Suzume would be nice to have on 4K (I did get the Japanese release for this purpose, and it's awesome), but unfortunately the European license is with CR, and they haven't been very forthcoming with 4K releases.Really good points here; the growth of the UK and European manga and anime market is something I've followed over the last few years or so.
While sales of physical media are declining generally, physical anime merchandise (including anime-related home video) is actually increasing, and is predicted to grow in Europe to $9.05 billion by 2030, with an average increase of ~11% each year.
Hence Toho's move to gain various global distributors (they know that boutique physical media is an increasing market, so they want to be in prime position to take advantage). A major Japanese studio wouldn't be making such moves if they felt there wasn't significant money to be made.
It's the same kind of growth that we're seeing in the "boutique" Blu-ray renaissance more generally, so-to-speak (think labels like Arrow, Second Sight, Radiance, 88Films, Criterion, etc). All these distributors (Anime Limited included) have realised it's better (and easier) to sell 3,000 copies of a fancy collector's edition for ~£50 than to try and sell 15,000 copies of a standard edition for £15-£20 to a more casual consumer, for example. Not only this, but these labels have built up credible direct to consumer store fronts, so they no longer need to go through Amazon, HMV, or other retailers where their profits are eaten into.
Ever wondered why steel books have exploded in recent years? Well, that's because in 2025, steel books made up only 10% of all 4K Blu-ray titles, but made up 18% of the total revenue for 4K Blu-ray that year, with an average retail price of £32! Steel books, limited/collector editions, this is seemingly where the money is in the physical market now.
I think what is driving this growth is the volatility of streaming services; one month a film or show you want to watch is on one streaming service, the next it has moved to another or now entirely doesn't exist on any official platform, for example. Not only this, but I also believe the desire to permanently own almost an 'artefact' or museum piece of your favourite TV show or film (something that isn't at the whim of a streaming service) is also driving this market shift.
I think you're exactly right about people generally underestimating the size of the market and the number of interested customers. It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking it's only the people on social media, Discord, and places like this who are potential customers. In reality there are thousands upon thousands of interested customers who simply aren't on social media or do not post online.
It's no coincidence that when you walk into a HMV nowadays there's a big anime section and also a large section for labels like Arrow and the like - it's simply where the market and the money is now. There are a lot of people willing to pay £30~ for a 20 year old film or series in pretty packaging, as opposed to a bog standard release of a disc in a simple amaray case for £10.
As for the logistics of Anime Limited's sale this year, it of course wasn't ideal. You would hope that a multi-billion pound company in Toho would be able to help upscale Anime Limited's capacity to pack and send orders in the future - especially since Toho now have a London headquarters.
AL are clearly growing as a business, but their delivery logistics is seemingly still at the level as if they were a small, niche independent company. Anime Limited has come a long way since being founded as a small, independent company; they're now part of a global distribution system and working with some of the biggest players in the game.
And with that, you would hope AL's infrastructure would develop with it. But I guess we'll see. I do think overall that Anime Limited do a better job than most labels (when there are significant disc errors we get replacement discs, we get emails if there are delays to pre-orders, bubble wrap as standard in packages!, etc).
Things aren't perfect, and of course there's always room for improvement, but as far as boutique labels go, I'd say AL is one of the better ones out there. You only have to look to the likes of customer complaints directed at companies like Arrow to realise that it could be a lot worse. However, I do hope the Toho backing allows AL to become more efficient and provide an even better service for everyone - and hopefully Suzume on 4K one day!
UK Anime Christmas Sales for 2025 [Anime Ltd's 12 Days of Xmas + More]
- Thread starter SkwigglesWorth
- Start date
xp_version1
Adventurer
Tbf, Crunchy acquired the rights from Toho. So when they expire we can expect a very nice AL 4K set I’m sure.
ActionFaust
Mad Scientist
I still think there's some confusion as your previous response looked like it was talking about the delays rather than the prices. That said it's clear we've been going around in circles and neither of us will change our stance on this so I think it's best we put this to rest.
Stiivun
Pokémon Master
Also out of the self-help group for not-yet-delivered Anime Ltd. Christmas orders 
At least got confirmation that one order from December 3rd was shipped not yet the second one from the day before. Although funnily enough in the UPS app I see two different tracking numbers now.
At least got confirmation that one order from December 3rd was shipped not yet the second one from the day before. Although funnily enough in the UPS app I see two different tracking numbers now.
Yupa
Kiznaiver
I followed your advice and sent an email yesterday evening. This morning I finally received the email that my order is on the way.
Not sure if either after 2+ months my patience ran out just less than a day too soon, or my order got prioritized after my email...
RadFemHedonist
Guild Member
That would be very awesome indeed.
Fine by me. Thanks for the replies and stuff. Hope you don't have anime waiting.
Nice. A lot of people seem to be getting their stuff. Hope that mine will ship soon too.Another of my three orders just shipped, only one more to go now
Darren Skippings
Adventurer
I'm out of the running for last order, shipped.
I almost cannot believe it, got a shipping notification as well.
Happy noises.
Will post when it arrives.
Cat you say? Very important. Do you have more than one?
Also, could you include all cats and their names?
sniper_samurai
Time-Traveller
Fyi that UPS charge is ex VAT so if you're in Ireland, which iirc you are, it cost you €23.89 for clearance vs €6.95(went up another euro last week) from An Post if it was shipped via Royal Mail..
Tell me about it. Would have loved free shipping but IOSS would be even better.
Yes. IOSS should be a must. Even small shops are offering this nowadays which leads me to believe that AtA just doesn't care about orders from the EU.
I think it's the only shop left where I regularly shop that hasn't implemented it (just a hint: I would buy way more during the year if IOSS would be implemented; but as it stands it just warrants buying during the Christmas sale when the prices are low enough to set off those unnecessary extra charges).
But who knows. Maybe the percentage of EU buyers is so low, that the necessary investment to implement IOSS is not worth it for them.
Also still in the running for last order shipped here as mine still hasn't.
Last edited:
Yupa
Kiznaiver
No, fortunately that was including VAT. They listed it separately so I told the sum of it. I'm in the Netherlands by the way, our local handling fee increased to €10 last month. Seems to be more expensive every year.
AlmightyAllan
Completely Average High School Student
Marking the calendar. My final order shipped. Should be here by next Thursday.
ID5
Dandy Guy, in Space
Just received my order, still waiting on my perfect blue/diebuster preorder, haven't heard anything about that one...
Yeah, I'm also in the Netherlands and really annoyed that the normal post also increased their fee to 10 euro, but even that would be better than the UPS fee.