Your Anime DVD/Blu-Ray/VHS Collection (and/or Wish List)

[Xelien]

Let's see if I can do this by memory...

Series
Sailor Moon (various DVDs and VHS across seasons)
Dragon Ball Z Kai (most of GT)
Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood
Mai-Hime
Mai-Otome
Code Geass (All of 1st season not all of R2)
D.Gray-Man
DNAngel
Ouran High School Host Club
Gankutsuou
Romeo x Juliet
Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG
Kyo Kara Maoh

Films
Origin: Spirits of the Past
Dragon Ball Z films (most of them)
Appleseed Ex Machina
Redline
Pokemon (First Movie to Heroes)
Studio Ghibli
-All Miyazaki movies (except Ponyo)
-Grave of the Fireflies
-The Cat Returns
Mamoru Hosoda
-The Girl Who Lept Through Time
-Summer Wars
-Wolf Children
Makoto Shinkai
-5 Centimeters Per Second
-The Garden of Words

Wish List
Children Who Chase Lost Voices, Tokyo Godfathers, Haibane Renmei, Attack on Titan, Angel Beats!, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Free! Iwatobi Swim Club

 

[Artina89]

My anime collection is all on DVD:

FLCL
Another
Trigun and Trigun: Badlands rumble
Samurai gun
Black Jack
Persona 4: The animated series
Paranoia agent
Virus: Virus buster Serge
Gantz
Beck: Mongolian chop squad
Death Note
Hetalia: Axis powers and Hetalia: Paint it white!
Vampire Night Guilty
Devil May Cry
Baka and test

I would have more, but anime is really expensive, and I don't really like frittering my money away on DVD's.

 

[neonsword13-ops]

Just figured I'd take a picture of it because it's not that large of a collection right now.

Spoiler

Not very impressive, but I only just started collecting anime last year and I plan on buying a lot more this year.

Not sure why I have two Naruto movies, though. Hmm. Evangelion 2.22 is also coming in the mail soon.

Can't wait for inevitable Kill la Kill blu-rays.

Also, those Durarara!! DVD cost me about 3 arms and a leg. Fucking bullshit pricing by Aniplex...

 

[FPLOON]

-snip-

Man, I wish I could take a picture of my anime collection... The closest I've done, besides listing them, is made a video showcasing them separate from my overall Blu-Ray/DVD/VHS collection (which I could never place on a single shelf in the first place...)

Well, if I exclude the Pokemon Jirachi movie on VHS and the FullMetal Alchemist DVD movie (which came with Volume 1 of the series when I first bought it), I didn't start actually collecting anime until 2011 with Shin-Chan, Samurai Champloo, and Eden of the East...

But, even still, those DVD prices can get a bit much, even when I usually buy them from Amazon, Right Stuf, or from an anime convention... (And, yeah, those Aniplex DVD prices have prevented me from even wanting to buy a series straight from them in the first place...)

 

[coates32]

Just figured I'd take a picture of it because it's not that large of a

Also, those Durarara!! DVD cost me about 3 arms and a leg. Fucking bullshit pricing by Aniplex...

I know what you mean, not too long ago I got Madoka and Blue Exorcist on Blu-ray, and both of those cost me quite a bit, especially Blue Exorcist.

As for my collection, there's way too many to list here I'll post a link instead:

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/MyAnime/collection.php?user=coates32

Here's the list of my Blu-ray collection:

Spoiler: Click here to see this long list

-Angel Beats!
-Blue Exorcist
-Bodacious Space Pirates
-Broken Blade
-Casshern Sins
-Cat Planet Cuties
-Dusk Maiden of Anmesia
-Fairy Tale (first 24 episodes)
-Gintama: the [1st] Movie
-Hellsing Ultimate Vol. 1-8
-K-On (season 1 & 2 & the movie)
-Langrange (both seasons)
-Madoka (TV series only)
-The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya
-Ouran Host Club
-Queen's Blade (season 1)
-Redline
-Read Or Die
-Sekerei (both seasons)
-Shakugan no Shana (seasons 2 & 3)
-Soul Eater
-Tiger & Bunny (TV series only)
-Yamada's First Time

And my wishlist:

