Some quick Blind Buy reviews from the Sentai Sale

[El_Fez]

This was the year of the Sentai sale. I went up and down the big list of everything they had on sale, went "hey that trailer looks kind of fun!" and picked up a whole bunch of blind buys for super cheap. And so far I've been happy with the results (more or less) - and I thought I'd share as I went through this massive journey of discovery.

Lets start with. . . .

Rocket Girls -
Premise: Imagine the Jamaican Bobsled Team, but instead of Olympic athletes, it's NASA. They recruit a Japanese schoolgirl (of course) because of weight restrictions and try and get her into orbit.
Episode Count: 12
Year: 2007
Opening Theme: Kinda skippable
A shockingly delightful and charming series. A little slice of life, a little drama, and some surprisingly realistic portrayal of space exploration (aside from the whole 'Japanese schoolgirl becomes astronaut' thing). It's quirky, optimistic, easy-to-watch and whimsical. I really dug this one.

The Girl in Twilight -
Premise: A gang of Japanese Schoolgirls become extradimensional superheroes after experimenting with radio frequencies tied to an urban legend.
Episode Count: 12
Year: 2018
Opening Theme: Dark and moody, I love it!
This one starts kind of flighty, with with the show looking to be a Sliders-like Dimension Of The Week story, but it quickly settles down into a pretty compelling blend of sci-fi, mystery, and heartfelt drama with tons of great action (Old West dimension was my favorite of the dimensions of the week). The characters are all really well developed as each alternate reality forces the characters to confront their fears, regrets, and backstory. It's got some great animation and gets kind of dark and existential at times. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, especially when they start jumping all over the place, but it was fine enough in the end.

The Magnificent Kotobuki -
Premise: Imagine Area 88, but with Japanese teenage girls as mercenaries battling sky pirates in the age of Zeppelins.
Episode Count: 12
Year: 2019
Opening Theme: Total banger!
Oh my god this one was SO good! Tons and tons of intricately choreographed dogfights that really keep the show moving along. The series is a bit more episodic that what you would expect (there is some multi-part adventures towards the end tho) and the characters are very much archetypes (the Smart One, the Leader, the Hot Blooded one, The Serious Loner and so on), but the vibrant personalities and their camaraderie really keep things engaging.

Kandagawa Jet Girls
Premise: Imagine if Initial D and the old PS1 game Jet Moto had a baby. Then add boobs.
Episode Count: 12
Year: 2019
Opening Theme: Meh - kind of generic
This is the weakest show of the ones thusfar - that said, I'm still enjoying it. My god, so much gratuitous fanservice and jiggling boobs (almost to the point where I'm not sure if it's suppose to be a parody of Jiggle Shows or not), but it has an underlying charm and earnestness to it that I'm finding difficult to resist.

If there's a problem with the show, it's "show, don't tell". For example it's constantly mentioned that our Genki Airhead and Serious Loner leads have teamwork issues, but they don't seem any worse that the other teams. Or how their jetski performs worse in the corners but should dominate in the straights, but most of the time they're staying at a constant distance regardless of the track.

It was a fine way to kill an afternoon, but I don't see a lot of rewatching of this one.

[BigOnAnime]

>Thinking about skipping opening themes

BTW, should be noted, Kandagawa Jet Girls has a PS4 game, which had involvement from Kenichiro Takaki, the creator of Senran Kagura if you ever wonder why it has the sort of fanservice it does.

Kandagawa Jet Girls - Launch Date Announcement Trailer (PS4) - YouTube

[SteamfloggerBoss]

Sometimes op/ed themes really suck or you just don't like them for whatever reason. Overlord for example they are all atrocious to me but I otherwise have really enjoyed that franchise.

[BigOnAnime]

Even when they suck (Ex: The Vision of Escaflowne ED, Naruto Shippuden ED 18) which isn't often I still don't skip them. It would feel incredibly weird to go in with no OP nor ED. Never done it in my 16 years of watching, and every time it surprises me how common skipping things are. But then again, I also almost never binge. I hate binge watching and suck at it, I use a schedule system instead. At most I will watch 2 episodes of a single show a day.

[SteamfloggerBoss]

I usually binge but sometimes I'll rotate shows as well. Generally I do listen to the op/ed, I have to really dislike it to skip.

[kk1]

We do have a thread for reviews.

[Piggles]

Girl in Twilight was a big surprise for me as well. It totally wasn't what I imagined it was going to be and was much better for it. The Wild West was my favorite part too.

[Nothing371]

Originally Posted by BigOnAnime

Even when they suck (Ex: The Vision of Escaflowne ED, Naruto Shippuden ED 18) which isn't often I still don't skip them. It would feel incredibly weird to go in with no OP nor ED. Never done it in my 16 years of watching, and every time it surprises me how common skipping things are. But then again, I also almost never binge. I hate binge watching and suck at it, I use a schedule system instead. At most I will watch 2 episodes of a single show a day.

I almost never see people describe this feeling, and I feel exactly the same way.

I'm not telling people what to do...but shows are not meant to be binged. Most shows have more nutritional value from episodic consumption, or bi/weekly programming, and with breaks.

