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

► ANIME LIMITED: September through December
Kudos to Andrew for delivering the Q4 schedule rapidly. ^_^ Let's go over everything.
I have watched NONE of the Q4 titles before and my plans are to watch them all dubbed in each case, this is a note beforehand for everybody.

► TENGEN TOPPA GURREN LAGANN
Well, Andrew never answered my mail (and previous 2 attempts to get an answer on it all) but at least the SRP on the regular edition got dumped £20. ^_^
I would've preferred him to decide to give the "regular" edition a rigid case as well though... Luck and out of luck at the same time. X_x
It doesn't look good for me ordering TTGL anytime soon, for various reasons. (I don't have a need for the sub-only recap movies, which makes the Ultimate Edition less affordable).

Andrew, if you are around... Next to wondering if I'll get an answer on my mail, I wonder if there's a chance you'll look into slipcovers/O-cards for regular editions?
Anime Limited's spine is vibrant and flashy, which I believe comes across way better on the rigid packaging and on slipcovers...
The slipcover doesn't have to be any different than the regular cover, but yeah. It would at least heal some wounds a bit!

► BLOOD LAD
I cannot promise it'll be a pre-order, but I definitely would love to buy the Blood Lad collector's edition (Blu-ray). The price point is tad high I feel...
As it sounds similar to Cowboy Bebop P1/P2 I'd think the SRP would be a bit lower... I mean: 2 episodes less and the booklet is 55 pages longer... I can't help but feel the SRP should be a bit lower than £49.99.
But I'll look into affording Blood Lab CE despite my feelings towards the price.

► HAL
HALlo HAL. I REALLY want to watch it, but I must be real on this one.. The movie is 50 minutes long. The suggested retail price is too high, in my opinion.
Rumour has it this movie is really really really good, but that price. And even if Anime Ltd adds all 21 minutes of extras from FUNi's release it doesn't feel justified.
If the pre-order price is about £22 (if I'm lucky to have access to that pre-order price), then I'm paying about £1 per 2,25 minutes.

As a silly comparison, Broken Blade, which are considered 6 "movies" of the same length as HAL, has the same SRP as HAL which is considered "1 movie".
Broken Blade: 6 movies, no rigid packaging, disc count logo. 2 BD-discs: SRP of £34.99
HAL::::::::::: 1 movie, rigid packaging, no disc count logo. 1BD + 1DVD: SRP of £34.99

It just doesn't add up correctly to me, and I feel that the SRP should be more like £24.99 for HAL.
I'm either way putting it on the list of titles I'd love to buy/own/watch from the UK, but I'll have a good ponder over it.

► PATEMA INVERTED
I BACKED THE KICKSTARTER, WHOOO!!!! PARTY!! ULTIMATE EDITION!!!
I'd have loved them to add Dutch subtitles to the release so I could watch it with my friends, but yeah. I'm excited to own an Anime Ltd UE.
I still have my fingers crossed for the OST.

► THE WINGS OF HONNEAMISE
Two hour movie, classic I have never seen before. I have it on the list, you get over double for this than HAL for the same price point.
It's a bit controversial for myself as well, I'm more excited about watching HAL, but I get (way) more value for my money with Wings of Honneamise.
I don't think it'll make it become a pre-order, but never say never. OH LORD, I SAID IT! WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE. AARRGHHHH

► SPACE DANDY
Can't afford. Simple as that. It's on my list, but with an SRP of £"DirtyJob".99 I can't see any way to afford this, even 50% off would be steep for me.
Just like with Kids on the Slope I'm not entirely convinced I'll like this anime, but for a different main reason this time. (and similar to Redline: artwork)
I don't have Redline on the list, and Space Dandy has been on and off the list a few times. But as I can't afford it I might as well pull it off again. (Doubts...)

► GIOVANNI's ISLAND ("Mystery Film")
I said it before, the trailer will prove very important with this one. But looking at my estimates I don't think I can afford this movie even if I decide to put it on my list.
The thing is, I have a backlog of titles to acquire and other Anime Ltd titles I find more important or likely to pick up.
And since I reckon MVM having at least 2 interesting BD titles in Q4 I don't think this will see the daylight being my collection anytime soon.
But, if Kat makes an amazing trailer, it'll maybe climb the ladder on different levels/categories.

