Store Stuff, News, and Tab Clearing
Warner (of all studios) has announced a release for JoJo's Bizarre Adventure season 1 on DVD for July 28. MSRP is set at $49.98, and we'll have it up on the store site for pre-order shortly. In case anyone was wondering, Viz has confirmed that it does not have the rights to the anime and is not involved in this release. They only have the merchandise and
manga rights for the show. It's a rich tapestry.
VIZ has announced the release of the final volume of Mashashi Kishimoto's Naruto manga. Naruto Vol. 72 (the final volume) will street here in North America in October. End of an era.
Adam Wingard has been signed to direct the Warner Bros adaptation of Death Note. Wingard has done mostly minor films, including cult horror hits The Guest and You're Next. So it looks like they might just make the thing, and this leads me to wonder how much 'localizing' they are going to do. Considering this is Warner, probably a lot, and one of the interesting concepts in my mind is that I doubt a lot of people who are not familiar with Japanese culture know what a Shinigami is, and how fundamental that concept is to the premise of the story. I'm not sure Death Note is the sort of story that can be localized too much without ending up with something that looks like the original in name only, and that's probably what we'll get, but I suppose time will tell.
Anime-themed cars (itasha) aren't new, but now the fad has spread beyond cars, water coolers, and fancy nail art to bathroom appliances - specifically, toilets. The Japan Unko Society, a group dedicated to educating the public on the relation between bowel movements and overall health, were on the scene recently at Niconico Chokaigi to fix this oversight:
What better way to get otaku to do their business than covering the big chair with 2D girls? And, apparently, the toilet's characters are personifications of intestinal bacteria found in feces. They're part of the Unko Society's parody Unko Collection or "UnColle."
Can't wait for the 'UnColle' Anime series! More
here.
And finally, about 20 years ago (the now long defunct) Central Park Media teamed up with Columbia House to offer an 'Anime of the Month' subscription service for their VHS releases. Now I know some of you weren't even alive when this was going on, but I remember it well, so if any of you older fans are up for a bit of nostalgia, check this out, and also this. It will put a big smile on your face. :-)
RACS Collectable Art Cards - Coming to an RACS Order Near You!
To say Thank You for your continued support of RACS, our Spring/Summer Omake this year is a series of RACS exclusive collectable art cards that we have had printed and will be including with orders for the next few months.
These limited edition 5x7 collectable cards (only 2,500 per design) will be numbered and will include various RACS store art. There will be 10 cards in all + a special chase card, in series as follows:
01 - The Girls of the Anime Corner
02 - Happy Summer Days
03 - Saint Noemi
04 - Okinawan
05 - Cute on Campus
06 - Ranshin Dojo
07 - Goth Polymer Project
08 - An Anime Corner Holiday
09 - Horror of Macabre Manner
10 - Shotoken Hearts
Each card will be limited to 2,500 units each. Six of them are shipping with orders now, two more will be added to the rotation later this summer, and the last two will be added in the fall. A special chase card (#11) will also begin being added at random to 1% of our daily orders starting in July or August. That card will be strictly limited to 500 units, and will be personally signed by Noemi herself! :-) Our first batch is already complete and we've begun including them with your orders, so after awhile everyone should have a good shot at collecting them all.
Good luck! :-)
New License Announcements
Sentai announced this week that they have acquired three new Anime shows - Punch Line, Triage X, and the My Love Story!! (Ore Monogatari!!) TV series, all of which are currently ongoing in Japan. They plan to release all three shows "soon" through select digital outlets, and then follow with home video releases.
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| Stop bitching about the plot, you know you're going to watch this... |
Seven Seas announced three new manga series, the slice of life romantic series Orange by Ichigo Takano, the gender-bending virtual world saga Not Lives by Wataru Karasuma, and the "monster girl" manga Franken Fran by Katsuhisu Kigitsu. Orange and Franken Fran will be released in double-sized omnibus editions with color inserts and a cover price of $19.99, while Not Lives will be released in single volumes (with color inserts) for $12.99 each. They will begin release respectively in Jan, Feb, and Mar of next year. Seven Seas also announced this week that they have licensed Tsukasa Saimura's manga series Hour of the Zombie (Igai: The Play Dead/Alive). They plan to release the first volume with a color insert in April 2016, so about a year from now - which does no good keeping me out of trouble this summer...
