Silent Sanctum Manga: Moving Out Sale

Now that we got those two jokes out of our system, let's begin with our ACTUAL blog entry at hand: JAPANESE SURPLUS STORES!
Last year and early this year saw the demise of two of the places we usually frequent whenever we received our monthly salary.

1. Being Halina Kabayan Ko:
http://silentsanctummanga.blogspot.com/2012/09/rush-n-attack.html

2. Being Japan Selections (Quirino Highway Branch):
http://silentsanctummanga.blogspot.com/2013/01/law-of-natural-selections.html

This week we focus on the "semi-comatose" so to speak of yet another Japan Selections (Roosevelt Ave. Branch).

Tis a sad day indeed! And here I reiterate my previous query as to "Why do bad things happen to good people?" Why I tells you, WHY???

Instead of lingering on the looming sad days ahead of us, let's focus on the good instead.

70% is still 70%!
The store boasts a wide variety of authentic Japanese merchandises.

Most of which are in their unconverted 110v state. How's that for authenticity?

And now, on to some surprisingly good news. The store is not closing down permanently but rather relocating to a better place.

And armed with that knowledge, forthwith with the items that we actually know and collect.
Ultraman action figures!

&
Tankobons!

Lots and lots of tankobons!

3 shelves worth of back to back books to be exact!

Packed with familiar titles such as (but not limited to):

Ohmygosh, balbas! Original BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL tankobons!!

Original price : P100.00 per book.
Discounted price: P60.00 per book
SAAN KA PA???

Most of the tankobons ranges from the used to the brand new (wrapped) state. There are no complete
sets we could find of but the maximum books per title are 5. That's a good number to start your very own collection or if you're simply completing an existing obsession.
Yes, we're talking about you, DRAGON BALL Z!

You and your rather elusive issue #1!

Owning tankobons of a particular title shows a more visual representation of your fandom as opposed to reading the said material online. Buying the books is as equivalent as believing in the author's vision and his/her final output. Digital downloads and torrents are one thing but owning a hard copy of the actual title shows dedication and is actually quite encouraged!

And with that in mind, here's what our shopping cart contained.

Still no luck at finding that ever elusive BULLMARK brand of Ultraman toys.
But the El Santo flirting with Mother Of Ultra is worth pointing out and is worth a chuckle or two.

Next up is this deck of cards from an unknown manga title. Nothing too special about it but HEY, it's worth 20 bucks! So what the hey?

Now on to the motherload!

First up are the two Ninku books.

Ah Ninku, the original Naruto!
Let's take a moment and channel your inner childhood.
Remember the good ol' AXN days? Well, so do I!

Ok, that's enough reminiscing for one day. On with the review!
The art isn't exactly up to par with it's anime counterpart. And will continue to evolve
to what we know and are familiar with up until the Second Stage of the series. We were
unable to find a single copy of the said "Second Stage" hence most of this review would be
based on what we currently have.

Best character so far: Manong Natatae!

His expression never changes despite the situation and because of that, he's our instant favorite!
Random pin-up artwork with Rihoko.

This dude with a Tiger Mask looking mask.

Actually we can't remember this dude ever appearing in the show.
And quite frankly we can't remember this scene either.

The art is crude but quite enjoyable nonetheless.
There are none of that GTO style exaggerated expressions(for which the anime was widely known for) as of the moment but hopefully the succeeding issues would fill in that void.

Moving on to the surprise catch of the day : Hunter X Hunter #22.

This is everything good about the series and more.
Gone are the Greed Island Arc which not only did nothing to the advancement of the story but proved that card collecting and overpriced console games are not worth hunting for.
Gone are the ugly ass Chimera Ant characters that not only brought the title to a downward spiral but is nowhere as good as the monster designs from Yuyu Hakusho's Three Kings Saga. A saga in which many considered to be the weakest amongst the 4.

Issue 22 starts off on a high note by showing us an image we've all been dying to see.

Well, that got your attention right away!
It's the Genei Ryodan (Phantom Troupe) together with Kalluto Zoldyck.
And not only did they sit around, play cards, toss coins or discuss plans on this particular issue, they ACTUALLY fought and killed someone. Most notably members of Queen Zazan's army.

Also worth mentioning is the very first unwrapping of Bonolenov.

Yes, that mummy dude with boxing gloves, he ACTUALLY fought and killed someone on this particular issue.
He's quite a graceful fighter

and those holes actually produces tribal music.

He can also morph into his tribal gears

and crush his enemies with the power of Jupiter.

This would also be Kalluto Zoldyck's first 1 on 1 match since his debut.

He uses a fan and bits of confetti to shred through his opponent's skin.

Shalnark also dropped the Amanuma aspect of his character and actually fought his beetle looking adversary using a new technique called "Autopilot". In which he turned Super Saiyan and sorta resembled Killua.

Then all of a sudden, this happened!

Shizuku in her bra and panties.
Well, talk about FAN SERVICE in it's utmost kind!
We most certainly appreciated it. Thank you, Yoshihiro Togashi!

After which Feitan squares off against Queen Zazan.
This would also be the first time Feitan fights anyone using his improvised umbrella/parasol.

And we are quickly reminded as to how he and Hiei are basically twins.

Kinda like how Ging Freecs resembles Yusuke Urameshi. That kind of resemblance!
He then transforms to his Iron Maiden looking armor

then summons the power of the sun to incinerate the poor Queen.

Towards the end of the book, we get to see Gon squaring off against this bat like creature named BAT.

Which was quickly disposed off by the power of shouting.

How exciting! And that's how the book ended.

Moving on with the last tankobon which is undoubtedly, Dragon Ball # 37.
Let's cut to the chase, this was the earlier chapters of what would be later known as the Majin Buu Saga.
Piccolo shat his pants at the idea of him having to face off against Supreme Kai.

And had since then been reduced to becoming Goten & Trunk's uncle/mentor/legal guardian.
This was also Videl's first and probably last tournament.