That Brit Otaku

FMA Movie Double Pack and Tokyo Fish Attack Delayed

2012-08-18T15:16:00.000+01:00

Unfortunately, it is time for some sad news. Those of you that were looking forward to the releases of Tokyo Fish Attack and the Full Metal Alchemist Blu-Ray Movie Double Pack have now been delayed. Tokyo Fish Attack was due to be released this coming Monday, and the FMA Double Pack was due to be released on 3rd September.

New dates for these releases have already been announced, with Tokyo Fish Attack now being released on 3rd September, and the Blu-Ray Full Metal Alchemist movies are due to be released in 'December'.

Tokyo Fish Attack is based on the manga by Junji Ito. As you may have guessed by the title and cover, the sea is inhabited by Sharks with metal legs who then take to the land, specifically Tokyo, to attack Japan.

The Full Metal Alchemist movie double pack includes both The Conqueror of Shamballa and

The Sacred Star of Milos. The DVD release of these

movies is unaffected and will still be released on

the 3rd September.

UK Anime and Manga Releases - 20/08/2012 to 26/08/2012

2012-08-18T14:33:00.001+01:00

It's that time of the week again where we have a look at the releases coming to you this week.

I'm FINALLY getting back to completing this post on a weekend, and i feel bad that i have barely posted recently, so I'm going to try REALLY hard to get back to posting regularly like i used to.

Another bit of a lull in the releases again this week, but quite a major release coming out next week, but either way the constant drip-drip-drip of releases is better than no releases at all!

Anyway, here are the new releases this week:
UPDATE: Tokyo Fish Attack has actually been pushed back to 3rd September, additional blog post coming soon. (here)

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UK Anime & Manga Releases - 13/08/2012 to 19/08/2012

2012-08-12T18:13:00.000+01:00

It's that time of the week again where we have a look at the new releases coming to you this week!

I'm getting terrible at this blogging business, everytime i turn the laptop on to blog i end up watching a load of anime or studying (not exactly a bad way to spend the evening, but just shows my attention can be easily distracted). I will however try to always make sure I post this every week, as I like looking at all the new releases, and like passing on this information to everyone :)

Without further ado, here are the new releases this week:
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Dragon Ball Z Budokai HD Collection

2012-07-21T12:41:00.002+01:00

A big announcement for anyone who loved the old DBZ PS2 games (and thankfully not the 3D Tenkaichi games...), both Dragon Ball Z Budokai 1 and Dragon Ball Z Budokai 3 are being remastered into HD and put together on a single disc, called Dragon Ball Z HD Collection. Oddly, there is an obvious lack of DBZ Budokai 2, but the developers at Namco Bandai had said that these 2 games were the 'fan favourites' of the series and were therefore the only ones remade into HD.

The games are due to be released on both the Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360 this Winter in both the European and American markets. Thankfully, for the trophy/achievement hunters amongst you (you know who you are!) the game will support both of these reward systems. I personally hope there are a few trophies for the power struggles, as that was one of my favourite additions to DBZ Budokai 3.

Finally, for your enjoyment here is the announcement video from Gamespot, which includes quite a few fan-questions, along with a Goku vs Gohan battle between the developers at the end!

UK Anime & Manga Releases - 16th July 2012 to 22nd July 2012

2012-07-16T20:47:00.000+01:00

Hello again friends!! Apologies for the LONG hiatus, but between moving house and not having the internet changed over for a good few weeks I have barely had the time to blog recently, but at least now that things have calmed down a little i can get back in to blogging again!

And why not start off again with a 'weekly releases' post, one of my favourite posts and generally one of the most read posts on this blog.

Only two anime releases this week, but they are some fairly big releases. On the manga side of the releases we have quite a large amount of reading material this week, which also includes a couple of the more popular series' for the Shonen Jump fans out there.

Without further ado, here are this weeks new releases:

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UK Anime & Manga Releases - 11/06/2012 to 17/06/2012

2012-06-10T09:04:00.003+01:00

It's that time of the week again where we have a look at all the new releases coming to you in the following week.

Once again, there are only a couple of anime releases this week, one of those being a 'complete collection' release and the other being a movie release. Other than that, quite a large amount of manga coming out this week, so plenty to read once again!