Status Updates / Delays
Funimation sent us a note this week that the following item has been permanently discontinued and will no longer available for order:
FN-07459 704400074592
DARKER THAN BLACK - SEASON ONE - CLASSIC
This is the one that I really like the box art for, and I suppose with the new
Premium edition getting ready to ship they decided they didn't want any lower priced alternative version of S1 concurrently on the market. Like everything else in life, fewer choices are better for the TPTB. Fortunately we still have some
FN-07459 in the warehouse so if anyone still wants only the classic edition we should still have them in stock for a short while.
And Yen Press confirmed this week that they will still be releasing the
Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Movie -Rebellion- manga adaptation in North America, however, instead of the hardcover version originally slated for June, it will be in paperback format and start shipping in December.
Upcoming Releases - Now Available for Pre-Order!
NISA has announced their release of The Troubled Life of Miss Kotoura in a BLURAY Premium Edition and we now have it up for pre-order on the store site:
Troubled Life of Miss Kotoura Complete Collection BLURAY Box Set (Premium Edition)
This Premium Edition includes a hardcover art book (full color, 64 pages) with detailed character info, interviews with cast members, episode guides and gorgeous full color illustrations. Extra's include Clean Openings and Endings, Japanese Trailers, Haruka Exploring Kotoura Town and Haruka's Room.
Release date is set for August 4th. For a limited time, we're offering this set in pre-order for the special RACS price of only $46.98 ($64.98 MSRP) so
reserve your copy today!
Synopsis: 15-year-old Haruka Kotoura has the ability to read minds. This gift has caused her to distance herself from others until the day she meets Yoshihisa Manabe, who sits next to her in class. Despite his perverted fantasizing, he encourages her to open up her heart. With the help of the ESP Research Society, Haruka and Yoshihisa discover that life can be full of heartfelt laughter, even when things seem hopeless.
Restocks
We got a few more restocks in this week from Adult publisher Kitty, including:
Consenting Adultery -
KVDVD-0728
Hyakki -
KVDVD-0510
MILF Mansion -
KVDVD-0849
Nymphs of the Stratosphere -
KVDVD-0503
Sex Craft -
KVDVD-0801
Swallowtail Inn -
KVDVD-0418
several of these have been out of stock for months, so if you currently have a backorder booked for one give a couple of days to sort thru them all and get your copy in the mail. :-)
Customer Corner
Randee writes in this week regarding his last order:
"I LOVE YOU GUYS! You Always have great products for super great prices. You never disappoint and I am going crazy over the cards and your logo on the shipping boxes, when I first saw that I totally screamed. FYI, I am not going to throw that box away! Where I live there is only one certain bookstore that I can get my stuff but they are really expensive; so I am really happy that I found you guys a couple years ago. I am forever a customer!"
You know, we get really excited about the little things like that too, and I'm always happy when other people notice. Thanks so much Randee, really appreciate it! :-)
And Finally...
This week is our semi annual
big figurine sale (which we use to 'clear the baffles' so to speak and is the only time you can pickup figurines here at around what our wholesale cost is), so be sure to shop through the site and take advantage of the savings! Also, for the folks that have, um, 'lamented' that our coupon discounts and free shipping can no longer be combined, I just want to point out that there are no such restrictions when we do a line or category sale like the one this week. Grab what you want while you can, because a few are sure to sell out quickly and we'll be filling orders first come, first served.
Just don't say I never do you guys and gals a solid... -_^
Robert's Random Thoughts
"I often feel that the only person who truly understands my needs is my couch..."
Get Social With RACS!
Hanamichi Sakuragi is a high school punk who hates basketball, mostly because the girls he likes always prefer basketball players to him. Things change, however, when he meets the cute and available Haruko Akagi. She loves basketball and thinks Hanamichi has the height and prowess to play. Hanamichi, quite willing to settle for collateral affection, immediately takes up the sport, never mind the fact that he doesn't know the rules, cannot dribble, and is constitutionally unsuited to teamwork and sportsmanship. If playing basketball will get Haruko to look at him, then he'll be a basketball star! However, a weird thing happens to Hanamichi while struggling to make the team and play the game: he kind of starts to like it! And what's more, he's getting good.
In the newest version of the massive online RPG know as "The World," Haseo and his guild mates search for a legendary item called the Key of the Twilight -
In the aftermath of the great earthquake, one ruthless corporation stands ready to take over the devastated city of Tokyo with an army of synthetic monsters. Only one small band of female mercenaries is ready to stand against the monolithic power of Genom, but in this case four women are all it takes! Armed with the most incredible combat suits ever designed, the Knight Sabers wage a desperate war in the shadows, combating the monstrous by-products of technology run amuck with courage, sweat and blood. It's a deadly trial by fire as the acclaimed cyberpunk masterpiece is reborn in a new action-packed series!
