Tora-san films with English subtitles coming from Shochiku

[McCrutchy]

EDIT: After a price drop from ¥209,000 to ¥164,304 on 30 June, the regular trunk set can now be ordered to the US. The full-price Amazon.co.jp Exclusive version remains restricted.

EDIT #2: Remember that Amazon.co.jp have a pre-order cancellation cutoff date for the trunk. As it stands now, after 27 August 2019, you will not be able to cancel your pre-order.



Shochiku will release all 49 films in the Tora-san series on 25 December 2019. All of the films will be sourced from new 4K masters and all of them are specified to have both Japanese and English subtitles:

Amazon special page

Shochiku special page

Here are the 49 individual films:

[Show spoiler]

There are also Amazon.co.jp Exclusive versions with a post card:

[Show spoiler]

Additionally, there will be a large trunk that will contain all 49 films plus two Blu-rays with bonus features, a sweatshirt, a set of pins and replica posters:

[Show spoiler]

Amazon.co.jp Exclusive with post card and bonus disc:

Here is a promotional trailer for the project (in Japanese):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX1PpqIsE-Q

[McCrutchy]

I don't know this series, but it seems AnimEgo put out the first four films on DVD several years ago. It seems that they are all listed under their English titles in our database, but I would want to add them in in order and it will be almost impossible to get 100 sequential database entries (all 49 films and the box set have Amazon.co.jp exclusive variants with a post card), so I'm going to let someone else do it.

I do have to wonder if this is the largest English-friendly Blu-ray set of Japanese films ever offered in Japan, as it certainly seems like it is, at least in terms of number of films and chronological span.

EDIT: After a price drop from ¥209,000 to ¥164,304 on 30 June, the regular trunk set can now be ordered to the US. The full-price Amazon.co.jp Exclusive version remains restricted.

The following comments reflect being unable to order the trunk set at full price:

[Show spoiler]Unfortunately, it seems that Amazon.co.jp is refusing to ship the trunk set overseas, or at least to the USA, which only leaves the option of buying all 49 individual Blu-rays. While this seems like a clever idea at first, ordering 49 Blu-rays from Amazon to the USA results in a shipping charge of ¥17,750 ($165), and when the items will cost between, let's say, ¥2,279 and ¥3,080 each, that means you're paying anywhere between ¥111,671 to ¥139,748 ($1,036-$1,297), so another $165 for shipping is completely ridiculous.

To put this in better perspective, Shochiku says the weight of all the contents of the trunk set (which contains the 49 Blu-rays plus a hell of lot more) is 15 kilos. If you go on the Japan Post site and look up EMS rates, a 15kg parcel costs ¥20,000 to ship to the US for a regular citizen, so 49 Blu-rays that probably weigh less than half that should cost about ¥11,200 ($104), before you factor in Amazon's deals with the shipping services. It's very disappointing to not see better discounts for ordering multiple items on Amazon.

Also, one point of annoyance is that these are mostly shorter films and it seems all 49 Blu-rays will be BD-25, though based on previous Shochiku releases, that might change in some cases. I suppose this was likely done for identical rental discs, but it still likely means that Shochiku could have effectively halved the number of discs in this set, from 49 to 25, and made it much more compact and easier to ship overseas.

[e_d]

How silly the box doesn't ship to USA. Very cool though, would like to watch these! I remember stumbling across it once upon a time a few years back.

[Blu2u]

Was just looking at a seller on ebay who has the complete series in a compact set. But, no English subs and obviously have to be upscales and boots at that. I really want these films, especially the Toshiro Mifune one but the cost and size really need to come down.

[shibal]

I have the old HK Panorama boxset and I really enjoyed the series and would've definitely upgraded to the blu rays if they sold a plain edition set without the extras.

[logboy]

Originally Posted by McCrutchy

Unfortunately, it seems that Amazon.co.jp is refusing to ship the trunk set overseas, or at least to the USA, which only leaves the option of buying all 49 individual Blu-rays. While this seems like a clever idea at first, ordering 49 Blu-rays from Amazon to the USA results in a shipping charge of ¥17,750 ($165), and when the items will cost between, let's say, ¥2,279 and ¥3,080 each, that means you're paying anywhere between ¥111,671 to ¥139,748 ($1,036-$1,297), so another $165 for shipping is completely ridiculous..

$165 divided by 49 is about $3 a film. how often do you see shipping that cheap anywhere, let alone between japan and the USA?

