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DragonsRevenge
Joined: 15 Nov 2004
Posts: 1150
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Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 8:26 am
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Yeah, the thread title is a bit misleading.
Are publishers no longer releasing anime in individual DVDs? Just looking at the recent reviews, It looks like a lot of multi-disc parts of seasons (ie, the Code Gaess Season one part one two or three disc releases from a year or so ago) or whole seasons subs. Have they quit selling individual DVDs?
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dtm42
Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 14084
Location: currently stalking my waifu
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Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 9:38 am
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DragonsRevenge wrote: | Have they quit selling individual DVDs? |
Of course not. Naruto Shippuden is currently being released one DVD at a time, which is heresy. Blasphemy. Well, its something. Crazy; yeah, that's the word.
However, there has been a massive trend towards releasing Anime in half-seasons, and/or releasing titles in sub-only format. It is more cost-effective and therefore appeals to distributors and consumers alike, both of which have had a rough year (or more).
I think FUNimation is doing it the most. I think they may have even started the trend, possibly because of what they did with all the titles they rescued from Geneon. Or I could be very mistaken, so take that with a grain of salt.
Just to be ultra-blunt about this; I like that they are releasing so much Anime in half-season boxsets. However, I am saddened by the dearth of dubs relative to what we had before. No matter which side of the dub versus sub debate, there is no denying that dubs are necessary to expand Anime's influence and popularity.
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TheTheory
Joined: 23 Mar 2008
Posts: 1029
Location: Central PA
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Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 9:58 am
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I'm sure that dtm42 knows this, but didn't make clear in his post... but just to clarify. FUNImation started the half season set trend--they still dub everything, however. Other publishers are following the season/half-season trend (ex-ADV, specifically) but can't afford to dub, so those end up being sub-only.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter
Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 24177
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Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 10:38 am
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The R1 single volume hasn't quite gone the way of the Dodo Bird yet, but it's getting there. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but the switch from singles to half sets, etc., has been driven largely by retailers. As they cut down the shelf space they make available for anime, they obviously don't want a single title taking up a bunch of space. Also, newcomers like myself generally tend to avoid singles unless they come out of TRSI's bargain bin.
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DragonsRevenge
Joined: 15 Nov 2004
Posts: 1150
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Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 10:40 am
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Ok. That's very interesting, and yeah, really beneficial for all involved (except for the dub fans). I'm indifferent towards the hybrid/sub only issue myself, but I can see how that's sort of constricting an already tight industry.
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EricJ
Joined: 03 Sep 2009
Posts: 876
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Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2009 5:35 am
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Blood- wrote: | The R1 single volume hasn't quite gone the way of the Dodo Bird yet, but it's getting there. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but the switch from singles to half sets, etc., has been driven largely by retailers. As they cut down the shelf space they make available for anime, they obviously don't want a single title taking up a bunch of space. Also, newcomers like myself generally tend to avoid singles unless they come out of TRSI's bargain bin. |
ADV made fans cynical that single disks would probably come out in a boxset anyway, so why not be patient?
When this crippled the sales of single disks, Funi was the first studio (or perhaps "the last remaining") to cut out the middleman and go directly to the chase.
Had other studios done so earlier, Best Buy might not have been so snarky about all those middle-volume Princess Tutu disks.
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luffypirate
Joined: 06 Oct 2006
Posts: 3187
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Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2009 3:47 pm
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Bring back the singles with artboxes! I want me some limited edition goodies!
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hissatsu01
Joined: 08 May 2006
Posts: 963
Location: NYC
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Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2009 5:05 pm
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luffypirate85 wrote: | Bring back the singles with artboxes! I want me some limited edition goodies! |
I really think that release model is gone for good in the US. Even the current half season set release model seems to be getting pushed towards full season sets, and utterly barebones releases at that. I don't much like it, but that seems to be the way things are going. I wouldn't mind it so much if these were high quality releases, but cheap in every way seems to be what people want.
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jmfsilenthill
Joined: 31 Aug 2009
Posts: 1863
Location: Chinese cartoons are srs biz
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Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2009 5:16 pm
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The last series that Funimation released as single volumes were Claymore, Darker Than Black, and Baccano!. Sentai/Section23 releases all their stuff in half seasons. Bandai still basically puts out everything in singles: Hayate, Code Geass R2, upcoming Kurokami (they are in 4 parts but they are still charging alot). 3 and 4 part releases bug the crap out of me for some reason.
