Forum - View topicHey, Answerman! - Foisting Gundams
|
Goto page Previous 1, 2, 3 Next Note: this is the discussion thread for this article |
| Author | Message | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11555 |
|
|||||||
It's always good to fill up their mailbox so their intern has something to do, but you will never receive a reply from Viz. Ever. I'll be surprised if they notify the winner of their summer sweepstakes. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
jyuichi
 Posts: 125 |
|
|||||||
But it is in Bandai's perpetual lateness that a Gundam fan can find solace. It will probably come out eventually, its best to add one year to any licensing announcement and then 6 months to any release date Bandai announces. Turn A probably isn't abandoned yet. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
Otaking09
 Posts: 637 |
|
|||||||
|
Blasphemy for denouncing SEED Destiny!
And The Last Guardian is whats guarding my game itchings... Well, that and mass bundlings for the PSN. (haven't played Zone of the Enders yet...) |
||||||||
|
||||||||
Nerv1
 Posts: 601 |
|
|||||||
Despite this, other anime forums I visit have hordes of people who haven't watched any Gundam at all or just only watched the big 3: 00, Wing and Seed and jumped onto the Unicorn bandwagon just because its the newest and flashiest Gundam to date. The result? They have no idea what Unicorn is about at all since they have no background knowledge of the original UC shows but they still praise it since its the newest thing out. I'm not saying Unicorn is bad, I highly enjoy it for all the tributes it has for 079, Zeta, ZZ, CCA, etc. but I just hate how this always happens.
Destiny is one of the worst Gundam iterations ever made. Inconsistent writing(a rehash of a rehash), annoying characters, and blasphemized designs of the Zaku, Gouf, Dom and Hyaku Shiki. Not to mention that its a horrible rip-off of Zeta overall. Last edited by Nerv1 on Fri Jun 17, 2011 10:23 pm; edited 1 time in total |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
GATSU
Posts: 15479 |
|
|||||||
|
You think that missing volume's bad, wait'll you find out whether or not Viz still has the rights to the series after Kishiro jumped ship to Kodansha.
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
Charred Knight
 Posts: 3085 |
|
|||||||
Here's the thing, those kinds of people are not going to buy anime even if Unicorn was released at a more reasonable price. They didn't buy Seed, they didn't buy Gundam 00, they are not going to buy Unicorn. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Nerv1
Posts: 601 |
|
|||||||
One of my friends is one of those people you mentioned. He has that whole mentality of "why buy it when I can get it for free" regarding every single anime. I admit I download too, but I buy the shows I really like and I have no regrets about the $60 I spent on Zeta. I really, REALLY want to get Unicorn on Bluray, but forking over $50+ for one episode is way too expensive. I really hope that Unicorn's price will drop and be released in a bluray bundle (along with the wish of the Zeta Blurays coming to the US too).
It sounds like you never heard of the ORIGINAL UC timeline then or other AUs such as X, G or Turn A. 0079, Zeta, ZZ (yes I said it), CCA and even 0080, 08th MS and 0083 are way superior to the three you mentioned. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
nightjuan
 Posts: 1473 |
|
|||||||
Once again, I'd have to sincerely argue that has more to do with the specific type of audience you're describing than with the actual show. Several reviewers, including people who have not been exposed to much Gundam before, have already pointed out that you don't need to have previous knowledge of the Universal Century in order to understand the story in Unicorn. I agree with this argument myself, of course, but it's hardly an unusual or unsupported one. All the basics and important aspects are explained, even if every insignificant bit of trivia or obscure background reference isn't spelled out. Those who are willing to pay attention will find enough information to watch and understand Unicorn just fine, even if they won't earn a degree in Gundam history. That the show does offer more to the old-school fans who have some sort of existing basis and interest in the property doesn't mean it's incapable of having a good enough storytelling to appeal to unfamiliar viewers. On the other hand, what you're complaining about isn't exactly rare. The existence of people who, to a greater or lesser extent, don't really get what any given show is about and simply jump on a bandwagon is a common and unavoidable development. This happens with both completely original works and with new entries in a traditional property like Gundam. Personally, I think there's no use in lamenting it.
I'd say this is far from difficult, taking into considering the above and the actual quality of the show thus far. Otherwise, I doubt we would be having this discussion in the first place.
Maybe it's just me, but it would be nice if any of us actually had access to comparative U.S. sales figures here. Not that such a thing is likely to happen anytime soon though. No, you're not going to get most of the anime fans on the Internet to buy anything -obviously including the likes of Unicorn and any Gundam series- but it's not like all those products have had equal commercial performances or are necessarily failures. There is such a thing as relative success, even if the title doesn't break into the top ten or anything along those lines. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
vermilionone
Posts: 45 |
|
|||||||
|
IIRC SEED sold fairly well, weren't there numbers floating around with numbers around the 10,000 unit mark? Despite low activity with hardcore fans, reaching the general market with televised broacast can be worth it provided you have something people consider worth showing.
