The Conqueror of Shamballa is a must see for FMA fans. Without going too much details, the movie pretty much takes place 2 years after where the TV series had ended. I personally liked it, but the movie kind had some mixed reviews.

Here's the detail of the limited edition from RightStuf and strangely it has the release date for Sept. 26th:
- The limited edition comes with a 64-Page hardback book, ten 5x7 portrait cards, and a bonus DVD with extras.
- DVD Features: "The Making of Fullmetal Alchemist: The Movie."
- Bonus DVD Features: 54 Minute Interview with Japanese Cast and Crew, 3 Audio Commentaries, 2 Japanese Staff Commentaries, US Staff Commentary, Extended Trailer.
- Spoken Languages: English, Japanese, English subtitles.

For those who shop at your local Best Buy, the buy any 2 volumes of FullMetal Alchemist and get $5 off is also applicable in stores as well (Exp. 7/8/06).


Sidenote: I picked up Gantz Season 2 Collection today @ Best Buy for $30 (10% off coupon + more leftover gift card).

Some interesting newsbits from Anime Expo 2006, Source: ANN

News from Geneon
- "Hellsing Ultimate,...According to Geneon, all the original voice talent from the previous dub will be back, including [Crispin] Freeman as Alucard, K.T. Gray as Seras, Victoria Harwood as Integra and Ralph Lister as Walter. Hellsing Ultimate is currently scheduled for release on December 5."
- Zipang's first volume will be released Sep. 5.
- Ergo Proxy's first volume will be released Nov. 21.
- Black Lagoon is scheduled for release in 2007.
- Paradise Kiss is acquired by Geneon however no release date has been given.

News from Funimation
- FullMetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa will be released in select theaters on Sep. 8 and DVD on Sep 12.
- The 7th volume of Samurai 7 will come with an optional artbox to hold the rest of the series.
- Recent acquitions: Tsubasa, the XXXHolic movie, Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad, Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid, and Black Cat.
- Other acquitions: Solty Rei, Glass Fleet, and Witchblade.

News from ADV
- "ADV also confirmed that it will be handling the actual production of Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid. Funimation will will only handle marketing of the series. This will allow the entire original cast to reprise their roles."
- ADV acquires Nerima Daikon Brothers and Pani Poni Dash!
- ADV Films has announced that they will be relesing the GUYVER: The Bioboosted Armor TV series

News from Bandai
- Bandai has acquired and will be releasing Karakuri Kiden Hiwou Senki, the 3 Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam: A New Translation movies, and .hack//Roots.

oh SCORE on .hack//Roots coming to the states, i was kind of afraid it wouldnt. Its a great show.

anyway i got my Outlaw Star box in from Buyrite today. I never thought id own that set at that price.

Yaeh, I called them twice about my orders and now sort of feel like an asshole (even though I never acted like one). My S-Cry-Ed set came in today and the outer shipping box looks kind of beaten up, but I could care less if the packaging to my set is a bit out of shape. At $10 and a price mistake you simply can't go wrong. I'll open it up later, but BuyriteDVD, you have my praise and gratitude and I can tell you that if you guys continue to put up awesome prices and deals like this, then my money will be quickly vanishing to you. Keep up the good work and deals.

Again I wish there was some way to edit posts. Anyway, about the calling, it was in reference to a CAG thread, but I posted here as well and what I meant is that I feel like I heckled them a bit as all I was was worried about my order.

There should be an edit box in the lower right hand corner[next to the "Quote" box] of the post that you want to edit. Just place your cursor on the Edit box and click. You should now be able to edit that particular post.:)

Unless of course firefox is what he is using, that pop up blocker takes out the edit button. Never even noticed it until one day I needed to edit

Has Bandai Visuals license for Gunbuster not been confirmed yet?

I don't believe it has been confirmed yet! The licenses for (Manga Entertainment) Guyver (OAV), Fist of the North Star (TV), Patlabor 1: The Movie, Patlabor 2: The Movie, New Dominion Tank Police, Red Hawk, Dark Myth, Black Magic M-66, Wings of Honneamise, and Gunbuster had expired this past January. Since then only the two Patlabor movies have already been announced as being released by Bandai Visual.

Thanks for the news, WTK. Excited about Beck finally getting licensed over here. I'm not really sure if I should update with the news, though, since this is the bargains thread... The second post is pretty long as is. The information is appreciated, really. Maybe next month we should have a third post dedicated to little tidbits and such.

People have told that to me before on DVDtalk, but I just don't get that or the quote box to come up for some reason. I really don't know why.

Yaeh, I am using Firefox so maybe that is what is happening. Any idea how to change it so it doesn't or do I have to open up the Firefox hood and start seeing what I can do.

I also use Mozilla Firefox, Version 1.5.0.4, but I have no problems editing my own posts. The pop-up blocker isn't an issue for me either. There should be three buttons on the lower bottom of each of your own posts. They should be "Edit," "Quote," and "Quick Reply."

Some more interesting newsbits from Anime Expo 2006:

News from Bandai:
- 1st volume of Karakuri Kiden Hiwou Senki is set to be released Sep 12, 2nd in Nov 14, and 3rd in Jan 2.
- "Bandai Entertainment has acquired the rights to two of the OVA series: Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - The Laughing Man and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Individual Eleven. They also announced the license for the movie placed in the Stand Alone Complex universe, Ghost in the Shell – Solid State Society."
- "Bandai has acquired the license to the 26-episode anime series .hack//Roots... The series is being pushed for TV at the end of 2006 and DVD in 2007."
- Licensing of live-action Cutey Honey movie.

now THAT could be interesting! lol.

