New Anime Releases 20/10/2014

[Mangaranga]

The glue simply isn't up to the task, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't slanted when I first got it on Friday. Not impressed at all with the disc assembly, there are much better options that could have been used that are of a more premium quality.

That plastic holder in question can be easily removed/maneuvered, so I've fixed mine, but don't think it will hold

Funny that you say that, because I'm pretty sure mine wasn't at the bottom when I first opened the set this morning. The entire bottom left corner, as well as the two sides are completely unstuck but I don't really want to mess with it.

Disc defects?

See the defective discs thread.

I guess the packaging might have damaged the set (if it was sent from Zavvi I'm not surprised, apparently they aren't good in terms of deliveries).

But seriously though, that just feels cheap (unless it was a one-off). I hope Anime Limited will try and improve on this situation (maybe 18x21 might be a bad idea after all...).

Mine was actually delivered by amazon, granted the packaging didn't actually cover the whole set. Part of one of the corners was exposed before I opened the package.

 

[elaniel]

It looks a tad strange the disc holder not being the same size as the case. Slightly worried that the glue may not last a long period of time if others are coming loose. I really do appreciate the extra TLC that went into this release, I think it's all about fine tuning what works best with the Ultimate Editions going forward.

I love digipak's, so hopefully this is an isolated incident.

 

[NormanicGrav]

Mine was actually delivered by amazon, granted the packaging didn't actually cover the whole set. Part of one of the corners was exposed before I opened the package.

Well that's just great, my copy is also getting delivered from Amazon. Guess I'll be cautious when I see it.

 

[Lutga]

The disc holders are my single biggest problem with this set - while I appreciate the value of a large artbox from a collectable point of view, it's not exactly practical - and nearly convinced me to get the standard edition instead.

Either the plastic bits come off, or the card around them bends - that's the thing I always worry, about - fragility.

That said, I'm excited to get the set and it does look lovely - but sometimes I have to admit the durability and compactness of a regular bog standard case is pretty desirable in instances like this. But maybe that's just me.

 

[st_owly (witch)]

I'll get Princess and the Pilot and Devil Survivor eventually. I've never seen Gurren Laggan so I can't justify the ultimate edition. I don't think it's really my kind of thing though.

 

[fabio de lunatico]

Not buying it yet, but will be interested to see how the Princess and the Pilot does as it feels like a bit of a test case for Manga. I hope it doesn't do too badly, as it might put them off doing future sub-only/film releases.

I hope I'm wrong but I have a feeling it's going to do terribly and we'll be seeing Jerome lament its performance on Twitter at some point in the not-too-distant future. As well as being sub-only it's not a popular or highly regarded film (I thought it was decent/good but no more) and lacks an obvious "hook".

 

[Lutga]

Not buying it yet, but will be interested to see how the Princess and the Pilot does as it feels like a bit of a test case for Manga. I hope it doesn't do too badly, as it might put them off doing future sub-only/film releases.

I hope I'm wrong but I have a feeling it's going to do terribly and we'll be seeing Jerome lament its performance on Twitter at some point in the not-too-distant future. As well as being sub-only it's not a popular or highly regarded film (I thought it was decent/good but no more) and lacks an obvious "hook".

You don't even want to know how badly some titles have done this year *cough* Robotics Notes *cough* it's actually depressing.

 

[fabio de lunatico]

I don't doubt it. I feared for Robobtics;Notes for much the same reasons I fear for Princess and The Pilot: not popular and no hook. I couldn't even get a sense of what the hell it was about after watching a few episodes, so what chance does your average blind buyer have as they gaze upon its plain white + schoolgirl cover art.

It wouldn't surprise me if From the New World tanked as well.

 

[Rui]

From The New World is bound to have been underappreciated. A lot of people dropped it like a hot potato during its streaming run in spite of it being one of the most interesting shows of its type in ages.

Princess and the Pilot at least has the advantage of being a standalone film so it might do a bit better, but I've seen absolutely zero promotion for it and already have the special edition from the US, so I'm not sure how much support it's going to get...

