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For 75 bucks, honestly, I’m a little disappointed by the Madoka Magica volume one limited edition. It looks and feels small, and the slipcase appears to be pretty feeble. After all, for $50 each the NIS America limited editions come in big, durable, hard slipcases with hardcover illustration books and include complete 12/13 episode series on DVD and BD discs. The NIS America limited editions just seem like much nicer, higher quality limited editions at a significantly lower price. I’m also disappointed that the promised pre-order bonus is merely an advertising postcard. Apart from having a different front image, it’s literally the exact same thing as the Christmas Madoka Magica postcard that I received for free, without needing to pre-order a $75 limited edition. And it’s the exact same type of advertising postcards that FUNimation routinely gives out for free. After Nozomi gave away a signet ring as an Utena pre-order bonus, an advertising postcard feels like a pretty weak pre-order bonus gift.

The seventh issue of GEN Manga continues to evolve from its doujinshi roots into something more like a genuine underground, alternative manga culture anthology that encapsulates upcoming Japanese creators presenting their own unique and personal manga inspired by their own distinct influences. GEN no longer feels like a tentative, experimental project or an attempt to clone Kodansha’s Morning or Afternoon magazines. The periodical now feels like a confident, eclectic primer on varieties of contemporary Japanese manga outside the mainstream of shounen, shoujo, and otaku-centric themes. Fans of conventional manga may find GEN now even more alien while fans of both the manga art form and alternative comics – Japanese or otherwise – may find GEN becoming more rewarding and essential monthly reading.

Nakamura Shige’s boxing serial Wolf continues to largely exclude background art, which focuses attention on the foreground characters but also makes the story lack weight and substance. Brief panels in the seventh chapter which occur in natural environments and include impressionistic backgrounds are appealing and evocative, suggesting how much stronger the manga could possibly be. This chapter introduces a new, interesting plot twist that I haven’t seen in any other boxing manga. The seventh chapter also briefly reintroduces a character who’s been absent for some time, suggesting that Shige has a very conscious and detailed plan for the direction of the narrative. The new plot twist seemingly isn’t used to a great extent, but it is useful in fleshing out protagonist Naoto’s personality, leading up to a chapter conclusion that really reveals a natural maturation in Naoto’s psychology.

The latest chapter of Mihara Gunya’s fantasy serial Kamen introduces some political intrigue and seems to briefly advance the story, but the chapter is once again too short to be very substantial. The visual design in this dialogue-centric chapter requires less dynamic detail than the previous action-filled chapters, so it’s effective although not flashy. Reminiscent of previous chapters, this chapter’s final shot of the castle, rendered with precise, sharp geometry clashes with the rough, sketchy art that characterizes the story. Kamen continues to hint that it has a large and complex universe, but the very short monthly chapters readers are provided only begin to imply the scale and scope of the story and its world, making Kamen just as frustrating as it is rewarding.

The seventh chapter of Souls, continuing the story of Edo era male prostitute Takao, feels largely like a yaoi melodrama. At the same time, this chapter begins to tie threads together, suggesting the possibility of more significant story development to come. Karino Arisa’ art continues to improve. While human faces remain a weakness, proportions aren’t so noticeably wrong in this chapter.

Takayuki Fujimura’s latest chapter of Sorako whimsically illustrates a simple, routine day in protagonist Sorako’s life. The art design and selected focus on particular everyday items gives the chapter a vibrant, almost bohemian energy. The conscious manipulation of making panels progressively bigger evokes a sense of Sorako’s perspective, her life and her sense of freedom expanding from her bedroom to the larger but still constrained workplace, to the freedom that comes after the end of the workday when she’s able to indulge in fancifully pursuing her dream. Although nothing in particular happens in this comic chapter, the story is still engaging and fun, granting viewers a glimpse into the minute of a foreign life.

