Forum - View topicHey, Answerman! - A Good Buy And A Great Value
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GhostShell
Posts: 1009 Location: Richmond, B.C., Canada |
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From a business perspective, I can understand why Funimation has recently gone the BD+DVD combo pack route. Personally, though, I'd rather the titles were sold as separate BDs and DVDs. I buy the titles that I like in BD whenever it's available, and only in DVD when a BD version isn't available. To me, and I'm using the recent Ga-Rei-Zero as an example, the addition of the DVD with the BD just takes up more shelf space. It's bad enough having to double-dip when a series I like is released only as a DVD, and then released again shortly afterwards as a BD. Having to buy a BD and DVD combo pack just seems to be onerous.
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doctordoom85
 Posts: 2094 |
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As someone who doesn't have a BR player yet due to parents who suffer from sort of "new technology phobia", I'm all for these combo packs, they save me a ton of money from having to "upgrade" in the future
That's interesting, since they're hardly a major presence at mine. You got Fruits Basket, Future Dairy, Hetalia, Maid Sama, and maybe a few more. Viz is clearly the king of shelf space with Yen Press starting to get fairly big and Del Ray's remaining stock (soon mostly to be Kodansha) still taking up a good percentage, and the remainder taken up by Dark Horse and a few others. Mainly I want to see Hetalia rescued (which should be a no brainer based on how it was selling) as well as Future Diary (heard it was good, but I'm not buying a series that ends with its last volume not released). |
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Tenchi
 Posts: 4555 Location: Ottawa... now I'm an ex-Anglo Montrealer. |
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My ideal streaming service would be from a company that guarantees that every title it licenses for streaming would also get a prompt physical media release, because if there's no physical media release involved, I really don't give a whit. It would also give discounts on the physical media releases to subscribers, because that'd be the only way I'd pay money for a streaming service.
Though I still only have analogue cable, so any kind of streaming service that I could watch on my television is still far off sci-fi future gimmickry as far as I'm concerned. |
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RoverTX
 Posts: 424 |
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The One Piece movie on DVD is 22 and Blu is 21 on rightstuf right now. I don't think your actual paying any more for the combo packs, at least not more then a dollar, and certainly not 5. They don't have to do two separate printings(of packaging) and worry about if there tracking the changing Blu/DVD market correctly, so as to not end up with a bunch of extra Blu or DVD copies. Not to mention its just one shipping job.
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Jozoiscute
 Posts: 252 |
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I (personally) like the BD+DVD combo packs....
They allow me to watch the film on my Bluray player, AND bring the DVD over to a friend's house so I can introduce them to said film. (almost all of my friends do not have a Bluray) 
As for the Spring season- yeah. It's pretty weak. Normally there's at least 2 shows I'm interested in, but not this season. I might watch "My Ordinary Life", but if it's too similar to AzuManga....erm....yeah.....gonna call it quits for this one. I use the "3 episode" scale. If I'm not interested by 3 episodes, it gets the boot! 
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Tenchi
Posts: 4555 Location: Ottawa... now I'm an ex-Anglo Montrealer. |
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Nichijou/My Ordinary Life is similar to Azumanga Daioh in visual style and general setting, but the comedy in Nichijou is over-the-top surreal, while Azumanga Daioh was mainly down-to-earth slice-of-life with some surreal moments. They're somewhat similar, but not nearly as similar as many people are making them out to be. I actually find Nichijou to be closer in comedic tone to Cromartie High School than it is to Azumanga Daioh. |
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The King of Harts
 Posts: 6712 Location: Mount Crawford, Virginia |
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Do you know why I like Combo Sets? Because we're getting a comedy (Baka and Test) on BD. We're also getting another lesser known show that revolves around an ex-dancer (Rideback) on BD. So if combos means we get everything produced in HD on BD, I'm all for it.
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enurtsol
 Posts: 14889 |
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The stores also like it because it cuts down to only one SKU instead of two. Two groups of buyers (Bluray and DVD) buying the same one product - less logistical headache for stores. When the stores are happy, they're more likely to stock it - good for Funimation, good for consumers. |
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Melanchthon
 Posts: 550 Location: Northwest from Here |
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I was completely unaware that DVD/Blue-ray combo packs existed. And, given the option, I wouldn't buy one. It would make things confusing, and I like simple. A DVD and a Blue-ray in the same box? It would be like being caught in an existential nightmare.
