The growth of anime in retailer stores

M

melonpan

Death Scythe
So I was in HMV today, a big one - in Milton Keynes - and to my surprise I found a quite large anime section, near the check out, and what was more to my surprise was the amount of boxsets there. I had absolutely no idea what form the boxsets released in the UK recently are taking, mainly because there seem to be no damn press releases about them, no information, nothing, which is a great shame as I genuinely thought they were presented in a top-notch fashion. Noein was a thinpak collection, with a thin-cardboard case that had a metallic finish. Gantz, Samurai 7, Love Hina and Samurai Champloo were all thinpaks, with awesome artwork, and there was a Tenchi collection with a proper artbox and full sized cases inside.

The UK products that are on the market have really come on leaps and bounds over the past year. It's really quite remarkable.

Just thought I should mention this.

I think I'm going to start bugging all the producers/distributors in this country to start sending out proper press releases out about all their boxsets and what form they will take. People really need to know this stuff, some of which I'd buy either instead of or double dip for over the R1 versions.

Advertise!
 
My HMV although smaller - has started to get far more in the past year and ones that are worth buying! Also they have been selling anime movies cheaply from time to time - Ghibli films particularly!
I know what you mean. I only found all this out by going in and accidentily seeing them there!

But my store doesn't sound like it has as good of a collection as yours!
Mostly, Ghibli films, Tenchi films like GITS and Ninja Scroll. Also boxsets and volumes like FMA, Noein and Guyver
 
Churchy99 said:
My HMV although smaller - has started to get far more in the past year and ones that are worth buying! Also they have been selling anime movies cheaply from time to time - Ghibli films particularly!
I know what you mean. I only found all this out by going in and accidentily seeing them there!

But my store doesn't sound like it has as good of a collection as yours!
Mostly, Ghibli films, Tenchi films like GITS and Ninja Scroll. Also boxsets and volumes like FMA, Noein and Guyver
Click to expand...

The HMV in middlesbrough is like that as well, though it hasn't had any noein in for a while and it also stocks the Love Hina and Fruits Basket boxsets, and occasioanlly over MVM boxsets. What's stupid though is the virgin megastore (i refuse to call it by its other stupid newer name) although a bigger shop then hmv, has one of the worst anime sections i've seen, all its stocks are individual Ghost in the Shell vols and Stuido Ghibli films at £20 a time!
 
I'm sure the pricing puts people off buying in store. £50 for Elfen Lied that looks like a regular DVD? Give me a break. No one is going to buy that.
 
Sy said:
I'm sure the pricing puts people off buying in store. £50 for Elfen Lied that looks like a regular DVD? Give me a break. No one is going to buy that.
Click to expand...

You can get Elfen Lied for £35. Its common knowledge that HMV in-store are expensive.
 
Still trying to find a store near me that has a good selection of anime dvds :p Found one with Manga but it has such a wierd stock that theres nothing i want (if that makes sense, i only just woke up ok!).
 
The HMV in guildford has a surprisingly good collection as well. It's now spanning three presentation cases - or whatever you call them. Of course... they're still not cheap enough for me. =C
 
Yeah, my local Tower Records has a seriously overwhelming amount of boxsets, including all you(melonpan) just mentioned, its really great though I do often wonder about the lack of press on them.
Even FLCL was there, mustv been an import.
 
Despite HMV’s commitment to stocking good amounts of anime, their pricing is pretty much prohibitively expensive. I guess that they are completely separate companies but it’s a shame that they can’t offset their high street prices against their on-line sales.

I take on-line shopping for granted but there are many people, especially young anime fans who don’t have easy access to the bargains offered on the web.
 
There have been adverts for them in the likes of Neo (certainly in MVM's case) with many of their boxed-sets but there really is no big deal with them; they are released just as any other release. I have never noticed any US companies sending out press-releases for boxed sets in particular or even general (singles) releases. Sending out a press release simply for doing what they do every day (or week) as a business seems a little overboard. Certainly they could do with a little more interaction so far as title solicitation is concerned but that is really more to do with their distributors and the retailers.
 
Gawyn said:
There have been adverts for them in the likes of Neo (certainly in MVM's case) with many of their boxed-sets but there really is no big deal with them; they are released just as any other release. I have never noticed any US companies sending out press-releases for boxed sets in particular or even general (singles) releases. Sending out a press release simply for doing what they do every day (or week) as a business seems a little overboard. Certainly they could do with a little more interaction so far as title solicitation is concerned but that is really more to do with their distributors and the retailers.
Click to expand...

