Forum - View topicThis Week in Anime - Shelf Life
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invalidname
 Contributor Posts: 2501 Location: Grand Rapids, MI |
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OK, I'll start… 
(I hope the mods are allowing full-size images nowadays… 4 MB was a lot when the forums started, but that was over 20 years ago.) Yeah, I'm running out of room, but TBH, there's so little coming out that I’m down to buying only a few discs a year. It seems like the only things that get physical releases anymore are either top-tier franchises from Crunchyroll, or ancient and obscure stuff from Discotek and Animeigo(*). Contemporary shows that aren't monster hits don't get discs anymore, at least that’s why I assume I can’t add to these shelves the later seasons of Pop Team Epic or Love Live Superstar. And that's only going to make me reticent to start a collecting series on disc in the future, given the high likelihood they’ll bail on the later seasons. (* - before anyone busts my chops, I do have a pre-order in for Nobody's Boy Remi, so there's that.) |
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mdo7
 Posts: 6818 Location: Katy, Texas, USA |
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Well nice to see ANN talking about physical media in this time and era of streaming. Yeah, the streaming thing is helping obscure anime finding a bigger audiences, but at the same time it's a double edge sword for me and other people (ie: subscription prices increasing every year, titles get remove due to contract ending, and the title that is on streaming site doesn't have a physical media release).
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JohnnySake
 Posts: 588 Location: Auburn Hills, MI |
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Great article!
Oh boy, this feels like an article where us "olds" come in and talk about pros and cons of physical media vs. streaming. Regardless of that, a great first shelf photo, kudos Invalidname! I spy an Orguss, Rumbling Hearts, Witch Hunter Robin, among other classics. And here I am, trying to get motivated enough to put another moving box's worth of anime discs on eBay to help pare down my collection. |
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Lily Garden
 Posts: 78 |
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My physical anime collection is curated to be stuff I really like and want to be able to watch whenever I want…and by what I find cheaply on sale (thanks Sentai!)
If I find a show that I’ve haven’t seen but have heard good things about (say on ANN’s best of 20XX) and I can get it for under $30, it’s going in the shopping cart. With the inherently volatile nature of streaming catalogs I like the reassurance that physical gives me. Speaking of which, when are the physical releases for Birdie Wing and Undead Murder Farce going to come out!! Grumble grumble Plus I like the thought that in a minuscule way I’m influencing market forces towards my preferences. |
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gsilver
Posts: 658 |
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I haven't really been selective enough on my physical media, having to subject it to multiple large-scale culls as circumstances have forced me to move time and time again.
My last big cull a few years ago was 6 big cases that could probably hold about 60 DVDs each, plus many full manga series. It felt wrong (and too much time/effort) to sell it, so I just gave it to anyone who wanted it at the local anime club, then the rest went to the library. And a lot of it was good stuff, too, like the Animeigo Macross sets. I'll probably have to do it again, the next time I have to move. |
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Greed1914
 Posts: 4723 |
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Yep, some good examples of why physical still matters in this streaming age. Aniplex declining to renew licenses might have made sense if they planned to do anything with them beyond a select few getting one printing.
But, it also still depends on there being a physical option. I've occasionally gone looking for relatively recent series blu-ray where I was convinced I must have missed the release date, only to find out there wasn't one. If Akebi's Sailor Uniform doesn't have a disc release after three years, then I guess it's not happening? 
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invalidname
Contributor Posts: 2501 Location: Grand Rapids, MI |
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Yeah, it’s one thing when they play keep-away with titles that previously got physical releases, like Baccano! or Angel Beats!. It’s quite another when then the title never got a physical release and is gone from streaming, as with Valkyria Chronicles and Mekakucity Actors, among many others. Thanks for nothing, Aniplex.
Oh man, I’d forgotten about that. If Akebi had a blu-ray, I’d preorder that in a heartbeat. |
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mdo7
Posts: 6818 Location: Katy, Texas, USA |
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As I said, and I have said this on another thread:
So yeah, I think this is why and I highly suspect that physical media could make a comeback, and maybe the sale of physical media could rebound to pre-streaming era because of people are now becoming aware of the limitation of premium streaming media, I mean if your favorite show or anime on Netflix is going to be gone from there and that title doesn't have a DVD or Blu-ray release, that is a major problem for someone who wants to re-watch that anime. |
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Marimer Est
Posts: 52 |
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A profound lack of Aniplex USA blu-rays = Instant respek.
But if we're gonna show off, I personally love my Mospeada + Southern Cross box set from ADV from way back when. It's disgustingly difficult to find nowadays. |
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Top Gun
 Posts: 4871 |
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Man, I wish so hard that I was in a situation where I had actual shelves worthy of being pictured, but when you have *checks spreadsheet--oh dear lord* over 1200 unique items in far too little space, that's not an option. I have things double and triple-stacked on shelves, I have a bunch precariously stacked on their side on narrow bookshelves, I have more recent purchases still in their cardboard boxes because I have nowhere to put them...no I don't have a problem why would you say that.
But yeah, I'm one of those oldheads who's still all-in on physical media. Hell, I buy a bunch of stuff sight-unseen because I suck so hard at actually watching it. And I didn't even think about the tariff bullshit making pressed discs more expensive, lovely. |
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MartinWisse
 Posts: 41 |
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PSA for Chris: since you like Symphogear and you like Bang Dream, do make time this weekend to watch AKB0048 as it's sort of a perfect crossbreed of idol and mecha musume anime.
I have a fair few bluray, dvd and even one loney VHS tape (Akira, very first anime I've ever bought) stashed away in the proverbial Billy bookcases. The rightstuf sales had been great for finding obscure stuff not released over here, even with the huge shipping and import taxes. |
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Triltaison
 Posts: 818 |
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According to my tracker, I currently have 2235 SKUs in my physical anime collection. So... I might definitely have a shelving problem. Been collecting since the US DVD market for anime started, basically.
I can't take a nice photo of everything since much is boxed and stored, but here's a group shot of the majority of just my Pioneer/Geneon releases that I took last spring: 
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