The News Thread (for news that does not need a thread)

Joshawott said:
ConanThe3rd said:
devilrules666 said:
Shame that show is in singles. I would buy it if it was in 2 sets or a complete boxset :(
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Being fair, it's only one extra set.

It's a far swipe from what Japan would love to put under in their desperate attempt to hide anime from people.
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In Japan, wasn't Madoka Magica released over 6 volumes? Anyways, I'm perfectly fine with buying singles for 12/13/14 episode shows. It's only 25+ episodes where I prefer half-season sets.
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My Point exactly. Singles these days need to be seasons (or if you must draw blood for Madoka, 2 volumes, 3 tops). Japan's just to damn stubborn to make that work for them because lord help them if they prove Lord Business-School wrong.
 
I don't get all the hate for Japan's release patterns. There, popular series actually sell, and Aniplex USA's new releases tend to sell like hotcakes even in a hostile market like America's. They don't need lessons on business management; profit is clearly being made.

Here we get given anime for practically nothing and still some stuff won't shift close to enough copies to make the effort of licensing it worthwhile.

R
 
lol, Japan "too damn stubborn" to make selling anime work as "well" for them as it does for US and UK companies lolololol

Ask Andrew if he would like to be able to shift 20k units of Tiger and Bunny @ £40 a pop. Then ask him if he would like to do that nine times in the course of selling the series.

Is the total revenue to date of the entire UK anime industry up to that much?
 
Just Passing Through said:
Madman Ent set the release date for Puella Magi Madoka Magica V1 as 18th April, BD and DVD, LE and Standard...
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Nice. I may get the LE Blu-ray. It's more attractive to me than the Aniplex LE, which comes with a load of tat I don't want and no sturdy art box. My only worry is how DevotedDVD will package it; I don't fancy the box's chances of survival travelling 9,000 miles in padded envelope.

EDIT:

The plot thickens regarding Mardock Scramble. HMV now have two listings for both DVD and Blu-ray versions, the only thing differentiating them being the BBFC ratings and the catalogue numbers: the 15-rated versions have Manga UK catalogue numbers while the 18-rated versions have Kaze catalogue numbers.

HOW CURIOUS.
 
I'm happy with the USA version of Madoka and consider the soundtrack mandatory, but it's fantastic (and rare!) that we get more than one acceptable choice for LEs. That's what the fragmented English marketplace should be giving us, not just rehashing the same release at different price points and delay windows.

Speaking of choice though, it would seem very odd indeed to put the 15-rated version of Mardock Scramble out at all when the 18-rated version is available. Especially as they'll need separate expensive blu-ray runs. Hopefully the 18-rated version is the one the UK will eventually be getting, or the 15-rated one is intended for some kind of special edition like Eva 1.0 (or a mistake).

R
 
Rui said:
I don't get all the hate for Japan's release patterns. There, popular series actually sell, and Aniplex USA's new releases tend to sell like hotcakes even in a hostile market like America's. They don't need lessons on business management; profit is clearly being made.

Here we get given anime for practically nothing and still some stuff won't shift close to enough copies to make the effort of licensing it worthwhile.

R
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It is pricing many anime fans out ouf their releases though. I have been thinking of get Madoka. If I ending up getting it I would want the limited edition bd version. Thats over £200 for 12 episodes of a show I have never seen.

Then there is the new Fate/Zero series. At around £700 for a 26 episode series is way beyond what I would considered worth paying even if I did enjoy Fate/Stay Night.

The only Aniplex USA releases I currently own are the Baccano bd set and the Oreimo dvd limited edition set.
 
The only Aniplex USA releases I don't own are the ones which already had releases I didn't want to upgrade (e.g. Kenshin, ROD). I was going to wait for a cheap collection for Madoka since people have spoiled most of the surprises in it already, and because I'm still lukewarm on the cute designs, but suddenly slapping the words LE onto something and bundling an exclusive soundtrack into the package makes the offer much more compelling. Madoka has a very friendly release compared to the hefty 'import' sets in that at least the blu-ray is also available outside of the LE for people who don't care about the audio CD and packaging. It would be fascinating to know what the sales figures are like for each version of Madoka, and I'm sure Aniplex will use what they learn when planning future release patterns.

I think it's important that the businesses consider what's in it for them at the start, the way the fans do. Being too charitable towards the fans just leads the same fans to disappointment later on. I know it's pricing a lot of people out, but as a consumer I'd rather some customers were priced out than everyone suffers by the companies becoming unprofitable and cutting series off partway (e.g. Viz, Manga UK...). Ideally, everything would be accessible and low priced, but until the market can show some decent buying power I think the Aniplex USA solution is an acceptable compromise. I probably wouldn't have leapt on Fate/Zero if I hadn't seen the streaming version, though. Fate/Stay Night wasn't exactly a hot favourite of mine. Since I already know now that Fate/Zero is magnificent, paying what it costs isn't a problem. The included CDs are definitely worth a significant part of the entry fee as well.

My Blue Exorcist v2 arrived the other day, and it felt just like a classic US Geneon single release - loaded with on-disc Japanese extras with a reversible cover, clear plastic case (not a cheap one!), a slipcase and a double-sided poster inside. I like feeling proud of the nice things I buy and believing that they are high quality.

It seems that with the streaming age well upon us, a model more similar to Japan's is the next step, where everything is available online and we only buy the series we really love in special edition form; unlike the model we've become used to where everything is so cheap that constantly making blind buys is feasible. Now, if only they could deal with the ridiculous regioning issues around streaming to make that plan worthwhile...

