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Mohawk52



Joined: 16 Oct 2003
Posts: 8202
Location: England, UK
PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 4:14 pm Reply with quote
There's a "sell out" where units are clearing out faster than they can make them, and then there's making just 200 or less copies and selling them all without promising to make 200 more when those are "sold out". One is market driven the other is self imposed. The latter will only work until their customers get fed up with it causing more and more not buying in boycot. I say to Aniplex; enjoy it whilst it lasts.
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ikillchicken



Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Posts: 7272
Location: Vancouver
PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 4:51 pm Reply with quote
Fencedude5609 wrote:
DangerMouse wrote:


From my point of view they just prevented Sentai etc. from licensing the damn show since they wanted to do it themselves and prevented them or Funi etc. from giving a "freakin dub" as they absolutely would have.


Assertion without evidence, paranoia, lack of understanding of how this all works.


Vague posturing and no specific counterpoint to what he said.

And by the way dude, your condescending tone and dismissive attitude don't make you seem smart or correct. It just comes off as a smokescreen to hide the fact that you really have nothing of substance to say.
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Mr. Zebra



Joined: 23 Feb 2009
Posts: 19
PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 7:09 pm Reply with quote
Here's how I feel about Aniplex's pricing scheme.

I understand that Aniplex is a business and wants to make as much money as possible. If their current pricing scheme is the best way for them to make the most money, then I can't blame them; that's their perogative. It's not like consumers are entitled to having shows offered at the price that they would like to pay. These are Aniplex's shows and they can sell them for however much they want.

Having said that, as a consumer I think it kind of sucks that Aniplex's pricing is basically all about taking the hard-core fans for as much money as they possibly can while simultaneously pricing everyone else out of the market. I think that's kind of crummy. It's certainly not a very good way to help the market expand. Oh well...
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Takuku



Joined: 03 Jan 2011
Posts: 182
PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 7:25 pm Reply with quote
It's been a while since I read an Answerman article and then I came across this:

Quote:
Crunchyroll got Oreimo and Madoka and even Garden of Sinners got a digital release. This seems like a wise business move to me. Everyone gets a chance to see it and American fans can pre-order well enough in advance to insure that they have the proper funds.

Well America sadly doesn't cover everyone. Just checking Oreimo on Crunchyroll and what a surprise... blocked! Plus with Aniplex USA now blocking imports for their titles on RightStuf - leaving importers to look via alternative sites and likely higher costs.
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agila61



Joined: 22 Feb 2009
Posts: 3213
Location: NE Ohio
PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 7:39 pm Reply with quote
Takuku wrote:
It's been a while since I read an Answerman article and then I came across this:

Quote:
Crunchyroll got Oreimo and Madoka and even Garden of Sinners got a digital release. This seems like a wise business move to me. Everyone gets a chance to see it and American fans can pre-order well enough in advance to insure that they have the proper funds.

Well America sadly doesn't cover everyone. ...

Yup, Aniplex USA only licenses for North America, so can't give Crunchyroll permission to stream anywhere else.

Even Sentai now seems to be getting streaming rights to North America, Australia and New Zealand, UK, Ireland and South Africa, and once in a while South American too.

There may be a level of subscribers outside of North America where Crunchyroll can start to afford to sign multiple licenses for the same series to side step these kind of region restrictions that seem to archaic for internet streaming (but which make a lot more sense for the sales channels that still generate most of the income.)

The real solution may be for production committees to carve out worldwide ex-Japan simulcast rights, with non-exclusive streaming rights for the quarter after the series concludes, and just take region-restricted simulcast rights off the table. But such a big change probably requires a bit more substantial revenue stream from worldwide streaming.

Mohawk52 wrote:
There's a "sell out" where units are clearing out faster than they can make them, and then there's making just 200 or less copies and selling them all without promising to make 200 more when those are "sold out". One is market driven the other is self imposed. The latter will only work until their customers get fed up with it causing more and more not buying in boycot. I say to Aniplex; enjoy it whilst it lasts.

Split off the (1) Direct English Export model from (2) Premium Price USA Release mode.

