This Week in Anime
Shelf Life

by Christopher Farris & Coop Bicknell, Feb 11th 2025

Collecting anime on disc has Coop and Chris beside themshelves.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are not the views of Anime News Network.
Spoiler Warning for discussion of the series ahead.

Coop
In preparing for this column each week, I regularly find my eyes wandering off to the primary way I watch anime—the many DVDs and Blu-rays I've jam-packed into shelves. I think I'm running out of space again. It might be time for a bit of reorganizing, Chris! The thought came to mind after I saw the new shelving you just installed.

Chris
One fun thing about anime is that you can do some extra activities while watching it all. Some people write blogs and reviews, while others take up video editing and encoding. And other times, you practice minor carpentry because your old TV stand shelf was overflowing with new discs.

Thanks for saying you like the look of the new shelves, Coop. I was pretty happy with them, considering I'd never done this sort of thing before.

Those shelves are looking sharp! My favorite part of your display (aside from the Shattered Glass Optimus Prime) is that it's a physical manifestation of your tastes and what you enjoy! It's why I find myself reorganizing my shelves every few months!

Crossover tastes can say a lot, and I appreciate that we've both got Cutie Honey and Kamen Rider toku discs on-shelf.

I couldn't help but notice that, too! Even more so when my copy of Samurai Flamenco came in the other day.

Like your old TV stand, mine is overflowing with new discs! Not to mention, the massive Macross Plus set doesn't have a proper home yet.

If you love physical media like us, dear reader, you've probably heard how the incoming tariffs imposed on Mexico will affect home video, especially considering that most discs are replicated there. It's an old adage, but if you want a particular Blu-ray or DVD, buy it right away. Like everything else, I'd imagine that home video is about to get way more expensive.

With all those discs potentially about to slide across YOUR TV stand, let's talk about how Chris and I curate our collections! Be it our shelving choices, how we prune titles, or more options down the organizational rabbit hole.

You mentioned Samurai Flamenco set, which I think serves as an emblem of my approach to this whole effort. It's a European import release that won't even play on a regular regional Blu-ray player here. It's a show that isn't available streaming anywhere official at the moment, currently locked in Aniplex Jail, and unlikely to see any other disc release. As someone for whom Samurai Flamenco is very near and dear to my heart, it earned its place in my collection.

You brought up the international issues that could be coming down the pipeline to affect all physical media production, but straight-up imports will be affected, too. They're something I've gone for in at least a couple of places in my collection. Not just Samurai Flamenco but also the Japanese Odd Taxi Blu-ray set that actively courted overseas audiences with its pre-order campaign.

It's funny that you mention Odd Taxi because I've been eyeing that Blu-ray since our Anime Secret Santa column in December. I'm used to that import grind myself, especially as a Macross fan. It's a strange but satisfying feeling to know I can pop in the Frontier movies, Delta, or even Do You Remember Love? into my player and the English subtitles are just there!

But this brings me to a good point! As space is kind of at a premium on my main media shelf (an Atlantic Oskar), I've created some dedicated space for certain series or titles on other shelves. Macross is a perfect example of this actually. Within my pair of Macross cases (Ikea Baggebos), I've created an easily accessible location to grab anything from the series I have. I enjoy a good-looking presentation, but it's gotta be functional too!

I've ended up doing something similar for my Gunbuster, Patlabor, and Urusei Yatsura discs. I love it when a shelf can celebrate your passions but hopefully not be too cluttered. Which gets hard to do when you have many discs or figures to accompany them.

You gotta love little figures as an accent. I could set something up like that for my BanG Dream! discs with the various figures I have, but those BDs are currently consigned to that aforementioned lower TV stand. Also, Sentai hasn't released a Bandori Blu-ray since the third season. Come on, guys, when's MyGO!!!!!?

