Funimation Lowers MSRP on DBZ Set #6 & My Santa DVD

Funimation has announced they have reduced the MSRP by 30% on the DragonBall Z Season 6 DVD Boxed Set (Eps #166-194) (Re-Mastered) (Item # FN-02248) from $49.98 to $34.98 and also on the My Santa Special DVD (Item # FN-10535) from $14.98 to $9.98.

We have reduced our discounted price accordingly from $34.98 to $24.98 for the DBZ set and from $12.98 to $7.98 on the My Santa DVD.

Both items are in stock now and ready to ship. :-)

RACS - Columbus Day Holiday Hours

The Anime Corner Store fulfillment center and HQ will be closed on Monday October 12th for the Columbus Day holiday.

We'll be back on Tuesday the 13th to start processing the backlog, so please be a little more patient with us next week while we catch up.

Have a great holiday weekend everyone, and enjoy your Anime! :-)

Bandai January 2010 Releases Now Available for Pre-Order:

We have received the January 2010 release schedule from Bandai, and we now have those releases posted to the store site for pre-order:

Hayate the Combat Butler DVD Bundle #4 (2 Disks) (Eps #22-26)

In addition to the one pre-release, Bandai has also bumped the dates on the following releases (please don't blame me, I'm just the messenger):

Code Geass Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 DVD Bundle #2 (DVD #3-4) - Bumped 10/20 to 11/17
Code Geass Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 DVD Bundle #2 (Limited Edition) - 10/20 to 11/17
Gundam 00 , Vol #3 DVD (Eps #18-26) - Bumped from Nov 3 to Nov 17
Gundam 00 , Vol #3 DVD Special Edition (Eps #18-26) - Bumped from Nov 3 to Nov 17
Hayate the Combat Butler DVD Bundle #3 (2 Disks) (Eps #15-21) - Bumped from Nov 3 to Nov 17
My-Otome Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set (Eps #1-26) (Anime Legends) - Bumped from Oct 20 to Nov 17
Toward the Terra Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set (Anime Legends) - Bumped from Oct 6 to Nov 17

Bandai did not mention any changes for the release of Code Geass Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 DVD Bundle #3 which is still scheduled for Dec 1st (and it their only December release), but lets face it, considering how far #2 got pushed back the prospects for a pre-holiday release of the 3rd bundle is highly unlikely, so we've changed the date from Dec 1st to TBA as I'm fairly certain (meaning almost positive) this one will get bumped into next year.

I'm not going to make any comments regarding Bandai's business beyond that the release schedule speaks for itself. Bandai USA either has some brilliant master plan tucked away for their R1 Anime releases or they have decided they are not much interested in participating in the US market anymore in a meaningful way, but maybe that's just a sign of the times. One release a month is better than none.

More Upcoming Figures - Now Available for Pre-Order!

Even more upcoming figures are now available for Pre-Order. Here's what we've added this past week:

Fate/Unlimited Codes: Saber Lily 1/8 Scale PVC Figure
Hellsing Ultimate: Seras Victoria Kaitendoh Collection Resin Statue
Hellsing Ultimate: Seras Victoria 'Crimson Version' Kaitendoh Collection Resin Statue
Ikki Tousen: Kanu Unchou China Dress Sukesuke Damage 1/7 Scale PVC Figure
Ikki Tousen: Ryomou Shimei China Dress Sukesuke Damage 1/7 Scale PVC Figure
Little Busters: Kudryavka Noumi 1/8 Scale PVC Figure
Little Busters: Haruka Saigusa 1/7 Scale PVC Figure
Project Dynamite #002: Naked Star Baby Blue Version 1/5 Scale PVC Figure
Queen's Blade: Ekidona (Echidna) Veteran Mercenary 1/7 Scale PVC Figure
Shana: Flame Haze Shana Sweet Yellow Version 1/7 Scale PVC Figure

Proceed with Caution - There Be Dragons Here...

Earlier this week Funimation started streaming unedited episodes of Strike Witches, the notorious Pantsu Anime that I've talked about quite a few times this year on the blog (see my post Strike Witches Coming to America - Oh My!) and in our regular newsletter.

Strike Witches, however else you look at it, is essentially an Anime dedicated to lavishing attention on the naughty bits of 12 year old girls:



Just licensing this series was a pretty gutsy move on their part because unlike even straight up 'H' titles, there is just no way to get around how young the girls are vs. the situations they are portrayed in, so I've mostly wondered what levels of 'editing' Funimation would deem necessary to release this series here in R1. It clearly surprised me that Funi would stream uncut episodes right out of the gate. Monday when I read about it, I remarked around the office that Funi had a lot of balls to even try it, because they were clearly pushing the envelope (so to speak). Well, after 1 day they have backed off. ANN reports:

"The North American anime distributor Funimation has confirmed on Tuesday that it will release the Strike Witches anime series in its uncut form on DVD "

Earlier this week, Funimation had streamed the unedited version of anime episodes 3 and 4 on its website as well. However, Funimation said that "due to the mature content contained within the series Strike Witches and the feedback we received from some of our fans following its streaming launch, we have replaced the originally posted unedited episodes with their edited versions."

Funi is really towing a fine line with this one, and some of that feedback came from me. I would like to see an uncut DVD release of Strike Witches available to Anime fans, and I felt that the uncut streaming episodes would create too much controversy around the title and possibly hurt the prospects for a fully uncut and unedited home video version. Looks like Funi taken a second look as well, and I think they made a wise decision.

Note: Since the Iowa and Virginia cases, these sort of issues have been on my mind, thus, my train of thought here. Plus, I've been reading more and more things like this, so I think the implications of how some Anime material might be interpreted (if unfairly) by outsiders (non Anime fans) is worth discussing.