(1) is a limited edition, advertised as a limited edition, everyone knows its a limited edition who knows what the "limited edition" means. And its not making just 500, say, copies, its making 500 additional copies when pressing the Japanese release, and selling those 500 extra (or whatever) at a US$ price from US online retailer(s). Plus a translated booklet.

Whether there will ever be a Regular Edition blu ray, we wouldn't know, because the first of the (very successful) model happened so recently that the regular DVD release announcement is fairly early. But at least they did get a regular DVD release announced, as predicted by {ahem} some onlookers back when the original releases were announced and caused such a stir.

(2) Is not going to be "just making 200 or less copies", its making a run, packaging a specific number, and selling that specific number as a Limited Edition with assorted extras. That Limited Edition quantity is deliberately set in expectation of selling it out, but its the same discs as the regular edition, just bundled with a range of extras.

However, rather than making an optimistic guess about the sales level of the regular release(s) when deciding on a production run, there's a substantial incentive to make a conservative guess about the sales level when deciding on the production run. Which makes it more likely the regular release will sell out.

Just as with any release, you'd use the rate its selling and your estimate of how much untapped demand might be out there to decide whether to reissue. But if you are pursuing a premium price strategy, there's a substantial benefit in price maintenance in allowing it to sell out first and then making the decision whether or not to pursue another production run, and avoiding being too aggressive in making a re-issue decision. Aggressive production runs ensure that a substantial number from some series will have to be sold at deeply discounted prices, because its impossible to guess "close" to actual market demand every time.


Last edited by agila61 on Sat Apr 14, 2012 8:00 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Ingraman



Joined: 07 Feb 2005
Posts: 1084
PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 7:44 pm Reply with quote
DangerMouse wrote:
Fencedude5609 wrote:
How is this hard to understand? Fate/Zero is an import. Period. It is the Japanese release, made available in limited quantities here.

From my point of view they just prevented Sentai etc. from licensing the damn show since they wanted to do it themselves and prevented them or Funi etc. from giving a "freakin dub" as they absolutely would have.

Using Kara no Kyoukai as an example, it seems that might be the case, but Aniplex's "official import" Fate/Zero v1 set on its own doesn't necessarily mean that F/Z isn't available for licensing to a US company. Aniplex's conditions/pricing may mean that no one wants to license it for some distant-future release, especially when the costs of a dub would make it even more expensive.

Quote:
If an importer wanted to buy it they could just buy it from CD Japan etc like I've done on numerous occasions while we wait to one of those companies to bring it over or until the JP side says the wait's been long enough.

Yeah, I had F/Z on order from Amazon at a cheaper price before I decided that I'd like the translated booklet with the official import.

Quote:
Shows like these that they've released first the "import way" have never so far gotten dual-audio releases later, and that's continuing with the BS of KnK and Oreimo re-releases being sub only DVDs when BDs exist and neither is still getting dubbed.

You're probably correct in your expectations, but we've only had KnK and now Fate/Zero as official imports, and the former hasn't been out long and the latter just came out. Oreimo was entirely a US release, just like Madoka, R.o.D. BD and Drrr!!. Baccano! BD was somewhere in between, as it was US packaging with Japanese disc masters... I hope that Aniplex does the same with Durarara!!, but I might not wait and could end up importing the Japanese BD set.

Quote:
Meanwhile there's no way Sentai (who releases both dual audio and sub only for ultra niche stuff) would relegate something on the level of Fate/Zero (or KnK or Blue Excorist) to sub only DVD. They'd absolutely do dual audio BDs for shows like these. Why is that hard to understand?

That might be true, if Aniplex or other production committee representatives were willing to price the license low enough for the usual bargain-basement Sentai release. Maybe they look at certain licenses as having more value/import than what Sentai/Funi are willing to pay and still be able to release it at their usual pricing levels.