-A Certain Magical Index
-Fate/Zero
-Book of Bantora
-Queen's Blade season 2 (if I can ever find it)
-Moribito
-Black Lagoon
-Love, Chunibyo, and Other Delusions (if it ever gets an English Dub)

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Pretty short list, but:

<spoiler=DVD>Zeta Gundam (Season 1 only)GeneshaftMetropolis (movie)Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack (movie) Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children (movie) Castle in the Sky (movie)The Venus Wars (movie)

<spoiler=VHS>Ghost in the Shell (movie)Princess Mononoke (movie)

As you can probably tell from this list, I have no problem buying anime movies, but think the series tend to be too friggin' expensive per season. A one season live action show like Firefly is $10 for the whole show these days, full price new. Up to $20 for a more popular or recent show. A one season anime is more like $40 if you pay full price, which is absurd, especially because multi-season shows are at least that much per season.

 

[Yuuki]

Most of my stuff is downloaded legit online, bought DVD or borrowed DVD's from friends. I'm not a huge fan of CD/DVD collections because it's a colossal pain to dig up something quickly, find the damn disc, realize my dvd drive isn't plugged in, insert disc, oh fuck the disc is corrupted, blaaaargh.

Anyway my collection (so far) not including western animations such as Avatar: Last Airbender, Super/Batman animated stuff, etc.

Afro Samurai
Akira
Arrietty
Attack On Titan (ongoing)
Baccano!
Bakemonogatari
Basilisk
Berserk
Berserk Golden Arc
Black Butler
Black Lagoon
Blood-C
Blood - The Last Vampire
Break Blade
Clannad
Clannad - After Story
Claymore
Code Geass
Cowboy Bebop
Deadman Wonderland
Death Note
Desert Punk
Dragon Ball Z
Dragon Ball GT
Durarara!
Elfen Lied
Ergo Proxy
Fairy Tail (not all seasons)
Fate Stay Night
Fate Zero
Final Fantasy VII - Advent Children
FLCL
Full Metal Panic! + 2nd Raid
Full Metal Panic! Fumoffu
Fullmetal Alchemist - Brotherhood
Gankutsuou
Ga-Rei Zero
Girl Who Lept Through Time
Ghost In The Shell (full collection)
Gunadam 00
Hellsing
Hellsing Ultimate
High School Of The Dead
Highlander - The Search for Vengeance
Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni
Howl's Moving Castle
Karas
Kill La Kill (ongoing)
Last Exile
Legend Of The Legendary Heroes
Macross Frontier
Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya + Disappearance
Monster
Metropolis
My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic
Naruto
Naruto - Shippuden (not all)
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Ninja Scroll
Panty & Stocking With Garterbelt
Paprika
Princess Mononoke
Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Rin - Daughters Of Mnemosyne
Rosario Vampire
Samurai Champloo
Secret Of Kells
Soul Eater
Steins;Gate
Sword Art Online
Sword Of The Stranger
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
To Aru Majutsu No Index
To Aru Kagaku No Railgun
Trigun
Vampire Hunter D - Bloodlust
Witchblade
Wonderful Days
Yumekui Merry
Zoids

Not including around ~150gb of Hentai, but lets not go there

Wishlist:
Spice and Wolf
Garden Of Sinners
Princess Tutu

 

[Zetatrain]

Well lets see here

Complete TV/OVA series and Movies (All DVDs and Blu-Rays)

Appleseed: Ex Machina
Area 88 OVA collection
Baccano!
Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail
Burst Angels
Cowboy Bebop (TV series)
Eden of the East (TV series)
Escaflowne (TV series + Movie)
Full Metal Panic
Full Metal panic: Fummofu
Full Metal panic: TSR
Gankutsuou: the Count of Monte Cristo
Ghost in the Shell SAC: The 2nd Gig
Ghost in the Shell SAC: Solid State Society
Halo Legends
Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro
Macross
Macross Plus
Mobile Suit Gundam: Movie Trilogy
Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (TV series)
Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack
Mobile Suit Gundam: F91
Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket
Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory
Mobile Suit Gundam: the 08th MS Team (OVA series + movie)
Neon Genesis Evangelion (TV series)
Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death and Rebirth
Neon Genesis Evangelion: End of Evangelion
Neon Genesis Evangelion: Rebuild Movies 1-2
Patlabor: WXIII
Yugo the Negotiator
Welcome to the NHK

Incomplete Series

Code Geass R1 (Season 1 part 1)
Eureka Seven (Vol. 2-5)
Gundam Wing (Vol. 1-5)
Gundam Seed (Vol. 7-10)
Gundam Seed Destiny (Vol.1)
Gundam 00 Season 1 (Part 1)
Gundam Unicorn (ep. 1-6)

Trying to complete these series but Bandai Entertainment going defunct hasn't exactly made it easy for some of them. Also hoping to get the Mobile Suit Gundam (original)TV series and Black Lagoon S1 and S2 eventually.

