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NEWS: Aniplex USA Adds Valvrave the Liberator, Gurren Lagann TV Anime Series


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dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 14084
Location: currently stalking my waifu
PostPosted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 10:58 pm Reply with quote
@partysmores:

I'm talking about those people who bought Fate/ZERO. I'm referring to AoA's customers, not the ignorant whiny bitches who complain in every Aniplex thread that their products are too expensive.

This looks like a lot of money, and it is, but it is cheaper and also better value for money than Fate/ZERO was. So if you are an AoA customer then don't be put off by the price.


Last edited by dtm42 on Fri Mar 29, 2013 11:00 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Timeenforceranubis



Joined: 06 Mar 2010
Posts: 171
PostPosted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 10:59 pm Reply with quote
Calibrator wrote:
RyanSaotome wrote:
Why should people who happily buy these releases listen to people who don't buy anime? Why should those people care what you think?

As someone who bought the Fate/Zero release, I just think these people feel they are entitled to their dirt cheap American prices, and they should get used to paying Japanese prices since I fully expect that will become more the norm as time goes on.


You're basically saying, just because you're a complete idiot, everyone else should become one as well - in opposition to my idea of turning complete idiots into people using their brains?

You're essentially supporting anti-intellectualism here. On top of that, you're willingly supporting market elitism. That doesn't fly with a whole lot of people, friend. Not many at all. It's a laughably weak argument on your part that just bolsters my statements.


I like how people pull out anti-intellectualism in arguments like this, as if it makes their assertion any stronger.

Here's the thing, and I know this might be difficult to grasp, but to some people (Incidentally, these people are also people who already spend a lot of money on anime) these shows are worth multiple hundreds of dollars, and they're willing to pay that much for them, especially given all the extras and whatnot, since a lot of these people seem to be collectors.

So, rather than market to the fickle, uncertain general Western anime populace, who seem committed to being an impotent market force, Aniplex decided to cater to the loyalest consumers who value anime and don't treat it as throwaway entertainment like most other entertainment is treated, and that's a pretty bold move, but also a pretty smart one.
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Ambimunch



Joined: 30 Aug 2012
Posts: 2012
PostPosted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 11:01 pm Reply with quote
We should make a poll and see how many people like the idea of GL being 500$ and WILL pay that amount
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PurpleWarrior13



Joined: 05 Sep 2009
Posts: 2024
PostPosted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 11:01 pm Reply with quote
Someone being rich =/= idiot.

Although I think it is a bit foolish to spend $500 on a 27-episode TV boxset (I would feel I was wasting my money even if I was rich), when a complete series boxset of Dark Shadows cost about the same amount (note that that show has 1,225 episodes). Honestly, those extras aren't even worth all this. That big premium set is worth LESS in Japan first of all, but I wouldn't pay more than $200 for it (not that I even have that kind of money...).

Aniplex will probably release a non-import Blu-ray set in the distant future though... maybe... That company is very inconsistent when it comes to their releases.
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partysmores



Joined: 23 Oct 2011
Posts: 284
PostPosted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 11:02 pm Reply with quote
dtm42 wrote:
@partysmores:

I'm talking about those people who bought Fate/ZERO. I'm referring to AoA's customers, not the ignorant whiny bitches who complain in every Aniplex thread that their products are too expensive.


We're whiny bitches because we aren't slaves to spending hundreds of dollars on box sets while kissing some rich CEO's feet exclaiming "ALL HAIL ANIPLEX."?
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Calibrator



Joined: 24 Mar 2013
Posts: 64
PostPosted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 11:02 pm Reply with quote
Timeenforceranubis wrote:
I like how people pull out anti-intellectualism in arguments like this, as if it makes their assertion any stronger.

Here's the thing, and I know this might be difficult to grasp, but to some people (Incidentally, these people are also people who already spend a lot of money on anime) these shows are worth multiple hundreds of dollars, and they're willing to pay that much for them, especially given all the extras and whatnot, since a lot of these people seem to be collectors.

So, rather than market to the fickle, uncertain general Western anime populace, who seem committed to being an impotent market force, Aniplex decided to cater to the loyalest consumers who value anime and don't treat it as throwaway entertainment like most other entertainment is treated, and that's a pretty bold move, but also a pretty smart one.


