Loot Anime’s seventeenth episode, Future, takes as its subject the cyberpunk near future fictions Ghost in the Shell: Arise, Psycho-Pass, Clockwork Planet, and Kiznaiver.

There’s no Crate Craft this month, although when you refold your Loot Anime crate, it becomes Yume’s Future themed laptop, and could make a nice storage box for some comic books or other small collectibles.

The most exciting inclusion was the first thing out of the box, the exclusive Bioworld Ghost in the Shell: Arise T-Shirt. Not only is the design striking, but the cotton shirt is an exotic shade of red seldom seen in novelty tees, best described as carnelian. It’s definitely my favorite item this month, and I’m not alone, as this is the first Loot Anime shirt that my wife has asked for. I recommend hang drying this shirt on a plastic hanger if you don’t want your dryer to translate this superb carnelian to a more basic maroon.

I was less enthusiastic about the Kiznaiver mousepad, made by Tryad, until I considered that my coffee-stained mouse pad was due for a replacement years ago. It’s also a pretty nice mouse pad, reminding me of the gaming pads that tabletop card gamers use; if only it was a little bigger, I could repurpose it for use in 7 Wonders, Dominion, or Splendor.

My eleven year old has already asked me three times for the gun-shaped Psycho-Pass Dominator USB drive (also made by Tryad), so I’m pretty sure that this item will be just as much a hit with the tech-obsessed small set as it will be with fans of the anime. We may actually be watching this in the future, as she has already quoted the Loot Anime poster blurb when my wife asked what Psycho-Pass was about. This is my second favorite item this month, as I admire the packaging and presentation of the item, and my daughter’s reaction to it makes me smile.

I’ve always enjoyed oversized trade paperbacks due to their being the perfect hybrid of the page size of a hardback book and the lightweight convenience of a paperback book, so I was happy to receive this month’s Loot Anime variant of Clockwork Planet Vol. 1. For an extremely nearsighted person like myself that is as likely to read in any position, sitting or lying down, there’s no better format than this larger-sized manga. I haven’t read this one yet, but the art looks great, and the story appears to have the ‘dramedic’ tone that I enjoy.

This month’s Future poster, illustrated by Lim Wei Lun / Collateral Damage Studios, depicts Yume in purple and pink mech armor, walking through snow or perhaps the ash of the explosion behind her. There’s an interesting contrast between the finer lines of Yume’s design and the thicker lines of the mech, as if a manga heroine was operating a prop from a late period Hanna Barbera cartoon, perhaps a Powerpuff Girls episode.

This month’s Future themed phone charm, based on art by Varinya Nunez, shows Yume in her mech pilot’s uniform.

Overall, I was pretty happy with Loot Anime’s Future episode, because it had the strongest t-shirt design since the Gate shirt in Episode 9, Squadron, and my favorite included manga since Sweetness and Lightning in Episode 12, Delicious. While I was indifferent to the mousepad, the Psycho-Pass Dominator USB drive was a sweet addition.

April’s Loot Anime theme has not yet been revealed, but if you want the March crate, the Future is still ahead of you, at least until Monday, March 27th, 2017. If you’re too late to buy this one, my recommendation is to keep checking LootVault.  

Loot Crate sent the review copy.