UK Anime Distributor Anime Limited Discussion Thread

[DesuDayo]

Seems like Ping Pong will be a simple port of the US release which is a shame. Especially since it has a strong following and got a meaty release in Japan I believed that AL would've added much more to the release but alas. No buy for me despite being a massive fan of the show (;﹏

For reference, here's all the goodies that the Japanese release included:

- Discs – 3 BR ( 11 episodes + supplementary materials ) + 2 audio CDs
– Matsumoto Taiyo + Masaaki Yuasa illustrated box
– Masaaki Yuasa Production Notes Booklet
– Animation “Making Of” Booklet ( both booklets totaling about 270 pages in all )
– Original Ping Pong T-Shirt

Supplementary material contents :
– Storyboard Gallery – storyboards by Masaaki Yuasa for the 11 episodes
– “Raw” opening and ending sequences free of rolling credits
– Promotional videos, CM

Audio CD contents
– Original Soundtrack CD
– Audio Commentaries

But i'll be picking up A Letter to Momo, the Ultimate Edition of FMP and perhaps Gankutsuou as well.

Has it been confirmed that Anime Limited will not release the sequels of Fate/kaleid? I'd be interested in that too, but i'm pretty sure I read somewhere that they'll only be releasing the first season.

 

[jonno394]

Japanese £180 release vs £35 UK release....I think it's easy to see why the Japanese release has much more. I'm happy with what AL are releasing, plus it's all down to the owners of the license in Japan at the end of the day and what the committee allow them to have.

 

[NormanicGrav]

Sword Art Online II - Part 3: Collector's Edition [Blu-ray & DVD]
Contains episodes 15-19 in both Japanese with subs and English dub.

Only 5 episodes? Wow.... I forgot just how stingy they are with SAO. The first BD releases had only 5 episodes on disks 3 & 4 too and I felt a bit sore about being them even though I only paid £15 for each.

Series 2 parts are coming out in pricey months too so I might just cancel all these and see if they get a serious discount in the future or just forget about seeing the series, even though I really enjoyed the first. It's a shame because I don't mind paying a bit extra for them but I'd feel so foolish when I added up how much I spent on the set.

When you're pricing fans out of the market you know it's too much. (I know this isn't Anime limited's doing.)

If Anime Limited is coping Aniplex's content for SAO then Part 3 should only have 3 episodes (15 to 17) as the set covers the Calibur arc.

 

[Lutga]

Going by those contents, I'm not entirely sure that equates to £180 worth to me - perhaps if it was something like Gundam, maybe, but at that price, there's no way it'd sell in the UK -it's just not a popular enough property.

I'm happy with the usual Anime Ltd treatment on this one.

 

[Jatz]

Same. I don't think there was any chance of Anime Limited releasing something similar to the Japanese release. I'd be happy with just Collector's packaging. (which would be more than what the US got)

So many releases in the fall. I'd be surprised if a few didn't get delayed to early next year, though.

 

[Buzz201]

If Anime Limited is coping Aniplex's content for SAO then Part 3 should only have 3 episodes (15 to 17) as the set covers the Calibur arc.

£30 for 3 episodes? Ouch. I don't see how AL can justify that price to us and AL's prices are heavily discounted from the American's, how the hell did AoA justify it to their customers?

 

[DesuDayo]

I'm not saying that Anime Limited should've done a port of the Japanese release, i'm saying that they had good stuff to work with from the Japanese release to create their own version, instead of doing a port of the US release.

Looking at it from an economical point of view i'd say that Ping Pong is the kind of show that won't sell great numbers either way, but the lower amount of sales/higher price model would probably work better as far as money goes.

plus it's all down to the owners of the license in Japan at the end of the day and what the committee allow them to have.

Actually, many times western licensing companies doesn't even attempt to pursue any extras, so it's less of a matter of holdbacks from the Japanese side and more of a lack of interest from the western licensing company.

 

[Lavigne]

Actually, many times western licensing companies doesn't even attempt to pursue any extras, so it's less of a matter of holdbacks from the Japanese side and more of a lack of interest from the western licensing company.

Probably true in general, but not true of AL I'd wager.

 

[DesuDayo]

Actually, many times western licensing companies doesn't even attempt to pursue any extras, so it's less of a matter of holdbacks from the Japanese side and more of a lack of interest from the western licensing company.

Probably true in general, but not true of AL I'd wager.

Totally agree with you, it wouldn't surprise me too much if they're licensing this from Funimation because they got multiple territories in their license from the Japanese side.

 

[Buzz201]

Actually, many times western licensing companies doesn't even attempt to pursue any extras, so it's less of a matter of holdbacks from the Japanese side and more of a lack of interest from the western licensing company.

Probably true in general, but not true of AL I'd wager.

