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And welcome to number 18 of the weekly shopping blog, and do you know what is so special about this week? This week will be the start of something new I want to try out, or rather, change a few things around.
Like for example, the price of the product will now have it's own little section right above the "Do I Recommend It?" section, so that the reviews will be a little easier to flow through (And due to my having to forget to include the price). Also I'm going to try to highlight something each product features, like something noteworthy about the item, and not just say the same thing I said about them last blog when I buy new additions to series, especially manga.
Anyway, this is a fairly average week, four items with two of them being anime movies and the other two being graphic novels.

ANIME: This week I decided to go a little easy on my wallet, with stuff from Funimation and a first from Sony Pictures to showcase.

First up was something that, at first was rather easy to come by in brick and mortar stores, months later it has now become a little hard to look for when you don't want to shop online (Like I do), Trigun: Badlands Rumble, released by Funimation.


If there's one thing Funimation wants you to know about Trigun, it's that Vash eats donuts, and there's 90 minutes of donut eating action according to the side cover and back cover. But joking aside, this a rather ordinary release by Funimation, granted it comes with a slip cover (Though my copy didn't have one because I bought mine used and I'll get to that in a bit) and even a reversible cover (Something that almost all SAVE edition dvd sets have), this is still pretty standard, and that's cool, as long as it's no recycled case, I'm totally fine (Which would have urked me quite badly if Funimation pulled that kind of thing with something as big as this).
Though, for extras, it comes with an entire dvd full of them ranging from promotional videos and cast interviews to even recorded premieres and footage from anime expo 2009. So you'll definitely get your money'e worth here.
Price: For myself, I got mine used for only $7.99, which is about the cheapest I've seen for this set. Full retail is $29.98, which honestly isn't bad at all especially for all the extras you get and little perks, but the usual price I found it for (At amazon) is $14.99, which at that price it's kind of a steal.
Do I Recommend It? Personally, I grew tired of Trigun by episode 7 when the comedy elements started to fade away and the emo-ish overtones came in, but it is said that the movie takes place in the earlier Trigun episodes and with the price I got it for, even someone like me can get into this, for Trigun fans you guys already have this movie (Since it really was kinda hard to look for) so why recommend it?
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Next is something I never got into and regret it for not doing so, Satoshi Kon, with the exception of Paranoia Agent, I have never seen any of his work so I thought, why not start with one of the most famous ones, Paprika, released by Sony Pictures.


I almost wish I was doing a review of the actual movie itself because quite frankly, there's not much to talk about. Like with Trigun, Paprika is in a very standard dvd case, which again there isn't anything bad about at all, just that there's not much to talk about. Extras include a documentary, commentary, and several others regarding a "dream", which I wouldn't since I haven't watched it yet.
Price: For a somewhat barebones release, $10.99, the price I got it for new, is great. Online has it for $11.99, but knowing that there's a shipping fee to pay as well makes this movie to look in stores for instead, while I've seen it used for $5.95, which if you are planning to go cheap, then I guess that's okay too.
Do I Recommend It? If you haven't got a copy yet, then grab the blu ray version instead for the sake of it being on blu ray (Which I would have done so, but I didn't think it would have gotten one, silly me). I'm busy reading the praise it's getting on the dvd case itself so I'm looking forward to watching it.
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MANGA: This week is all Yen Press, and this where the new part comes in, the Features, what would make the manga a worth while check out.

First up this week is the series that holds one the angriest anime characters of all time, DRRR!! (Durarara!!) volume 2, released by Yen Press.


If I said this a normal manga, then I would be right, average size, decent quality of paper, etc, etc. Though it doesn't have that particular feel that the first volume had, like Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei feels, so there's a little inconsistency but not enough to knock it down for.
Noteworthy Feature: The manga actually goes into some of the minor characters, specifically the otakus Walker Yumasaki and Erika Karisawa. They have an incredible moment where they're trying to decide how to torture someone with a manga theme to it. You get to see series like Darker Than Black and Bludgeoning Angel Dokoro-chan, but ultimately they decide on Black Butler and I'll yet you sink that in on your own.
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Next up... Holey shit, Higurashi When They Cry: Atonement Arc, volume 4 series volume 18, released by Yen Press.


Umm, you know what? Durarara is an average sized manga, about 178 pages, Higurashi volume 18 is 290 pages... The biggest single volume I've seen so far... Here's a picture of Higurashi and Durarara just for comparison.


The best thing about it? The Price remains the same: $11.99. How's that for a noteworthy feature!

OVERALL: Finding movies for cheap and realizing that Yen Press doesn't care for size when it comes to price is great.

I want to give it higher than a B+, but I feel I'm over blowing something that isn't as amazing unless you see in real life.

Next time, eh? Who knows, but I need to finally buy something that reflects my love for a series, it's the only anime in my top 5 I do not own.