Forum - View topicMethod of purchasing anime.
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Otaku-Sensei
 Posts: 54 |
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I have bought alot of anime dvd's and nothing is more frustrating than wasting money on an awful anime. I was just wondering how many people only buy anime after they get some info on it before hand? And also has anyone just bought an anime for fun and it paid off? A couple series that actually paid off that I bought on a whim were Scrapped Princess, Last Exile, and Saber Marionette. Some anime that I bought on a whim that were awful are Tenchi Muyo GXP and Noir.
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Mid-Boss
 Posts: 71 |
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I've bought some good titles on a whim...Desert Punk, E7, Fullmetal Alchemist, GitS: SAC, GTO, Evangelion, Outlaw Star, and Tenchi Muyo.
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar  Posts: 16974 |
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I know the feeling, I'm a tight ass when it comes to my money. I don't mind spending it for something I want, or on my friends and family, but I abhor wasting it. I know how lucky I am here in the US compared to other countries so wasting my money is a big pet peeve of mine. I usually do research first and most times rent the anime through either Netflix or Animelane first to check it out. I'll rent the first dvd or two and watch them and if I like them I return them and go out and buy the series. I'm a big frequent shopper at TRSI online and ebay. With a new car coming soon I gotta save up which means I can't simply buy random anime like I used to. I do however still occasionally go out and pick out a title I have heard nothing about. I look at the back of the dvds and read the synopsis and if it sounds good I'll try it on a whim. I've had a few that were simply ok and only 2-3 really bad choices. A handful of great shows that I love that I got through this method though are Ai Yori Aoshi, Kiddy Grade, Ghost in the Shell (original movie on vhs), Ninja Scroll (again old vhs), Haibane Renmei, and Excel Saga.
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Keonyn
 Subscriber Posts: 5567 Location: Coon Rapids, MN |
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I mostly buy anime after I've read up on it and done some research to make sure I'll like it. The only instance this strategy didn't work was with Gilgamesh, a series that by every indication seemed like one I'd enjoy but after picking it up and watching it I found nothing good about it. An uninteresting story with uninteresting characters and an atmosphere to it that felt like they tried to hard to pull it off. Not to mention the really poor animation, something I'm usually forgiving about but in this case I just couldn't ignore it.
I've done some blind buying as well, such as Wolf's Rain, Twelve Kingdoms, Scrapped Princess and FFU. Like my researching anime blind buys have also only steered me wrong one time, and that was of course FFU, a truly awful series. There was nothing FF about the series and while I'm generally a fan of english dubs some of the voice acting in the dub was just plain awful. The artwork, especially on some of the monsters, was laughably bad and the story wasn't interesting in the least. All in all only two disappointments isn't so bad and while each purchase method has a record of only 1 disappointment the track record of researching is better as I've purchased far more that way than blind buys. |
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UKfan
 Posts: 280 Location: Manchester UK |
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I enjoy collecting anime as much as I enjoy watching it so the only anime I saw before buying were Ghost in the Shell and Akira which I had seen on TV about 10 years ago, and Dragon Ball Z and Gundam Wing which I watched on Toonami about 2 years ago.
I'm lucky in that I've enjoyed all the anime I've watched, some more than others but I never felt I'd wasted my time with any. |
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Jedi General
 Posts: 2485 Location: Tucson, AZ |
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I don't normally buy anime completely blindly without having read anything but a synopsis. If I haven't seen any of the series already (via fansubs, TV or free previews), normally I'll research it first. I'll read a synopsis, look at the ratings here on ANN and read a review or two here on ANN if available. I'll rent it from Netflix first to see if I'll like it most of the time though. But like everything, there are exceptions to this. I'm willing to blindly buy something during one of TRSI's awesome 10 DVDs for $50/25 DVDs for $100 sales, since it would technically be only 4 or 5 dollars per DVD (less than your average manga book, which I'll buy blindly all the time). I have made some great blind purchases though. Outlaw Star, Last Exile, Chrono Crusade, Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, Love Hina (and anything else I may have forgotten). Fortunately I've been a good judge with my blind buys and haven't run into something awful.
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joel_s95387
Posts: 1804 Location: California... The Village Hidden In The Porn |
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Before I used to research it on the internet before I bought it. During my research though, I was dumb and would uncover too much information, aka spoilers.
Then I discovered ANN and AoD where I can read reviews from their reviewers. Not long after that I began to use this very forum and I was able to ask the fans for recommendations or for opinion on series I was curious on. In college with friends that don't have much money to spare, they watch a lot of fansubs so I guess that's my current method. I watch a fansubbed series, years later buy it on DVD. I still buy a lot of DVDs but I used to buy whatever DVD case caught my attention the most, i hit a speed bump where I whent a month without liking any of the Vol.1 DVDs I bought so I pretty much stopped buying randomly off the shelf. So I don't buy anything I don't have any background on. |
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NGE1113
 Posts: 1081 Location: Alexandria, VA. |
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The first statement I'd like to make: the chance that I'll blind buy is inversely proportional to the price of the disc. Anything that's $10 or below is something that I'll take a shot at if I feel it's up my alley. Only lost out once through this method: Variable Geo (*shudders*). Trashed it immediately, since I didn't want the chance to exist for anothe poor soul to see that show.