Which would be just fine if that those are the sorts of products they offered. Incredibly niche crap for collectors only - stuff like Cat Soup, or Mamoru Oshii's earlier works.

Instead, they're playing grab-ass with the most popular names they can get their hands on. Additionally, they're literally seizing other distributors properties for themselves. Like Funimation's Baccano!, or this - and YES, even though Bandai may be gone, they still hold the license.

This is nothing short of swindling the anime community as a whole, screwing people over, and generally hurting the business as a whole all in favor of catering to those very few loyalists.

There's a word for it: F*cktarded, it's called.
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HitokiriShadow



Joined: 09 May 2005
Posts: 6251
PostPosted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 11:03 pm Reply with quote
partysmores wrote:
dtm42 wrote:
Guys, guys, guys.

Am I correct in thinking that US$550 for twenty-seven episodes, two movies, the soundtrack and all the swag is better value for money than Fate/ZERO's two boxsets, which combined cost more money and only had twenty-five episodes (and no movies)?

If you could swallow buying Fate/ZERO then you can definitely swallow buying Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.


But we didn't swallow Fate/ZERO. We complained about that too. But they didn't listen.


Yeah, it's almost as if they have a business model not based on selling to people who think anime should be $40-50 because American TV shows (which operate on a very different business model from basically any anime) are sold for that way. It's as if they decided the whining from people who refuse to understand this, and think they have a god-given right to foreign products for whatever price they've determined are acceptable, aren't worth listening to.
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Ambimunch



Joined: 30 Aug 2012
Posts: 2012
PostPosted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 11:03 pm Reply with quote
partysmores wrote:
dtm42 wrote:
@partysmores:

I'm talking about those people who bought Fate/ZERO. I'm referring to AoA's customers, not the ignorant whiny bitches who complain in every Aniplex thread that their products are too expensive.


We're whiny bitches because we aren't slaves to spending hundreds of dollars on box sets while kissing some rich CEO's feet exclaiming "ALL HAIL ANIPLEX."?


LOL +1 rep if it was possible
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RyanSaotome



Joined: 29 Mar 2011
Posts: 4210
Location: Towson, Maryland
PostPosted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 11:04 pm Reply with quote
partysmores wrote:
dtm42 wrote:
@partysmores:

I'm talking about those people who bought Fate/ZERO. I'm referring to AoA's customers, not the ignorant whiny bitches who complain in every Aniplex thread that their products are too expensive.


We're whiny bitches because we aren't slaves to spending hundreds of dollars on box sets while kissing some rich CEO's feet exclaiming "ALL HAIL ANIPLEX."?


I wonder if Japanese forums are full of people who whine when every single BD is solicited for these prices. Well, the people who don't buy anime have probably gotten over it by now, but man that would be annoying.
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Kakugo



Joined: 29 Nov 2007
Posts: 163
PostPosted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 11:04 pm Reply with quote
Ambimunch wrote:
How are they 2 different shows? Same setting, same episode style, same main character? Are you gonna argue next that naruto and shippuden are different anime?


So... you're saying Batman Returns and Batman Forever are the same movie? Man, Michael Keaton turned into George Clooney? Now THAT'S acting! Wink


vinnycthatwhoibe wrote:
Remember the Dragon Ball Z HD remaster Funimation was doing on Blu-Ray? The real one, not the Kai garbage...


Yeah, I do. Do you? FUNimation's put that release in an iron lung after the second volume, and hasn't released anything past episode 34, leaving over 250 episodes in limbo indefinitely. It's admittedly a tough comparison, what with FUNimation doing the 16mm restoration work themselves (which is usually done on the Japanese end for anime releases), but their current mantra of "wait for restoration tech to get better" is bunk. You can't create an algorithm that automatically sorts out what are film scratches and what are speed lines, and waiting another five years isn't going to change it either.

In other words, they didn't make enough money courting the wider market you're championing here to justify the continued expense of doing a legitimately great release.


partysmores wrote:
I mean, in a way, they kinda are. If they have enough money to blow on an overpriced cartoon from Aniplex, they could be helping the poor with it.


...true. But they could also be buying a new HD camera. To shoot home grown snuff movies with. Snuff movies starring kittens.