Originally Posted by McCrutchy

To put this in better perspective, Shochiku says the weight of all the contents of the trunk set (which contains the 49 Blu-rays plus a hell of lot more) is 15 kilos. If you go on the Japan Post site and look up EMS rates, a 15kg parcel costs ¥20,000 to ship to the US for a regular citizen, so 49 Blu-rays that probably weigh less than half that should cost about ¥11,200 ($104), before you factor in Amazon's deals with the shipping services. It's very disappointing to not see better discounts for ordering multiple items on Amazon.

better shipping discounts? i wouldn't quite know what service / system they're using, and i imagine they may have many possibilities open to them for varying requirements, considering the very wide variety of things they deal with.

Originally Posted by McCrutchy

Also, one point of annoyance is that these are mostly shorter films and it seems all 49 Blu-rays will be BD-25, though based on previous Shochiku releases, that might change in some cases. I suppose this was likely done for identical rental discs, but it still likely means that Shochiku could have effectively halved the number of discs in this set, from 49 to 25, and made it much more compact and easier to ship overseas.

that english subtitles are included (extremely rare, of course) and that there's a more technical possibility of having it shipped abroad is a complete red herring in terms of the level of consideration that shochiku, amazon JP or japan as a whole has for any international consumption of what they're producing and selling.

i would guess you'll find more perspective on how to deal with buying the set in the anime forum here - i've seen lots of very large sets mentioned there, and seen pics of people's purchases once some of them have arrived. the logistics are probably solved and accepted there more than anywhere else around here.

[apollo828]

Originally Posted by McCrutchy

Unfortunately, it seems that Amazon.co.jp is refusing to ship the trunk set overseas, or at least to the USA, which only leaves the option of buying all 49 individual Blu-rays.

You can use a service like Baggage Forward or Tenso and have them ship it to you. A bit more expensive and not as efficient - and, most unfortunately, you have to pay the VAT - but it is an option for anyone who wants the trunk that badly.

[qw0aszx]

I saw the brand new 4K restored version of the first film at Shanghai International Film Festival last week. It's a satisfying restoration though not as sharp as I thought would be, seems like some quality from an interpostive (though they said it's from the original camera negative), it should look great on blu-ray. Just the price, well...

[McCrutchy]

EDIT: After a price drop from ¥209,000 to ¥164,304 on 30 June, the regular trunk set can now be ordered to the US. The full-price Amazon.co.jp Exclusive version remains restricted.

The following comments reflect being unable to order the trunk set at full price:

[Show spoiler]I posted this earlier, but I failed to see the post from logboy, so I'll re-post now:

Originally Posted by logboy

$165 divided by 49 is about $3 a film. how often do you see shipping that cheap anywhere, let alone between japan and the USA?

?

Amazon's shipping is extremely cheap for Japan, but obviously, only if you are buying a handful of items. When you're already paying for 49 items in one order, there should be some kind of bulk order discount, not a shipping charge of ¥17,750 ($165), especially not when a person living in Japan can send a 7kg* parcel to the US with EMS shipping for ¥11,200 ($104). Why is Amazon, one of the biggest online sites in Japan, actually charging me ¥6,550 more for shipping than what Japan Post would charge to ship from person to person? This is an obvious weakness of Amazon's shipping rates to North America, which go by item, with a ¥600 base and then ¥350 per item, but no cutoff or bulk discount. It's silly to keep adding on ¥350 after a certain point, so where it gets cheaper to ship by weight, they should at least offer that option.

*Assuming each Blu-ray weighs 5oz, meaning 49 weigh 245oz, or 6.95kg

And obviously, this shipping issue with Amazon plays into why they won't ship the trunk set to the USA (and probably not outside of Japan), because they want ¥17,750 to ship 7kg of Blu-rays ordered as 49 items together, but their system is set up to charge only ¥950 to ship a 15kg Blu-ray box set because that would be counted as one item.

Originally Posted by logboy

better shipping discounts? i wouldn't quite know what service / system they're using, and i imagine they may have many possibilities open to them for varying requirements, considering the very wide variety of things they deal with.

For the past several years, Amazon.co.jp have used DHL Express for orders to the USA.

Originally Posted by apollo828

You can use a service like Baggage Forward or Tenso and have them ship it to you. A bit more expensive and not as efficient - and, most unfortunately, you have to pay the VAT - but it is an option for anyone who wants the trunk that badly.

Oh, I know that. But given the weight of the trunk, those services are going to charge an arm and a leg to ship it to you once they receive it, probably more than ¥20,000 ($185) because they'll force you to add insurance (as well as a handling fee) on top.

