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REVIEW: Gundam UC Volume 01


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ChocoBar



Joined: 15 Aug 2008
Posts: 164
PostPosted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 3:56 am Reply with quote
Awesome review, can't wait to buy the BD when it's released
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Amuro1X



Joined: 02 Sep 2009
Posts: 173
PostPosted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 3:58 am Reply with quote
ChocoBar wrote:
Awesome review, can't wait to buy the BD when it's released


You may want to pre-order it on Amazon. They have it exclusively, and you'll save $15.
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Kalessin



Joined: 15 Aug 2007
Posts: 931
PostPosted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 4:31 am Reply with quote
I'm surprised that the review didn't mention the price. Even at the discounted price of $34.99, that's a bit much for only one episode - though it's an hour long instead of half an hour. I'd expect that that price makes it almost guaranteed to be DoA. Sure, some folks will buy it, but probably not many. You'll have to be a big fan of the UC Gundam universe and be willing to shell out a fair bit of cash. I question that they'll even make enough money to pay for the dub.

Personally, I love Gundam, but I've mostly seen more recent shows and not much of the UC stuff. That combined with the ludicrous price means that I'm not touching it. Going by the review, I wouldn't be very happy with it anyway unless I were to go and pick up the other series in the UC universe and watched them first. And I have no plans of doing that. I already have too much anime to watch without watching stuff that old.

Really, this series is targeting hardcore Gundam fans - folks who've already seen a fair bit of the older Gundam stuff and love it enough to shell out Japanese-level prices for it. I'm not really interested in any Gundam series failing here in the US, but their choice of business model for selling this one certainly deserves to die. Hopefully it doesn't adversely affect future Gundam releases here though. At least it's on Blu-ray. Bandai hasn't released any series on BD yet, so as annoying as what the Japanese Bandai is doing with this may be, at least it means that it's available here on BD and isn't delayed like releases typically are here in the US.
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Mr Adventure



Joined: 14 Jul 2008
Posts: 1598
PostPosted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 5:03 am Reply with quote
Hmmmm..... interesting. I've got a bit of a dilemma with this release. On one hand, I'm not a super big Gundam fan. I've got a few problems with some of its core conventions (NEWTYPES. UGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG) and to be frank, 08th MS Team and War in the Pocket are the only series under my belt (wish the original series was easy to get at, Sub-Only). And I thought MS Team failed to build a compelling war story and fell on its face, and found War in the Pocket merely okay (but far better then MS Team) I also have no interest in Wing or 00 or Destiny or anything not Universal Century related. Call me old fashion, but my love of Macross and Votoms demands that I support 'original continuity' when it comes to my classic mecha franchises, not reboots and retellings (also, Wing was awful and every indicator points at 00 being the same sort of show)

On the other other hand, I really want to pick something up that'll look amazing on my new Blu-ray player. Something as new as this, would probably fit the bill perfectly. (also, I'd really just like to find a Gundam series I like. Kind of sucks to not really care for one of the pillars of the genre.)

On the other other other hand, its 35/40 bucks for 59 minutes. and subsequent releases will be the same or worse (50 minutes).

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Confused
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Vicserr



Joined: 26 Apr 2004
Posts: 480
Location: Carolina, Puerto Rico USA
PostPosted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 5:39 am Reply with quote
Finally some Full ON UC Gundam goodness, after so much Alternate timeline stuff we get some meat thrown to the core fanbase after getting piecemeal like MS Igloo. And I do like most of the AT series.

And if we were paying Japanese prices, this would retail for $80, not $50
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gunshottrigun



Joined: 29 Oct 2005
Posts: 55
Location: VT
PostPosted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 6:37 am Reply with quote
Vicserr wrote:
Finally some Full ON UC Gundam goodness, after so much Alternate timeline stuff we get some meat thrown to the core fanbase after getting piecemeal like MS Igloo. And I do like most of the AT series.