Hajime Taguchi’s Alive does a masterful job of illustrating the mournful, conflicted teenage sense of alienation and idealism; the sense of not knowing one’s place while harboring a private romanticism that justifies that anxiety. The nameless, hopeless teen protagonist meets a soul mate, a girl in whom he finds companionship and empathy more valuable and engaging than irrepressible adolescent lust. He creates his own Eden, complete with a garden and an angel so beautiful that he fears that his very touch would corrupt her. But this Salinger-esque fantasy cannot withstand the cold, uncompromising insistence of reality, and the story wonderfully reminds readers of that fact ironically before the story becomes too mopish and sentimental. This chapter does include a few panels of non-graphic nudity.

The second chapter of Ryo Hanada’s Good-bye Geist is, honestly, confusing because it develops multiple plot threads simultaneously with no concessions for the reader to keep up. Although the art design resembles shoujo manga, the dialogue is presented in curt, almost abrupt statements that evoke a sense of realism but entirely avoid conventional, and in this case possibly even welcome, exposition. The result is an intriguing manga chapter that challenges readers and seems familiar while being very unusual and unique.

The seventh volume of GEN manga retains Japanese visual sound effects without translations. The absence of translations may be noticeable, but it doesn’t detract from the appreciation of the stories at all. Japanese language signs are translated only when vital to the reader’s understanding of the story. Translation in this issue seems natural and fluid, free of typos and grammatical errors. The layout and monochrome coloring of the PDF pages is crisp and easy to read.

Particularly with the inclusion of “Sorako,” “Alive” and “Good-bye Geist,” GEN Manga increasingly feels like a publication with its own voice and unique value to readers and the American manga publishing community. GEN Manga is a great alternative for readers curious about the scope of manga beyond the mainstream, and a fine primer for alternative comic fans curious about the style and quality of Japanese underground, alternative comics.

Husband and wife creative team “Yamaaki Doton” have won numerous Japanese awards for their original manga yet remained unknown in the English speaking world until the recent publication of their first English language translation. One Peace Books has done a great service to English speaking manga readers by providing an accessible adaptation of Yamaaki Doton’s masterwork tragedy manga Breathe Deeply, as published in Japan in 2010 as “X-saibou ha Fukaku Iki wo Suru” (X Cells Breathe Deeply).

Breathe Deeply introduces two high school boys, both deeply in love with a charming girl slowly dying of heart failure. Fifteen years after Yuko’s untimely demise, the boys, Sei and Oishi, have devoted their lives and energies to researching opposing philosophies of cardiopulmonary medicine. Oishi pursues advances in stem cel research and the growth of live organs for transplant. Sei verges on revolutionizing medicine with the development of synthetic organs indistinguishable from natural ones. Both men remain tormented by their lost love and adolescent regrets. Their fortunes rise and fall until a startling secret comes to light, bringing the two men back together again over their common past.

In Breathe Deeply, creators Yamaaki Doton create a complex, multi-faceted tragedy that incorporates romance, drama, suspense, science fiction, and crime, masterfully blending each component so that no parts of the story ever feel unnatural or out of place. The story evokes sympathetic emotional angst along with complex, provocative themes including the morality of medical research, the ethics of organ transplantation, the cutthroat internal politics of medical research, the conflict between compassionate subjectivity and objective science, and the conflict that exists been society’s desire and social convention. Underneath all of the complex and provocative themes lies a brutally heart-rending tale of sadness and loss, and the unending human struggle to prevent, mitigate, or inevitably accept tragic loss. The narrative prologue instantly draws readers into the story and forces readers to empathize with Yuko, Sei, and Oishi. This prologue is so effective that it quickly becomes devastatingly painful to read. The artwork and narrative, which creators Yamaaki Doton spent four years revising and perfecting, does such a superb job of capturing and expressing motion and emotion in revealing still frames that in only a few pages readers become so connected to the characters that the anxiety and grief within the pages powerfully transfers directly to the reader.