So as you can see I'm a pretty big Mecha fan especially when it comes to the Gundam franchise.

 

[Aris Khandr]

Functionally, my collection is 0. I have a bunch of DVDs and VHS, but nothing to play them on. I wish that someone would sign a deal with Amazon or iTunes to make the shows available digitally. Even then, there aren't that many I'd want to buy again. Please Save My Earth, Slayers, the first three seasons of Sailor Moon, Azumanga Daioh, Maria-sama ga Miteru, Fushigi Yuugi, and IRIA are the only ones to really come to mind. And a few Miyazaki films, mostly Mononoke and Ponyo.

 

[Padwolf]

All I have is Death Note and Grave of the Fireflies

All I want is Ah! My Goddess. And Chobits. Goddamn I loved those animes so much.

 

[FPLOON]

As you can probably tell from this list, I have no problem buying anime movies, but think the series tend to be too friggin' expensive per season. A one season live action show like Firefly is $10 for the whole show these days, full price new. Up to $20 for a more popular or recent show. A one season anime is more like $40 if you pay full price, which is absurd, especially because multi-season shows are at least that much per season.

I've heard many rumors as to why that is, in terms of pricing... Like:

Most of the money is for just importing the series[footnote]since certain anime companies are actually against importing their series overseas and stuff... (WHAT???)[/footnote]Illegal downloading/pirating onlineAnimation is FREAKING more expensive than live action/CGI

The prices per season on anime, alone, is just a small reason why I only like buying series that come with all of their episodes (usually 26, except otherwise) instead of by season, since they, at least, cost a fourth as much as, say, the complete series of Dexter or Breaking Bad, especially when they just so happen to be on sale... (Then again, FUNimation's basically distributing most of the anime series I enjoy at this point... So, there's that...)

Most of my stuff is downloaded legit online, bought DVD or borrowed DVD's from friends. I'm not a huge fan of CD/DVD collections because it's a colossal pain to dig up something quickly, find the damn disc, realize my dvd drive isn't plugged in, insert disc, oh fuck the disc is corrupted, blaaaargh.

I could never get on board with buying a series via digital only... It was always the fear of loosing something just through either a simple hack/virus corruption on the computer or just loosing whatever physical/digital trace of said series and never being able to recover them on another computer... (Then again, most of the Hentai I own legally are basically digital since I would NEVER spend 70-150 bones on the first of a two-part OVA hentai series on DVD alone... But, I digress...)

Not including around ~150gb of Hentai, but lets not go there

Agreed... (That's another thread in and of itself at that point...)

Incomplete Series

Code Geass R1 (Season 1 part 1)
Eureka Seven (Vol. 2-5)
Gundam Wing (Vol. 1-5)
Gundam Seed (Vol. 7-10)
Gundam Seed Destiny (Vol.1)
Gundam 00 Season 1 (Part 1)
Gundam Unicorn (ep. 1-6)

Trying to complete these series but Bandai Entertainment going defunct hasn't exactly made it easy for some of them. Also hoping to get the Mobile Suit Gundam (original)TV series and Black Lagoon S1 and S2 eventually.

So as you can see I'm a pretty big Mecha fan especially when it comes to the Gundam franchise.

Well, so far, the only way those series would get redistributed is probably through FUNImation, since they do have plans to release Code Gease R1 and R2 complete on Blu-Ray and (maybe) DVD... Maybe they can also re-release other Bandai Entertainment series... like IGPX, since I love that series... (and it would be cool to see that get released on Blu-Ray...)

