Paradise Kiss act.1 Special Edition DVD

Received the Parakiss act.1 DVD box last Friday and here's the picture of the box. Amazon Japan actually sent it before the release date on 21 Dec but I only received it on 23 Dec. The problem was that DHL had sent this title to the censors for approval before it can be delivered to me. And I can't believe my luck (or should I say misfortune) to be the first in this country to bring in this title so I have to go through this censorship process. I was hopping mad when DHL called me that I had to let the censors open my package and watch the DVDs! To make it worse, they won't compensate me if they spoil the DVDs or the box. And the most ridiculous was I didn't have a choice since this item will be returned to Japan if I didn't agree to it being opened. I still have to pay a fee of $1.80 for it to be censored. Since I'm not bringing in for commercial purposes, I fail to comprehend why I have to go through all the trouble. Anyway, there's no point arguing over this anymore since I don't have a choice to decide what to do. I am not that stupid to let them send this back to Japan after spending so much money on it. There's a dent on the top left hand corner of the box but I can't do anything about it. I feel so helpless over this issue and has sworn off Amazon Japan for DVDs in future no matter how much they are offering as a discount. I have no issue with the merchant itself but this entire episode has left me so exasperated that I don't think it's worth the trouble. It's back to my trusty HMV Japan and CD Japan from now on. I'm simply thrilled to know that HMV has changed its delivery method to EMS from FedEx so I cancelled the existing orders on Amazon and went to HMV instead. The only drawback is the occassional higher unit price but the cheaper shipping and no-hassle shipping method would overweigh the difference in cost. Besides, Amazon doesn't have a loyalty scheme so I don't get any incentives from shopping with them.

There are 2 DVDs in this package i.e. the first containing Ep 1 to 4 while the other consists of an interview with Yamada Yu who plays Yukari plus some footage of the recording session and the photoshoot of a pose which appears in the manga. Actually, Yamada does look like Yukari from certain angles so I wonder if this is related to why the producers got her to be the voice actor. I was kind of disappointed not to see Hamada Kenji in this DVD though because I thought it would be interesting to see him and Yamada dress like up the two characters. Anyway, I'm still hopeful that I can see Hamada-san in the next DVD. In addition, there's another clip of the press conference where Yamada wore the dress which is to appear in the fashion show and it looks simply grand and gorgeous. A lot of effort must have been put into the making of the dress and using those blue roses as accessories. I wonder how it will turn out in the anime though. Matsumoto Marika who plays Miwako also appeared during the press conference dressed in Miwako's style. She looks really cute in person with one dimple on the right of her cheek and her voice is so sweet just like her appearance. That leaves me to wonder again, why on earth was Hamada-san absent from the press conference? He's the male lead for heaven's sake. There goes another chance to find out how he looks like.

The booklet contains information about the series like the drawings of Yukari and George, a story which is to be serialised in the DVD volumes, lyrics and features of the songs in the anime, interviews with Zipper's editor and Yazawa Ai. I don't have the time to go through this in detail yet but the booklet is done in a very classy manner as shown in the cover which I scanned above.

Besides these freebies, there's the special illustration card which Yazawa Ai drew for the anime's DVDs. It comes in the form of an invitation card where the words "Paradise Kiss from Yazawa Ai" are written on the front and the card is fitted snugly inside.

The biggest and most attractive premium in this package should be the blue rose cossage displayed nicely in a clear box and a cloth label of Paradise Kiss x A/T attached at the back. It's too nice to be worn so I'll keep it as a display item. I can't scan the picture of the cossage so I'll take a photo of it with my handphone and upload it later.

Although the price of this item is rather expensive, the premiums make it a worthwhile deal at the end so I'm not complaining. The next DVD box will be out in Feb so the last volume should be released by April.