The story then leaps forward by fifteen years while continuing to reveal additional character and subtext through judicious flashbacks. The mid-section of the story replaces emotional torment with engrossing and intriguing drama until a surprise revelation kicks the story and characters into a suspenseful second gear that ratchets up the tension and resurrects deep emotional resonance. The narrative includes some strong profanity, some nudity, and brief adult situations, but nothing is sensational or exploitive. The strong language and scenes vitally animate the story and add further verisimilitude to a tale already vetted by numerous credentialed doctors and research scientists.

Visually, the manga vaguely resembles the draftsmanship of artists including Katsuhiro Otomo and Yoshihiro Sono. Even though the story is set in present day, it has an evocative, nostalgic tone that enhances the narrative’s sense of being haunted by the past. Unfortunately, the graphic art isn’t preserved or presented in the American edition as faithfully as could be hoped for. Introductory color pages in the 2010 Japanese publication are presented in monochrome in the translation. Tone reproduction is also darker in the English translation, sometimes blurring or hiding shade and detail more evident in the original Japanese publication. The alterations may not be the fault of One Peace Books, however. Original Japanese sound effects and background Japanese text is seemingly arbitrarily translated in the English adaptation, suggesting that One Peace Books may not have been provided access to ideal publication master files in the first place. Manga purists may be mildly perturbed over the English adaptation’s seeming arbitrary alteration of the original art. However, typical readers will find that the editorial decisions are consistently made in favor of easing readability. The dialogue translation flows naturally and appears practically free of errors excepting a number of lines throughout the book that lack proper punctuation. Once again, the grammar flaws are only noticeable and briefly distracting to the most observant and critical of readers. The book includes a short glossary providing definition and explanation of the medical abbreviations peppered throughout the dialogue.

The broad narrative concept of two young men pursuing opposing avenues of science out of devotion to their mutual love may seem reminiscent of director Makoto Shinkai’s 2004 anime film The Place Promised in Our Early Days, but the specifics of Breathe Deeply’s development are entirely different and far more substantial and affecting than Shinkai’s earlier story. Despite an American publication that visually looks a generation removed from the original Japanese publication, the narrative alone is strong enough to compensate for weaknesses in its presentation. Breathe Deeply is masterfully woven tragedy that will inevitably leave readers in tears. It’s a powerful, deeply moving story which absolutely belongs on the bookshelf of every reader that appreciates exceptional comic literature.

Model kit from last month’s Spooky Empire horror convention in Orlando, Florida. Paint job courtesy of Justin Cartisano.

The sixth issue of Gen Manga (pronounced with a hard “G” in reference to the Japanese kanji character for “origin,” although I’m told by editor Robert McGuire that pronouncing the title with a soft “G” is fine too) is available to subscribers and consumers now. The October issue introduces the first chapter of a new, ongoing serial, Ryo Hanada’s Good-bye Geist, and shifts the magazine even further toward being America’s exclusive and foremost introduction to contemporary Japanese alternative and gekiga manga.

In the latest chapter of Nakamura Shige’s boxing manga Wolf, the expressions on characters’ faces have more subtelty and greater expression. The visual sense of momentum at the end of Okami & Morimoto’s second round of boxing is so forceful and evident that it’s nearly physical. However, the absence of background art is still a bit distracting. Although the art judiciously uses speed lines and sound effects, the amount of white space on each page makes a noticable impression on the reader. The rendering of sound effects partially compensates for the lack of background art, as sound effects are appropriately drawn in different sizes and styles. Although the sound effects aren’t translated, they don’t need to be, as they’re just as much a visual component of the panel design as an audio cue, if not more a visual component than an aural one.

Mihara Gunya’s Kamen, as usual, is a frustratingly short chapter, frustrating in this case because issue six’s story is especially exciting, illustrated with a selection of unusually dynamic frames and perspective angles. With this chapter being all action, movement is illustrated with particularly cinematic flair and distinctly Japanese pacing. The chapter also introduces an intriguing new plot twist.

