UK Anime Distributor Animatsu Discussion Thread

[Buzzkillington]

Wonder why it took them so long to actually put it out. IIRC Gatchaman Crowds was their first release and the fact that both titles were announced simultaneously yet one is going to be out about a year after the other is very odd.

I can only assume it's because of when each show finished airing. Gatchaman Crowds finished airing in 2013 where as Akame ga Kill finished in December 2014, so only a month before they announced it really.

*Or what Mangaranga said, his makes more sense.

 

[NormanicGrav]

I've been having a look at the Animatsu backlogue, current status for each one:

From Sentai Filmworks:
- Akame ga Kill! - Collection 1 set for February in US, likely to be the same week in UK
- Amagi Brilliant Park - Complete Collection not set for US, no date set for UK
- Beyond the Boundary - Complete Collection set released in US, due December in UK
- Black Bullet - Complete Collection set released in US, due December in UK
- Blade & Soul - Complete Collection set released in US, due next week in UK
- Bladedance of the Elementalers - Complete Collection set for February in US, likely to be the same week in UK
- Chaika -The Coffin Princess- - Season 1 set for December in US, due the same week in UK
- The Comic Artist & His Assistants - Complete Collection set released in US, released in UK
- Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma - Collection 1 not set for US, no date set for UK
- Gatchaman Crowds - Season 1 released in US, released in UK
- Golden Time - Collection 1 & 2 released in US, no date set for UK
- Haikyuu!! - Collection 1 & 2 released in US, no date set for UK
- Haikyuu!! Second Season - Collection 1 not set for US, no date set for UK
- Humanity Has Declined - Complete Collection set released in US, no date set for UK
- Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? - Complete Collection not set for US, no date set for UK
- Knights of Sidonia - Season 1 released in US, released in UK
- Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions! - Season 1 released in US, released in UK
- My Love Story!! - Collection 1 not set for US, no date set for UK
- My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU - Season 1 released in US, due for March in UK
- My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU TOO - Season 2 not set for US, no date set for UK
- Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water - Complete Collection set released in US, released in UK
- Parasyte: The Maxim - Collection 1 not set for US, no date set for UK
- Samurai Jam -Bakumatsu Rock- - Complete Collection set released in US, released in UK
- School-Live! - Complete Collection not set for US, no date set for UK
- Triage-X - Complete Collection not set for US, no date set for UK

From Geneon Universal:
- A Certain Magical Index - Season 1 released in US, released in UK
- A Certain Scientific Railgun - Season 1 released in US, released in UK

 

[Buzz201]

Akame was only part way through its home video run in Japan when Mangamatsu announced it (V4 of 8 would have just been released). The last BD volume was released at the end of May, and generally there's an absolute minimum of at least 6 months holdback. Akame didn't sell well either so it may well be longer - I'd imagine Sentai put it on Toonami in the meantime to promote it.

It launched to huge numbers on Toonami, so I get why Sentai are doing a collector's edition. However, this is clearly a title that needs to be sold as quickly and as cheaply as possible, so Animatsu's strategy is nothing short of baffling...

Even accepting that these prices are pure speculation at this point:

Even a price of £45 for this package, considering it's 12 episodes, wouldn't feel reasonable to me. Like a few other posters in this thread, I'm not even remotely impressed by or interested in fancy pack-in extras.

Thinking about it some more, £45 is probably the absolute most I'd pay, ideally £30-35, but I recognise that's never going to happen...

I'm not impressed by most of the crap in the release, but that 100p booklet looks really cool. Goes without saying that if Animatsu can't replicate that, I'd wait for the standard edition, and then maybe not buy it at all, since it's all uncensored on Crunchyroll anyway.

 

[HdE]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think we've had confirmation that all that will be available is the collector's edition (part 1) - if those extras are things you don't care for, nor do you want a hardcover booklet, then you can settle with the standard collection blu-ray that I assume will be coming also.

Like I say, we're speculating a fair bit in this thread. So I'd hope a regular edition surfaces at some point.