What one does with their own disposable income is their own damn business, and the fact that some people choose to "waste it" on fundamentally needless things is hardly the worst thing they could do with it.


For what it's worth, I'm out of the running here. If it were in the $250~300 range I'd probably froth and cuss and punch my desk in half like The Incredible Hulk just saw a cockroach... but I'd still begrudgingly pay it. $550? Fork that, man. Bought Bandai's sub-only DVDs, eventually bought the disc-eating artbox + singles and gave the first purchase to a friend. I've not actually re-watched the Bandai bilingual singles, but I've got my fingers crossed that they work enough to have justified the fair price I paid for them.

I don't begrudge Aniplex for releasing it or the handful of American fans that'll pay them for it - and yes, I've bought several of their releases, imports and localized. I'm just not one of their target demo, not this time. I had the same melancholy reaction when I saw OreImo's import price tag: "Damn, really? Bummer. Maybe Madman or Manga UK will hook me up a year or two down the line..."

Plus, anyone harping about the DVD set really needs to chill. The price point is virtually identical to Bandai's "Limited Edition" two-packs, and you're arguably getting better packaging for it.
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Fencedude5609



Joined: 09 Nov 2006
Posts: 5088
PostPosted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 11:05 pm Reply with quote
Calibrator wrote:

Which would be just fine if that those are the sorts of products they offered. Incredibly niche crap for collectors only - stuff like Cat Soup, or Mamoru Oshii's earlier works.

Instead, they're playing grab-ass with the most popular names they can get their hands on. Additionally, they're literally seizing other distributors properties for themselves. Like Funimation's Baccano!, or this - and YES, even though Bandai may be gone, they still hold the license.


But these shows are "incredibly niche crap for collectors only"

Perspective, you don't got it.
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Myaow



Joined: 20 Dec 2007
Posts: 1068
PostPosted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 11:05 pm Reply with quote
Calibrator wrote:
It's not mean - it's being a realist. People have tried to be logical and calm with these types before - it doesn't work. Hence, I had no choice by to put it in the simplest possible sense: They're idiots because they're willingly spending their money knowing that if they do, they're f*cking over 95% of the anime community and industry.


I've heard that in some cultures it is considered "poor manners" to call random strangers "idiots" though I may be way off base with this one
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Ambimunch



Joined: 30 Aug 2012
Posts: 2012
PostPosted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 11:05 pm Reply with quote
RyanSaotome wrote:

I wonder if Japanese forums are full of people who whine when every single BD is solicited for these prices. Well, the people who don't buy anime have probably gotten over it by now, but man that would be annoying.



Thats the root of the problem!!! THIS IS NOT THE JAPANESE MARKET.....THIS IS THE NA+EUROPEAN MARKET
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Calibrator



Joined: 24 Mar 2013
Posts: 64
PostPosted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 11:07 pm Reply with quote
Ambimunch wrote:
We should make a poll and see how many people like the idea of GL being 500$ and WILL pay that amount


Yes, please somebody do that: animenewsnetwork.com/bbs/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=53
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dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 14084
Location: currently stalking my waifu
PostPosted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 11:07 pm Reply with quote
HitokiriShadow wrote:
You are correct. This has more content and its about $100 cheaper. The difference is that F/Z was split so most people weren't paying it all at once (but everyone claims the price as "$700" in AoA arguments) and that was the first release, while this is a re-release and there's a much cheaper new DVD release also coming out. But that just gives people even less reason to complain here.


Yes, it is a lot of money upfront. But the big-spending collectors who AoA are targeting will have this money, or at least will be able to find it before the set goes on sale.

And people are indeed forgetting about the cheaper DVD set. Yes, it's expensive compared to previous releases, but look what you're getting. People are also forgetting the fact that used copies are out there already so you can just buy those.

partysmores wrote:
We're whiny bitches because we aren't slaves to spending hundreds of dollars on box sets while kissing some rich CEO's feet exclaiming "ALL HAIL ANIPLEX."?


Here's a thought: if it's too expensive for you, then DON"T F*CKING BUY IT.

Of course you're being whiny if you're complaining that something is too pricey when people like you are not even the intended customer in the first place.

No-one's forcing you to buy this, and those people who buy this set will not be AoA's slaves but big-spending customers who want only the best and are willing to pay these prices.
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