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NEWS: ADV Comments on Relisted Titles, New Release Schedule


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Tofusensei



Joined: 15 Feb 2008
Posts: 365
PostPosted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 7:27 am Reply with quote
grgspunk wrote:
It didn't have to mention anything specific about what they were dealing with, they could've just sugarcoated everything and that would've been acceptable. [b]We just needed something to remind us that ADV wasn't dead. Preferrably something released right after all those titles were taken down.


I'd assume the reason they didn't do that is because they weren't sure if they were coming back or not. It's not uncommon for a business, around the end of the fiscal year, if it is operating at a loss or has projected negative revenue, to reevaluate whether or not it should remain in business.

It's no secret that they've got a great deal of debt, the entire industry is losing money, the economy is going to hell quickly with the sub-prime debacle, their main investor all but pulled the plug and actually called off their licenses until they renegotiated a new deal (and let us harbor no illusions here, they did lose the licenses for the weeks they were off of their website... if it looks like a duck...)

They were able to work out some new deal and will take another stab at this anime thing. I wish them the best of luck! Some of my favorite DVDs were done by ADV Smile

-Tofu
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Toshirodragon



Joined: 14 May 2005
Posts: 166
PostPosted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 8:02 am Reply with quote
Wonder if Gurren Laggann will EVER see the light of day.... and I'll sure NOT buying Wallflower until all the discs are released, I have enough unfinished stuff I was hooked on that Geneon pissed off on.
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ScottGreen



Joined: 04 Feb 2002
Posts: 20
PostPosted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 8:24 am Reply with quote
Given the concrete details in Mr Bailiff's comments, couldn't ADV have calmed some nerves by making this statement a month ago?

No one can really expect a company in the middle of negotiation to speak to their discussions with any real substance. That said, part of ADV's business model has been to drum up fan interest by engaging the internet, fan events and enthusiast press. There seems to be an implicit suggestion in this statement and in the company's actions, both during this situation and in their manga hiatus, that they are only prepared to talk purchasable products.

If ADV can't and won't talk real plans and set real expectations, maybe its time to adopt that public face that doesn't set that expectation. Or, if they're going to maintain the current sleight of hand, they need to start doing it more gracefully.

Second concern...
With the push to digital distribution by many North America anime publishers, what happens to DRM protected content in a situation like this or if a license just expires? If that means that the end user can no longer authenticate the anime they purchase, companies are going to have to be a lot more forthcoming in situations like this.
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BenBrown



Joined: 30 Jan 2008
Posts: 46
PostPosted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 9:18 am Reply with quote
ScottGreen wrote:

Second concern...
With the push to digital distribution by many North America anime publishers, what happens to DRM protected content in a situation like this or if a license just expires? If that means that the end user can no longer authenticate the anime they purchase, companies are going to have to be a lot more forthcoming in situations like this.


I would hope they do the smart thing and distribute through an established provider like iTunes or Amazon. Then none of us would have to worry about losing our authentication sources. And honestly at a return to the publisher of around 1.45 (for next day network shows anyway) it would probably be the correct economic choice for the anime companies.

I know I've enjoyed the series that I've bought from Funimation off iTunes. Sure no physical media or Japanese with subs. But the price is pretty good.
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ConanSan



Joined: 13 Jun 2007
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 9:48 am Reply with quote
BluMeino wrote:
Conan-san wrote:
No Gurren Lagann?

NO SAFETY!!


As far as I'm concerned, untill I have GL #1 in my hands, ADV's still goin' to hell in a handbasket.
I also don't like what he's implying with the news blackout. because I think he just said the "weeaboo" word of business, "Red tape"


Just volume 1? And then what? They go under and you're stuck with GL Volume 1. This is why I only buy complete sets/thinpacks. You get the entire show and for cheaper.
I'd rather "Here lies ADV, At least they got GL 1 out" than "Here lies ADV, the arseholes who held onto Gurren Lagann and other fine shows whilst releasing Moé crap. May Business Satan punish it's soul forever."
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kakitamike



Joined: 24 Jul 2007
Posts: 183
Location: Akron, OH
PostPosted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 9:49 am Reply with quote
Lately i've been of the opinion of "Hope for the best, expect the worst."