As you alluded to, space quickly becomes a consideration when you're collecting these things, which is how you can get less organically organized sets on various shelves. Being a fan of this sort of stuff means collecting multiple mediums as well, so there's a lot of encroachment. My manga shelf, for instance, was overloaded until a few years back when I saw someone else show off the solution of using cardboard risers to double-stack them.

Lifesaver, that. I will probably need to give the same treatment to the disc shelves, eventually.

That reminds me of the manga I've had to double stack, but giving Slam Dunk the royal treatment was worth it.

Given the ascendent pricing of home media, showing love like that for a series is a major deciding point for picking it up. It's why I got Samurai Flamenco and SSSS.Gridman on disc. Also, because it's absurd, I've even got all of Symphogear here.

That novelty can also contribute to adding something to my shelves. I love Kamen Rider V3 as much as the next toku fan. But grabbing that specific, famous Generation Kikaida DVD set mostly came about because I had the spare cash for it right as they said they wouldn't be rerunning it anymore. I bought this halfway for a laugh.

Then Discotek announced the Blu-ray release. You're welcome, everybody.

Releases like Generation Kikaida's V3 DVDs are why I love home video so much. Each disc has a story behind it! Be it the story of the disc's production or how you came upon it yourself. One of my favorite personal stories is how I happened upon my copy of Manga Entertainment's Macross Plus DVD box set.

While in Toronto for TFcon 2013, I joined a bunch of new friends on their excursion to a comic shop. I saw the box set sitting in a glass case next to a copy of Bible Black. The clerk and everyone around me thought I was trying to buy that, not Macross Plus.

Look, every disc has a story and belongs in someone's collection, even that copy of Bible Black. Probably. I'd say that goes for how I wound up with a copy of Why the Hell are You Here, Teacher!? in my collection, except that one was a gag gift from a friend, for which he included several fake-out cover inserts. That guy is an artist.

You say "gag gift," and I'm having Amazing Nurse Nanako flashbacks now.

To be entirely fair, this was payback for me jocularly recommending he watch the series in the first place. All that said, I don't want to ascribe so much value to every disc, given the possibility to pick stuff up on whims. Sadly, it's died down since the Crunchyroll acquisition and subsequent shuttering. Right Stuf's regular sales used to be an incredible opportunity to accumulate dirt-cheap discs like racking up unplayed Steam games. It's why I have stuff like AKB0048 on my shelf there: because it was cheap, and I knew it had some tenuous creative connections to my beloved Symphogear.

I find its "Season 2 released on DVD only" situation hilarious. But I've spent about as much time on the actual series as I have on that aforementioned Steam backlog.

The days of those old Right Stuf sales are dearly missed. It's how I ended up checking out Megalobox and nabbing more than a few shows for a decent price.

While those sales (and Sentai's on occasion) were great, having those personal connections helps a ton when it's time to do a little pruning. If it's a title I don't have any fondness for or it doesn't mean something to me, it's way easier for me to say bye-bye to it. A couple of examples that come to mind are Dunbine and Ga-Rei: Zero. I'd given Dunbine a try based on its bonafides and ended up not being all that crazy about it. Ga-Rei: Zero kinda stung, though, as it was a series I loved back when it aired, but it doesn't hold up to my current eye.

I tend to be more of a packrat with my collection, just in terms of holding onto stuff that I might still want to make time for or potentially loan to others. Still, sometimes decisions are made for me, and the personal connection can hurt, like when I furiously had to exile my Please tell me! Galko-chan manga volumes. Otherwise, my main cause for curation is another recurring aspect of home video: upgrades and new releases. So my old DVD versions of Black Lagoon and Outlaw Star got moved out when the new Blu-ray versions came out. On the other hand, you've got something like Gunbuster, where the old Bandai Visual DVD set is so nice and loaded with stuff that I don't mind hanging onto it alongside the slick new Blu-ray release.

Between the Gunbuster sets and the crossovers in our collections, I almost feel like I'm talking to myself! I'm right there with you; it's why I've held on the Bandai Visual releases of Gunbuster and the Patlabor movies. Not to mention those attached feelings too. I love that I have stories attached to all of those. Pardon the dust; it's a fact of life with dark shelves.

