#genesis review

[techdriveplay]

2024 Genesis GV80 - TDP Review

[wiya-nagisa]

Rei plush very cu-u-ute! 💞

[hardcore-gaming-101]

Telenet Shooting Collection

Telenet was a prolific game developer in the late 1980s and early 1990s, beginning with computers and quickly transitioning into console development. Their focus was often on quantity over quality, with their games often featuring stellar cutscene artwork and excellent music, but typically lacking when it came to the actual game. Their most well-known work is the Valis series in its many incarnations, as well as action games like El Viento and RPGs like Cosmic Fantasy and Arcus. They also published a handful of shoot-em-ups, originally published for the Genesis/Mega Drive and PC Engine, four of which are collected here on the Telenet Shooting Collection. This collection was published by Edia, owner of Telenet’s IP, and crowdfunded on the Japanese site Makuake.

Read more...

[lilareviewsbooks]

Queer Normal-World in SFF Books

Here are five books where being queer is the norm, aka there is no homophobia or transphobia at all! Not all these books are fluffy though -- most of them have heavy conflicts and a bunch of shit going down, but at least no one has a problem with anyone being gay!

These are my favorite kind of books and I have so, so many recommendations, so let me know if you ever want more of these :) And I can also absolutely do only fluffy queer books, too!

The Genesis of Misery, by Neon Yang

Mx. Yang's books are perfect for this type of prompt. The Genesis of Misery is their most recent, and the premise is absolutely killer. It follows Misery Nomaki (she/they), who is haunted by an apparition of an angel. While she is convinced she is mentally ill like her mother, and that her visions are a symptom, people around her seem more and more certain that she is actually some sort of messiah. 

I have my issues with The Genesis of Misery, but it’s a very creative sci-fi that’s worth the read. It includes mecha, interesting depictions of religion, which permeates the entire story, and, of course, excellent queer rep. We have characters who use neo-pronouns, a polyamory situationship and most characters are queer. Not to mention, it’s written by a queer and non-binary author, which is always a plus. It’s part of an on-going series, though, so be prepared to wait a little while for the sequel! 

Plus, The Locked Tomb fans might be interested to know that there’s a very cavalier-necromancer dynamic in this, and that Rebecca Roanhorse (who wrote Black Sun) described it as Joan of Arc meets Gideon The Ninth. 

Yep. You wanna read it, don’t you?

(Also, if for some reason you’re like: “gee, I really wish there was a black-and-white silent movie with a killer score that touched on these same themes”, then you should probably watch The Passion of Joan of Arc (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1928). It’s not explicitly gay, but it is queer in my heart. And it rocks.)

The Locked Tomb Series, starting with Gideon The Ninth, by Tasmyn Muir

Since I mentioned it, I guess I might as well include The Locked Tomb in here! This is a Tumblr favorite, and with good reason, because The Locked Tomb fucking rocks. It’s hard to pitch it to someone without ruining the whole point of the series, but the first book follows a necromancer, Harrowhark and her sworn swords-woman, her cavalier, the butch-as-hell Gideon, as they’re summoned to the First House to compete to become Lyctors, the companions of God. 

Yeah, I know that’s a lot, and, to be honest, it’s probably not gonna make much sense to you at many points throughout the story, but that’s the point of The Locked Tomb - everything is confusing, and it’s about sapphics in space! 

The thing about this series is they’re the most unique books you’ll ever read. Every volume has a different approach to telling its story. There’s so many mysteries and it’s almost impossible to understand all the intricacies without sitting down and doing some work. The magic system is also the wonkiest, coolest thing - it involves eating people, sometimes, y’know. And, I promise, you’ll love every single second of it. Especially because there’s absolutely no homophobia or transphobia in any of it, and almost every character is queer as fuck - especially after the second book, when gender starts getting a little funky!

Winter’s Orbit, by Everina Maxwell

I love this book so much, and so know that it comes highly, highly recommended! I have a whole five star review on it you can check out here. (Do check trigger warnings, though! You should always, but especially for this one. I didn’t and they really got me!). 

