Volume 11

Bootlegs are generally of poor quality. And I was young, but I remember my Dad coming home with a VHS player and a VHS mail order magazine and all of the tapes were around$70-90. I remember not buying any tapes until the late 80s. Do you also remember how not only VHS tapes were expensive, but they didnt get rushed to blockbuster three months after release. It usually took 9 months to a year.

I know, and its a shame. I waited years to purchase NGE on DVD ( I had the tapes from the late 90s to tide me over). But after reading the original releases were from video source because ADV didnt want to pay extra for the right to a clean version I decided to wait. I even waited past the original platinum DVDs for the set you referred to. $50 bones versus $120 seems pretty unbalanced.

To an extent its relative to the property and company producingthe DVDs. For example, Inuyasha is released on 3 episode discs. They range from around $18-$25 per DVD. BUT, they also have the season sets for around $70-80. The single discs would run around $170-190 to obtain the same amount of episodes featured on the season sets. That I can appreciate. You could argue that the early adopters get screwed, but they are at least offering a one box set for over half the price of the individual discs. Then we have something like Cowboy Bebop. The discs are released individually for around$18-25 each, and they did release a less expensive boxset, but it was limited and hasnt been repressed. THEN they begin to re-release the individual discs under the "remix" title. They discs are more expensive than the original individual discs and offer nothing new (outside of the remastering which made a neglible difference). They range from $20-30 depending. That I cant appreciate. Remastered or not, they could have released another, less limited, box set and everyone would be happy. They have milked the property for yeas now and the savings havent been passed along. I realize is isn' quite as simple as that, but its still arrogant and self-serving for companies to re-release high-profile sets for the same price or more.

I think you may be grasping at straws a bit with your last post. Their will always be popular anime or manga in Japan. The real question is how will people in the states react to it if cartoon network airs it on AS. Just because YOU think FMA was inventive and great doesn't mean that it was, or that their arent people who disliked it. Personally, I cant stand FMA or Eureka 7... But thats what makes CN great. They take risks and show different shows that appeal to all anime fans, not fans of one particular production studio or anime type.

Well, for the $30 I now have a DVD boxset consisting of episodes 1-71 with readable (although not great) subtitles that comes in a box with art, three DVD shells and art on the the DVD tops. It may be fake, but it fits into my DVD collection nicely and I had to do little work to obtain them all at once and in a cohesive package. And when a season or saga official boxset is released I will definitly pick it up... And from an economic standpoint, anime is doing poorly because anime never adapted the genre to the American consumer. I feel that the production companies have been relying on the diehard too long to buy 7 DVDs at $20 bucks a pop to obtain a 26 episode series. Now that the anime boom is over (in terms of sales from 3-5 years ago) they're still charging the same high prices and plenty of people aren't paying for it. Maybe Im jaded, or maybe its because I minored in Economics, but I dont buy into the anime companies having hard times. Lower the prices and people will buy them. Instead, they choose to keep prices at a constant level (which most agree are too expensive and have been for over 10 years now), despite the slump in sales. This is a short-term strategy that may make them more money right now, but they risk losing fans to bootlegs and downloads in the long run. But to each his own.

[QUOTE=Dagger]Certainly that's a factor, but most anime only make money in Japan because of merchandise sales (which includes DVDs). Since the majority of shows are broadcast late at night and/or get negligible ratings, advertisements don't really play into it. So [I]someone[/I] must be buying them. ;) ~Dagger~[/QUOTE] I think the most interesting story about Manga in Japan that I have heard is how most serialized manga in the few major cities are literally thrown away in stacks for trash collection. A close friend I worked with said he never once paid for manga while he taught over there for two years.

[QUOTE=Dagger]Just be glad you guys don't live in Japan. :animeswea I think the argument that goes like, "Well, it's fine for prices to be higher in Japan because they can see anime on TV" is fallacious. Anyone with an Internet connection has access to pretty much everything that's airing in Japan right now. They can go through the same process, if they so desire, of watching different shows to see which is worth buying on DVD. From that perspective, Region 1-dwelling folk get a much better deal. I'll take four episodes for $16 (which is really what it amounts to if you're determined to buy the singles but also determined to shop around or bide your time for a good deal) over one, two or three episodes for $50 to $70 any day. R2 DVDs are a pain. ~Dagger~[/QUOTE] I agree that we obviously get a better deal here in the states, but it isnt quite as simple as that. TV airing plays into it a bit (I like King of Queens but why would I buy the box sets or 30-50 a pop when it comes on syndication 3-5 times a day?), but the Japanese don't "collect" like we do (obviously their are exeptions). Im not Japanese nor have I ever lived there, but coming staright from the mouth of Japanese friends whom Ive known my whole life and some caucasian friends who live there now, no one buys anime or movies on DVD. According to all of my friends (plus what I've researched on my own) living space for Japanese families is much tighter than here in the states. Cluttered houses with stacks of manga and anime are not common.

I agree, thats one of the main reasons I hate stawed away. All of my previous experience has come from renting from asian markets, and its usually stuff that hasnt been released here yet. Sometimes the quality is horrible, sometimes its very good. I actually seldom DL anime because Im paranoid of getting in trouble for it. I had a friend get busted for it before and it was a mess. But Im more curious what everyone's feelings are on how domestic releases are handled. For instance, do you think its fair that the main studios charge usually $20-$25 for 3-4 episodes? I bring that point up because DVD mastering quality has gone up, and prices have drastically dropped since the introduction of the format. Anime is one of the only areas where the majority of the releases are still released at a trickle and rarely drop in price. I undertand a move like Ghostbusters can cost 10 bucks at Walmart because it has sold milions of copies and has been around forever...but I also think its incredibly insulting that most anime is still being released the same way since it started coming to DVD. I feel like they know its a niche market and we will buy it no matter what so they get away with it...

