Today's acquisitions (3rd May 2014)

It's been a few weeks since I did one of these so here's what came in the post over the last few days. My wallet is already hurting from the effects of this weekend's Super Comic City event in Japan, too...

At the top of the first picture are the most recent issues of Monthly PASH! and Dengeki Girl's Style magazines, purchased because there was supposed to be a little coverage for Sengoku Basara: Judge End in each. Thankfully I wasn't expecting any actual news - the series only received a tiny space in each magazine. The coverage in PASH! was most interesting as it included a special message from 'animation producer' Itou Kouhei; he's been attached to Telecom Animation Film before and it's implied that he'll be working on the series. His comment went as follows:

"A highlight of the upcoming Sengoku Basara: Judge End will be that the anime combines new elements with the intense drama from the original game. There's Date Masamune and Sanada Yukimura, with the score they both want to settle, and then there's Tokugawa Ieyasu - who seeks to unify the country with the power of bonds - and Ishida Mitsunari, who has sworn to get revenge on Ieyasu. The feelings of these four men will cause many more warriors to become involved as they head towards Sekigahara. What kind of outcome will this magnificent drama hold? Since this is a series which both fans and first-time viewers can enjoy, please check it out."

Now that I have the magazines in my hand the anime feels closer than ever. It looks as though this month's anime magazines are going to be confirming more details properly - hurrah!

Dengeki Girls' Style came with a bonus smartphone pouch featuring Okita from Hakuouki. I'm not sure what I'll do with the garish blue/pink pouch even if he's my favourite character from the series...

The other six items are all US Blu-ray/DVD imports from Amazon USA. The package contained Lupin III: Bye Bye Lady Liberty, Magical Angel Creamy Mami part 1, Jormungand, AKB0048 Next Stage, Berserk: Golden Age Arc III - The Advent and the second half of Eureka Seven: AO. A nicely diverse selection of titles to keep me entertained on this bank holiday weekend.

The next picture shows the smaller items. Now that I've got a solution set up for light PC gaming it seemed sensible to pick up the first Dot Kareshi (We're 8-bit Lovers!) CD/game pack. It's becoming a little annoying to find these days, which could mean that it's heading out of print for the time being. It's been a while since I played a game which didn't involve death and sadness so it might provide a pleasant change of pace.

Joining it is the first of the new Diabolik Lovers 'Versus' CDs featuring Ayato and Laito. The content had been spoiled quite heavily for me by fan discussion before it arrived, but it was still worth every penny for over an hour of vampires and dummy head microphone recording. It came with a bromide of the two brothers and a randomly packed trading card of Subaru. Why do I keep getting Subaru goodies lately?

The last item is a freebie for ordering the two magazines above from Yesasia - a 'frosty candy mascot' strap featuring Ai from Uta No Prince-sama.

News roundup: More details about Sengoku Basara Magazine vol. 5, and more

It's approaching the end of the month, which means that we're finally getting confirmed information about some of the new Sengoku Basara publications from magazine announcements.

Contents listed for the next issue of Sengoku Basara Magazine

I mentioned the release date for Sengoku Basara Magazine Vol. 5 (Spring 2014) was going to be 27th June 2014 and we now have more details and a placeholder cover image via e-Capcom (which bewilderingly lists its release date as 15th June).

This issue's leading article will be about the upcoming Sengoku Basara: Judge End anime television series. Series producer Kobayashi Hiroyuki (KobaP) and series director Yamamoto Makoto (YamamotoD) will give an interview and there will be comments from the anime's main staff, who will presumably have been announced by that time via the media. The advertising copy promises that it won't be long before we know the full story about the anime (finally!).

To go with Motochika theme on the cover, rubber strap (preview picture found by @yukimurabo) and character profile, there will be an interview with seiyuu Ishino Ryuuzou and stage play actor Yagami Ren with pictures of the pair together.

As previously announced, the bonus CD will feature Ookawa Tooru (Tokugawa Ieyasu) and Seki Tomokazu (Ishida Mitsunari) and include one of the usual 'Basara Challenge' skits, this time with a 'sentai hero' theme. There will be three manga serialisations: Mame Sengoku Basara 4 (Shucchouban), Sengoku Basara 4: Bontenmaru-hen and Wan-Nyan Sengoku Basara.

