Anime Why do Anime DVDs suck?

[AzureWolf]

Has anyone noticed the lack of extras within anime DVDs? I didn't notice until I saw how many things are in a normal DVD. The most we seem to get are the standard dual voiceovers, one-two subtitle types, and maybe a clean opening. Until I saw all the extras packed into just the first volume/DVD of Risky Safety, I figured they couldn't do much more. However, outtakes of the translated dub and tradition notes (or whatever they are called) were very awesome extras.

We all know how normal DVDs are, so why can't anime DVDs be the same? The current standard for extras in anime DVDs just plain sucks, especially when compared to other DVDs. DVD quality and all the other standards are great, but I think there's just not enough.

[amibasuki]

[FONT=arial]well, as long as their are people willing to pay the odd $30 for an anime DVD, they're probably not going to change much, unfortunately. when they start feeling the lack of money, they'll probably put more work into it to make the DVD better. either that or they'll at least drop the price a bit. in the mean time, it's just one of those aggravating things ya gotta deal with.[/FONT]

[Semjaza]

It's slowly been changing. Anime DVDs are still, on the whole, a somewhat niche market. The only ones that get the full treatment are generally very high profile stuff. Metropolis, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust and Grave of the Fireflies all come to mind. The Disney releases of Ghibli stuff too.

I wish it would change, but I guess they don't feel the need to do so for some reason... most likely because of what amibasuki said.

[Syk3]

When refferring to extras and quality, it really comes down to what anime it is and how much you're willing to pay for it.

If you get really cheap Hong Kong DVDs, for example, then you'll likely be getting only what you paid for, namely the series, with perhaps a few things such as creditless openings. But if you get it straight from the company, such as ADV, then you will pay a lot more (perhaps 70 dollars more), but get quite a few extras. Such can be said about FLCL; buy the series in 3 seperate DVDs each about $20, then a ton of extras are included, but if you get the one Hong Kong DVD for $20, it is only the series.

On the other hand, it really depends what anime you buy, as well. My Hellsing Hong Kong DVDs are filled with extras such as creditless opening and closings, outtakes, art, Japanese packaging, action figures, and more.

So yeah, if you're willing to put up the extra 40 dollars or something, then the DVD will have the extras.

[VP-Master]

I'm not into much of the extra features of dvds outside of getting to see deleted scenes (a feature I've rarely scene on anime dvds which are advertised as uncut) but I'd still have to agree with you. For the ridiculous amount of cash a typical stores charges you for 3-4 eps of anime (at about say $27), you ought to get your money's worth. Better extra features would help to equate for the inflated price of anime DVDs and so far, i've seen a limited selection of these outside of Miyazaki films. I don't know if the situation will improve in the future but I'd prefer to see anime go down to a flat price of $19.99 or so rather than add more features. Saving a little cash would make it a lot easier for me to buy them.

[Kyo no Ryu]

It realy depends. The animes Soultaker, X the series, and Rurouni Kenshin have plenty of extras. Along with many movies. Bt if youre getting the series you wanted to see then why the Hell complain?

[OtakuSennen]

[color=midnightblue]Well, you have to also keep in mind the possible costs of adding extra materials to a DVD. If you look at major American DVDs, such as The Matrix or Harry Potter or the like, they have tons of extra features. But at the same time, they come from high-profile, wide-ranged company, such as in these cases, AOL Time Warner Incorportated. Bandai and ADV and such are popular companies for the otaku market, the anime industry, yet a good deal of the United States pay little mind to the Japanese animation market. So if you can jack up the price, as Amibasuki previously stated, you really don't need the extras. Of course, it's quite the treat for avid fans of a series, but it's not too logical to think people are going to say, "Ooh! I'm gonna buy a 26-episode long series I've heard little about for $130 because it has outtakes!". If someone really likes a series, they are going to buy the DVD anyway most likely. Director's commentary may assist the motion, but it still wouldn't make too much of a difference, profit-wise.