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

As you can probably tell from this list, I have no problem buying anime movies, but think the series tend to be too friggin' expensive per season. A one season live action show like Firefly is $10 for the whole show these days, full price new. Up to $20 for a more popular or recent show. A one season anime is more like $40 if you pay full price, which is absurd, especially because multi-season shows are at least that much per season.

I've heard many rumors as to why that is, in terms of pricing... Like:

Most of the money is for just importing the series[footnote]since certain anime companies are actually against importing their series overseas and stuff... (WHAT???)[/footnote]Illegal downloading/pirating onlineAnimation is FREAKING more expensive than live action/CGI

The prices per season on anime, alone, is just a small reason why I only like buying series that come with all of their episodes (usually 26, except otherwise) instead of by season, since they, at least, cost a fourth as much as, say, the complete series of Dexter or Breaking Bad, especially when they just so happen to be on sale... (Then again, FUNimation's basically distributing most of the anime series I enjoy at this point... So, there's that...)

Most of my stuff is downloaded legit online, bought DVD or borrowed DVD's from friends. I'm not a huge fan of CD/DVD collections because it's a colossal pain to dig up something quickly, find the damn disc, realize my dvd drive isn't plugged in, insert disc, oh fuck the disc is corrupted, blaaaargh.

I could never get on board with buying a series via digital only... It was always the fear of loosing something just through either a simple hack/virus corruption on the computer or just loosing whatever physical/digital trace of said series and never being able to recover them on another computer... (Then again, most of the Hentai I own legally are basically digital since I would NEVER spend 70-150 bones on the first of a two-part OVA hentai series on DVD alone... But, I digress...)

Not including around ~150gb of Hentai, but lets not go there

Agreed... (That's another thread in and of itself at that point...)

Incomplete Series

Code Geass R1 (Season 1 part 1)
Eureka Seven (Vol. 2-5)
Gundam Wing (Vol. 1-5)
Gundam Seed (Vol. 7-10)
Gundam Seed Destiny (Vol.1)
Gundam 00 Season 1 (Part 1)
Gundam Unicorn (ep. 1-6)

Trying to complete these series but Bandai Entertainment going defunct hasn't exactly made it easy for some of them. Also hoping to get the Mobile Suit Gundam (original)TV series and Black Lagoon S1 and S2 eventually.

So as you can see I'm a pretty big Mecha fan especially when it comes to the Gundam franchise.

Well, so far, the only way those series would get redistributed is probably through FUNImation, since they do have plans to release Code Gease R1 and R2 complete on Blu-Ray and (maybe) DVD... Maybe they can also re-release other Bandai Entertainment series... like IGPX, since I love that series... (and it would be cool to see that get released on Blu-Ray...)

The way I understand it, it's more about Japanese businessmen sticking to Japanese business models even in foreign markets, crossed with not wanting Japanese individuals to reverse import and undercut their domestic business. See, in Japan anime is friggin' expensive. Not because of anything to do with how much it costs to make, but because otaku are notorious for being willing to pay pretty much anything to get the stuff they want. It's kind of like how Star Trek: TOS was over $100 a season for so many years in the US, despite being a catalog show that had made its money back so many times over it wasn't even funny, and despite most other shows at the time being between $40 and $60 per season. Anyway the reasoning goes that A.) any American who pays less than what a person in Japan would pay is underpaying (kind of like the "used games are stealing" thing in the games industry), and B, if they're too much cheaper abroad, but contain a Japanese language track, people in Japan will catch on and start reverse importing the shows, cutting into the domestic profits. As a result, the industry is locked into a business model where everything is sold in small numbers at a high price, rather than in large numbers at a low price. This is also in large part why there's been an explosion of pandering moe crap in the last decade or so -- when only a niche audience is willing to pay what you're asking, you pander to that niche audience.

As far as animation being more expensive than live action to produce, that's a load of crock. The entire reason there's such a big animation industry in Japan is that it's cheaper to animate something, especially something with fantastical elements, than it is to do it in live action to the same level of quality. If live action were cheaper you'd see less anime coming out of Japan and more attempts to compete with Hollywood on its own ground.

