Buying Anime

[Weaver]

Firstly, does anyone know of a good online store for that sells blu ray editions? I prefer subs, so Japanese with English subs is fine. I do know some Japanese publishers have started making their in-country blurays with English subs. Even a direct from Japan store would be fine, so long as it listed the language options on the store. I should also note I spit on DVDs and their SD quality. I'm spoiled like that.

Secondly, It seems to me the distribution of anime is getting stupider and stupider each passing year and I kind of just want to blow off some steam and ask questions to the more knowledgeable in the community here. Hopefully my limited understanding doesn't make me seem too stupid.

1) The time gap and dubs
This is 2012 and the delay from western to eastern release is still ridiculous.

If you want to legally watch an anime close to release your options are to either wait years, or pray to god crunchyroll picks it up in a reasonable time frame. This post was actually inspired by the fact that the k-on Season 2 blu-ray just released in North America today. This is only the first HALF of season 2, the second half coming at the end of August. The show ended it's air about 2 years ago in Japan. Hell, this is a pretty short turn around really.

This is partly due to the dubbing process. The question is, does anyone really care? I'd rather just have subs and get the show much faster. It's just sad that one guy in his house can do a fansub to an episode the day it releases in Japan, but we need to wait 2 years to get a disc of the show.

2) Disc prices in Japan
But, of course, the Japanese don't want us to GET those shows right off the bat, do they? Because people in Japan started importing our North American licensed shows to Japan because they are WAY cheaper. A bluray in Japan will run you about $100 Canadian.

3) Companies shitting the bed on releases.
I mainly want to point to Bandai at times like this. I was waiting so eagerly for a Nichijou release in NA, but now that they ceased all production on discs that's not going to happen. Here's a fantastic show that just won't be licensed here any time soon, if ever.

4) Why discs?
Crunchyroll is doing pretty well for itself, I think anyway. Why hasn't there been a company that has tried to embrace the digital market for Anime? Maybe there is, but I don't know it exists. If I could buy 1080p (or even 720p) subbed episodes, close to release at a reasonable price I would do it immediately.

As it stands now it just seems like the industry is cannibalizing itself. They're delaying western releases to hopefully spurr more Japanese sales; but it's just leading to fansubs being the faster and better option almost every time.

It's incredibly frustrating to even find places that sell anime in the west. When you do, it's prohibitively expensive to buy shows that are years old. There used to be an anime/comic store in my city. Their movies were about 90 - 110 dollars per disc. These were DVDs. In the cases of things like Nichijou, I'm never even given the opportunity to buy the goddamn thing.

I don't even know the point of writing all this, I assume you all know it already or I'm just wrong. I'm just frustrated is all. In short, I feel the industry needs to get agile extremely fast. They need to provide a better service than fansubs.

 

[Weaver]

Okay, ignoring my rant; does anyone have a favourite online store they use to buy anime?

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

Personally I prefer fansubs most of the time purely due to the fact that the translations are better. I watch raws so just importing JP BDs is good enough for me. If you lack that option then I don't think waiting years out of some sense of loyalty to dubbing companies of all things (especially when you don't watch the dubs) makes sense. Even if you just watch it online you can still support the original makers through merchandise purchases which you have no way of making years later when stuff is all sold out and being resold on ebay for 3 times the money.

 

[Fappy]

I usually just watch stuff on Netflix and whatnot. I rarely ever buy movies or tv shows. Anime or otherwise. Stuff is just too damn expensive.

 

[Mr. GameBrain]

I did spend some time, hunting DVDs to some core shows (Bleach, Love Hina, ect.).

I didn't really watch them, so I stopped. (Plus its actually pretty hard to find DVDs in the UK. Well.. Its better now, but a few years ago it was tough. (I couldn't imagine how hard it must have been for an anime fan before that with VHS. Especially a UK one! XD))

EDIT: My best friend, an rabid anime fan, watches his online, and imports some Blu Rays. (He has Highschool of the dead for instance. Not my favourite, because I don't like the fan service, but he loves that raunchy stuff! XD)

 

[Weaver]

Personally I prefer fansubs most of the time purely due to the fact that the translations are better. I watch raws so just importing JP BDs is good enough for me. If you lack that option then I don't think waiting years out of some sense of loyalty to dubbing companies of all things (especially when you don't watch the dubs) makes sense. Even if you just watch it online you can still support the original makers through merchandise purchases which you have no way of making years later when stuff is all sold out and being resold on ebay for 3 times the money.

Direct imports (without subs) wouldn't work for me. I don't know Japanese and don't really intend to learn it.

I wouldn't call it loyalty to dubbing companies, it's more that I just wish to financially support my favourite shows. It's just that, unfortunately, direct BD imports are crazy expensive. Too much so for what I can realistically afford. I almost wish I could just mail Kyoto Animation $60 dollars or something.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

Again, you can do that through merchandise purchases. Buy figures and posters and gloves and cups. Those also support em. Some are mainly supported by them actually.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Be glad you can even get anime on blu-ray on your side of the pond. Stores that sell anime here in Holland have practically become non-existent, and finding it that's actually on blu-ray is an exercise in fultility. Only through blind luck can you find any over here.

