve no Jikan, which revolves around integrating androids into human society, and Galaxy Express 999, which features space-faring steam locomotives, can technically be considered “mecha” anime despite including no giant robots. The giant robots of anime including Patlabor and the “Brave” series are literally giant mechanical police officers. The mecha in countless anime, including Megazone 23, Macross, Gundam, Votoms, and Dragonar are military equipment and therefore advocate military action and aggression, and, by arguable extension, advocate a glamorization of militarization to impressionable children that watch anime.

However, a strict observation reveals just as many giant robot anime that are not affiliated with legal structures. Classic robots including Mazinger Z and Tetsujin 28gou were created by visionary private individuals, not by government agencies. The giant robots in anime including Giant Gorg, Gold Lightan, and Gadguard are friends and partners to their child owners, not government or military machinery nor advocates of any legal or political ideology. The giant robots in anime including Yuusha Reideen, Rayearth, Wataru, and Yamato Takeru are legendary, revered machines that are either feared or respected, but these mecha, again, don’t specifically represent and advocate traditional, organized enforcement of social status quo.

Robot anime is intended to encourage home video and merchandise sales. Robot anime is designed to entertain viewers. I do not believe that robot anime, as a genre, consciously or even practically makes a concerted effort to propagate any sort of political agenda. I absolutely don’t believe that the mecha anime genre collectively makes an effort to advocate social normalism, militarism, or socio-political anarchy. The individual who believes that mecha anime, as a genre, advocates psychological reinforcement of established governmental and military structures will be nearly impossible to refute, but a comprehensive and rational examination of the breadth of robot anime should clearly reveal that the genre only consistently advocates a sense of futurism, a speculative interest in the potential of science and technology that can either reinforce social norms or be anarchic, and is frequently both at once.

Sunrise has announced its development of an anime feature film adaptation of Taku Mayumura’s 1976 juvenile sci-fi novel Nerawareta Gakuen (“Targeted School”). The novel has been adapted into a 1981 live-action feature film, an eleven-episode 1982 live-action TV series, and the 1997 Nerawareta Gakuen: Messiah From the Future live-action film. The novel revolves around a high school boy who rebels when he discovers that a ruthless time-traveler from the future has taken over his school’s student council. Ryosuke Nakamura (Moryo no Hako) will direct the anime film for release this fall.

Source: Anime News Network

Toei Animation has launched a website to announce its development of a TV anime series based on the popular card battle/dungenon crawler mobile phone game Tanken Driland (Exploration Drill Land) from developer Gree.

Source: Anime News Network

The June issue of Gekkan Shonen Gangan magazine that goes on sale this weekend will formally announce the development of a TV anime based on the Zetsuen no Tempest fantasy mystery manga series by writers Kyou Shirodaira & Arihide Sano and illustrator Ren Saizaki. The manga stars an ordinary high school boy who finds himself drawn into a supernatural conspiracy involving a missing friend and a witch. The ongoing manga premiered in 2009 and has six compiled volumes so far. Kyou Shirodaira created the 2000 Spiral: Suiri no Kizuna mystery manga that was adapted into a 2002 anime TV series.

Source: Anime News Network

The homepage for the Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru 2: Futari no Elder OVA has added its first streaming trailer. The adaptation of CaramelBox’s adult PC game about a cross-dressing boy attending an all-girls school is animated by SILVERLINK. The first “OtoBoku” game was adapted into a 12 episode TV series in 2006 by studio Feel. The first episode of the three-episode Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru 2 mini-series will be released on August 29th.

Source: Anime News Network

Producer/musician Sinitus Tempo has released his “First Time EP,” an original tribute album to the B-Gata H-Kei (“Yamada’s First Time”) anime series. The tribute album is available as a free download. Listeners that download the album by May 11th and confirm their download on Sinitus Tempo’s Facebook page will be entered into a drawing to win a copy of the “Yamada’s First Time” Blu-ray & DVD combo pack and $100 in cash.