► KILL LA KILL
*sigh* Yeah, for people who once bought anime on VHS or when it still were 3+ parts per cour for every anime this is cheap.. But for me this is bloody expensive.

► "I’ll have a post about the remaining stragglers in our line-up shortly – as there very likely will be additions to this line-up."
◄ Full Metal Panic: I kind of hope it becomes a KickStarter with an Ultimate Complete, Collector's Complete and Regular Seasonal Edition.
I really don't find it funny at all that releases like Kill La Kill and Gurren Lagann don't fit what I want (something like DRRR), and it makes them extremely hard decisions on what I should do with them.

◄ Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya: I want Justin Sevakis to author this just so he can smack it in Sentai's face for fun.
Hope for the DRRR treatment. Collector's edition with rigid box to fit season 2 in, perhaps a few postcards and nothing else with an SRP of approx. £34.99~39.99.
Either way it's an "in your face, Sentai"-title, that's inevitable.

► SENTAI FILMWORKS: November 2014
My big problem with the November schedule is that there's only 1 new dubbed title and I felt especially about NouCome and Amagami SS that they deserved a dub.

► Dubbed:
◄ High School of the Dead: That's way too expensive. It makes Anime Ltd's TTGL and KLK look cheap.
◄ Jewel Bem Hunter Lime: I'm somewhat interested in watching it, but I don't think MVM will pick it up. Hoped so with Yumeria and it didn't happen (yet) either.
◄ Log Horizon part 1: I'm interested. But unless Manga/MVM (whoever gets it) will give it an artbox I'll wait for the complete collection

► Subbed:
◄ Hidamari Sketch (S3): I want to watch this eventually (yes, subbed!). Hopefully it won't go OOP before I get a job.
◄ Natsuyuki Rendezvous: Maybe someday I'll watch it.
◄ My Mental Choices are Completely Interfering with My School Romantic Comedy: *sigh* I really hoped this would get dubbed. Indefinitely delayed watch-through?!
◄ Stella Women's Academy: Maybe someday I'll watch it.
◄ Tari Tari: I had my fingers crossed they'd dub it, but as said before.. If it weren't I'd watch it anyway. Maybe this week even.
◄ I Couldn't Become a Hero, So I Reluctantly Decided to Get a Job: I'd have liked a dub with this as well. Currently I'm undecided about a watch-through.
◄ Amagami SS: I can't help but feel this deserved a dub as well... =/ I will watch this eventually though!
 
Lutga said:
I think a lot of why I buy AL's stuff comes down to wanting to support them as a company too - they deserve to succeed and I like what they do.

Thinking about the mystery film - did they ever say they were going to release Magical Sisters Yoyo and Nene from last years Scotland Loves Anime?
Click to expand...

This one warmed my darkened little heart today - been a very long two months so nice to see kind words. That goes for pretty much everyone on AUKN for that matter actually :). You guys actually make doing this worthwhile.

Re Yoyo & Nene - would like to but it's a tough one audience-wise. Will likely come back to this one in 2015 though along with another SLA 2013 one...
 
GolGotha said:
I'm not a netflix user, but jeez that's fantastic news!

I do hope they are able to put all of their licences on there, especially things like Nerima Daikon Brothers & Blood Lad which never got a previous release/legal streaming :)
Click to expand...

Ironically I can't actually talk about things of that kind of variety - but what I would say is I do believe having catalog up there is extremely valuable as it allows a legal way to sample a show before you decide if you want a product. For us, where we focus on Critereon-grade works mostly - this is even more important :).
 
Dannielle said:
Email from Amazon regarding 009: Cyborg:

"We have good news! One of your pre-ordered items is now eligible for release date delivery and has been upgraded at no additional charge. Your new delivery estimate is:

"009 Re:Cyborg Collector's Edition [Blu-ray]"
Estimated arrival date: December 22 2014"
Click to expand...