A quick heads-up. A member over at AOD posted that ADV were handing out $5 off coupons for any of their titles at Best Buy during the Anime Expo. The coupon expires on July 31. He said that he would post a scan of the coupon a little later. I'll keep an eye on the thread over there and once he posts a scan of the coupon, I'll post it here. BB typically sells ADV singles for $19.99, so the coupon will come in quite handy for anyone that needs to fill in gaps of a series. It's also a good deal for some of their cheaper thinpaks. I plan on using it on Wedding Peach Season 1 for $16.99.:)

Would BB even accept a scanned (printed) version of a coupon?

I have personally used printed RZ coupons at my local Best Buy without any problems. Any coupons that look phony, unclear, or don't scan may be another story.

Seen it. It's pretty funny - lots of bright colors, goofy enemies and good fan service too. I seem to remember one scene where she can't do her "cutey honey" prest-o-change-o to super-heroine mode and is running around town half-naked trying to eat enough food to build up the energy to do the change.

Is this something beyond the two seasons of SAC, or does it mean those DVDs are going to go OOP rsn and eventually be re-issued by Bandai for a whole lot more money?

Well, OVA series are different than the TV series.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OVA

Yeah thats weird, i had never heard of there being OVAs for SAC but hey, more GITS is more than fine by me

Bandai Visual have confirmed they do infact have the licenses for 'Gunbuster' and 'Wings of Rean'. (Check AOD forum for further info)

I don't believe the regular seasons will be going OOP any time soon. It's probably a little too soon for Bandai to be be reissuing the TV series since they are still releasing the 2nd GIG. The OVAs and the movie are long enough length-wise to be their own releases. So for the time being, it's more likely that Bandai will release the OVAs and the movie separately from the TV series.

GITS: SAC - The Laughing Man correlates to the 1st season. GITS: SAC - Individual Eleven correlate to the 2nd season (2nd GIG). I'm sure both OVAs will have parts recycled from the TV series mixed in with some new ones. As for GITS: SAC - Solid State Society, it's supposed to be a GITS: SAC based movie that takes place after the 2nd GIG. After seeing the video clip for the Solid State Society it makes me think that they are using recyled materials from both seasons in the movie.

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - The Laughing Man (OAV)
- This is a compilation of Laughing Man related material from the first season of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex along with new footage and upgraded to theatrical film quality.
- Length: 140 minutes
- Vintage: 9/23/05

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Indiviudal Eleven (OAV)
- It's based on the Individual Eleven storyline from the GIT: 2nd GIG.
- Length: 163 minutes
- Vintage: 1/27/06

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society (Movie)
- "The 100-minute (tentative running time) movie takes place in 2034, two years after the refugee riot incident. A significantly larger Section 9, with over 20 new officers, investigates terrorist actions related to a wizard-like hacker 'Kugutsu Mawashi.'"
- Length: 100 minutes
- Vintage: Summer 2006 ?
- Video Clip

To make up for the DDD exclusion, Rightstuf's got a Mediablasters studio sale!
From the website:

Every anime and manga fan has their favorite titles. And there's no doubt that many of them are from Media Blasters! With many great new releases available like Ah! My Goddess TV and Gao-Gai-Gar, as well as fan-favorites like Berserk and Rurouni Kenshin, there should be something for everyone to geek-out over!

From now until July 16th, 2006 - get an 40% OFF Retail price on all Media Blasters, Tokyo Shock, and Kitty Media DVDs and 33% OFF on ALL Media Blasters books and other merchandise! *Certain restrictions apply, see bottom of the Right Stuf main page for details.

How? Just use the following reusable coupon code when you check out through our online store:

Coupon Code: geek
Expires: 7/16/06 at 11:59 P.M. CST

Plus, if you're a Got Anime Member, you can enjoy bonus savings worthy of only the most hardcore fans!

Nice, thanks. Will be updating in a sec with new weekly specials as well!

Some Decent Deals:

- Giant Robo Complete DVD Economy Set (Hyb)
Release Date: July 25, 2006
Retail Price $24.95, after 40% discount: $14.97
- Gokusen DVD Economy Pack (1-3) (Hyb)
Release Date: July 11, 2006
Retail Price $19.95, after 40% discount: $11.97
- Loveless DVD 1 (S): Lost and Found
Retail Price $19.95, after 40% discount: $11.97
- Loveless DVD 2 (S): Soul of Chains
Retail Price $19.95, after 40% discount: $11.97
- Loveless DVD 3 (S): Hope on the Run
Retail Price $19.95, after 40% discount: $11.97
- Midori Days: The Handheld Collection DVD 1-3 (Hyb)
Release Date: Oct. 10, 2006
Retail Price $39.95, after 40% discount: $23.97
- Mirage Of Blaze DVD Economy Box Set (Hyb)
Retail Price $39.95, after 40% discount: $23.97
- Sukisho Complete DVD Set (S)
Retail Price $39.95, after 40% discount: $23.97