Least favourite Anime distrubutor?

P

Paradox295

Pokémon Master
For me, it has to be MVM. It's been my least favourite distributor for a while because their boxset prices are ~£10 more than Manga's/Beez's. (MVM's are usually £25 while Manga's/Beez's are £15).

But then I saw THIS...

FLCL - Region 2 UK Release (MVM) - http://www.base.com/buy/product/flcl-co ... vd7034.htm (Base.com cheapest UK price, £18.59)

..this is just the cheapest price. Everywhere else has it for around £25.
Now let's look at the one-disc, much sexier cover art Region 1 version that just came out yesterday...

FLCL - Region 1 US Release (Funi) - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004 ... e=&seller= (supermart, £15.77 + £1.21)

...ughr, MVM, I really don't wanna import stuff, but you just suck! Why should I pay more for a worse version?
With Manga and Beez, you get really similar cover art as the US release (with some slight changes like logos and stuff), same number of discs (sometimes less) and around the same price (In the case of Manga, usually cheaper)
 
To be fair in that case they are screwed as they have VAT involved (not to mention the BBFC fees etc). The US one comes in under the VAT threshold so even importing is super cheap.

Having said that, I almost never buy anything from MVM :( they seem like nice enough chaps but by the time they have announced anything I have generally bought, watched, archived and forgotten about it. I'd like to be able to support them more, so it would interest me if they changed the way they worked in the next few years.

I don't really dislike any of the UK distributors. Releases are always so inconsistent. I like Beez the most, and I've stopped buying a lot from Manga due to refusing to support the blu-ray regioning silliness we have in this country, but that's nothing really personal against them so much as their readiness to region lock things so diligently. I'm still cheerfully buying DVD-only stuff from them as I have region 2 players coming out of my ears.

R
 
Otaku-san said:
Lol region 2 discussion, what ****** thread is this?
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MangaUK: "Hey guys! We just licensed this series"
LOLZ!! ALREADY GOT IT ON REGION 1!!!!

MangaUK: "Sorry guys, we aren't releasing this show on BD anymore"
OMFG!! WTF IS DIS ****?!?!

^This.... this is why we can't have nice things
 
They also have it on blu-ray. (Though I imagine Japan will do a proper HD master soon...).

MVM are probably my least favourite too, unless Revelation are still in the running.
 
Jayme said:
They also have it on blu-ray. (Though I imagine Japan will do a proper HD master soon...).

MVM are probably my least favourite too, unless Revelation are still in the running.
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Revelation are doing 70's ITV sitcoms these days.

And yeah, that's also a point, for less than the £25 Amazon/Play are charging for the FLCL DVDs, I could probably get the Blu-Ray. I'm not sure if it's Region B enabled and I don't have a PS3 or Blu-Ray player, but if I did, I'd consider it.
 
I will admit, I'm not a fan of the artwork of MVM's Romeo x Juliet volumes.

My favourite distributor at the moment has to be MangaUK, due to their cheap prices, and value for money. I'm still a bit miffed that I have to pay £25 for 8 episodes of Gundam 00 from Beez, when I can get 13 episodes of Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood from Manga UK for £15. At least Beez have Anime Legends though.
 
Lupus said:
Beez are really quite pricey and so are MVM. £70 for Burst Angel? what.
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One main reason why i ended up buying the singles.... in most cases singles cost more in the long run, in this case though... saved myself about £40


Mvm.... not the favourite, Beez seem to be friendliest but manga uk seem to have good deals.

not entirely convinced that importing R1 is worth it, i'd personally prefer to get the R2, that way i can watch the dub and should i ever feel the need i can put the subs on and japanese audio and watch it the same as a R1.

plus, i'd prefer to spend my money in the uk (when it comes to anime and manga) so i do my bit towards keeping the distributers distributing.
 
If you ask me, Revelation would certainly be the least favourite in my eyes and that is simply because they couldnt be bothered to finish off School Rumble, Beck or Suzuka despite saying many times that they would.