And if we were paying Japanese prices, this would retail for $80, not $50

The thing is, this is America. In America that pricing is ridiculous for one single OVA episode. Even though it is a simultaneous worldwide release and on Blu-ray, it should MSRP for $30.00. I can't stand the "if we were in Japan" argument. The fact of the matter is, most of these people are in the States and it is a ridiculous pricing scheme. If you bought the series full price it would cost you a total of $300 for around 360 minutes of content. Back in the mid-2000s that pricing would still considered crazy. The only show that I remember pulling something like this was FLCL when it was first released on DVD.
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GracieLizzy



Joined: 26 Sep 2006
Posts: 551
Location: Sunderland, England, UK
PostPosted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 6:49 am Reply with quote
Does anyone know what the DVD pricing scheme is going to be like rather than the Blu-Ray? If it is cheaper I might still consider buying the first one on Blu-Ray (when it comes out in Europe, I don't see a Blu-Ray region 2 release anywhere at the moment; so much for 'worldwide') and the rest on DVD.

It is too much money to shell out for each one even though I could possibly afford it... if I didn't buy any other anime until it was out and I am not willing to do that. Bandai have really shot themselves in the foot on this one.
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Vicserr



Joined: 26 Apr 2004
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Location: Carolina, Puerto Rico USA
PostPosted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 7:35 am Reply with quote
gunshottrigun wrote:
Vicserr wrote:
Finally some Full ON UC Gundam goodness, after so much Alternate timeline stuff we get some meat thrown to the core fanbase after getting piecemeal like MS Igloo. And I do like most of the AT series.

And if we were paying Japanese prices, this would retail for $80, not $50

The thing is, this is America. In America that pricing is ridiculous for one single OVA episode. Even though it is a simultaneous worldwide release and on Blu-ray, it should MSRP for $30.00. I can't stand the "if we were in Japan" argument. The fact of the matter is, most of these people are in the States and it is a ridiculous pricing scheme. If you bought the series full price it would cost you a total of $300 for around 360 minutes of content. Back in the mid-2000s that pricing would still considered crazy. The only show that I remember pulling something like this was FLCL when it was first released on DVD.


Yeah but that's part of this is the Walmart mentality, the "I want it all pretty, cheap and as fast as possible", 2 out of 3 ain't bad and it's basically $10 over the standard MSRP of Blu Ray in the US. This is a "worldwide" premiere release it's not a budget packaging of a 3 year old anime series, there's no guarantee of a box set in the future, so people should get down on the ground floor while they have a chance.
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bayoab



Joined: 06 Oct 2004
Posts: 831
PostPosted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 7:52 am Reply with quote
Vicserr wrote:
And if we were paying Japanese prices, this would retail for $80, not $50
The MSRP in Japan is ¥5040 tax in (~$55 USD) and the amazon.co.jp pre-order discounted price is ¥3694 currently (~$40 USD). Basically a couple dollars more than you are paying in the US due to the lousy exchange rate.
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Ranma824



Joined: 17 Feb 2005
Posts: 456
PostPosted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 8:00 am Reply with quote
gunshottrigun wrote:
Vicserr wrote:
Finally some Full ON UC Gundam goodness, after so much Alternate timeline stuff we get some meat thrown to the core fanbase after getting piecemeal like MS Igloo. And I do like most of the AT series.

And if we were paying Japanese prices, this would retail for $80, not $50

The thing is, this is America. In America that pricing is ridiculous for one single OVA episode. Even though it is a simultaneous worldwide release and on Blu-ray, it should MSRP for $30.00. I can't stand the "if we were in Japan" argument. The fact of the matter is, most of these people are in the States and it is a ridiculous pricing scheme. If you bought the series full price it would cost you a total of $300 for around 360 minutes of content. Back in the mid-2000s that pricing would still considered crazy. The only show that I remember pulling something like this was FLCL when it was first released on DVD.


Yes, this is America, but the content is not American. You can't expect the same pricing and runtimes as American shows; getting anime over here requires a completely different set of hoops to jump through then your average movie or TV series. It's not a vacuum where everything can be measured by the same yard stick.
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Rakkan



Joined: 28 Dec 2009
Posts: 16
PostPosted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 8:10 am Reply with quote
GracieLizzy wrote:
Does anyone know what the DVD pricing scheme is going to be like rather than the Blu-Ray? If it is cheaper I might still consider buying the first one on Blu-Ray (when it comes out in Europe, I don't see a Blu-Ray region 2 release anywhere at the moment; so much for 'worldwide') and the rest on DVD.

