Forum - View topicNEWS: Bandai Visual USA to be Liquidated by September
|
Goto page Previous 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 Next Note: this is the discussion thread for this article |
| Author | Message | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Randall Miyashiro
 Posts: 2451 Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park |
|
|||||||||
|
I'm actually very relieved that their model didn't prove lucrative since I like most think the greater than $10 per episode price structure was extreme. Still
I actually don't think that BVUSA's titles looked much better than a good portion of ADV and Bandai Entertainment releases, they only were a bit more consistent in quality. I actually recently used BE's excellent Flag (small static text which makes it easier to compare when unpaused) to compare scalers. It's safe to say that Funimation doesn't belong on the reference quality release list and Genoen was a bit hit or miss. I remember remember seeing somewhere that the low episode count was to insure that they would have low compression, but at least a few of BVUSA's titles were released on DVD5. I think some of the perception of quality might be due to the high price tag. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
Fronzel
Posts: 1906 |
|
|||||||||
|
Ding dong, the witch is dead!
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
Sandstar
Posts: 196 |
|
|||||||||
To late, chum: animenewsnetwork.com/bbs/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=578528#578528 |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
bci110
 Posts: 391 |
|
|||||||||
Really? Care to explain to us why you think BEI is in trouble? |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
Porcupine
 Posts: 1033 |
|
|||||||||
|
I don't know the details of all BVUSA's released titles, but DVD5 can easily hold 2 anime episodes at roughly maximum ~ 9 megabits/second DVD quality, at about 1.7 gigabytes an episode. But there's no way a DVD5 can hold 3 episodes at max quality.
In Japan the typical anime releases as 2 episodes per volume on (assumedly) DVD5 discs. Bitrate I don't know for sure because I unfortunately don't own any import Japanese DVDs to check, but supposedly most are authored at ~ 9 megabits/s. Hmm, $1.151 million worth of goods, I admit I hadn't tried to consider how many units that would equate to. I'm not sure how to do the math on that. How many months is that "accounting period" relevant for? Really good point how 2008 losses are likely much steeper after they lost their distributor, I'd foolishly not even noticed. bci110, I don't want to make this thread go off topic so I'm reluctant to discuss why I speculate the way I do. Regarding Bandai Entertainment though I've made a number of posts on these forums regarding them over the last month or so explaining a number of my observations and/or dissatisfactions with them so if you want you can search around. I've not explained in any previous post why I (only recently) feel the way I do about Funimation but I still rather not talk about it here. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
Craeyst Raygal
 Posts: 1383 Location: In the garage, beneath a 1970 MGB GT. |
|
|||||||||
|
It's really aggravating to me that so many people are pleased about Bandai Visual's collapse.
Look folks, they may not have been the distributor for your anime, but they were an anime distributor nonetheless and now we're sans one more distributor. I look over at the pile of names that are stopping their distribution and become rather apprehensive about this hobby. Sure, no one was too worried when it was Urban Vision saying "we're going to focus on our live-action properties" or AnimEigo only licensing one new property in the past I believe 5 years (the memorable, but vintage and ultra-niche Yawara), but when you start adding up Synch-Point, Tokyopop "partnering their DVD distribution with Funimation", AN Entertainment, Geneon, and now Bandai Visual things look pretty bad for those of us who collect. Even if you disagree with their marketing strategy (provided it doesn't include mandatory pre-purchase sodomy) why would you prefer a company doesn't distribute anime at all? I mean, c'mon, it's not as if Bandai Visual was freaking US Manga Corps! |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
Jih2
 Posts: 403 Location: East coast |
|
|||||||||
|
So now we have no high quality dealer in the USA...albeit I'm not REALLY excited to pay $80 for a LE Patlabor film but at least it comes with some goodies. Bah, things appear to be devolving into the dark red line. Wasn't it BVUSA that was pursuing the whole international release deal with stuff as it came out in Japan? I'm probably wrong but if it was BVUSA that was trying to work towards that I wonder what will happen to that initiative, I'd gladly play $50 for a blu-ray release with two episodes on it a month after that same volumes' Japanese release.
