Is DVD a Dying Format for UK Anime?

I'm personally a fan of DVD's if only for the fact they are cheaper and more common. Saying that my personal views and my pragmatism aren't in agreement. If the market as a whole is buying Blu-Ray at large then I can't say I'm surprised at MVM's move. Blu-Ray has been on the rise for a few years now and while I don't see significant enough difference (I'm not a fan for crisper images as long as the visuals aren't horrifically bad) to justify Blu-Ray over DVD, If money is now in Blu-Ray then follow it, but don't abandon DVD's. If the argument is space then again I'm still seeing the same number of B-Discs being used as DVD's largely due to the extra encoding and visual data, which begs the question of justifying the extra price imo. If a B-Disc can carry more then again imo I would want more episodes on the disc and few discs instead of the extra flash.

All in all I think MVM is going down a very rocky road by abandoning DVD's as there are still many older anime fans who are comfortable with DVD's as well as people like myself who aren't jumping at super visuals. There are plenty to justify B-Discs and so there is room for both. If they were to cut back or maintain a smaller supply of DVD's they would be in a better place than to outright cut out a significant part of their audience (Anime is still very niche compared to hollywood and to cut out a customer base is nearly suicidal since the percentages are higher). We will see what happens and hopefully MVM can pull it off or recover from their mistakes as to be very very blunt I'll not be buying anything new from MVM if they do get rid of DVD's as I'll not be jumping to Blu-Rays on the back of this just to follow MVM (nothing personal, just business)
 
I think bd fans will have to pick up the cost so I see prices rising. As 60/40 is still very very close especially after 10 years of BDs being common. So I dunno how I feel about this move as I don’t like how MVMs prices are going anyway why should I have to wait 3 months Cos I don’t want a 200 Pg artbook
 
MVM have no choice in this really. They get most of their titles from Sentai and Aniplex. Sentai have dropped DVD for new releases completely, so that rules out repurposing Region 1 discs as they have been doing. They have to instead rely on Australian distributors to create DVD instead. Hanabee have been good at that, Madman less so, with most recently, Madman opting to use the BD discs for Asterisk War and Girlish Number to scale down and create DVDs with burnt in subtitles instead of using the original master files to run off SD masters as used to be the case. It doesn't look as good as it should on DVD. Apparently Madman have now ditched DVD as well, so MVM had to shell out to create Flip Flappers DVDs themselves instead of splitting the difference with an AU distro. That isn't sustainable given the size of the UK market.

I only hope that this statement about ditching DVD only means ditching it when there aren't SD masters to use. I'd hate to see vintage shows, especially those early digipaint shows from the early 2000s to 2008-ish which were animated in SD only vanishing from distributor catalogues, as shows like that are still best served by DVD.

EDIT: You also can't say that DVD is a dying format as long as Blu-ray players and UHD Blu-ray players remain backwardly compatible. DVD isn't going the way of VHS.
 
thedoctor2016 said:
I think bd fans will have to pick up the cost so I see prices rising. As 60/40 is still very very close especially after 10 years of BDs being common. So I dunno how I feel about this move as I don’t like how MVMs prices are going anyway why should I have to wait 3 months Cos I don’t want a 200 Pg artbook
Click to expand...

You might argue though that the price will come down on BDs because now they can order more and no longer need to put any work into creating DVD sets.
 
My personal feelings are this:I can only watch dubbed anime due to poor eyrsight and so many dubbed get locked behind the DVD releases over and they certainly aren't cheap. I want more companies to offer alternatives whether its on-demand streaming or digital downloads' anything that could lower the barrier to entry. I also feel this will only encourage more people to potentially look into the industry. This is especially true for long running shows because who has the room for all those box sets!?

Two companies in particular need to acknowledge this, Aniplex and Toei (at least in Europe).
 