Plus, although Buyee/Tenso now has an "Add to Buyee" component that will let you buy Amazon items through them, you would likely end up paying the consumption tax (which is going to increase to 10% in October and is factored into the Amazon price) and there is no information on whether they will stick to Amazon's pre-order price guarantee, either. So, you'd have to watch like a hawk for a low price and hope it ends up being the lowest, then place your order, which would likely be roughly $500 cheaper based on how Amazon tends to take as much as 26% off of the list price (in this case, ¥54,340) for most Blu-rays.

But as I said, even if you happen to luck out and get the lowest Amazon price (probably somewhere around ¥154,660), you're still out some $1,434 before you pay to ship the trunk set to the USA.

[logboy]

Originally Posted by McCrutchy

Amazon's shipping is extremely cheap for Japan, but obviously, only if you are buying a handful of items. When you're already paying for 49 items in one order, there should be some kind of bulk order discount, not a shipping charge of ¥17,750 ($165), especially not when a person living in Japan can send a 7kg* parcel to the US with EMS shipping for ¥11,200 ($104). Why is Amazon, one of the biggest online sites in Japan, actually charging me ¥6,550 more for shipping than what Japan Post would charge to ship from person to person? This is an obvious weakness of Amazon's shipping rates to North America, which go by item, with a ¥600 base and then ¥350 per item, but no cutoff or bulk discount. It's silly to keep adding on ¥350 after a certain point, so where it gets cheaper to ship by weight, they should at least offer that option.

*Assuming each Blu-ray weighs 5oz, meaning 49 weigh 245oz, or 6.95kg

And obviously, this shipping issue with Amazon plays into why they won't ship the trunk set to the USA (and probably not outside of Japan), because they want ¥17,750 to ship 7kg of Blu-rays ordered as 49 items together, but their system is set up to charge only ¥950 to ship a 15kg Blu-ray box set because that would be counted as one item.

i think you're choosing to perceive it should be balanced in your favour. and expecting it to get ultra-cheap. rather than assuming you should price it out as postage per item at actual final cost with how their system works as is. not as if they're going to change it for you, or just in time for you to take advantage of it with this set. if you do that, it's $3 a disc, like i say. can't beat that anywhere without it being a loophole or mistake. even japan post are overcharging compared to the 15kg amazon single item charge of 905 yen you quote. any computer system's calculations is going to be as unfussy as possible over keeping the profit margins secure and un-exploitable, so that they keep the rule solid however many items you order seems logical from that perspective.

[McCrutchy]

EDIT: After a price drop from ¥209,000 to ¥164,304 on 30 June, the regular trunk set can now be ordered to the US. The full-price Amazon.co.jp Exclusive version remains restricted.

The following comments reflect being unable to order the trunk set at full price:

[Show spoiler]

Originally Posted by logboy

i think you're choosing to perceive it should be balanced in your favour. and expecting it to get ultra-cheap. rather than assuming you should price it out as postage per item at actual final cost with how their system works as is. not as if they're going to change it for you, or just in time for you to take advantage of it with this set. if you do that, it's $3 a disc, like i say. can't beat that anywhere without it being a loophole or mistake. even japan post are overcharging compared to the 15kg amazon single item charge of 905 yen you quote. any computer system's calculations is going to be as unfussy as possible over keeping the profit margins secure and un-exploitable, so that they keep the rule solid however many items you order seems logical from that perspective.

But you cannot receive that "deal" because Amazon refuse to ship the trunk overseas, and in all likelihood, the culprit is precisely that flaw in their international shipping rates.

And when I'm pre-ordering 49 Blu-rays at once, I don't think I'm expecting anything to "get ultra-cheap", and certainly not by expecting a large corporation like Amazon to be able to offer some kind of bulk shipping discount on the order (in fact, "ultra-cheap" when ordering 49 Blu-rays would be free shipping on the order). It's exactly what happens with smaller orders anyway, because when you order only a few items shipped to the US, Amazon handily beats Japan Post--as they should--but obviously, they don't anticipate orders with a large number of items from overseas, since their shipping charges increasingly pale in comparison to the post office.

Now, one thing I didn't consider is whether or not this shipping restriction is a temporary issue for pre-orders. The trunk set is limited, however, there is a cutoff date of 27 August for guaranteeing you receive a copy for 25 December, with Shochiku saying something to the effect that later orders may not be received until early 2020. In fact, Amazon has 27 August as a cancellation cutoff date for pre-orders, meaning on that date, your Amazon pre-order can no longer be cancelled.