 

[FPLOON]

The way I understand it, it's more about Japanese businessmen sticking to Japanese business models even in foreign markets, crossed with not wanting Japanese individuals to reverse import and undercut their domestic business. See, in Japan anime is friggin' expensive. Not because of anything to do with how much it costs to make, but because otaku are notorious for being willing to pay pretty much anything to get the stuff they want. It's kind of like how Star Trek: TOS was over $100 a season for so many years in the US, despite being a catalog show that had made its money back so many times over it wasn't even funny. Anyway the reasoning goes that A.) any American who pays less than what a person in Japan would pay is underpaying (kind of like the "used games are stealing" thing in the games industry), and B, if they're too much cheaper abroad, but contain a Japanese language track, people in Japan will catch on and start reverse importing the shows, cutting into the domestic profits. As a result, the industry is locked into a business model where everything is sold in small numbers at a high price, rather than in large numbers at a low price. This is also in large part why there's been an explosion of pandering moe crap in the last decade or so -- when only a niche audience is willing to pay what you're asking, you pander to that niche audience.

As far as animation being more expensive than live action to produce, that's a load of crock. The entire reason there's such a big animation industry in Japan is that it's cheaper to animate something, especially something with fantastical elements, than it is to do it in live action to the same level of quality. If live action were cheaper you'd see less anime coming out of Japan and more attempts to compete with Hollywood on its own ground.

Well, that makes both a LOT more sense and absolutely NO sense at the same time... I mean, wouldn't "reverse importing" actually cost more, especially in the "shipping from one country to another" department? But, then again, "tradition" and "greed" are just two sides of the same coin, it seems...

I guess that would also explain why, say, getting Persona 4 The Animation on DVD or Blu-Ray only comes with the English track instead of both language tracks and why FUNimation mostly have region-locked DVDs... I understand having to set standards to who can have what series as well as the notion of "if it ain't broke, why fix it", but COME ON! Not everyone's a baby wanting to grab on to those jiggling keys you keep out of reach until the "right price" is made as well as everyone wanting what used to be niche (in its own right) into what's considered the "stereotype" or the "norm" and visa verse...

Then again, Japan is basically the "Hollywood" of animation at this point... So, I guess what they perceive as "tradition" and what we perceive as "greed" is just one and the same, unfortunately...

Edit: I also want to call BS on series that end before the original source material does on the grounds of "not enough funding to continue"... But, I digress, considering what happened with series like Darker Than Black, Black Butler, and Berserk...

 

[Zetatrain]

Incomplete Series

Code Geass R1 (Season 1 part 1)
Eureka Seven (Vol. 2-5)
Gundam Wing (Vol. 1-5)
Gundam Seed (Vol. 7-10)
Gundam Seed Destiny (Vol.1)
Gundam 00 Season 1 (Part 1)
Gundam Unicorn (ep. 1-6)

Trying to complete these series but Bandai Entertainment going defunct hasn't exactly made it easy for some of them. Also hoping to get the Mobile Suit Gundam (original)TV series and Black Lagoon S1 and S2 eventually.

So as you can see I'm a pretty big Mecha fan especially when it comes to the Gundam franchise.

Well, so far, the only way those series would get redistributed is probably through FUNImation, since they do have plans to release Code Gease R1 and R2 complete on Blu-Ray and (maybe) DVD... Maybe they can also re-release other Bandai Entertainment series... like IGPX, since I love that series... (and it would be cool to see that get released on Blu-Ray...)

True, but when it comes to Gundam related media it seems that Sunrise has the mentality that it has to be distributed/released by them or it doesn't get distributed at all. The only reason why Gundam Unicorn continued to be released in the US after Bandai Entertainment went defunct is because its distributed by Bandai Visual which uses more traditional Japanese pricing models ($60 per episode).

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

The way I understand it, it's more about Japanese businessmen sticking to Japanese business models even in foreign markets, crossed with not wanting Japanese individuals to reverse import and undercut their domestic business. See, in Japan anime is friggin' expensive. Not because of anything to do with how much it costs to make, but because otaku are notorious for being willing to pay pretty much anything to get the stuff they want. It's kind of like how Star Trek: TOS was over $100 a season for so many years in the US, despite being a catalog show that had made its money back so many times over it wasn't even funny. Anyway the reasoning goes that A.) any American who pays less than what a person in Japan would pay is underpaying (kind of like the "used games are stealing" thing in the games industry), and B, if they're too much cheaper abroad, but contain a Japanese language track, people in Japan will catch on and start reverse importing the shows, cutting into the domestic profits. As a result, the industry is locked into a business model where everything is sold in small numbers at a high price, rather than in large numbers at a low price. This is also in large part why there's been an explosion of pandering moe crap in the last decade or so -- when only a niche audience is willing to pay what you're asking, you pander to that niche audience.

