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John Casey wrote:

You claim it isn't, I claim it is. Neither are facts, both are theories.

I theorize that because this sold out in such a state, Aniplex doesn't need to do a proper release. Stupid people will buy it up anyway, as has been proven.

They'll have to wait ~ have to let the people who plopped down $400 think they got some kind of exclusive ~ have to strip out some extras and do it DVD only to make the BD an exclusive ...

... but if they don't go bankrupt between now and Xmas '12, there's money on the table and they will pick it up with a two-set DVD only release.

One more thing.

Altogether, this whole debate leads to A Grave Issue

only, slightly different, in this case

errinundra wrote:

The thing that stuck out for me in the review was the comment that the $400 release had been sold out. That worries me heaps. That means that the experiment has succeeded and the forecast profits will be achieved.

Look out now for more super-priced fancy releases marketed to idiots who have more money than brains. Look out for reduced opportunities for the rest of us to legally watch anime that has caught our attention. (Which amounts to the same thing that people who only watch fansubs are doing).

So, you are essentially blaming people like me (who bought the KnK set) for others going to fansubs? Obviously you must be extremely new to anime since this kind of pricing has happened before in the US and it failed. I just loved the KnK series enough to spend $400 on it. This one little thing isn't going to make every other anime company go on to charge hundreds for sets.

Also, it wasn't an experiment, they were just letting US fans get copies of the Japanese release for cheaper.

To me, it just seems like you are one of the typical people looking to blame others for your own guilt of stealing.

I don't see why people think it makes much sense to call anybody who actually bought this set "stupid" or an "idiot." They had the money for it, and they were interested in it, so they took the plunge. Some of them even started saving up for this release by managing their money well so they could have enough $ to get it--that shows that alone shows that they're no idiots with their cash.

I mean, I sure as hell don't have they money for it, but I would've loved to get one of these. You've either gotta be pretty damn insecure about your own broke ass, jealous of their ability to buy it, ignorant/bitter, or all of the above if you randomly call a person who bought an expensive release that they wanted "stupid." Confused

Blood- wrote:

Give me one example where a reasonably priced title came out in North America [at the same time] as its Japanese release. [that's not the way it works]. Let me repeat that for you. [That's not the way it works].

Kite Liberator I think? Not exact date, but Japans and the US's release was only a few days apart. And the US's release wasn't premium packaging like Japan's release.

But like you said...

Blood- wrote:

this premium release is not blocking a more NA-centric priced release at this time. The [only] thing that is happening is that Aniplex is offering this premium product at the same time its being released in Japan. Normally, absolutely nothing would be offered right now and any NA collector who wanted the set would have to import directly from Japan. Now, if two years from now, there still isn't a non-premium set available at a more affordable price [then] people can legitimately start whining about price blocking.

I really don't get how people don't understand this, it's very simple.

$400? F*** that noise, if I'm interested, I'll just rent them.

Sanosuke_Inara wrote:

I don't see why people think it makes much sense to call anybody who actually bought this set "stupid" or an "idiot." They had the money for it, and they were interested in it, so they took the plunge. Some of them even started saving up for this release by managing their money well so they could have enough $ to get it--that shows that alone shows that they're no idiots with their cash.

It is not stupid its just JC being himself. If it is something they wanted and they saved for it, then more power to them. Hell I saved up almost $100 just to get the Frist press Nanoha movie Japanese BD a few months ago.

Sanosuke_Inara wrote:

I don't see why people think it makes much sense to call anybody who actually bought this set "stupid" or an "idiot." They had the money for it, and they were interested in it, so they took the plunge. Some of them even started saving up for this release by managing their money well so they could have enough $ to get it--that shows that alone shows that they're no idiots with their cash.

I mean, I sure as hell don't have they money for it, but I would've loved to get one of these. You've either gotta be pretty damn insecure about your own broke ass, jealous of their ability to buy it, ignorant/bitter, or all of the above if you randomly call a person who bought an expensive release that they wanted "stupid." Confused

Personally, I can't blame the people who love the Type Moon stuff for shelling out the $$. I have one or two shows that I want badly enough to do that.

While I don't agree that this type of marketing destroys all hope of a localized release here in the U.S., I think it entirely possible that such a business strategy may make the wait for that localized release a bit longer than we already do.

I remember being called "stupid" for pre-ordering Durarara, for kind of the same reasons. (Though Drrrr is not coming with the fancy packaging and did not get a simultaneous release, it did get an expensive Bang-Zoom dub, and they pay the actors S.A.G scale at that studio, IIRC.)

I'm a very patient person who is willing to wait, but I much prefer a somewhat shorter wait, and a slightly lower price. For one or two shows, I might pay the KNK price. For another handful, I will pay the Durarara price. For the rest -- I like Funimation's prices, and will continue to buy the bulk of my stuff from them. Besides, I like to support localization, since it provides "local" jobs for "local" people! Wink

It's sold out already!? You mean I faked my own death in a needlessly complicated insurance scheme for nothing!?