But, on what is merely a point of personal frustration: I'll echo the weariness expressed upthread about the 'deluxe edition' terminology. I appreciate that there are collectors who are actively interested in having nice packaging and some extras, but I'm still chuckling to myself at the stuff that came with Knights of Sidonia. Postcards and a sticker. Yay! I'm gonna have, ooh, SECONDS of fun looking at those and wondering what they added to the asking price. And let's not forget the 'rigid box' - evidently so big a deal that it was listed first in the summary of contents on the back of the packaging.

I TOTALLY expect other folks not to share this sentiment, and if folks are happy to have these things, then I'm cool with that and happy for them to enjoy the packaging. But it all seems a bit unnecessary to me. It may just be my age and advancing grumpiness speaking here.

Sorry if the sourness of this post rubs anyone the wrong way. Just venting my spleen.

 

[mrclt1994]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think we've had confirmation that all that will be available is the collector's edition (part 1) - if those extras are things you don't care for, nor do you want a hardcover booklet, then you can settle with the standard collection blu-ray that I assume will be coming also.

Like I say, we're speculating a fair bit in this thread. So I'd hope a regular edition surfaces at some point.

But, on what is merely a point of personal frustration: I'll echo the weariness expressed upthread about the 'deluxe edition' terminology. I appreciate that there are collectors who are actively interested in having nice packaging and some extras, but I'm still chuckling to myself at the stuff that came with Knights of Sidonia. Postcards and a sticker. Yay! I'm gonna have, ooh, SECONDS of fun looking at those and wondering what they added to the asking price. And let's not forget the 'rigid box' - evidently so big a deal that it was listed first in the summary of contents on the back of the packaging.

I TOTALLY expect other folks not to share this sentiment, and if folks are happy to have these things, then I'm cool with that and happy for them to enjoy the packaging. But it all seems a bit unnecessary to me. It may just be my age and advancing grumpiness speaking here.

Sorry if the sourness of this post rubs anyone the wrong way. Just venting my spleen.

i admit that the KoS situation for it's UK release was meh but not a disaster and it's currently only £28.70 (remind me of the initial price?) on Amazon but with regards to content - with this Akame Ga Kill you're not just getting all those stickers etc, which i myself don't care for, you also get a hardcover booklet.

I am curious, what content, instead of what's on offer, would you prefer for a collector's edition? Versus previous releases, this Akame Ga Kill release looks to me that it actually has more 'extras' than any other set of theirs - the only UK release i can think of that came with more are the UEs for Giovanni's Island and Patema Inverted. Also, bear in mind this is just one of two so I presume we will get a similar amount of extras from Akame Ga Kill Collection 2, maybe even a soundtrack(?).

 

[Buzz201]

i admit that the KoS situation for it's UK release was meh but not a disaster and it's currently only £28.70 (remind me of the initial price?) on Amazon but with regards to content - with this Akame Ga Kill you're not just getting all those stickers etc, which i myself don't care for, you also get a hardcover booklet.

I am curious, what content, instead of what's on offer, would you prefer for a collector's edition? Versus previous releases, this Akame Ga Kill release looks to me that it actually has more 'extras' than any other set of theirs - the only UK release i can think of that came with more are the UEs for Giovanni's Island and Patema Inverted. Also, bear in mind this is just one of two so I presume we will get a similar amount of extras from Akame Ga Kill Collection 2, maybe even a soundtrack(?).

I'm not HdE, but I think I speak for everyone when I say: NOBODY WANTS GODDAMN STICKERS OR TATTOO OR POSTCARDS OR OTHER CRAP LIKE THAT. Give us the booklet, give us the artbook, maybe give us the poster, then stop, because you're wasting your time and you're just inflating the cost to the consumer.

That hardcover book is 100p, assuming they match the Sentai edition which they haven't confirmed. It is not worth the £40 extra Sentai are charging in their own store. I don't care how much money you have to burn, 100p for £40 is a pisstake, especially when you consider that Sentai themselves are charging a whopping £86 for this collector's edition, which is about as much as AL are charging for the entire run of Mobile Suit Gundam (all four cours plus artbox and booklet).


