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ANNCast - Dark Sols: Prepare to Crowdfund Edition

Covnam wrote:

In regards to the concern over shows dropping off, I'm curious if there's any roll over of funds from one 'kickstarter' for another. If it's $15-25k and all 1,000 volumes sell for $40 each (or more for higher levels) that's over $40k. If the next volume is short of the goal, will some of those funds be applied to help the next volume or does each volume stand on it's own?

Yes, that's correct: The goals for the later sets will be lower than the goal for the initial set because of this and lower upfront production costs.

The biggest problem with 3.33 is that despite it's immense action pieces, it's actually a very small movie. The only character that you couldn't take out of this movie is Shinji. And probably Kaworu. The other characters are completely interchangeable. Asuka, Mari, Misato, Ritsuko, Rei, everyone else is pretty much just scenery. They add nothing to the story. I don't think Asuka gets any more than five or six lines the entire movie, and all of them short.

The biggest problem with 3.33 is that despite it's immense action pieces, it's actually a very small movie. The only character that you couldn't take out of this movie is Shinji. And probably Kaworu. The other characters are completely interchangeable. Asuka, Mari, Misato, Ritsuko, Rei, everyone else is pretty much just scenery. They add nothing to the story. I don't think Asuka gets any more than five or six lines the entire movie, and all of them short.

All the big, wiggy visuals feel just sort of there. Nothing feels like anything significant is occurring. It's very "eh, been there, done that". The second movie completely blows this one away in visuals, themes, and plot. This doesn't build on that story, it deflates it, if anything.

The thing that stroke me the worst about this movie though, spoiler[was Kaworu's death. I thought a turning point for Shinji in the series, was being forced to kill Kaworu, and the guilt and despair that overcomes him afterwards for murdering the one person that seemed to understand him and in whom he could trust. Especially since -both in the series and in this movie- Kaworu shows up at a time in which Shinji is the most lonely and confused. But here, instead of having Shinji kill him, Kaworu self-destructs, and I felt it defeated the purpose of his death]

After listening to the full interview I have to say I'm not particularly optimistic about Anime Sols' chances even though I think it's a great idea in theory. The amount of money required for the box sets to go forward seems pretty steep for the kinds of shows they're putting up. If they had something like Legend of The Galactic HeroesI could see at least a few sets making it, but Creamy Mami and Yatterman? Is there really a significant fanbase for shows like that?

I own both Penguindrum and Kids on the Slope. I already watched them and to tell you the truth, they do not look or sound as bad as Justin says. The picture quality in Penguindrum looked good to me. The dub was fine; it had to or three hiccups, but it does not hurt the experience IMO.

I did not even notice the audio issues in episode 11 of Kids on the Slope, but it is a problem that should not have occurred. The rest of the audio in Kids on the Slope sounded fine to me, and the video quality seemed good. I did not get a chance to hear the dub, but I trust Zac's opinion on it.

I am probably not a very picky costumer, so I am more disappointed with Sentai rather than enraged. I also look at it this way: I rather pay $50 for a slightly crappy product I can understand (with the inclusion of subs and a dub) rather than importing the sames series for $400, which may not even be subtitled.

The bottom line is that if you are not that bothered by Sentai's technical issues, do not feel descouraged and continue to support their products. Of course, you can also stop buying from Sentai to show your discontent.

^ Yeah, I wonder about that too. (heavy spoilers on Eva 3.33) spoiler[I think it was meant to represent Kaworu taking on Shinji's burden and dying in his stead, like Shinji was meant to die or something but Kaworu took it on him to save him, but one does have to wonder if it wasn't easier to just discard it. I hadn't considered your point -being so close, yet so powerless- but at the moment, it just felt like they went for the visual impact of Kaworu's blood exploding right on Shinji's face. Since I'm probably one of the very few people who doesn't hate Shinji, I was kind of mad that such a vital plot point for his development as a character was changed like that]

The one thing about anime sols I was wondering what if people initially pledge money for said show and then change their minds. What happens are they still billed and tough luck or can people back out?

Anime Sols is utterly useless to me as a Brit.

I could be the guy who'd pay $1000 for a show but they'll never know. Region Locking, why do it? What little bit of brain in the dumbest Japanese licenser gets charged by such lunacy?

That is the biggest load of out of touch, "Let them eat cake" rhetoric I've ever heard.

In order to open up to the UK we would have to go through all the UK ratings board and labeling for the DVDs, plus we would only produce NTSC DVDs, not PAL, plus we'd have to sign contracts with all the UK streaming and mechanical rights with the local music rights licensing associations which JASRAC has reciprocity agreements with (PRS for Music, MCPS, MRS). The ratings fee and royalty calculations alone adds significant cost per episode (a couple hundred dollars) which according to my calculations will not likely be made up with from UK support alone.