UK Anime Distributor Crunchyroll/Funimation/Manga UK Discussion Thread

[Rui]

Episode 14 was, but episode 13 was broadcast on TV.

I see, having investigated further both were produced as OAVs but then episode 13 was broadcast in Japan after all. It's a bit confusing as the final volume of the JP release (which contains both of those episodes) is marketed as a 'bonus' rather than part of the series proper. Anime is weird.

Aren't even AL guilty of having some streams only on paid services?

This thread isn't about AL. I'm not the AL police. I still don't really understand the desperate need to drag them into every single discussion about everything ever just to criticise them; whether they have or haven't makes literally zero difference to the point I was making. Find me a comment by Andrew saying that he's actively blocking streaming to increase his own paycheck and make a thread about that if you want to have that discussion.

I'm actually guilty of this. The majority of my anime purchases, including UEs and CEs are blind buys. I'd rather watch things on bluray once than stream them once and never buy them. Just in case I change my mind in the future and do want to rewatch after a stream disappears.

I do it a lot too, but I recognise that I'm a dinosaur, independently wealthy enough to be able to afford to do so and a relic from a previous generation where 'try before you buy' was literally impossible to begin with. Manga UK's target market is younger than us. And that generation has different values. Even for me, having the option of a legal stream greatly increases my willingness to bump a standard purchase up to a CE for the right shows because sometimes you just cannot tell from the blurb whether some new title is going to be the next love of your life.

This'll be an unpopular opinion, but I don't think we should have any streams, paid or free, of titles that are available physically. Simulcasts are great, they serve a useful purpose, but catalogue streaming for titles that have physical releases just encourages people to be cheap and devalues the perceived value of media. Once a title is available physically, a stream should be delisted, leaving just simulcasts and catalogue streaming for titles without a physical release for whatever reason. Though, ideally, everything should be available physically.

Not everyone has infinite space to store physical releases so even assuming that everyone is wealthy enough to be able to afford them, believe me that when you get to the point of needing to upgrade your actual home to fit them inside (*sweats*) it's not a practical solution for hardcore fans who want to watch a large amount of content. People don't need encouraging to devalue media; they're already doing it thanks to the standard edition price crash a decade or so again, and comparing things to mainstream releases which sell tens of thousands of copies. Television exists; Netflix exists. The genie is well and truly out of the bottle at this point, and desperately trying to turn the clock back to 2001 isn't accomplishing anything other than a delay of the inevitable.

Also, removing legal streams when a physical copy is available robs you of a powerful marketing tool you can use to hook new viewers and encourage them down legal paths; pirate sites don't exactly bend over backwards to point people towards the physical copy the way a legal stream could (if used correctly). Young people don't want to blind buy any more. Japanese fans virtually never blind buy other than for OAVs/movies. It's 2017.

Edit: On a practical level the only advantage of physical is its persistence (which isn't permanent anyway). Streaming is faster if you live in an area with good Internet but no physical shops whatsoever - I'm close to the capital and my city has zero media shops of any kind, so if I want to impulse watch a new show with some friends I can't rely on physical distribution. It's cheaper, better and easier to produce for. It is harder to monetise, absolutely, but the audience is there and the technology is (mostly) there. I don't think there's as much direct cannibalisation of sales from streaming as people say - people aren't buying any more because they know streaming is better, but the forced absence of a stream won't necessarily change that trend at this point. It's way too late for that.

R

 

[thedoctor2016]

Andrew is deliberately giving shows steaming to INCREASE his paycheck as his FMP comment said
"We all need to pay the bills"

 

[Buzz201]

Edit: On a practical level the only advantage of physical is its persistence (which isn't permanent anyway). Streaming is faster if you live in an area with good Internet but no physical shops whatsoever - I'm close to the capital and my city has zero media shops of any kind, so if I want to impulse watch a new show with some friends I can't rely on physical distribution. It's cheaper, better and easier to produce for. It is harder to monetise, absolutely, but the audience is there and the technology is (mostly) there. I don't think there's as much direct cannibalisation of sales from streaming as people say - people aren't buying any more because they know streaming is better, but the forced absence of a stream won't necessarily change that trend at this point. It's way too late for that.

R

We have a HMV with the largest anime section I have seen (for a HMV at least) in Cheltenham. I have never seen an Anime Ltd. collector's edition. I have never seen a Universal release. I have never seen an MVM BD release. I don't think anybody anywhere, with the possible exception of Chepstow(?), could impulse buy a specific anime series they wanted without getting lucky.

And Manga would suffer, as AL has the best line-up, and I'd have to cut back on other distributors' releases to get there's. I suspect many others would do the same.

 

[thedoctor2016]

I've seen a few MVM CEs and universal but yeah never AL ones

 

[Neil.T]

I personally think DVD boxes are nicer than blu-ray amarays.

Hurray for that. I absolutely despise BD Amaray cases. I will even sometimes opt for the DVD version instead just to avoid them.