All for a show that is a trashy, not very good, but enjoyable, gory anime about dumb people fighting other dumb people and was shown completely uncensored on Crunchyroll. This isn't a collector's edition show, this is a put out a nice amaray set at the cheapest possible price at the first possible opportunity show, so for somebody to release an £86 collector's edition is insane*.

*I'm assuming Sentai's prices are vastly inflated and will come well down before release, because surely nobody will pay that much!?

 

[jonno394]

I highly doubt the stickers and postcards add that much to the cost to consumer, but I agree, im not too interested in those sort of things.

 

[mrclt1994]

I'm not HdE, but I think I speak for everyone when I say: NOBODY WANTS GODDAMN STICKERS OR TATTOO OR POSTCARDS OR OTHER CRAP LIKE THAT. Give us the booklet, give us the artbook, maybe give us the poster, then stop, because you're wasting your time and you're just inflating the cost to the consumer.

That hardcover book is 100p, assuming they match the Sentai edition which they haven't confirmed. It is not worth the £40 extra Sentai are charging in their own store. I don't care how much money you have to burn, 100p for £40 is a pisstake, especially when you consider that Sentai themselves are charging a whopping £86 for this collector's edition, which is about as much as AL are charging for the entire run of Mobile Suit Gundam (all four cours plus artbox and booklet).


All for a show that is a trashy, not very good, but enjoyable, gory anime about dumb people fighting other dumb people and was shown completely uncensored on Crunchyroll. This isn't a collector's edition show, this is a put out a nice amaray set at the cheapest possible price at the first possible opportunity show, so for somebody to release an £86 collector's edition is insane*.

*I'm assuming Sentai's prices are vastly inflated and will come well down before release, because surely nobody will pay that much!?

You don't speak for everyone lol, please don't assume everyone thinks,wants the same and has the same issues with this set as you do.

We might as well be given stickers also as I doubt it puts the price by any significant amount.

The series is, no matter what you think of it, a popular one, well, at least was, anyway so why on Earth would any company do a 'cheap as possible' release for it? I too would put out a Collector's Edition for the show and capitalise on it's fans. Also, if a barebones BD is what you're after, then the series is up on UP1USA for like 30 quid, so I am sure if Animatsu do a standard release, it will be either about that price or cheaper.

Re Sentai's price, someone is willing to pay that - me, since I and many others are willing to buy Aniplex of America's releases like SAO/DRRR!!x2 with 6 episodes for about £75/65 respectively. You are underestimating the willingness of Anime fans to spend money on BD releases like these (especially US fans) lol. Also, remember that Akame ga Kill also attracts quite a few of those heavy Shounen anime fans that will probably be willing to buy the set also.

 

[Buzz201]

You don't speak for everyone lol, please don't assume everyone thinks,wants the same and has the same issues with this set as you do.

We might as well be given stickers also as I doubt it puts the price by any significant amount.

The series is, no matter what you think of it, a popular one, well, at least was, anyway so why on Earth would any company do a 'cheap as possible' release for it? I too would put out a Collector's Edition for the show and capitalise on it's fans. Also, if a barebones BD is what you're after, then the series is up on UP1USA for like 30 quid, so I am sure if Animatsu do a standard release, it will be either about that price or cheaper.

Re Sentai's price, someone is willing to pay that - me, since I and many others are willing to buy Aniplex of America's releases like SAO/DRRR!!x2 with 6 episodes for about £75/65 respectively. You are underestimating the willingness of Anime fans to spend money on BD releases like these (especially US fans) lol. Also, remember that Akame ga Kill also attracts quite a few of those heavy Shounen anime fans that will probably be willing to buy the set also.

The phrase "I think I speak for everyone" is a figure of speech, rather than a literal declaration that you are the 'one true voice' of the anime buying public. I'm sorry if it that was how it came across, but that wasn't how it was intended, and I assumed that was fairly obvious. I will however say that I think you are the first person I've ever seen defend the inclusion of postcards (outside of the Space Dandy set 2, which had a cool idea behind the postcards, but I don't know whether people liked them or not).