Doesn't Media Blasters still release most stuff as singles? Moribito, Genshiken 2, Queen's Blade, etc.
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ninjapet
Joined: 20 Apr 2009
Posts: 1517
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Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2009 5:58 pm
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Single releases are slowly dieing, now if Bandai would learn not to release 51 episode series in sub only formats with a disk only holding 7 episodes, and charging the price of a half season boxset with a dub. (I'm pointing to the Hayate release here )
Still as far as half season boxsets go, Funimation is skimming on the extras as of late. Bare bone releases with not that great art for the box covers makes me sad, along with turning me away from buying.
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The King of Harts
Joined: 05 May 2009
Posts: 6712
Location: Mount Crawford, Virginia
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Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2009 6:08 pm
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luffypirate85 wrote: | Bring back the singles with artboxes! I want me some limited edition goodies! |
Hear, hear!
I'm torn between saving money with half season sets and making my shelf look pretty with fancy art boxes. There's an intense battle going on in my head between my cheapskate side and my nerdy collector. MY BRAIN CAN'T TAKE IT!
I wouldn't mind half season sets at all if they were chipboard thinpaks (like Nerima Daikon Bros thinpak).
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DragonsRevenge
Joined: 15 Nov 2004
Posts: 1150
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Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2009 8:19 pm
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luffypirate85 wrote: | Bring back the singles with artboxes! I want me some limited edition goodies! |
I never cared for that. At the time, they'd end up releasing said box with all 7 DVDs anyway. It's not worth an extra 10 bucks for a little figurine.
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Youkai Warrior
Joined: 07 Aug 2008
Posts: 505
Location: Sarayashiki
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Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2009 8:28 pm
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Media Blasters still releases single DVD volumes, and Naruto: Shipuuden is also getting the single DVD volumes treatment. I remember collecting single DVDs of anime series, and while I didn't mind that, one reason why anime companies are going for half season box sets or full season box sets is because it is easier and cheaper to get, at least now it is. I find collecting the box sets saves time and I catch up on more series. However, there are some anime that do not have box sets, (at least not yet) I'm going for those Trigun Remix DVDs from TRSI, and seeing as the Fushigi Yugi box sets are way too expensive, I will go for the singles. But besides a few titles, much of my anime, specifically long-running series, I get as box sets.
I do miss the single DVDs, mostly because they were different from western TV shows that have always been released as box sets, it made them different, ya know? But the box sets are convenient. So the half season or full season box set I think was a good idea.
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Ggultra2764
Subscriber
Joined: 21 Jan 2004
Posts: 3970
Location: New York state.
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Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2009 8:36 pm
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I don't have a problem collecting box sets of anime titles that have half a season or the full series as it lets me have the entire series on hand much easier. But it would be appreciated if the special features weren't so barebones. The latest box sets I've been getting from Funimation, there aren't too many special features and the alternate video tracks where you could switch between the English and Japanese versions that were common in Funi's past titles aren't present. All you get is the English video track. I thought Funi was the most better off of all the American anime distributors.
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luffypirate
Joined: 06 Oct 2006
Posts: 3187
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Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2009 8:55 pm
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DragonsRevenge wrote: |
luffypirate85 wrote: | Bring back the singles with artboxes! I want me some limited edition goodies! |
I never cared for that. At the time, they'd end up releasing said box with all 7 DVDs anyway. It's not worth an extra 10 bucks for a little figurine. |
Not just figurines, but pencil boards, postcards, t-shirts, and booklets as well. Take FUNi's initial release of Moonphase for example: a sh*t ton of postcards, a neat book to hold them in, AND booklets packed full of cool info in each individual volume. Amazing artbox as well. Remember those awesome figures that were released with each volume of Scrapped Princess? Those to me were well worth the extra $10. Thank god for Bandai releasing the translated Code Geass booklets with the first season limited editions. If we are only going to get the show itself from now on FUNi, I'll just wait for Blu-rays... I mean come on, if your going to lack on the digital extras and packaging quality at least give us some sort of physical incentive to buy the DVD's as half seasons.
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