Sorry for the misunderstanding, it read as if you felt I was blathering. However, I would have preferred you blathered about the morals of the subject . Its interesting to me and it seems everyone I know personally is either in support of region 1 anime or they could care less and have no problem with region free DVDs. Ive heard some pretty interesting debates for both sides and I was trying to get that going here.

For starters, im not "blathering about morals" to get anyone on my side. I own a 100% region 1 offical release anime DVD collection. This is a first time I have bought a region free set EVER. Hence why I was asking what everyone thinks about the subject. Im sorry if it confounds you, but after spending literally thousands (16 or so years of collecting anime/manga) of dollars, I feel like the anime DVD market has not changed for the better and they are setting themselves for people to purchase "bootlegs". Maybe I'm overreacting to your post (and if I am I apologize), but it felt snotty and condesending. The point of me posting this thread was to get a healthy discussion going to see what the general member of this boards thinks, it was not designed to make region free sets look morally superior to official releases or to justify anyone buying a set of them...nor was it posted for you to to dismiss what I wrote as "moral blathering". If you feel that strong about the subject (which you obviously do based on the perceived tone of your reply) it would have been better if you worded it in a way would have solicited normal discussion, not a flame war. (again, I apologize ahead of time if Im reading into your post too much).

Im curious what everyone thinks of region free anime. I generally do not support region free Hong Kong releases (if we can call them that, the laws are so gray over there about copyrighting), but after buying anime DVDs since they existed (10 years or so) I feel like the prices of most anime DVDs are still way too high and offer too few episodes. I also hate the clutter of having 7-10 volumes for most TV series. It may be nit-picky, but I live in a small house in Denver and they take up entirerly too much room. As to why Im posting this now; I have dl'd and had most of the Japanese TV airings sent to me from a friend in Japan of the Bleach series. However, I like the series enough to where I want to own the DVDs. But with 120 episodes and counting I cant justify spending 20 bucks on each volume and waiting for the releases to trickle out or for an official box set to come out. I searched Ebay and found that their are two different region free sets. I purchased the 3 part, 9 DVD set of episodes 1-71. A. What are everyone's feelings about me doing that? Do you guys care about the studios not making money from me purchasing a region free version? Is it fair because of the way the companies release the volumes and how much they charge? B. Does anyone own or has anyone seen this Bleach boxset. I payed $40 bucks shipped so Im not expecting Great quality, but Im curious if its at least watchable and consistent.

Its no surprise that downloading and buying region free anime is so popular. After DVDs have been around almost 10 years now and most mainstream releases are $10-$20, most anime DVDs are still insanely expensive and offer 3-4 episodes at best (usually). Slim packs are nice, but they are few and far between.

I think Cartoon Network should be commended for helping make anime more popular in the U.S. They show a wide variety, appeal to many different tastes and have helped popularize many awesome anime that probaly would have never seen the light of day here or been 1/3 as popular had they not (Bleach, Paranoia Agent, Cowboy Bebop, Trigun to name a few). Plus, if DBZ is your thing, they still revert back to a DBZ block at least once a year for a few months. And honestly, Ive seen almost the entire DBZ saga ten times on the cartoon network...Im fine with them airing it less. Id rather be exposed to new anime vs watching one of the most popular anime of all time that we have all seen a million times.

I think Nerdsy has made the most sense in this thread so far. I also think we are all arguing about something that is pretty stupid. That being said, when I originally said it was somewhat "annoying" that people who claim to love the genre and do not seek out new anime or have that "curiousity" my friends and I had I was speaking from a love of the history of anime. And again, it was a throw away comment that wasn't intended to summarize my point, yet everyone who has responded to it is acting like it was. And Farks, I love Cash, too. And I can assure you that doesnt make me a country fan. It is possible to like a random example of a genre you do not consider yourself a fan of and still not be a fan of the genre. Cash is great because he transcends the genre, thus the fan following that isnt comprised of only country music fans. Aryiannas Mom (sorry if I spelled it wrong), by your description I would consider you an anime fan. I never once disputed or implied that if you do not seek out anime that you can't be a fan. I was carefull to use the phrase "someone who claims to LOVE anime". Im talking about the kid that wears a FMA shirt on Monday, a DBZ shirt on Tuesday and a Naruto shirt on Wednesday. Im talking about the kid who doodles generic anime at his desk during school. The kind of person that lets the world know he/she loves anime. Ive met plenty of kids like that and when I have talked to them I still find it somewhat annoying they do not have that "curiousity" I speak of. Yes, I think thats a bad thing. We live in the internet and Netflix age. If someone claims to "love", not like or be a casual fan of anime it stands to reason they would be hungry for more and would use all the tools they could to search more out. With Neflix, the internet and AS their is little excuse not to. BUT AGAIN, because everyone likes to isolate those comments and make me look like an elitist, I do not care ultimately if someone likes one anime or a thousand. As I have said a million times now, like what you like and ignore the labels or what other poeple think. That being said for the 3rd or 4th time, I cant wait to see who isolates my "annoyed" comment again and runs with it like Im an anime snob who thinks anyone who even watches an anime once by accident should be the Leonard Maltin of the genre.

Not according to many people on this board. Im also an astronaut. I have never trained in the air force or NASA. I have never left the Earth's atmosphere. And I can't name any of the planets in our solar system besides our own. But still, because I say I am an astronaut I must be one. And the whole notion of the OP is setting up an argument of semantics and split hairs.