Hopefully won't be far off - just took receipt of the dub master...

AP
 
NormanicGrav said:
Interesting to see Blood Lad get the exact same treatment as the US (booklet etc.), now it's up to the design of the packaging to make me choose whether I would want to go for it (because the Viz release is tempting). At least it's a month behind so there's time to choose.
Click to expand...

Our booklet should be actually pretty different too so watch this space...art wise, sending the brief to our designers today so that should be a fun one to do :).

Andrew
 
Elaniel said:
I shall be picking up every show/film on Blu-Ray. I fully support their releases (and they seem to pick up my favourites). Hoping for FMP in Q1 2015 too.

Getting the overtime in for the end of the year! I was hoping Space Dandy would have dropped it's RRP a little bit to be more in line with Blood Lad and other shows, but I'll still be buying it.
Click to expand...

Late Q1 for FMP is not unrealistic - my thoughts for that if folks are interested is:

ULTIMATE EDITION: Depending on what assets I can clear from Japan. But ideally would want to deliver something on scale of Gurren Lagann. You'd be looking at something like:

- Nicely designed packaging (I'm a huge fan of the franchise since ADV started releasing it).
- At least the same length of booklet as the Japanese release (50 I believe)
- All three seasons plus extras to match whatever the licensor doesn't block (I think there's no restricted ones in this case)
- Likely a total of 10 BD discs for this one so not super cheap.

Likely everything in - if we can get the assets digitally (pre-encoded, not on tape) I'd say you'd be looking at circa £129.99 via conventional retail depending on what goes in with etc. Depends on cost savings we can make on the actual material process etc and access fees.

Alternatively we may go the route of Cowboy Bebop but with a big case at the start of the collection if we /know/ we can't offer anything to make it really "Ultimate" vs the cost for the whole universe in a set.

Regular BD sets for Season 1 and TSR: Unsure if Fumoffu would make back the cost of a separate release, but open to hear fans tell me I'm wrong on that front! Usual prices there for a standard set.

DVD: TBC - Need to see what the demand is when we start, anyone here feel strongly on the DVD frontier still?

AP
NB Thoughts != actual product announcement so am cleverly seeing what folks feel. Expanded though.
 
An ultimate edition for fmp is definitely what I'm hoping for. A great looking box packed with great content artwork and whatever else you can arrange (art book etc). Put it in the same price range as the ttgl set and I'd pre order straight away like I did with the former.

Fumoffu was my first taste of fmp and I adore it (moreso than the first series - blasphemy I know) but I know that many don't enjoy it. Making it an exclusive to the UE could be one way of making it "special" and a must buy for collectors especially if you don't believe the market is there for a stand alone release.

I wonder what the demand would be for a barebones set of fmp/Fumoffu/2nd raid would be versus singles of the 1st and third.
 
NormanicGrav said:
Hold on a minute, looks like Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya is going to be a while longer than the US release date (September). In a way that could've fit into October/November's release schedule.
Click to expand...

It's not impossible it could be slotted in but materials are a bit complex there frustratingly...

Andrew
 
I actually think Fumoffu might work pretty well as a separate release! While it's enriched by seeing the first series, it's a brilliant comedy in its own right and more standalone than TSR I feel.

Other than that, following the Gurren Lagann model is a sound one I think. Super duper collectors BD and regular BD options works well for me. Considering TSR never got a UK DVD release, there might be a number of people without import capability who would like a domestic DVD, but I have no idea if that would be viable.
 
anime_andrew said:
Elaniel said:
I shall be picking up every show/film on Blu-Ray. I fully support their releases (and they seem to pick up my favourites). Hoping for FMP in Q1 2015 too.

Getting the overtime in for the end of the year! I was hoping Space Dandy would have dropped it's RRP a little bit to be more in line with Blood Lad and other shows, but I'll still be buying it.
Click to expand...

