Anime Series Packaging

[ayase]

But they aren't necessarily any cheaper! If that was the case then I might still not like the packaging, but it would bother me a lot less. In a world where people can easily download a series should they choose to do so, the official products need to be as enticing as possible.

If you can get the episodes for nothing, then what incentive is there for anyone (and as someone who normally buys, I'm still banging my head against the desk here) to spend money on them in cheap, naff packaging?

 

[fabio de lunatico]

People who want free stuff will take it regardless of how well the official releases are packaged. The incentive for me is to own a physical product that I can put on my shelf and to support the original creators at a fraction of the cost of the Japanese releases.

I don't consider $70 for a full season to be unreasonable, to be honest. It's certainly a lot cheaper than the singles. In the case of Gankutsuou (sorry to use this example again) the previous release was a $150 box set. And we all know what happened to Geneon.

 

[Zin5ki]

But they aren't necessarily any cheaper!

I respect your views but I disagree. My Blue Gender thinpak set me back £17.99 (the magic PlayUSA number). Were I to buy it in a physically larger format the price could easily be twice that.
I'll admit, the packaging left much to be desired, but it still looks nice on my shelf. So long as there remains the desire for people to have something official to collect and display, there is the incentive to provide compact releases.

 

[Titan]

I prefer thinpacks as they save a lot of space, but depending on the artwork and how much I like the series I may go for the full sized cases with box.

The price may also be a deciding factor depending on how cheap/expensive the series is.

 

[Derfel]

I respect your views but I disagree. My Blue Gender thinpak set me back £17.99 (the magic PlayUSA number). Were I to buy it in a physically larger format the price could easily be twice that.
I'll admit, the packaging left much to be desired, but it still looks nice on my shelf. So long as there remains the desire for people to have something official to collect and display, there is the incentive to provide compact releases.

Haha I agree. So long as its not region free and has a nice shiny spine, its good.

 

[ilmaestro]

I know what you mean about how flimsy they are making them possibly feel cheap, but for me it also makes them kind of sleek and cute. One of the nicest packaged series I have (imo) in the Stellvia set that came with thinpaks inside a slim metal tin. Very cool.

 

[Jaymii]

Full size cases, WITH an artbox are best I think (Beez are on the ball with this). I do have a adoration towards Digipacks though - FUNi's One Piece and Shin-Chan are top-notch, as are YYH and Conan etc.

I don't get why we don't get full (6 Disc) season sets in a DVD case usually made for one or two discs (i.e. The Wire DVDs). They are quite nice, and I think I like them a iddy bit more than M-lock's which look like VHS tapes (i.e. The X-Files, Buffy)

ayase, you mentioned thinpacks feel cheap, and while I agree, I also don't really see all of the advantages of full-sized cases unless they are well-made. Case in point, the original Family Guy DVDs (S1 - 3) and then the newer ones (Season 4). Season 3 is three full-sized DVDs in a flimsy bit of card, and the DVD cases themselves are terribly made and hardly ever close whereas Season 4, yes has the bad card issue, but the cases work much better with it in comparison... Not that any of this matters, really. FOX Home Entertainment don't care about the UK.

sorry for not getting to my point quick enough

 

[Chaz]

I worry about what you people do to these boxes that makes it seem like they're not only there for keeping things together or having something decent to look at on your shelf... Do they need to come with a package warning saying "Please dont bounce/kick/throw/dunk/burn product. Damage may occure?"

All I do is litterally open-watch-put on shelf (for another time to view or to store). Granted, you may drop things or the postman may give you the product with a few bumps/nicks on it, but all you really need is a good looking piece to store something in, right?

 

[ilmaestro]

I have a lot of them stacked on top of each other, so sturdier boxes is good.

 

[Dracos]

There's also B&M shelf space to take into consideration, especially with sales falling. Anime distributors want as much of their product in stores as possible, but retailers don't want hundreds of singles and huge box sets eating up their precious shelf space.

That's a good point that does not immediately jump to mind.

What do others think of the jewel case style cases of the R1 Moribito release. Personally I quite like then as they are not much bigger than slim cases, but owning enough CDs to realise these type of cases are a bit brittle I can see them not lasting a long time and being a bugger to replace.

 

[ayase]

What do others think of the jewel case style cases of the R1 Moribito release?

If they're Super Jewel cases, made of win. :thumb:

And Chaz, it's not necessarily that I want to be able to treat my sets roughly, I just want a set that makes me go when I look at it on the shelf or open it up to get the discs, not one that makes me go :x I almost want to destroy thinpacks because they're so flimsy (like one of the priests in Father Ted - I want to rip them apart shouting "shoddy, shoddy, SHODDY!"). I couldn't destroy those Patlabor boxes without the aid of a hammer.

Paying any more than £20 for a set that makes me go :x when I look at it is not appealing to me. I know it's good to support the creators, but I'm not going to buy something I don't want just for their benefit, that's taking selflessness a little too far. When the way a series is packaged makes me want to print my own goddamn covers and send the creators a cheque rather than buying the official releases there's something not quite right.

And on the pricing / packaging note... We got the Freedom Blu-ray box for around £55 if I remember rightly, and it was exactly the same as the Japanese version that retailed for the equivalent of over £100. So I don't see any reason why we can't have just as nice releases as Japan for half the cost or less. After all, anime is overpriced in Japan.