Without further ado, here are the new releases for this week:

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Dragon Ball Z Kinect Trailer

2012-06-07T23:03:00.002+01:00

"Finally, a blog post" I hear you say, and this is one blog post that I really cannot show any enthusiasm for as I personally think it looks ridiculous, but I would love to hear your opinions on the subject.

A trailer has been posted for the Xbox 360 exclusive Dragon Ball Z Kinect game, due to be released in October in both Europe and North America. You control the game with your body movements, throwing punches and holding a guard being the main two motions shown in the trailer, but disappointly does not show how to throw a Kamehameha...

Here is the trailer, then followed by my opinion on the game:

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UK Anime & Manga Releases - 04/06/2012 to 10/06/2012

2012-06-04T17:33:00.002+01:00

Once again, I am SOOOO sorry for not posting as regularly as normal at the moment, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel as the repairs appear to have been completed on our laptop so I should be back to normal once we get it back (it should be delivered to the store on Wednesday).

Anyway....

It's that time of the week again where we have a look at the new releases coming to you this week.

It's another Shonen Jump fan week again, with two big releases coming from one of the biggest series' in that publication, and is also one that I need to start collecting along with the manga (i already have the first 3 volumes in one book, just waiting for the next one to be delivered).

Without further ado, here are the new releases for this week:

ANIME
Monday 4th June
Naruto Shippuden - Box Set 9
Naruto Shippuden - Complete Series 2 Box Set

MANGA
Tuesday 5th June
Alice in the Country of Clover: Bloody Twins
Bloody Monday - Vol.6
Kitchen Princess Omnibus - Vol.1
Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan - Vol.9
Pokemon Adventures - Diamond and Pearl/Platinum - Vol.5
Slam Dunk - Vol.22
Thursday 7th June
Oresama Teacher - Vol.8
Friday 8th June
Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service - Vol.12
Saturday 9th June
Dance in the Vampire Bund - Vol.12

My Laptop Is Out Of Commission :-(

2012-05-30T07:21:00.001+01:00

Just a quick update to let you all know that my blog posts may be coming out a lot slower than usual (i know I haven't been as good at posting them regularly recently, but I was about to improve that...) as my laptop is currently getting fixed :-(

It had been a little bit slower recently, and then the dreaded HP error code of (90b) reared its ugly head, meaning a fan had broken and it was warning me it will get a lot hotter than usual and probably melt in to an indistinguishable puddle of plastic if I carried on using it...

So we carried on using it.... Well I thought it wouldn't be a problem as it has 2 or 3 fans so surely the others would have takeb over and everything would be fine. That theory actually proved to be correct until my wife decided to stream a film on it and it shut itself down during the film, she panicked and asked me what was happening and a new error message appeared saying 'i took over and shut down the laptop, I don't care what you were doing, do you want a puddle of plastic on your sofa? I thought not...'

Long story short, it was still under the manufacturers warranty so I took it in to get repaired and should have it back in about 2 weeks. In the meantime I will be blogging from my phone (at least this shouldn't overheat...) so bear with me!

UK Anime & Manga Releases - 28/05/2012 to 03/06/2012

2012-05-28T21:42:00.001+01:00

(Apart from being one day late) It's that time of the week again where we have a look at the new releases coming to you this week. Sorry for not putting this up over the weekend, I had to take our laptop in to get it repaired so I shall be attempting to post from my phone for the next week or two.

Quite a few releases this week, with quite an even spread of anime and manga releases. Although the releases that will overshadow everything else are the Bleach anime movies, all released today.

Without further ado, here are this weeks releases:

ANIME
Monday 28th May
Baka and Test: Summon the Beast - Complete Series 1
Clannad - Series 1 vol.1
Bleach Movies (1st, 2nd and 3rd)

MANGA
Tuesday 29th May
Fairy Tail - vol.19
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - vol.5
Puella Magi Madoka Magica - vol.1
Soul Eater - vol.9
Sumomomo, Momomo - vol.12
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - vol.12

UK Anime & Manga Releases - 21/05/2012 to 27/05/2012

2012-05-19T16:04:00.000+01:00

It's that time of the week again where we have a look at the new releases coming to you this week.

We have a couple of new anime releases due on Monday, one of these being an OVA 'spin-off' from one my favourite anime movies (the film is one of those that tends to be the first bite of the anime pie for a lot of people) which I have yet to see, but as I have already seen the other spin-off I may have to pick this up!

On the manga front there are few big Shonen Jump releases, and outside of those there is a huge stack of new manga coming at you early in the week again, so get ready for some serious reading time!