Karino Arisa’s historical drama Souls shows significant improvement in its sixth installment. While impressive from the outset, by this sixth chapter, Karino’s mastery of drawing detail and background has improved even further while characters now, finally, look more natural and less disproportioned. Dialogue flows significantly better now, allowing readers to clearly distinguish who’s speaking and easily follow conversations. However, unlike the issue’s prior stories, translation typos still creep into this chapter of Souls including, “If it were bleeding” instead of “If it was bleeding” or “…had been bleeding,” and “…tell myself everything’s alright…” instead of “…everything’s all right…” The story in this issue is thankfully more subtle and less pretentious than it’s been. The chapter ends with some uncharacteristicly pleasant humor that encourages the reader to wonder what will happen next.

Fujimura Takayuki’s Sorako slice-of-life drama serves as a welcome visual contrast to Wolf & Kamen as its visual design is jam packed, reminiscent of a Japanese interpretation of an American 70′s or 80′s underground comic. Unlike the three prior stories, the art of Sorako is fluid, quick, imprecise. Lines aren’t perfectly straight nor details entirely accurate, but the rough drafting style gives the frames energy and character, enhancing the impression that the artist’s goal is to tell Sorako’s story, blemishes and all. Sorako finds herself once again beset with young adult ennui, or perhaps it’s simple laziness. But this time around, rather than finding enlightenment, Sorako finds something else that provides a nice, amusing conclusion to the chapter.

“The Hole to Brazil” installment of Hajime Taguchi’s dramatic and provocative manga Alive is an incisive and moving story about human nature and cathartic transformation. Deeply revealing characterization exudes from seemingly minor and simple dialogue and interactions. The alternative narrative focus is also mirrored in the visual composition that evokes artistic, alternative seinen manga with full backgrounds and details but occasional frames or illustrations that look sparse or even amateurish. The dialogue translation preserves Japanese honorables, as signifiers like “-chan” and “-san” are vital to express the relationships in the story without seeming stilted. The translation also flows well with the exception of rare lines like, “Does he belong on the side of those who gets things taken from them?” and “I loathed the man who took her from me to death,” that may either reflect the speaker’s natural thoughts or may be poor grammar. This chapter of Alive is certainly not conventional teen-oriented action or comedy. This is psychological drama about guilt and regret being stripped away by honest confession. It’s not the type of story that most manga readers desire, but it’s very affecting and satisfying for readers that want mature, literary manga that challenges as much as it entertains.

The newest addition to Gen Manga, Ryo Hanada’s Good-bye Geist visually resembles a contemporary shoujo drama but suggests that it will revolve around darker, more complex and threatening themes than typical high school crushes or college entrance exams. The relatively short first chapter introduces characters within the context of mysterious threats including serial animal abuse and a potential stalker. The potential for a compelling narrative is obvious, but readers will have to wait for future installments to see how the story develops. Unlike Alive, the translation for Good-bye Geist translates honorables into conventional English titles. But within the context of this story, the use of “Mr.” and “Ms.” seem natural and appropriate.

As of issue six, Gen Manga continues to evolve, and more importantly, mature into an increasingly interesting and revealing primer of cutting-edge Japanese gekiga manga. With Suzuki Yu’s serial VS Aliens now concluded, Gen Manga has graduated from conventional teen-oriented manga stories into a broad spectrum of adult-oriented manga. From sports to fantasy action to historical drama to contemporary slice-of-life, Gen Manga issue six presents independent manga for readers that want something different, mature, and literate. This is a true look at bleeding edge artistic underground manga stories that are far more concerned with the integrity of their storytelling than with creating popular, mainstream appeal.

Gen Manga issue six is available online in either two-page spread PDF format or single page PDF format. Archival collectors and fans of traditional books should also consider investing in the limited edition print copies of Gen Manga. Particularly as of recent issues, Gen Manga has spared no expense on the print edition, using nicely textured cardstock covers and bright white interior pages that highlight fine detail and make the top-notch printing really burst off the page.