I'll be buying their releases as normal, but exercising self restraint and just let them sit in the shrink wrap until a series wraps up, in case anything unfortunate happens like this again in a couple months. Luckily, I've never had return issues at BestBuy bringing back items well past the 30 day listed receipt date,
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Key
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 10:41 am Reply with quote
grgspunk wrote:
I have a hard time believing that their reputation hasn't been affected by all this. I'd say fan distrust created by this utter silence is what will ultimately kill ADV in the long run. I'll give them nine months.


Oh, come on. Do you really think "fan distrust" has been built up that much and is going to hurt them that bad? Is fandom so fragile in this day and age of Internet-based immediate gratification that a delay of 2-4 weeks for several titles is going to drive people away? Fans being more reluctant to buy a series until it's all out I can maybe understand, as I know people are still smarting from the Geneon thing, but if someone is entirely refusing to buy from ADV over this then I have to wonder if that person wasn't looking for an excuse not to buy anyway.

Sure, I am annoyed by having to wait an extra three weeks for the last volume of Kurau Phantom Memory, but this is hardly the first time titles have been unexpectedly delayed from their initially-posted release dates and it won't be the last. As a first-release DVD buyer it's just something you have to put up with. (And for those whining about the delays on TTGL, I would point out that titles like KPM and Witchblade got held up for a year or more after being licensed, so fans of TTGL shouldn't sweat a month or two of delays. If it turns out to be much longer than that, though. . .)
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jedimaster5000



Joined: 06 Feb 2008
Posts: 58
PostPosted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 10:55 am Reply with quote
Keror gunso, does anyone know how much episodes are there gonna be for each volume (I hope not 4, since thats way to slow for anyone)
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Zalis116
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 11:16 am Reply with quote
Key wrote:
Sure, I am annoyed by having to wait an extra three weeks for the last volume of Kurau Phantom Memory, but this is hardly the first time titles have been unexpectedly delayed from their initially-posted release dates and it won't be the last. As a first-release DVD buyer it's just something you have to put up with. (And for those whining about the delays on TTGL, I would point out that titles like KPM and Witchblade got held up for a year or more after being licensed, so fans of TTGL shouldn't sweat a month or two of delays. If it turns out to be much longer than that, though. . .)
To extend the Kurau-TTGL comparison even more:

KPM:
Licensed -- July 2004
First R1 DVD -- April 2007 (2 years, 9 months)
Airdate of episode 21 (first episode on the delayed Vol. 6) -- November 25, 2004
Total time between airing of ep 21 -> R1 release: 3 years, 3 months

TTGL:
Licensed -- July 2007
First R1 DVD -- April/May 2008? (9-10 months)
Airdate of episode 1 -- April 1, 2007
Total time between airing and R1 release: approximately 1 year, 1 month (even with the delay, that's still less time than it took for Kanon to be released)

And I can understand not liking Kanon and similar series, but why the virulent reaction to their R1 release or their existence in the first place? If the situation had been reversed (with Kanon being left up in the air and Gurren Lagann receiving a release date), then yeah, I would've been sad and disappointed. But I wouldn't have been up in arms just because some other show I hadn't seen got a release date and Kanon didn't.
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BenBrown



Joined: 30 Jan 2008
Posts: 46
PostPosted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 11:51 am Reply with quote
Zalis116 wrote:
Key wrote:
Sure, I am annoyed by having to wait an extra three weeks for the last volume of Kurau Phantom Memory, but this is hardly the first time titles have been unexpectedly delayed from their initially-posted release dates and it won't be the last. As a first-release DVD buyer it's just something you have to put up with. (And for those whining about the delays on TTGL, I would point out that titles like KPM and Witchblade got held up for a year or more after being licensed, so fans of TTGL shouldn't sweat a month or two of delays. If it turns out to be much longer than that, though. . .)
To extend the Kurau-TTGL comparison even more:


You can certainly make comparisons like that, and from a purely date comparison, it looks like TTGL getting delayed isn't a big deal.

