UK Anime Distributor Anime Limited Discussion Thread

I'm starting to think they baited us with the Naruto and Bleach announcements - still not even a teaser for the sets as far as I know.

Their blog post regarding Naruto and Naruto Shippuden stated an "early" 2024 release and I'm pretty sure they said something similar for Bleach as well during one of their "live" streams.

Perhaps they are planning to reveal some new stuff during the Spring sale? But man, this wait is painful.
 
BrokenPhoenix said:
I'm starting to think they baited us with the Naruto and Bleach announcements - still not even a teaser for the sets as far as I know.

Their blog post regarding Naruto and Naruto Shippuden stated an "early" 2024 release and I'm pretty sure they said something similar for Bleach as well during one of their "live" streams.

Perhaps they are planning to reveal some new stuff during the Spring sale? But man, this wait is painful.
Click to expand...
General rule of thumb is add a few quarters to anything AL announce.

I'd guess they're using the extra time to 100% guarantee they have a steady pipeline of releases instead of doing one volume then saying we'll hopefully try and get the next release out in "moving along but nothing to report at this time" which at this point is their MO and pretty much a meme.

If that's the case then I'm happy for them to take all the time they need to get it right. No one wants another InuYasha situation.
 
Jon O Fun said:
General rule of thumb is add a few quarters to anything AL announce.

I'd guess they're using the extra time to 100% guarantee they have a steady pipeline of releases instead of doing one volume then saying we'll hopefully try and get the next release out in "moving along but nothing to report at this time" which at this point is their MO and pretty much a meme.

If that's the case then I'm happy for them to take all the time they need to get it right. No one wants another InuYasha situation.
Click to expand...
That would be the best move. Once they start they'll need to go from one to the next, especially as any delays on one would likely hit the next, etc. Best to get it ready to go from the start.
 
You'd have to be bonkers to order any of AL's Naruto and/or Bleach releases before the whole thing is out.

They released the first part of Inuyasha in 2021, then just totally gave up.

Every now and again, they'll do a little "uwu we haven't forgotten about Inuyasha lol" comment, but they absolutely have.
 
awadama said:
You'd have to be bonkers to order any of AL's Naruto and/or Bleach releases before the whole thing is out.

They released the first part of Inuyasha in 2021, then just totally gave up.

Every now and again, they'll do a little "uwu we haven't forgotten about Inuyasha lol" comment, but they absolutely have.
Click to expand...

I'm willing to take the punt, even if it's just to show AL that "yes, we do want these sets please, take my money".

Naruto and Bleach are huge IPs in comparison to InuYasha, if they can't be bothered putting Naruto/Bleach sets out in a reasonable amount of time then I have to question AL's desire to make money.
 
awadama said:
You'd have to be bonkers to order any of AL's Naruto and/or Bleach releases before the whole thing is out.

They released the first part of Inuyasha in 2021, then just totally gave up.

Every now and again, they'll do a little "uwu we haven't forgotten about Inuyasha lol" comment, but they absolutely have.
Click to expand...
I'd argue that if you want the set you would want to order as they appear. Nothing is more likely to have it cut short than poor sales.
 
Just Passing Through said:
Back in the day I bought the Fabulous Films DVD release of Inuyasha S1 Vol 1 on Day 1. I'm still waiting for Vol 2.
I've also got one UK DVD release of Initial D.
Click to expand...
I didn't think Initial D had a UK dvd release except the remake movie trilogy. I ended up with the Aus singles for the Tokyopop versions of 1st and 2nd Stage from Tower Records.
 
awadama said:
You'd have to be bonkers to order any of AL's Naruto and/or Bleach releases before the whole thing is out.

They released the first part of Inuyasha in 2021, then just totally gave up.

Every now and again, they'll do a little "uwu we haven't forgotten about Inuyasha lol" comment, but they absolutely have.
Click to expand...
With InuYasha at this point I wouldn't even be mad if they just came out and said listen Vol.1 didn't sell all too well so we've made the difficult decision to only do standard editions for the rest of the series.
Some would moan but I think more would respect the honesty and them actually getting the rest of it out!
 
Jon O Fun said:
With InuYasha at this point I wouldn't even be mad if they just came out and said listen Vol.1 didn't sell all too well so we've made the difficult decision to only do standard editions for the rest of the series.
Some would moan but I think more would respect the honesty and them actually getting the rest of it out!
Click to expand...
The holdup completely puts me off buying bleach and Naruto until a few sets are out my trust in them for multi part releases is very low atm, I’d rather them just do them as complete boxes instead of parting them out
 
AL have shot themselves in the foot with InuYasha and long running series. People are now going to be hesitant to order Bleach and Naruto because of ALs first attempt at doing a long running series failed to deliver any more parts let alone in a timely manner. If InuYasha sold poorly I understand them not wanting to release anymore, after all they are a business and they need to make money to keep functioning as a business. It just looks bad if you ignore the issue and wave it off as "don't worry we haven't forgotten". Also if AL is going to make every season a "Collectors Edition" its only going to compound the time it takes to release each season unless they are building in time to get most if not all of the parts ready like others have mentioned.
 
ussjtrunks said:
The holdup completely puts me off buying bleach and Naruto until a few sets are out my trust in them for multi part releases is very low atm, I’d rather them just do them as complete boxes instead of parting them out
Click to expand...

N-11 said:
AL have shot themselves in the foot with InuYasha and long running series. People are now going to be hesitant to order Bleach and Naruto because of ALs first attempt at doing a long running series failed to deliver any more parts let alone in a timely manner. If InuYasha sold poorly I understand them not wanting to release anymore, after all they are a business and they need to make money to keep functioning as a business. It just looks bad if you ignore the issue and wave it off as "don't worry we haven't forgotten". Also if AL is going to make every season a "Collectors Edition" its only going to compound the time it takes to release each season unless they are building in time to get most if not all of the parts ready like others have mentioned.
Click to expand...