I don't think it was that popular during it's simulcast, either here or in the US, it seems to have benefited massively from the Toonami showings in the US, which makes sense since the show was basically tailor-made for the Adult Swim crowd. I get why Sentai have done a collector's edition, but I don't understand Animatsu doing one, since the show wasn't that much of a success here and judging from it's Toonami success seems to resonate more with semi-casuals than major anime fans. Semi-casuals likely being the people Jerome regularly hears complaining about how expenses his releases are and how they'd pirated it instead.

I don't own any, but I got the impression Aniplex of America's set were nicer than this, often including all or many of the Japanese on-disc extras, plus fairly huge booklets too. I've yet to hear any complaints about AoA's actual releases, only about their pricing strategy (which I kind of agree with, is it really going to kill the entirety of Aniplex if they put out a Durarara!! or Gurren Lagann SE?)

 

[KingJimmeh]

If it comes down to about £30-35 range on Zavvi or Amazon prior to release I'll pick it up. I really enjoyed when it came out on CR, and would be happy to have it on shelf.

 

[thedoctor2016]

i admit that the KoS situation for it's UK release was meh but not a disaster and it's currently only £28.70 (remind me of the initial price?) on Amazon but with regards to content - with this Akame Ga Kill you're not just getting all those stickers etc, which i myself don't care for, you also get a hardcover booklet.

I am curious, what content, instead of what's on offer, would you prefer for a collector's edition? Versus previous releases, this Akame Ga Kill release looks to me that it actually has more 'extras' than any other set of theirs - the only UK release i can think of that came with more are the UEs for Giovanni's Island and Patema Inverted. Also, bear in mind this is just one of two so I presume we will get a similar amount of extras from Akame Ga Kill Collection 2, maybe even a soundtrack(?).

I'm not HdE, but I think I speak for everyone when I say: NOBODY WANTS GODDAMN STICKERS OR TATTOO OR POSTCARDS OR OTHER CRAP LIKE THAT. Give us the booklet, give us the artbook, maybe give us the poster, then stop, because you're wasting your time and you're just inflating the cost to the consumer.

That hardcover book is 100p, assuming they match the Sentai edition which they haven't confirmed. It is not worth the £40 extra Sentai are charging in their own store. I don't care how much money you have to burn, 100p for £40 is a pisstake, especially when you consider that Sentai themselves are charging a whopping £86 for this collector's edition, which is about as much as AL are charging for the entire run of Mobile Suit Gundam (all four cours plus artbox and booklet).


All for a show that is a trashy, not very good, but enjoyable, gory anime about dumb people fighting other dumb people and was shown completely uncensored on Crunchyroll. This isn't a collector's edition show, this is a put out a nice amaray set at the cheapest possible price at the first possible opportunity show, so for somebody to release an £86 collector's edition is insane*.

*I'm assuming Sentai's prices are vastly inflated and will come well down before release, because surely nobody will pay that much!?

There are no "cours" of MSG it just ran as a single season

 

[IncendiaryLemon]

There are no "cours" of MSG it just ran as a single season

A cour can still be used to measure the length of a series no matter how it aired.

 

[mrclt1994]

i don't recall mentioning postcards, but fair enough, yes I will defend them as I doubt their addition will add much cost. Anyways, my point still stands, those semi-casual fans you mention are exactly who I talk about, so I guess we can agree there.

re Aniplex, their sets look pretty on my shelf but the booklets are not thick by any means - therefore people buying those sets will definitely not mind a hardcover booklet like the one coming with the Akame sets. Also, Aniplex did release a DRRR!! SE, I have it as I missed out on grabbing the lunchbox edition and they put out SEs for Kill La Kill and SAO.