Outside of that, I tend to read up on reviews, and try to watch shows on TV or trailer discs, and on occasion, a fansub. I've found the reviews I've read over the years to be fairly spot on, though there were times that I've disagreed with them. Trailer discs have always been pretty good indicators for me, minus the NewType disc that made me think that Divergence Eve was an incomprehensible piece of trash; sorely mistaken on that point. Long-term viewing experience has always been my best option. From watching a ⅓ of both Trigun and Cowboy Bebop, I knew it was a safe bet for me to buy them. |
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Shad()w
 Posts: 5 Location: Pennsylvania, United States |
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I used to buy on a whim a lot, when I actually saw anime in a store. I live in the country and don't get a lot of chances to shop. Most of the time now I research titles for (on this site of course) and I ask friends what they think. Usually I buy anime from reputable websites instead of stores. However, if I do come across something that's cheap and catches my eye I'll give it a shot.
Bought without prior knowledge and really liked: Princess Mononoke, Vampire Hunter D BL, Metropolis Bought without prior knowledge and didn't like: Sin the movie |
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fighterholic
Posts: 9193 |
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Ususally I buy anime if it looks interesting online, or if I know of the title in its manga counterpart. Though, I will definetly buy anime no matter what kind of series it is when types of sales that happen at TRSI come up. Deals can't get better than that, and you'll have all the time in the world to watch it. Just as long as your house doesn't burn down.
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one3rd
 Posts: 1819 Location: アメリカ |
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I've never bought a series completely blind. I always have some knowledge about the series before buying. There are some series that I have purchased, though, without much knowledge.
Full Metal Panic! - When I first bought this series, I had never seen any of it at all. I had seen the ratings here on ANN and reviews seemed to be positive, so when I had a gift card, I picked up the first two discs of the series. I was not at all disappointed. FMP!, including sequels, has turned out to be my favorite series. Slayers - I bought all three TV series at the same time when the price was reduced at TRSI. I had seen the first series, so I bought all three being confident that I would like the other two as well. Azumanga Daioh - I hadn't seen any of the anime before I bought this series, but I had purchased and read all of the manga. The anime is a pretty straight forward adaptation of the manga and it really brought it to life. The Japanese voices for the characters sounded more or less exactly how I imagined them. Record Of Lodoss War OVA - I had seen an episode or two of the TV version on On Demand cable, so I picked up the OVA series for a decent price when I saw it in a used book store. SDF Macross and His & Her Circumstances - I had only seen a few episodes of each before purchasing these. When the opportunity came at good prices, I picked up both series. |
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EVA fiend
 Posts: 314 Location: Somewhere in the UK. |
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I buy nearly all my anime on a whim, as I rarely read reviews anymore. This is due to the fact that an overzealous online reviewer spoiled the ending to Cowboy Bebop for me when I had only just started the series. And besides, one man's garbage is another man's gold so I take most reviews with a pinch of salt these days. I sometimes use ANN & other sites to get a brief low down on what the series is actually about, but more often than not, I just pick up series whenever they catch my eye, either by price or by the pretty artwork on the box.
Admitedly, I've bought some really crummy titles, e.g., Aquarian Age, Avenger, Mezzo DSA, etc, but I've also come across some real gems too, e.g., R.O.D, Haibane Renmei, Saikano, Kino's Journey, & Kaleido Star to name but a few. Oh, & my top two favourite series, Evangelion & Shoujo Kakumei Utena, were both bought on a whim; the former because the artwork of Unit-01 going berserk caught my eye, the latter because the VHS boxset was going cheap. Hooray for buying stuff on a whim I say. 
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Truered
 Posts: 515 Location: Uni |
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For 16 and a half years of my life, getting me to spend money was like getting my sister to spend time on homework
I spend more, but that is still the case- I often research both manga and anime purchases. I brought my Ghibli films having watched them before. Excel Saga I watched a few and brought. Akira I brought on a whim- it came with GiTS and Ninja scroll. NGE I brought after deciding not to spend almost £70 on it...it kept bugging me and I kept thinking I'd made the wrong choice to just read the manga. So I brought it in the end. I got the last one on Uk Amazon, and when it was back in stock it was £7 more expensive 
However don't get me started on the background reading I do before buying manga. However not when offline- in town I have brough .hack, school rumble and Negima on a whim. Only one I had thought of collecting. I often focus little on reviews- and more on the storyline (and lenght- hence why I holded off on Naruto...before giving in) |
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riccardo
 Posts: 136 Location: Melbourne, Australia |
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Before I found this site, I bought anime based on the pictures on the box and the description on the back. It worked well with Soul Hunter, Rune Soldier Louie and King of Bandit Jing, but not so well with The Hakkenden and Vampire Princess Miyu.
Now I have this site I read the description in Encyclopedia and the median rating, plus I get reccomendations from friends. Its a much better system. |
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Kruszer
 Posts: 7995 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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I usually don't buy something unless I've at least heard the title mentioned or read a synopsis somewhere. My usual practice is to try and watch a trailer somewhere, or see an episode or two beforehand. Most of what I buy nowadays is stuff I've seen subbed and really liked and wanted to own. I bought Aquarian Age, Gunslinger Girl, Noir, Kannazuki no Miko, and Chobits completely blind though and ended up really liking them a lot.
Right now I'm buying Black Lagoon, Ergo Proxy, Eureka 7, Fate/Stay Night, Noein, and When They Cry which I've seen already. Then Chevalier D'Eon, Hellsing Ultimate, Karas, Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny, and later this year Witchblade which I haven't or have only seen partially. |
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