[UNBOXING] Angelic Layer
With just hours left until our Early Bird deal on this title expires at the time of writing, hot off the presses our finished stock of the wonderful Angelic Layer on Collector's Edition Blu-ray has arrived prior to its 24th September 2018 retail release! What better time to take a look at what our forthcoming release of this CLAMP classic has to offer?
Firstly though, a reminder that you can pre-order up Angelic Layer from the AllTheAnime.com online store right now at the link below:
Until midnight tonight (13th September 2018), you can order our Angelic Layer Limited Collector's Edition Blu-ray at its Early Bird price of just £34.99, so don't miss out! Come September the 14th, this title will be available for pre-order at its regular price of £41.99.
ABOUT "ANGELIC LAYER"
From the amazing minds and pens of legendary all-female creative team CLAMP, it’s the coming-of-age adventure that’s become an all-time classic!
Synopsis: "From the moment twelve-year-old Misaki Suzuhara arrives in Tokyo to live with her aunt, she finds herself swept away by the amazing world of Angelic Layer – a fast-paced, high-tech game where dolls called Angels are controlled by the thoughts of their operator.
Discovering that her new friends are as interested in Angelic Layer as she is, Misaki builds her own Angel and begins competing in battles where will and determination count far more than size and strength. Can Misaki handle the pressure of the national championships while struggling to adapt to life in an unfamiliar city?"
Check out a trailer for the series below:
WHAT’S INSIDE? WHAT’S ON THE DISCS?
Our Limited Collector's Edition Blu-ray set comes packed in a rigid case sporting a spot UV finish for a heavenly look on your shelf. Inside the case you'll find a three-tray Digipak pack to hold the three Blu-ray discs, and a 40-page art book featuring a plethora of artwork from the series.
On the discs themselves you get -
- The complete series of Angelic Layer (all 26 episodes) in both English audio, and Japanese with English subtitles.
- On-disc extras across the three discs are: Episode Audio Commentaries (featuring the English voice cast), Production Artwork Gallery, Clean Opening and Closing Title Sequences.
WHERE CAN I ORDER IT?
You can order your copy right now from the following retailers:
Order at Amazon
Order at HMV Online
Order at Anime-on-Line
Order at AllTheAnime
WHAT DOES THE FINISHED PRODUCT LOOK LIKE?
With all of the business out of the way, let's get down to what you're really here for - your first in-depth look at our Angelic Layer Collector's Edition. You'll love it, we promise! Everything you want to see comes after the jump.
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Gundam 00
By Andrew Osmond.
The first thing to stress about Gundam 00 is that newbies can most definitely start here. While it’s technically part of the venerable Gundam franchise, it’s also a “new” series, with a new world and characters. Indeed, 00 was perhaps made deliberately to draw in viewers, Japanese and foreign, who hadn’t seen a Gundam show before.
At the same time, 00 has some of Gundam’s franchise fundamentals – young pilots fighting each other in giant robot suits, an epic human conflict between umpteen cultures and ideologies. It also has a clutch of Easter Eggs for fans who have seen other Gundams (for a broader account of the franchise, see here). Continue Reading
MCM Scotland Comic Con to host UK Premiere of Sword Art Online Season 3. Catch the first episode before its simulcast.
A new season of anime is coming up fast once again, and this autumn promises some fantastic riches for fans to enjoy in simulcast form, not least the return of certain series some of you might be aware of called Sword Art Online. Yes, that's right, October sees the return of Sword Art Online to our screens for its third full season, covering the series' Alicization story arc - needless to say, UK fans will be able to catch the latest adventures of Kirito exclusively on Crunchyroll every week once the new series begins airing.
However, if October is far too long for you to wait, then how about an opportunity to be the amongst the first people in the UK to catch the opening, double-length, episode of Sword Art Online: Alicization before it airs in Japan or its simulcast on Crunchyroll? If that sounds like a not to be missed opportunity, then you'd be right!