However, if you look at the overall picture and consider the current state of fandom (higher demand for sooner releases) then contextually you can understand what the TTGL fans are all excited about. ADV did a lot to play up the release of TTGL, and rightfully so, all indications are that it will be a huge title for them. Releasing the first episode to watch online (even with their technical problems) could only increase demand for the series, something that KPM didn't have.

You can also consider the popularity of the shows, from their entries in the encyclopedia KPM has 301 ratings, for a show that is about to finish DVD release, and was licensed in 2004. TTGL hasn't even been released on DVD yet, it was licensed in July of 07, yet it has 1065 ratings. I'll also add that on myanimelist KPM has 400 rankings, TTGL is almost at 4000.

To me it looks like comparing the baseball strike to the hockey strike. It's a similar situation but a lot more people cared about the baseball strike, and my guess would be that a lot more people care about TTGL as well.
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Dr.G



Joined: 29 Jan 2008
Posts: 27
PostPosted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 1:13 pm Reply with quote
The problem with the US anime market is that companies like ADV have to deal with so many people and companies to get anime released in the US.

Since there are so many people and businesses to deal with they dont want to make a bunch of public statements that could rattle or upset the other people they work with.

Its better to shut up and work behind the scene to get things worked out rather than making a lot of public statements that could delay their talks or kill them...because even a weeks delay could cost the ocmpany tons and tons of money.
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Zac
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 1:33 pm Reply with quote
ScottGreen wrote:
stuff


Just wanted to point out that while Mr. Green used to be part of the ANN News Team many years ago, he now works at AICN and his statements here do not reflect the opinions of the ANN News Team. We simply forgot to remove the tag under his name. It has been corrected.
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Tempest
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 1:34 pm Reply with quote
GATSU wrote:
I just hope Cromartie and Wallflower get finished.


ADV's "bread and butter" is DVD sales, and I suspect that they're going to focus 100% of their available resources on getting their DVD sales back on track.

Once they're back on track with DVDs, I expect that they will start putting some time & effort into manga. However with the departure of Gary Steinam, I don't know who will be running that department, as many of the qualified individuals will probably be focusing on PiQ. Chris Oarr, who is primarily in sales right now, perhaps.

This is all speculation on my part, I have no inside info in regards to their manga division, I would expect that they would get to it within a few months and that Cromartie, Yotsuba&! and other titles that, they were still releasing will be rescheduled.

I sure hope I'm right, I'm a fan of Yotsuba&!

I have no idea what's going on at Tokyopop in regards to Lupin, sorry.

-t
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Tempest
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 1:45 pm Reply with quote
ScottGreen wrote:

With the push to digital distribution by many North America anime publishers, what happens to DRM protected content in a situation like this or if a license just expires? If that means that the end user can no longer authenticate the anime they purchase, companies are going to have to be a lot more forthcoming in situations like this.


Another reason to fear DRM. I suspect the answer to your question will vary from provider to provider though.

In theory, if you've "downloaded to own" your "license" to that title should outlive the seller's license to sell that title. In other words, it should work very much the same way as physical media.

In most everyday scenarios, this is a non-concern though. On a technical level, when a media-player encounters a DRM protected media, it only authenticates once. The primary reason for future authentications are when the media is moved to a new computer, the media-player is re-installed, the user changes media-players, or the operating system is re-installed. Unfortunately, all of the scenarios are quite common, and there isn't enough protection for the end user in these cases.

I'm more concerned about bankruptcies than I am about license changes. If I download DRM protected content from company A, and company A goes bankrupt, will I ever be able to re-authenticate that content when I run into the above scenarios. And if I can't, who can I hold responsible, a now non-existent company?

In theory, I have nothing against the concept of DRM. In fact I support it. But due to all the practical issues and problems that exist, I avoid purchasing DRM'd content.

-t
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Tempest
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 1:52 pm Reply with quote
grgspunk wrote:
You know, they would have at least alleviated some of the uncertainty if they'd just kept giving us press releases or announcements saying something along the lines of:


You mean something like this ?
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