Without further ado, here are this weeks releases:
Read more »

Pokemon Black and White - Darkrai Event Now Live

2012-05-18T11:53:00.002+01:00

For those of you still playing either Pokemon Black or Pokemon White on the Nintendo DS a new treat arrived a little earlier in the month for you, the legendary pokemon Darkrai.

Darkrai is available via the Mystery Gift option on the main menu, the same as all previous legendary pokemon on the games, and once received you will need to speak to the delivery man in the Pokemon Centre to receive it. The Darkrai in question comes to you at level 50 with the Bad Dreams ability. The moves list it will have are: Dark Void, Ominous Wind, Faint Attack, Nightmare.

Be sure to get Darkrai before he disappears, as the event is only running between the 9th May and the 10th June.

NEO Magazine 98 out Today!

2012-05-17T10:27:00.003+01:00

UK Anime, Manga and all-round Japan filled magazine NEO is out today in all good magazine stockists (or in your post box/on your doormat if you subscribe to them). This months magazine features all the articles you would expect, but a large section of the space including the cover is filled with one of the most popular anime series to ever hit these Western shores:

That's right, Dragon Ball Z! The entire first series is due to release in July and NEO are giving their readers who are unaware just who Goku is, or what the heck a Kamehameha is either, the low-down on all the characters, backstories and the related series' and movies.

NEO magazine is on sale today for £4.25

BFI Southbank - 3 Day Anime Film Fest in June

2012-05-13T13:52:00.002+01:00

The BFI Southbank in London (quite close to Waterloo Station) have announced they will be holding a 3 day anime film festival on the weekend of 8th - 10th June. They will be showing 8 different films over the weekend, 2 on Friday evening, and with 3 films being shown on both Saturday and Sunday. For more information on all of the films on show have a look at their website here.

The films on show will be:

Friday 8th June
From Up On Poppy Hill - 6pm
Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos - 8pm (Followed by Q&A with the Director & Producer)

Saturday 9th June
Oblivion Island - 4pm
Children Who Chase Lost Voices From Deep Below - 6.30pm
Gintama: The Movie - 9pm

Sunday 10th June
A Letter to Momo - 4pm
The Princess and the Pilot - 6.30pm
Akira - 8.40pm

Tickets for this event are already on sale, they went on sale on the 8th May to the general public and the 1st May for all BFI members. All contact details are available on the BFI website.

Tickets will become available to the general public on Tuesday May 8. Members of the BFI will be able to book a week earlier on Tuesday May 1 (at 11.30 a.m.).

UK Anime & Manga Releases - 14/05/2012 to 20/05/2012

2012-05-13T12:43:00.001+01:00

It's that time of the week again where we have a look at the new releases coming to you this week.

A big release for those of you upset by the end of long-running Shonen Jump series Bleach, as the second part of the eighth series is coming to you tomorrow.
Other than that, it is quite a quiet week this week, with only 3 releases due tomorrow, two of which are manga and the last being the aforementioned Bleach.

Without further ado, here are the new releases:

Read more »

UK Anime & Manga Releases - 07/05/2012 to 13/05/2012

2012-05-07T10:42:00.001+01:00

Sorry for the delay again this week, we are in the process of moving house so we have spent the weekend just gone packing up the majority of our belongings ready for the move date (which should be the end of this week, or some point next week depending when the solicitors decide what they are doing...)

Anyway.... It's time to have a look at the new releases coming to you this week.

Another slightly quiet week this week, but we do have one full series release again this week (albeit, the only anime release this week). Couple that with a few manga releases and you have the entirety of the new releases.
(EDIT: I've just had a quick look at next weeks releases, and there is quite a big one coming then!)

Here they are for your reading pleasure:
Read more »

Japanese Studies - 1st and 2nd May

2012-05-03T06:46:00.001+01:00

I really wish I would post more often about my Japanese language studies, I just never seem to have the laptop for long enough before my wife steals it back, so this post is coming to you from the Blogger android app instead! (i apologise in advance for any spelling mistakes, I am now at the mercy of autocorrect on a touchscreen Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray)

I've finally started to get back in to studying on a daily basis, which I haven't successfully managed to do for a few months now. The amount of study I have completed has not been anywhere near it should be for a 'serious' self-studying student (try saying that a few times quickly :-P) which is something I am still working on.