I do agree, that the people who have been burned before by buying the first part of a series and not seeing any further releases, will be hesitant going forward.

However, I do think the fact that Bleach and Naruto are some of the biggest IPs in anime will help carry it through - Naruto at the very least. Some people aren't really into anime but they know about a ninja who wears a 'bright orange jumpsuit' or they know/knew a weird kid at school who runs like Naruto with his arms behind his back - that's the kind of cultural penetration Naruto has.

I do think when more casual fans see them on Amazon or HMV, they are more likely to buy these sets than say InuYasha, for example. InuYasha was popular in its own right, but it never turned into a 'franchise' like Naruto or Dragon Ball Z with numerous movies, video games, trading cards, and a hugely successful manga. If AL manages to somehow **** up Naruto and Bleach, I will genuinely be impressed. It's the equivalent of releasing 'Hogwarts Legacy'; a half-baked and very average RPG experience, but it sold like hotcakes because it was Harry Potter, AL don't even have to try that much.

They just have to stick some cover art on a cardboard box, design a 20-page episode guide booklet, throw in some useless art cards as they usually do and it will sell - it doesn't have to be amazing, as long as the discs work (which to be fair, is a bit of an ask these days).
 
Last edited:
Following on from my blunt comment the other day, I think a lot of problems now stem from the mess Crunchyroll have made. Funimation at least saw value in the UK as a market but Crunchyroll cancelled all that and at best now seem content to sublicense stuff they handle globally themselves near everywhere else to AL when it comes to the UK. Meaning that a company that arguably already had too many spinning plates is now further taking on the titles both home media and theatrical of a company that is otherwise better placed to manage.
 
BrokenPhoenix said:
I do agree, that the people who have been burned before by buying the first part of a series and not seeing any further releases, will be hesitant going forward.

However, I do think the fact that Bleach and Naruto are some of the biggest IPs in anime will help carry it through - Naruto at the very least. Some people aren't really into anime but they know about a ninja who wears a 'bright orange jumpsuit' or they know/knew a weird kid at school who runs like Naruto with his arms behind his back - that's the kind of cultural penetration Naruto has.

I do think when more casual fans see them on Amazon or HMV, they are more likely to buy these sets than say InuYasha, for example. InuYasha was popular in its own right, but it never turned into a 'franchise' like Naruto or Dragon Ball Z with numerous movies, video games, trading cards, and a hugely successful manga. If AL manages to somehow **** up Naruto and Bleach, I will genuinely be impressed. It's the equivalent of releasing 'Hogwarts Legacy'; a half-baked and very average RPG experience, but it sold like hotcakes because it was Harry Potter, AL don't even have to try that much.

They just have to stick some cover art on a cardboard box, design a 20-page episode guide booklet, throw in some useless art cards as they usually do and it will sell - it doesn't have to be amazing, as long as the discs work (which to be fair, is a bit of an ask these days).
Click to expand...

Aren’t the Viz Naruto and Bleach disks kind of poor upscales if people buy part 1 and it looks like arse they might not buy more
 
ussjtrunks said:
Aren’t the Viz Naruto and Bleach disks kind of poor upscales if people buy part 1 and it looks like **** they might not buy more
Click to expand...
I can't speak for Bleach, but I've got remuxes of the US VIZ Naruto Blu-ray sets and they look pretty good to me, a lot better than the DVDs for sure. Whilst the upgrade may not be super obvious, it does remove a lot of the stuff that plagues the standard definition releases, like the aliasing flaws and pixelisation and macro blocking in many scenes. The biggest upgrade probably comes in terms of the audio quality actually, which is lossless. I'd be very satisfied if AL just mirror those discs.

Naruto is just one of those series, like many, that was broadcast in 480p in the early 2000s, so I'm not sure just how good you could make it look. It wasn't until partway through Naruto Shippuden that it began being broadcast at 16:9 1080p. Part I is never going to look as good as a modern anime.
 
BrokenPhoenix said:
I can't speak for Bleach, but I've got remuxes of the US VIZ Naruto Blu-ray sets and they look pretty good to me, a lot better than the DVDs for sure. Whilst the upgrade may not be super obvious, it does remove a lot of the stuff that plagues the standard definition releases, like the aliasing flaws and pixelisation and macro blocking in many scenes. The biggest upgrade probably comes in terms of the audio quality actually, which is lossless. I'd be very satisfied if AL just mirror those discs.

Naruto is just one of those series, like many, that was broadcast in 480p in the early 2000s, so I'm not sure just how good you could make it look. It wasn't until partway through Naruto Shippuden that it began being broadcast at 16:9 1080p. Part I is never going to look as good as a modern anime.
Click to expand...
For the SD digital shows I personally prefer it if the upscale is more natural and blurry and oversharpened like viz tend to do, a good Blu-ray upscale in my eyes would be like the orginal FMA.

I assume they will mirror the Viz disks in that case it depends how much it costs and how many parts they break it into. I really wish they would go the route australia goes and release naruto and bleach as complete collections for like 300€ which seperate standard season sets
 
I suspect what might work in AL's flavour for Bleach & Naruto is that the episodes have already been checked by the BFCC which should reduce the costs (assuming they don't need to go via the BFCC again). Both should probably sell considering that some of the older Manga-era releases are hard to locate 2nd hand.

Whereas with InuYasha they might have to pay to put the episodes through as they haven't been released in the UK before (unless I'm wrong)

-----

I see on Twitter they have announced a Spring Sale between the 22nd march and 1st April, so something which might have some juicy deals
 
Back
Top