There will also be articles about the joke weapons and 'fateful encounter' drama scenes in Sengoku Basara 4. A special interview with popular seiyuu Nakamura Yuuichi (Shima Sakon) will complete the Sengoku Basara 4 coverage.

At the moment the only website that I've seen taking international preorders for the 114-page magazine is Amazon Japan; other bookstores should start listing it very soon.

Sengoku Basara 4 mugs are on the way

The series of mugs which displays various characters' most famous lines of dialogue is now adding four new designs to the collection. Date Masamune, Ishida Mitsunari, Shibata Katsuie and Shima Sakon have all got new mugs on the way in late June 2014 priced at ¥1,200 each.

This series of mugs has always been very popular so I expect we'll see the range expanding in future to include more of the Sengoku Basara 4 cast. I imagine that my own collection will soon be expanding...

The Sengoku Basara ~Soul Revolution~ manga cover is revealed

Satta Naoto's one-shot manga adaptation of the Soul Revolution drama CD now has its cover artwork on display at e-Capcom.

It's scheduled for release at the end of May 2014 on the Dengeki Comics NEXT label.

Artists announced for the Sengoku Basara 4 Dengeki Comic Anthology

We finally have the list of contributors for this poorly-advertised anthology manga, which has had a variety of release dates and is now finally available from some stores.

Capcom's news feed posted a release announcement yesterday with what looks like the full list of contributing artists: Ashika Nozomu, Satsuki Yuu, Ishida Hayanori, Koutake Hiroyoshi, Sanjou Kiiro, Yamada Uiro, Horiguchi Leo, Shimesaba, Akaboshi Tatsumi, Nagao Uka, Tane Jugou, Katou Michiru, Yoshii Aki, Hakyu Shou, Mizusawa Michiru, Suzuka, Mizuno Sao and Ayamura Kirihito.

Most of the contributors have participated in previous Sengoku Basara manga anthologies so it will be great to see them drawing the new Sengoku Basara 4 characters!

Dengeki's event merchandise is now on sale

This is just a reminder that the special merchandise from Dengeki's Game No Dengeki Kanshasai 2014 event back in March is now available from the Dengekiya and e-Capcom websites in limited quantities. It may be necessary to use a deputy service to purchase if you don't have a Japanese shipping address; CD Japan or Otaku Republic should be able to help if you're not sure how to buy and don't mind paying the high fees.

News roundup: Butai Sengoku Basara 3: Togakuruwashi Kizuna debuts in Japan

There's a lot of news this time, so this is a rather long post.

First pictures from the new Butai Sengoku Basara stage play

Today was the first performance of the new Butai Sengoku Basara 3: Togakuruwashi Kizuna stage play! With a massive 22-member cast which brings back popular characters like the Maeda family and Kingo, the focus is on the tragic relationship between Ieyasu and Mitsunari, taking the Butai Sengoku Basara 3 series right back to its roots.

The press were invited to the dress rehearsal and there are already photo reports online on the Dengeki, Famitsu and 4Gamer websites. KobaP is reported to have said that he wants to give Tokugawa Ieyasu a 'push' in 2014 with this and the new anime project on the horizon.

There were also a number of the cheerful tweets from celebrities who attended the first day's performance. My favourites were the 'two shot' pictures of seiyuu next to their stage play counterparts: here's Ishino Ryuuzou and Nakahara Shigeru having some fun with the actors. Nakamura Seijirou (Mitsunari) broke the trend by posting a picture with Okiayu Ryoutarou (Hideyoshi) instead of Seki Tomokazu (Mitsunari).

I hope that the play is a big success, and that we can look forward to a possible Butai Sengoku Basara 4 before too much longer.

Edit: Gamer and Inside Games have added their picture reports as well.

More details about the new stage play goods are revealed

Sample pictures of the new merchandise available at the play's venues are now available. A few items were already shown in a previous update; here's the rest.

