I don't think it's even the Japanese side which mandates the shift towards collectible releases nowadays; it's plain that the buying audience for anime has transformed over the last few years. The strategy that companies like Manga UK are fond of is to push out entire series for a ridiculously cheap price (being able to get a full series for under £10 on BD is insane; why is a niche product cheaper than something like Game Of Thrones which already made its money back ten times over before its release?). Their hope is that they will sell 10x more copies at the budget price than it would at a price which reflects its status as a niche title.
The problem with that model from a consumer's perspective is that when things flop, they flop catastrophically and destroy the chances of any sequels or similar titles ever making their way to the UK. The catalogue of disastrous releases in the thread which tracks disappointing discs is growing steadily as companies skimp on niceties like quality control and video extras (including extras which are effectively part of the actual show). There are also other issues, such as the UK market having transformed into a hollow shell of its old self where local companies are simply repackaging the US/Australian discs six months after they're released instead of going for new licenses themselves. I don't feel that the current Manga UK model serves me as a fan, irrespective of whether the discs cost £10 or £100. £10 for a release I don't feel proud to own is a waste of money; £100 for something I look at proudly every day is a bargain.
UK releases are cheap, but they are often quantifiably worse than the foreign versions - and by the time the UK edition comes out, the chances are that the US will soon be rereleasing the show in a budget pack anyway, so a patient person can save a fortune keeping their options open. This is the bed that companies like Manga UK have made, so they have to lie in it. They've trained a whole generation of fans that anime is valueless fodder.
I understand that many fans don't care about the quality problem we have in the UK at the moment. Legal streaming is still in its early days in this country, held back by companies such as Manga UK (again) who are frightened that streaming their bigger titles will undercut their disc sales. Fans who don't want to resort to piracy are happy that the devaluation of anime means they can still build up a decent collection without breaking the bank.
But it's not sustainable, is it? Like it or not, legal streaming is a thing that's happening so there's no need to stock up on barebones releases just to watch a show any more. Many people who watch a mediocre title streaming can be heard to say things like "I'll only buy it on DVD if it comes with a dub, since I saw it subbed already" and "There's no point in buying on low quality DVD when I watched it in HD on Crunchyroll". Or simply "I didn't like it as much as I thought, so I won't bother collecting it on disc". Pirated anime is the same, but legal streaming is pulling from the exact same audience which buys UK releases to support the industry, and it's actively undermining it when the discs aren't up to snuff. There are still a few thousand people in the community who absolutely refuse to stream anything at all and preorder mangled DVD-only box sets for the price of a single cinema ticket, but it's clear even from posts on this forum that people are starting to question the wisdom of maintaining the status quo.
Japan's anime home video releases have always existed in a collector's market (outside of kiddy shows) since it's assumed that many fans will see the content on television, online or in cinemas first. To convince them to pay to have their own copy, studios tempt fans with extra on-disc content, beautiful video quality and flawless presentation. Nobody can afford to collect every show so the market is constantly racing to increase the perceived value of each release to win over the lucrative otaku buyers. This is a great deal for hardcore fans, as they get to see each series in the best quality possible. The trade-off is they can only collect a tiny number of shows compared to someone in the UK on the same budget, but as they've already watched everything they wanted to on television or online streaming sites that's not a big deal. There are plenty of shows in UK fans' collections that they would probably never have purchased if they had seen them first.
What Anime Limited and the US-based companies are doing is catering for the hardcore audience as a big experiment. If it turns out that you're right, these premium releases will fail and everyone will switch back to the old model - wait 2-3 years for a release, get it in a barebones set with content missing and feel comforted that you only paid a tenner for a few hours of enjoyment. Personally speaking, when I really get into a show I want everything I can get. Japanese staff and voice actor extras? A soundtrack? Design sketches? Yes please! And needless to say, I want a thoroughly quality-checked disc with glitch-free video and a clear audio track which is professionally subtitled.
The Anime Limited model hasn't supplanted the cheap one in any way, so I don't understand why people who prefer cheap sets feel so threatened by it. There will be a standard release eventually for a fraction of the £120 it costs to buy the first version, and then a few years down the line once it's made all of its money back and faded from the spotlight you will almost certainly get a S.A.V.E.-style release for some titles if the market will support them. The companies want to make as much money as they can out of each license so there's no reason they will avoid the potential for more mainstream success if it's a title that can be profitable that way too.
Given the usual turnaround times we've had in the UK historically, you're not losing anything by waiting other than being made to feel jealous as the richer fans play with the premium edition a few years early.
(Britguy said everything I did in a fraction of the time since I started typing, but I'm posting it anyway ;_; )
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