Winter’s Orbit features my absolutely favorite trope - queer arranged marriage. (Nothing better - those three words and you know it’s gonna be a queer normal world, have some politics and probably be really fucking sweet.) This one is probably one of only ones out of this list where the romance is very predominant and serves as an important B plot. It’s also a standalone, but has a companion book in the same universe, called Ocean’s Echo, which rocks, too!

This one follows Jainan, a recent widower who is rushed into an arranged marriage with Prince Kiem in order to keep the alliance between their homelands intact. Together, they must navigate court intrigue I’m trying my best not to spoil and investigate Jainan’s ex-husband’s death, which might not have been an accident, after all...

In this sci-fi fantasy world, being queer is completely normal, and their system when it comes to gender is absolutely fascinating. People will wear little gender signifiers, like a wodden token for female, for instance, so that others know how to refer to them. It’s super cool to see these kind of things incorporated into the world-building, and it’s something you really only get when queer authors are behind the helm.

(Also, this was originally written online, and it was actually picked up and traditionally published! Which is so cool! Queer fics becoming traditionally published books is so rare, it’s so nice to see it actually happen!)

The Teixcalaan Series, starting with A Memory Called Empire, by Arkady Martine

This is another one of my favorites! I read it last year and it blew me away - so much so that I’ve been itching to re-read it ever since I finished the second book.

The Teixcalaan Series is a political sci-fi duology focusing on the themes of language, empire and cultural domination through imperialism. It’s amazing, and I wrote about it in a full-length review, here, if you wanna take a look! 

It follows Mahit Dzamare, from the tiny Lsel Station, who becomes the ambassador to the huge Teixcalaan Empire, whose culture she’s been in love with for ages. The problem? Something happened to the Lsel ambassador, and the Empire’s control over the Station has been growing ever bigger. To make matters worse, Mahit’s imago machine - the cerebral implant full of her predecessors memories and experiences - doesn’t seem to be working properly, leaving her with a ghost of her predecessor inside of her head...

With all the problems the Teixcalaan Empire has, it’s not homophobic or transphobic, which is a plus for us gays who want to read in peace. Mahit has a charged relationship with her cultural liason, Three Seagrass (yes, that’s her name; yes, there’s an in-world explanation; no, I won’t tell you what it is, you’ll have to read it and find out), not to mention all the hijinks she finds out her predecessor was up to. And none of it needs to be justified or explained at all - people are just gay, and that’s fine!

On A Sunbeam, by Tillie Walden

This graphic novel has a stunning art style, and, listen closely sapphics, absolutely no men at all. Yep. Literally there’s only women and non-binary people in this comic! 

And guess what? It’s available to read for free, here. Thank you, Ms. Walden!

Here, romance is also an important plot point. On A Sunbeam follows Mia, who starts working for a crew of repair-people who rebuild broken down structures. In another timeline, we flashback to her experiences at her boarding school, and to her relationship with a new student.

What’s most unique about On A Sunbeam - apart from the fact that there are no men at all - is it’s unique version of outer space. It’s almost historical, with huge sprawling marble structures decaying, surronded by trees. The ships are shaped like huge fish. You can feel the whimsy in your bones from the colors and the art style that Ms. Walden uses, here.

This standalone is definitely worth a read. And if you like it, you should definitely check out the rest of Ms. Walden’s work - it’s all as beautiful as this is, if not more. Her The End of Summer was one of my favorite reads, last year.

That’s all I’ve got, guys, but lemme know if you want more of these - I have so many, I can definitely recommend you more! Drop me an ask if you have specifications, too - I’m always happy to do some digging :)

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

Kaiju Week in Review (February 18-24, 2024)

Godzilla Rivals: Mothra vs. M.O.G.U.E.R.A. begins with a standout fight between Mothra and Ebirah. From there, however, the Queen of the Monsters spends most of the story on the sidelines, with a brawl involving Mechagodzilla, Garuda, Jet Jaguar, and M.O.G.U.E.R.A. over the fate of her egg taking center stage. A mech fight on that scale is unusual for a Godzilla comic, and despite the misleading title, it's a decent issue. Writer Johnny Parker II sat down for a lengthy interview with Kevin Derendorf and Raf Enshohma this week; I haven't had time to listen to the whole thing, but I do know he talks about his valiant efforts to put Medical Jet Jaguar from Godzilla Island in the comic.

Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #5 also released this week. Afraid it didn't leave much of an impression on me; the book is juggling a lot of narrative threads now, and I don't see how it wraps them all up satisfactorily with just two issues left. I would've liked to see a more focused cast (and not just because it takes forever to list all the DC characters on Wikizilla each issue, haha). They also finally mention Monarch in this issue, which only makes the absence of the Monsterverse's human characters more conspicious.

Between Dune: Part Two and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, March was already going to be a great month at the movies for giant monster fans, but they'll now be joined by an anime classic: The End of Evangelion. GKIDS is bringing it to North American theaters on March 17 and 20 (a Sunday and a Wednesday, respectively). All showings will be in Japanese with English subtitles. This is not, as some reporting has suggested, the first time the film has ever played in the region—I found a Facebook event page for a 2019 screening in Omaha, for instance—but it is certainly the first major release. Be forewarned that if you haven't seen Neon Genesis Evangelion, you'll be confused out of your mind, as the film serves as an alternate ending for the final two episodes. But you've got time to get caught up.

Like many a Godzilla movie before it, Godzilla x Kong is leaking like a sieve, with a number of alleged screenshots of the Titans now making the rounds online. I normally wouldn't mention such things in this column, but they show a couple of characters who haven't been officially confirmed to be in the movie yet. So here's a warning to be on your guard if you're spoiler-shy.

[jubileemon]

Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time Ending: Shinji's Happy Ending?

It's great to hear that the ending of "Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time" provides fans with a long-awaited sense of closure and happiness. The resolution, with Shinji creating a new world, free from the conflicts of Angels and EVAs, and finding stability and happiness with Mari, represents a significant departure from the darker and more complex themes of the series. Though it seems completely out of left field that Shinji would end up with Mari, it actually works out.

Shinji and Rei

Though Rei is good to Shinji and is affectionate toward him, this is mixed in with her being created from his mother's DNA and her lack of autonomy. The genetic connection between Rei and Yui brings an inherent familial bond. If romantic feelings were to develop between Shinji and Rei, it could be interpreted as having incestuous undertones, as Rei essentially shares genetic material with Shinji's mother.

Opting for a platonic or sibling-like relationship helps navigate the potential uncomfortable implications of the genetic connection, contributing to a more emotionally stable and healthier friendship between them in the context.

Shinji and Asuka

As Neon Genesis Evangelion is meant as a deconstruction of anime tropes, so is Asuka and Shinji's relationship a darker take on tsundere romance stories.

Asuka's blunt and abrasive demeanor serves as a defense mechanism, masking her own insecurities and traumas. This can make it challenging for Shinji or anyone else to easily discern her true feelings, creating a barrier to establishing a healthy relationship.

Asuka's pride serves as a defense mechanism, shielding her from potential emotional pain. By projecting confidence and superiority, she attempts to avoid vulnerability and rejection. This can be seen in her reluctance to open up to others and her tendency to mask her true feelings.

Shinji is totally unable to give Asuka affection on the terms she wants ("You won't even hold me!") and only goes to her to assuage his own pain. Likewise, Asuka is only ever able to give Shinji tough love (Shinji: "Doesn't everyone hate me?" Asuka: "You idiot, you've just gotten that in your head by yourself!").

Shinji and Kaworu

Kaworu, though wanting to make Shinji happy, does so at the cost of his own happiness. Their relationship becomes a focal point, as Kaworu becomes the first person to genuinely understand and accept Shinji without judgment. However, the complexity arises due to Kaworu's true nature as an Angel and his ultimate mission conflicting with Shinji's role as an EVA pilot.

Though it's admirable that he's willing to help Shinji through his problems and even teach him how to play a piano, his self-sacrificing nature and his Shinji-centric matyrdom would make any relationship beyond the platonic self-destructive in the long run. A romantic relationship with Shinji would be overshadowed by the knowledge of Kaworu's eventual sacrifice, introducing an inevitable and heartbreaking element.

Why Mari Would Be The Best Choice For Shinji's Future?