Seven different A4 mutsugiri photographs (¥1,000). The designs are: Ieyasu/Yukimura (played by Matsumura Ryuunosuke), Mitsunari/Yoshitsugu, Masamune/Kojuurou, Yukimura (played by Yoshioka Yuu)/Sasuke, Keiji/Toshiie/Matsu, Motochika/Motonari and Tenkai/Hideaki.

Twenty five-piece sets of large photographs (¥1,000).

Four clear files available in Ieyasu/Mitsunari, Masamune/Yukimura, Keiji/Kojuurou/Sasuke and Motochika/Motonari designs (¥600 each). Yoshioka Yuu will be the actor dressed as Yukimura for the clear file.

A 32-page A4 pamphlet (¥2,100). It's been reported that there was a printing problem with the pamphlet which has led to a delay; it won't be available until 28th April 2014. Fans who attend the earlier performances are able to preorder the pamphlet at the venue and have a copy posted to them once it's ready.

Mobile game Sengoku Basara Card Heroes Matsuri is shutting down

A quiet announcement on the official website has confirmed that the mobile game Sengoku Basara Card Heroes Matsuri will soon be joining its cousin Browser Sengoku Basara as a distant memory; it's to close down at 14:00 on 23rd June 2014. To soften the blow, a special in-game event will be held from 30th April with Echizen: Kitanoshou Castle as the theme to allow players to get their hands on some rare Sengoku Basara 4 cards. I hope they release all of the exclusive artwork used in the mobile game one day for those of us who didn't have the time to play it properly...

Sengoku Basara Magazine Vol.5 is dated for May

Eagle-eyed fans have spotted a placeholder listing on Amazon which gives the release date for the next volume of Sengoku Basara Magazine as 27th May 2014. Assuming that nothing changes, we should see more preorder listings appearing over the next few days.

Even more Mame Sengoku Basara merchandise is on the way

CafeReo is continuing its relentless attack on the wallets of fans across the world with yet another wave of Mame Sengoku Basara goods due in June and July. This is starting to become much too expensive, but at least these items are available through regular import shops such as Otaku Republic, Ami Ami and Amazon Japan. More international-friendly stores should be adding their preorder listings very soon.

Nine different Mame Sengoku Basara ballpoint pens (¥600 each).

A Mame Sengoku Basara book cover available in A5 (¥1,200) and bunko-5 (¥1,000) sizes.

A pair of Mame Sengoku Basara 'decoration jackets' for IC cards (¥500 each).

A new Mame Sengoku Basara mug (¥1,500).

Four different Mame Sengoku Basara Japanese-style teacups (¥1,000 each).

Sengoku Basara's Yukimura is to be honoured with a stage event and special tofu

The real-life Sanada Yukimura is famous for his strong ties to the Osaka area (which is not coincidentally also the site of Capcom's headquarters) and a historical exhibition about the real warrior is to be held over the Golden Week holiday period in Japan. The Tennouji Sanada Yukimura Fair is running a 'pre-event' celebration on 4th May 2014 in Tennouji Park, Osaka, and Sengoku Basara fans will have a few extra incentives to visit this time.

It's been confirmed that Sanada Yukimura's seiyuu Hoshi Souichirou will be making two sold-out appearances on stage with KobaP, and eccentric brand Otokomae Tofu will be running another tasty tie-in for fans of the series! The collaboration will be similar to the one at last year's Kyomaf fair, with a ¥300 set of chilled tofu, tsuyu sauce, an egg and seaweed. An exclusive 'manly' sumi-e illustration has been commissioned for the packaging.

Series producer KobaP will appear at May's Machi Asobi event

It wasn't so long ago that we were all getting excited about the Sengoku Basara 4 news from a previous Machi Asobi! There's no sign of any exclusive information this time, but fans who are in the Tokushima area might want to visit on 5th May 2014 for a special digital creator seminar starring Tales Of Xillia producer Baba Hideo, Gunslinger Stratos producer Kadoi Nobuki and Sengoku Basara 4 producer Kobayashi Hiroyuki (KobaP). It should be a very interesting discussion for those lucky enough to attend.

News roundup: A wave of Mame Sengoku Basara merchandise

The popular Mame Sengoku Basara trading figures are back

The CafeReo website revealed today that the well-received Mame Sengoku Basara Trading Figures from January 2014 are making a comeback in July, this time with new versions of Masamune and Mitsunari clad in their alternate Sengoku Basara 3 costumes!

