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I don't think we should be judging prices just yet; these two series aren't even out in Japan yet, nor does Aniplex of America even know what they're going to do about the home video releases. I'll start complaining when we get an official price tag and it's $300, sub-only or something else insane.

The fact people are complaining about prices (Which BTW, haven't been stated, and won't be for months, if not a year) before these shows even air shows how low this fandom has sunk...

How can you even think about buying early at this point when both shows haven't even aired (This is excluding people who can't watch the legal streams realistically, which is a rather small number of people)? How can you have any idea if you'll like it or not? I'm sure everyone has tried something they thought they most definitely were going to like only to find they didn't.

The days of the legal method being only the home video release are long gone. For nearly every single show these days, the home video release is not the only legal method.

ShanaFan852 wrote:

The fact people are complaining about prices (Which BTW, haven't been stated, and won't be for months, if not a year) before these shows even air shows how low this fandom has sunk...

How can you even think about buying early at this point when both shows haven't even aired (This is excluding people who can't watch the legal streams realistically, which is a rather small number of people)? How can you have any idea if you'll like it or not? I'm sure everyone has tried something they thought they most definitely were going to like only to find they didn't.

That is like saying 200,000 people don't already plan to own the "Final" Evangelion movie once it comes out.

Sachiko2010 wrote:

Well, we'll see what the market will bear, I guess. My suspicion is that as time goes on their market will decrease dramatically and they will either go out of business (at least the business of distributing blu rays and DVDs in the US) or they will change their price point.

Not if they're offering the top shelf anime that fans really want, like your Madokas. If all Aniplex of America offers in the future is utter shit that bombs in Japan and America, then sure, they'll suffer the fate of poor business. If they continue to release the big guns, they're going to profit. Seeing that they have first dibs over any licensee, those smash hits are not going to be contracted out to FUNi, Sentai, or whomever.

ShanaFan852 wrote:

How can you even think about buying early at this point when both shows haven't even aired (This is excluding people who can't watch the legal streams realistically, which is a rather small number of people)? How can you have any idea if you'll like it or not? I'm sure everyone has tried something they thought they most definitely were going to like only to find they didn't.

For an original anime that no one's ever seen or heard before, your argument makes more sense. These are adaptations and people can already begin to form their opinions and expectations. Besides, quality is irrelevant to pricing. A masterpiece and a shitbox still cost the same price when you buy a ticket, and assuming they're both ordinary editions on DVD release, they cost the same initially there too, or at least somewhat close.

What makes the difference is how the value of what you paid for matters to you. You'll feel less foolish when you've seen something great, obviously.

I'm not so worried about price as I am about the release format. They've have taken the Kadokawa/Funi route by releasing DVDs only first .. then sometime later they may decide to release a BD.

I absolutely hate that Mad

walw6pK4Alo wrote:

For an original anime that no one's ever seen or heard before, your argument makes more sense. These are adaptations and people can already begin to form their opinions and expectations.

Ah, forgot about that, and I forgot to mention sequels. Still remembering how this stuff started (Complaining about AoA prices before the shows air) when Kill la Kill was announced.

It still doesn't change the fact though that you don't know for sure whether or not you'll like it until you actually see it.

You can also have things go wrong in sequels, and adaptions, leading to you not liking it. For example, I really like the manga for Arata: The Legend, however I really don't like the anime. I really like Eureka Seven, however I hate Eureka Seven AO with an absolute passion.

I'm surprised Aniplex of America have yet to license Welcome to the Space Show. Already dubbed and released in the UK but it's not out in the US.

Now I'm worried whether if AoA will license Persona 3 Movie which I don't want them to.

ShanaFan852 wrote:

The fact people are complaining about prices (Which BTW, haven't been stated, and won't be for months, if not a year) before these shows even air shows how low this fandom has sunk...

Since it only takes a small handful to soapbox on this issue in every Aniplex-related story to regenerate this conversation, it doesn't really prove anything at all about "this fandom".

I was slightly bored by a few manga chapters of Silver Spoon, and I've never even heard of ServantxService. I may watch, but there's no excitement emanating from me...

fathomlessblue wrote:

As for the extortionate price of Sword Art Online, I'd like to stay positive and try to imagine Aniplex actually doing people a favour by placing it out of their reach. ^^ Honestly, the acquisition of that show always bothered me. I know it was super popular, but unlike, say, Madoka or Bakemonogatari, there didn't seem much of an audience outside the early/mid teenage crowd. Maybe, I have it wrong & the show is also popular with older fans, but it seems the most vocal supporters are also the most unlikely to afford it. That feels a little skeezy.

I'm a straight, 29 year old woman who likes SAO.

AbZeroNow wrote:

@Gyt Kaliba. My comment was more directed on those "oh, Funimation gives us Blu-Rays for $50 so Aniplex is EVIL" types. I suppose we may have slightly differing opinions on what a "decent price" means. I think the SAO DVDs are decently priced(and I think the Blu Rays are also at a price point that I could support). I bought Oreimo on DVD because it was a good price for me AND I wanted to see the OVA episodes. I will conceed your point about streaming not being practical in some areas of the U.S (we really need to get broadbrand to more rural areas, but that is a whole other discussion).

As to Aniplex and DVD, I'm pretty sure Aniplex has never done a DVD set that costs more than $200. So their DVDs do cost less than a new game system or a PC.

