UK Anime Distributor Anime Limited Discussion Thread

I feel that Manga UK is truly dead now with Anime Ltd's acquisition of AKIRA.
I feel the same way, after all Akira was the first title released by Island World Video which later became Manga Entertainment and Manga held the rights for so long, it’s kind of sad to see. Hopefully AL gives it the deluxe treatment or I won’t be double dipping.

Unrelated to Akira. Blood+ and Blood The Last Vampire is great to see and I will definitely be getting them depending on how well they turn out.
 
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Wow so guessing they've finally cracked the Sentai egg 👏

Very happy about Blood+, was kind of expected after AL France got it but Akira is the crazy one... its literally already had a 4K AND cinema release in the last few years.
I think the HDR was botched but who is double (or in my case Octruple) dipping?!
Great get but seems kinda pointless.

The HDR was eventually resolved for the Funi 4K release of Akira, I believe it was only an issue with the first print runs. However, there was some controversy with the colour grading and use of digital noise reduction (DNR).

Although, in my opinion, these criticisms were somewhat overblown and I think the 4K release of Akira out at the moment is absolutely fantastic overall; it's one of the better 4K experiences you can have with an animated film.

So unless Anime Limited manage to include some additional audio tracks (such as the original 1988 Japanese track, which the Japanese 4K release has), I can't see any reason to buy it again personally.
 
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I'm not a big fan of Blood: The Last Vampire, but when I do watch it I'm always distracted by how bad the old DVD looks. We're talking sub-SD levels of pixelation, like a 2005 YouTube video. I'll probably grab the Blu-ray, but likely not at its initial price, considering it's only 35 minutes long.

I wonder how AL will make their Akira release stand apart from previous ones. If they include the old Streamline dub then I hope they tweak the mix to make it less shrill. It gives me nausea on the current Blu-ray, which was never a problem on the ancient VHS.
 
I'll probably grab the Blu-ray, but likely not at its initial price, considering it's only 35 minutes long.
Perhaps worth noting that the original Manga UK blu-ray is still fairly easy to find used copies of for under £20 or so from eBay and CEX (£12 plus postage from the latter). That said, it's a fairly old release (2009!) so a newer one by AL may well be better in the video quality department.
 
Now I'm done for the day and in a better place to think I can say they were thinking of announcing akira tomorrow because this 4k release will also have a new cinema release.
 
The Streamline dub track on the Funimation release has quality issues. Right before some of the reel changes, they briefly switch over to a mono source that I assume runs slightly longer, which lets them patch the gap between the reels. However, the gaps can be easily patched with other higher quality elements like the Japanese 2.0 Dolby Surround track. Neo Tokyo destruction iirc uses the mono source to deal with a sync issue immediately after; there are ways to deal with that without resorting to the mono source.

Speaking of the Japanese 2.0 Dolby Surround track, it's nerfed on the BD and UHD. The LaserDisc has better bass and they should use a PCM capture of that for their release.
 
How many times are they gonna release Akira? How many different releases can you give to one same movie?

And why did AL falsely claimed that they have not licensed Kakegurui Season 2? AL confirmed 3 years ago that they have licensed it. In 2021 AL said "You don't have anything to worry about in that regard in Kakegurui's case 😉" when people voiced their worries of AL not releasing the second season since AL has a bad record of not releasing second seasons (March Comes in like a Lion, Sound! Euphonium, Amanchu). Did they lose the license for it or something?
 
How many times are they gonna release Akira? How many different releases can you give to one same movie?

And why did AL falsely claimed that they have not licensed Kakegurui Season 2? AL confirmed 3 years ago that they have licensed it. In 2021 AL said "You don't have anything to worry about in that regard in Kakegurui's case 😉" when people voiced their worries of AL not releasing the second season since AL has a bad record of not releasing second seasons (March Comes in like a Lion, Sound! Euphonium, Amanchu). Did they lose the license for it or something?

Much like with the Godzilla Minus One standard edition, Anime Limited probably lied (or over-promised if we're being kind in Kakegurui's case) to their customers about Kakegurui season two.

"You don't have anything to worry about in that regard in Kakegurui's case 😉" - we really need to get this printed on a t-shirt or something.
 
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Much like with the Godzilla Minus One standard edition, Anime Limited probably lied (or over-promised if we're being kind in Kakegurui's case) to their customers about Kakegurui season two.

"You don't have anything to worry about in that regard in Kakegurui's case 😉" - we really need to get this printed on a t-shirt or something.
On the back of the shirt it can have "Nothing to report right now, but we're working on it" 😂
 
So there’s a bunch of stuff on offer both at MCM and on the website, but I can’t see any mention of the ‘special offers at conventions’ for anime unlimited members.
Should I have an extra discount code or something? Is there some free extra with purchase if buying on location or something?
 
So there’s a bunch of stuff on offer both at MCM and on the website, but I can’t see any mention of the ‘special offers at conventions’ for anime unlimited members.
Should I have an extra discount code or something? Is there some free extra with purchase if buying on location or something?
Perhaps I should clarify that; yes, the standard 10% works on the sale items (Bleach is £40.49), but that’s the usual discount we’ve paid for.
And the sale items are available to all, so not an (un)limited perk either.

And related; I’ve never seen Bleach.
Convince me to order (or suggest I wait for the Xmas and BOGOF).
And TYBW is a multi-part release too? How many parts? As the (collectors’) box doesn’t look like it’ll hold many. Unless it doesn’t, and each “part” is a separate box…
 
I've said it before but it does often feel AL suffer the same problem that plagued ADV- wanting to release more titles than they have the manpower or time to do so. The unfortunate result being they'll promise stuff in good spirits only for the licence to lapse because they're simply not in a position to deliver it as intended.

I'm not putting this all on them. They did some interviews a few years back that we were all required to get the Japanese studio's final sign off on and said studio took 4 months to do so. So sometimes yes, they are facing the uphill battle of personal intent vs licensor indifference.
 
Wow, I'm really excited for the blood+ release! The dvds have evaded me for years and years now. Happy happy!
Keep your hands off Eizouken also has my interest as I keep hearing amazing things about it and Masaaki Yuasa made some of my favorite anime. Then there is Karakuri circus. I don't know much about it or if it is well regarded, but I just read the book 'The characters thought me everything' from Megumi Hayashibara. She is one of my favorite voice actresses and plays a roll in Karakuri, so that makes me curious.

Edit: Eminence in the shadow also seems like fun:).

Thanks for keeping us posted, bakura! Curious what else will be revealed!
 
I want I'm Standing On A Million Lives which it feels like I've been waiting forever for. It's been so long since Sentai got that from Crunchryoll I had given up on them ever releasing it on disc, so I am very happy to see AL with it. I hope they do both seasons though as it looks like this announcement is only for the first one.
 
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