Rei's true nature means she and Shinji can't be together. Shinji and Asuka confess their feelings but decide they've hurt each other too much and grown too far apart for a relationship. Kaworu realizes he threw himself so far into trying to help Shinji, he forgot himself along the way. In contrast, Mari represents hope for a new life in a new world, as her relationship with Shinji will be unburdened by the past.

This choice in the narrative may reflect the film's theme of moving forward and finding happiness, as Mari is portrayed as a character with less emotional baggage from the series' past. Her energetic and eccentric personality contrasts with Shinji's introverted nature. Their dynamic could bring a positive and lively influence into Shinji's life, potentially helping him break free from his emotional struggles.

Ultimately, the choice of Mari as Shinji's future companion reflects the film's thematic emphasis on moving forward and finding happiness. While interpretations may vary, Hideaki Anno's decision to set Shinji with Mari offers a unique perspective on how characters can evolve and find solace in new relationships.

[classic-who-review]

Genesis of the Daleks 1975

10/10

My absolute favorite episode. I consider it the best episode of Doctor Who of all time. Just a whirlwind of emotions, adventure, science fiction, etc. I absolutely adore it. Top acting from everyone involved. Tom Baker and Michael Wisher give chilling performances.

[artbookie]

CARMINE - YOSHIYUKI SADAMOTO ART COLLECTION Artbook

Check the flipthrough below (if you like the artbook, please support the artist by buying a copy! ^_^)

[kittyqueenl]

Finding all my childhood things 🧡

[thecraggus]

Doctor Who - The Legend Of Ruby Sunday

Doctor Who: The Legend Of Ruby Sunday attempts to pay off the season's clumsy and rushed set-ups with mixed results and mediocre wordplay. #Review

[zedecksiew]

EVANGELION

Neon Genesis Evangelion was my whole identity, when I was fifteen.

I was an angsty boy from a small town. I longed to have a fiery redhead be mean to me (or to just meet one); to be part of world-ending events (or to be part of a clique that mattered); to pilot a god (or to just feel powerful in my own body).

As I grew up I've managed to sublimate those longings, I guess?

All my middle-age aches tell me my body is friend who cannot be taken for granted; their are not a flesh-tool. On good writing days, I do feel like I make some meaning in the world.

And, while I've still never met a fiery redhead---I no longer see Westerners as aspirational, so meeting them now feels human instead of symbolic.

+

Last year I watched the Rebuild series through. I liked it! Parts of the new movies remind me of Shin Godzilla (my favourite Hideaki Anno work).

Some notes:

+

1. CAD leads to overdesign

True when Tim Burton got CGI; true when Games Workshop started to sculpt minis on computers; true for the nonsense Evas, Unit 05 onwards, and that over-busy flying SDF-1 knockoff. I mean, what the fuck am I looking at here???

And while some stuff like the Eva 07s are neat (they've got these skull + pharaoh-chin designs), it's moot because you can barely see them, because they only appear in scenes like this:

So dumb, so dumb.

The new angels were sick, though. Because when you overdesign by computer you pass into the realm of the inhuman, and the angels are supposed to be eldritch inhuman creatures.

Sahaquiel was my favourite re-designed angel. It got these ridges that look like leaping evangelical choirs.

+

2. Meta-indulgence

I've aged out of thinking that breaking the fourth wall is clever. I did like the meta stuff in last film, though? Calls back on the series finale + End of Evangelion. But crucially it felt really different.

It felt like a satisfying (and kinder!) end to the characters' stories; more satisfying closure for the fans. It felt like Anno was saying goodbye to his demons, putting the franchise to bed, and turning off the lights. Moving on.

(All instantly rendered moot when they announce a new Evangelion project / tie-in / whatever. Because of course they will. Because Capitalism.)

+

3. Rebuilding

The best part of Thrice Upon A Time is the first third of the film: minutiae from a community of survivors trying to pick themselves up from the end of the world. Planting rice, arranging hot baths, playing with pregnant cats.

Evangelion finally got some actual, undashed hope.

The whole movie could've just been this---the characters staying in this small town, dealing with their demons, learning how to feel and heal and actually live the lives that were stolen from them.