We know they've pursued extras in the past, I believe Andrew said on one of the podcasts, that part of the reason we got the artbooks for Kill la Kill is because AoA wouldn't give them most of the on-disc extras, but were wiling to let them have the art materials.

(Fortunately AoA seems to be fine with letting them have the really important ones like OVAs though, if AoA makes AL miss out on the Durarara!!x2 OVAs, I'll be pissed.)

 

[NormanicGrav]

If Anime Limited is coping Aniplex's content for SAO then Part 3 should only have 3 episodes (15 to 17) as the set covers the Calibur arc.

£30 for 3 episodes? Ouch. I don't see how AL can justify that price to us and AL's prices are heavily discounted from the American's, how the hell did AoA justify it to their customers?

They reduced the price which matches what you would pay for a Monogatari arc. If you think about it, while each Monogatari arc only had a slipcover, artcards, booklet and one Blu-ray case. SAO II Set 3 will have a chipboard box, OST, two Blu-ray cases, booklet, Weiss card and a dub.

 

[Lutga]

There's also the issue of translation costs - for booklets and on disc extras etc.

And soundtracks sound like they're almost always a no go unfortunately - although I, still really holding out for one with Aldnoah Zero.

 

[Buzz201]

They reduced the price which matches what you would pay for a Monogatari arc. If you think about it, while each Monogatari arc only had a slipcover, artcards, booklet and one Blu-ray case. SAO II Set 3 will have a chipboard box, OST, two Blu-ray cases, booklet, Weiss card and a dub.

I suppose it's a comparatively good deal, but the $40 or so Rightstuf are charging is still a hell of a lot of money for 70 minutes worth of content...

There's also the issue of translation costs - for booklets and on disc extras etc.

And soundtracks sound like they're almost always a no go unfortunately - although I, still really holding out for one with Aldnoah Zero.

Aniplex being owned by Sony Music Entertainment Japan, you'd assume they kept the rights to the soundtrack, whether they'll let AL have them though is another thing entirely. AoA did an import for the soundtrack in the US, it was massively expensive though, so maybe AL will have to release it separately or pump up the price to cover it.

I'd pay more if it had the soundtrack, it's the most memorable of the recent Hiroyuki Sawano soundtracks, and it'd be nice if they could get the OPs and EPs too, but that's probably more difficult to pull off.

 

[Lavigne]

if AoA makes AL miss out on the Durarara!!x2 OVAs, I'll be pissed.)

Pitchforks at the ready in the event of that ever happening! :thumb:

 

[DesuDayo]

I don't see why Aniplex would lock out the DRRR!!x2 OVAs, have they done something simliar before?

 

[Buzz201]

I don't see why Aniplex would lock out the DRRR!!x2 OVAs, have they done something simliar before?

No, but they appear to have spotted that some Americans have been importing the much cheaper AL releases. Which is probably why they've had to split up SAO II into 4 chunks.

I'd be willing to buy 4 parts for DRRR!!x2, but not for Aldnoah.Zero, as much as I enjoyed that show, it isn't worth 4 parts. Although AL did originally confirm it as 2 parts, they now seem to be less certain.

 

[Lavigne]

Must admit I really want to see AZ. I want to wait for the AL release. Thankfully the high price tag/low episode count of the US set makes the wait for tolerable!

 

[black1blade]

So Q4 is dec, jan, feb, mar?

 

[Buzz201]

Must admit I really want to see AZ. I want to wait for the AL release. Thankfully the high price tag/low episode count of the US set makes the wait for tolerable!

Maybe don't get too excited? The general consensus is it's a watchable show that starts great and devolves into an absolute mess.

I'd be inclined to agree, but I liked it more than most. My particular favourite moment, was when the show abandoned it's established love triangle to marry the princess off to somebody she'd only really just met, in exchange for his support in the middle of battle. That felt like such a F you to people that had been watching for the 18 previous episodes, was kinda funny though...

So Q4 is dec, jan, feb, mar?

Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec. But I'm assuming that was a joke that I have now ruined...

 

[DesuDayo]

I don't see why Aniplex would lock out the DRRR!!x2 OVAs, have they done something simliar before?

No, but they appear to have spotted that some Americans have been importing the much cheaper AL releases. Which is probably why they've had to split up SAO II into 4 chunks.

I'd be willing to buy 4 parts for DRRR!!x2, but not for Aldnoah.Zero, as much as I enjoyed that show, it isn't worth 4 parts.

Wasn't the first season of SAO released in four parts as well though? And since Aniplex of America themselves will be releasing SAO II in four parts it isn't too odd that they might request that other licensors do the same.

As for what some shows may and may not be worth i'd rather not comment on, as that is a subjective matter (￣▽￣). I can say that i'd be willing to buy DRRR!!X2 in four parts, or even more if there's any advantage to splitting it up in smaller chunks, but that's also because I think that it's a brilliant show!