Correct me if I am wrong but is not Aniplex the one that put out the 400 dollar Garden of Sinners, I am pretty sure they had at least one other set, granted it was a limited edition set, but still at 300 plus. I want to say they had at least 2-4 other sets above 200.

Like I said these are limited editions, but thats still crack rocks prices.

I mean they have no anime released that you can get the whole thing for under a hundred dollars, and that includes 12 episode series.

Also 2 other points -

1. There packaging is garbage, its probably below bootleg standards, while someone like NISA puts out really nice sets for a good price. I have a few of their sets, and yea...........

2. They target really popular shows that would do really well with other companies and get a lot more exposure. I dont think anyone cares if they license something like Servant and want to charge a 1,000 for it. But people actually want to watch Monogatari/SAO/Blue Exorcist etc. , and Aniplex Senior/Parent company would do just as well if these went to Funi and Sentai; but they are apparently content that these shows get as little exposure as possible as long as they get there arm and leg prices.

agila61 wrote:

ShanaFan852 wrote:

The fact people are complaining about prices (Which BTW, haven't been stated, and won't be for months, if not a year) before these shows even air shows how low this fandom has sunk...

Since it only takes a small handful to soapbox on this issue in every Aniplex-related story to regenerate this conversation, it doesn't really prove anything at all about "this fandom".

Except that if you bother to look at these threads you'll see its far more than a "small handful" of posters complaining. In fact, the small handful refers more to the same morons who think that potential customers for physical release products who complain about certain titles being priced WAY over every other R1 distrib price lines are somehow entitled whiners. This is an evergreen topic because even if every single poster who has ever complained about AoA's prices stopped doing so, their ranks would be replaced by new posters who feel the same way.

Look, I sympathize with any poster who is tired of reading about AoA price complaints. But thinking that those complaints have no merit is flat out retarded.

CrownKlown wrote:

Correct me if I am wrong but is not Aniplex the one that put out the 400 dollar Garden of Sinners, I am pretty sure they had at least one other set, granted it was a limited edition set, but still at 300 plus. I want to say they had at least 2-4 other sets above 200.

I could be wrong but I think their Garden of Sinners box was an import, so if that's the case than the price is justified.

AoA's GoS import set was around $450 and their GoS domestic DVD LE set is $150 (both prices are the discounted TRSI price, not MSRP).

CrownKlown wrote:

Correct me if I am wrong but is not Aniplex the one that put out the 400 dollar Garden of Sinners, I am pretty sure they had at least one other set, granted it was a limited edition set, but still at 300 plus. I want to say they had at least 2-4 other sets above 200.

Aniplex of America has released two Garden of Sinners sets. The first was an import of the Japanese Blu-ray box and sold for $620 MSRP/$398.98 at RightStuf/retailers. The second is a domestically produced DVD-box set of the movies at $189.98/$149.98 (MSRP/Retailer price respectively). What you may be remembering are one of the other Japanese Blu-ray boxes for Fate/Zero ($498.98/$369.98 and $454.98/$329.98 respectively), OreImo ($329.98/$278.98), or Gurren Lagann ($669.98/$549.98), however these are all imports from Japan and are priced similarly. None of their domestically produced releases have been over $160 USD at retailer price (ROD was $199.98 MSRP/$159.98 retailer price). There have been two series released in singles that would total above $200 USD however.

CrownKlown wrote:

I mean they have no anime released that you can get the whole thing for under a hundred dollars, and that includes 12 episode series.

Incorrect. The OreImo sets and Baccano BDs were released in full for under $100 USD. 2-cour releases are often priced above MSRP for other licensors (but retailers get a larger chunk of the MSRP for them), so it's bad to compare those.

CrownKlown wrote:

1. There packaging is garbage, its probably below bootleg standards, while someone like NISA puts out really nice sets for a good price. I have a few of their sets, and yea...........

If you fault Aniplex for their packaging (which has been improved with their newer chipboard boxes), you have to fault anyone not named NISA. The "below bootleg standards" statement is ludicrous when you consider two other distributors put out discs (with errors on them) in either tall/amaray cases and that's it. Those releases are what should be considered "bootleg standard."

CrownKlown wrote:

2. They target really popular shows that would do really well with other companies and get a lot more exposure. I don't think anyone cares if they license something like Servant and want to charge a 1,000 for it. But people actually want to watch Monogatari/SAO/Blue Exorcist etc. , and Aniplex Senior/Parent company would do just as well if these went to Funi and Sentai; but they are apparently content that these shows get as little exposure as possible as long as they get there arm and leg prices.

Why would Aniplex of Japan decide to start their own division in North America if they did not feel they could make more profit from licensing to that division than licensing shows to other NA licensors? If Funi/Sentai paid more to Aniplex of Japan, they could get these "really popular" shows and release them through their own strategy, but they didn't. If Funimation, Sentai, Viz, or any other company wanted to license Bakemonogatari, they had 3 years before AoA announced it and yet no one did. (not commenting on the inane 1,000 comment since it was hyperbole)

As for exposure for SAO/Blue Exorcist, AoA streams every TV series they licensed on Hulu/Crunchyroll. They put their dubs on Neon Alley, Adult Swim, and Toonami. People are able to see the shows without having to buy discs, so they're getting the same exposure every other company does with the exception of NetFlix. There's no difference between what they do and what the other companies do except Funi/Sentai/Viz try to sell more physical discs.

(going into my own comment regarding the article)
Personally, neither of these series appeal to me, but I'm happy they'll be available for streaming for anyone who wishes to view them.

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