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Interview: Henry Goto, President, Aniplex of America


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SonDavid



Joined: 22 Dec 2006
Posts: 23
Location: United States
PostPosted: Thu Nov 08, 2012 9:26 am Reply with quote
They might be expensive, but Aniplex of America BDa sure have physical and digital quality that most other companies don't have.
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Ojamajo LimePie



Joined: 09 Nov 2007
Posts: 762
PostPosted: Thu Nov 08, 2012 9:49 am Reply with quote
SonDavid wrote:
They might be expensive, but Aniplex of America BDa sure have physical and digital quality that most other companies don't have.


Now, if only they didn't sell out before I could save enough money to buy them. Aniplex should do higher print runs. The demand is there, even at the price they're asking.
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Maidenoftheredhand



Joined: 21 Jun 2007
Posts: 2632
PostPosted: Thu Nov 08, 2012 9:53 am Reply with quote
I actually don't see how Aniplex products are that much higher quality then Other companies. But that probably comes down to personal opinion.

Since someone from Aniplex might be reading this I really hope they bring the Madoka movies to Philadelphia. Yes I know NY is close to Phila. But the late times and the long length of the film made it very inconvienent to attend. Although I suppose my best bet will be seeing it at Otakon.
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karyuudo0127



Joined: 28 Nov 2011
Posts: 143
PostPosted: Thu Nov 08, 2012 9:54 am Reply with quote
No mention of releasing the new Rurouni Kenshin OAVs...
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Ryujin99



Joined: 21 Jul 2010
Posts: 185
PostPosted: Thu Nov 08, 2012 10:02 am Reply with quote
I can also say that I've been quite happy with the disc quality of all the AOA releases I've bought.
Really looking forward to the Bakemonogatari BD set I pre-ordered, though.
It's also cool to hear they're considering airing the Madoka movies in more cities. It'd be great if they aired them closer to Cincinnati than Chicago.
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omoikane



Joined: 03 Oct 2005
Posts: 494
PostPosted: Thu Nov 08, 2012 10:10 am Reply with quote
I get the feeling that in regards to Garden of Sinners BD, it was more a have-versus-have-nots situation. It was also the first of its kind in some ways, so it got all this reaction that probably wasn't warranted. Having said that, I easily understand why it gets the best responses. It's one helluva nice set. Just compare it with the two Fate/Zero boxes and the difference is clear (plus it's cheaper).
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mgosdin



Joined: 17 Jul 2011
Posts: 1302
Location: Kissimmee, Florida, USA
PostPosted: Thu Nov 08, 2012 10:41 am Reply with quote
AoA's quality, for the product I've purchased from them, is second to none. I was very satisfied with the Oreimo LE that I got.

However, the prices for the Madoka LE were beyond my acceptable threshold, even allowing for them having obviously high quality and value.

The same is especially true for the Madoka SE Blu-Ray or DVD release, which is more a pure entertainment product and less a collector's item. That they come oh-so-close to hitting my personal pricing threshold ends up being frustrating, which I am sure is very nearly the last thing that AoA & Mr. Goto would want to have happen.

That frustration has prompted me to comment several times, in different forums, on how I value Anime release and how AoA does & does not hit the mark for me. ( It's also effectively kept me from considering at any other AoA releases for the time being. )

I'm waiting to see if the future brings a time when AoA will price a release of Madoka where I can buy without mixed feelings.

Mark Gosdin
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23667
PostPosted: Thu Nov 08, 2012 10:49 am Reply with quote
Hmmm, interesting to hear that the PMMM LEs made up 60 per cent of that title's sales with the BD sets and DVD sets accounting for 20 per cent each. I wouldn't have guessed that. It is the only title, so far, that AoA has used that simultaneous triple format release strategy for and seems to suggest that even when given the option of less expensive options, AoA's customers will go with the option that offers the most extras even though the price is substantially higher.
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Kimiko_0



Joined: 31 Aug 2008
Posts: 1796
Location: Leiden, NL, EU
PostPosted: Thu Nov 08, 2012 10:50 am Reply with quote
I wish there were cheaper/lower quality alternatives to Aniplex. Because they have their titles exclusively, it's all or nothing. Either you pay the ridiculously high price for a top quality product, or you go completely without.