As far as animation being more expensive than live action to produce, that's a load of crock. The entire reason there's such a big animation industry in Japan is that it's cheaper to animate something, especially something with fantastical elements, than it is to do it in live action to the same level of quality. If live action were cheaper you'd see less anime coming out of Japan and more attempts to compete with Hollywood on its own ground.

Well, that makes both a LOT more sense and absolutely NO sense at the same time... I mean, wouldn't "reverse importing" actually cost more, especially in the "shipping from one country to another" department? But, then again, "tradition" and "greed" are just two sides of the same coin, it seems...

I guess that would also explain why, say, getting Persona 4 The Animation on DVD or Blu-Ray only comes with the English track instead of both language tracks and why FUNimation mostly have region-locked DVDs... I understand having to set standards to who can have what series as well as the notion of "if it ain't broke, why fix it", but COME ON! Not everyone's a baby wanting to grab on to those jiggling keys you keep out of reach until the "right price" is made as well as everyone wanting what used to be niche (in its own right) into what's considered the "stereotype" or the "norm" and visa verse...

Then again, Japan is basically the "Hollywood" of animation at this point... So, I guess what they perceive as "tradition" and what we perceive as "greed" is just one and the same, unfortunately...

Edit: I also want to call BS on series that end before the original source material does on the grounds of "not enough funding to continue"... But, I digress, considering what happened with series like Darker Than Black, Black Butler, and Berserk...

It's pretty crazy, that's for sure. As far as reverse importing goes, as long as the shipping and import tax comes out to less than the difference, people would do it. If they were to sell anime for $20 a season instead of $40, and anime in Japan cost $40 a season, I'd imagine that would already be a big enough difference for people to make the jump. Especially because region locking is easy to get around pretty much everywhere but the US, where Hollywood has made sure region free players are borderline impossible to get. What's more, I think anime in the US may already be cheaper than anime in Japan at $40 a season. Not by a large amount, but cheaper just the same. Probably just enough cheaper that reverse importing it costs more than buying it locally. Which, if true, would make a hypothetical case of $10-$20 a season anime with a Japanese language track that had to be imported from the US look pretty tempting to someone in Japan.

Sorry this is such a US centric discussion, by the way. I have no idea what anime pricing is like anywhere aside from Japan and America.

 

[FPLOON]

Incomplete Series

Code Geass R1 (Season 1 part 1)
Eureka Seven (Vol. 2-5)
Gundam Wing (Vol. 1-5)
Gundam Seed (Vol. 7-10)
Gundam Seed Destiny (Vol.1)
Gundam 00 Season 1 (Part 1)
Gundam Unicorn (ep. 1-6)

Trying to complete these series but Bandai Entertainment going defunct hasn't exactly made it easy for some of them. Also hoping to get the Mobile Suit Gundam (original)TV series and Black Lagoon S1 and S2 eventually.

So as you can see I'm a pretty big Mecha fan especially when it comes to the Gundam franchise.

Well, so far, the only way those series would get redistributed is probably through FUNImation, since they do have plans to release Code Gease R1 and R2 complete on Blu-Ray and (maybe) DVD... Maybe they can also re-release other Bandai Entertainment series... like IGPX, since I love that series... (and it would be cool to see that get released on Blu-Ray...)

True, but when it comes to Gundam related media it seems that Sunrise has the mentality that it has to be distributed/released by them or it doesn't get distributed at all. The only reason why Gundam Unicorn continued to be released in the US after Bandai Entertainment went defunct is because its distributed by Bandai Visual which uses more traditional Japanese pricing models ($60 per episode).

Huh... So, they'd rather give away their "smaller" properties like Code Geass and Cowboy Bebop to FUNimation for their later Blu-Ray releases, but not the one franchise that's basically still makes them a primary distribution company (and not just mostly secondary)? (It's reminding me of Aniplex a little bit... only with Gundam...)