The cancellation cutoff date has also applied to items Amazon do send overseas, but perhaps with this ultimatum of sorts from Shochiku, Amazon simply want to limit pre-orders to Japan. However, because they have refused to ship many kinds of similar box sets abroad (e.g. Blu-rays that come with certain size posters) still think the real issue is the flaw in their international shipping rates.

[logboy]

Originally Posted by McCrutchy

And when I'm pre-ordering 49 Blu-rays at once, I don't think I'm expecting anything to "get ultra-cheap",

the shipping price averaging out at $3 each is ultra-cheap. there's no such thing as free shipping. again, go looking for places offering shipping on a BD across the globe at anything like $3. i exclude things like YESASIA because the free shipping, as i've just suggested, is an illusion ... it's just included in the overall cost, and, as with eBay items that offer free shipping, when you order many you're over-paying for each and every one.

imagine someone spotting there was a point at which they no longer charged per-item if you order above a certain quantity. don't forget, not everything is expensive on amazon japan - there will be all kinds of cheap nonsense on there, just not necessarily what you're looking for. now ... if i can order something and get free shipping above 10 items (for arguments sake), i might be able / willing / wanting to order thousands of that item. and then they're suddenly working out as crippling on amazon's profit margins.

[Blu2u]

Maybe you guys can take the shipping debate to PM?

[McCrutchy]

Originally Posted by logboy

the shipping price averaging out at $3 each is ultra-cheap. there's no such thing as free shipping. again, go looking for places offering shipping on a BD across the globe at anything like $3. i exclude things like YESASIA because the free shipping, as i've just suggested, is an illusion ... it's just included in the overall cost, and, as with eBay items that offer free shipping, when you order many you're over-paying for each and every one.

imagine someone spotting there was a point at which they no longer charged per-item if you order above a certain quantity. don't forget, not everything is expensive on amazon japan - there will be all kinds of cheap nonsense on there, just not necessarily what you're looking for. now ... if i can order something and get free shipping above 10 items (for arguments sake), i might be able / willing / wanting to order thousands of that item. and then they're suddenly working out as crippling on amazon's profit margins.

I accept what you're saying, but I still disagree with your argument in this case, logboy. I think at this point, we're both going in circles (or threatening to, anyway), so I'll simply agree to disagree and call it a day.

[McCrutchy]

For those who can order, the trunk set has now dropped to ¥164,304 (21% off) on Amazon.co.jp.

EDIT: WOW. Amazon have now removed the shipping restriction on the trunk set!

The full-price Amazon exclusive version is still restricted, however, so now I'm wondering if ¥209,000 is over some kind of limit that Amazon impose.

Anyway, I'm super excited to be able to order a copy. I think this will be one of, if not the coolest home video release in the history of my collection.

Now to start saving to afford it...

EDIT #2: Remember that Amazon.co.jp have a pre-order cancellation cutoff date for the trunk. As it stands now, after 27 August 2019, you will not be able to cancel your pre-order.

[McCrutchy]

Here are the 49 individual films:

[Show spoiler]

There are also Amazon.co.jp Exclusive versions with a post card:

[Show spoiler]

[e_d]

Down to ¥151,211. That's ~$1,300 with shipping.

[McCrutchy]

Originally Posted by e_d

Down to ¥151,211. That's ~$1,300 with shipping.

Yeah, it's an interesting decision. As we discussed earlier, if you buy all 49 Blu-rays individually, the shipping cost goes from ¥950 to ¥17,750, but it looks as though all 49 titles will eventually reach ¥2,190 each, making them ¥107,310 in Japan or ¥99,372 to the US (at ¥2,028 each). With the ¥17,750 shipping charge, that's a total of ¥117,122 shipped to the US. The trunk is currently at ¥140,010 without tax for a total of ¥140,960 shipped to the US. That's a difference of ¥23,838, or currently $220.

So it looks like if you buy from Amazon, the trunk and its goodies are going to cost you between $200-$220 extra after all is said and done, but again who knows how much a competitor would charge to ship it. Hell, I'm still not convinced that Amazon will honor the ¥950 shipping charge on this.

[gskmeva]

Wow! I would love to get this box set!

Now, I haven't seen any of these films yet because I was hoping that one day there'd be a nice bluray release from a foreign label such as Criterion Collection. Apparently, that day is here AND it has English subtitles!

[logboy]

glad it's now a plausible set for international interest. expensive still, of course. would hope for a variation or version elsewhere, but i can only remember DVD sets with subs in HK and i don't hold out hope for BDs there - the market doesn't seem to support such things. i would really like to see them all - my happy experience with zatoichi, and the rarity of getting series as a whole from japanese cinema, makes me look at runs in a similar vein differently.