Upcoming UK Anime Blu-ray & DVD Artwork
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Lutga
Mad Scientist
It's always nice to have the option though. It's been proven that dubs help sell more copies - and as much as sub watchers might not like to admit it, some people do only watch dubs - and in my eyes, if that means even one more person that might not have watched the film ends up watching it, that's a small victory in my book.
serpantino
Thousand Master
I'm not personally bothered if it's dub or sub but I do tend to prefer sub if the characters in the anime are Japanese. Miss Hokusai though was one that my lady was interested in and she only watches dubs so that does take it from 'buy on release' to 'buy when cheap'.
DesuDayo
Completely Average High School Student
Even if such an assumption turned out to be true I think it'd be equally true that by the time Anime Limited would be able to put their sets on the market much of the interest would've died off, less copies would've been sold and likely a lower percentage of the Ultimate Editions as well.
Is toughing out that wait and taking economic loss to include a dub justified by the satisfaction from a minority of consumers? Because people who buy anime only if a dub is included is as far as I know a very small crowd.
thedoctor2016
Mushi-shi
You are correct I suppose
Jaysgba
Combat Butler
That must be why Madman don't so subtitle-only bluray releases and relegate them all to DVD-only. No, wait, that makes the opposite of sense.
Lutga
Mad Scientist
For me as well, having a dub isn't just about having a version which is preferable to watch for someone, it's about adding 'value', same as any other extras (both physical or digital) that make up a physical anime release. With prices getting higher and higher, the concept - for me - of basically having a whole different version/audio track of the film (ie. the dub) is a pretty major plus on that front.
DesuDayo
Completely Average High School Student
I don't know how Australian companies operate at all so I can't comment much, but doing DVD-only releases (in 2016!) simply because a show has not recieved a dub seems like a good way to deter a great deal of potential customers. How is Madman doing? I haven't heard many success stories from them, perhaps it'd do them well to not latch onto mid-2000 mindset that anime releases must have dubs (￣ー￣)...
And i'm basing the part that you quoted off the fact that the vast majority of people who are into anime don't regularly, or even at all, buy physical anime. Even before dub broadcasts, which can still be considered a fairly new thing, they didn't either which meant that the many dubs that companies like Funimation and Sentai Filmworks produced went unwatched by the masses of fans.
If dubs were such an attractive addition to anime releases i'd personally think that in the past years that didn't have dub broadcasts you'd have seen many more buying physical anime to get their hands on that dub, but as far as I know that has not been the case.
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NoSurprises
Straw Hat Pirate
Some mad speculation going down in this thread.
Buzz201
Mad Scientist
ANN personalities often cite that anime was the only section of US home video market to grow last year (presumably actually 2014). I don't think figures for 2015 have been widely discussed, but your initial assumption at least is not necessarily correct.
DesuDayo
Completely Average High School Student
I'm unsure of which assumption of mine you're refering to, but i'd be interested in seeing some figures, but make no mistake i'm certainly not doubting you as anime in the US has become much more widely available in the past couple of years with major streaming outlets, i.e Netflix and Hulu, offering a good amount of shows it wouldn't be strange to see a surge in home video sales as well. And then there's the thing with anime fans being a bit of a special breed and still enjoying the notion of owning physical copies of shows which is most likely very fortunate for us all.
But i'm still not convinced that dubs is the magic that's pulling fans in, for all of the aformentioned reasons. And Funimation which is the biggest dubber of English language anime is pretty much making that point themselves by offering a rapidly increasing amount of dubs through a streaming subscription rather than through home video sales which diminishes the exclusivity that physical releases used to have in the US.
Buzz201
Mad Scientist
I never saw any figures, but it was regularly cited by ANN, so it was believed to be true by at least some in the industry.
But, all of this is rather besides the point, if there is a dub, it's a shame for it not to be included regardless of how many people it attracts or how "Japanese" the series is. As far as I'm concerned if it attracts even one person that it should be included.
I sympathise with AL's situation here, I completely understand why they chose not to reauthor the discs. The problem is I'm not sure I like the idea of setting a precedent that standard or ultimate editions can be dubless (when one exists and has already been produced), or that the UK's now preeminent anime distributor can be choosy as to which titles it wants to include them on.
DesuDayo
Completely Average High School Student
The unfortunate situation with Miss Hokusai is indeed a very unique one and I have strong doubts that reauthoring and reprinting would be able to reel in enough extra customers to make equal or more economic gain as opposed to releasing as is now planned.
Though something to think about is the importance of time. For many years it's been standard for the UK to pretty much be the last ones to put out their releases and i'd be perplexed if the long time between a show airing/streaming and finally getting a UK release didn't hurt sales quite a bit. People move onto new shows and the interest in owning a physical copy from a show that aired six seasons ago may have faded considerably once the UK release is finally available.
