After getting burnt by playasia last year over the Magia single, I switched to CDJapan whenever I wanted to get any of Kalafina's singles or albums. The vocal unit has become so popular that even when I pre-ordered like ultra early at playasia, I was still told that my deliver would be delayed so I quickly switched to ordering from CDJapan since I really was ticked that I had to wait a week for a cd I ordered almost immediately after the announcement of it's availability on playasia. For many other things though, I still use playasia. It usually has very reasonable prices, many times the music cds are cheaper too or they have the HK / Taiwan editions which are always cheaper than the Japanese versions and they have free shipping. But with Kalafina / FJ / Kajiura, I think I'll still use CDJapan cuz I think I would go nuts if I couldn't get my grubby hands on them ASAP so that I can make flacs to put on my portable player. :)
So, I didn't get the first press freebie for the Magia single. That was a postcard. But it's okay, I'm not really hung up about the freebies... I like getting them cuz I'm a fan but if I don't, I won't slit my wrist.
This year though, my buying power has gone up by tons since last year when I was just finishing up school and beginning a new job. So I might actually fall for the typical marketing gimmick and buy both the LE and the RE for the two different freebies even though I don't use mousepads. I could easily give the RE away to friends who are fellow fans or sell the cd to a Singapore fan at cost without shipping etc so.... yeah, I'm tempted :D
Anyway, this time, it's not postcards, they are offering mousepads. The LE will get Mousepad A and the RE will get Mousepad B. I have no idea what they look like yet but I seriously doubt if it'll just be the word "Kalafina" stamped on it. I'm presuming it'll be their picture or maybe even the LE / RE album art printed on it or some such thing. Right now, it's anyone's guess.
Limited Edition Regular Edition
If you want to see the larger pictures of the album art click me.
OH... oh ... oh.... as I was writing this post, something just popped up on my RSS feed from Sony. Looks like Kalafina Cafe will be back. Earlier this year, to promote the Magia Live Tour in Japan, Kalafina collaborated with PARCO to open Kalafina Cafe for a short period of time. This time, they'll be doing the same. There will be yet another Kalafina Cafe, this time to commemorate the release of the After Eden album. Sadly for me, it'll be open from the 16th - 25th Sept and I won't be in Japan till Nov. :(
Also, Kalafina will also be feature in the October issue of Kera magazine. I don't usually get this magazine, so I think I'll pass on it since I'm more interested in the Mahou Shoujo Madoka related books.
Also, cover art for vol 6 of the Mahou Shoujo Madoka blu-ray / dvd release is out too. This is from the official website, the other online shops haven't updated yet, it's probably cuz they are still on holidays till the 16th. Vol. 6 will contain Kajiura Yuki's OST 3 for the anime... so I am excited about that. :)I like this cover... this might be my favourite cover yet for this blu-ray release. And can you believe that I finally finished watching the last two eps in the train today. I just didn't want this anime to end, I think. :) It's a pretty solid ending. I like it loads. So while I still think that overall, Mai-Hime is a stronger mahou shoujo anime, Madoka isn't that far behind either. Hime beats Madoka because the characters are as central to the storyline as some of the rules they were bending. Madoka, on the other hand, sometimes feels like the characters are there to forward the story, rather than that they are central to the story. This is probably in part because they wanted to keep so many things secret in the beginning that it really took a while for you to really care for these characters the way you would care for Hime's mahou shoujos.
Also, loads of related Madoka merchandise being pumped into the market. The two things that are top of my want list are:
Color Collection Witch Collection BOX
Mahou Shoujo Madoka PSP game
The limited production edition of the PSP game comes with a figure of Madoka in her school uniform. This is really tempting but it's unlikely that I'll get it... kinda feeling that I shouldn't cuz I'll need to save on my upcoming trip to Japan. The game looks cool though and I wanna play it... so in the end, I might just get the game alone. It'll be much cheaper that way. Or I'll just wait to see if I can get it 2nd hand or something.
There is something I'm likely to order soon. And that is another book on Mahou Shoujo Madoka. This one is called Mado-magi wo Katari Taosu published by Takarajimasha. This is a discussion book on the anime and although I know that I will have trouble reading it, I would still like to get it so that I can try and work my way through the text. If there is one thing I learnt from my years helping out on translations on a TVB fan website, interest is the most important thing when you're trying to learn or do something and my interest in Mahou Shoujo Madoka can possibly have a spillover effect in helping me with my Japanese. :)
Arrrrgggh.... it's so late again... gotta go... not going to proof read... need to sleep. Need to complete a shot by end of day later today so I will need to sleep ASAP.
Oyasumi. :)
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