Do you blind buy Anime?

Baggie_Saiyan

Thousand Master
Was just telling a friend that I only buy anime I really like, got me thinking do you folks do the same, if not does it pay off or have you ever ended up selling the anime on?

Technically the only blinds for me are Fairy Tail or second seasons + of anime like the upcoming DxD New, I think blind buying is too a risk for me personally, especially with the little budget I have, odds are I'll end up making a loss if I do sell it on and that's never a good thing.
 
I was actually having a similar conversation with Agent347 & Mangaranga on Twitter a few days ago about this topic, and to the most part yeah I pretty much blind buy all of my anime. One of the reasons why I did it was because my internet connection was too weak (in terms of streaming) that I couldn't watch anime online (whether it's Crunchyroll or anything) so the only option was to just read the synopsis (and reviews) and pick it up. I did this and for the most part I really enjoyed all of them (probably my best blind buys were Bakemonogatari, Haganai, Shiki & Tenchi Muyo! (both Movie & OVA Collections)). There were a few anime that I felt were average but not too bad like First Squad. I also have harem/ecchi titles blind bought which many people hate to death but I enjoyed them at the very least (examples include Maken-Ki! and OniAi).

And I will still continue this trend because I like collecting them. I've rated all of my anime at least 5 / 10 [means Average not very bad] or above (a majority of them are between 7-9).
 
I used to blind buy all of my anime, and now I blind buy everything interesting I haven't been able to see legally streaming. I'm pretty good at telling what I'll like, so it's not a problem. The only time I've been disappointed in the last few years has been with Chaos;Head, so that's not a bad hit rate given how many hundreds of series I've collected (and I kept it anyway just in case it's one of those series which gets better with time - though I strongly doubt it will). It was foolish of me to give it a chance on a recommendation instead of using my usual purchasing rules ^^;

So long as you don't just randomly buy things from genres you're not normally interested in, I find very little anime is so bad that it's actively a waste of money if its concept and art attracted you enough to consider it in the first place.

R
 
I blind buy when it's on sale. For full price new releases, I usually sample it first. I almost never buy something I've already seen.
 
I don't watch anime any other way than through dvd or blu ray so everything is blind bought. However I always check trailers and reviews to make sure it looks or sounds like something id enjoy.

Out of my purchases over the last year I've been fortunate to only have one or two titles that I haven't enjoyed. Im more of a collector tbh. If im not collecting physically then I'm not consuming, this goes for traditonal tv and movies as well as anime.
 
Rui said:
So long as you don't just randomly buy things from genres you're not normally interested in, I find very little anime is so bad that it's actively a waste of money if its concept and art attracted you enough to consider it in the first place.

R

Déjà vu? I swear I read this before lol

Chaos;Head I found was wasted potential, it, it became too generic I guess. The setup was brilliant though so disappointed was thinking the other day is it worth purchasing and ultimately thought nah and purchased DBZK Part Four.

Maken-ki was one of the worst shows in that genre I found, not surprised folks hated that one.

I would like to blind buy more often though, sounds like fun

Curious NormanicGrav have you rated any anime 10?
 
Baggie_Saiyan said:
Déjà vu? I swear I read this before lol

I'm sure I've typed something along those lines a few times in response to this kind of conversation so it's very likely!

Fanservice shows can be quite hit-or-miss with me so I'm wary of any which get a lot of bad press or have designs I don't love (Maken-Ki fell at both hurdles so I never gave it a chance).

Things like FUNi's SAVE collection or MVM's weekly deal are the way to go if you're nervous about blind buying, I guess. It's a habit that long term fans take for granted since it used to be the only way to do things, but access is so much easier these days that it's natural to think about checking something out first when you're narrowing the choices down!

R
 
When I first got into anime, I used to either buy it based on the synopsis on the back cover or from watching a 30 second ADV/Manga trailer.

Nowadays, I usually only buy shows I really liked during streaming and blind buy the odd title. Examples of previous blind buys: Code Geass, Steins;Gate, Fullmetal Alchemist, Psycho Pass etc. Of course, I have picked up a few bad apples, which have then made their way onto ebay.

Although, Anime Limited have changed that as I have pre-ordered several of their titles, which I haven't seen before, just because of their enthusiasm.
 
NormanicGrav said:
While I do acknowledge some minor flaws I still gave these anime a 10: 5 Centermeters per Second, Akira, Black Lagoon: Second Barrage, Clannad: After Story, Cowboy Bebop, Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, Gintama, Place Promised in our Early Days, Spirited Away, Tenchi Muyo! In Love 1 & 2. Check the rest of the list here if you want.
Interesting list, I've only seen Clannad and 5 cm from your list and I certainly can't disagree!

Rui said:
Things like FUNi's SAVE collection or MVM's weekly deal are the way to go if you're nervous about blind buying, I guess. It's a habit that long term fans take for granted since it used to be the only way to do things, but access is so much easier these days that it's natural to think about checking something out first when you're narrowing the choices down!

R

Yeah, I've been checking out FUNi's SAVE line for quite a bit and have found some interesting stuff, sadly most of them are Region 1 DVD's and I won't be able to upscale them on the PlayStation. And their Blu-ray section is quite limited, although I have put an order in for B Gata H, having only seen the first episode, guess that'll count as a blind buy!
 
I'll only blind buy something if it's really cheap, so basically DOTW or things which have been out for ages. My budget is too limited to buy things which I might not like.
 
animefreak17 said:
I blind buy my anime but only if there really cheap ones

Apologies if I'm wrong, but I didn't think you streamed anime - so, if that's the case, aren't all of your purchases blind buys?
 
I blind buy most of the time. I'll put stuff on my to buy list if I see it popping up enough from what people on here watch/like too though.

I dont think I've regretted any blind buys other than, ScrYed (sp?), Black Lagoon (i've tried 5 times to get into it), Reqiuem From The Darkness and Chaos Head. I'm worried I wont like Sekirei either but I haven't gave it a chance yet.
 
I've only ever bought one series blind (Genshiken), but only because it had a premise I liked and was cheap enough. However, I've become much more picky vis-a-vis what anime I consume, and so, I tend to err on the side of caution. As such I tend to 'sample' a series first - if I like it, I might buy it, depending on 'rewatchability', cost, quality of release, etc.; if I don't like it, I don't buy it and it is promptly deleted from my hard drive.
 
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GolGotha said:
animefreak17 said:
I blind buy my anime but only if there really cheap ones

Apologies if I'm wrong, but I didn't think you streamed anime - so, if that's the case, aren't all of your purchases blind buys?

Your right I don't stream.

Well yes and no

A blind buy to me is when I randomly buy a anime without-

Asking around what I should watch next
Looking up the information on what it's about

It's when I just glance at the cover of the DVD and say.......I want that......

Get it.
 
I do all the time - though usually backed up by reviews/IMDB scores/general hype for a show.

I've been stung a few times though - not so much in the sense of really hating a show I bought, but just being like 'meh, probably won't watch that again'. That said, I'm bad though because I'll often pick titles up just because I'm worried about them going out of print.
 
Most of the time I buy blind. I don't subscribe to streaming sites so the only way way I see shows first is through trailers although I have seen the odd episode on youtube (we are talking less than 5 episodes here). I have been watching anime long enough that all I need to do is see a few reviews, look at the artwork and read the synopsis to form an opinion of the show/film.
 
Its about 50/50 for me. I don't buy much anime anymore so what I do buy is either stuff I've streamed and enjoyed or I know I'll enjoy and is generally regarded well. My last few purchases were Bebop and Geass that I hadn't seen.
 
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