[SteamfloggerBoss]

Originally Posted by Nothing371

I almost never see people describe this feeling, and I feel exactly the same way.

I'm not telling people what to do...but shows are not meant to be binged. Most shows have more nutritional value from episodic consumption, or bi/weekly programming, and with breaks.

For me, it really varies by the type of series it is now that I think about it some more.

Usually if it's more focused on a narrative I am more likely to binge it. Things like Sgt Frog, Lucky Star etc I tend to watch an episode or two here and there.

What you are saying does make sense though. If you break up your viewing you will likely retain more.

[El_Fez]

Originally Posted by SteamfloggerBoss

I usually binge but sometimes I'll rotate shows as well. Generally I do listen to the op/ed, I have to really dislike it to skip.

It really depends on the mood, on the opening, on any number of factors for me. Some - Yamato, Lupin - I'll never skip. Most of the time I will let them play - it just has to be particularly egregious for me to fast-forward.

[GeoffOliver]

I had some blind buys from the sale this year too. I got Moribito, Princess Tutu, and Kids on the Slope.

[SteamfloggerBoss]

No Game No Life was my best blind buy from Sentai this year. It was hilarious.

[Shirowed]

Speaking of the recent sentai sales, hope I can post this here as I didn't notice another sentai thread...

Just received a few of my steelbooks from these orders and they are in rough shape. One is dented all around, broken slip cover with bits crumbling off, loose front plate.

The other one looks like had a bowling ball dropped on it. Big crater on the front and the plate pops off when you open it.

I sent pictures to Sentai and so far it doesn't seem like they are keen to replace or refund. Just apologizing for the inconvenience. I am in the process of pushing back but wanted to see if anyone else had this experience from customer service with sentai as I find their initial response somewhat baffling. I can't find much as to their reputation for handling damage like this online.

I only recently started ordering off of there but this will be the last time unless I get some kind of fair resolution.

[lunamaria87]

Im so sorry they came damaged. I had that happen with One of my Food Wars PE a couple years back. They actually responded quickly and sent me a shipping label so I could send back damaged one for a replacement. I got the replacement super quick too. I havent had this happen in a bit so I dont know if anything has changed.

[PGW]

Originally Posted by Shirowed

I only recently started ordering off of there but this will be the last time unless I get some kind of fair resolution.

Tell them you won't accept damaged product and if they don't exchange it you'll contest the charge with the credit card (or Paypal, whatever you used).

I received a new release from Amazon last week with an inch long tear in the slipcase. It went right back. These things are expensive, and too often the companies try to frame it as our problem if we're not willing to accept something that's damaged.

[Shirowed]

Thanks lunamaria87 and PGW. Just updating to close the loop - after sending a second wave of pictures and voicing my disappointment at the cosmetic condition of these new steelbooks and reminding sentai that the cosmetic aspect is essentially the entire point with a limited edition steelbook they ended up giving me a partial 25% refund for the one that had the dents and the cracked slipcover and they gave me a full refund for the steelbook that was cratered and basically a total loss.

Happy with one outcome and I am close enough to satisfied with the other outcome so as to not pursue it further. I will take the rest on the chin and as a lesson to be mindful around the quality control of sentai steelbooks.

Don't want to turn this into a rant or anything but the quality control (and not just the handling) seems to be lacking here. These are my first two sentai steelbooks (that I have opened/unsealed) and the plates are loose as if the plastic core does not firmly seat into the metal plates. The metal itself seems thin/low quality and dents and wraps as if made of butter. I like that they come with nice plastic slipcovers that you are reverse sides if you prefer the back artwork better and the slip covers have a protective film that protects the coating that you are peel off. The disc holders on the inside are also really nice and snug without being too firm. The plastic clasps are snug too.

So the plastic components of these steelbook are an A+ while the metal components are a D- in my view, do with that little review what you will. I am seriously considering selling my other intact sentai steelbooks sealed and buying the regular blu-ray case editions of the same shows.

[BigOnAnime]

All SteelBooks are made by Scanavo, so any issues during manufacturing are on them, not Sentai because they didn't make them, they only sent Scanavo the graphic design. The studios don't make their own cases.
https://scanavo.com/blogs/steelbook/

As for damage, sadly after Sentai switched its master distributor from Right Stuf (absorbed into the Crunchyroll Store which downgraded their packaging quality, nearly every Macross Plus set arrived damaged) to Distribution Solutions, things aren't packed as well, so you're more likely to get stuff damaged.

If you want Sentai stuff to arrive with a very low percent of arriving damaged, Robert's Anime Corner Store is about the only option given how the Crunchyroll Store quality has declined to about what the FUNimation Shop had (awful, and old FUNi releases still ship that way if it's from the Texas warehouse), and how like Amazon and such don't put much care into how stuff arrives (focusing on quantity over quality).

Originally Posted by GeoffOliver

I had some blind buys from the sale this year too. I got Moribito, Princess Tutu, and Kids on the Slope.

Princess Tutu is the best of the bunch there, one of the greatest magical girl anime ever made.