The new set of nine figures will cost ¥5,850 (or ¥650 per blind-boxed individual figure) and it will appear on hobby websites very soon. The new set is officially titled Sengoku Basara Trading Figures: Mame Sengoku Basara PLUS.

...this is a cruel way to make us want to buy the entire set a second time just for two alternate figures, isn't it? I wish they'd made alternate versions for the other characters in the set as well.

CafeReo have also announced a pair of purse/handkerchief sets for Masamune and Mitsunari in July 2014, priced at ¥1,500 each.

An additional bonus item will be included in the Sengoku Basara Complete Box

There's been an update about the Sengoku Basara Complete Box anime Blu-ray collection: a pocket-sized version of the standard movie pamphlet for Sengoku Basara -The Last Party- will be included in the pack as an extra bonus for buyers.

Listings appear for the first volume of the Sengoku Basara 4 manga

Fans without access to Dengeki Maoh magazine can finally look forward to reading Yoshihara Motoki's Sengoku Basara 4 official manga adaptation in a few months. The first volume has been scheduled for 27th June 2014 under ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Comic NEXT label.

Mame Sengoku Basara goodies - and more Sengoku Basara 4 plushies are planned?

The cruel people at Gift are going to be selling three amazing Mame Sengoku Basara tote bags at May's Super Comic City doujinshi sokubaikai event for ¥1,500 apiece.

That's not all that they have planned - bigger pictures of the new range of ¥200 Mame Sengoku Basara tin badges which are being sold in six selected Animate stores from 10th May 2014 are available too.

In addition, there were also a pair of cushions on display at the special Gift Plushie Festival (Gift Nuigurumi Festival 3rd) event running at the moment, and Nanahashi's recent tumblr post drew attention to artwork for six future plushies: Yukimura, Sasuke, Mitsunari, Sakon, Motonari and Motochika. The source is tenky77's Weibo account and comes via the same event. Poor Katsuie...

Thoughts about Jooubachi No Oubou: Menou-hen

For those unfamiliar with Jooubachi No Oubou: Menou-hen, it's an adult PC game aimed at women about a female bee's journey to becoming the new queen of her hive. I know that I have a lot of male readers so if that description makes you uncomfortable please don't read my mini-review. I haven't included anything explicit in my summary but I'm going to be talking about the content of the game nonetheless.

There are spoilers below for all of the content in the game, including the endings.

Book review: Sengoku Basara 4: The Complete Guide

The 'review' part of this post will be brief as there's not a great deal to say about an official strategy guide. Sengoku Basara 4: The Complete Guide was published back on 22nd February 2014 by ASCII Media Works under the Dengeki label. It was priced at ¥1,800 and is still readily available from most online stores, including CD Japan, Amazon Japan, Yesasia Global and HMV Japan.

The book is thick at 400 pages and contains exhaustive lists of just about every possible piece of information a person could want to know about Sengoku Basara 4; it's much more detailed than V Jump's earlier Sengoku Basara 4 PS3 Edition: Sengoku Sousei Eiyuutan Dramatic Heroes Guide. If you can only buy one of the two and want a detailed resource to go with the game, I'd recommend this one. My first edition copy also included a Shibata Katsuie bookmark, which was a pleasant surprise! It seems that there are at least three bookmark designs available since commenter VegaManX4 received Sakon instead and I've seen talk of a Masamune design elsewhere. There's probably a Mitsunari bookmark available as well.

Another bonus comes in the form of six Mame Sengoku Basara 4-panel comics strips right at the end of the book. They're very simple gags which parody certain moves and scenes from the game; even though they're drawn more simply than the regular series, they're a welcome addition.

I can't even begin to fully summarise the new information contained in this book - and I wouldn't particularly want to annoy the publishers by trying - but there are some important details which I think that other fans would like to know. I'm going to make a few translated notes which might make it a little easier for people trying to track down all of the game's secrets through the language barrier.

First of all, some general facts.