---------- I looked all the new shows this spring season and rated them as 'yes' 'maybe' and 'no'. There were 8 yes votes out of 35 shows, 23% 'yes' rate for this season. In contrast, the winter season had a 46% 'yes' rate. This season looks remarkably weak in quality. One of those shows that I am not watching is the heralded best show of 2011, Tiger and Bunny. Everyone and their mother seems to love this show. But you couldn't get me to watch it if you paid me. Let me bring out the list of things I hate. I hate mecha. I hate superheroes. I hate anime that try to be Western. Everyone is comparing it to Cowboy Bebop, and I hated Bepop as well. It not that T&B is a bad show—everything I've read says it's great. But I can't believe you could assemble a show I would love out of components that I hate, so I will pass. My favorite show of the spring is the old-school Dororon Enma-kun: Meeramera. I love the seventies-era character designs, the fast moving silliness, and the completely inappropriate ecchi. This is the kind of weirdness that I enjoy. Plus I've got a thing for Yuki-chan. And there are a few shows that I am still undecided on. Hidan no Aria is one of them. My gut tells me that this will suck. But my ears tell me that it's Kugimiya Rie. So I'm torn. |
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enurtsol
Posts: 14889 |
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Heh, a combo box is even simpler - you wouldn't even have to think about which to buy. No decisions! 
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fuuma_monou
 Posts: 1855 Location: Quezon City, Philippines |
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I'll be checking the local gadget shops that stock U.S. Blu-rays and see if any of them have the Nausicaa combo set. Last Unicorn as well while I'm at it. Managed to get Wings of Honneamise that way. My credit card company is raffling off a Sony HD home entertainment package (40" LED TV, PS3, etc.) so if I'm lucky I can have a sweet HD set up.
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Zin5ki
 Posts: 6680 Location: London, UK |
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Except, as those "in the know" would have been quick to notify, by taking advantage of the Australian catalogue. $25AU plus shipping is far from unreasonable. |
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Hardgear
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Yeah, Tokyopop's downfall kinda annoyed me. I don't think there is much chance anyone will pick up and finish Aria and Twelve Kingdoms now. Guess piracy will be the only option.
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Apterous
 Posts: 78 |
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I bet Sony discounts its licensing fees so studios can release combo packs, because its a great thing for them too. Why? If someone doesn't have a blu-ray player yet, but starts picking up the combos because its only $5-10 more thinking "some day I'll make the switch," they are much more likely to upgrade once they've done that 4-5 times. And then they already have a small collection of Blu-Ray's to build from. It's entirely to encourage the BD adoption through the Answer-man's mentioned Added Value play.
You'll also notice that a lot of extra content is only on the combo packs, like with Harry Potter 7... they really want to push people to them both for the BR adoption and the higher $$ they bring in. |
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GWOtaku
 Posts: 678 |
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It seems to me the "old things don't sell!" assertion is rather too absolute with manga. Vertical alone is kind of subverting that. Now if the statement were that old things aren't liable to be this big hit, and/or can just succeed to turn a profit selling to a niche audience, that's much easier to defend.
Besides, we also have to stop and ask why certain titles like Fruits Basket and (in theory) Sailor Moon and so on remain a big deal. Obviously there are reasons for it that trump the supposed rule that anime & manga fans gravitate toward the new and shiny things by default. I'm also confounded by the idea that remaking old things is also a fool's errand. Is it really a given that a remade Sailor Moon anime would fail? Are Blood-C and the new anime for Berserk and Rurouni Kenshin doomed to fall short commercially by default? Or do we make some arbitrary decision about what "old" means just to keep the premise alive? But even if we decide it means a generation or two ago we have to account for Tezuka manga (among some other things), which is as retro and old as you get. Yes, obviously he's respected and a big deal and a great creator and all of that. But why is there a market for him? Obviously there are plenty of obscure things that couldn't pull their weight in today's market. That's absolutely true. But the reasons for that are more complicated than simply age. |
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