R

 

[VoxPhantom]

Sad to hear that Robotics;Notes has sold poorly, but given MangaUK's cut and paste attitude to promoting releases it's hardly surprising. The show is enjoyable though not a patch on Steins;Gate.

 

[Lutga]

I don't doubt it. I feared for Robobtics;Notes for much the same reasons I fear for Princess and The Pilot: not popular and no hook. I couldn't even get a sense of what the hell it was about after watching a few episodes, so what chance does your average blind buyer have as they gaze upon its plain white + schoolgirl cover art.

It wouldn't surprise me if From the New World tanked as well.

From The New World has actually done ok-ish (albeit by MVM's usual standards)

The success of Monogatari has proved that sub-only releases can work if the title is 'hot' enough - which makes me wonder if it could have been even bigger in Manga's hands. But yeah, a single film/unfamiliar IP is a very different kettle of fish - weren't there some absolute bombs the year before like Luops:Garrous and King of Thorn?

 

[GolGotha]

I can't imagine they did well. I saw Loups=Garous at an Anime All-Nighter in London and it was the most boring thing I have ever watched.

It was the second or third movie of the night and it caused nearly everyone in the audience to actually fall asleep, thankfully Berserk:Movie 1 was shown afterwards so that woke them up a bit.

 

[Rui]

I liked Loups=Garous ;_;

The marketing for Robotics;Notes has been rather weak. I'm not buying it because nothing has really convinced me I need to (while I've never seen R;N, I hated Chaos;Head and found Steins;Gate to be decent but average). Sarah reviewed the second half for the site so that's the only piece of marketing which reached my ears since the series was first licensed for the UK. It's like they're hoping the Steins;Gate crowd will rush out and buy it so there's no need to do anything more to get people interested.

It comes back to the same issue where Manga UK is marketing entirely to existing Manga UK fans via Manga UK channels such as Twitter and Facebook. I don't follow them anywhere because Jerome's attitude annoys the hell out of me, so all I see from them are the reports of dramas and defects which make it to forums. It doesn't really make me want to buy their releases.

R

 

[Peachy]

Not buying it yet, but will be interested to see how the Princess and the Pilot does as it feels like a bit of a test case for Manga. I hope it doesn't do too badly, as it might put them off doing future sub-only/film releases.

I hope I'm wrong but I have a feeling it's going to do terribly and we'll be seeing Jerome lament its performance on Twitter at some point in the not-too-distant future. As well as being sub-only it's not a popular or highly regarded film (I thought it was decent/good but no more) and lacks an obvious "hook".

You don't even want to know how badly some titles have done this year *cough* Robotics Notes *cough* it's actually depressing.

Oh, I'm intrigued, do tell us more.

I'm a pain but ..have any of their titles bar the "big ones" (AOT, One Piece, SAO etc) done well, like Jormungand? or Horizon In The Middle Of Nowhere? etc..Heard DXD did well?

I feel like some titles might've suffered due to the AOT & SAO releases, they're two of the most popular shows so more casual fans would of bought those rather than titles that are a bit more niche. Back in the days of my early Anime viewing I would of bought those two in a flash due to their popularity over the likes of Robotic Notes or Rouge Hero.

 

[anime_andrew]

The glue simply isn't up to the task, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't slanted when I first got it on Friday. Not impressed at all with the disc assembly, there are much better options that could have been used that are of a more premium quality.

We actually flagged this early in the process on this one as something we did not want to happen and I specified that even if we had to move to Digifiles or alternatives I did not want to jeopardise the build quality at all. I've escalated it with Sony as this is precisely what I demanded they avoid before proceeding and all our samples that came in were AOK so I'm hoping it's a limited number we can remedy. To say I am unimpressed is an understatement.

That plastic holder in question can be easily removed/maneuvered, so I've fixed mine, but don't think it will hold

Funny that you say that, because I'm pretty sure mine wasn't at the bottom when I first opened the set this morning. The entire bottom left corner, as well as the two sides are completely unstuck but I don't really want to mess with it.

Interestingly the cases impacted all are on that tray and is wholly unacceptable so I'm looking into this now.

