Shelf Life

Spiriting Away

Shelf Worthy

Galaxy Railways Boxset

The Taste of Tea

Rental

Origin - Spirts of the Past

Perishable

Disgaea v.1

This past weekend was New York Comic Con, and also, the first American Anime Awards. Between the spectacularly packed convention, and the glamorously bedecked Awards, it really should have been the coolest business trip I've had so far this year. Alas, how did I spend it? Deliriously ill. Before my trip, I somehow fell prey to a vicious sickness that ravaged through my body, which provided me with four of the worst plane trips of my life. I was really bummed about it, too, because I love going to conventions. It was still a blast, to be sure, but it's really hard to have a great time when you're spending every waking minute praying for death.

Regardless, with the illness and the convention, this issue of Shelf Life didn't quite get the full sunshine and nurturing attention that it deserved, so it's a bit short this time around. As always though, thank you so much for your and readership—it means a lot to me! Welcome to Shelf Life.

I've always been excited every time a live-action film shows up in my mailbox. I've said it before, and I'll keep saying it—I love this trend of domestic anime companies releasing Japanese films (Tetsujin notwithstanding). It's a huge industry that is only barely being tapped stateside, and I think US anime companies are a good conduit for the release of these films.

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Then there are films that are more like poster reproductions of gallery paintings. These are the types that look very pretty, but there's something off about them. Like maybe they're hanging in a crazy old woman's house in a giant gilded frame. Kind of like Origin, although if the movie was the pretty reprint... who would be the crazy old woman? Gonzo? Hm...

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Now let's take an abrupt jump and transition to something completely different—anime based on video games. When I was a sophomore in college, my roommate spent weeks playing Disgaea: Hour of Darkness. I never had an interest in the game, but every time I did my homework, I would always hear Flonne saying, “Oh Lord, give me strength!!” To this day, that voice still haunts my dreams.

Thankfully, that line has not reprised itself yet in the Disgaea anime. Yet.

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And with that, I draw my exit. Thank you so much for reading, and me next time for a non-ill edition of Shelf Life!

One man has risen to the challenge! Claiming that he couldn't let his friend draw all the praise from a previous Shelf Obsessed entry, he has retaliated with four images of his own. (Okay, two of them just have manga, but since the other guy had MacGuyver chilling on his shelf...)

This man is none other than Russ Piper, who says his next project is to build floor-to-ceiling shelves to hold his treasures. He currently boasts a collection of over 1,800 DVDs and 500+ manga volumes. And not a single bootleg in site.

My hat goes off to you.

What do you guys think? Is he allowed to have bragging rights?

If you're particularly proud of your collection, or you just want to show off your Super Limited X-Treme Edition Gundam LE toy next to your anime DVDs, send your picture(s) to shelflife at animenewsnetwork dot com!