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I don't know if it has every been explained or it's just Japan's pricing, but the Blu-Ray's are just so expensive in Japan. I looked up the 3rd volume of Tiger & Bunny on CD Japan and it's listed at 7000 Yen which is about $88 US, so that means that the 24K+ copies sold generated over $2 million US. That's just insane.

I know it's been discussed before, but I am so thankful for the pricing here in the States. Even if they release Tiger & Bunny in two parts, with 13 episodes each for the 1st season, both boxsets wouldn't equal $88, which is the price for 1 blu-ray in Japan, that contains only 3 episodes. I couldn't even imagine paying almost $90 for 3 episodes. Though I did use to pay $25-30 per VHS for 3 episodes back in the mid-late 90's when I got into Anime, but wow, Japan's pricing is on another level.

Are there any sites/companies who track the sales of US/North american releases? Do any titles sell 10/20K copies in the first week of release here in North America? Would Shonen titles sell that much?

Toriko36 wrote:

Are there any sites/companies who track the sales of US/North american releases? Do any titles sell 10/20K copies in the first week of release here in North America? Would Shonen titles sell that much?

IIRC they used to reach those numbers over 7 or so years ago. But now a days a title is lucky to break 1-2k.

You should listen to the ANNcast episode that had Ed Chime in it, he used to be part of Geneon USA and talks about some sales figures. It's quite good.

PBsallad wrote:

Toriko36 wrote:

Are there any sites/companies who track the sales of US/North american releases? Do any titles sell 10/20K copies in the first week of release here in North America? Would Shonen titles sell that much?

IIRC they used to reach those numbers over 7 or so years ago. But now a days a title is lucky to break 1-2k.

You should listen to the ANNcast episode that had Ed Chime in it, he used to be part of Geneon USA and talks about some sales figures. It's quite good.

Great, thanks alot PB. I appreciate the link to the ANNcast. I don't remember if I listened to this episode or not, but either way, looks to be about 2 years old and has some very interesting topics. Thanks again!

I'm sad to see Nichijou do so poorly, but I'm not surprised. It's competing with Hanasaku Iroha, Blue Exorcist, AnoHana, Aria, and Seikon no Qwasar 2, plus shows that are hanging over from last season. Then it's a 13 volume, Kadokawa priced release. Not to mention it's a gag comedy that uses real jokes over moe or fanservice.

It's not exactly in the best situation, so, again, I'm not shocked by this. I also have a hard time believing ~3-4k per volume covers the cost of production since it's an extremely well animated show.

The King of Harts wrote:

I'm sad to see Nichijou do so poorly, but I'm not surprised. It's competing with Hanasaku Iroha, Blue Exorcist, AnoHana, Aria, and Seikon no Qwasar 2, plus shows that are hanging over from last season. Then it's a 13 volume, Kadokawa priced release. Not to mention it's a gag comedy that uses real jokes over moe or fanservice.

It's not exactly in the best situation, so, again, I'm not shocked by this. I also have a hard time believing ~3-4k per volume covers the cost of production since it's an extremely well animated show.

The break even point for late night anime is called the Manabi Line which is an average of 2,899 copies over however many volumes released per series.

Toriko36 wrote:

I don't know if it has every been explained or it's just Japan's pricing, but the Blu-Ray's are just so expensive in Japan. I looked up the 3rd volume of Tiger & Bunny on CD Japan and it's listed at 7000 Yen which is about $88 US, so that means that the 24K+ copies sold generated over $2 million US. That's just insane.

You probably shouldn't check how much you'd have to pay for a copy of T&B Vol 1 LE BD if you wanted it now. Just tack on a zero to the list price.

If I'd known I'd have pre-ordered at least 10 copies.

Ushio wrote:

The King of Harts wrote:

I'm sad to see Nichijou do so poorly, but I'm not surprised. It's competing with Hanasaku Iroha, Blue Exorcist, AnoHana, Aria, and Seikon no Qwasar 2, plus shows that are hanging over from last season. Then it's a 13 volume, Kadokawa priced release. Not to mention it's a gag comedy that uses real jokes over moe or fanservice.

It's not exactly in the best situation, so, again, I'm not shocked by this. I also have a hard time believing ~3-4k per volume covers the cost of production since it's an extremely well animated show.

The break even point for late night anime is called the Manabi Line which is an average of 2,899 copies over however many volumes released per series.

However Nichijou obviously has a much higher budget than Manabi Straight did, so KyoAni is undoubtedly losing money with the project (unless the merchandise sells quite well). However considering how much their other properties made, it's pretty much a drop in the bucket.

hissatsu01 wrote:

Toriko36 wrote:

I don't know if it has every been explained or it's just Japan's pricing, but the Blu-Ray's are just so expensive in Japan. I looked up the 3rd volume of Tiger & Bunny on CD Japan and it's listed at 7000 Yen which is about $88 US, so that means that the 24K+ copies sold generated over $2 million US. That's just insane.

You probably shouldn't check how much you'd have to pay for a copy of T&B Vol 1 LE BD if you wanted it now. Just tack on a zero to the list price.

If I'd known I'd have pre-ordered at least 10 copies.

I don't understand your post.

Why would you have ordered 10 copies @ 3000 yen / $40 US?

Because if you want it now, it'll cost you close to $400. That would have been a nice investment.

hissatsu01 wrote:

Because if you want it now, it'll cost you close to $400. That would have been a nice investment.

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=BCXA-304

Volume 1 for $31.

That's an interesting theory. You think there is a market for Japanese imported blu rays and people would pay that much for them in the US?

I mean, the whole discussion is that I think it's incredible that the latest volume released in Japan sold over 20,000 copies, especially at a 7000 yen price tag. I just could never see that happening here in the US and think even big titles here don't sell anywhere near that.

Last edited by hissatsu01 on Thu Jul 28, 2011 3:57 pm; edited 2 times in total

You're not paying attention. That's the RE. No problem getting that. I said the LE, which was massively under-produced. You can't buy that anywhere now unless you buy it second-hand. It goes for over $350.

http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B004OR2C4M

And no, except for rare exceptions, there's no market for selling JP releases in the US. If I have to sell something, I send it to Japan for someone to sell for me.

Toriko36 wrote:

hissatsu01 wrote:

Because if you want it now, it'll cost you close to $400. That would have been a nice investment.

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=BCXA-304

Volume 1 for $31.

Japanese fans don't buy Regular Editions. Heck, I think T&B was the first case where I saw that the regular edition of a TV series volume ranked on the charts. That just shows how much Bandai underestimated the sales of this show.

And yeah, those who are hoarding the LE vol 1 would make a pretty penny. Although at the cost of their integrity. But who needs that when you're rolling in money.