K-On Boxset & Haruhi movie Blu-rays Cancelled!

[ConanThe3rd]

I understand why it wouldn't work for 95% of UK released anime, but Double Play is the only way people might actually see the value in BD.

 

[VoxPhantom]

At the end of the day I would have rather have a company that is releasing something than a company that has gone under as it can't sell its stock.
After reading the discussion on twitter between manga and eepperschoice last night I can understand why they would struggle to shift blue rays. Sell lower and they cant sell enough to break even. Sell higher and people balk at the price and wont pay it either.

I can understand the economics of what Manga are saying; what pisses me off is the fact that they are announcing stuff, even going so far as to allow pre-orders, then ditching the release.

 

[ayase]

No such thing as freedom of choice in a capitalist system =3

How do you figure that one then? I never noticed Soviet supermarkets offering much choice... Unless you're suggesting there's no freedom of choice in any system, which is a bit fatalistic.

No freedom of choice in a corrupt capitalist system perhaps?

 

[ConanThe3rd]

Which, unfortunately, we're knee deep in.

Anyway, the thing is we need to be very careful in the going into BD as there's two battles;

Battle 1) Establishing BD as a legitimate future to DVD
Battle 2) Not pricing BD out of the market where DVD is like half the price.

Also, Rui, dumb question, but in that questionnaire, was the £25 the price they were expecting to buy it at or the RRP that was set by Manga. Because the two are often as similar as chalk and cheese.

 

[Joshawott]

At the end of the day I would have rather have a company that is releasing something than a company that has gone under as it can't sell its stock.
After reading the discussion on twitter between manga and eepperschoice last night I can understand why they would struggle to shift blue rays. Sell lower and they cant sell enough to break even. Sell higher and people balk at the price and wont pay it either.

I can understand the economics of what Manga are saying; what pisses me off is the fact that they are announcing stuff, even going so far as to allow pre-orders, then ditching the release.

That's exactly the point. Before MangaUK even hint about something getting a blu-ray release, they should do all the background financial evaluating etc. For example, if MangaUK had kept their mouth shut about the possibility of a blu-ray K-ON! boxset, I highly doubt the majority of us would have cared that much (and those with multi-region or Region A BD players would have imported ages ago anyway). Then, if they figured out that it would be viable, they should have announced it alongside the DVD boxset, or if not, announced the DVD boxset by itself.

The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya is more unfortunate in that a release was set in stone, then the BD master problems were discovered, so fans were bound to be disappointed anyway. Back then though, they shouldn't have set a release date for the blu-ray and allowed pre-orders to continue. I have to ask the question though - does Madman's blu-ray have the same problem with PS3 compatibility?

Also, there's the fact that the announcement of the cancellations came a day after the Beez announcement, which was a day after the Bandai announcement, so it's a lot at once.

No freedom of choice in a corrupt capitalist system perhaps?

Which, unfortunately, we're knee deep in.

 

[VoxPhantom]

The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya is more unfortunate in that a release was set in stone, then the BD master problems were discovered, so fans were bound to be disappointed anyway. Back then though, they shouldn't have set a release date for the blu-ray and allowed pre-orders to continue. I have to ask the question though - does Madman's blu-ray have the same problem with PS3 compatibility?

I'd like to know when they decided it was going to be cancelled, as Manga claimed authoring their own blu-ray would take 16 weeks. If they only decided to cancel this week, I find it hard to believe that they've spent the past 8-10 weeks working on putting something together, only to drop it completely. I get the feeling Disappearance was dead in the water for quite a while.

The question of Madman's release is intriguing, I'd love to find out exactly what went on with these PS3 master discs.

Oh, and I can't believe the pre-order page hasn't been pulled from Amazon yet.

 

[Rui]

Also, Rui, dumb question, but in that questionnaire, was the £25 the price they were expecting to buy it at or the RRP that was set by Manga. Because the two are often as similar as chalk and cheese.

Unfortunately I can't remember how the question was worded, though it might be worth someone adding it to Jerome's discussion. A lot of fans seem to go barmy over RRPs without checking actual pricing so the wording may have influenced the data.

R

 

[Just Passing Through]

Also, Rui, dumb question, but in that questionnaire, was the £25 the price they were expecting to buy it at or the RRP that was set by Manga. Because the two are often as similar as chalk and cheese.

Unfortunately I can't remember how the question was worded, though it might be worth someone adding it to Jerome's discussion. A lot of fans seem to go barmy over RRPs without checking actual pricing so the wording may have influenced the data.

R

It was a dumb question the way it was asked, a multiple choice.

How much are you willing to pay for an item..

a)Too much
b)Lots
c)Enough for us to turn a profit
d)Cheap enough for us to break even
e)We'll have to give it away and make a loss
f)Free.

90% of consumers want something for nothing, and have no idea of how licensing and pricing works for niche entertainment, so 90% will pick f.

It shouldn't have been a multiple choice question, they should have just asked how much a respondent is willing to pay for a Blu-ray and left it at that.

 

[Joshawott]

Also, Rui, dumb question, but in that questionnaire, was the £25 the price they were expecting to buy it at or the RRP that was set by Manga. Because the two are often as similar as chalk and cheese.