It often depends on the popularity of the series before the DVDs are released, partially. If a series has a large fanbase in the US and was popular in Japan, they would probably put more effort into the discs, to please the fans. If a lesser-known series is released and is considered so-so, they probably would stick a textless opening and ending into it along with subtitles and the Japanese language track and ship 'em out.

It also seems that in some cases different companies have higher quality extras than others. ADV seems to have decent extras most of the time, and Bandai does well also, but Viz and Funimation (not that I.. Purchase from Funimation..) seem to lack a little more.

There's probably some flaws in logic somewhere in this, but I'm too tired to notice them..[/color]

[Artemis]

I've noticed that w/ anime DVDs, too. I rented the Trigun DVDs from the library. They had a few screencaps and some artwork, but that was about it. The Gundam Wing ones have a few character analyses (sp?) but not much else. Spirited Away had quite a bit more. They had bits on how the movie was made, the dubbing, etc. I have to agree w/ Amibasuki. People are willing to pay too much for those DVDs *cough*cough*duorocks*cough* ;) When ppl stop, quality will increase and price will decrease.
~art~

[ElrickOtaku]

I live in the UK where the Region 2 only really anime dvds come from ADV, MVM or Manga. They also cost about £20 or more for 3-4 episodes on each dvd, so those of you in the US should just be glad of the choice.

In any case, ADV dvds always seem to have plenty of extras on them - trailers, textless opening and closing credits, character bios, translator's notes and more. So if you buy from a good company, you'll get your extras...at a price.

[Cahoots34]

Being the technologically-illiterate peon that I am, I'm much more of a video girl, myself. _Any_ DVD is, in my opinion, a great annoyance. However, in the few DVDs that _do_ tolerate my frequent rmote-control mishaps, there are far more treats to be found than on any VHS. Maybe anime DVDs do 'suck' compared to other DVDs, but it's really all just a matter of prespective.

[Eugi]

I noticed a long time ago, but never cared. Anime DVDs are good enough for me. I do rant about how much they cost, but I never minded the extras anyways (the extras of a normal dvd are hard to find for me anyways...like the mtv movie awards stuff in the matrix reloaded...maybe i never even looked for it).

Anime dvds are fine the way they are, but if they lower, it will be the best phase of anime history. Like lower the prices, or just put more behind the scenes.
I can't complain though, the voices of a distant star wasnt more than just 21 bucks (dvd) and it had like 15 extra features.
Not bad, and it was the cheapest anime dvd i bought....in contrast of the Argentosoma dvd that cost me a wreckning 56 bucks and it only had 4 extra features.

[pbfrontmanvdp]

To tell you the truth i cant really see how there can be a ton of anime extras in a DVD. If you think about a regular DVD is animated and more bloopers or whatever are bound to happen that usually makes it into the extras. With an anime DVD there is little possibility of that even happening and if it does its only with the voice actors. I dont really know what you want to suspect out of an anime DVD to have as extras wise, but they seem perfect to me.

[Othak]

Oh i know pick me pick me oh oh oh i know.....okay why anime dvds suck is because, on the shows they mostly have a continue (from what ive seen) So your excited and want to know what happens....but on the movies their boring cause they show you what happens next....you get my drift? But you should really think about it. And then youll understand.... lol :D - but if were talking about DVD's against Video then i have no clue, probably because DVD's are new and you are use to the Video. But you know what people say "Dont Judge A Book By Its Cover" dont ask me what i meant im just the person who says ,i dont make these things up?

[KharBevNor]

Some anime DVD are plain, some aren't...As has been mentioned, ADV do lots of extras. For example, spread over my first two Hellsing DVD's are the hellsing trailer, creditless opening and closing movies, galleries with 100 different pieces of concept art, action figure info, about 8 previews for other anime series (all different on both DVD's) and a 15 minute staff interview...and theres still two more DVD's I've got left to buy! My Akira special edition DVD has a whole DVD of extras...but then my Ghost in the Shell DVD has damn all (its desperate enough to mention one of the special features twice on the back in the special features box...and thats something like 'Japanese langauge track' or something)
As has been said before, maybe they just can't scrape together enough special features on most anime DVD's to amke it worth it...plus for series they'd have to put different special features on each DVD, which is probably why Hellsing (a mere 13 episodes) has so many...