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
Ryusui
 Posts: 461 |
|
|||||||||
I'm pleased about it for the exact same reasons I'd be pleased if 4Kids Entertainment closed up shop for good. A BVUSA release, from my perspective, is no release at all. $40 and up for a sub-only release with two episodes is even worse in some ways than a hackjob-only release: both practices I can despise on principle, but BVUSA adds a practical spin to things; at those rates, a 26-episode TV series would set one back over a thousand dollars! Bandai Entertainment will survive, Viz will survive, FUNimation will survive...Geneon should have survived, but then its pricing schemes were almost as bad as BVUSA's (most of my Geneon collection was purchased through an awesome Right Stuf sale). Markets and tastes evolve and change over time: companies that adapt stay in business; those that don't close their doors. BVUSA was, ironically, like something out of anime: a misbegotten monster from a radically divergent evolutionary path suddenly exploding into the world above, expecting to make lunch out of the tiny, squishy creatures in its path. And just like in anime, the world above rejected it and kicked it back into the darkness. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
ikillchicken
 Posts: 7272 Location: Vancouver |
|
|||||||||
|
It's tough to comment without knowing further details. I really had not use for BVUSA so it's no loss to me. Still, you never want to see an anime distributor go out of business. Overpriced/sub only releases are better than no releases at all I guess. This is why the real question to me is how this will effect the anime they were releasing. I will be interested to see whether it is more of a merger or more of an outright shutdown.
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
Captain Crotchspike
 Posts: 355 Location: Phoenix, AZ |
|
|||||||||
|
Although I do agree that their current pricing schemes are unreasonable given the state of the market (the only releases of theirs that I bought were the ones that were actually worth the price they were asking - Gunbuster and the Patlabor films), I'd like to note they deserve some credit on the fan relations end of the spectrum. A few months ago, the anime club I founded at the community college I go to was trying to organize a series of film screenings, and I went about e-mailing distributors to get what we needed to do so legally. Bandai Visual was the quickest to respond and worked with us to get what we needed even when they were busy getting ready for/going to the Tokyo Anime Fair at around the same time.
So...yeah, while this liquidation is no surprise and probably a necessary message to the Japanese industry about what American fans are actually willing to buy, I'm thankful for what they did for my club. I wish their employees the best of luck in the future. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
Randall Miyashiro
Posts: 2451 Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park |
|
|||||||||
You can also add IATV stopping DVD production and Super Techno Arts to the list as well. It does seem as though companies are dropping to the point that it is hard to keep track of the body count. With all this talk about ADV's troubles it feels like an end to an era. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
giberwitz
 Posts: 36 |
|
|||||||||
you are the only one. The only thing I am sorry for is that it took all this for them to learn a lesson. I'm reminded of the reporter that spoke out at the pannel where BV announced their Gallexy Angel Rune etc... price points. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
HitokiriShadow
 Posts: 6251 |
|
|||||||||
|
This was rather pleasing news to wake up to this morning. I'll save my rejoicing for when the details come out, but it would be hard for things to be any worse than they were before (this coming from someone who was actually going to buy Shigofumi and sola). Even if BVUSA essentially operates the same as before under a BE umbrella, their titles should at least become eligible for discounts in Bandai sales
This seems to be THE event they were indicating.
They don't seem to have a problem with sub-only releases. Both the Toward the Terra and Rocket Girls will be getting sub-only releases.
It looks like it will be a combination of 2 and 3, but details are rather lacking at this point.
The LEs are expensive but the REs are normal priced and not anymore expensive than most other 24-26 episode series in singles. Lucky Star is technically a Kadokawa USA title, but BE is the one handling its release. I'm not sure what you mean by "similar like Geneon."
For many people, the answer to this question as applied to BVUSA would be a resounding YES. For many people, a BVUSA license is worse than no license because if it wasn't licensed at all, then there would at least be a chance that someone else would get it, but with BV having it, they can't afford to get it and no one else will be releasing it at a sane price. I'm not sure what's so terrible about US Manga Corp. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
CCSYueh
 Posts: 2707 Location: San Diego, CA |
|
|||||||||
I've been wondering at the increased number of sub-only Bandai product like Gurren Lagan (which has had a dub release promised for next yr, but the sub-only I pre-ordered is due in July) & that Terra title I pre-ordered was also sub-only. I was wondering if they were experimenting with dumping dubs, or if smaller titles could be profitable sub-only. I was wondering if these were an experiment with the bottom line being they'd only dub stuff with the potential to get on tv or titles they actually contracted to get on tv & other titles would be sub-only But I'm not happy about losing BV. THe dvds have always been wonderful. I cut back on buying other companies to buy their stuff. Geneon had other issues outside their titles, kiddies. Remember the parent company (Dentsu?) had to buy back stock to regain controlling interest from some car company(Mitsubishi? I forget). They were looking to put together a deal which would allow them to survive, but they picked ADV who was sinking itself apparently. Had they picked another company, we might still have some form of Geneon, but cold hard business doesn't deal like that. Stockholders want toe bottom line to look good so Geneon had a deadline of having the carpet dragged out from under them. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
CCSYueh
Posts: 2707 Location: San Diego, CA |
|
|||||||||
|
I didn't do it
I hit post & left to get my daughter the chicken I was cooking & came back to "The website failed, it's been reported" or some such error report. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group