The way I understand it, it's more about Japanese businessmen sticking to Japanese business models even in foreign markets, crossed with not wanting Japanese individuals to reverse import and undercut their domestic business. See, in Japan anime is friggin' expensive. Not because of anything to do with how much it costs to make, but because otaku are notorious for being willing to pay pretty much anything to get the stuff they want. It's kind of like how Star Trek: TOS was over $100 a season for so many years in the US, despite being a catalog show that had made its money back so many times over it wasn't even funny. Anyway the reasoning goes that A.) any American who pays less than what a person in Japan would pay is underpaying (kind of like the "used games are stealing" thing in the games industry), and B, if they're too much cheaper abroad, but contain a Japanese language track, people in Japan will catch on and start reverse importing the shows, cutting into the domestic profits. As a result, the industry is locked into a business model where everything is sold in small numbers at a high price, rather than in large numbers at a low price. This is also in large part why there's been an explosion of pandering moe crap in the last decade or so -- when only a niche audience is willing to pay what you're asking, you pander to that niche audience.

As far as animation being more expensive than live action to produce, that's a load of crock. The entire reason there's such a big animation industry in Japan is that it's cheaper to animate something, especially something with fantastical elements, than it is to do it in live action to the same level of quality. If live action were cheaper you'd see less anime coming out of Japan and more attempts to compete with Hollywood on its own ground.

Well, that makes both a LOT more sense and absolutely NO sense at the same time... I mean, wouldn't "reverse importing" actually cost more, especially in the "shipping from one country to another" department? But, then again, "tradition" and "greed" are just two sides of the same coin, it seems...

I guess that would also explain why, say, getting Persona 4 The Animation on DVD or Blu-Ray only comes with the English track instead of both language tracks and why FUNimation mostly have region-locked DVDs... I understand having to set standards to who can have what series as well as the notion of "if it ain't broke, why fix it", but COME ON! Not everyone's a baby wanting to grab on to those jiggling keys you keep out of reach until the "right price" is made as well as everyone wanting what used to be niche (in its own right) into what's considered the "stereotype" or the "norm" and visa verse...

Then again, Japan is basically the "Hollywood" of animation at this point... So, I guess what they perceive as "tradition" and what we perceive as "greed" is just one and the same, unfortunately...

Edit: I also want to call BS on series that end before the original source material does on the grounds of "not enough funding to continue"... But, I digress, considering what happened with series like Darker Than Black, Black Butler, and Berserk...

It's pretty crazy, that's for sure. As far as reverse importing goes, as long as the shipping and import tax comes out to less than the difference, people would do it. If they were to sell anime for $20 a season instead of $40, and anime in Japan cost $40 a season, I'd imagine that would already be a big enough difference for people to make the jump. Especially because region locking is easy to get around pretty much everywhere but the US, where Hollywood has made sure region free players are borderline impossible to get. What's more, I think anime in the US may already be cheaper than anime in Japan at $40 a season. Not by a large amount, but cheaper just the same. Probably just enough cheaper that reverse importing it costs more than buying it locally. Which, if true, would make a hypothetical case of $10-$20 a season anime with a Japanese language track that had to be imported from the US look pretty tempting to someone in Japan.

Sorry this is such a US centric discussion, by the way. I have no idea what anime pricing is like anywhere aside from Japan and America.

That's quite alright, in fact... I knew when I made this thread, I knew certain people would want to own certain series in their collection, but can't mainly due to how much just a volume DVD of an anime series would cost in the first place... And, just hearing how the US would be having more of the cheaper end of the pricing stick in this situation, it's kinda conflicting in the sense that someone like me should be happy with the prices I have to spend just to own any English-dubbed anime on DVD...

Besides, I knew importing can get pretty expensive, even if the DVD you're trying to get is region-free or you have the equipment needed to play it once you do buy it... It's too bad there's not some sort of "general consensus" and/or "agreement" to make sure the pricing is a bit more equal-like, no matter what legal method you use to buy it, but it all comes back to that thin line between "tradition" and "greed"... and that's when I start saying "I digress" and getting back to editing my wishlist of what I would want to buy, but can't for various reasons... *shrugs*

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Geeze, I just looked it up and anime in Japan is even more expensive than I realized. We're talking anywhere from $20 to $50... for two or three episodes. I'm pretty sure by the time I complete my Stargate SG-1 collection, including the movies, I'll have enough left over for a couple of seasons of Atlantis before I've spent as much as some poor schmuck in Japan would have for one season of some some random 23 episode show.