I have no problems with the 3 main distributors as they all have their strength and weaknesses.

I can understand about the prices regarding MVM but it would be nice to see them get brand new licenses rather than sticking with the old so that we all can have a wider selection of titles. Anyway, isnt it the same same story with Beez regarding prices?
 
It feels to me as if MVM don't want to do anime anymore. They only have the Tower of Druaga lined up as a new title this year (no new announcements), and they look as if they want to get it done and over with as quickly as possible, going straight to boxset. Everything else is re-release or relicence. I just hope they get some new anime licences for this year! Everything else is live action. They even have a couple of Hong Kong flicks lined up. I guess what they could get boils down to Blassreiter, Dragonaut, and Linebarrels, none of which enthuse me.

For me to dislike a distributor, they have to do something actively wrong, not just be average. For a while, when Manga were dubtitling, and stopping single releases and going to boxset half way through, I disliked them.

Right now, I dislike Beez, mostly for the Durarara debacle, and some poor quality control. The Big O Collection I got from them has glitches and subtitle errors. I only got Fantastic Children last year, a little late, but that was a nighmare set of discs, and setting a price for Durarara, then whacking up the RRPs after releasing V1 is uncool. Apparently the subtitles on a sub only release aren't special, and the big jazz about getting a jump on the US market has been undone by delays. Now V2 and V3 are scheduled just 1 day before the US hybrid releases. So when it comes to Soranowoto, I'm anticipating the Nozomi release more than the Beez release.

But generally I don't like monopolies. Manga have most of the anime eggs in their basket in the UK, while Funi are in a similar situation in the US, and I get the feeling that pure variety in anime is decreasing as a result. Certainly most of the shows that I see and like on Crunchyroll, most likely will never see a Western DVD release, and that makes me sad. I want my Natsu no Arashi and Hyakko, I want my Aoi Hana and Ristorante Paradiso. I guess that those shows are too niche for the current market. And when there was a plurality of distros, there was a chance that someone would pick up a smaller title. Not now.



I also miss ADV.

EDIT: Don't like Kaze for putting UPOPs on their discs. I want to be able to switch audio and subtitles with my remote. Not have to go back to the main menu to do it. Also, French authored discs mean no English casts for Layton or Vampire Knight. And Viz released Vampire Knight across three discs and not four, which would have been nicer for the UK. Straight to boxset would have been nicer.

But if Kaze could fiix one thing. Getting rid of the UPOPs would be it!
 
Tachi- said:
not entirely convinced that importing R1 is worth it, i'd personally prefer to get the R2, that way i can watch the dub and should i ever feel the need i can put the subs on and japanese audio and watch it the same as a R1.

plus, i'd prefer to spend my money in the uk (when it comes to anime and manga) so i do my bit towards keeping the distributers distributing.
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The reason why I import is that we don't get all the releases over here and often when they do get released over here they are either months/years behind or cost more.

Just Passing Through said:
It feels to me as if MVM don't want to do anime anymore. They only have the Tower of Druaga lined up as a new title this year (no new announcements), and they look as if they want to get it done and over with as quickly as possible, going straight to boxset. Everything else is re-release or relicence. I just hope they get some new anime licences for this year! Everything else is live action. They even have a couple of Hong Kong flicks lined up. I guess what they could get boils down to Blassreiter, Dragonaut, and Linebarrels, none of which enthuse me.

For me to dislike a distributor, they have to do something actively wrong, not just be average. For a while, when Manga were dubtitling, and stopping single releases and going to boxset half way through, I disliked them.

Right now, I dislike Beez, mostly for the Durarara debacle, and some poor quality control. The Big O Collection I got from them has glitches and subtitle errors. I only got Fantastic Children last year, a little late, but that was a nighmare set of discs, and setting a price for Durarara, then whacking up the RRPs after releasing V1 is uncool. Apparently the subtitles on a sub only release aren't special, and the big jazz about getting a jump on the US market has been undone by delays. Now V2 and V3 are scheduled just 1 day before the US hybrid releases. So when it comes to Soranowoto, I'm anticipating the Nozomi release more than the Beez release.