• Kyougoku Maria's element is officially wind.
• Ashikaga Yoshiteru's is 'all of them'.
• Naoe Kanetsugu's element is 'invincible'... as is his attack power, movement speed, etc. His character profile is taped into the book after the official ones and it looks as though he added it himself.
• As many people have suspected, there are official 'tiers' for how strong each warrior is in a kengeki sword clash. Hideyoshi, Tadakatsu and Yoshiteru are all regarded as 'A' rank and the list extends down to Oichi, Tsuruhime and Kingo who are all considered 'F' rank. The higher tier characters win clashes more easily, deal more damage upon victory and gain significantly more of a boost to their Style Gauge.
• Although all weapons can be made equal in the end, each different weapon type is linked to specific inscriptions and statistics. For example, if you're looking for the 'Six Realms' inscription you should be looking for the blue 'Derivation' battles as much as possible and playing on Basara difficulty. It only ever appears on the characters' sixth weapons in Normal difficulty so it will be exceptionally hard to find it that way.
• The chance of success with the 'Change' inscription is greatly affected by the quality of the inscription you combine it with. Using it on the gold-coloured inscriptions means that you'll get a green-coloured inscription as a reward approximately half of the time (even when the gold-coloured inscription hasn't been upgraded to the 'Extreme' version).

The bulk of the new information is about the game's stages. The stage selection system in Sengoku Basara 4's Sengoku Creation mode has confused a number of people, so I think I'll try to explain how it works using my experience and the data in the book. I'll start with the basics.

• You will always be given a maximum of six stages to play through in Sengoku Creation mode.
• If your character is one of those with alternate routes, you'll be prompted to choose your Drama (blue/white scroll) or Anime route (red/white scroll) after the third battle.
• Unlike most stages in a normal ('Creation') route, the stages for Drama and Anime routes are predetermined.
• If you're looking for a particular stage, don't play one of its boss characters or the stage won't appear (obviously). It's best to play as someone from an enemy faction!
• The Outbreak (red) stages can either appear at random based on the actions of other armies or as a result of you ignoring the random Omen (purple) stages.
• The Omen (purple) battles which appear during your campaign will lead to specific encounters if you ignore them.
• Clearing certain stages can cause specific Derivation (blue) stages to appear afterwards. In some cases, a single stage can lead to a chain of up to three related battles.

With that out of the way, I'm going to present the next set of information in a huge list. We now have confirmation of how to achieve some of the more obscure special challenges on each stage - as well as the conditions for triggering the stages in the first place. It's more obvious in-game if you can understand Japanese since the battle reports announce the developments before each stage appears with a cutscene.

Today's acquisitions (17th April 2014)

Yay, the CD Japan goodies arrived! This delivery included Gakuen Basara: Gakuen Sousei-hen, Mame Sengoku Basara volume 4, Sengoku Basara 3 Bloody Angel volume 7, Sengoku Basara 4: The Complete Guide and Sengoku Basara 4: Official Complete Works.

The most striking I noticed when I opened the box was how huge Sengoku Basara 4: Official Complete Works is; it dominates the older volumes with its thickness. All of these books should keep me busy for a while.

I also received a small delivery from the folks at Otaku Republic after panicking when I saw that one of my favourite circles had unexpectedly produced a new Toyotomi army book that I hadn't ordered. There's a single Magi. doujinshi tucked in the corner as well, and the Otaku Republic staff kindly included a free Sengoku Basara -The Last Party- clear file as a gift. It's almost as though they know what my favourite series is...

The only Blu-ray in the picture is the Japanese Blu-ray release of the Puella Magi Madoka Magi: Hangyaku No Monogatari (Rebellion) movie. I can't remember why I ordered the Japanese set this time instead of going for Aniplex USA's version with its translated booklet; the exchange rates must have made it significantly cheaper at the time. The finish on the chipboard box and the storybook-style fold-out packaging is stunning; it's probably one of the loveliest digipaks I've seen.

Streaming: Spring 2014 anime first impressions

It seems that French service Wakanim hasn't licensed anything for this season so the UK is back down to three legal simulcast services: Crunchyroll, Daisuki and Animax UK, though calling Animax's delayed content 'simulcasts' is being rather generous and Daisuki is a waste of time for anyone outside the US. The only continuing show I'm following from the winter 2014 season is Nobunaga The Fool, so I have a lot of free slots in my schedule. Let's see what I'm going be watching (and blocked from) this time!

