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NEWS: Gundam Leads Bandai Visual Franchises with 12 Million




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Gage



Joined: 06 May 2006
Posts: 480
Location: United States
PostPosted: Mon May 07, 2007 3:33 pm Reply with quote
This is interesting... you would figure the newer release would be number one or at least close. But, hey, being in the Top 5 deserves some credit! Smile
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daedelus



Joined: 07 Apr 2007
Posts: 743
Location: Texas City, TX (ajd: 6/11/05)
PostPosted: Mon May 07, 2007 3:37 pm Reply with quote
So that is the Japanese home video sales figures. Too bad we never get figures like that for US sales. I think Cowboy Bebop would probably rank higher.

Before someone else says something; No, I don't mean that CB will have sold more than 0.95 million copies. Only that it would be at a higher rank. I really wish we could see some hard data.
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Egan Loo



Joined: 25 Feb 2005
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PostPosted: Mon May 07, 2007 3:59 pm Reply with quote
Gage wrote:
This is interesting... you would figure the newer release would be number one or at least close. But, hey, being in the Top 5 deserves some credit! Smile


These figures are for total franchise sales since Bandai Visual was established. Bandai Visual has dozens of Gundam projects that it sold and resold on VHS, LD, and DVD, plus a few obscure formats like Betamax and VHD possibly. Until now, Cowboy Bebop only had 26 episodes and one movie—repackaged almost as many times as Evangelion, but just on VHS and DVD.
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Randall Miyashiro



Joined: 12 Jun 2003
Posts: 2451
Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park
PostPosted: Mon May 07, 2007 4:10 pm Reply with quote
Anime has a much higher ratio of DVD sales in Japan than in the States. Amazon.com highest anime title right now is Voltron ranked at 271, followed by Howl at 323 and Spirited Away at 434. The next two ranked "anime" DVDs are actually Invader Zim and the 1967 Spiderman. Non Miyazaki titles almost never break the top 500 list.

At Amazon.co.jp Code Geis volume 5 is the number 1 selling title. Lucky Star 1 is ranked at 5 and Kanon6 is ranked at 21. The entire top 100 list scored better than Spirited Away. Fruits Basket box set was the 100th best selling anime title which ranked at 433!

I worked at Borders when Cowboy Bebop was first released on DVD and we would only get a couple volumes of each volume. They would rarely sell compared to the boxes of popular Hollywood titles. We went through so many LE sets of Fight Club and Se7en.
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Gage



Joined: 06 May 2006
Posts: 480
Location: United States
PostPosted: Mon May 07, 2007 4:42 pm Reply with quote
Egan Loo wrote:
Gage wrote:
This is interesting... you would figure the newer release would be number one or at least close. But, hey, being in the Top 5 deserves some credit! Smile


These figures are for total franchise sales since Bandai Visual was established. Bandai Visual has dozens of Gundam projects that it sold and resold on VHS, LD, and DVD, plus a few obscure formats like Betamax and VHD possibly. Until now, Cowboy Bebop only had 26 episodes and one movie—repackaged almost as many times as Evangelion, but just on VHS and DVD.


I didn't think of that. Gundam is indeed an extremely large series. (Including all of the projects like you said, etc.)
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ZeroRyoko1974



Joined: 09 Jun 2004
Posts: 258
PostPosted: Mon May 07, 2007 4:46 pm Reply with quote
daedelus wrote:
So that is the Japanese home video sales figures. Too bad we never get figures like that for US sales. I think Cowboy Bebop would probably rank higher.

Before someone else says something; No, I don't mean that CB will have sold more than 0.95 million copies. Only that it would be at a higher rank. I really wish we could see some hard data.

I doubt it would be much higher in comparison to stuff like innuyasha, Naruto, Pokemon, Digimon, Sailor Moon, DBZ and other long running bajillion discs long series. In comparison to other 26 episode series it probably ranks pretty high though.
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Paploo



Joined: 21 Nov 2006
Posts: 1875
PostPosted: Mon May 07, 2007 5:03 pm Reply with quote
daedelus wrote:

Before someone else says something; No, I don't mean that CB will have sold more than 0.95 million copies. Only that it would be at a higher rank. I really wish we could see some hard data.