If you're not familiar with SG-1, it lasted for 10 seasons and had two direct to DVD movies to wrap up the loose ends of the ongoing plotlines. Yeah.

 

[FPLOON]

Geeze, I just looked it up and anime in Japan is even more expensive than I realized. We're talking anywhere from $20 to $50... for two or three episodes. I'm pretty sure by the time I complete my Stargate SG-1 collection, including the movies, I'll have enough left over for a couple of seasons of Atlantis before I've spent as much as some poor schmuck in Japan would have for one season of some some random 23 episode show.

If you're not familiar with SG-1, it lasted for 10 seasons and had two direct to DVD movies to wrap up the loose ends of the ongoing plotlines. Yeah.

Yeah... and, when some of those anime DVDs come in "limited edition" versions and/or "complete collector's edition" version, that just adds another 50, 100, or 150 dollars all together... All I'm seeing, with these prices in general, is hoping that those that do buy those versions are sure telling themselves "It's was all worth it in the end"...

I mean, I love Gurren Lagann as much as the next person, but like hell was I going to shell $250 on the COMPLETE complete collector's edition version, which came with all episodes, spin-off movies and OVA series (the last two ONLY exclusive to this version, if you're buying from the US, if I might add) just to count the "main viewing course"... and not the "extra stuff" than came with it, of course...

Edit: Wow! I forgot that the price I just mention about Gurren Lagann was when they ANNOUNCED it in the first place... It's now cost A LOT MORE than what I just mention, at this point...

 

[Zetatrain]

Incomplete Series

Code Geass R1 (Season 1 part 1)
Eureka Seven (Vol. 2-5)
Gundam Wing (Vol. 1-5)
Gundam Seed (Vol. 7-10)
Gundam Seed Destiny (Vol.1)
Gundam 00 Season 1 (Part 1)
Gundam Unicorn (ep. 1-6)

Trying to complete these series but Bandai Entertainment going defunct hasn't exactly made it easy for some of them. Also hoping to get the Mobile Suit Gundam (original)TV series and Black Lagoon S1 and S2 eventually.

So as you can see I'm a pretty big Mecha fan especially when it comes to the Gundam franchise.

Well, so far, the only way those series would get redistributed is probably through FUNImation, since they do have plans to release Code Gease R1 and R2 complete on Blu-Ray and (maybe) DVD... Maybe they can also re-release other Bandai Entertainment series... like IGPX, since I love that series... (and it would be cool to see that get released on Blu-Ray...)

True, but when it comes to Gundam related media it seems that Sunrise has the mentality that it has to be distributed/released by them or it doesn't get distributed at all. The only reason why Gundam Unicorn continued to be released in the US after Bandai Entertainment went defunct is because its distributed by Bandai Visual which uses more traditional Japanese pricing models ($60 per episode).

Huh... So, they'd rather give away their "smaller" properties like Code Geass and Cowboy Bebop to FUNimation for their later Blu-Ray releases, but not the one franchise that's basically still makes them a primary distribution company (and not just mostly secondary)? (It's reminding me of Aniplex a little bit... only with Gundam...)

Well at the moment Sunrise isn't really interested in distributing outside Japan anymore hence why BE is defunct and Sunrise is handing out licensing rights for other anime series to other companies. Gundam Unicorn is kinda of an exception. I think Sunrise released Unicorn via Bandai Visual because they wanted to see if a foreign market would accept prices closer to what people in Japan pay (testing the waters so to speak).

Bandai Entertainment went defunct because the old pricing model for anime in the US ($20-$30 for 4-5 episodes) wasn't working anymore (as far as the suits at Sunrise were concerned). However, this does not necessarily mean Sunrise is done with releasing anime outside Japan forever. I think what they are doing now is taking a break from foreign distribution to overhaul their business model for foreign distribution and that new model is Bandai Visual.

If Bandai Visual doesn't yield the results they want I can see them offering the distribution rights for the Gundam franchise to other companies like Funimation (assuming Sunrise doesn't charge out the ass for it).

Now a lot of what I say is conjecture so take it with a grain of salt.