UK Anime Distributor Anime Limited Discussion Thread

Jaysgba said:
Yup, it's the original movie trilogy on blu-ray. We're not getting any Gundam on DVD.
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Although doesn't that mean that anything that has come out as DVD only in the US, we simply won't be getting at all? Which means that there'll be quite a few gaps when it comes to certain Gundam titles (though tbf, they're not exactly the big ones)
 
Lutga said:
Although doesn't that mean that anything that has come out as DVD only in the US, we simply won't be getting at all? Which means that there'll be quite a few gaps when it comes to certain Gundam titles (though tbf, they're not exactly the big ones)
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That's exactly what it means. A couple of the US DVD-only Gundam titles are Region 2 compatible though.
 
Considering its age and number of episodes, I'd imagine it was a total no-go. Imagine the BBFC fees!

Kinda comes back to that thing re. us not really having scope for a Discotek style company in the UK, because the market is too small to support niche titles, despite whatever cultural / historical significance they might have.

When it comes to pre-80s TV anime, it's hard to think of anything beyond Gundam that'd have the brand name recognition to command decent sales.
 
Weirdi I didn't realise it was so many episodes. I know I've seen the dub and I'm sure I watched it on UK TV when I was younger but it might have been a relative with them on vhs, I don't remember that far back very well. It's a shame. I'd even take an American release but it's not something I'd pay more than £40 at the maximum for and that'd include potential import fees.
It's a shame the Wachowski's film never caused enough interest for a re-release.
 
Yeah I've seen some interesting commentary around the Wachowski's version - seems like you can pick it up relatively cheaply 2nd hand on Amazon, although it is out of print - it's still available on VOD services too though.

It gets brought up quite a bit in pieces discussing the reception of Japanese properties in the West (usually focusing on the 'boom' years immediately following the Pokemon generation and, naturally, the success of Japan-inspired properties like The Matrix) - I've even seen some pieces say it's massively underrated and was generally misunderstood on its original release.
 
Lutga said:
When it comes to pre-80s TV anime, it's hard to think of anything beyond Gundam that'd have the brand name recognition to command decent sales.
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I've debated this in this very thread before, but I still maintain that I think Miyazaki's Future Boy Conan would sell quite well. While I take the point that Sherlock Hound apparently didn't do too well for Manga, I would argue that it's not as good, of less importance to Miyazaki's career and less similar to Miyazaki's more popular works. And it's a manageable 26 episodes. Lupin III might do decently as well.
 
Maybe. I dunno - my gut feeling is that the Miyazaki brand really doesn't extend much outside the Ghibli brand for the average punter on the street. Future Boy Conan definitely has the acclaim to it, but I think the problem - and this might have tarred Sherlock Hound too - is that whereas the 'kids' thing works in the favour of Ghibli because it's become a byword for quality (chiefly via the endless Film 4 seasons and broadsheet coverage), for other stuff I think in the eyes of the average consumer it just makes it seem infantile - eg. the kind of stuff you used to find in Pound shop DVD bargain bins.
 
I don't think I would be exaggerating if I said that Miyazaki's name attracts the general world cinema consumer (if not the 'average punter') more than any other animation director (probably ever!) and so I think it wouldn't be a hard sell to that demographic. I've been trying to get Arrow interested, but they're keen to leave anime to the anime companies which is a shame as they're in the business of putting out lengthy Japanese cinema that's much more niche and 'difficult' than Future Boy Conan. If they can sell 3000 (or nearly 3000) copies of a Kiju Yoshida box set, I'm sure Future Boy Conan can do 1000 at the very least!
 
Sadly UK anime sales are pretty poor at the moment. From what I gather, the world cinema market, by virtue of being live action, commands a bigger cache already. These days even Naruto struggles to shift 1000 copies per volume.

I do think this comes back to one of the biggest flaws of the UK market - in that, unlike the US, it is just simply too small to effectively capture *every* show that arguably *should* be released via artistical merit.

Completely different markets, but it does still shock me to some degree when you compare the 100,000s that go to MCM every year to the couple of thousand that actually purchase anime in the UK today.
 
Lutga said:
Sadly UK anime sales are pretty poor at the moment. From what I gather, the world cinema market, by virtue of being live action, commands a bigger cache already. These days even Naruto struggles to shift 1000 copies per volume.
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Whatever you think of Naruto or other relatively popular shounen anime, they've probably not got much of a market overlap with people going out to buy Kurosawa movies. Being someone who buys world cinema and very little anime, I think there's been too little effort in exploiting the potential overlap between the world cinema and anime markets - instead, anime companies have been trying to please their existing customer base rather than trying to expand/find a potentially bigger one (that still buys up home video product). However, I must applaud Anime Limited on the recent announcements as Belladonna of Sadness and Momotaro's Divine Sea Warriors seem aimed at doing just that. I'm hoping that they get the necessary coverage in outlets like Sight & Sound and Little White Lies that they need to make people aware of the releases.
 
I agree, those two titles you reference are definitely the right kind to aim for that wider 'world cinema' cache, alongside the likes of Hana & Alice etc. I'm definitely all for more film titles in that line - a film in itself is inherently more accessible than a series anyway, being shorter and generally cheaper to purchase.

There's an interesting parallel with what I like to call the 'world cinema' anime titles that were given a strong push from the likes of Sony and Optimum Asia (before they became Studio Canal) back in the early to mid 2000s - when these big distributors were pushing the likes of Tekkonkinkreet, Metropolis, Steamboy, Sky Blue/Wonderful Days etc. as legitimate 'world cinema' as opposed to 'anime'. Of course, you could argue about whether the fact they were distributed and marketed by big publishers lent more to their success than their inherent value...

But I do kind of long for the rollout of a number of titles in that vein again...
 
Rob F1UK said:
Been quiet on the Eureka 7 front for some time now - 2017 release now?

Would also be great if you guys could also look into licencing My-Hime and My-Otome, now that you have the Sunrise partnership?
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Maybe I didn't reply before but this is definitely a 2017 title as we want to do right by it, not just force out a soso release, got all the artwork I need in now though so we can get cracking on ideas :D. Watch this space!

Re Mai-Hime etc - always examining new catalog options!

Best,

AP
 
Part of me wonders whether the film would actually do that well over here. I remember hearing rumblings that Love Live hadn't sold overly well on disc, and considering the JP release of the film had English subs, the remaining market for it here might be relatively limited.
 
Lutga said:
Part of me wonders whether the film would actually do that well over here. I remember hearing rumblings that Love Live hadn't sold overly well on disc, and considering the JP release of the film had English subs, the remaining market for it here might be relatively limited.
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I already have a Japanese copy but I'd definitely double dip. For one, the dub for the series was genuinely really good, so I'd like to see the film dubbed, second, the Australian release of the film comes with an artbox that houses the two seasons as well as the film, so it would be nice to have the collector's box for the whole series, assuming whoever ends up with it would bring that over here.
 
Mai-HiME is an interesting show but I'm not sure if it'd hold up as well next to newer shows that have tackled similar themes. It's kind of a "magical girl war" show before those were cool. I felt there were a few issues with the story and character developments but I have to admit that I'm not sure if those were more due to my personal preferences or actual issues with the writing (and it's been a while since I watched the show). Still, I do think it's one of those shows that is willing to let it's intended story dictate how characters will act rather than justifying their actions through their personalities (I always find that frustrating), so that I still somewhat enjoyed it is maybe a good sign.
 
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