[Queen Asuka]

[color=hotpink][size=1]Personally, I don't really care for all the extras. I buy a movie on DVD to watch the movie, not to spend vast amounts of time wading through the special features. The Fight Club DVD is a real pain in the butt because one time I got it stuck on audio commentary, so as the movie was playing, it was voiced over by Edward Norton and Brad Pitt. ANNOYING!

So I'm glad that there isn't really a whole lot to wade through on anime DVDs. The fun picture galleries are good enough for me. ^_^[/color][/size]

[Hinata]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Queen Asuka [/i]
[B][color=hotpink][size=1]Personally, I don't really care for all the extras. I buy a movie on DVD to watch the movie, not to spend vast amounts of time wading through the special features. The Fight Club DVD is a real pain in the butt because one time I got it stuck on audio commentary, so as the movie was playing, it was voiced over by Edward Norton and Brad Pitt. ANNOYING!

So I'm glad that there isn't really a whole lot to wade through on anime DVDs. The fun picture galleries are good enough for me. ^_^[/color][/size] [/B][/QUOTE]


[COLOR=royalblue][SIZE=1]
I have to agree with you personally on that. Now to look at the anime series that are on DVD the extras dont really make it for me they just arent that important. Besides I get to see the different pictures they have in the galleries. As forwad as Anime movies... then a few extras would be good. Its more so due to the fact of getting behind the scenes footage. Which is something I defientely love on DVD's so to have the same on an Anime DVD would be a bit enriching. You know seeing the voice actors and such or everny seeing the inspiration for a certain movie.

If the DVD's dont have the extras it doesnt kill me......[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[AzureWolf]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by sweetreyes [/i]
[B][COLOR=royalblue][SIZE=1]
I have to agree with you personally on that. Now to look at the anime series that are on DVD the extras dont really make it for me they just arent that important. Besides I get to see the different pictures they have in the galleries. As forwad as Anime movies... then a few extras would be good. Its more so due to the fact of getting behind the scenes footage. Which is something I defientely love on DVD's so to have the same on an Anime DVD would be a bit enriching. You know seeing the voice actors and such or everny seeing the inspiration for a certain movie.

If the DVD's dont have the extras it doesnt kill me......[/SIZE][/COLOR] [/B][/QUOTE] Haha, of course the primary reason for buying a DVD is for the anime/movie/whatever. I'm just pointing out that other DVDs with the same price (or sometimes even less) have more extras than your general anime does. That means someone's getting ripped off. If the DVD only contains the show you are getting, then it should be equivalent to the price of its VHS version (when they used to be popular, haha), if not less. DVDs are cheaper to produce (unless that only goes for CDs...), so they justify the heightened price tag by including bonuses.

I could understand the high cost of DVDs when they were new, but not in today's commercial market, where DVDs are a commonality in the market and household.

[Dagger]

Question: I was under the impression that anime DVDs cost more than regular DVDs due to the expenses involved in creating a (hopefully) decent dub track. Does this hold true?

~Dagger~

[AzureWolf]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Dagger IX1 [/i]
[B]Question: I was under the impression that anime DVDs cost more than regular DVDs due to the expenses involved in creating a (hopefully) decent dub track. Does this hold true?

~Dagger~ [/B][/QUOTE] Hmm... That's a good point. I didn't think about that.

Still, that doesn't explain anime series that air on TV, and it doesn't explain why VHS versions used to be cheaper ("used to" because they aren't really made anymore).

[Verykawaiineko]

The dubing does add to the cost of the DVD but really its not that significant. I wish that ANime dvds can be alot cheaper..personally i wish theyd leave out the extras and just sell the discs with the two language tracks and mebbe a few trailer...thats about all i want to see. THey can make special editions for the extra features..it would make things a lot easier not to metion cheaper..