However, only yesterday I installed the AnkiDroid app on my phone and can now use the anki JLPT cards that some kind people have uploaded, and this is already proving a brilliant alternative to standard notebook based revision.

Anyway, back to the studies, 2 lessons completed today (with maybe one more crammed in before I go to sleep tonight), one being a continuation of a previous dialogue about Japanese voicemail systems, and the second teaching a valuable grammatical lesson of how to say "please do not".
As I cannot really check everything on this phone that easily I shall end the description here and leave you with the pictures of my studies:

UK Anime & Manga Releases - 30/04/2012 to 06/05/2012

2012-04-30T21:05:00.000+01:00

Wow, I apologise for not posting this on the weekend, I was having far too much of a lazy weekend....

Anyway, It's that time of the week again where we have a look at the new releases coming to you this week.

Thankfully I was reminded that I needed to post this today as there is one big anime release this week that I shall be buying as soon as I get paid again, as I must admit I am quite a K-ON! fanboy! Along with this there is a mountain of manga for you to sink your teeth in to this week, so enjoy it!

Without further ado, here are the new releases:

ANIME
Monday 30th April
K-ON! Complete First Series (4-Disc)

MANGA
Tuesday 1st May
20th Century Boys - Vol.19
Gantz - Vol.22
Natsume's Book of Friends - Vol.11
Sailor Moon - Vol.5
Wednesday 2nd May
Ai Ore! - Vol.5
Case Closed - Vol.41
Fluffy, Fluffy Cinnamoroll - Vol.3
Kimi no Todoke: From Me to You - Vol.12
Oresama Teacher - Vol.6
MM9 (Novel)
Thursday 3rd May
No Longer Human - Vol.3

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood - Complete Series Release

2012-04-27T21:40:00.003+01:00

UK anime distribution company Manga Entertainment recently tweeted that a 10-disc, full collection of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is due to be released at the end of August this year. The series has already been released as 5 seperate DVD's, containing all 64 episodes, but for those who didn't pick them up (myself included) this looks like a much better purchase.

Another point to mention, also from Manga Entertainment's twitter profile, is that they have not yet obtained the rights to the OVA's of the series, but as soon as they do get the offer then we will FINALLY get to see them on UK shores.

J-Metal Spotlight: Crossfaith

2012-04-24T21:44:00.001+01:00

It's weird just how quickly you can become obsessed with a band, and this happened to me in the space of about 10hours yesterday with the band Crossfaith. I was reading the most recent copy of NEO Magazine on my lunch break at work and stumbled upon their interview with the Japanese Hardcore Metal band Crossfaith. I personally hadn't ever heard of them, and a quick look online says they formed in November 2006 and their first album was released in October 2009, so they are relatively new to the scene which may explain this. Whilst reading the article something just cliked in me that said 'you have to listen to this band right now and find out how they sound'. It may of had something to do with the article mentioning that they are influenced by Western Metal bands Killswitch Engage and Atreyu. I had a quick youtube search and found their track Snake Code (Caribbean Death Roulette), a song mentioned in the interview, and was instantly hooked. So much so that I even bought their album The Dream, The Space yesterday evening after only knowing the band for around 8hours.

Read more »

UK Anime & Manga Releases - 23/04/2012 to 29/04/2012

2012-04-21T21:15:00.001+01:00

It's that time of the week again where we have a look at the new releases coming to you this week.

Unfortunately it appears there are no new anime releases this week, but the manga releases should make up for that as there are quite a lot of them. Hopefully there will be a few there to keep you going until next week!

Without further ado here are this weeks new releases:

MANGA
Tuesday 24th April
Bakuman - vol.10
Black Butler - vol.9
Black God - vol.16
Durarara!! - vol.2
Highschool of the Dead - vol.6
Higurashi - When They Cry: Atonement Arc - vol.4
Negima! - vol.34
Rosario + Vampire: Season 2 - vol.8
The Betrayal Knows My Name - vol.3
Tokyo Mew Mew Omnibus - vol.3

Thursday 26th April
Bleach - vol.39
Blue Exorcist - vol.7
Toriko - vol.9

ThatBritOtaku Networking Details Updated

2012-04-18T18:49:00.001+01:00

After toying with the idea for a couple of weeks I finally decided to take the plunge today and create a dedicated email address for That Brit Otaku so that I can more easily see the messages i receive from everyone on here, twitter and Google+ as they were starting to take up a LOT of space on my personal email account.

