That wasn't what I meant. I meant they had chosen not to reissue a similar release.
It seems AL picked it up not longer after Manga's licence expired.
For all that I'm defiantly not interested in Collector Editions, I'm not sure I can really fault Anime Limited (or, in fact, anybody involved with the show) for this.
A company who specialises in standard editions has their license expire and suddenly anybody who focuses on collector editions should either let the title pass by or immediately cater for a section of the market that's already been catered for for several years?
I'm not convinced.
If you're licensing titles for a company and a title comes up that you like, or is by a creative team that you like, you probably want to jump on that license if you think you can make it work for you.
Granted, I've had my manga BD set for a while now so I'm "safe". But even if I hadn't got it up until now, it's just be one of those things where opportunity passed me by.
I am interested to see how well the edition sells - as obviously while it's going for a completely different market than Manga's super cheap version which has been on the market for ages, as others pointed out, Eden of the East was one of those titles you'd always see whenever you looked in an HMV anime section - and my impression was it felt like one of those shows that pretty much everyone 'had'. So it just makes me wonder if beyond the hardcore fanbase who'll buy this day 1, what the lifespan of the edition will be - as if the initial print run takes a while to sell through, is there any incentive for a bare-bones basic edition down the line to replace Manga's? (although i'm sure you'll be able to pick up Manga's Blu-Rays second hand cheaply for a long time)
It's been out so long it's hard to tell.
If they are able to get the movies to work out then that increases the likelihood of people rebuying the series. And is "complete" enough for newcomers to also take a shot on it. And that would possibly help justify a new standard edition down the line.
Besides, it's had a UK BD release already. And this will be another one. Pricier, but still actually available.
There are still some HD-produced shows that were never released (or only released incomplete) on Blu-ray over here. Regardless of price and additional pack-ins. This not only had one the first time around but is getting another one despite the original license expiring.
Similarly, there are some titles that are still CE-only, have never had a standard release and perhaps never will. Personally I'm more concerned about those titles than something that has had an affordable BD edition out for a significant amount of time.
I think Buzz's primary concern is that Anime Limited have still to make good on the promises of a fair few earlier standard editions that have yet to materialise. I can, therefore, understand his worry that a standard edition may not be on the cards.
EotE is just an interesting case in that there was a standard edition blu-ray years before the new Collector's Edition, and AL have "rescued" the license yet aren't replacing that standard edition version in the market.
It's
CE-only Last instead of
CE-only First. But at least there was a standard edition out. And there will likely be second-hand versions doing the rounds.
Yes, I'm also hesitant to buy pre-owned discs. But if it's the only way it's the only way. And a standard version is more likely to hit the secondary market that a collector one will. So anything which is CE-only first and never goes standard at all ends up even worse off.
I don't think anyone actually believes Manga are letting Funimation sub-licenses lapse by choice though. And to flood the market before a license lapses and another UK distributor releases a title would be, for lack of a better term, a "dick move".
You think the Jerome-hate is high as it is? If he'd released a flood-the-market version just prior to the license expiring and making it financially unviable for anyone to do a license rescue he would have been villified for being a total dick.
Instead, he's being villified for not puling a dick move?
If anything, I think there's wisdom in looking at where standard editions fit in the market, and maybe re-evaluating the approach to them. Anime Limited have done really well by making sure DVD standards are out alongside CEs wherever possible. But I think there could be more acknowledgement from several different corners of the industry that there are folks who simply CANNOT afford CE prices.
Signed,
HdE
Aged 39 and three quarters
An avid non supporter of CE releases.
I'm with you on that. Pretty much the same age, too. (39-and-a-half in my case)
And here's the thing. It's all down to preference. For me...
- If it's made in HD (or had a good remaster) then DVD is not a viable alternative.
- I find Amaray cases quite practical. I find digipacks fiddly and flimsy.
- I never read artbooks.
- I rarely read feature books.
- Cards just get left in the packaging as I've nothing to use them for.
- I dislike opening a box to get to a box. (A box that contains 4+ boxes is damn useful for containment, though)
- Anything bigger than a standard case just takes up needed space on my shelves and actually looks out of place.
- Despite all this, I like a basic physical copy over just streaming "forever".
- If I like something I still want a long-term archival copy.
- I'd rather not resort to piracy just because I'm worried a title will vanish for a streaming service.
- Sometimes you want to watch something when you're out of signal. or your internet goes down.
Yes, the price-per-episode is often a factor as well. And that's when things don't need replacing/repairing. Wen they do, it's even more of a factor.
To be fair to AL, I don't think they have an actual CE-only policy, a variety of situations result in the seeming resistance to standard editions. For example, they seem to focus their limited resources on the CE/UE releases rather than the standard editions as they probably bring in more money. Or they may put off SEs until a CE has recouped costs, or put off an SE because a CE is still selling really well and it wouldn't be smart to introduce a cheaper SKU, or AoA are AoA.
Which is fair enough. If something hasn't yet made back its initial production run costs, it's a lot harder to justify a second print run and brand new (if less fancy) packaging for it.
And AoA are, well, AoA. But I always put "Aniplex Issues" down to the upstream license, not the local distributor.
Standard editions can also end up on the backburner while playing catch up on other projects that have been delayed for whatever reason and have no release available yet. Their internal processes definitely need reworking so as to improve efficiency, that much is clear, and they could probably do with making more of an effort on the Standard Edition front, but I don't think they're trying to drop them entirely, not yet anyway.
Once again, annoying but fair.
If other things have had delays, getting those sorted has to be priority. Especially if it involves trying to get things fixed from their upstream suppliers/manufacturers. Even if it's annoying, an unannounced standard edition is exactly that. Unannounced. Undated. There's no expectation of it hitting the shelves on a certain date.
A title delayed because of asset or production issues has a quite legitimate expectation of when it was meant to be out, and you're purely relying on customer patience at that point. Focusing on getting those ones sorted makes sense.
