Upcoming UK Anime DVD Artwork!

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That doesn't actually look too bad imo, although I'm not keen on the font they've used for the Complete Series Collection text on the front.

This sounds like a really horrible criticism - and they've definitely improved since the start of this year - but I think on the whole MVM releases do still look very cheap, in terms of visual design. I love MVM and the titles they release, and I only say this because I care, but this really is one area where they could improve SO much.
 
I'm not a fan of the art regardless since it's not my type of show, but from a design point of view I think that they need to put a box behind the text so it's readable on the back, preferably semi-transparent and speaking of which they need to put a lot less text on the back to boot. Maybe have it spread out so its not too bottom heavy on the back, and things like the twitter and Facebook logo are obtrusive and ugly but that might be a retirement of MVM to spread their social accounts and such. Also, I noticed that the BBFC rating on the spine is on the top, that could stick out like a sore thumb, no?
 
Oddly, for someone normally so pedantic about design (and getting worse by the day because I'm now studying a related subject) I don't really care about the rear of cases at all. Spelling mistakes, wrong episode counts and tech specs, all these things I've seen people point out about case backs... Who really gives a damn? Does anybody actually read that stuff anyway? MVM could put nothing but F*CK YOU AYASE in bright red text on the back for all I care as long as the front and the spine looked nice.

Really, my design philosophy is the less anything on covers the better. One of my favourite covers for anything ever is the cover for the limited edition of Michael Moorcock's The Dreamthief’s Daughter by Robert Gould. Clearly the artwork was created for this exact purpose as the front cover is perfect even when the artwork is wrapped around the book. If I were in charge of DVD / BD case design every cover would be similar to this, with wraparound art and a simple title on the spine and possibly the front. But then the mass and casual market has no taste (as we already know) and you have to hit them over the head with gaudy design to get them to buy things. Then of course there's having to deal with the agencies that mandate specs, bbfc logo and the barcode on there... *sigh*
 
When MVM have to design their own artwork the back-cover (and sometimes the front) always seem quite amateurish; i.e. white text on artwork.

Only when they use pre-arranged packaging (such as those from Hanabee, Sentai or FUNimation) does it actually look nice.
 
I like lots of information on the back if possible, like the spec, key staff and episode spread (now that inserts are rare). The 'less is more' approach certainly works too if there's nothing important to put there (I'd never read such a long synopsis since I'd assume there would be spoilers if I was new to the show and if I wasn't then I wouldn't need to). The ideal would be to have a slip or obi with all of the boring marketing stuff then lots of beautiful art for the cover itself.

To be honest that Shana cover doesn't really offend me that much. The UK market in general has stepped up its box art game significantly over the last few years, and aside from a few niggles like the text choices and the way the image on the spine is abruptly sliced at the bottom, it at least does the job of getting plenty of official artwork out there and in the buyer's face. If that was released five years ago I'm pretty sure we'd all be praising it.

R
 
I like that MVM have at least standardised their spines, which is the thing which used to annoy me the most. I'm not even really having a go at the Shana design as it's not a show I'm particularly interested in either, I was more interested in the discussion of case backs (come on Rui, you can Google all that info now - Obi strips would probably be the best of both worlds though and I can just throw them in the bin)
 
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Ouch, that artwork does look very amateurish. The front cover isn't too bad (although I'd still suggest tweaking the drop shadow on the "Complete Series Collection") but the back looks like it was made in Microsoft Paint. I agree with qaiz's suggestion of using a semi-transparent box to house the the text in, because with a background as colourful as that, the white text becomes hard to read.

Also, did no one notice that the third paragraph on the back of the box is actually exactly the same as the second? The fact that people haven't read it all probably shows why using so much text to begin with is a bad idea. The logos at the bottom also look like a horribly disorganised jumble. Why is the series' logo even there? Did MVM simply not have access to a version of the artwork without it?