The writing's on the wall for anime on DVD - Sentai announced months ago that they will be dropping DVDs this year from their new releases as well, only using them for a select few DVD-only titles and on-going series that already have combo-sets. With MVM following suit over here, it won't be long until the other companies do the same.

I personally have had no use whatsoever for the DVD format for over 10 years. The only thing DVDs do for me is waste a lot of space in all the combo-set releases I own, especially in PE/CE/LE Box sets. I'd be elated if anime companies just dumped the entire combo-set mentality and offered simply BD-only and DVD-only sets like the Japanese - then those who still use DVD can have them, while not forcing DVDs on those who have moved on and long since abandoned them.
 
I'm also in the camp of not including DVDs with Blu Ray releases, as to me they take up unnecessary space and serve no purpose to me as a collector. I'd rather have a smaller set or case that takes up less room on my shelf.
 
thedoctor2016 said:
And my french, German importing for films that ain’t here will have to stop 😭
Click to expand...
Just Passing Through said:
Most of the DVDs and BDs released in the UK are manufactured in Europe. No Brexit deal will mean tarriffs, so a little extra added on every disc released here.
Click to expand...

Brexit is only a short term bump as capitalist, psuedo currency markets base so much value on politics and panic that in 10 years the price rises will be undone in so many ways.
 
cudwieser said:
Brexit is only a short term bump as capitalist, psuedo currency markets base so much value on politics and panic that in 10 years the price rises will be undone in so many ways.
Click to expand...

In 10 years, a company can licence an anime, release it on DVD and BD, re-release it in a budget format, and they can lose the licence and have it go out of print, and stock can dry up and vanish. When you're an anime fan after a specific series, the big, economic and political picture doesn't really mean much if you can't afford what you want, when you want it.
 
While the formats share a close average audience share of 60:40 (in favour of Blu-ray)
Click to expand...

I have to ask, does this include Deal of the Week sales? or initial Pre-order sales?

If it includes DotW then I would imagine this figure is WAY off due to people buying sets purely because they're cheap, now that Bluray is included in the weekly sale, I'd imagine this might go more towards the 75:25 in favour of bluray..



I'm sorry, but MVM isn't really the best company to be looking at whether DVD's are still a good choice... Most of their titles I would say are "Older Teen - Adult" rather than All Ages, most of these people would be looking at Bluray titles, buying DVD if its DVD-Only.

Where as AL and Manga have a more varied range of titles, from Anime fans to parents buying for their kids, so their sales of DVD are going to be higher
 
Just Passing Through said:
In 10 years, a company can licence an anime, release it on DVD and BD, re-release it in a budget format, and they can lose the licence and have it go out of print, and stock can dry up and vanish. When you're an anime fan after a specific series, the big, economic and political picture doesn't really mean much if you can't afford what you want, when you want it.
Click to expand...

Maybe not, but when your collection has a significant bulk of OOP (namely ADV) titles price is something you have to grin and bear. I've had to pay some awkward prices, but have found a few reasonable ones (Cyber Formula complete for less than 50 quid). Moral of the story is if you really want it you'll have to pay for it, but equally you must be discerning as to what you pay and from whom you buy.
 
I rarely buy from MVM nowadays anyway. I stopped being seduced by their DOTW a long time ago when I realised I was just buying a bargain as I hardly watched any.

I just hope DVD doesn't die off completely. It's more affordable.
 
-Danielle- said:
I rarely buy from MVM nowadays anyway. I stopped being seduced by their DOTW a long time ago when I realised I was just buying a bargain as I hardly watched any.

I just hope DVD doesn't die off completely. It's more affordable.
Click to expand...
DVD is dying off slowly but as with all things nothing lasts forever. the time will come one day for Blu Ray as well.

This is not MVM's choice though as their hand has been forced.
 
Yeah dvd will one day be vhs for sure. I just cant justify BR costs still yet. Like anything cheap, is OLD.

I have a dvd and a BR player now as I'm aware I must change with the times ;) :p
 
Back
Top