It is too much money to shell out for each one even though I could possibly afford it... if I didn't buy any other anime until it was out and I am not willing to do that. Bandai have really shot themselves in the foot on this one.
The region two DVD is $45/3,990Y discounted to $33/2,925Y on Amazon Japan for preorder and is dropping at the same time the Blu-ray is. I really doubt we'll see a region one DVD for at least six months maybe a year.
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Vicserr



Joined: 26 Apr 2004
Posts: 480
Location: Carolina, Puerto Rico USA
PostPosted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 8:27 am Reply with quote
bayoab wrote:
Vicserr wrote:
And if we were paying Japanese prices, this would retail for $80, not $50
The MSRP in Japan is ¥5040 tax in (~$55 USD) and the amazon.co.jp pre-order discounted price is ¥3694 currently (~$40 USD). Basically a couple dollars more than you are paying in the US due to the lousy exchange rate.


I stand corrected Smile
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samuelp
Industry Insider


Joined: 25 Nov 2007
Posts: 2228
Location: San Antonio, USA
PostPosted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 9:02 am Reply with quote
Vicserr wrote:
bayoab wrote:
Vicserr wrote:
And if we were paying Japanese prices, this would retail for $80, not $50
The MSRP in Japan is ¥5040 tax in (~$55 USD) and the amazon.co.jp pre-order discounted price is ¥3694 currently (~$40 USD). Basically a couple dollars more than you are paying in the US due to the lousy exchange rate.


I stand corrected Smile

To be honest, I think that Bandai has priced the blu-ray in Japan quite a bit lower than they would have if it wasn't this "worldwide" release.

The current pricing scheme makes reverse importation un-profitable by about $5, so I think they actually lowered the Japanese price by 1000 yen or so of what they would have charged in order to get the "worldwide" price under $50.

So yeah, we are paying "Japanese prices" but those prices are about 15-20% lower than they usually are from Bandai visual.
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ikillchicken



Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Posts: 7272
Location: Vancouver
PostPosted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 9:10 am Reply with quote
Vicserr wrote:
Yeah but that's part of this is the Walmart mentality, the "I want it all pretty, cheap and as fast as possible", 2 out of 3 ain't bad and it's basically $10 over the standard MSRP of Blu Ray in the US.


Yes...and I suppose if you just made up another arbitrary category like 'all pretty' it would be 3/4. If we want to live within the confines of reality though then it's just 1/2 which is not very impressive. Yes, simultaneous release is nice. No, that does not mean it's reasonable to charge exorbitant prices. $35 seems to be the most common MRSP for anime BDs so it's really more like $15 which is a hell of a lot on an item worth $35. It's almost 50% more.

Ranma824 wrote:
Yes, this is America, but the content is not American. You can't expect the same pricing and runtimes as American shows; getting anime over here requires a completely different set of hoops to jump through then your average movie or TV series. It's not a vacuum where everything can be measured by the same yard stick.


Yes, that should be taken into consideration. Japanese product or not, the fans are still North American and as such it is reasonable to skew prices more toward their standards. So fine, I'm willing to pay regular BD prices for only 50 minutes of content or pay a bit more than normal for a full length anime feature but asking this much is totally unreasonable.
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edzieba



Joined: 13 Dec 2006
Posts: 704
PostPosted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 9:46 am Reply with quote
ikillchicken wrote:
Yes...and I suppose if you just made up another arbitrary category like 'all pretty' it would be 3/4. If we want to live within the confines of reality though then it's just 1/2
"All pretty" is certainly not an arbitrary category, and it's a damn shame that people are willing to pay for crap releases at all. A lot of of Funimation's catalogue, for example, look utterly hideous (7 episodes per disc? And excessive DNR? Eugh). Don't even get me started on Mangle Ent!
£26 for the BD + international shipping is a bit steep, but I'm willing to pay that much for a timely, quality release. If it was a poorly mastered DVD released a year late, then I probably wouldn't be willing to pay above the odds.
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