 

[Risingblade]

Amazon? That's where I get my anime

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Why exactly are Fansubs superior? I watched Episode of Bardock with a fansub and all it was was missing half the dialogue and adding about fifty unnecessary shits and fucks to the dialogue.

 

[Weaver]

Be glad you can even get anime on blu-ray on your side of the pond. Stores that sell anime here in Holland have practically become non-existent, and finding it that's actually on blu-ray is an exercise in fultility. Only through blind luck can you find any over here.

Well, that store I mentioned closed down about 6 years ago

Why exactly are Fansubs superior? I watched Episode of Bardock with a fansub and all it was was missing half the dialogue and adding about fifty unnecessary shits and fucks to the dialogue.

Then watch better fansubs? I have honestly not once run into this problem when comparing them to their official and released counterparts and I've been watching anime for at least 12 years now

Amazon? That's where I get my anime

This would be fine if I were American or British; but Amazon Canada is markedly terrible.

 

[Tsun Tzu]

Netflix or, if the show isn't licensed for the states, the internet.

 

[SckizoBoy]

Why exactly are Fansubs superior? I watched Episode of Bardock with a fansub and all it was was missing half the dialogue and adding about fifty unnecessary shits and fucks to the dialogue.

Depends on the group doing it... some are shee-iiiiiiiiiiiiiite, but most that do regular full-season subs are pretty damned good. They put a helluva lot more effort into translating and coming up with analogous expressions and do a much better job with on-screen text than official releases, as well as in-episode translation notes. Shinsen were known for their post-episode skits that explains a lot of the episode's content (their sub of Ergo Proxy was fucking immense, some episodes running to 30+ minutes because of informative post-scripts).

However, granted the one thing that makes them worse from a visual perspective is that they're always typsetted raws (i.e. mid-episode ads, weather alerts, product promotions etc.).

But as far as the 'sub' aspect is concerned, fansubs tend to be better in every sense.

 

[Cowabungaa]

Be glad you can even get anime on blu-ray on your side of the pond. Stores that sell anime here in Holland have practically become non-existent, and finding it that's actually on blu-ray is an exercise in fultility. Only through blind luck can you find any over here.

If you want to get anime Blu Rays over here you're best off checking conventions like Animecon or Abunai. If I remember correctly, despite my memory being quite hazy and because I was checking for other things, I saw a few anime Blu Rays on my first trip to Animecon. However, also if I remember correctly, you said you didn't conventions very much. I could keep my eye out for something for you when I go to Abunai though.

 

[evilneko]

1. Legal mumbo jumbo etc etc. Look at how long it took for Nausicaa to get a proper release in the states. And while I too prefer the original Japanese and spit on dubs, there's quite a large audience for dubs, and the dubbing process does take time. It's not like they can just read the fansub scripts, it'd end up like a campy old kung fu movie.

2. So about 50$ American?

3. Wat? Is Bandai in trouble? :O

4. Close to release here or there? Hmm, I guess CrunchyRoll could also offer x264/FLAC mkvs (heck, maybe even 10bit! Speaking of which I still need to set that up...) for download in addition to their streams. It's not like they have to worry about piracy--HorribleSubs already swipes their streams anyway. (What, did you think Horrible subbed it themselves?)

 

[Palademon]

3. Wat? Is Bandai in trouble? :O

The western branch of Bandai no longer exists.
Much a tear was cried.

 

[evilneko]

3. Wat? Is Bandai in trouble? :O

The western branch of Bandai no longer exists.
Much a tear was cried.

I hope someone picked up their licenses. According to ANN, the licenses were returned:

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/bandai_downsizing_ken_iyadomi_interview

Maybe Funi or someone will license the limboed animes. There doesn't seem to be any news on it though.

 

[Weaver]

3. Wat? Is Bandai in trouble? :O

The western branch of Bandai no longer exists.
Much a tear was cried.

I hope someone picked up their licenses. According to ANN, the licenses were returned:

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/bandai_downsizing_ken_iyadomi_interview

Maybe Funi or someone will license the limboed animes. There doesn't seem to be any news on it though.

I'm glad Nichijou got returned! I heard disc sales were abysmal for it in Japan, but I'd sure love to buy a copy!

 

[LGCzero]

If you want a website for sales (stateside) you can check out rightstuf.com. They might be a little light on BD's but there is still a decent selection of DVD's If you can sacrifice the 1080p. (that I never notice anyway) Whether or not they have what you want it is worth checking out.

 

[evilneko]

3. Wat? Is Bandai in trouble? :O

The western branch of Bandai no longer exists.
Much a tear was cried.

I hope someone picked up their licenses. According to ANN, the licenses were returned:

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/bandai_downsizing_ken_iyadomi_interview

Maybe Funi or someone will license the limboed animes. There doesn't seem to be any news on it though.

I'm glad Nichijou got returned! I heard disc sales were abysmal for it in Japan, but I'd sure love to buy a copy!

In other words, it was returned to KyoAni. Someone stateside still has to pick it up.

Keep those fansubs circulating [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/KeepCirculatingTheTapes], this one ain't seeing the shiny side of a disc for a while.