Fate/Zero Blu-ray Vol.1 (w/ Kajiura OST) & Kalafina (Animate promo)

EDIT: 10th Nov 2011 - I didn't realise that this blu-ray release comes with ENGLISH SUBS!!!!  Which kind of makes it a better purchase than the Mahou Shoujo Madoka Jpn limited edition releases which had no English subs.

Link to the PRE-ORDER for the blu-ray set at CDJapan .
Fate / Zero Blu-ray Disc Box I [5Blu-ray + 2CD]

Oh man... I just knew they were going to do this. Once again they have packaged the anime with Kajiura Yuki's OST for the series... just like they did for Mahou Shoujo Madoka. The price for this set won't be pretty.  The price at CDJapan is 38000yen... you'll get 1140 points (3% of total cost) which works out to be 1140yen discount on a future purchase. 

Yikes... that's not a cheap set at all... but that said, this is the type of pricing one gets with blu-ray releases of anime releases in Japan.  They only come in cheaper when you pick them up much, much later when they re-release budget sets etc.

This set is likely to be a relatively nice set for fans with money to spend.  Although it's only half the series, so you'll only get ep1-13 on 5 blu-rays... you'll also get 2 additional cds.  One of those cds will be Kajiura Yuki's OST, the other will be a drama CD.  The set will also come with a Production Note and other extras.  I'm not sure what this Production Note will look like... but it'll likely have interviews and art-work etc.  It's unlikely to be as nice as a stand-alone artbook release like the Mahou Shojo Madoka Production Note release but it should be relatively decent.

Hence, in the end, it works out to be of somewhat the same value as the Mahou Shoujo Madoka limited edition blu-ray releases.... except that this will only be half the series since Fate/Zero is a 26 ep series.  I'm hesitant to get this set even though I would really like to get Kajiura's OST but sigh.... I'm not sure if I like Fate/Zero the anime as much as I LOVED Mahou Shoujo Madoka yet.  I partly decided to get the Mahou Shoujo set for Kajiura and partly because I loved the anime.

It's cheaper to get the set at Amazon Japan though.  Amazon Japan is giving a 26% discount and the set will weigh in at 29526yen which is loads cheaper than CDJapan but Amazon Japan gives the buyer lesser options with regards to shipping.  I'll have to think long and hard about it but I'm leaning towards not getting the set and hoping that a few years from now... we may get a stand-alone OST featuring some of the signature tracks from the anime.

One of singles I don't own yet.

ALSO... aside from hosting Kalafina Museum in several of the Animate stores in Japan, Animate will also be holding a separate promotion for several anisong artists.  Kalafina will be one of them.  If I read the post from Sony correctly, if you buy a cd / dvd / bd from Kalafina (and other featured artists) from an Animate store during the promotion period from 8th Nov to 11th Dec, you'll get an artist card.  I don't know what an artist card is but it seems this is the 4th time that Animate has held the Anime Artist Fair (アニメイトアーティストフェア) event so maybe they have given out artist cards before and those who have them know what they are.  

I will be in Japan during that period and plan on paying a visit to Animate.  I'm still missing 2 or 3 singles in my Kalafina collection so if they have something I want, I may get it and hopefully get the artist card too.

Lastly, before I go... for those who can read Japanese, Vol. 7 of Lisani! features the Fate/Zero anime.  There is also a joint interview with Kajiura and Gen Urobuchi about Kajiura's music.  I've ordered the magazine. :)

Lisani! (Listen Anime!) Vol.7 [Cover & Top Feature] Fate/Zero / Sony Magazines

That's all from me for now... I need to get ready for lunch... it's my mum's birthday celebration today. :)  Later y'all. :)