The sixth issue of Gen Manga (pronounced with a hard “G” in reference to the Japanese kanji character for “origin,” although I’m told by editor Robert McGuire that pronouncing the title with a soft “G” is fine too) is available to subscribers and consumers now. The October issue introduces the first chapter of a new, ongoing serial, Ryo Hanada’s Good-bye Geist, and shifts the magazine even further toward being America’s exclusive and foremost introduction to contemporary Japanese alternative and gekiga manga.

In the latest chapter of Nakamura Shige’s boxing manga Wolf, the expressions on characters’ faces have more subtelty and greater expression. The visual sense of momentum at the end of Okami & Morimoto’s second round of boxing is so forceful and evident that it’s nearly physical. However, the absence of background art is still a bit distracting. Although the art judiciously uses speed lines and sound effects, the amount of white space on each page makes a noticable impression on the reader. The rendering of sound effects partially compensates for the lack of background art, as sound effects are appropriately drawn in different sizes and styles. Although the sound effects aren’t translated, they don’t need to be, as they’re just as much a visual component of the panel design as an audio cue, if not more a visual component than an aural one.

Mihara Gunya’s Kamen, as usual, is a frustratingly short chapter, frustrating in this case because issue six’s story is especially exciting, illustrated with a selection of unusually dynamic frames and perspective angles. With this chapter being all action, movement is illustrated with particularly cinematic flair and distinctly Japanese pacing. The chapter also introduces an intriguing new plot twist.

Karino Arisa’s historical drama Souls shows significant improvement in its sixth installment. While impressive from the outset, by this sixth chapter, Karino’s mastery of drawing detail and background has improved even further while characters now, finally, look more natural and less disproportioned. Dialogue flows significantly better now, allowing readers to clearly distinguish who’s speaking and easily follow conversations. However, unlike the issue’s prior stories, translation typos still creep into this chapter of Souls including, “If it were bleeding” instead of “If it was bleeding” or “…had been bleeding,” and “…tell myself everything’s alright…” instead of “…everything’s all right…” The story in this issue is thankfully more subtle and less pretentious than it’s been. The chapter ends with some uncharacteristicly pleasant humor that encourages the reader to wonder what will happen next.

Fujimura Takayuki’s Sorako slice-of-life drama serves as a welcome visual contrast to Wolf & Kamen as its visual design is jam packed, reminiscent of a Japanese interpretation of an American 70′s or 80′s underground comic. Unlike the three prior stories, the art of Sorako is fluid, quick, imprecise. Lines aren’t perfectly straight nor details entirely accurate, but the rough drafting style gives the frames energy and character, enhancing the impression that the artist’s goal is to tell Sorako’s story, blemishes and all. Sorako finds herself once again beset with young adult ennui, or perhaps it’s simple laziness. But this time around, rather than finding enlightenment, Sorako finds something else that provides a nice, amusing conclusion to the chapter.

“The Hole to Brazil” installment of Hajime Taguchi’s dramatic and provocative manga Alive is an incisive and moving story about human nature and cathartic transformation. Deeply revealing characterization exudes from seemingly minor and simple dialogue and interactions. The alternative narrative focus is also mirrored in the visual composition that evokes artistic, alternative seinen manga with full backgrounds and details but occasional frames or illustrations that look sparse or even amateurish. The dialogue translation preserves Japanese honorables, as signifiers like “-chan” and “-san” are vital to express the relationships in the story without seeming stilted. The translation also flows well with the exception of rare lines like, “Does he belong on the side of those who gets things taken from them?” and “I loathed the man who took her from me to death,” that may either reflect the speaker’s natural thoughts or may be poor grammar. This chapter of Alive is certainly not conventional teen-oriented action or comedy. This is psychological drama about guilt and regret being stripped away by honest confession. It’s not the type of story that most manga readers desire, but it’s very affecting and satisfying for readers that want mature, literary manga that challenges as much as it entertains.