Late Q1 for FMP is not unrealistic - my thoughts for that if folks are interested is:

ULTIMATE EDITION: Depending on what assets I can clear from Japan. But ideally would want to deliver something on scale of Gurren Lagann. You'd be looking at something like:

- Nicely designed packaging (I'm a huge fan of the franchise since ADV started releasing it).
- At least the same length of booklet as the Japanese release (50 I believe)
- All three seasons plus extras to match whatever the licensor doesn't block (I think there's no restricted ones in this case)
- Likely a total of 10 BD discs for this one so not super cheap.

Likely everything in - if we can get the assets digitally (pre-encoded, not on tape) I'd say you'd be looking at circa £129.99 via conventional retail depending on what goes in with etc. Depends on cost savings we can make on the actual material process etc and access fees.

Alternatively we may go the route of Cowboy Bebop but with a big case at the start of the collection if we /know/ we can't offer anything to make it really "Ultimate" vs the cost for the whole universe in a set.

Regular BD sets for Season 1 and TSR: Unsure if Fumoffu would make back the cost of a separate release, but open to hear fans tell me I'm wrong on that front! Usual prices there for a standard set.

DVD: TBC - Need to see what the demand is when we start, anyone here feel strongly on the DVD frontier still?

AP
NB Thoughts != actual product announcement so am cleverly seeing what folks feel. Expanded though.
Click to expand...

I would DEFINITELY go for an Ultimate Edition for FMP, it's one of my favourite shows. Q1 sounds good to me. :) That price is VERY GOOD too. I recall The Second Raid being 1080i due to the opening, would that be the same for your release or too early to say?

I like the idea of having it in one full release too.
This is one series I am so excited to get in a collector release and have already got rid of my Funimation Blu-Rays.
 
anime_andrew said:
This one warmed my darkened little heart today - been a very long two months so nice to see kind words. That goes for pretty much everyone on AUKN for that matter actually :). You guys actually make doing this worthwhile.
Click to expand...

If it weren't for your new company pretty much everyone here would have given up on the UK side of the industry (especially the Blu-ray owners). I'm even shocked that you (and everyone at AL) were able to manage all of these titles that probably not even Manga could have pulled off, especially with the Kickstarter projects and the Aniplex titles.

If there was one thing I would like you guys to do, is to experiment with Sports titles. Probably going too far but I would love to see Haikyuu!! (Sentai Filmworks have this in the states), Initial D (Nearly all of it was released in the states by Funimation) & Kuroko's Basketball get a release.

anime_andrew said:
Late Q1 for FMP is not unrealistic - my thoughts for that if folks are interested is:

ULTIMATE EDITION: Depending on what assets I can clear from Japan. But ideally would want to deliver something on scale of Gurren Lagann.

Regular BD sets for Season 1 and TSR: Unsure if Fumoffu would make back the cost of a separate release, but open to hear fans tell me I'm wrong on that front!

DVD: TBC - Need to see what the demand is when we start, anyone here feel strongly on the DVD frontier still?

AP
NB Thoughts != actual product announcement so am cleverly seeing what folks feel.
Click to expand...

It should be possible to have all of Full Metal Panic together in one Ultimate set given the BD-Box in Japan includes all of it and an English dub. Baring in mind that the sets in the US have gone quite cheap so the pricing needs to be right with the set (I'd say lower the SRP in contrast to Gurren Lagann, unless you're able to get tons of exclusive extras). I'm all for the Ultimate set but bare in mind it might not sell as big as Gurren if the pricing isn't right.

In terms of the Blu-ray transfer, I hear they were upscaled by Funimation themselves in the states and the Japanese version is different (like every BD-Box released after Funimations with the exception of Samurai Champloo). And if it's possible use their Japanese audio masters, might convince others to double dip for better audio (for those audio fanatics).

anime_andrew said:
NormanicGrav said:
Hold on a minute, looks like Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya is going to be a while longer than the US release date (September). In a way that could've fit into October/November's release schedule.
Click to expand...

It's not impossible it could be slotted in but materials are a bit complex there frustratingly...

Andrew
Click to expand...

