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Answerman - Why Don't DVDs Contain Japanese Commentary Tracks Anymore?

I heard somewhere that there was a commentary recorded for Perfect Blue, but it either doesn't exist or could not be brought over to the west. If the latter, I shall commence crying immediately.

The Bakamonogarati release by Hanabee in AU/NZ luckily has the commentary tracks. These are amazing as they are done by the different voice actors in character. They are a MUST LISTEN for fans!!!

Commentary tracks from Japan can also be a nightmare to get permission to include on a US or Western release. They often are only cleared for release in Japan, and need additional clearances from the actors' or director's management to make available overseas. (This often requires more money.) Sometimes the company that owns the commentary is NOT the same company licensing the rights to overseas publishers, and if the licensor doesn't want to bother with trying to get permission, they're just going to shut down any attempt to obtain it.

And while director commentaries can be very enlightening and informative, actor commentaries usually... aren't. While you might get a behind-the-scenes anecdote or two, most of what you get is wacky actor-banter and reactions to the show as it's playing. Which might be mildly entertaining if it's in your native language, but can be pretty exhausting to watch subtitled.

There are a few scattered other releases over the years that include commentary tracks licensed from Japan, and lots more with American voice actors (which are cheap and easy to produce -- no subtitling required). But as DVD bonus features stopped being an important selling point and started being a luxury, publishers were no longer interested in investing the time and money required to license them, subtitle them, or produce them from scratch. It's a shame. Hopefully it's something we'll be able to see again, someday.

But they should try to translate actual interviews, like ones from print magazines... that would probably be interesting...

I heard somewhere that there was a commentary recorded for Perfect Blue, but it either doesn't exist or could not be brought over to the west. If the latter, I shall commence crying immediately.

#861208 wrote:

But they should try to translate actual interviews, like ones from print magazines... that would probably be interesting...

That's another nightmare right there. There are several anime magazines in Japan and I think dealing with each magazine's publisher is more than one can chew.

reanimator wrote:

#861208 wrote: But they should try to translate actual interviews, like ones from print magazines... that would probably be interesting... That's another nightmare right there. There are several anime magazines in Japan and I think dealing with each magazine's publisher is more than one can chew.

Your best bet with that kind of stuff is to follow niche fan blogs(washiblog, ultimegax, karice, frog-kun) and specialty fan sites like sakugablog and wavemotioncannon. That's the segment of the fandom I spend the most time in, and translating and posting interviews from magazines, websites, and special booklets is a big part of what they do. It's why I support some of them on patreon too. There is a market for that stuff, it's just not enough to justify it for BD and DVD releases a lot of the time, I guess. When it happens, I do tend to buy those releases though.

I don't know about the market for those blogs and I think it's better for them to be remain small since what they're doing is unknown to Japanese magazine publishers. When they're collecting money through crowdfunding for unauthorized translations and winding up too big, then it could bring in unwanted trouble down the line. Anything involves monetary transaction requires caution, in my opinion.