If only there were a way to get Garden Of Sinners on BD for a reasonable price (sure, it is a superb anime, but not $800 superb). The price of the DVD edition would be right for a (lesser/no-frills) BD edition.

If only there were a way to get the Madoka Magica OST for a reasonable price. I'm fine with DVD quality for the anime, but the OST isn't available separately. Again, it's either overpay or go without.

As things stand now, I find myself hoping that Aniplex does not pick up anime I'm interested in, since that means I won't be able to buy them.
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Shinn AsukaGSD



Joined: 16 Mar 2010
Posts: 32
PostPosted: Thu Nov 08, 2012 11:05 am Reply with quote
Am still waiting on oreimo english dub and they had great success with this title so please aniplex dubbed oreimo and blu ray too heck i will pay 70 for that
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Maidenoftheredhand



Joined: 21 Jun 2007
Posts: 2632
PostPosted: Thu Nov 08, 2012 11:11 am Reply with quote
Blood- wrote:
Hmmm, interesting to hear that the PMMM LEs made up 60 per cent of that title's sales with the BD sets and DVD sets accounting for 20 per cent each. I wouldn't have guessed that. It is the only title, so far, that AoA has used that simultaneous triple format release strategy for and seems to suggest that even when given the option of less expensive options, AoA's customers will go with the option that offers the most extras even though the price is substantially higher.


I went with the less expensive option (DVD release) because while I wanted to own Madoka its not a number one favorite that I could justify the LE cost.

However I imagine most casual viewers (these would be the ones that would have bought the reg Ed) thought the price for a no thrills release was too high. I thought so too but I still bought it.
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Fencedude5609



Joined: 09 Nov 2006
Posts: 5088
PostPosted: Thu Nov 08, 2012 11:51 am Reply with quote
Kimiko_0 wrote:

If only there were a way to get Garden Of Sinners on BD for a reasonable price (sure, it is a superb anime, but not $800 superb). The price of the DVD edition would be right for a (lesser/no-frills) BD edition.


You're gonna have to take that up with Aniplex Japan.
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Tuor_of_Gondolin



Joined: 20 Apr 2009
Posts: 3524
Location: Bellevue, WA
PostPosted: Thu Nov 08, 2012 11:58 am Reply with quote
Reading this article (and I thought Zac asked good questions), I was thinking that it was a bit like asking a used car salesman if he thought that his customers were getting good deals, or a politician if he thought he was really serving the needs of the people in his district.

The one thing that I did find interesting is that AoA has only 5 people in it. I'm not sure what that means. Is he saying that his entire company has only five people in it? That's hard to believe. Do they actually create their own disks, then? What about shipping? Or are they merely middle-men for all of that?

Well, at any rate, nothing Mr. Goto said changed my opinion of AoA or of their pricing schemes. I still think they gouge their customers and I'd still like to see them go away. But, if people are willing to buy at their price points, then they're going to stick around into the foreseeable future.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23667
PostPosted: Thu Nov 08, 2012 12:10 pm Reply with quote
@ Tuor_of_Gondolin - having 5 people in their operation is very believable. Remember, they are a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aniplex and their only function is to release a handful of cherry-picked Aniplex titles each year. Not only that, but they only sell through a few online retailers so they don't need a big sales/marketing/advertising department. All their physical production (i.e. actually putting the box sets together) would be contracted out - you don't need inhouse capability for that stuff. In this day and age, having a low overhead is critical to being profitable in the anime distribution business.
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Donpablo



Joined: 17 Nov 2008
Posts: 117
PostPosted: Thu Nov 08, 2012 12:33 pm Reply with quote
I agree with you Tuor, the responses given were very stiff and orchestrated to me. The response he gave about the Garden of Sinners price solidified that. I won't argue that their set's do come with a lot of extra's that the other US licensors don't put out. But they do this at a absurd cost (again mainly directed to their GoS set).

They have gotten a little better with pricing seeing the Bakemono will cost $150 which is something I can swallow a bit more. But with NISA putting out sets comparable to the ones AoA puts out at half the cost... I can't help but shake my head at their pricing.
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