Bandai's Taking Action Against Imports/Bootlegs

[gubi-gubi]

Originally posted by Vicious
I'd have to disagree with you on that one. It seems to me that alot of HK buyers lately have been clamoring for the dubs, and that's why you get so many threads popping up asking 'when is so and so title gonna be ripped by FX?'. A few years ago, there were 'Perfect Collections' of only a few titles, but now, it seems like every other title being released is an R1 rip.

Or were you saying that most HK buyers don't take into account the dubbing costs that the R1 companies have to pay for?

I dont buy perfect collections for dubs I buy them for perfect subs... I personally cant stand dubs and if companies didnt waste so much money making them then R1s might be cheaper.

[JunkieJoe]

Vicious, as Gubi Gubi has put it, the Perfect Collections most people want is for near perfect FX subs, not the dub, granted there is a few Dubs that are good, majority of them I personally cant stomach, and with my exprience in running this website, most people want the good subs too.

[Prophet Hero]

Originally posted by gubi-gubi
I personally cant stand dubs and if companies didnt waste so much money making them then R1s might be cheaper.

It's not really a waste though, is it? Although, I don't watch the dubs it's good to have the choice. More importantly it makes anime more accessible for some fans and perhaps for the consumer in general.

Anime took a battering in the UK when it was introduced because generally only what was considered 18-rated films and series were released. The medium became synonymous with schoolgirls showing their underwear and tentacle rape and so the videos were tucked away or worse not even sold.

I think subtitles-only releases would be simply shoving anime unecessarily into another niche and if this move were to have a negative impact on sales...well it could precipitate an all too familiar chain of events.

[Elcoholic]

Originally posted by Prophet Hero


I think subtitles-only releases would be simply shoving anime unecessarily into another niche and if this move were to have a negative impact on sales...well it could precipitate an all too familiar chain of events.

Totaly agree.

My personal preference is listening to the english dub. I'm the kind of person who waits for a R1 rip for this reason.

But its different for me since I'm from a country which doesn't have english as the first language (although we all speak it). Everything on tv here is in english (well, alot anyway) so it seems more natural for me but I HATE it when they dub it in Dutch because it all seems so fake. Maybe people from english speaking country's have the same because its their own language.

[Vicious]

You'd know much better than I would JJ, so you're probably right. I guess the other ones (people who want the dubs but don't want to pay for them, so they're always dieing for the FX rips) just seem to stand out more to me.

[SirChico]

Originally posted by Prophet Hero
It's not really a waste though, is it? Although, I don't watch the dubs it's good to have the choice.

I totally agree. I like having both, even if I don't watch one version of it.

As for complete collections.. I think they are a good combatant for R1 companies to use against HK's. They are selling them cheap and they have better quality than an HK perfect collection.

Cidien, no offense intended, but that's kind of a riduculous idea. Why would R1 companies want to put out their own "bootlegs" of sorts. It wouldn't make sense and like others are saying it wouldn't be profitable for the company.

[gubi-gubi]

Originally posted by Prophet Hero
It's not really a waste though, is it? Although, I don't watch the dubs it's good to have the choice. More importantly it makes anime more accessible for some fans and perhaps for the consumer in general.

Anime took a battering in the UK when it was introduced because generally only what was considered 18-rated films and series were released. The medium became synonymous with schoolgirls showing their underwear and tentacle rape and so the videos were tucked away or worse not even sold.

I think subtitles-only releases would be simply shoving anime unecessarily into another niche and if this move were to have a negative impact on sales...well it could precipitate an all too familiar chain of events.

I don?t want to get into dub v sub but saying sub only would impact sales is not true as Cardcaptor Sakura is a prime example seeing as the dub (yes a heavily edited version but still) sold less than the sub. Urusei Yatsura a title that even got sold in VHS format a while ago in the poor UK market even though it was sub only, cant be doing too badly seeing the high amount of DVD volumes produced. Saying 'oh its good to have it there' is pointless seeing as you never watch it (especially in HK as it takes up space having two audio tracks) and saying dubs make anime accessible is true but its also dominates anime to the extent that (now I don?t live in the USA but) nearly all anime on TV is dubbed and all anime in cinemas is dubbed... We don?t have much anime on TV in the UK but what is dubbed and if there was more no doubt it would be dubbed so having all this 'accessible' anime still isn?t accessible to someone like me who wont watch dubbed anime...