I picked up this set as a blind buy. I had never seen any of the movies and I wasn't familiar with TYPE-MOON prior to getting this.

Over the last ten years or so, my interest in anime has been fading. I've tried to start a lot of different series only to lose interest after a few episodes. (The last anime I was really hooked on was Utena, and that was 1997-1998.) I also don't have as much time these days to watch stuff. I was looking for a very high quality series -- something with great production values, memorable characters and an intelligent story. Essentially I was looking for an anime that would remind me of why I liked anime in the first place. After watching the first three KnK movies last night, I think I got what I was hoping for. With its 8 episodes of varying length, mature themes, and high quality animation and music, KnK reminds me a lot of the best OVAs of the '90s.

The box set was expensive, but back in the early '90s, it wasn't unheard of to drop $400 or more on an import LD box. I still have my Kimagure Orange Road LD box ($600+), the two Fushigi Yugi LD boxes ($400+ each), and more, and those didn't even come with translations. Anime has always been expensive in Japan. Do I want to return to those days? NO. Not everything needs the deluxe treatment. But occasionally something special comes along that deserves it. I don't imagine many anime fans who are able to afford it will be disappointed with this release.

Last edited by agila61 on Thu Feb 10, 2011 1:39 pm; edited 1 time in total

tuxedocat wrote:

While I don't agree that this type of marketing destroys all hope of a localized release here in the U.S., I think it entirely possible that such a business strategy may make the wait for that localized release a bit longer than we already do.

It's also entirely possible that this type of marketing will be used for precisely those titles that are delayed for several Japanese release cycles anyway for fear of reverse importation ... so it just provides a limited release in the same wait that there would be in any event.

tuxedocat wrote:

I remember being called "stupid" for pre-ordering Durarara, for kind of the same reasons. (Though Drrrr is not coming with the fancy packaging and did not get a simultaneous release, it did get an expensive Bang-Zoom dub, and they pay the actors S.A.G scale at that studio, IIRC.)

I think that the Durarara release strategy, which is decidedly different ~ simulcast subtitled stream release, followed by hybrid DVD release at $4.60/episode ~ is more likely to see a much longer delay before a discount set is offered.

That is, at that price point, a discount set would be a S.A.V.E type release in a flipack, and that adds at least a year and possibly several to the time that we might hope to see a discount set.

However, I'd expect the Durarara type of release, if the strategy survives, to shortly morph into a combined BD and DVD set.

leftbehindxp wrote:

Blood- wrote:

Give me one example where a reasonably priced title came out in North America [at the same time] as its Japanese release. [that's not the way it works]. Let me repeat that for you. [That's not the way it works].

Kite Liberator I think? Not exact date, but Japans and the US's release was only a few days apart. And the US's release wasn't premium packaging like Japan's release.

Do you happen to know if there was a big disparity in price between two offerings? Even if there was, that is an incredibly rare event. Anybody with any knowledge of anime distribution knows that in the vast majority of cases what happens is that a title gets a release in Japan (at what we North Americans would consider very high prices) then - assuming the title does get licensed in R1 - it is released well after the fact in NA.

Last edited by Tempest on Thu Feb 10, 2011 1:58 pm; edited 2 times in total

Blood- wrote:

Give me one example where a reasonably priced title came out in North America [at the same time] as its Japanese release. [that's not the way it works]. Let me repeat that for you. [That's not the way it works].

Grrrrl Power.

That said, the intent of your statement is true. It is extremely rare for affordable same-period anime releases. It's [sadly] just not the way it works.

7 Years on and we're still arguing about simultaneous releases. http://4NN.cx/834

Clearly there's still a lot that needs to be done.

-t

Blood- wrote:

Do you happen to know if there was a big disparity in price between two offerings?

Amazon.jp lists the SRP of the Kite Liberator Limited Edition DVD (March 21 release listed, so I think this is the one) as Y8,190 ~ maybe $70 to $80 at 2008 FX rates, obviously much more today.

Google auto-translate mangles the extras into:

Quote:

Awards ★ ★
○ 36P deluxe booklet
KITE LIBERTOR this story] [storyboard ○
○ DISC award
Films - The 20th Tokyo International Film Festival] [KITE LIBERATOR Digest (20 minutes)
Opening - Red Carpet The 20th Tokyo International Film Festival, Teach-in to track after the screening, a documentary video
Cast Interview Staff
KITE LIBERATOR - [promo] (3 minutes)

... I don't know what the US disk came with for ~$22.

DTJB wrote:

$400? F*** that noise, if I'm interested, I'll just rent them.

I already checked netflix. It ain't there.

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