Basically, we subjected ourselves to greater risk, so our rewards should be greater. I don't object to a cheaper mass market release later down the line, but getting it notably earlier is a fair exchange for the greater cost and risk of backing.
There were a few similar comments so I'm just picking out one. I'm still not seeing how other people not having access to the release is a benefit to backers. Whether someone else has the release or not doesn't really have anything to do with you, it doesn't affect your copy and you're still getting what you paid for. Other backers will get the same release, so why does it matter that people who happen to have not been backers (for whatever reason) can pick up the release as well?
Even if it did matter what other people are getting, you could argue that the backers paid for the release to happen and it being available to others is a positive outcome of their efforts. They can feel good about helping to make a release that others can enjoy. One of the rewards is even credit for their contribution, which is more meaningful if more people can view it and appreciate the release.
Though it may not affect many/any backers, the delay could potentially be an issue for backers that were hoping to pick up additional copies (maybe for family/friends).
The pricing issue is a slightly more complex one, but backers do get benefits that non-backers don't (including credit and other backer rewards) so it's not a clear cut case that a cheaper or similarly priced release would be a negative for backers. There's also the fact that a good chunk of the money paid by backers goes to Kickstarter in fees, that's something that wouldn't have to be paid for a conventional release and having that saving passed on to customers is perfectly reasonable. At the end of the day though, making people wait doesn't actually change what backers paid so they're still not really benefitting.
As far as I can tell, backers would only be complaining because of a perceived loss and that perception doesn't seem to have any rational or reasonable basis. They feel like it's a loss, so they treat it as such, but there's not much to support that view. Meanwhile, the delay for non-backers is a measureable negative and even has aspects that are potentially negative for backers.
It's perfectly reasonable to ensure that fulfilment for backers is taken care of first, but placing an unnecessary limitation on the wider release seems to be unjustifiable. It'd be different if there were practical reasons for the delay, but that doesn't seem to be the case.
Besides, the six month period was promised to backers months ago, so Anime Limited have to stick to their word now. Can you imagine the fallout if they suddenly went against it?
Some people are going to be upset either way, they can't entirely "win". I think I'd prefer that they did the right thing and went with the option that actually benefits people rather than keeping to their word just because some people would be unreasonably upset. Personally, I'd rather be faced with unreasonable complaints that I can happily ignore than reasonable complaints about an issue I could have solved.
Honesty is important but they could honestly explain that they're going with the fairest option by not needlessly delaying the release. I don't think it'd really cause a major blow to confidence in Anime Limited. It's not like the release has gone entirely to plan anyway, circumstances change and things that were said in the past may no longer be relevant.
Hey, if we can wait two years for the product to be delivered (the initial delivery date was November 2014), you can wait six months for a general release. Like, have some patience. It's not like there isn't anything else airing right now.
I might have covered this but I'd like to clarify the point anyway. The issue isn't really the waiting, it's that there's no good reason for it. If there were practical concerns or other reasonable issues causing the delay then it'd be unfortunate but understandable. The actual reason for the delay is because people might complain if there isn't one. That's a terrible reason and it doesn't seem to go any deeper than that (especially since the complaints in question would be unjustified).