[Vicious]

But like someone else mentioned earlier . . . anime is already a niche market. It is just recently becoming somewhat mainstream. But if it was sub only, it would have been even more of a niche market. And it never would have gained the popularity that it has. Anime is getting popular because it is dubbed, so it is on TV. Kids get to see it on Fox or CN or whatever, get into anime, and then want to buy more. The dubs contribute a great deal to the sales of anime DVD's. More hardcore people might not want the dubs, but the larger percentage of people that buy the DVD's, do want them.

[Homeless Joe]

Originally posted by Vicious
But like someone else mentioned earlier . . . anime is already a niche market. It is just recently becoming somewhat mainstream. But if it was sub only, it would have been even more of a niche market. And it never would have gained the popularity that it has. Anime is getting popular because it is dubbed, so it is on TV. Kids get to see it on Fox or CN or whatever, get into anime, and then want to buy more. The dubs contribute a great deal to the sales of anime DVD's. More hardcore people might not want the dubs, but the larger percentage of people that buy the DVD's, do want them.

that's very true, i've noticed that after cartoon network started playing anime on tv, it started to attract new fans and so they played more and more and now i've seen a lot of people become fans of anime that would't have watched the shows if they were sub. people are lazy and if the companies want to make money they have to attract as many people as they can. personally i think it's nice to have dubs, when i'm really tired it's nice to give my eyes a little rest and just admire the drawing, not have to worry about reading anything.

[xtremegummibear]

Not to start anything but I buy the Perfect HKs because of the great subs. In my opinion, american dubbing mainly blows. A good example of this is Love Hina. OMG it HURTS when I hear the english voices! When I buy R1 dvds, I instantly put the language to japenese with the english subs on. I totally understand the dubs for the kids shows on TVs so they can understand but if you are a true otaku like many people, which sounds better? I'm sorry but its Jap dub w/ english subs. Japanese always voice act with the hearts, making animes better. Look at Geneon's release of Card Captor Sakura, like mentioned earlier. What language is that on? Jap dubs only w/ eng subs.

I am only voicing my opinion. I too have been noticing ADV starting to do the same thing as HKs and release their animes in sets, but those are the somewhat older ones. And where do you find BGC 2040 for $90.00. I'm sorry but whoever buys that set at that price gets ripped-off . Where I live, that set goes for about $50-$60. Same with the Nadesico set that ADV released. The Burn-up eXcess and Kurumi sets go for less than $40. The only problem about the newer collection ADV releases is that they release after the whole series is already put on dvd? Kinda weird logic there. People just wasted their money buying seperate dvds for the series to find out later that the set comes out for way cheaper. The sets that R1 companies release that are about $90+ are the sets with seperate dvds with their cases in one big box of like 6-8, even 10 discs. The R1 collection of Gundam wing almost runs about $150+. If you're a true fan of that series with a lot of money, that's fine, but, in my opinion, most people would want to get something just as good for cheaper.

I totally understand that companies want to make money because they spend so much licensing and doing all the good stuff to the animes. But like I said, if you want to save money for a bootleg that is almost as good, wouldn't you? Some people aren't as rich as others.

[Cidien]

Why do you call me stupid? If they made cheaper versions along with their normal R1 dvd's they would be selling the high quality stuff as usual along with pulling in the HK crowd. Also, I know they have more fees. That's why I said they should charge closer to $40 as opposed to the $24 Hk companies charge. Now, tell me how this is a loss for them? They make their actual product cheaper to produce and they sell a lot more of it. Perhaps I don't understand how it is done but am I right to assume once they have the rights to an anime they can produce as much of the title as they want? So why lose money to the HK people? If i'm wrong and you can enlighten me then please do.

