Photos: M.Concepcion
NIS America's first foray into anime publishing calls to mind the pre-industry crash days when companies like Animeigo housed their VHS tapes in clamshells and the now-defunct Geneon offered special DVD boxes for even their c-list titles. NIS' first two properties to hit the market features a high school romantic comedy called Toradora! and the animated spin-off of Persona 3, Persona: Trinity Soul.
Having had years of special products experience with their Rosenqueen online store, NIS keeps up this trend with Premium Editions of these two titles. Both come housed in impressively thick hard boxes with matte finishes. Both volumes run at 13 episodes and are split into two DVD thinpaks. Included in each box is a landscape-oriented hardcover book loaded with full color art. The book for Toradora! is laid out as an episode guide, filled with character profiles, interview snippets and random trivia. Persona's presentation is unique for being split into two books: one side is the information/illustration-laden artbook while the other is a poetic tale told through paintings titled "A Whale's Feather".
As you can see from the bookshelf photo below, OCD types enjoy the fact that the boxes, when laid out in landscape orientation, are just a couple millimeters higher than your standard DVD case. Its length also fills up deep bookshelves nicely.
Of course all this packaging would be pointless if the product was not more than decent. So be sure to check back with Examiner.com for a review of both shows in the next couple weeks.
Toradora! and Persona: Trinity Soul will be released on DVD on July 6, 2010. (Copies of both shows were provided by NIS America for review.)
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