The BD Amaray cases I have that aren't in a rigid box or covered with an o-card are housed in cupboard storage to keep them out of my sight.

What's supposed to be the point of having artwork inside if you can't even see it through that horrible blue murk?

(Wrong thread, I know, but hurrah to AL for using clear BD Amarays for Place Promised/Voices. Manga should've done that with the new Akira CE, in my view.)

 

[Jaysgba]

having the option of a legal stream greatly increases my willingness to bump a standard purchase up to a CE for the right shows because sometimes you just cannot tell from the blurb whether some new title is going to be the next love of your life.

The existence of a CE will often make me put off buying a show at all until A price drop that means I can afford it. I don't know which CEs I'll regret not buying in the future, so it's always best to buy the CE if possible. Still waiting on a price for Terror in Resonance's UE that falls in line with my current opinion of the anime.

 

[Lambadelta]

We have a HMV with the largest anime section I have seen (for a HMV at least) in Cheltenham. I have never seen an Anime Ltd. collector's edition.

I've seen AL films in my HMV. It's how I picked up my copy of The Empire of Corpses. I also bought my copy of the The place promised (blah blah blah long title).

Its hit and miss with HMV stock, but they generally just have 2-3 MVM sets, TONS of Ghibli, and the rest being Manga/KAZE sets.

I think my local HMV also has 2 Universial sets on the shelf. DVD Arslan part 1, and BD Seraph part 1

 

[Buzz201]

I've seen AL films in my HMV. It's how I picked up my copy of The Empire of Corpses. I also bought my copy of the The place promised (blah blah blah long title).

Its hit and miss with HMV stock, but they generally just have 2-3 MVM sets, TONS of Ghibli, and the rest being Manga/KAZE sets.

I think my local HMV also has 2 Universial sets on the shelf. DVD Arslan part 1, and BD Seraph part 1

I've seen AL standards, though I think only Kill la Kill and one or two films. Not a lot more than that and definitely never a CE.

In Cheltenham it's mostly Manga/Kaze, maybe a few MVM DVD, all of the Ghiblis, then some American stuff that might come under the definition of anime if you're generous. (The DC Animated films, for example.)

 

[Rui]

We have a HMV with the largest anime section I have seen (for a HMV at least) in Cheltenham. I have never seen an Anime Ltd. collector's edition. I have never seen a Universal release. I have never seen an MVM BD release. I don't think anybody anywhere, with the possible exception of Chepstow(?), could impulse buy a specific anime series they wanted without getting lucky.

And Manga would suffer, as AL has the best line-up, and I'd have to cut back on other distributors' releases to get there's. I suspect many others would do the same.

I used to impulse buy a fair bit when HMVs still existed within a vast radius of anywhere I'm likely to go. I wouldn't buy my best titles there - they'd have had to have been preordered long ago as HMV staff cannot be trusted to pick the right stuff - but I might pick up casual things. Now they've vanished entirely I've shifted to purely buying online by necessity and the choice is a bulky, slower, less environmentally-friendly, potentially-damaged, probably-glitchy, more expensive physical release or the instant gratification of a stream. When you're used to the streaming option already, the alternative to that isn't going back to physical, it's piracy. And piracy helps nobody other than the pirates themselves.

R

 

[Rui]

The existence of a CE will often make me put off buying a show at all until A price drop that means I can afford it. I don't know which CEs I'll regret not buying in the future, so it's always best to buy the CE if possible. Still waiting on a price for Terror in Resonance's UE that falls in line with my current opinion of the anime.

Fear of missing out on CEs is something I understand but don't really suffer from. Obviously I've missed out on things before (the lack of volume 4 of Galaxy Angel Rune in my collection still gives me rage even though I didn't really like the show) but with CEs I can usually decide which I like enough to prioritise at the time, and if a stream exists (!) I can check out an episode if I'm wavering. Am I a bit sad I didn't get an alchemist title and the FMA UE? Yeah, but I had other priorities at the time and can still get the show itself in physical form. It would be even better if it was available streaming everywhere for new fans too. Missing out is not the end of the world, and certainly not worth losing simulcasts over. I will actively pick an standard (can't say SE, still read it as Special Edition) over a CE for shows I don't desperately love or if the bonuses are lame (Bearbrick...) just to save a bit of cash here and there, and if I later become some kind of Bearbrick freak who deeply regrets that choice then that's just one of those things. If I've never seen a show at all due to streams being held back, the chance of me bumping my purchase up to a CE is almost nil unless I was already interested in the series independently. I don't have infinite cash.

R

 

[Jaysgba]

Next day delivery isn't really that much slower, to be fair. Especially considering how much cheaper it is to buy anime online anyway. The last anime I bought from HMV was Eden of The East Movie 2, and I assume that was campaign pricing to shift stock before the complete collection release.

 

[Rui]

Next day delivery isn't really that much slower, to be fair.