I noticed that on May 1st a perfect condition R1 set of Welcome to the NHK DVDs, including the rare individual volume 6, sold on Ebay for $91 despite the fact that FUNimation’s re-release of the same series can be aquired used for about ten bucks. I had no relation to this Ebay auction besides getting outbid at $40 because I’m satisfied to own the FUNimation release. But I’m pleased to see this sale because it serves as a confirmation that there are still at least a few die-hard R1 anime DVD collectors out there.

About three years ago, as streaming began taking off and Blu-ray looked poised to put DVD out to pasture, I started seriously trying to fill in gaps in my R1 anime DVD collection. I decided that my pie-in-the-sky ideal goal would be to collect every Japanese language anime released on domestic commercial DVD, excluding adult anime and multiple iterations/re-releases. I’m not opposed to hentai anime. In fact, I own over a hundred domestic H-anime DVDs. But the majority of H-anime are crap that I just don’t care to purchase or own.

Along the way, I’ve begun hoarding domestic anime DVDs, both rarities and commons. Sure, I have multiple sets of anime series I helped localize: Risky Safety, Miami Guns, Haré+Guu. And I also own four sets of FUNimation’s Kurogane no Linebarrels TV series release (God help me), four sets of Oh! Edo Rocket, four sets of Tsukihime with collector’s box, three sets of Arc the Lad, three sets of Infinite Ryvius, two sets of Trouble Chocolate, two sets of Betterman, and so on. Here’s another example of my compulsive domestic DVD hoarding. No, this isn’t AnimeNation inventory. This is just one box of my personal duplicate DVDs:

I like to think that I’m actually respectably close to completing my collection of American anime DVDs. Some of the remaining holes in my collection are common and cheap, like Legend of the Dragon Kings and Ys II. Some of them are rare and expensive, like Super Robot Wars, Maison Ikkoku, and Dunbune volumes 11 & 12. And some of them are very recent releases that I just haven’t had time or good opportunity to purchase yet.

If you’ll indulge me a moment more, here’s the list of remaining domestic anime DVDs that I consider missing from my collection. If anyone has any of these – particularly the rarities – in neeed of a new, good home, and you’re willing to relocate your discs at affordable prices, feel free to let me know.

And Yet the Town Moves
Animated Classics of Japanese Literature: The Izu Dancer
Animated Classics of Japanese Literature: The Sound of Waves
Aria the Natural
Aura Battler Dunbine vols. 4-12
Bakuman
Black Butler
Black Butler II
Bleach Uncut box sets 7-12
Blood+ Part One & Part Two
Book of Bantorra
Broken Blade
Case Closed seasons 4 & 5
Cat Planet Cuties
Crimson Wolf
D.Gray-Man season 2
Demon King Daimo
Dream Eater Merry
Eyeshield 21 vols. 2-4
Fairy Tail vols. 1-4
Fortune Quest vol. 1
Gatchaman collector sets 5-9
Golgo 13 TV vol. 3
Gurren Lagann movies 1 & 2
Haruka: Beyond the Stream of Time vols. 1-9
Heaven’s Lost Property Forte
Hetalia: World Series vols. 1-2
Hikaru no Go vols. 1-11
Himawari too
Infinite Stratos
Junjo Romantica seasons 1 & 2
Kama Sutra
Kobato vols. 1-2
Legend of the Dragon Kings vols. 1-5
Legend of the Legendary Heroes part 2
Maid Sama vol. 2
Maison Ikkoku sets 5-8
Mardock Scramble: The First Compression Director’s Cut
Mobile Suit Gundam UC Unicorn vols. 1-2
Motto to Loveru
Naruto Shippuden box sets 2-10
Psychic Squad
Ranma 1/2 season 4
Ronin Warriors vols. 4-9
Rosario + Vampire Capu 2
Sgt. Frog season three
SOS! Tokyo Metro Explorers: The Next
Super Robot Wars: OG – Divine Wars vols. 1-9
Super Robot Wars: The Original Generation
Tytania vol. 2
World God Only Knows
Ys II: Castle in the Heavens
Zegapain vols. 3-4 & 6