Unfortunately I can't remember how the question was worded, though it might be worth someone adding it to Jerome's discussion. A lot of fans seem to go barmy over RRPs without checking actual pricing so the wording may have influenced the data.

R

It was a dumb question the way it was asked, a multiple choice.

How much are you willing to pay for an item..

a)Too much
b)Lots
c)Enough for us to turn a profit
d)Cheap enough for us to break even
e)We'll have to give it away and make a loss
f)Free.

90% of consumers want something for nothing, and have no idea of how licensing and pricing works for niche entertainment, so 90% will pick f.

It shouldn't have been a multiple choice question, they should have just asked how much a respondent is willing to pay for a Blu-ray and left it at that.

Hell, even Nintendo's Club Nintendo game questionnaires ask you to put in the monetary value you would pay for it and they're Nintendo - make and distribute a lot of the stuff themselves (Well, Nintendo UK is mostly accounting and marketing, but y'know).

 

[Rui]

I guess even monetary value might end up with a lot of people putting "0" or "£5"; they'd really have to do a proper example :/

R

 

[reborn]

They stated via Twitter as linked earlier, that many people said they wouldn't pay more than £24.99. Also from what I recall, it was asking for a price - it wasn't a multiple choice question.

 

[ayase]

No freedom of choice in a corrupt capitalist system perhaps?

Which, unfortunately, we're knee deep in.

Oh, you'll get no argument from me there. I was just pointing out that I don't think capitalism per se offers people less freedom of choice - I can't think of another economic system that would offer greater choice. It's the corruption, rather than the capitalism, that's to blame.

 

[Just Passing Through]

Here's a question...

Would you be happier buying Kaze releases at the higher prices if all Manga Entertainment logos were removed from the discs and the packaging?

All Manga would do is distribute them as they already do, but they would otherwise have no imprint on them at all.

 

[Rui]

I would be indifferent to the Manga logo thing if not for their attitude towards customers repeatedly annoying me, so as it stands, yes I'd be happier buying Kaze releases if they were completely Kaze branded. If you're driving at separating their releases from the impression people have of Manga's stuff all being super cheap, in my case the cost doesn't really matter for the right show (within reason).

R

 

[MaxonTreik]

I guess even monetary value might end up with a lot of people putting "0" or "£5"; they'd really have to do a proper example :/

R

They should give a sensible range for these kinds of questions.

"From £X to £X, what would you consider a fair/reasonable price for Product Y?".

 

[jolu]

Here's a question...

Would you be happier buying Kaze releases at the higher prices if all Manga Entertainment logos were removed from the discs and the packaging?

It's not a matter of logos. UK companies shouldn't be compared to the european ones.


It's true that Kaze makes you pay a higher price, but you get what you pay for in terms of packaging.

Spoiler

The box includes seven movies, (with seven OST's), booklets...




This can't be cheap, They will have to increase their prices.

 

[Just Passing Through]

Here's a question...

Would you be happier buying Kaze releases at the higher prices if all Manga Entertainment logos were removed from the discs and the packaging?

It's not a matter of logos. UK companies shouldn't be compared to the european ones.


It's true that Kaze makes you pay a higher price, but you get what you pay for in terms of packaging.

Spoiler

The box includes seven movies, (with seven OST's), booklets...




This can't be cheap, They will have to increase their prices.

Because Kaze's release of Vampire Knight in the UK looked just like that!

I posit a stronger distinction from Manga to get customer's minds away from Manga's pricing structure and accept Kaze as a separate entity with its own value for its own product. I also think that distancing themselves from Manga's PR strategy would be a bonus at this point.

 

[Mace20de]

Here's a question...

Would you be happier buying Kaze releases at the higher prices if all Manga Entertainment logos were removed from the discs and the packaging?

It's not a matter of logos. UK companies shouldn't be compared to the european ones.


It's true that Kaze makes you pay a higher price, but you get what you pay for in terms of packaging.


The box includes seven movies, (with seven OST's), booklets...




This can't be cheap, They will have to increase their prices.

Looks nice, is this the KazeFrance release of Garden of Sinners? We have the show in Germany too, but in seven individual volumes for 25€ each and I'm thinking about getting the French release, since its only 70€ instead of 150€.

Regarding Samurai Girls, KazeGermany released it in 3x4episode volumes on BD for 30€ each + some goodies, £34,99 sounds pretty cheap to me for the whole show.

 

[Joshawott]

I agree with Kaze moving away from MangaUK. Especially considering the bad reputation MangaUK has now.

If I know what I'm paying for isn't just a bare-bones 1-2 disc release in a typical case, then a higher price does seem reasonable. I mean, when was the last time MangaUK released any kind of special edition or anything but a bare-bones release?

At least Beez spoilt us with the rare LE (Haruhi, Gundam 00) and in recent years, moved away from boring amaray cases (except for the Anime Legends line, which is supposed to be budget anyway).

 

[Just Passing Through]

Regarding Samurai Girls, KazeGermany released it in 3x4episode volumes on BD for 30€ each + some goodies, £34,99 sounds pretty cheap to me for the whole show.

£34.99 is for the 3-disc DVD collection.

The Blu-ray collection is supposed to £44.99 and 2 discs. But it if too is a 3 disc collection, then that price makes a whole lot more sense.