That explains it, I'm not fussed I can wait.
 
anime_andrew said:
Ironically I can't actually talk about things of that kind of variety - but what I would say is I do believe having catalog up there is extremely valuable as it allows a legal way to sample a show before you decide if you want a product. For us, where we focus on Critereon-grade works mostly - this is even more important :).
Click to expand...

I agree. There's so much choice now-a-days that it can make purchases more difficult, especially as we're blocked out of a lot of the simulcast content in comparison to the US. I hope we can see more titles added to legal catalogs in the future, not only from yourselves.

anime_andrew said:
DVD: TBC - Need to see what the demand is when we start, anyone here feel strongly on the DVD frontier still?
Click to expand...

I never watched Fullmetal Panic when ADV released it, so if I was to pick it up I would opt for a DVD release, unless it was put up somewhere legally so I could sample it :p

Edit: I agree with NormanicGrav, I would love to see you experiment with more unusual genres, such as sports titles. I think Free! and Kuroko's Basketball would be the best to start with as they have a pretty big fan-base.
 
If you could also get as much stuff up on Wakaim for DTO that would just allow me to just have the show at optimum quality that'd be swell.

Also saves me a butt load of re-encode time which is probably making an arse of things anyway.
 
anime_andrew said:
GolGotha said:
I'm not a netflix user, but jeez that's fantastic news!

I do hope they are able to put all of their licences on there, especially things like Nerima Daikon Brothers & Blood Lad which never got a previous release/legal streaming :)
Click to expand...

Ironically I can't actually talk about things of that kind of variety - but what I would say is I do believe having catalog up there is extremely valuable as it allows a legal way to sample a show before you decide if you want a product. For us, where we focus on Critereon-grade works mostly - this is even more important :).
Click to expand...

My Netflix-using friend was moaning about the lack of selection there for anime recently so you've made his day. I completely agree; good luck brainwashing some future anime fans on the Netflix platform and getting them hooked!

I can't wait to see them coming on here one day and talking about how their first experience was stumbling upon an episode of Gurren Lagann while looking for something new to watch :D

R
 
anime_andrew said:
Elaniel said:
I shall be picking up every show/film on Blu-Ray. I fully support their releases (and they seem to pick up my favourites). Hoping for FMP in Q1 2015 too.

Getting the overtime in for the end of the year! I was hoping Space Dandy would have dropped it's RRP a little bit to be more in line with Blood Lad and other shows, but I'll still be buying it.
Click to expand...

Late Q1 for FMP is not unrealistic - my thoughts for that if folks are interested is:

ULTIMATE EDITION: Depending on what assets I can clear from Japan. But ideally would want to deliver something on scale of Gurren Lagann. You'd be looking at something like:

- Nicely designed packaging (I'm a huge fan of the franchise since ADV started releasing it).
- At least the same length of booklet as the Japanese release (50 I believe)
- All three seasons plus extras to match whatever the licensor doesn't block (I think there's no restricted ones in this case)
- Likely a total of 10 BD discs for this one so not super cheap.

Likely everything in - if we can get the assets digitally (pre-encoded, not on tape) I'd say you'd be looking at circa £129.99 via conventional retail depending on what goes in with etc. Depends on cost savings we can make on the actual material process etc and access fees.

Alternatively we may go the route of Cowboy Bebop but with a big case at the start of the collection if we /know/ we can't offer anything to make it really "Ultimate" vs the cost for the whole universe in a set.

Regular BD sets for Season 1 and TSR: Unsure if Fumoffu would make back the cost of a separate release, but open to hear fans tell me I'm wrong on that front! Usual prices there for a standard set.

DVD: TBC - Need to see what the demand is when we start, anyone here feel strongly on the DVD frontier still?

AP
NB Thoughts != actual product announcement so am cleverly seeing what folks feel. Expanded though.
Click to expand...

An ultimate edition akin to Gurren Laganns would be fantastic to see, but i'd be fairly content with a Bebop style release as well(maybe more so because of monetary limitations, but we can always make exceptions). When i do think of releases for it though, i remember the gorgeous BD sets from japan, so if you could get somethign with that style of artwork or better, i'd be thrilled. Saying that all, I'll just be happy to see it finally get the release it deserves here, especially TSR.