No prizes for guessing which shows I liked best

News roundup: More and more merchandise

There hasn't been much news lately other than endless merchandise announcements, and it's now at the point where I should summarise them before becoming overwhelmed! Here's what I'll probably be spending too much money on over the next few months...

The Sengoku Basara Complete Box anime bundle is planned for June 2014

To celebrate the upcoming Sengoku Basara: Judge End anime series, Capcom announced that the original anime will receive a deluxe Blu-ray rerelease. The Sengoku Basara Complete Box will go on sale on 18th June 2014 priced at ¥36,500.

The content is rather impressive.

• Sengoku Basara (the first season) on three Blu-ray discs (includes the OAV)
• Sengoku Basara II on three Blu-ray discs (includes the OAV)
• Sengoku Basara -The Last Party- on one Blu-ray disc
• Sengoku Basara FES. 2010 (Ao No Jin/Aka No Jin) - a seiyuu event - on two DVDs
• Sengoku Basara bonus DVD (prerelease event footage etc.)
• Sengoku Basara II bonus DVD (launch event footage etc.)
• Sengoku Basara/Sengoku Basara II bonus Blu-ray disc (the Mini Sengoku Basara episodes, ads, PVs etc.)
• Sengoku Basara -The Last Party- bonus Blu-ray disc (the theatrical Ashigaru Dance and the Mini Sengoku Basara 4-koma theatre)
• Sengoku Basara -The Last Party- bonus DVD disc ('making of' footage, various event footage including the opening day stage event)
• Sengoku Basara II bonus CDs (2 discs) incorporating the first six Variety Party CDs
• Sengoku Basara -The Last Party- bonus CD incorporating the seventh Variety Party CD and The Last Variety Party CD: Kaien! Shukuteki-tachi No Saigo No Variety Party!

Except for the digest clip which plays at the start, the movie will feature a Japanese audio track in Linear PCM 5.1 surround. The rest of the BD discs will contain Linear PCM stereo audio in Japanese for the main footage and audio commentaries, as well as Dolby Digital stereo and regular stereo. It is unlikely that this set will include any English subtitles or the dub - just like the previous DVD/Blu-ray releases, the specification only lists Japanese audio without subtitles.

In total there will be 17 discs in the set: 9 Blu-rays, 5 DVDs and 3 CDs. That equates to a runtime of around 1,368 minutes, or 22 hours and 48 minutes. The discs will be presented in two digipaks housed within an artbox.

There will also be a few exclusive bonuses unique to the Sengoku Basara Complete Box release.

• A three-sided artbox illustrated by the anime's character designer Ookubo Tooru.
• A mini-autograph sheet with a comment and signature from seiyuu Nakai Kazuya (it's a replica, not an original signature).
• Other bonuses are expected.

Note: The first season's Ashigaru Dance 4 Ver: Meibamen PV and the second season's Nippon Juudan SWORD SUMMIT videos will not be included. These were distributed on special limited edition DVDs which collectors could apply for once they'd purchased all of each season's single DVD releases.

The set can be ordered from CD Japan, Ami Ami, Yesasia, Amazon Japan, HMV Japan and any other reliable stockist. I'm not sure whether I need to own yet another copy of the anime...but I'll wait for them to announce any store-exclusive bonuses before deciding.

Print your own Sengoku Basara 4 bromides at convenience stores

Capcom have teamed up with convenience stores 7-Eleven, Lawson and Family Mart in Japan to offer printable bromides on the multifunction copying machines situated in branches across Japan. There will be a wide variety of designs; one for each of the 40 warriors in Sengoku Basara 4 as well as two pieces of image artwork. The price is ¥200 for a large bromide or ¥300 for an extra-large one. Pridas and Potako (large size only) provide the service via the copying machines' on-demand download features.

More upcoming merchandise: a quick roundup

The e-ma cough drops which were teased back at January's Sengoku Basara 4: Basara Matsuri 2014 ~Shinshun No Utage~ event have finally arrived in shops in Japan! There are four different Sengoku Basara 4 packaging designs to collect for the ¥189 'Giga Berry' blueberry and blackcurrant flavoured sweets. Japanese fans can also enter a prize draw to win special Sengoku Basara-related e-ma rewards.

