EyeOnAnime Forum

Just Passing Through

What in your opinion would make the greatest difference to the anime industry in the UK? It could be anything from the nuances of the dub v sub debate, episode counts per volume, quicker releases, whatever.

For me it's simple. Longer licenses.

It's something you don't see so much with mainstream titles. The likelihood of going into a shop or online for a Lethal Weapon movie and being told that it's been deleted is minuscule.

But the anime industry treats its product more like disposable magazines rather than collectible classic novels, especially the series as opposed to movies.

Of course we're not dealing with the Paramounts and MGMs of the world, these companies are smaller and run closer to the edge, and are more prone to fluctuations in the market. They can't afford to run off a million copies of the latest blockbuster, and leave them on the shop shelves for years.

But how often have you had to stretch the old budget for a series that is suddenly deleted? It feels as if series get four or five years in the limelight before vanishing for good. I'm consciously aware that there are certain series that I really want to get at some point, and if I don't act promptly, they may just vanish completely. It's just that keeping up with the current releases always takes priority.

It also doesn't say much for the permanance of a collection. I've already had to deal with delaminating discs. An error in the manufacturing process (at a company called Technicolor) means that after a while the adhesive binding layers of a DVD together begins to decay. The disc becomes misty and tacky to the touch, and obviously unplayable. I've had to replace Terminator, Lethal Weapons, French Kiss, and an X Files Season boxset so far, and these are titles that remain readily available. Touch wood it hasn't yet happened to any of my anime discs (they're usually pressed by VDC or Sony), but what do you do when the cat gets into your collection, and you wind up with a deep scratch in your Bubblegum Crisis Volume 2?

I'd like to think of our hobby as a permanent thing rather than a transient thing, and longer licenses would go a long way to help that.
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Random · Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 1:27 pm Post subject:

For me the most annoying part of anime releases in this country, it may be worldwide I don't know, is a multidisk series with 2 months between release dates.

This makes it really hard to keep track of/interest in a series particularly those with an ongoing storyline and when it's as convoluted as say Noir or Madlax then it can't be good.

Add the use of 3 episode disks and you have a 24/26 part series taking a full 12 months to be available. I now wait either for the boxset or the whole series to be released before buying which generally means I get it cheaper which while good for me isn't so for the anime company. ADV specifically mentioned that Madlax wasn't doing as well as they'd hoped, well I really wanted it but waited for it all to be released before buying.

We seem to be moving into a 4/5 episode disk and boxsets culture which will hopefully make this less of an issue.
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botmaster2005 · Ninja In Training Joined: 08 Aug 2006 Posts: 859

I hear ya on the short licence thing, I've missed out on titles mainly because I wasn't quick enough to nab them (the fact I was unemployed didn't help), Nadesico and Spriggan being a couple of examples, I think it wouldn't hurt if certain series were done straight-to-boxsets, especially the large ones that gundam series thats 10 volumes just takes the mick however I do understand that companies have to make a buck so whay sell a £50 boxset when you can squeeze £100-150 out of the customer from individual volumes? I dunno, can't really think of a super duper idea that would help the industry although 2 disc volumes would be a step in the right direction,

small OVA = 1 volume
13 episodes = 1x 3-disc volume
26 episodes = 3x 2-dcsc volumes
52 episodes = 4x 3-disc volumes
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Toraman · Shinigami Joined: 08 Aug 2006 Posts: 2098 Location: London

For me is the lack of home-produced titles as the the majority are simply leeched from the US. Only Optimum seem to have the guts to do a release independently. Many fans ignore our market and import from America so it'd be a good way of sorting them out... Razz

*needs Ebichu with British accents* Laughing

Gawyn · Elite Poster Joined: 09 Aug 2006 Posts: 568

I agree with Tora on this. It would be nice if the UK began to dub anime for the UK market specifically. There are probably titles out there that could very well work in the UK but would not be seen as a prospect for the US market but seeing as there is no anime dubbing done in the UK for the UK it is unlikely to happen.