That would've been a really good way to end, honestly.

+

4. Child soldiers

The most obvious thing about Evangelion is this:

its protagonists, the pilots of the giant mechas, are emotionally and physically tortured preteens, gaslit and manipulated by every adult they meet.

This is a show about the use and abuse of children. My teenage self never clocked it. Hm, I wonder why!

Maybe because I didn't yet have the discursive tools to understand that stuff; 2000 was a different time, after all.

Maybe I didn't care. Surrogate mommy please kiss me and dangle that sex-carrot so I'll go kill the world, oh yeah! Use me, mommy!

Because when you're that young you'd do anything to be treated as important, as an adult. You want to be used, because being used means you are legitimate.

And nothing is as legitimate as suffering.

[francesderwent]

Taylor famously writes from this place poised between two realities: her conviction that true love is real and that it lasts forever, and her experience of love breaking down and falling short. her songs can be wistful, hopeful, or they can be devastated, accusatory, and specifically accusatory of a moral failing. she’s not angry because her feelings were hurt, she’s angry because there was a standard which wasn’t met, angry because promises were made (even implicitly!) which weren’t kept. it keeps her music from being small—small-minded or small-souled. her hope doesn’t have to be naive, and her hurt doesn’t have to be navel-gazing, because it’s not about her, ultimately. it’s about the truth of love and how we’re all longing for that, and all capable of living up to love’s demands if only we choose to. she can confront everything that she’s been told about love, that it’s a “ruthless game”, that maybe she “asked for too much”, and she can measure it against what she knows is true and sift out the lies. the pillars of Taylor are “Love Story”, “Better Man”, and “All Too Well”: she looks at the tragedy of love and says over and over “here’s how you could have fixed things. here’s how you give the whole of yourself. it was your choice and you chose not to and that’s on you.”

Maisie is different. outside of the Trying soundtrack, written for a fictional story not her own, songs about a love that is whole and true are few and far between. her conviction that true, romantic love is real and achievable just isn’t as present. but just as much as Taylor, her songwriting comes from a place of held tension, of what we’ve been told meeting up with what we’ve experienced meeting up with what’s true. however, the realities that she’s encountering have always been different. Maisie is poised between on the one hand, the messages being fed to young women that they’re powerful and don’t need a man, and on the other hand, her experience of unavoidable vulnerability. or put another way: Maisie is poised between the flat egalitarianism of the more thoughtless kind of feminism, and the reality of asymmetrical relations between men and women. 

part of this, as we’ve said before, is that Maisie is so sisterful that even when she writes an independence anthem there is always a community lurking just around the corner. independence, for her, isn’t Enlightenment autonomy, holding herself together by her own power and beholden to no one. independence is friends holding each other up through communal heartbreak, growing and dancing and healing together—with a vividness that “New Romantics” never quite achieved. “Girls House” tells us very literally: an awful person got one year of trying to hurt her, but the next year isn’t for her alone, it’s for all the girls in her house. even the songs that are explicitly written along the lines of “I don’t need a man” have this echo in them: “I don’t need a man, because I know what it is to be loved.” you can only say “if you don’t want me, then you’re not the one,” or “loving him hurts, loving him don’t work, so love him I don’t” if you are absolutely convicted of what you are worthy of. that’s when you feel able to walk away. you could even make the argument that Maisie’s community of women building her up and filling her life takes the place of Taylor’s faith in true love. it’s what allows her to set standards, even as she remains pretty suspicious of romantic daydreams. 

but the other thing that saves Maisie’s music from being a non-stop one-note anthem of girlbossery, is that when she writes about hurt, about being done wrong, she gets right to the heart of a dynamic which gives the lie to a worldview in which men and women simply meet each other on equal ground. and I don’t even have to mention “History of Man” yet, because the other pillar of Maisie, besides “John Hughes Movie” and “Love Him I Don’t”, is actually “Worst of You”. Maisie’s clear-eyed recognition of inevitable inequality, the inequality that’s born because one person loves more, has been there since the beginning, and she doesn’t flinch away from it: “what was cheap to you, to me was all I had”. she said it flat out when YSUFT came out: “I’m not trying to write an empowerment album right now. I’m just telling the truth.” the implication is clear: a story in which women are simply empowered is not the truth. there is an asymmetry, which Genesis 3:16 describes as “desire” on the part of the woman (“she loves him more than anyone ever has in the history of man”) and “lording it over” on the part of the man (“you could just stop wanting me”). it’s not the ultimate truth of man and woman—Maisie isn’t resigned, she tries again and again to rewrite it—but it is a universal truth. it’s not just her terrible taste in men, making her fall for another rockstar. it’s not just immaturity, boys rather than men. it’s the whole history of man.

