Importing anything can be painful. Which is the more the reason to do so if you want to support the official release while waiting for it to come out for your region. In Japan, home releases for anime are handled differently compared to what we see for the West. They tend to go nuts with Limited or Collector Editions, adding in special features or preorder bonuses. So when I learned of the nifty things that were going to be for the Limited Edition of the One Punch Man Volume 2 DVD, my character biases burned with the power of a thousand suns. Also my curiosity got the best of when retailers were listing the DVDs and Blu-Rays would have English subtitles. In all my few times of importing Japanese anime DVDs, I have never heard of such a thing.
One Punch Man started in 2009 as a webcomic by ONE and was later redrawn as a manga by Yusuke Murata (Eyeshield 21) in 2012. The series made its anime debut back in the fall season of 2015 running for 12 episodes (and additional OVAs as they come out) and is currently being released on DVD and Blu-Ray in Japan. With no definite date of an actual US localization, I decided to pick this little thing up. Let’s take a look shall we?
The DVD with its slipcover and illustrated cover packaging before I ripped open the plastic.
It’s shiny!
After taking out the contents from the silver coverslip, we get the plastic hardcase holding the discs and a 12-paged booklet that has the same appearance of the notebook Genos uses in the show (minus the hundreds of notes on Saitama-sensei. It’s confirmed canon he has hundreds of books because holy shit what a nerd)
Ta da! It’s the DVD and special CD. As of now, each home release is to be centered on one character. Volume 1 released back in December of last year was Saitama, volume 3 and 4 which are due in the upcoming months will feature Sonic and Bang. So volume 2 is Genos’ time to shine. The CD has a mini drama episode, voice actor talk session, and a character song. The papers on the side are application cards only valid in Japan.
Oh and the back of the DVD cover featuring Genos, is of course Saitama.
The booklet has color character designs, which is A+ in my book as I’m always trying to study how the hell to draw Genos. There’s also an interview with ONE, notes about the anime and lyrics.
It’s a very nice looking package, now time to dive into the media contents. As most Japanese anime DVDs go, there are only two episodes on the disc, 3 and 4 to be specific. Yes I know, why. Well that’s how they do things over there. There is an extra original video animation (OVA) episode that was never aired on television. This OVA episode is called “The Disciple Who Stinks At Storytelling”. And the episodes are all indeed with English subtitles. They’re not bad either, it seems to be translated well and it’s not what I expected to be. You see weird English in Chinese bootlegs.
While the special features aren’t subbed, it’s awesome that they are included because I love the Japanese voice actors and SAITAMA AND GENOS HAND PUPPETS. The first feature is audio commentary of episode 3 by Makoto Furukawa (Saitama) and Kaito Ishikawa (Genos), and Daisuke Namikawa (Doctor Genus). Audio commentary is basically a voice track over the original episode and the voice actors comment and talk through it. The next on the list is the Promotional Video number 2, there were several PVs aired as the anime was starting. Thirdly is the Voice Actor Special Preview Program. It is hosted by Makoto and Kaito where they talk about the anime and merchandising and at the end they started breaking shit. The final two features are short official One Punch Man Hand Puppet Theater episodes. Um. These are short episodes of Makoto and Kaito with… Saitama and Genos hand puppets and guest appearances by Daisuke and Yuuki Kaji (Sonic).
*for those curious, Daisuke known for his voice as Yu Narkukami in Persona 4 and Yuuki is Eren Jaeger in Attack on Titan.
Listen, I don’t know what the deal is with the hand puppets but it’s awesome and Makoto and Kaito have fun with them. Just please watch this anime. Read the manga. Read the webcomic. Great fun times.
One Punch Man is currently an ongoing series and while the anime has ended, let us hope for a second season and a US release in the near future. For now, I enjoy this neat beautiful little package and Genos singing really enthusiastically about how his life has come to be. […] Someone save this toaster please.
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