The move to this model sucks for people who liked the old way of doing things, but it's my personal view that the only people who are to blame for it are our fellow anime viewers who refuse to spend anything at all on the anime they claim to love.

R
 
Don't get me wrong. I like nice shiny limited editions. But £700 is way too much for something. Even if I had streamed it and enjoyed it I would not buy it at that price.

As for the regular edition bd for Modoka - £38 plus p&p from UP1 for 4 episodes isn't a good deal either (the limited edition bd is £70 plus p&p).
 
mangaman74 said:
It is pricing many anime fans out ouf their releases though. I have been thinking of get Madoka. If I ending up getting it I would want the limited edition bd version. Thats over £200 for 12 episodes of a show I have never seen.
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Why would it have to be the Limited Edition? I would concur with the "pricing out anime fans" comment if not for Aniplex making cheaper versions available. Getting the Madman Blu-rays, with the art box, should "only" cost around £90.
 
ConanThe3rd said:
Being fair, it's only one extra set.
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I think that's the first time I've ever seen you say anything sensible and with a complete lack of vehemence.

It's a far swipe from what Japan would love to put under in their desperate attempt to hide anime from people.
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...but you had to go and ruin it.

fabricatedlunatic said:
The plot thickens regarding Mardock Scramble. HMV now have two listings for both DVD and Blu-ray versions, the only thing differentiating them being the BBFC ratings and the catalogue numbers: the 15-rated versions have Manga UK catalogue numbers while the 18-rated versions have Kaze catalogue numbers.

HOW CURIOUS.
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Manga said something about having to issue a new SKU for it and delete the old one, which is why Amazon listed it as unavailable.
 
As long as a release makes me feel like it's worth the price, then I'm fine with the expense (granted it's not stupid like the first JP Tiger & Bunny blu-ray, which only had the first episode 1 9.9).

In regards to Madoka Magica, the Volume 1 Blu-ray standard edition is $39.98, which is roughly £25.32 (RightStuf price. RRP is $49.98 - £31.66). If we take a look at some of the UK pricing for Blu-rays, we'll know that it is a very good price. The only reason that becomes expensive for us is that we have to pay $10 (£6.33) international postage and risk customs - but that's not Aniplex USA's responsibility; that's ours as importers.

Looking at the Limited Edition, it's online price $74.98 (£47.50). Yes, that is a price difference of $35 - almost double. However, Limited Editions are aimed at the existing fans and collectors who would want the first soundtrack CD, the small booklet, the poster, the postcards and the stickers. Also, the LE contains the DVD as well as the Blu-ray. If you bought the regulars of both of those together, it would cost $69.96 (£44.34).

So if you're a casual fan, you only have to pay $29.98 (£19) for the volume 1 DVD or £39.98 (£25.32) for the Blu-ray of volume 1. The only difference with us is, as importers, we have to pay international postage and risk customs catching us. For the Americans, that's actually a pretty sweet deal in my opinion.

In terms of the packaging, I do think that Italy has the best deal in regards to the Madoka limited edition (Especially in price: €38.18 or £31.98. Shame about the lack of an English language track eh?).

I know a fair few people have been complaining about the lack of a Chipboard box in Aniplex's Madoka release, so hopefully it is something they consider in the future. I'm not fussed myself, but I do adore the Haruhi box I got with Beez's volume 1 LE.
 
Rui said:
It seems that with the streaming age well upon us, a model more similar to Japan's is the next step, where everything is available online and we only buy the series we really love in special edition form; unlike the model we've become used to where everything is so cheap that constantly making blind buys is feasible. Now, if only they could deal with the ridiculous regioning issues around streaming to make that plan worthwhile...

The move to this model sucks for people who liked the old way of doing things, but it's my personal view that the only people who are to blame for it are our fellow anime viewers who refuse to spend anything at all on the anime they claim to love.
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You're not wrong, but I think the most unfortunate side effect of all this is that it will likely turn a lot of people who were buying anime legally for cheap-to-reasonable prices into more people who instead rip it off and spend nothing. There's pricing some people out of the market, and then there's over pricing to the extent that even those who can afford it won't buy it. Whether the fewer people paying higher prices will make up the shortfall (in markets outside of Japan) remains to be seen.
 
mangaman74 said:
Don't get me wrong. I like nice shiny limited editions. But £700 is way too much for something.
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The over-riding point is that thousands of people disagree with you, so there is no incentive for them to sell at whatever price you would consider acceptable when we already know that not that many people buy anime even when it is priced down at £18/cour.
 
Joshawott said:
The U.S. releases of the X-Men and Iron Man anime will be DVD-only and will only feature English audio.

Source.
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Not really surprised, Gotham Knight was the same, bit of a shame since the x-men sub was good, but now that Steve Blum is back as Wolverine I have no problem with english only. Sad for people who did want it subbed though.

Oh, I just checked the source and it's been updated saying it has japanese audio too. So there's that. But still I'm glad I saw this since it gives me hope of a uk release soonish. (I hope)

Interesting that only Iron Man and X-men have been announced thus far... I wonder if it's because they're considered the better two (though personally I thought Iron Man was worse than Wolverine and I heard Blade was the best of the lot)
 
I heard the X-Men one was decent, and since I even managed to sit through the dodgiest episodes of Wolverine and the X-Men I'll be picking it up if the alleged Japanese track is actually present.

R
 
Wow, wtf. Don't expect something like that from NISA. There wasn't much new content in there, but there were some very small bits of bespoke animation and voice over. Quite disappointed.
 
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