The site maintenance this evening was to transfer the blog from my personal email account to the new email account, and I have also created a Google+ 'fanpage' that is not linked to my personal email address either. This way I can keep things seperate and make it easier for me to connect with people. Also, if the opportunity ever arose, it would make it easier for me to let people guest write on this blog or for me to guest write on other people's blogs.

The new contact details for me (which will have a dedicated page soon) are:

Email: thatbritotaku@gmail.com
Twitter: @ThatBritOtaku
Google+: Profile (the link for this is RIDICULOUSLY long, hence only the word 'profile' lol)

Thank you for your support and continued returns to my blog, I love seeing all the varied people who read my blog from all over the world and hope my new contact details make it easier for you all to speak to me :)

Twin Sword Trading Prints

2012-04-17T22:41:00.001+01:00

It's not very often that I get a surprise when I come home from work, but in the middle of last week I actually did. A couple of mine and my wife's friends had sent us a few prints that they have started creating and selling under the banner of Twin Sword Trading (Official Website). It all started in March 2012 and has already proved quite popular in such a short time, and will even be attending the London Film & Comic Con in July.

All of the prints that we received are standard 6x4 photograph size but the artists, Lewis Terry and Ian Terry, state on their site that if you would like a different size just to send them a request and they should be able to accomodate you.

These are the 5 prints that we received, 4 of which aimed more at me as they are the Japanese styled prints, whereas the fifth print in the bottom right of Spike (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) is for my wife as she has quite a thing for him!!

Hello From Japan

Suzume at the Crossroads

Lucky Kitty (or 'Maneki Neko' to us Japanese students!)

The Fate of the SS Anne (Pokemon Red FTW!!)

Spike (James Marsters)

All of the prints are very high quality and all priced at £3.50 each, but they are currently running a promotion where if you buy two prints you get the third free by using the code '2FOR1' so if you want to take advantage of this you had better get in quick before the promotion ends!!

As mentioned above you can purchase all of the prints, and have a look at the new prints due to be available, on the official website or check out their twitter account @TwinSwordTrades. Also a quick mention to Lewis's fiance Kayleigh who runs a popular computer game blog called 8 Bit Girl or her twitter account @8_bitgirl and I would like to thank the pair of them for sending me the prints, I just apologise for not putting the pictures on my blog sooner :S

Japanese Studies - 17/04/2012

2012-04-17T22:04:00.001+01:00

I can't believe just how long it has been since I last posted about my Japanese studies! Although, it does have quite a lot to do with me not studying anywhere near as much as I usually do.

One of the main reasons that my Japanese studies almost stopped was due to my most recent Tae Kwon Do grading, which I managed to pass with an A grade for my efforts, but I had been cramming all of the phrases prior to the grading for at least 2 weeks. As a result of all this cramming I had barely any time for Japanese studies, and the time I did have to my studies were just for revision to make sure I didn't forget anything when I did start studying again.

Anyway, enough with the backstory, I finally completed a new lesson today. The lesson was another Japanesepod101.com podcast, with the lesson being about the Japanese voicemail services and the options that you would face if you ever left a voicemail message for anyone.
All of the phrases in today's lesson were new to me, so I may have to go over it again today or tomorrow just to keep everything in my memory, but I know that I would be using a few of the words again in the future (like connection, within or message) so would no doubt remember them quite easily.

Without further ado, here are my notes of today's lesson:

Pokemon Black and White 2 Gameplay Trailer Released

2012-04-15T09:43:00.003+01:00

As most of you may know by now, I am a bit of a Pokemon fan. I've been playing ever since Pokemon Red when I had just entered secondary school (around the age of 11 for those who use a different school system from the UK) and instantly fell in love with it. However, the new games Pokemon Black and White 2 didn't appear to be doing it for me and I thought I had finally 'grown up' and lost my love for the game.... until I saw the new gameplay trailer.

There were a few details released earlier in the week in CoroCoro magazine that showed a few of the new additions (new legendary pokemon, new trainers, new rival, new professor, new gym leaders etc). The game still takes place in the Unova region, the same as Pokemon Black and White, but the game starts in the new Hiougi City. The new professor of the game is Professor Akuroma, who wants to do some research on Pokemon strength. This is obviously just a precursor to you Catching 'em All though, as it has been in all the games before it.

Here is the gameplay trailer for the new games:

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