Thus, we're thrilled to announce that MCM Scotland Comic Con will be hosting the UK premiere of the series on Sunday, 23rd September 2018 at 12PM on the MCM Main Stage.
This special UK premiere event will be open to any attendees with a valid MCM Scotland Comic Con ticket on the day, and will feature not only your first chance to see the opening 50-minute episode of Sword Art Online: Alicization in Japanese with English subtitles before its October broadcast date, but also an exclusive video introduction from member's of the show's voice cast.
UPDATE (13/09/2018): What's more, we can also now confirm that all attendees to this screening will receive a fantastic bonus gift as a thank you from ourselves, MCM Comic Con and our friends at Aniplex. Everyone who attends this screening event at Scotland Comic Con will receive an autograph board featuring an original piece of Sword Art Online artwork, signed by the director of Sword Art Online: Alicization Manabu Ono! It's a must-have item for Sword Art Online fans that is exclusive to this event, so you won't find it anywhere else. We can't reveal the design or look of the autograph board at this time, but rest assured it's an amazing-looking goodie that will take pride of place in your home.
If you haven't booked your ticket to MCM Scotland Comic Con yet, it's not too late! You can still book tickets to the event, which takes place at the Glasgow SEC on Saturday, 22nd September and Sunday, 23rd August 2018, at the link below:
Buy MCM Scotland Comic Con tickets
To give you a taste of what to expect from this third season, here are some details on the new series of Sword Art Online.
ABOUT SWORD ART ONLINE: ALICIZATION
Synopsis: “Where… am I…?”
Before he knows it, Kirito has made a full-dive into an epic, fantasy-like virtual world. With only a murky recollection of what happened right before he logged in, he starts to wander around, searching for clues.
He comes upon an enormous, pitch black tree - the Gigas Cedar - where he encounters a boy. “My name is Eugene. Nice to meet you, Kirito.” Although he is supposedly a resident of the virtual world - an NPC - the boy shows the same array of emotions as any human being.
As Kirito bonds with Eugeo, he continues to teach for a way to log out of this world. Meanwhile, he remembers a certain memory deep down within him.
He remembers racing through the mountains with Eugeo as a child… A memory that he should not have in the first place. In this memory, he sees someone other than Eugeo, a young blonde girl. Her name is Alice...
If you want to catch up on the events of Sword Art Online prior to its third season, you can watch the first two seasons on Crunchyroll, and of course you can pick up both Sword Art Online II and Sword Art Online the Movie: Ordinal Scale on Blu-ray and DVD from our very own online store.
We can't wait to see you at the UK premiere of Sword Art Online: Alicization! Until then, take care.
~Andy
Books: Debating Otaku
By Jonathan Clements.
Debating Otaku in Contemporary Japan: Historical Perspectives and New Horizons will prove to be a vital core text in understanding the history of anime and manga fandom. This is not merely for its incisive analysis of the transformations of the word otaku over the last thirty years, but also for its detailed accounts of incidents that are otherwise mentioned as mere asides in other works. Two of the book’s ten chapters comprise translations from the works of self-styled “Otaking” Toshio Okada, and many other sections contain useful primary source material.
Not everybody is happy about this. Eiji Otsuka, a man complicit in the coinage and dissemination of the term otaku in the first place, is furious that it has become such a thing, and regards the attention of researchers and the vainglorious bragging of the Japanese government as an air-brushing of history, cutting Japan off from its connections (good and bad) to East Asia, and turning it into a harmless, fanboy collector in the American orbit. He is so angry, in fact, that his foreword to this book comes with a prolonged translator’s note pleading mitigation and indulgence, like some apologetic youth dragging a drunken uncle away from a bar fight. Continue Reading
Junjo Romantica
By Andrew Osmond.
According to the Anime Encyclopedia, Junjo Romantica has been distributed to China, Korea, Russia and the Arab world. Now, the debut of the TV version in Britain marks perhaps the first UK commercial release of an anime that’s openly and explicitly a sexual love story between men – what’s often called a “Boys’ Love” anime. Continue Reading