UK Anime Blu-ray & DVD Bargains

I also already own the Blu Ray set when the price of it crashed for some reason a few months ago. I'd wholeheartedly recommend the series for that price although the show really needs to be seen on Blu Ray if possible.
 
-Danielle- said:
What is this series about please? All I've noticed is shed loads of series ending in "gatari" coming out. I used to think they were films!
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That's actually a pretty hard question to answer. I guess if you boil it down it's a guy dealing with supernatural entities but it's so much more than that. It's unique art style and dialogue really make it special. The series is pretty unlike anything else.
 
Okay so what is the actual deal with this series? The wiki page has the genre down as avant-garde and occult detective, so it sounds like it would be my jam....but all I've seen is the toothbrush scene (maybe from a different part of gatari series? I dunno) and that is everything I hate about anime now days, so question is, is that scene indicative of the entire thing?
 
-Danielle- said:
What is this series about please? All I've noticed is shed loads of series ending in "gatari" coming out. I used to think they were films!
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As IL mentioned, the whole Monogatari franchise is about Koyomi Araragi (our main character) dealing with various situations which involve someone cursed with an apparition (Japanese curse mythology, or something related to it) and his quest to cure them or seal whatever is happening to them. The series contains various Japanese puns and references to modern culture including anime which can confuse folks who have never seen them before (hence why many wouldn't suggest it for newcomers). The show also contains dozens of still images with Kanji that is so fast you'll have to pause them to read it. And because of all this, it is one of the few anime's out there that is entirely impossible to translate with an English dub and while English subtitles was possible, about 10% of the meaning was lost.

Overall the franchise is well worth the watch and Bakemonogatari is the starting point in the series. There is a prequel called Kizumonogatari that starts at the very beginning of the Monogatari timeline but the anime is still in production (probably on-hold until the other arcs are done). The Kizumonogatari novel has been picked up by Vertical which will be out later this year.

If it helps the creator Nisio Isin also wrote Zaregoto, Katanagatari, Medaka Box and Death Note Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases.

Order of Release in Anime form:
Bakemonogatari ~ 12 episode & 3 OVA series - The TV episodes are available on Viewster
Nisemonogatari ~ 11 episode series - All are available on Crunchyroll and Viewster
Nekomonogatari Black ~ 4 OVA series
Monogatari series: Second Season (Neko White, Kabuki, Otori, Oni, Koi) ~ 26 episode series split into 5 arcs - All are available on Crunchyroll
Hanamonogatari ~ 4 episode series - All are compiled into one episode on Crunchyroll and Daisuki
Tsukimonogatari ~ 4 episode series - All are compiled into one episode on Crunchyroll and Daisuki
Owarimonogatari (Novels 1 & 2) ~ 12 episode series - Airing this October

Coming soon:
Kizumonogatari
Owarimonogatari (Novel 3)
Koyomimonogatari
Zoku-Owarimonogatari
Orokamonogatari

The chronological order is all over the place but there is a chart here in Timeline form *may contain spoilers*

I hope that helps :lol:
 
Monogatari seems to be a bit of a marmite love/hate thing for people. Personally, I love it and would probably rank it as one of my Top 3 anime franchises of the past 10 years, but that's just me.

The way I like to describe it is imagine you're going to a modern art exhibition mashed into a backdrop of stylised cubist architecture, drizzled with a phenomenal amount of fanservice and enough linguistic wordplay to make your head spin. If you like sharp, witty dialogue and insanely colourful visuals that arguably push anime forward as a stylistic medium, I'd heartily recommend it.

I mean, just look at these *drools*

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Buzzkillington said:
Okay so what is the actual deal with this series? The wiki page has the genre down as avant-garde and occult detective, so it sounds like it would be my jam....but all I've seen is the toothbrush scene (maybe from a different part of gatari series? I dunno) and that is everything I hate about anime now days, so question is, is that scene indicative of the entire thing?
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It has it's fair share of fan service moments but that scene is about as far as it goes. Personally I love that scene, that's probably just me :p

Also that's from Nise, not Bake.
 
Lutga said:
I mean, just look at these *drools*
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Hey, where's all the fanservice? Or is it all architecture fanservice?

I should really get around to watching the Monogatari stuff. I've already got the Bakemonogatari Blu-rays though, so no need to buy the DVD.
 