I'm pretty sure Cowboy Bebop has sold a million copies in the US....checking google, it was announched here at ANN.
animenewsnetwork.com/press-release/2005-08-25/bandai-entertainment-announces-over-one-million-units-of-cowboy-bebop-sold

It's probably well over a million now, and this might not ot take into account the sales of the movie.
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Josh7289



Joined: 27 Aug 2005
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PostPosted: Mon May 07, 2007 5:51 pm Reply with quote
That's seriously amazing that more Cowboy Bebop DVDs have been sold in North America than in Japan!

Randall Miyashiro wrote:
At Amazon.co.jp Code Geis volume 5 is the number 1 selling title. Lucky Star 1 is ranked at 5 and Kanon6 is ranked at 21. The entire top 100 list scored better than Spirited Away. Fruits Basket box set was the 100th best selling anime title which ranked at 433!


Code Geass is that popular? Is it really that good? I heard about it a while ago while looking at Gundam information, but seeing that data, I'm really excited to see what it's like! I doubt there's any word on a North American license for the series?
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DMAN2501



Joined: 05 May 2007
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Location: Alabama, Birmingham
PostPosted: Mon May 07, 2007 6:20 pm Reply with quote
Josh7289 Wrote That's seriously amazing that more Cowboy Bebop DVDs have been sold in North America than in Japan!
(sorry about the quote thing, still getting used to the forums)

While it pains me a little to admit it, [AS] has had a fair hand in the sales. Every time they re-air the series the sales spike a little. For a while they actually sold the DVDs on their site direct from the manufacturer. Mainly they just inject the series and show it to new fans who in turn buy the series. Though it is great to see Bebop still has some gusto left in it.

As far as Code Geass is concerned, I was a little skeptical of the series myself before I saw it (thought it looked too generic). However it is a good series. I would say it hits some lulls here and there, but over-all a worth while series. If you want a sample of it check the gundam website, they have about 5 minutes of the first two episode up for preview (or at least they did when the series first came out, they may have removed it by now)

As far as a US license nothing has been announced yet. But with high sells and the second season well on the way it has been widely rumored that it could be coming state side.
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Pepperidge



Joined: 13 Sep 2003
Posts: 1104
Location: British Columbia, Canada
PostPosted: Mon May 07, 2007 7:13 pm Reply with quote
Josh7289 wrote:
That's seriously amazing that more Cowboy Bebop DVDs have been sold in North America than in Japan!


Nonetheless, the fact that it is fifth on Bandai Visual's list should silence those people who insist that the series isn't popular in Japan.
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penguintruth



Joined: 08 Dec 2004
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PostPosted: Mon May 07, 2007 7:42 pm Reply with quote
Hm, that's a surprise. I've had this impression that Cowboy Bebop isn't nearly as popular in Japan as it is in the United States. I'm surprised that it's even on that list at all.
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Deltakiral



Joined: 07 Oct 2004
Posts: 3338
Location: Glendora, CA (Avatar Hei from Darker than BLACK)
PostPosted: Mon May 07, 2007 7:45 pm Reply with quote
Well I think I know why every year there's a new Gundam Manga/Anime/VIdeogame/etc etc. As for Bebop not getting any love, it's just like Shamploo most of the stuff that Shinichiro WATANABE does it's more popular on this side of the pacific. Interesting stuff, I'd like to see someone like Toei sales from 20 plus years ago.
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Jedi General



Joined: 27 Nov 2006
Posts: 2485
Location: Tucson, AZ
PostPosted: Tue May 08, 2007 12:02 pm Reply with quote
Josh7289 wrote:
Code Geass is that popular? Is it really that good? I heard about it a while ago while looking at Gundam information, but seeing that data, I'm really excited to see what it's like! I doubt there's any word on a North American license for the series?


Yes, Code Geass really is that good. Based on 23 episodes (only 23 have aired thus far), it's one of the absolute best series I've ever seen. It's without a doubt a masterpiece in my mind, so it will have to take a pretty drastic turn for the worst to change my opinion. The series is just so amazing to watch, I'd recommend it to anyone.[/rave] Obviously I'm a huge fanboy of this series. Mr. Green

No word yet on its North American licensing, but I'm pretty sure it's inevitable as the character designs are by CLAMP and it's produced by Sunrise. Perhaps there will be an announcement once the first season finishes up this summer? *crosses fingers*
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