I disagree with the "straight to boxed set" idea since the anime industry really doesn't support that economically speaking. Only where the title was a fairly cheap acquisition would such a tactic work, which pretty much rules out every long running series out there. The fact that a series managed to run for more than half a year would suggest that it has a certain popularity and would come with a sizable cost.

As far as licencing lengths go, it is fine in theory but in practice is probably extremely costly without any conceivable positive benefits. As far as I am aware the majority of sales for anime DVDs happens in the first two weeks of release. Thereafter sales drop considerably with the major exception of those that see TV (or cinema) exposure. It is also worth noting that the likes of Warner and their ilk are multinational and handle their own releases so the talk of licencing really doesn't enter into it.

PaleBlack · Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 7:36 pm Post subject:

May be purely simple for me (I'm not well-thought out at all), but more episodes per disc/release would encourage me.

If you look at some series, where a 26 episode series is released over 6 discs, or even 8, it makes life expensive and fills up shelf-space like there's no tomorrow.

I liked the Fruits Basket release, where you had 26 episodes over 4 volumes. Neat, tidy and compact. Very Happy

And I was willing to pay more per volume too Very Happy

Fudce · Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 8:10 pm Post subject:

My only request has been done to death already, and I know it wont happen, but I'll say it again just for the hell of it.

Less time between US and UK. I import a lot of US anime DVDs, that would be reduced greatly if the UK DVDs were released quicker Smile

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PaleBlack · Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 8:15 pm Post subject:

Ah I didn't think of import times. It's because I don't use Region 1 DVD's so I never import anything therefore it doesn't really bother me.

Quicker would be nice though Very Happy

Toraman · Shinigami Joined: 08 Aug 2006 Posts: 2098 Location: London

We got the new Karas volume first didn't we? Stuff like that happens rarely though. (X and I think Perfect Blue came out here before the US though)

Short licences over here don't worry me that much as it generally means there'll be a big clearout sale in a year ot two. Twisted Evil

Damo · Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2007 10:04 am Post subject:

A better identiy for the UK scene, It's all coming down to costs though but yeah more episodes per disc *here*

Series straight to boxsets, one might say the market doesn't support that format but nor has it ever really tried to try.

On the import issue the biggest draw for me is boxes, artboxes, pretty much all the UK distributors have their own onlline stores where they could be sold exclusivly in limited numbers, cutting out distribution costs, do like a production run of 500 or buy surplus stock from the states.
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Toraman · Shinigami Joined: 08 Aug 2006 Posts: 2098 Location: London

Damo · Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2007 10:17 am Post subject:

Cojiro · Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2007 11:41 pm Post subject:

For me, I'd say make it cheaper. Most anime I see is still £19.99 and sometimes £15.99 for a movie. I always see it as a waste since I can get three or four manga for that price...
Recently some odd DVDs are going down to £7-ish in HMV which I'd say is about right for 4 episodes. If more things were that price I'd probably buy a lot more anime instead of blowing all my cash on manga.

Damo · Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 1:08 pm Post subject:

looking at this thread again, it seems more eps per disc and a quick release schedule is what is being called for, with the light of what revelation seem to be planning for next year. QUARTERLY wondering what y'all thing of that! seen as it flys in the face of what we want.
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Just Passing Through · Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 2:56 pm Post subject:

It's Revelation's own fault.

They really shouldn't be working on 8 series simultaneously. 5 or 6 should be the max. But I guess they want to have some big name debuts in the New Year, Hell Girl and School Rumble, despite what that does to the release schedule.

If the US sector slows down, they could be deferring trouble by making these releases last longer. If I weren't reviewing them, I'd definitely think about importing.

Right now I'm watching Beck Volume 2, and I'm dreading the end, knowing that I'll have to wait over three months for Volume 3.
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