But generally I don't like monopolies. Manga have most of the anime eggs in their basket in the UK, while Funi are in a similar situation in the US, and I get the feeling that pure variety in anime is decreasing as a result. Certainly most of the shows that I see and like on Crunchyroll, most likely will never see a Western DVD release, and that makes me sad. I want my Natsu no Arashi and Hyakko, I want my Aoi Hana and Ristorante Paradiso. I guess that those shows are too niche for the current market. And when there was a plurality of distros, there was a chance that someone would pick up a smaller title. Not now.



I also miss ADV.
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MVM possibly giving up on anime? Maybe there is a link to all the sales down at Anime-on-Line.

Beez glitches - as someone who imports most of his anime I find that plenty of Bandai discs have glitches on them so if Beez then release them over here it's no wonder their discs are faulty too (I had problems with glitches on the R1 Fantastic Children discs for instance).

I will no doubt go for the Nozomi release of Soranowoto as well - I like Nozomi's thinpacks with artbox combos and they often come with a good book as well.

I miss ADV as well - when they had faulty discs they would replace them with no hassle unlike Bandai who would not send replacements to UK customers.
 
MVM's problems come with availablity. As far as I know, they don't work with Funimation unless they have to. And Funi's tied up with Manga anyway. Viz is tied up with Manga too, and Manga can pick and choose from the other US distros too. What Beez doesn't get from Bandai, Manga gets.

And with Funi dominating in the US, that leaves Nozomi, Media Blasters, Section 23, and the other smaller distros in the US, most of whom don't deal in dubs anymore. Either that or the unreleased back catalogue titles of Geneon and the like, most of which MVM have plundered, and it's no wonder that they aren't licencing much anymore. You'd expect them to go after Black Lagoon OVAs and Shana S2 because they released S1, but guess who has those licences in the US?

The best thing would be for Funi to ditch their exclusivity with Manga, and for MVM to distro for them again, and them maybe we could get the titles in Funi's catalogue that Manga won't touch, Air or Kanon, or Shuffle or Kenichi The Mightiest Disciple. Manga doesn't even get half of Funi's releases.
 
Rui said:
I've stopped buying a lot from Manga due to refusing to support the blu-ray regioning silliness we have in this country, but that's nothing really personal against them so much as their readiness to region lock things so diligently.
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Going by what Jerome says on Twitter, their hands are tied with regards to region locking. It sounds as they don't have a choice in the matter. Still, region locking in general can FOAD.

As for MVM, I've no idea why they haven't picked up Ikki Tousen: Dragon Destiny. Dub? Check. PAL master availability? Check. Lots and lots of boobs? Check. And seeing as how they keep reissuing the first series, I'm guessing it must have done relatively well for them. Or, being a Gonzo show, perhaps they can get Strike Witches?

Otherwise, yes, there's not much for them to license unless they want to follow Beez down the sub-only route :-(
 
Jayme said:
I thought ADV UK (or the little to nothing that's left) were still clinging onto the television right over here?
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In two minds about this,

If you where in their position you'd either sell all the licenses that you don't produce right now... or you'd start reproducing them.

maybe their holding back because they think anime fans may already have evangelion so it'll just be a loss of money for them.

Personally i think that the remains of ADV (can't remember what banner their under now but their meant to have the same expo stall where ADV would get their space) for a strange reason i have the name "stars" in my head.... i'll look back at what their called in a min.

re release azumanga daioh, elfen lied, kino's journey, ragtime coyote and paniponi dash!!! :(
 
Lace Distribution have the rights to ADV UK's titles, but they are basically acting as a holding company, making sure that the existing stock remains on the market until it sells out. The first thing they did when they got ADV UK's leftovers was to repackage everything in boxsets. And that's all they ever did.
 
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