The newest addition to Gen Manga, Ryo Hanada’s Good-bye Geist visually resembles a contemporary shoujo drama but suggests that it will revolve around darker, more complex and threatening themes than typical high school crushes or college entrance exams. The relatively short first chapter introduces characters within the context of mysterious threats including serial animal abuse and a potential stalker. The potential for a compelling narrative is obvious, but readers will have to wait for future installments to see how the story develops. Unlike Alive, the translation for Good-bye Geist translates honorables into conventional English titles. But within the context of this story, the use of “Mr.” and “Ms.” seem natural and appropriate.

As of issue six, Gen Manga continues to evolve, and more importantly, mature into an increasingly interesting and revealing primer of cutting-edge Japanese gekiga manga. With Suzuki Yu’s serial VS Aliens now concluded, Gen Manga has graduated from conventional teen-oriented manga stories into a broad spectrum of adult-oriented manga. From sports to fantasy action to historical drama to contemporary slice-of-life, Gen Manga issue six presents independent manga for readers that want something different, mature, and literate. This is a true look at bleeding edge artistic underground manga stories that are far more concerned with the integrity of their storytelling than with creating popular, mainstream appeal.

Gen Manga issue six is available online in either two-page spread PDF format or single page PDF format. Archival collectors and fans of traditional books should also consider investing in the limited edition print copies of Gen Manga. Particularly as of recent issues, Gen Manga has spared no expense on the print edition, using nicely textured cardstock covers and bright white interior pages that highlight fine detail and make the top-notch printing really burst off the page.

The personality of Arrietty and her parents, some degree of Haru’s personality, and the rapid cut editing of this first American trailer for Ghibli’s Karigurashi no Arrietty completely reinterpret & misrepresent the spirit and tone of the original Japanese picture.

The fourth and fifth issue of Gen Manga continue to evolve and mature, further developing ongoing stories while more obviously stepping closer to becoming the cutting edge alternative manga showcase that the magazine promises to be.

Shige Nakamura’s “Wolf” continues to unfold as a good old-fashioned sports drama. But a variety of development emerges in the fourth installment. Nakamura’s graphic art is gradually evolving. Chapter four, especially, exhibits a decreased focus on background and more refinement in its character art, making the manga less of a throwback and more of a uniquely stylized contemporary manga influenced by 60′s and 70′s manga aesthetics. Chapter four introduces a new element of humor that does a great job of counterbalancing the dour tone of the drama. And the fourth chapter continues to peel back the psychology of protagonist Naoto’s estranged parents. Whether by accident or in respect for the readers’ intelligence, the fourth chapter alternates the use of “wolf” with “okami” without any translator note explanation. Both installments include some mildly salty language, but the occasionally strong dialogue enhances the narrative, giving it a sense of reality. The fifth chapter allows a typo in the dialogue to slip by: “bait” spelled “bate.” The dialogue translation in the fifth chapter also frequently feels a bit stilted. But the fifth chapter also introduces a prolonged boxing match that keeps the pace and tension of the story high.

The pacing of Yu Suzuki’s romantic melodrama “VS Aliens” picks up considerably in issue four before declining into a stew of absurd, rapid fire plot twists that feel as much like desparation as carefully plotted narrative. As this particular series has done repeatedly, the graphic art quality improves in the fourth chapter then receeds again in the fifth.

Mihara Gunya’s “Kamen” series likewise gains momentum in its fourth and fifth installments. While the art looks just a bit stiff in the early pages of issue four, the action picks up considerably throughout issues four and five. These two installments also begin to suggest some context for the story that may answer some reader questions.