IncendiaryLemon said:
It has it's fair share of fan service moments but that scene is about as far as it goes. Personally I love that scene, that's probably just me :p

Also that's from Nise, not Bake.
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Hmm I'm not against fan service, although I would prefer as little as possible in the shows I watch. I'm just a bit put off by fan service involving a little girl and her big brother (at least that's how I understand it, do correct me if I'm wrong), find it somewhat creepy, which is kinda odd considering they're just cartoons but you know what I mean :p.

Show looks visually stunning though, may have to sample it somewhere and see how I feel.....
 
Buzzkillington said:
Hmm I'm not against fan service, although I would prefer as little as possible in the shows I watch. I'm just a bit put off by fan service involving a little girl and her big brother (at least that's how I understand it, do correct me if I'm wrong), find it somewhat creepy, which is kinda odd considering they're just cartoons but you know what I mean :p.

Show looks visually stunning though, may have to sample it somewhere and see how I feel.....
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This isn't based on personal experience, so the chance that I could be wrong is higher than usual but I was under the impression that the event itself is treated as "normal" by the participants and it's the framing that makes it fanservice for the viewers. I'm not sure if that would matter to you or not.

There's a fair bit of the show available on Crunchyroll but it has gaps and that includes a lack of Bakemonogatari.
 
Thanks for all the info guys.

So this DOTW is actually the first one so I won't be lost regarding the story and stuff? Pondering it. Although I shouldn't as my backlog is bad and I've literally hit an uber anime dry patch atm haha.
 
Smeelia said:
This isn't based on personal experience, so the chance that I could be wrong is higher than usual but I was under the impression that the event itself is treated as "normal" by the participants and it's the framing that makes it fanservice for the viewers. I'm not sure if that would matter to you or not.

There's a fair bit of the show available on Crunchyroll but it has gaps and that includes a lack of Bakemonogatari.
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Seems Bakemonogatari is on Viewster, I knew I had seen it somewhere....not sure if I'm willing to watch such a visually impressive show in SD though lol I'll give it a try.
 
-Danielle- said:
Thanks for all the info guys.

So this DOTW is actually the first one so I won't be lost regarding the story and stuff? Pondering it. Although I shouldn't as my backlog is bad and I've literally hit an uber anime dry patch atm haha.
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Keep in mind that it's sub only, no English dub.
 
Considering that there are somewhere in the ballpark of 20+ shows every season and only a small portion get subbed releases, never mind dubbed releases, it shouldn't be that big of a shock :p
 
I think the difference these days is more, in the past, if a show got a physical release, it would probably have a dub, whereas now, we're seeing more physical releases (at least in the US anyway), and a higher likelihood that if it isn't like a top tier show, it probably won't have a dub.

I feel like it's a combination of there probably being less profit in it, and also people wanting to get the shows out quicker. It'll be interesting to see how Funi's new broadcast dubs play into this though and if they keep going with them, as they must be pretty intensive (and a potential loss maker if the show doesn't end up being a hit).

Either way, I feel like the era of having the 'good old' Funi crew dubbing what seemed like almost everything is long gone now - the recognisable favourites still pop up now and then, but it seems more commonly in minor roles.
 
I think a lot of these distributors and publishers look at simulcast data and realize that a lot of people, a huge chunk of their traffic comes from people streaming shows that aren't dubbed and they realize that people want to watch them as quickly as possible. With streaming ever popular these days, people want content as quickly as possible and so they realize that the uptick in sales if they produce a dub (which can be costly and time consuming) isn't worth missing the initial period where hype is at its peak.
 
Speed is certainly a good point; FUNi and Viz are obviously thinking about this with their various fast track dubs and I know I have often finished a stream super hyped about a show only to gradually lose that buzz as newer things come out later on.

The companies would historically be taking a bit of a punt dubbing everything too; the huge DBZ and FMA tier titles might cover the losses made by the weaker shows, but now they have precise streaming data they can make a much more educated decision about what will sell and what won't. It sucks for dub fans, but it's better for the industry this way. It's good that some companies will go back and dub a show they didn't originally release that way if it's an unexpected hit, though I guess it trains people to wait and buy later when that happens. The best thing to do is to nag everyone you know to watch the legal streams since they're the numbers that the US companies are looking at most closely when they decide whether or not to dub something. Even if you personally want to wait for a dub, pressure other people to get watching to make up the numbers :D

R
 
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