Who really knows what's going on in their heads? I'm sure that it's not just "screw the Americans!".
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Takuku



Joined: 03 Jan 2011
Posts: 182
PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 8:40 pm Reply with quote
agila61 wrote:
Takuku wrote:
It's been a while since I read an Answerman article and then I came across this:

Quote:
Crunchyroll got Oreimo and Madoka and even Garden of Sinners got a digital release. This seems like a wise business move to me. Everyone gets a chance to see it and American fans can pre-order well enough in advance to insure that they have the proper funds.

Well America sadly doesn't cover everyone. ...

Yup, Aniplex USA only licenses for North America, so can't give Crunchyroll permission to stream anywhere else.

That's not exactly everyone is getting to see it (at least legally), as quoted.

Quote:
There may be a level of subscribers outside of North America where Crunchyroll can start to afford to sign multiple licenses for the same series to side step these kind of region restrictions that seem to archaic for internet streaming

I'm guessing things will come to a change soon, considering Crunchyroll launched a UK version. Afterall, what's the point really in launching a UK version of the website if they don't plan to do anything different that the current US (+ everywhere) does. Then again, CR UK costs more than CR regular apparently.
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agila61



Joined: 22 Feb 2009
Posts: 3213
Location: NE Ohio
PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 9:08 pm Reply with quote
Takuku wrote:
Quote:
There may be a level of subscribers outside of North America where Crunchyroll can start to afford to sign multiple licenses for the same series to side step these kind of region restrictions that seem to archaic for internet streaming

I'm guessing things will come to a change soon, considering Crunchyroll launched a UK version. Afterall, what's the point really in launching a UK version of the website if they don't plan to do anything different that the current US (+ everywhere) does. Then again, CR UK costs more than CR regular apparently.

Well, when you use the CR UK site, then it uses Commonwealth English. If guess that instead of reading nonsense rumors in the forums, that means UK members will get to read nonsense rumours.

The thing about paying in pounds is that its a predictable price, not something that bounces around all the time based on the exchange rate. In other words, another financial crisis and flight to dollars, and the UK pound price will be cheaper than the US$ price for a while.

Though with 85% of the series licensed to the UK this season .... maybe 90% if the only North American Only series doesn't get put back on ... it doesn't seem like the UK is facing a lot of notching out of sublicenses anymore. Its more South America, Africa ex South Africa, the Middle East, and especially Asia.
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reanimator





PostPosted: Sun Apr 15, 2012 3:14 am Reply with quote
agila61 wrote:
Mohawk52 wrote:
There's a "sell out" where units are clearing out faster than they can make them, and then there's making just 200 or less copies and selling them all without promising to make 200 more when those are "sold out". One is market driven the other is self imposed. The latter will only work until their customers get fed up with it causing more and more not buying in boycot. I say to Aniplex; enjoy it whilst it lasts.


Split off the (1) Direct English Export model from (2) Premium Price USA Release mode.

(1) is a limited edition, advertised as a limited edition, everyone knows its a limited edition who knows what the "limited edition" means. And its not making just 500, say, copies, its making 500 additional copies when pressing the Japanese release, and selling those 500 extra (or whatever) at a US$ price from US online retailer(s). Plus a translated booklet.

Whether there will ever be a Regular Edition blu ray, we wouldn't know, because the first of the (very successful) model happened so recently that the regular DVD release announcement is fairly early. But at least they did get a regular DVD release announced, as predicted by {ahem} some onlookers back when the original releases were announced and caused such a stir.

(2) Is not going to be "just making 200 or less copies", its making a run, packaging a specific number, and selling that specific number as a Limited Edition with assorted extras. That Limited Edition quantity is deliberately set in expectation of selling it out, but its the same discs as the regular edition, just bundled with a range of extras.

However, rather than making an optimistic guess about the sales level of the regular release(s) when deciding on a production run, there's a substantial incentive to make a conservative guess about the sales level when deciding on the production run. Which makes it more likely the regular release will sell out.

Just as with any release, you'd use the rate its selling and your estimate of how much untapped demand might be out there to decide whether to reissue. But if you are pursuing a premium price strategy, there's a substantial benefit in price maintenance in allowing it to sell out first and then making the decision whether or not to pursue another production run, and avoiding being too aggressive in making a re-issue decision. Aggressive production runs ensure that a substantial number from some series will have to be sold at deeply discounted prices, because its impossible to guess "close" to actual market demand every time.