Although that is true, when you've started with the UK market when it was pretty pants, i.e no proper boxsets or any other premium kind of item, it's a shock when you actually find them. If I'd known that they were proper thin-pak's and other such premium designed sets instead of M-locks, then I'd think more about buying things from the UK market. I used to support it, and had spent a lot of money on it, but it just wasn't changing, then of course when I start importing - it bucks up and starts releasing good quality stuff!

In a country like the UK, where anime isn't anywhere near mainstream, and fans import regularly because they know the quality is better and it's cheaper in general in R1, what kind of sense is it not to advertise when you're putting something on the market that can compete with the R1 releases (or in the case of Beez/MVM, do an item that greatly differs from the R1 so much that you'd choose it over the R1 possibly, or double dip for it).
 
I challenge you to go to a FYE or any other American equivelant to HMV and find an anime section as big as we have here.

Some American stores don't even have anime sections, in store space the UK is a bit better off. I was actually suprised to see this when I was last in America in October.
 
I might have to have a look in a HMV again, I can't remember the last time I actually went into a HMV or Virgin as I do most of my CD and DVD shopping on line. Also as I buy many R1 releases I am starting to get a reaction when I see the stupid BBFC age certificate on R2 DVDs.
 
Gemma1412 said:
The HMV in guildford has a surprisingly good collection as well. It's now spanning three presentation cases - or whatever you call them. Of course... they're still not cheap enough for me. =C
Click to expand...

:lol: I know what your saying. I cant afford this stuff, I have to stream it through the .net which can be a long tiring process just to find the anime. And me being still in school maks it near impossible to watch Anime Central (though it cracks up anyway and loses signal).

If only i had one stupidly big money off coupon....
 
Wouldnt it be great to walk into HMV with a like 100 pound off coupon, and get a mass of anime and then not have to hand over ANY cash. Man id love that :lol:
 
Spyro201 said:
Wouldnt it be great to walk into HMV with a like 100 pound off coupon, and get a mass of anime and then not have to hand over ANY cash. Man id love that :lol:
Click to expand...

I bet companies like Beez, ADV, Revalation Films and MVM woldn't :p lol i do wish the high street would charge at online prices, it would make things so much better
 
J_C_X said:
I challenge you to go to a FYE or any other American equivelant to HMV and find an anime section as big as we have here.

Some American stores don't even have anime sections, in store space the UK is a bit better off. I was actually suprised to see this when I was last in America in October.
Click to expand...

Well you most have been to a whole different America to the one I went to.

I went into multiple Suncoast shops, and found multiple WALLS full of anime. Not just small 'rack' type things found in HMV.

There was a rack dedicated to anime OSTs, a whole wall dedicated to artboxes and collections, and multiple other walls with artboxes and singles. Then there were multiple not-wall but in the middle of the shop square wall things full of manga, with multiple spinning racks.

Suncost went bust though didn't it? Suncoast and Musicland are the same thing I think. That makes sense.
 
melonpan said:
J_C_X said:
I challenge you to go to a FYE or any other American equivelant to HMV and find an anime section as big as we have here.

Some American stores don't even have anime sections, in store space the UK is a bit better off. I was actually suprised to see this when I was last in America in October.
Click to expand...

Well you most have been to a whole different America to the one I went to.

I went into multiple Suncoast shops, and found multiple WALLS full of anime. Not just small 'rack' type things found in HMV.

There was a rack dedicated to anime OSTs, a whole wall dedicated to artboxes and collections, and multiple other walls with artboxes and singles. Then there were multiple not-wall but in the middle of the shop square wall things full of manga, with multiple spinning racks.

Suncost went bust though didn't it? Suncoast and Musicland are the same thing I think. That makes sense.
Click to expand...

I actually think anime was more widely available in Canada than America. I think Andrew from Beez said that the Italian and French markets are bigger than the American market (meaning more mainstream).

Anime in American TV suffers from piss poor ratings considering that there are 116 million cable subscribers in America and anime only rates 250,000 average at best (a fact constantly mocked by adult swim), break it down and work that out and I think it will be more or less the equivilant that Animecentral rates in the UK.

Forbidden Planet in Glasgow has a wall of Manga, the HMV has a wide selection of anime and I was outside New York. I have family in NJ :lol:

Anime is still a niche market in the US, nowhere near as mainstream as Europe and I think the UK is quickly gaining on the US market as well.

Video game/ Anime OST can be found in Geforce!

I suppose another example would be anime on American network tv, not in the history of American terrestrial tv has there been anime movie (Ghibli, GiTS, AKIRA, nada lol), a Ghibli season in America is a rare luxury on cable. Now you can compare this to British TV ITV, BBC and Channel 4 have all aired anime movies. Spirited Away aired on CBC (Canada) end of 2007 the first time in NORTH America an anime movie was on a major broadcaster.
 
Back
Top