Believe me, I know. It just means all that excellent Gunbuster stuff has stood there for a long while as a testament to your love for the series. I could probably put together a shrine like that myself, even if it would necessitate building another new shelving set. Planning for eventual curations and upgrades can help you figure out shelving plans when doing this sort of thing. For instance, I'd considered not migrating my old Dirty Pair DVDs up to the new shelf in anticipation of the crowdfunded BD set that's supposedly still forthcoming, but that thing's been so cursed it feels like doing so would probably jinx it.

chris12 — © Takachiho&Studio Nue • SUNRISE

Those announced Macross Blu-rays have too much in common there.

Shelving takes up a decent amount of space, and there have been times when I've put things into storage or removed an elaborate display, even if I really, really wanted to keep that display up for a little bit longer. Not to mention that figuring out shelving and the logistics of transporting all these discs can be a nightmare when a move rolls around. A couple of folks I know have so many discs, they ended up moving everything into flight cases instead of dealing with further shelf space headaches.

As someone who collects Transformers figures alongside all those discs and manga, I know all too well the pain of rotating displays and storage. Simply having your anime to watch on hand is a valid way to utilize your collection, and a drawer of discs sure takes up less space than a bin full of action figures. That's the main value of physical media, and a point Nicky and Steve came upon when they discussed it a couple of years ago: just knowing you've got regular access to watch something if it disappears from the digital ether. Case in point: Takunomi. was one of those series I'd grabbed the BD for on the whim of a sale. In our discussion of cozy anime a couple of weeks ago, I found out it'd been removed from streaming on HIDIVE. So now my appreciation for this disc of a silly little short drinking show has retroactively gone up!

That reminds me of Birdy the Mighty: Decode! I don't think I'd see this classic again if it wasn't for a friend who kindly gifted it to me. It's pretty much the same situation as Samurai Flamenco is these days—Aniplex Jail and the like.

Another reason I'm holding onto my Baccano! box for dear life...

And Never Let Go! I'm staring at my Lain set now... Between the talk of out-of-sight storage options and titles on (or gone from) streaming, I can't help but think of my anime-based issues with object permanence. If I can see a title on a shelf or under my TV, it's easier for me to remember it. If those discs are stored away or it's a streaming-only title, it's so easy for me to forget a title exists sometimes. In a time where looking for something to watch is mostly scrolling through menus, it's nice to step into your own video store.

Sometimes, literally, if you used to work at a video store like I did. I miss those racks so much.

As far as displays go, that's the dream. Like Naoko Yamada cruising the Criterion Closet last week; physically perusing your favorites can be fun. I'm a collector in general, hence my love for tangible releases of things I adore. Still, home video collecting will only get more difficult and expensive for the foreseeable future. I wouldn't ever advise someone to bankrupt themselves for the sake of a hobby, so I can only hope this talk of collection and curation gives you an idea about the stuff you know you want to go in on. Also, I hope it encourages all of you to share your shelf pics, like in the Shelf Obsessed section of ANN's old Shelf Life column. Because what's the point of going to all the trouble to hang these things up if you can't show them to others?

Absolutely! I think it bears mentioning that we're both fortunate we're able to indulge in this interest from time to time. Having all these Blu-rays and DVDs doesn't make anyone more or less a fan. I'd also recommend checking out this presentation by Transformers and Internet Personality Vangelus on maintaining a healthy relationship with whatever you may collect. He may be speaking about plastic robots here, but it applies to what we discussed today!

On that note, have you found a spot for your Haslab Omega Prime yet, Chris?

I've probably got just enough time before Hasbro ships it to me to get a new, reinforced shelf hung up for that behemoth. It's time to start construction again...

You might as well add a few CONSTRUCTICONS to those construction plans while you're at it.

Shelf status: Devastated!

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This Week in Anime Shelf Life

This Week in Anime
Shelf Life