@Agila61,

Thanks for clearing things up. I hope your explanations give better idea how things are.

Just to add to your comment, I don't think that number of DVD/BD buying fans has grown much. I guess it's about the same as 5 years ago? I could be wrong, but we don't hear cheaper sellers reaping great profit or throwing in all kinds of "luxury" (like dubbing) into all of DVD and BD's.
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BigOnAnime
Encyclopedia Editor


Joined: 01 Jul 2010
Posts: 1246
Location: Minnesota, USA
PostPosted: Sun Apr 15, 2012 3:34 am Reply with quote
doctordoom85 wrote:
Madoka, Durarara, Oreimo, and R.O.D. are all fairly-priced in my book.
Agreed, Madoka's DVD's are basically going for singles prices (Many new fans still are unaware of them unfortunately), how much people used to pay. Oreimo, that's around the price of many other box sets here, R.O.D., it's priced around the same as the Geneon sets back in the day. Every time that show has gotten a box set release, it's been $200.
http://www.rightstuf.com/1-800-338-6827/catalogmgr/0o0KloJv-ZuLfXan8F/browse/item/66957/4/0/0
http://www.rightstuf.com/1-800-338-6827/catalogmgr/0o0KloJv-ZuLfXan8F/browse/item/66763/4/0/0
(The BD box is actually cheaper than one of them)

The only areas where I can find the complaints on price to be understandable are the Gurren Lagann movies, their imports (Mainly KnK and Fate/Zero), and the Madoka LE's. Though I like how people cite only the LE's for Madoka, and never the cheaper options. The LE's aren't the only option people.<_<

As a collector, I love what Aniplex USA gives you. The Gurren Lagann movie LE's come with postcards, and those booklets, Oreimo had a poster, a booklet (Which had pages missing from the Japanese ones unfortunately), and a ton of postcards, and I could go on.

The one thing I really wish they would start doing is using chipboard. Madoka's LE's and Oreimo I feel should have been in chipboard artboxes. It doesn't have to be all that thick, they could go for how the Dragon Boxes are, in thin chipboard.
GATSU wrote:
No one watches the Fate series. If they did, Geneon would still be in business.
Did you listen to this at all?
animenewsnetwork.com/anncast/2009-12-03
Fate/stay night isn't the reason they went under. It was a combination of things.

Also, lots of people watch it. Hell, on MAL it's one of the most popular anime.
http://myanimelist.net/topanime.php?type=bypopularity
(Number 24)
Fate/Zero is ranked 484, with 40,000+ members having it on their list in some way.
http://myanimelist.net/anime/10087/Fate/Zero/stats

Though if Fate/stay night didn't sell well, it's because many fans didn't want to support the series, or sticked with fansubs. Popularity=/=Guaranteed high sales
GATSU wrote:
gain, except R.O.D. and Durarara.
I'm pretty sure he was referring to the stuff that's limited, not R.O.D. or Durarara!! which aren't limited. Nowhere on Rightstuf, or the pages Aniplex USA has for the shows says those are limited. R.O.D. contrary to belief is not limited. I do not see anywhere on here something like "While supplies last.".
http://aniplexusa.com/rod/
DangerMouse wrote:
Now (judging by KnK and Oreimo) even if they do ever re-release Fate/Zero it'll be DVD-only BS still without a dub despite BD's existing.
Considering the DVD's are available only for rental at select places in Japan, and you can't buy them, who knows if it'll be DVD-only here.


Last edited by BigOnAnime on Sun Apr 15, 2012 4:11 am; edited 1 time in total
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 15550
PostPosted: Sun Apr 15, 2012 4:07 am Reply with quote
Cutiebunny:
Quote:
For you, buying a PS3 and some games is something you value more than buying an anime series. For me, buying some nice anime production artwork is something I value more than $370, an anime series on DVD or Blu-Ray and a PS3.


But which one has more replay value?

