Black Rock Shooter Limited Edition DVD Box Set

Alrighty, for my next review, I have something VERY interesting! It's the Black Rock Shooter Blu-Ray/DVD Limited Edition Box Set! Oh yes, I pre-ordered this bad girl back before it's release in December 2010 because I just HAD to have this set! It retailed for about $40.

The box is pretty tall, measuring over 1ft tall and has a translucent plastic sleeve over the sturdy box cardboard box. It features a nice box art with Black Rock Shooter and her flaming blue eye surrounded by chains.

(The back of the box also features a black-and-white picture of Dead Master on the back of the box)

After pulling off the sleeve and opening the first cover, you have a second with a star cut-out (BRS's logo), before you can get to the goodies inside this box!

Before opening this box, Black Rock Shooter is a short 50min OVA with only 2 main characters: Kuroi Mato; a spunky tomboy, and Takanashi Yomi; a gentle and respectful girl. The OVA introduces these characters quickly starting with Mato meeting and introducing herself to Yomi, and the two quickly become best friends.

However, in "The Otherworld" -- a fantasy to reality, Black Rock Shooter (Mato) and Dead Master (Yomi) are locked in combat. But why? Watch the OVA to find out! :-)

Well, back to the unboxing, after lifting the second cover, you reveal the prizes inside. First seeing the Blu-Ray and the box of 2 Nendroid Petites. Huzzah!!

(Ahh... Spectacular sight...)

Unboxing everything you have quite an array of goodies in the box. First, you have the Blu-Ray/DVD combo for the OVA, as well as 2 inserts and a small art book featuring rough illustrations from the OVA (very back booklet.) You also get a pretty thick book featuring gorgeous drawings of both Mato and Yomi on the cover. This book is an entire screenplay with rough sketches to illustrate the scenes. Quite a gem!

Next you have the Nendroid Petites, an exclusive to this box set. It come with 2 Petites; Black Rock Shooter and Dead Master. These two cute figures are the reason I wanted this box set so badly and not just the DVD, but the other inclusions are awesome as well!

The Blu-Ray/DVD is a standard Blu-Ray case that contains both a DVD and Blu-Ray discs and also a GORGEOUS cover art. The cover art has Black Rock Shooter (center), Dead Master (bottom), Strength (left), and Black Gold Saw (right). Unfortunately, Black Gold Saw and Strength are not featured very much in this OVA, but I am hoping for a second to show more of them.

Next, a nice little insert.. It talks about the Black Rock Shooter that is to be released on the PSP (already out by now, I think....) and it has on the back of it, a beautiful battle-damaged picture of Black Rock Shooter with an activation code... unfortunately, I don't know what the code is for... and yes, I did cover it up. XD

Next is another insert. No idea what this one is for, but it has some cool art work and in the lower left corner it has the Hobby Magazine logo, possibly a promotion?

Below is two pages from the art booklet, featuring awesome art work for both Dead Master and Black Rock Shooter.

(These are just 2 of 12 pages of exclusive art work)

Next up is the Screenplay book. Not really my cup-of-tea for an extra, but I'll take it nonetheless! It's actually pretty handy if you just wanna pull it out and flip through to see some rough sketches for a particular scene. I know Strength is in here somewhere....

(No reason on why I picked these pages, just did! XD)

Next is the best extra in the box. The Nendroid Petites! Both Black Rock Shooter and Dead Master are smaller chibi figures of their larger Nendroid selves. The also come with additional parts for slight alterations to posing. Black Rock Shooter comes with an arm connected to her massive arm cannon (shown below), a hand holding her katana named Black Blade, and the blue flame to place over her left eye. Dead Master comes with two posed arms and her scythe.

Honestly, I couldn't be happier with this box set. The art booklet, screenplay book, the Nendroid Petites, everything in it was an absolute treasure that was paired with an amazing OVA that I could watch a hundred times and watch it again afterwards. Next, I will post more about the actual OVA itself and include screenshots and possibly a video or two, showing off some of the beautiful animation.

Rating: 10/10!

///_-

Final Fantasy Master Creatures -- Ifrit

Well, for starters, I know it's been FOREVER since my last post, but I came across something TOTALLY worth posting. I was at my local Vintage Stock, a used games and collectibles store, and came across this delightful little treasure....

Yep, I managed to get my hands on the Final Fantasy Master Creatures Ifrit from Series 1. This figure retails for about $16.99 on Square-Enix's store, but I managed to nab it for only $10, so I felt pretty damn lucky!

(At first, they had both Series 1 Kefka Palazzo and Ifrit, but Kefka sold quickly... *tear*)

First of all, the level of detail on this figure is incredible for mass-production! I guess that's what they mean by "Master" Creatures. But the size of the figure surprised me as well, because I have The Final Fantasy Creatures Fan Box Vol. 2, and I expected it to be only a bit larger than it. However, it's a few inches larger and the level of detail is increased ten-fold between the two.

(in case you're curious, he is performing the Hellfire attack in this pose)

The detail isn't just on the figure, but in fiery details of his Hellfire attack as well. The way is was sculpted puts a lot of fierceness and fury into this pose IMHO, and I couldn't have asked for a better representation of Ifrit. (Maybe larger???)

On a final note, if you like Final Fantasy and/or Ifrit, you should pick it up if you can find it. If I'm not mistaken, you can find it relatively cheap on eBay or Amazon, (I think $10-$12???) However, I wouldn't take my word for it. I'd give this piece of art a 10/10!! (especially since I received it used! XD)