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NEWS: Aniplex USA to Rerelease Baccano! Anime on Blu-ray Disc

Even the expensive direct imports are sold for less in the US, strangely enough.

luffypirate85 wrote:

Kurohei wrote: Does this mean we're closer to a Durarara bluray? Yes. It's coming out soon.

I hope it is soon, I have Baccano! already on Blu-ray and I am holding off buying Durarara on DVD as I am hoping for the Blu-ray.

PurpleWarrior13 wrote:

Still, Aniplex is shooting themselves in the foot by not having the title up on Amazon, the #1 online retailer for pretty much everything. That's my main concern. Even smaller companies like Discotek, Nozomi, NISA, and Anime Midstream have all their releases up on Amazon. Aniplex really needs to expand. I wouldn't mind them so much if they were better at marketing their products. A few banner ads on ANN is not gonna cut it. I also don't understand why Aniplex is doing this with Baccano, and not a much more popular title like Fullmetal Alchemist (not that I'm complaining. I can't imagine anyone other than FUNi having FMA).

I was just commenting on the question: "why not let FUNimation release this?" The answer is right inline with the problem you believe Aniplex is creating by not having their products available on Amazon, it will reduce how much money Aniplex will make. Having a middleman print and distribute the discs will make Aniplex even less money than not having an Amazon account.

As to why Aniplex doesn't do the same with FMA. I guess every contract is different.

I don't see companies like Discotek, NISA, or Nozomi selling their stuff on Amazon. I see a bunch of storefronts that have products from those companies but that's it. Maybe you want to shoot Animecorner or MN Media an email so they'll stock up on Aniplex shows on their Amazon accounts. It would be smarter and cheaper to buy from an official Aniplex retailer though.

Because having an exclusive deal with rightstuf allows them to try to prevent reverse imports back to Japan. $60 for Baccano in US vs $260 for Baccano in Japan (I presume it has more extras, but I think many would still be willing to forgo them) Even the expensive direct imports are sold for less in the US, strangely enough.

Although in practice if someone really wants to import it from the US, they can just get it through a proxy or a reseller.

Personally, I don't think those places would help them much. The hardcore anime crowd would already know where to look for Aniplex titles. Brick and mortar stores are basically dead, except for a few dedicated shops and some Fry's stores. For titles with more mass appeal but would require more marketing, they just license to local licensees. Most of titles produced by Aniplex (A-Channel, AnoHana, Baccano DVD, etc) DO wind in all those places like amazon, etc, just through licensees like Sentai, NISA, etc

I highly doubt Aniplex USA will release a Durarara!! BD set under $100 for a couple thousand people. That does not make much business sense.

The NISA listings are just like the Aniplex ones you've linked, unofficial and being sold by animecorner. Anyone can sell Aniplex anime on Amazon and that would solve your issue.
Still, not being on Amazon is not a big deal because anime fans know where to go to already.

The NISA listings are just like the Aniplex ones you've linked, unofficial and being sold by animecorner. Anyone can sell Aniplex anime on Amazon and that would solve your issue.
Still, not being on Amazon is not a big deal because anime fans know where to go to already.

$25 per complete series buyers need to be catered at Amazon.com because they are too stingy and close minded to realize that they can buy an awesome series like Madoka Magica for around $100.

I do not get PurpleWarrior13's apparent personal crusade to discredit Aniplex USA. Do not make stuff up and say that NIS and Aniplex stock up Amazon.com. If you do not like to buy great but more expensive series, PurpleWarrior13, pay Funimation $30 for yet another Dragon Ball Z rerelease.

It's the information age. People are not as dumb as you make them out to be. Google is your friend. People that watched it on AS can simply use their heads by either looking it up or asking other people.

They would make a lot more money? I'm sure you believe that but until you can prove to me how much money niche titles make on Amazon alone, "a lot more" means nothing.

And no, I'm not claiming to know better about marketing anime than Aniplex. I just wish they took a few pointers from Sentai, FUNimation, and heck, even Discotek and Nozomi. Though I fail to see how having your product available in more places could be a bad thing...

Still, if nearly every anime company can do it, then so can Aniplex, and Aniplex USA is no smaller than most of them. Aniplex should be doing what the other companies are doing: targeting the casual consumer AND the hardcore anime audience. DVDs and Blu-rays are more than just "collecters items" that only hardcore fans get. Aniplex even knows this, since they're releasing cheaper editions of Madoka Magica (which are still a little pricy, but not horrible when bought separately).
Heck, even Nozomi stocks their releases on Amazon, and they are not only a very small company, but they are OWNED by another retail outlet (the very one in question).
Another online retail outlet stocking their own products on Amazon says a lot right there.

[Calling someone "stingy and close-minded" just because they can't afford something is insulting. $100 for 12 episodes is a lot of money. Most of us can't afford to shell out that kind of cash. Heck, some of us can't even spare $50. It's not that we're "spoiled" or anything. We just prefer to buy stuff we can afford. Period. But again, it's nice to know that you can afford that kind of money, and on top of that, can tolerate insulting people just because they can't afford something.