Arisa Karino’s graphic art largely continues to impress in Souls. Fine detail, texture, and ample use of screentone give the visual art a sumptuous depth and tone. Unfortunately, Karino still seems challenged by natural, human looking facial proportions, and dialogue remains periodically difficult to attribute to a speaker, or even difficult to decipher, as though characters speak at each other instead of with each other. Unfortunately, typos and poorly translated lines like, “The saw beyond your the five senses,” and, “Then that’ll the end for us,” make following the dialogue even more difficult. While this new story arc presented in issues four and five seems a bit better developed than the first story arc, situations like a lengthy abstract philosophical debate between two prostitutes regarding their psychological acceptance of their roles and status, using a wounded pigeon as a metaphor, seems near laughably unbelievable.

Issue four concludes on a high note with Takayuki Fujimura’s self-contained short story “Sorako.” This nice story about young adult ennui and the way that small, routine events shape people’s perspective and personality is illustrated with a compact, stylized art that may be called contemporary gekiga. The concise art and storytelling do a fine job of focusing succinctly on expressing action through art & dialogue. This is far from shounen action/adventure, but it’s also not anime-esque iyashikei slice-of-life. This looks and feels like personal transformation presented through graphic storytelling. Not for readers that want tales of ninjas or aliens or even high school romance, this is a pleasant story for readers that appreciate manga as literal visual storytelling.

Taguchi Hajime’s “Alive” that ends Gen Manga issue five aims for a similar effect but succeeds just a little less successfully. This Kafka-esque gekiga drama about hopeless, despair-riddled people who rediscover self-respect and purpose in their lives is intriguing, but the pivotal epihanies that the characters have could be better illustrated, to make the turning point in these characters’ lives more evident to readers. Although not exploitative or sensationalistic, “Alive” does depict some provocative and adult subjects and images that elevate the story into respectable adult literature but may also surprise readers used to the typically all-ages friendly content that Gen Manga has published thus far.

Gen Manga was founded on a principle of being brand new, cutting-edge independent Japanese manga to English speaking readers. The publication’s first three issues have done a commendable job of introducing new Japanese talent and beinging new manga to American readers, but it’s issues four and five that first begin to fulfill the promise of publishing not just new indie manga but new cutting edge manga that aims for an older, more sophisticated audience. Issues four and five don’t eschew the popular genres of action, supernatural, romantic comedy, and fantasy manga; these two issues compliment conventional themes and genres with more provocative, literary, adult-oriented manga tales.

The increasing scarcity of certain domestic anime DVDs has surfaced as a topic of conversation in the American otaku community lately, so here’s my contribution to the discussion. Just because I’ve been collecting domestic anime discs for so long, I’ve got a fairly extensive collection. But there are still some noteable gaps in my collection. Anybody want to assist me?

Included among the numerous discs I’m still looking for affordable (or preferrably inexpensive) copies of are King Gainer volume 6, Zegapain volume 4, all of Sailor Moon S, Panda! Go Panda (particularly a non-Signature Series edition), a set of Ronin Warriors, Night on the Galactic Railroad, the Patlabor Original Series & New Files collections, Shonen Onmyouji volume 5, Dunbine volumes 11 & 12, Maison Ikkoku sets 2 & 4-8, Lupin the 3rd TV series vol. 11, and most of the Gatchaman collections.

And a Kimagure Orange Road TV series volume 6 replacement cover to finish off a second TV series set.

Granted, most of these discs I don’t strictly “need,” but would rather like to own as momentos of the R1 anime DVD era. If anybody feels like doing some trading, drop a message to me. I’ve got some obscure duplicates like AnimeEigo’s Spirit of Wonder, a Night Warriors volume 2, Cat Soup limited edition, Ariel, Gatchaman OVA, Prefectural Earth Defense Force, and a couple extra sets of Fate/stay night. Plus a whole lot of extra copies of more common discs.

I couldn’t resist this adorable Ichigeki Sacchu! Hoihoi-san Legacy diorama that features Hoihoi-san, Combat-san, and Pest-X in pajamas. It’s due out at the end of the year, and I can’t wait.