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Forum - View topicNEWS: Media Blasters Picks Up Space Pirate Mito Sequel
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Richard J.
 Posts: 3367 Location: Sic Semper Tyrannis. |
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Will this be another one of Media Blasters "we don't think it'll sell anyway and we're cheap" titles without a dub or does this one actually get the extra dose of marketability a dub provides? If it is getting proper dual language treatment, maybe it's a sign that they're rethinking the sub-only route they've been starting on.
No offense to sub fans, but it does cut out a portion of the fan base to ditch the dub. It's also a sign of company having no faith in the potential of a series to sell. I'd love to buy the Kashimashi anime and I was seriously thinking of picking up that Girl's High but since their sub-only, I just don't see the point. If I wanted to get a sub-only release, I could have stuck with the fansubs for crying out loud. Oh well, the manga will suffice for Kashimashi and it's more complete anyway. Probably pick up the manga for the other if I hear some more positive things about it. Anyway, I'm happy for any fans of this series and hope you actually get to enjoy a complete release. Just not a fan of Media Blasters right now. 
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TheoryGirl
 Posts: 65 Location: CT |
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Hooray! I liked the first series, but I didn't think the second series would actually be released over here. Glad to see I was wrong
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darkchibi07
 Posts: 5511 |
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Actually if you check out the front page of AnimeOnDVD, it is indeed bilingual which I guess makes sense since the first series is dubbed, and there's some need of continuity. |
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Ingraman
Posts: 1084 |
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_If_ there's a dub included I think that it could only be because they made a dub ages ago, but never used it. It would be very difficult to recoup the costs of a dub when the release is a 13 episode set priced at only $20.
Media Blasters may be correct in presuming that there's little to no market for this sequel. If the sales of the first series were strong enough, the sequel would have been released soon after the original, not four years later. This release comes across as a "we have the license, let's recover what we can of our production costs" sort of release. If there is a dub, count yourself lucky, since I don't think that MB expects enough sales to commission a pricey dub; I suppose that they could join (just?) Geneon in farming out dubs to Singapore to cut costs.
I thought that Kashimashi would have sold well enough to merit a dub, but their market research seems to indicate otherwise. That's just probably because I enjoyed the series. It is more of a niche title than a lot of releases. Even though I didn't care for it (but do like the manga), I also would have thought that Girls High would sell decently enough over here. Maybe MB looked at the manga sales numbers, and was discouraged about its potential? I'd love to see every anime get a dub, even if I rarely listen to the english audio. I'd also love to see more series get released over here, but not everything will sell a lot of copies. I'd love to see more about how the companies make such decisions, but that's not very likely.
You'd prefer a series to remain unlicensed (to feel mostly guilt-free about having the digisubs around/available?) than for more people to enjoy it in R1-land? I'm sure that many people will ignore the inexpensive legal release in favor of the free illegal one, but I'll be happy to own a legit version of Kashimashi that sends a little money to the shows' creators. Dubs are always possible (but maybe not probable) at a later date, if sales surprise them. If I enjoyed a show enough not to delete the digisubs after the first watch, I will buy a legal copy (whether R1 or R2 is uncertain, and I haven't ventured into other regions, yet). Heck, I've even purchased R1 releases of some digisubbed series that I did delete from my computer.
It's too bad that some companies don't feel that all of their titles would sell well enough to merit a dub, but I'll presume that choice is based upon previous titles' sales not living up to their expectations. If past experience tells them that certain types or genres of shows just don't sell enough copies, they'll have to cut the production costs a bit to keep things profitable. The sub-only releases are being sold for significantly less than bilingual (quality dub) releases, aren't they? Dub, or no dub, I'll happily buy the Mito sequel at this price, even if I felt that the original series wasn't terribly exciting. If a dub was guaranteed, but the series was released as three or four DVDs at $25 or $30 each, I'd very likely skip it entirely. <sigh> This took way too long to type, edit, re-edit (8-10 times!), and it's probably still not quite right. ^_^;; |
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bahamut623
 Posts: 1463 |
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It's weird how Imaginasian airs unlicensed shows. I've seen this and Michel in their entirety on Imaginasian...well before either was licensed
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Richard J.
Posts: 3367 Location: Sic Semper Tyrannis. |
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Continuity is an issue that companies should consider more often. I think ADV learned a lesson about that when they released that Comic Party: Revolution series.