if Taylor is looking at human beings mired in sin and weakness and measuring them against the eternal standards of Love, Maisie is looking at the blind optimism of modernism and its denial of sin and measuring it against the fallenness that has been man’s for all of history. they’re looking at different dimensions of reality, and both of them are correct. Taylor’s is the discovery of the capital-I Ideal, realer than the real, which we all desire; Maisie’s is the discovery of the capital-R Real, realer than our desires for a lowercase-i ideal. because of this, they fall into opposite weaknesses: Taylor can sometimes be so preoccupied with the Ideal that she misses the way in which what she’s dealing with in reality actually isn’t that and therefore lets too much slide (False God, Lavender Haze). Maisie is so realistic that her daydreams don’t dream big enough, and she fails to escape the same old traps (Cate’s Brother). But Taylor, at her best, is able to look at an individual’s failings and says with confidence and empathy, “it is a lie that this is all you were capable of or all that love ever was. a love which gives everything and lasts forever is what’s true.” And Maisie, at her best, looks at the overly optimistic fantasies of empowerment in the hookup age and says “it is a lie that this is harmless. it’s a lie that this will make me free and happy. this is degrading and heartbreaking and unbalanced and that’s what’s true. so love you I don’t.”  

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

[From Rebecca Solnit]

Always odd that people don't seem to recognize that this most dreamily beautiful and tragic of cinematic masterpieces has the exact plot of Abraham and Sarah in Egypt. The reviewer mentions Biblical plagues without knowing that this business of the husband passing his wife off as a sister for opportunistic/safety reasons when they enter a new land is in Genesis (the plague of locusts in the film is the clincher). Part of the beauty of the film is the vast sweep of light and land, but also the very young Sam Shepard and Richard Gere and Brooke Adams.

Genesis:

Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land. 11 And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “Indeed I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance.

12 Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13 Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that [a]I may live because of you.”

14 So it was, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful. 15 The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s house. 16 He treated Abram well for her sake. He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

17 But the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.

[Days of Heaven review – Malick’s early masterwork heralds a rarefied visionary]

[azazel-dreams]

Babylon 5 - Dark Genesis: The Birth of the Psi Corps by J Gregory Keyes

Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[christine-ye]

I just finished rewatching The End of Evangelion in the theater

10/10, would give myself emotional damage again 👍🏻

Also my dad came along despite having not seen the show

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

Kaiju Week in Review (July 30-August 5, 2023)

Here's our first real look at the Kaiju No. 8 anime. I've enjoyed the manga and I expect I'll enjoy this too. Cool to see Toho Animation tackling this type of project too.

Over two years since its international release on Prime Video, Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time is coming to 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray from GKIDS on October 17. The 4K version has some physical add-ons (a book, character cards, and a poster), plus some added bonus features, but it's pricey - $67 on Amazon. This could very well be the first of the Rebuilds I end up buying (I own surprisingly little Evangelion stuff for how much I enjoy it; even my copy of the original show is a bootleg).

A couple of Pipeworks favorites have joined Godzilla Battle Line: Godzilla 2000 and Megalon. 2000 is pretty unremarkable, but Megalon is an ultra-cheap unit with an anti-healing field and napalm bombs that weaken his targets. Quite excited to unlock him tomorrow.

Vinegar Syndrome's Gorgo 4K + Blu-ray combo is out. I don't have it myself yet, but it seems to be a substantial improvement on the old VCI Blu-ray, if imperfect. The price has dropped quite a bit on Amazon too.

Jesus Christ, Bandai. Why did I sell off my eight-incher again?