[Robojack]

Originally posted by Homeless Joe
people are lazy and if the companies want to make money they have to attract as many people as they can. personally i think it's nice to have dubs, when i'm really tired it's nice to give my eyes a little rest and just admire the drawing, not have to worry about reading anything.

Yeah? Well what about my poor, poor ears then? I'd rather stop watching and gives my eyes a break, rather then subject my ears to the auditory torture you people call English dubbing.

Rape my ears in exchange for a break from reading subs? I'd rather NOT.

[xtremegummibear]

Why would R1 companies want to put out their own "bootlegs" of sorts. It wouldn't make sense and like others are saying it wouldn't be profitable for the company.

Well, the companies aren't really releasing "bootlegs," They are just releasing series' in a complete box now. For example:

ADV:
-Nadesico
-Steel Angel Kurumi
-Burn-Up eXcess
-New Cutey Honey
-Dirty Pair Flash
- and many others

Even Bandai released a whole series boxset for Jubei-chan. These sets come at like $40 or less in stores like Bestbuy and Fry's Electronics. Why would they release these? So they can make PROFIT.

The weird logic behind these though is that they release these like a month or so after the whole series is released in seperatly sold dvds. This, in my opinion, would make a customer irritated. I was irritated when I finished up Burn-Up eXcess collection, which was bought seperatly, and a month later, a collection comes in for cheaper than all the seperately sold dvds combined! Wouldn't you be mad? That's why I am not for R1 releases right now.

Sure it's a little more work for the eyes to read subs, but if you are really into anime and you read subs a lot, then that's no problem. Now, compare the two dubs. Which one would catch your interest more. The ones who voice the hearts out (Jap dubs) or some mono-tone, reading the script and trying to act dubs (english). I'm sorry, but dubs with voices that put their heart into would catch my attention more. It's just like Big-screen movies and music. Everyone gets their attention through people who put their hearts into what they do. After watching so many english voice-overs, I gave up on them.

[Vicious]

I'm not even gonna get into a sub vs. dub debate. that's been done to death. I will say that homey up there that said the 'Japanese actors act with their hearts so it sounds better' is completely ignorant and not even worth a lengthy response. Go listen to the extras on the Bebop movie and listen to your great Megumi Hayashibara and what she had to say about Faye. And then come back and tell me if you think her heart was in it. Seriously, that is one of the most ignorant and biased statements I've ever heard regarding subs/dubs.

Originally posted by Cidien
Why do you call me stupid? If they made cheaper versions along with their normal R1 dvd's they would be selling the high quality stuff as usual along with pulling in the HK crowd. Also, I know they have more fees. That's why I said they should charge closer to $40 as opposed to the $24 Hk companies charge. Now, tell me how this is a loss for them? They make their actual product cheaper to produce and they sell a lot more of it. Perhaps I don't understand how it is done but am I right to assume once they have the rights to an anime they can produce as much of the title as they want? So why lose money to the HK people? If i'm wrong and you can enlighten me then please do.

I don't feel like doing math right now. But let's say they sell a series for $100. You want them to drop it to $40. Do you honestly think them dropping prices is going to increase their sales by that much? You think they'll sell 3 times as many DVD's to offset the price drop? It might increase their sales by say 20%, but nowhere near enough to offset that sort of price change. There is no way they can compete with HK prices and still offset their costs.

[xtremegummibear]

Okay I may have worded my last post a little weird. Sorry if it was "ignorant and biased." I'll just say that the japanese dubs are BEYOND better than the english dubs in indescribable ways (Love Hina is the best example for this). Some animes don't have japanese voice-talent that do as well as others.

It's not really a waste though, is it? Although, I don't watch the dubs it's good to have the choice. More importantly it makes anime more accessible for some fans and perhaps for the consumer in general.

I like what Prophet Hero said here. I don't necisserily hate the english dubbing but I prefer to watch with japanese dubs. There are a FEW that are actually decent. I still stand by what I believe about jab dubs being better though.