I have no intention of going back and redownloading the episodes I've already deleted or seeking out the rest. As I said, I've decided to just stick with the manga since the anime and manga are extremely close anyway and Seven Seas is releasing the kind of product I want to buy. That's my issue with sub-only or dub-only DVDs. I almost always watch my anime dubbed. So, I want a dub on the DVD. At the same time, I want a choice, so I also want the sub. (Occasionally, I like to compare the dub script to the subs.) I expressed on another thread that having a good dub is one of the selling points of anime DVDs for me personally. I'm glad it was licensed, I just wish it had been licensed by someone else who would have treated it better. I understand the licensing cost problems and so forth, but anime companies shouldn't take a step backwards. Having bilingual DVDs allows for a much wider audience appeal and potentially brings people into the fanbase who otherwise would never have become part of it. Besides, by making a release sub-only, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy that it will sell less copies. I'm far from the "all anime should just be free fansubs" type of fan. It's just, I can't really convince myself to buy a product that is, to me, inherently inferior to what I expected and is relatively the same as the illegal fansub. For instance, I've watched all of Rozen Maiden fansubbed but I've pre-ordered the volume 1 with art box that Geneon is putting out. That is a product I want to buy. If Geneon had released the series sub-only, I'd have passed it up as an inferior product. It would have been harder though since Rozen Maiden's manga and anime aren't nearly as similar as Kashimashi's various incarnations.
I'm being serious, not sarcastic. The only reason I didn't comment on any other part of your post was that you make perfect sense and, short of knowing the exact production costs and licensing costs for the titles I mentioned, I can't mount an effective argument other than to say that bilingual discs bring in the maximum possible number of people and that having a single language disc is a step in the wrong direction. |
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Chrno2
 Posts: 6172 Location: USA |
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Talk about forever finally happening! Hahahahaha!!!
I had figured that the second half of this title's chances of making it over were dropped for good. How long has it been almost 7, 8 years now? Actually, it's only been 4, since it was released here in 2003. The series came out in 1999. It's even funnier for me because I finally picked up the series a couple of weeks ago from 'TRSI'. I bought all 4 vols. for $4 ea. Which cost less than the small boxset which is between $20+ or $30 depending where you buy it. The 'bargain bins' can be so useful. I'm actually quite pleased that they are releasing the 2nd half. I just wish it didn't take so long. Considering that I own most of the series on LD.  Yep, just goes to show you how far we come along. I may have been one of the first people to really notice this series back then. I remember seeing the designs advertised in an issue of 'Newtype'. My first impression was that the designs were very similar to 'Bruce Timm's style used on the 'Batman the Animated' series. Which were practically around the same time. 'Mito's "mail (male)-suit" [as it's called] looked a great deal like 'Barbara Gordon' with superpowers. This was what caused me to go out and purchase a LD/DVD combo player so I could see the series. To be honest this is how the older anime fans did things. You had a better chance of sharing/trading copies with friends if you had a LD player and a copy of the feature on LD because direct transfer from VCR to VCR didn't work unless you owned a particular VCR model that ignored the "copy-protection". Or a special cable hook up. 
I showed the OP to friends and everyone wanted it. Of course I got tired of recording it for people. Yet, I never really sat down and watched the series. Taping stuff for people is like forcing you to watch it when you're not ready or can put you off. Plus, having little knowledge of the Japanese language didn't help either. Hahaha! But from what I saw I liked it enough. I even went out and bought vol. 1 for season 2. However I just couldn't keep up with buying import media like that. By the time I finished one series, the 2nd half of the series was almost out of circulation. There was too much out there. But because of what the show was, I just figured that it had no chance of coming over. What happens, IT DOES! And I'm left stumped of what to do? If I own the LDs should I buy the series now that it's subbed an all? It would take me 4 years and a sweet deal to realize it couldn't hurt. I also learned that sometimes it's better to take chances than not. But it is frustrating buying a show and then it gets released here. But again who could predict it? I got caught this way with 'Devilman Lady'(LD), and 'Brigadoon'(DVD). All of which came out on DVD here. I vowed to never shell out that type of money again unless it was a show that had 0 chances of coming over. Of course fansubs solved the problem. Now I just DL, watch, wait, delete and then buy.
Guess, now that I own the series finally on DVD I guess I'll sit down with friends and watch it until the 2nd half comes out. And at $20 for the entire series that's not bad. Nice cover. I guess it will look good for those that bought the complete box for the first series. Anime Castle - 'Aoi & Mutsuki: A pair of Queens' Complete series Talk about your gender bending kiddie show.  If I had to group this in with a show for my shelf, it would be 'Space Family Carl Vinson'. Another show with an extraterrestrial family.
For those that have or haven't seen season 2, you'll notice a small change in the art style. It's much looser. While done by the same team that worked on season 1 you'll find that many of the key people that worked on 'Mito' also worked in 'Nerima Daikon Bros'. I would like to thank 'Media Blasters', for finally releasing the rest of the series. Late, but better late than never as the saying goes. And also for making the effort and taking the chance on those really "odd" titles that no one would probably take a second glance on. 
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