 

[thedoctor2016]

True as it was produced as 5 blocks got cancelled after 4 blocks and got 4 episodes 43

 

[HdE]

I am curious, what content, instead of what's on offer, would you prefer for a collector's edition? Versus previous releases, this Akame Ga Kill release looks to me that it actually has more 'extras' than any other set of theirs - the only UK release i can think of that came with more are the UEs for Giovanni's Island and Patema Inverted.

Totally fair question - although, honestly, I'm the wrong person to ask. I just have no interest in the premium format. Give me the show on disc and a box with a sleeve inlay, and I'm completely happy.

For me, anime is all about the actual show itself, and the entertainment it provides. I'll spend more time watching a movie or show than I will ogling the packaging or any pack-in bumf. But I concede that my outlook there won't be the same as everybody's.

My discs are highly treasured and carefully looked after, but that's really more to do with wanting to keep them in a condition that'll enable me to dig them out when I want and keep enjoying them for years to come. In terms of the actual packaging and any additional bits... I think the only stuff I have that fits 'collectors' edition' status is Anime Limited's Royal Space Force and Manga's Attack On Titan blu rays. The extras are nice to have, but my opinion of the release doesn't even consider them. I'd just like to have the show in a format I can keep and own.

Really, I'm opposed to the CE model for the simple reason that I think it establishes a kind of tiered fan base, and I think that making a product available at a high price to comparatively few people (at least early on) could do a show few favours. Where's the accessibility for everyone else? If I had an enormous amount of disposable cash, then I'd be picking up CEs without a second thought. But the fact is, I can't really justify much more than a £30 spend on a show. In fact, I can only afford to spend a comparatively small amount on anime each month - sometimes nothing at all. So anything appearing with a £70 price tag or upwards from there is completelly off the table for me. I don't mind waiting for a cheaper edition to appear, but... I see worrying signs on that front. We've got SE's appearing with inflated, decidedly non-SE RRPs. And we've got SE's being outright cancelled, meaning fans are forced to either pay top dollar or go without. And that sits ill with me.

There's a LOT more I feel I could say on this subject, but I think it's best if I pare it all right down to what I've posted above. And it basically comes down to what I've said for so long on this board - I want to see affordable anime more than I want to see packages built around the notion that a sometimes deeply mediocre show warrants bells and whistles presentation. If that's available alongside a less luxurious option, then I'm cool with that. But when it's not... well, I become a disgruntled fan who feels like he's been priced out of the party.

 

[Buzz201]

i don't recall mentioning postcards, but fair enough, yes I will defend them as I doubt their addition will add much cost. Anyways, my point still stands, those semi-casual fans you mention are exactly who I talk about, so I guess we can agree there.

re Aniplex, their sets look pretty on my shelf but the booklets are not thick by any means - therefore people buying those sets will definitely not mind a hardcover booklet like the one coming with the Akame sets. Also, Aniplex did release a DRRR!! SE, I have it as I missed out on grabbing the lunchbox edition and they put out SEs for Kill La Kill and SAO.

Is that the one that was exactly the same price as the lunchbox edition, but it didn't have the lunchbox? I meant, Durarara!!'s retailing for £20 over here now, I don't think Aniplex would lose that much by putting out an amaray edition for $35.

Really, I'm opposed to the CE model for the simple reason that it establishes a kind of tiered fan base, and I think that making a product available at a high price to comparatively few people at least early on could do a show few favours. If I had an enormous amount of disposable cash, then I'd be picking up CEs without a second thought. But the fact is, I can't really justify much more than a £30 spend on a show. In fact, I can only afford to spend a comparatively small amount on anime each month - sometimes nothing at all. So anything appearing with a £70 price tag or upwards from there is completelly off the table for me. I don't mind waiting for a cheaper edition to appear, but... I see worrying signs on that front. We've got SE's appearing with inflated, decidedly non-SE RRPs. And we've got SE's being outright cancelled, meaning fans are forced to either pay top dollar or go without. And that sits ill with me.

Not only that, but they're starting to penalise some of the huge extras from the SE. Like Sentai who recently announced they would be releasing Beyond the Boundary I think it was, with the OVA episode exclusive to the collector's which was about £70 more expensive or something truly ridiculous.