There will also be a pair of Sengoku Basara 4 plushies for Date Masamune and Katakura Kojuurou. They'll be released in May 2014 at the rather expensive price of ¥3,000 each.

Next up is the Sengoku Basara 4 Bushou Can Badge Collection for release on 26th June 2014 at ¥7,200. There are 24 badges in total included in the set - one of the designs is secret.

Four collectible bag charms will arrive on 26th June 2014 priced at ¥1,200 each. There are designs for Date Masamune, Ishida Mitsunari, Shibata Katsuie and Shima Sakon.

The first goods are announced for the upcoming Butai Sengoku Basara stage play

There's less than a fortnight left now before the Butai Sengoku Basara 3: Togakuruwashi Kizuna stage play begins its run in Tokyo and the official website has published early details of the special merchandise that will be on offer to fans at the venue.

An original pouch (¥1,200):

A t-shirt available in S/M/L sizes (¥2,500):

The merchandise without any sample images includes a choice of twenty five-piece sets of large photographs (¥1,000) and a choice of A4 mutsugiri photographs (¥1,000). There are seven different designs to collect: Ieyasu/Yukimura (played by Matsumura Ryuunosuke), Mitsunari/Yoshitsugu, Masamune/Kojuurou, Yukimura (played by Yoshioka Yuu)/Sasuke, Keiji/Toshiie/Matsu, Motochika/Motonari and Tenkai/Hideaki.

The pictures are accompanied by an A4 pamphlet (¥2,100) and a selection of four clear files available in Ieyasu/Mitsunari, Masamune/Yukimura, Keiji/Kojuurou/Sasuke and Motochika/Motonari designs (¥600 each). Yoshioka Yuu will be the actor dressed as Yukimura for the clear file.

Regular updates have started on the stage play's official blog, so it feels as though the performances are getting closer every day.

The latest Sengoku Basara series manga news

It's been well-reported already that Itou Ryuu's ongoing Sengoku Basara 3 -Bloody Angel- manga has ended ended its serialisation this month. I guess that means that the eighth volume will be the last one. Since Itou has penned a few official Sengoku Basara 3 manga adaptations already I wonder if there'll be another new title in the 'Blood' series later on?

In happier news, we also finally have a sample of the cover artwork for the new Sengoku Basara 4 Dengeki Comic Anthology manga, now due for release on 8th May 2014 priced at ¥850. They promised that it would feature the new characters and it looks as though they meant it! I hope that the cover wraps around to show the rest of the newcomers on the back (and I also hope we'll get to see the full list of artists soon).

Last but not least, I'd recommend that manga fans keep an eye on Sengoku Basara 4 artist Yoshihara Motoki's twitter feed. There have been a lot of wonderful rough layouts and inked artwork posted recently!

Today's acquisitions (13th April 2014)

I was hoping my latest Sengoku Basara books from CD Japan would show up this week too so that I could combine them in a ridiculous mountain of new goodies. It was not to be.

I've started collecting the Jooubachi No Kanbinaru Kougou situation CDs starting with Ruby and Hakuou (I sort of regret the latter after playing his route in the game, but it's Hirakawa Daisuke and it was heavily discounted). My preorder of the Jooubachi No Oubou: Kaguya-hen game itself arrived as well, along with the two special tokuten CDs for Menou/Kaguya and Sumeragi. I should have plenty of bees to last me for a while now.

There's the usual Diabolik Lovers too, with the fifth volume of the anime on DVD complete with all of its goodies, two character song CDs, two old situation CDs and the theme song from Diabolik Lovers: More, Blood. There aren't any Laito or Kanato CDs because I already have them all.

Sengoku Basara Magazine CD: Showgeki Basara Talk! Vol. 2: Yukimura & Sasuke No Maki Special-ban and VocaRock Collection 5 feat. Hatsune Miku are the final two CDs in the picture. I bought the latter for the Yamishibai ending theme Kaikai Emaki; it's been fun finally hearing the full version.