Shana:
Quote:
Fate/stay night isn't the reason they went under. It was a combination of things.


And the combination included them bringing over shit no one wanted, including Fate/Stay Night. And now Aniplex is delusional enough to believe they can sell a sequel for a premium price. Good luck with that one.

Quote:
I'm pretty sure he was referring to the stuff that's limited, not R.O.D. or Durarara!! which aren't limited.


But the point is being argued that the higher-priced model works, when it only seems to be marginally effective, at best. Aniplex got lucky with KnK, just like Cameron with Avatar, so now everyone's trying to spin it as the format being the selling point. Of course, now people are getting sick and tired of 3D and average shows they'd, at most, pay a market price to own.
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LuScr



Joined: 26 Apr 2007
Posts: 143
PostPosted: Sun Apr 15, 2012 4:09 am Reply with quote
Quote:
Crunchyroll got Oreimo and Madoka and even Garden of Sinners got a digital release.


Did I miss something? Where and when did Garden of Sinners get a digital release?
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BigOnAnime
Encyclopedia Editor


Joined: 01 Jul 2010
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Location: Minnesota, USA
PostPosted: Sun Apr 15, 2012 4:12 am Reply with quote
LuScr wrote:
Quote:
Crunchyroll got Oreimo and Madoka and even Garden of Sinners got a digital release.


Did I miss something? Where and when did Garden of Sinners get a digital release?
The PlayStation Store last year for SD rentals. Each one is $3 each (The cheapest they allow movies to go for).
animenewsnetwork.com/news/2011-06-11/aniplex-rents-garden-of-sinners-on-playstation-network
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Ryujin99



Joined: 21 Jul 2010
Posts: 199
PostPosted: Sun Apr 15, 2012 9:46 am Reply with quote
I'm proud to say that I'm happily shelling out 95-99% of my money that doesn't go toward keeping myself alive toward my collection of games, manga, and anime. My point being... I don't really have that much money available, I just use all the money that I have. Now... I will admit that while I don't have tons of money to spend, I'm not exactly poor either. But I'm a single 20 year old, so while I don't have a lot of extra money, what I do have goes a lot farther than the same amount for someone with a significant other and/or family to take care of.

Now, with that clarified, I've bought the Fate/Zero box set, I pre-ordered all three and have received 2 of the Madoka box sets, and I intend to buy the second Fate/Zero box set when it comes out, probably near the end of this fall I'd guess. Had it not sold out before I had a chance to arrange things for it, I would have bought Kara no Kyoukai as well, though now that it's being re-released on DVD I'm definitely picking that up.

The reason that I shell out all this money that I like my "shineys" so to speak. Sure, Fate/Zero is really expensive, but if you've gotten a close up of that set, it is really nice. That set is far from flimsy, and the box, booklet, etc. are all beautiful. Madoka is essentially the same thing, though I'll admit that the boxes themselves are not nearly as sturdy as Fate/Zero's.

The downside to all this money burning... I can't buy as many series. But with as much anime streaming on legal portals as there is now, I'm more okay with delaying the purchase of other titles I'd like to pick up since most of them will be available for a considerably longer time than most of Aniplex's limited releases. It rends my soul to watch limited sets of shows like Shiki and Legend of the Legendary heroes getting released when I know that I can't afford them because all my money went toward Fate/Zero and Madoka... but I'd feel worse if Fate of Madoka sold out before it joined my collection.
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doctorx0079



Joined: 26 Jun 2010
Posts: 55
PostPosted: Sun Apr 15, 2012 11:52 am Reply with quote
Mohawk52 wrote:
There's a "sell out" where units are clearing out faster than they can make them, and then there's making just 200 or less copies and selling them all without promising to make 200 more when those are "sold out". One is market driven the other is self imposed. The latter will only work until their customers get fed up with it causing more and more not buying in boycot. I say to Aniplex; enjoy it whilst it lasts.


What really jumped out at me is the fact that it's been out over a month on TRSI, and it HASN'T SOLD OUT YET. Can it be that the worm is already turning??
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