I would personally make the following changes to the back cover:
- Get rid of the first paragraph of the blurb. That can be changed to a simple "From the studio that bought you Toradora!" at the top.
- Get rid of the repeated paragraph.
- Centralise the blurb up and surround it in a semi-transparent text box to make the text more readable. Then, possibly move the special features bit so that it's a horizontal list underneath the blurb.
- Place the episode count and special features underneath as a horizontal list.
- Get rid of the Shakugan no Shana logo and place MVM's logo and social media stuff there.
- Get rid of the "Four Disc Collection" bit. The technical information box already says that.
- Move the Universal logo to where the MVM logo was.

Something like that.
 
Crikey, didn't even notice the doubling up of the text on the back - hope that's sorted out before this is printed.

Having looked at it some more, I think so much of it just comes back to simple things like the fonts and colours used - you can instantly see the disconnect between the base cover art and the font that has then been added on.

For a point of comparison, for all that Kaze's releases suffered from spelling mistakes/translation error, I always thought their cover art itself looked very nice. Looking at some of their Mardock Scramble covers for example (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mardock-Scrambl ... words=kaze) you can immediately see the difference nice, designed, and properly placed fonts make. It looks slick, professional and fits in with the artwork behind.
 
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Well thank God they got rid of 'saison' - also hurrah for having the best girl on the cover.

The DVD version looks suspiciously like Kaze's stupidly fat Bleach releases where the two DVDs each have their own case.
 
More single disc garbage from Kaze. That said, I've no doubt the quality of the release will be better than anything Manga puts out - which is by no means a compliment.
Speaking of Manga, I wonder why their Logo has magically appeared on the BD box again but not the DVD one. I thought they'd stopped putting their branding on Kaze releases ages ago.
 
A barebones, super-thin amaray blu-ray release for Nisekoi does not a happy Joshawott make. But Aniplex's release is too expensive. It's not really "Box 1/2" if it's not actually a box, is it?

*Pouts*.
 
Mangaranga said:
More single disc garbage from Kaze.
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You're referring to the number of episodes per disc? While I would expect the higher episode counts to bring to the picture quality down I have yet to see any comparison of a Kaze release to a Japanese or US release which shows any noticeable drop in picture quality. Not saying you're definitely wrong mind, I'd be genuinely interested to know if anyone does have any comparisons.
 
The Kaguya cover is simple yet clearly shows just how beautiful the animation is. I'm really hoping StudioCanal do another Deluxe Edition, a film this gorgeous deserves it.

I'm also liking the colourful Nisekoi covers, cover art is one of the few things Kaze do well (even if most of the words are misspelled).
 
BanzaiJedi said:
The Kaguya cover is simple yet clearly shows just how beautiful the animation is. I'm really hoping StudioCanal do another Deluxe Edition, a film this gorgeous deserves it.
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Yeah StudioCanal do collectors editions for all of the new releases, as they did one for Ponyo, Arrietty, Poppy Hill, The Wind Rises and now Kaguya and eventually Marnie. I take it is due to them having more material when a film is new, although I was hoping that they'd buck the trend when they released Mononoke and Spirited Away.

Below are links to the Amazon listings. It's obvious that the artwork isn't final, I mean apart from the text saying so at the bottom but also due to the spine having no numbering :p Amazon says it's out in December, but that's a placeholder...I hope :p
The Tale Of The Princess Kaguya - Collector's Edition [Blu-ray + DVD] £19.75
The Tale Of The Princess Kaguya [Blu-ray] £14.75
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So Kaguya isn't going to have the Combo Pack like every other Ghibli release had unless you get the collector's edition?
I ended up only buying the standard editions for consistencies sake. Also be interesting to see if we get a slipcover for the standard edition or not.
 
Nisekoi is probably my favorite cover art I've ever seen from a Manga release if only all their shows looked this good on the box :D
 
Joshawott said:
A barebones, super-thin amaray blu-ray release for Nisekoi does not a happy Joshawott make. But Aniplex's release is too expensive. It's not really "Box 1/2" if it's not actually a box, is it?

*Pouts*.
Click to expand...

I know what you mean. I wish there were more releases with art boxes, like what MVM did with Fate/Zero last year. Aniplex's release is really nice, but I just can't justify spending that much on a series like Nisekoi.
 
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