You can drop basically everything, but OVAs are a red line that should NOT be crossed as far as I'm concerned.

 

[thedoctor2016]

Aniplex never or at least rarely put out SE's its there business model it works so they will stick to it

 

[ConanThe3rd]

To be fair though that's because their SE is putting it on the VOD services like Netflix.

 

[Buzz201]

Aniplex never or at least rarely put out SE's its there business model it works so they will stick to it

It also attracts a huge amount of bitching and moaning, Durarara!!'s 5 years old now, why not put out a cheap version for people that couldn't afford the insanely priced editions? It just feels like Aniplex saying no to easy money at this point.

The one thing Aniplex are nice for is not restricting big extras, so they will almost always give AL OVAs and extra episodes even for the SEs, which is nice as those are the extras I really want.

To be fair though that's because their SE is putting it on the VOD services like Netflix.

Where it can be pulled at any moment. Streaming is not a replacement for an SE, no matter how much they want you to believe it is...

 

[NormanicGrav]

i don't recall mentioning postcards, but fair enough, yes I will defend them as I doubt their addition will add much cost. Anyways, my point still stands, those semi-casual fans you mention are exactly who I talk about, so I guess we can agree there.

re Aniplex, their sets look pretty on my shelf but the booklets are not thick by any means - therefore people buying those sets will definitely not mind a hardcover booklet like the one coming with the Akame sets. Also, Aniplex did release a DRRR!! SE, I have it as I missed out on grabbing the lunchbox edition and they put out SEs for Kill La Kill and SAO.

Is that the one that was exactly the same price as the lunchbox edition, but it didn't have the lunchbox? I meant, Durarara!!'s retailing for £20 over here now, I don't think Aniplex would lose that much by putting out an amaray edition for $35.

Really, I'm opposed to the CE model for the simple reason that it establishes a kind of tiered fan base, and I think that making a product available at a high price to comparatively few people at least early on could do a show few favours. If I had an enormous amount of disposable cash, then I'd be picking up CEs without a second thought. But the fact is, I can't really justify much more than a £30 spend on a show. In fact, I can only afford to spend a comparatively small amount on anime each month - sometimes nothing at all. So anything appearing with a £70 price tag or upwards from there is completelly off the table for me. I don't mind waiting for a cheaper edition to appear, but... I see worrying signs on that front. We've got SE's appearing with inflated, decidedly non-SE RRPs. And we've got SE's being outright cancelled, meaning fans are forced to either pay top dollar or go without. And that sits ill with me.

Not only that, but they're starting to penalise some of the huge extras from the SE. Like Sentai who recently announced they would be releasing Beyond the Boundary I think it was, with the OVA episode exclusive to the collector's which was about £70 more expensive or something truly ridiculous.

You can drop basically everything, but OVAs are a red line that should NOT be crossed as far as I'm concerned.

Re: Durarararararararara!! The standard edition is about $40 less than the original. Yep..

Re: CE model. Pretty much as long as they have the important stuff (booklet, OST, OVAs) the rest can be expendable. I'll be skipping AgK, can't be bothered to have 2 of the same similar sets on the shelf when their QC is meh (though the folks on BD.com have noticed improvement with certain authorings).

Aniplex never or at least rarely put out SE's its there business model it works so they will stick to it

It also attracts a huge amount of bitching and moaning, Durarara!!'s 5 years old now, why not put out a cheap version for people that couldn't afford the insanely priced editions? It just feels like Aniplex saying no to easy money at this point.

The one thing Aniplex are nice for is not restricting big extras, so they will almost always give AL OVAs and extra episodes even for the SEs, which is nice as those are the extras I really want.

To be fair though that's because their SE is putting it on the VOD services like Netflix.

Where it can be pulled at any moment. Streaming is not a replacement for an SE, no matter how much they want you to believe it is...

Re: moaning. Gurren Lagann is the biggest offense in this case. They have the guts to re-release the series in five parts on Blu-ray without any of the extras from the Bandai and their own DVD LE.