It is for me because I work full time and so 'next day' actually means 'wait until next Saturday to redeliver, assuming that the courier delivers on Saturday or that I'm not going out that day'. It actually sort of sucks. I'm also disinclined to pay extra for postage so I generally get my stuff in batches, often weeks after the release date.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still buying physical and I still love physical. But it's a relic of a system and a better alternative exists; an alternative which should always be available to those not willing to deal with the foibles of antiquated physical distribution methods. If I wasn't so old and established I'd think the people trying to force physical-only down everyone's throats were completely and utterly insane. As it is, I just think they're misguided and pricing out an entire generation of cash-poor viewers who have never developed the addiction to 'ownership' we physical collectors feel.

R

 

[Jaysgba]

It is for me because I work full time and so 'next day' actually means 'wait until next Saturday to redeliver, assuming that the courier delivers on Saturday or that I'm not going out that day'. It actually sort of sucks. I'm also disinclined to pay extra for postage so I generally get my stuff in batches, often weeks after the release date.

This is why I just pay for Amazon Prime; unlike Royal Mail, they know how to knock next door and deliver on weekends for those days my brother isn't at home.

and I still love physical. But it's a relic of a system and a better alternative exists;

I'll never agree that digital distribution and/or streaming is a better alternative, sorry. BD/DVD releases of anime are inferior to piracy due to limitations of BD/DVDs, but you actually own a thing. Downloads and streams choose not to be as good as piracy and you don't even own a thing. There is zero value there in my eyes.

 

[Hanners]

catalogue streaming for titles that have physical releases just encourages people to be cheap and devalues the perceived value of media.

Downloads and streams choose not to be as good as piracy and you don't even own a thing. There is zero value there in my eyes.

Sounds like you're at the forefront of that devaluation of media if you value the importance of the optical disc itself over its contents!

 

[Buzz201]

This is why I just pay for Amazon Prime; unlike Royal Mail, they know how to knock next door and deliver on weekends for those days my brother isn't at home.

Because everyone can just afford to drop £80 a year, plus the huge difference in price between Amazon and most other retailers these days.


Your angle on price considerations is confusing. I'm beginning to wonder if price considerations are just a convenient means for you to attack AL, rather than something you genuinely care about.

 

[Jaysgba]

Sounds like you're at the forefront of that devaluation of media if you value the importance of the optical disc itself over its contents!

There is already zero value in digital media. It's inferior in most ways to pirated media for no reason other than to inconvenience the customer, and if you miss out while it's available, there's no second hand market. Then you get DRM making things even worse. Until there's a Bandcamp equivalent for digital anime, it's not for me.

 

[Rui]

This is why I just pay for Amazon Prime; unlike Royal Mail, they know how to knock next door and deliver on weekends for those days my brother isn't at home.

Sadly I have no brother living in my house and don't think Amazon Prime is worth the money. Which is sad as I'd like to watch Kuzu No Honkai - just not enough to pay the cost of a full BD CE at RRP just to do so. Similarly all of the stories of local HMVs sound quaint and old-fashioned now that physical media outlets are largely dead in entire major cities

I'll never agree that digital distribution and/or streaming is a better alternative, sorry. BD/DVD releases of anime are inferior to piracy due to limitations of BD/DVDs, but you actually own a thing. Downloads and streams choose not to be as good as piracy and you don't even own a thing. There is zero value there in my eyes.

Sure, but that's just your opinion. You're old by Manga UK Target Market standards. I'm old too (in fact, I'm way, way outside their target market in multiple ways which is why I sort of accept the fact that Jerome is never going to care about a thing I say). Younger people are being raised with completely different values to us. You cannot compare legal options to piracy. Ever. No matter how perfect the legal version is, the pirated version can be equally perfect except free, so it will always win in a value comparison. The need to 'own' (with the caveat that your discs can get lost/damaged etc) is simply not as strong in some people as it is in others. Why only cater for the hardcore 'must own a physical copy' crowd and leave the rest to resort to piracy or nothing?

R

 

[Jaysgba]

Because everyone can just afford to drop £80 a year, plus the huge difference in price between Amazon and most other retailers these days.


Your angle on price considerations is confusing. I'm beginning to wonder if price considerations are just a convenient means for you to attack AL, rather than something you genuinely care about.

Prime cost can be split between people in the same house, and it works out cheaper over the year than paying for 1st class postage all the time.

 

[thedoctor2016]

Me and my brother have prime individually on our own accounts.. and we live in the same house. Though I share with my oldest who lives elsewhere

 

[Buzz201]

Prime cost can be split between people in the same house, and it works out cheaper over the year than paying for 1st class postage all the time.

Or you could just use the free delivery service?

Also, it's not just the £40-80 a year for Prime, it's the potentially £10 increase in price on every single release you buy when compared to Zavvi or Base. But really it's the principal here, this bizarre alternative world you're proposing, asides from being completely nonsensical, is completely at odds with the views you claim to hold.

I repeat, do you actually care about the cost of releases or do you just wish to use it as a stick with which to beat AL?