I'm not sure about how they manage DVD releases, but when they do toy releases, they make the product first, then call their suppliers and take orders while the shipping boats are at sea, so I imagine depending on the situation there are shortages and overages that they can't necessarily deal with. A lot of Gundam projects sell well relative to expectations, but are bungled in some other aspect that hurts in the long run. When Jerry Chu was with the company, he mentioned that model kits, for example, were welling very well relative to the rest of the American model kit market, but that was poor relative to the toy market. The CCG managed to sell out of the entire print run within a month of the release of both of the first two sets, but the sets were on six month product cycles and they didn't do reprints; by the time the third set was released, a year and a half after the first, most players had abandoned the game for lack of support. Last edited by vermilionone on Sat Jun 18, 2011 12:45 am; edited 1 time in total |
||||||||
|
||||||||
Asterisk-CGY
 Posts: 398 |
|
|||||||
|
Well I'm definitely getting a Vita because I know there'll be a monster hunter on it and I know my friends will get it just for that.
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
st_owly
 Posts: 5234 Location: Edinburgh, Scotland |
|
|||||||
I got an email reply from them once when I asked them if they were ever going to offer Shojo Beat subscriptions to the UK. It was a very pleasant, albeit disappointing, response. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Ingraman
Posts: 1082 |
|
|||||||
I _wanted_ to buy 00, but I had long since decided that I would not buy a HD series on SD media when it was available on Blu-ray in Japan. I imported the first two BD volumes from Japan as they were being released in order to throw some money to the 00 people, and have been waiting for the opportunity to buy translated 00 BDs here in the US.
I watched the first two (perhaps three?) episodes of Seed when they were fansubbed, and then went on to something else. It didn't appeal. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
luffypirate
 Posts: 3187 |
|
|||||||
|
Bandai should have waited to surprise us with Turn A. They announced it too soon and now everyone is on their nuts about it. BEI is slow as molasses, so add that to how severely impatient us North Americans are, and you get Shitfest '11. Toss me in the boat with the whiners, but K-On! is doing a good job of holding me over until then.
Wonder how long Star Driver will take them...? I would like to know if they are going to go the DVD only route or both formats. If its the former, then I can scratch that off my bitch list for good. I think I'll send them a "ticket" if they have unblocked one of my email addresses. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Charred Knight
Posts: 3085 |
|
|||||||
I am simply talking about how Gundam Seed was huge in fansub circles in 2002-2003. Obviously I am not saying that Gundam Seed is guaranteed to be enjoyed by anyone. I am also stating that in light of a massive amount of fans complaining that Gundam Age is "nowhere as awesome as Gundam 00" you would think that the show would have sold a lot better. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
GoldenAvenger7
 Posts: 19 |
|
|||||||
|
Here is some straight talk and an "answer for answerman:"
I don't usually post on here, but i was the one that called the only way licensing and production companies could possibly curb fansubs, turn much of a profit, and/or get more fans and that was my recommendation of streaming services that give very fast turn around times for currently airing Japanese series, in addition to doing dual release w/ english subs over here simultaneous to japan. I said this all years ago and it has been f-ed up in it's execution. Oh, well, makes me feel less guilty for any fansub I DL on a series I will probably never see...i.e. Macross Frontier. Anyways, here is a bit more insight to those trying to make Gundam WHAT IT SHOULD BE. THE only way Gundam will ever be a nationwide phenomenon is to produce some kind of live action movie on the scale of the Transformers movies. The CG should be done by Industrial Light and Magic (Lucus' Company) and the script must be handed to a great name in the industry (i.e. David. S. Goyer - The Nolan Batman series) with a great Sci Fi Director at the helm: possibly Peter Jackson (who is a perfectionist) or J.J. Abrams. I would probably fire all those in charge of marketing at Bandai USA for screwing around with how past/other Gundam series have been presented to the US audience. I would start with a new marketing/production team, get with a great movie studio, preferably Warner Brothers or Sony and make one hell of a dramatic, compelling, and kick-A$$ movie. The Mobile Suits must look real, the characters must be acted well and be relate-able, and the tension and drama must be genuine. This will introduce Gundam to the entire culture. It would have to be a really large budget production, on par or above Transformers to get it to take off, and not look cheesy. I would personally even hire the camera director from Gundam Unicorn to work with the director on the action sequences. The camera director from Unicorn has probably the best pilot/mobile suit camera shots/transitions of ANY series out there. Only if something similar to this is done, will Gundam ever be a nationwide phenomenon. Thank you for your time. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group