Hanabee Entertainment is releasing three anime titles on DVD and Blu-ray in Australia today. All of these releases include the textless opening and ending animation sequences from each respective series. They all also have a suggested retail price of $49.99 AUD.
Busou Shinki and The Kawai Guide to Manors and Hostel Behaviour are available separately on DVD and Blu-ray. All 12 episodes of both series are presented with Japanese audio and English subtitles. Owarimonogatari Volume Two is available in a DVD and Blu-ray combo pack. Six episodes are presented with Japanese audio and English subtitles.
Hanabee’s release plans for April 2017 have not yet been revealed.
The first video tape is called 21 and while it plays similar to BlackJack, this version only features cards that count from 1 to 10 and considering we are stepping into the shoes of Clancy once again, things are going to be bad. Locked in one of Lucas’ Saw-like contraptions, Clancy must compete against another prisoner being held captive by the Baker family with their lives as the chips. Things start at a rather simple pace, at least as far as Lucas’ machinations go, by putting your fingers on the line with each losing hand costing a finger.
These abilities range from adding more cards to your opponent’s hand to doubling the stakes of a current hand and even making it so no more cards can be drawn. These may seem like an easy way to beat out the AI but Lucas is a well-known cheater and he is more than willing to do so to inflict punishment on Clancy. This means he will often attempt to cheat against the player and trying to avoid falling into his traps makes for an enjoyable experience that often is quite random in nature. With three different difficulty modes available players will find this mode quite replayable.
Finally we have the bonus mode called Jack’s 55th Birthday. Tasked as playing as Mia, players must satisfying Jack Baker’s hunger as he celebrates his birthday while wearing a festive hat and glasses. With each stage set in a different part of the house Mia must run around the house while fighting off Molded wearing funny little hats to gather food.
The reward for getting higher scores in this mode provide players with various unlocks such as weapons and stat boosts. These can give Mia an edge the next time you play through Jack’s Birthday but they do take up inventory space. This means you’ll often need to balance your boosts to speed or damage with food carrying space. This mode is a delightful addition that will keep players who like the game’s combat system intrigued with the house filled with decorative balloons and festive enemies.
The first two modes come in the form of videotapes, the little add-ons that players could, more or less, avoid or choose to play through during the main story mode. As mentioned before, the first of these is titled Bedroom and follows the story of poor Clancy, the camera man that we’ve taken control of more than a few times already, as he is strapped to a bed and forced to eat some of Marguerite Baker’s good ol’ home cooking.
Whenever a loud noise is made Marguerite will head back to the room and while you may initially think that it’s all fine and dandy to sit down in the bed, if she sees anything out of place she’ll take it out on Clancy and you’ll end up with a game over. The game is a bit forgiving in this aspect since players are usually given a timer to know how much time they have to quickly throw everything back to where it was and place themselves back into the bed but the fact that players will need to memorize every little detail makes this mode not only a fun challenge for puzzle fans but also one that delivers a lot of tension.
Scrap can be used to create various weapons as well as purchase upgrades to weapons and even Clancy’s health though you may want to be careful about spending it too quickly as the price increases the more you purchase ammo. As you fight against enemies the waves will grow more difficult with Jack coming at you with various dangerous weapons and players will need to be fast on their feet to keep some distance while also utilizing their environment. I say this because there are various turrets and mines that players can purchase using scrap in an effort to stave off their attackers.
As one would expect in this mode, you will die, a lot. In fact this mode features a bit of a roguelike element where the player will drop one random item that can be picked back up if they make it to where they ended up dying. Unfortunately thanks to the random nature of this mode you may end up with something completely useless. This mode makes for some of the hardest moments in the game even once you manage to figure out exactly where the enemies are every time as their positioning does not change. Instead you’ll need some good luck on your side to survive and while this may be a great mode for diehard fans eager for a challenge, it is easy to pass this mode off as more annoying than enjoyable.