If there are other cases like this one, where a US company is taking a very long time to get a title out the door i'm certain it'd make more financial sense to release a title earlier rather than much later. While the UK will likely never be able to tap into the people who impulsively make purchases as the hype from watching a show still lingers, I don't think the UK should have to wait ages to do their own releases. If they do that small group who patiently waited for the dub may be heavily outweighed by the people who just wanted to get their hands on the show.
Though something to think about is the importance of time. For many years it's been standard for the UK to pretty much be the last ones to put out their releases and i'd be perplexed if the long time between a show airing/streaming and finally getting a UK release didn't hurt sales quite a bit. People move onto new shows and the interest in owning a physical copy from a show that aired six seasons ago may have faded considerably once the UK release is finally available.
If there are other cases like this one, where a US company is taking a very long time to get a title out the door i'm certain it'd make more financial sense to release a title earlier rather than much later. While the UK will likely never be able to tap into the people who impulsively make purchases as the hype from watching a show still lingers, I don't think the UK should have to wait ages to do their own releases. If they do that small group who patiently waited for the dub may be heavily outweighed by the people who just wanted to get their hands on the show.
Lutga
Mad Scientist
This kind of ties back to the thing I referenced before about pay-to-own / pay-to-rent being a really underserved area for anime - particularly when it'd be most of use - ie. movies.
It's all about getting that impulse buy - as the 'casual' audience move more and more online, if they can't find a film on Amazon Video / iTunes after seeing a brief mention in the papers/ a review then they probably just won't bother. Paying £10-£20 for a physical movie you'll probably only watch once is fast becoming a luxury. People want a quick, thoughtless £3 splurge on a night's rental while the movie is still 'hot' / new.
It's all about getting that impulse buy - as the 'casual' audience move more and more online, if they can't find a film on Amazon Video / iTunes after seeing a brief mention in the papers/ a review then they probably just won't bother. Paying £10-£20 for a physical movie you'll probably only watch once is fast becoming a luxury. People want a quick, thoughtless £3 splurge on a night's rental while the movie is still 'hot' / new.
Personally speaking, I think it's also really annoying when companies release a standard then the special version comes later (with the obvious exception of license rescues and revivals). There's always a group of people who assume the special edition has been cancelled or never realised it would exist, and they end up feeling scammed when they buy the standard and want to upgrade later. If we're going to nitpick on the 'ultimate' naming then surely it should also include every subtitle language in the entire world, and every dub track that the movie gets in other countries too? And every nonsensically-titled 'complete collection - part one' of the type released by almost every anime company in the western world?
I understand why dub fans are upset, but this does seem like an exceptional situation and nobody's ruling out a future dub version completely (plus importing/digital options will be possible). I'd definitely support the dub getting a wider release for those who will ever watch it, but in the meantime I'd like to get the existing version without knowing the movie has made a colossal loss prior to release for a redone set of discs to appeal to what will be, I'm afraid, a minority of people for now, i.e. people who cannot import, use digital downloads or wait longer, only watch dubs and like niche, artistic films steeped in Japanese culture. How many people are realistically in that group in this country? ^^;
R
I understand why dub fans are upset, but this does seem like an exceptional situation and nobody's ruling out a future dub version completely (plus importing/digital options will be possible). I'd definitely support the dub getting a wider release for those who will ever watch it, but in the meantime I'd like to get the existing version without knowing the movie has made a colossal loss prior to release for a redone set of discs to appeal to what will be, I'm afraid, a minority of people for now, i.e. people who cannot import, use digital downloads or wait longer, only watch dubs and like niche, artistic films steeped in Japanese culture. How many people are realistically in that group in this country? ^^;
R
I'm all for EST / VOD options on this too if we did so watch this space
! We'd find a way anyway if there is a demand to get hold of it . Sadly the evaluation of cost to author vs actual sales based on it is correct by most here and would be a big ????.Is it a precedent to not include a dub for an Ultimate? Certainly not and it's a very rare case to be completely honest, I don't expect the same to happen again anytime soon and am sorry it happened even once...
Best,
AP
Jaysgba
Combat Butler
I don't think that it's an Ultimate Edition without the dub that people are taking issue with so much, but rather that the release has been crazy delayed due to approvals and doesn't have the dub.
We didn't get the benefit of the early release that France got, and we also don't get the benefit of getting the dub for having waited so long.
BigOnAnime
Completely Average High School Student
It's because of the smaller market size.
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MVM
Ergo Proxy: Complete Collection [Blu-ray]
Ergo Proxy: Complete Collection [Blu-ray]