Confession time: people often think I'm a bit of an anime expert, but I'm really not. There are some series and films I love, and many I like, but I'm terrible at keeping up-to-date with what's currently hot or not. Hypes reach me through Twitter and such, but as I haven't made it a habit to stream the newest series, these are often left misunderstood until the Blu-ray arrives several years later.
So all those Hestia fan-art pictures flooding the Internet two years ago? It wasn't until recently that I knew this was related to an anime series called
DanMachi, better known here by its English title of
Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?
Comprehension or not, I wasn't too enticed by the series. A fantasy harem series, in which a stupid boy has scores of girls fighting over his attention? I mean, ANOTHER one? But I kept hearing good things about it and it was recently released in Europe, so I checked it out... and found that in April, the US had gotten a majorly pimped edition, with books, trinkets, the lot. And that DID entice me!
When I found one at a decent price (because ouch...) I ordered it, and it definitely warrants a mention. The series itself is harmless fun, cheeky but not quite "ecchi", and inspired by videogames rather than history or mythology. But the packaging of this particular box is damn fine. Here is a gallery of shots. Click on the edge of the pictures to scroll through them, or at the center of each to see a bigger version!
Here it is: a big oversized square box.
Taking the lid of (with nice glossy embossing, by the way...), the box has little air in it.
The contents: two books, two Amarays, and a small box which contains the rolled-up poster and ribbon.
All contents unpacked: the two Amarays contain the 13-episode series on Blu-ray and DVD, and each one has a few physical extras as well. You get stickers, a poster, a hardcover "grimoire" notebook, a hardcover design book, and a replica of Hestia's ribbon.
A close-up of the seven static cling stickers and the (lenticular) card.
The biggest book is the hardcover "grimoire", or sorcerer's notebook.
Rather disappointingly, it's literally a notebook - and totally empty.
Like, as a collector or fan you just know you'll never ever use this, right?
Thankfully, the 84-page design book is also hardcover, and filled to the brim with pictures.
You get episode overviews, schematics, backgrounds, character and monster bios, the lot! Now THIS is a great extra.
The (back)end of a prettily packaged series.