 

[kupocake]

Digi-paks all the way. Thinpack are worst of all. These releases look ugly and horribly cheap, especially the spines (generally, the UK anime market seems completely ignorant of the fact that the majority of the time, the spine is all you're going to see). I'll suffer the bloatyness of a full-sized release for something I like enough, but a well designed digi-pak craps on anything else, with printed art on multiple sides etc. The Simpsons sets look great in digi-pak form (though wtf happened with Season 11? I think they took the hall of mirrors theme and made a set that was a distorted level of suckage beyond the actual show at that point.), and my Pixar Ultimate collection will one day make me the richest person ever. Probably. You know, without the last two films. Somehow.

edit: considering how much the decent Simpsons sets get watched in this house, digipak doesn't have to mean that the set will look like crap in a year's time.

 

[Aion]

I like thinpacks. The kind with sturdy boxes are wonderful. I was over the moon when I received my Chrono Crusade and Get Backers thinpack sets many moons ago. If it's a choice between getting anime in the new snormal sized DVD case boxed sets, brick sets and thinpack sets, then thinpack sets win - individual DVD cases and more cover art pleases me.

In terms of Funimation's releases, I can only comment on the Shana set I got off eBay. Since I'm rather fond of thinpack sets, the fact that the actual box is flimsy as **** doesn't bother me a great deal. And, of course, the fact there are four thinpack DVD style cases, each with different cover art, pleases me.

As for your order, you shouldn't cancel your order for Gankutsuou if you don't already own it, no matter what packaging it comes in. Only a fool or Fabio would reject the chance to own such a series.

Talking of Fabio, I have a question for him: how much do Rightstuf charge for shipping? Even with the current value of the pound $40 before shipping sounds like a top price for a set I collected with difficulty for £60-70.

 

[fabio de lunatico]

I know it's good to support the creators, but I'm not going to buy something I don't want just for their benefit, that's taking selflessness a little too far.

If you dislike the packaging that much then, no, you shouldn't feel obliged to buy anime, and I didn't mean to give the impression that I was suggesting you should. For me it's an easier proposition because I have no major issue with Funimation's thinpak sets and believe the pricing to be fair. $60 for the half season sets of NHK and Wallflower is pushing it, though.

Aioning board: Rightstuf charge $10 for the first item and $2 for each addtional item. Ordering a few things spreads the postage cost a bit.

 

[Rui]

Rightstuf will also mark each item in the shipment as being worth $5 on the customs form if you ask them to, which can be rather nice. They ship the full paperwork separately too whether you ask them to or not.

I don't use them for everything but occasionally when it's a good sale or something rare I'll take a look. Really good customer service too.

R

 

[ayase]

Digi-paks all the way. Thinpack are worst of all. These releases look ugly and horribly cheap, especially the spines (generally, the UK anime market seems completely ignorant of the fact that the majority of the time, the spine is all you're going to see). I'll suffer the bloatyness of a full-sized release for something I like enough, but a well designed digi-pak craps on anything else, with printed art on multiple sides etc. The Simpsons sets look great in digi-pak form (though wtf happened with Season 11? I think they took the hall of mirrors theme and made a set that was a distorted level of suckage beyond the actual show at that point.)

Even though I swore to myself I wouldn't buy it (as it marks the beginning of the downhill slide IMO) I don't mind the Season 11 packaging nearly as much as I would a thinpack or those other "M-lock unconvincigly disguised in a card sleeve" sets that Fox love to cut costs with.

The reason I'm particularly annoyed at Funimation (other than their name which still makes me cringe every time I hear it) is that after previously owning only their crappy R1 Lupin thinpacks I thought they'd turned a corner with these new FMA digipacks. I was just imagining how great Mushishi and Gankutsuou versions of these would be only to have my dreams shattered, even more so given that it looks like Moon Phase will be getting FMA style packaging.

 

[fabio de lunatico]

The Moon Phase and FMA sets use the same packaging as the original R1 releases. In the US they're now out of print, with Funimation re-releasing many of their old sets, including Moon Phase, as Viridian thinpaks. I guess they gave their leftover packaging to Revelation.

Every new collection, like Mushishi, goes straight to thinkpak sets.

 

[Aion]

I was just imagining how great Mushishi and Gankutsuou versions of these would be only to have my dreams shattered

Stop acting like a woman and man up. It's the content that matters - everything else is superficial. Gankutsuou is probably the best adaptation of one of the best stories in existence, and you decided not to pay for it and rather whine about thinpack sets!? An unforgivable action if there ever was one.

 

[ayase]

Stop acting like a woman and man up. It's the content that matters - everything else is superficial. Gankutsuou is probably the best adaptation of one of the best stories in existence, and you decided not to pay for it and rather whine about thinpack sets!?

Yes. Yes I did. Content I'll take and won't complain at the £20 mark. If I'm paying any more than that I want value for money. Though this thread was more to gauge general opinion, and I'll admit I thought my views would be more prevalent than they have proved to be.

Also Aion, stop acting GAR when we can all see you have a Maison Ikkoku avatar.

 

[Aion]

You would, however, be more than willing to pay for glorified anime porno books; the things called art books. Shame on you.

I don't do the whole TTGL "GAR" thing. The TTGL pricks on NarutoFAN pissed me off when TTGL was still a new thing - they couldn't go more than a few posts without saying "GAR" for no reason whatsoever.

Also, Ayarse (I'm not feeling creative), what's not manly about MI? Mitaka is a real man.