On the judging of fumoffu, i'll echo Ath in saying it's more ideal as a stand-alone product than TSR is. Unlike TSR, fumoffu can be watched as if it was completely stand-alone, thanks to the nature of the series itself. TSR is a full on continuation of the first season, so you'll find that selling both together would be a better idea perhaps. I would still highly recommend watching Season 1 before Fumoffu, but it certainly is accessible without it.

While i am open to seeing it hit on DVD as well, i'd be looking to purchase it on BD now. I already own all the original releases, including funimations original releases for TSR, so a full BD release is what i'm more interested in.
 
Hey hey,

Agent-347 said:
► ANIME LIMITED: September through December
Kudos to Andrew for delivering the Q4 schedule rapidly. ^_^ Let's go over everything.
I have watched NONE of the Q4 titles before and my plans are to watch them all dubbed in each case, this is a note beforehand for everybody.
Click to expand...

Lack of email is just when it's a long message I don't often have time to reply right now - a lot of bigger business things I am being expected to do and a lot less time answering folks sadly :(. I'm procrastinating from VAT returns as I write all this xD.

Sorry - as this is a long one I've picked the post points that need a reply and summarised. My apologies for not quoting too :)! Here we go:

Gurren O-Cards -> Maybe but I'm not sure cost / value people actually get something worthwhile from it by and large. Will look into it though :). I'd have hoped £20 off SRP removes the sting more - as we did the math and two high-end versions just makes no real sense for anybody involved really does it for anyone?

Blood Lad -> Sadly the print cost on a booklet is very high especially when you breach 48 pages. That's not even mentioning we'll be translating or accessing the original Japanese assets not using a US-centric one. So you'll get something very close to the Japanese release where possible. It's just not feasible to drop that price because while less episodes, to do that quality and content doesn't come cheap. It's why we didn't make it a combi and released a cheaper DVD version too :).

Hal -> Firstly the runtime is closer to 60 minutes, not 50. Secondly Funimation is an Amaray release with reversible covers and a non-rigid sleeve plus a few artcards. Our release is rigid casing, neat Digipack AND we've gone the full way and translated the full 20-page booklet (which contains an interview so good part a quote will end up in the Anime Encyclopaedia I hear). The booklet includes the translated mini-manga as well.

Extras will be the same as the Funimation discs too - so you're getting value for money there. Wish we could charge less but I can't really have us losing money either!

At a £24.99 SRP you'd not have the translated booklet or collector's packaging - and for a work I loved dearly I really couldn't justify that. Sorry! How does everyone else feel on this point?

Space Dandy -> Fair play! It is the Collector's edition so if not keen on this then I can see the logic in not going for it - besides there will be a discounted edition somewhere down the line :).

Mystery Film -> Can neither confirm or deny anything about what this one is just now!

KILL LA KILL -> Well that's also fair - we have restrictions we have to operate within too and we're gunning for a pretty cool release (in our case focussing on the original artwork books that came with the Japanese edition - which are HUGE but I will do my best to include as many as I can per release - because it's really worth seeing this stuff!) There'll be a cheaper edition again further down the line here, can't say when really though but like Bebop - one will come :).

Honestly too - while rigid cases are our "standard" for most product - the price point we set comes with them by and large. I'm incredibly keen on them but it doesn't make it easy to charge what seems to be being banded round in this post by and large! By the time retail takes it's cut it adds a chunk on - but I do think it's worth it based on what we stand for :). Hopefully folks agree!

Best,

AP
 
Aw geez, I already have the three FMP seasons (Fumoffu and TSR on BD, FMP on DVD), but now I'm itching to get an Ultimate Edition.

My poor wallet and shelfspace... :cry:
 
anime_andrew said:
How does everyone else feel on this point?
Click to expand...

I have no problem with the suggested retail price for HAL, it was similar for Perfect Blue, which was £34.99 and that ended up having at least £10 off via Amazon and is currently £20 off on your store.
 
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