EDIT: Interestingly I finally found one after hunting (I had some stock for the store in today) and have stress tested, after reattaching (again the third panel) and hitting it up and down a lot - it seems to be solid. I'll leave it a day or so and try again but either way, shouldn't be like that to start and sounds like (as no other tray had it) that it's a factory issue.

Disc defects?

See the defective discs thread./quote]

Also covered this one in that thread so read away .

I guess the packaging might have damaged the set (if it was sent from Zavvi I'm not surprised, apparently they aren't good in terms of deliveries).

But seriously though, that just feels cheap (unless it was a one-off). I hope Anime Limited will try and improve on this situation (maybe 18x21 might be a bad idea after all...).

Mine was actually delivered by amazon, granted the packaging didn't actually cover the whole set. Part of one of the corners was exposed before I opened the package.

I don't think 18.1 x 21CM are necessarily bad - I think the issue is more that someone didn't listen to my one simple condition for proceeding with those trays vs other options so I'm pursuing it now as this doesn't swing for me.

Leave this with me anyway, I'm on it folks for anyone impacted and it's definitely not everyone...

AP

 

[Lutga]

Oh, I'm intrigued, do tell us more.

I'm a pain but ..have any of their titles bar the "big ones" (AOT, One Piece, SAO etc) done well, like Jormungand? or Horizon In The Middle Of Nowhere? etc..Heard DXD did well?

I feel like some titles might've suffered due to the AOT & SAO releases, they're two of the most popular shows so more casual fans would of bought those rather than titles that are a bit more niche. Back in the days of my early Anime viewing I would of bought those two in a flash due to their popularity over the likes of Robotic Notes or Rouge Hero.

High School DxD is doing incredibly well - I believe before AoT came out it was the biggest selling new title of the year by quite some margin. The Blood C movie is doing surprisingly well too - but I think the cheaper price point on that probably helped. The Steins Gate complete box set is doing pretty well too. Aside from that, it's mainly just all the usual Shonen shows. Aesthetica of a Rogue, Psycho Pass and Guilty Crown did OK.

Jormungand has done pretty badly imo, and Horizon, well... less said about that the better. But that's understandable as I imagine most fans bought the individual parts last year.

 

[elaniel]

Leave this with me anyway, I'm on it folks for anyone impacted and it's definitely not everyone...

AP

I thought I just saw a few heads roll past me! Much appreciated you being on the case.

May I note as well that I believe digifiles are pure evil.

 

[Peachy]

Oh, I'm intrigued, do tell us more.

I'm a pain but ..have any of their titles bar the "big ones" (AOT, One Piece, SAO etc) done well, like Jormungand? or Horizon In The Middle Of Nowhere? etc..Heard DXD did well?

I feel like some titles might've suffered due to the AOT & SAO releases, they're two of the most popular shows so more casual fans would of bought those rather than titles that are a bit more niche. Back in the days of my early Anime viewing I would of bought those two in a flash due to their popularity over the likes of Robotic Notes or Rouge Hero.

High School DxD is doing incredibly well - I believe before AoT came out it was the biggest selling new title of the year by quite some margin. The Blood C movie is doing surprisingly well too - but I think the cheaper price point on that probably helped. The Steins Gate complete box set is doing pretty well too. Aside from that, it's mainly just all the usual Shonen shows. Aesthetica of a Rogue, Psycho Pass and Guilty Crown did OK.

Jormungand has done pretty badly imo, and Horizon, well... less said about that the better. But that's understandable as I imagine most fans bought the individual parts last year.

Thank you!

 

[Rui]

Man, I want my copy of GL UE to hurry up and arrive so I can see whether mine sits at a jaunty angle too! I'm sure it's nothing a little glue and pressure won't fix but it's good to know that Andrew is getting mad at the production house on our behalf.

R

 

[Lutga]

Mine has been out for delivery all day but still hasn't turned up yet - If it doesn't come in the next 30 mins will have to wait til tomorrow as it's getting sent to work.

Strange as Amazon are often pretty prompt once they say they're going to deliver that day!