Looking for info on the official US-market R0 Gunbuster DVD

[v_i]

While the 2007 Honnêamise and Image Entertainment release may have been the first subtitled release of Gunbuster on DVD in the United States, it wasn't the first DVD release overall. According to Wikipedia and the archived Bandai Visual USA Website, for a very brief period of time, there was a Kinokuniya-exclusive region 0 clone of the 2004 Japanese release.
This release was entirely in Japanese, with no subtitles, but due to the removal of the region lock, is technically not an identical set to the 2004 R2 set. Does anyone have any information on this set? I can't find a single picture of it anywhere. I'm assuming the obi with the UPC/EAN code is probably different. Based on this forum post, it may not even have a UPC/EAN code. I want to add it to the database here, but without any physical evidence it really exists, I'm not sure what to do.

[The Collector FX]

Its not surprising our own database on blu-ray.com doesn't have any information about it because Japanese DVD releases of anime in general is severely lacking in this websites database.

But if I'm understanding correctly, it's a region 0, pure japanese audio/no english subs release that *looks* like this, right?



Are you asking around so that you can own it? Or just acquire information about it?

[v_i]

Originally Posted by The Collector FX

Its not surprising our own database on blu-ray.com doesn't have any information about it because Japanese DVD releases of anime in general is severely lacking in this websites database.

But if I'm understanding correctly, it's a region 0, pure japanese audio/no english subs release that *looks* like this, right?



Are you asking around so that you can own it? Or just acquire information about it?

That's not it, no. That's the movie version. I'm talking about the OVA. It should look like this:

and is a clone of this release. I'm also not sure if it even counts as a Japanese release, as it was only ever sold in the United States (the R0 version, at least). Me asking is a combination of a lot of things. Yeah, owning it would be cool, but this is more so just me trying to uncover information on such a weird release, as I've wondered about it for years. According to rumors, it was on shelves for less than 2 months, and Bandai clearly had to do a whole print run of discs just for the US. This set is essentially a ghost, with no pictures of it anywhere, even if it does look nearly identical to the JP release. Currently, the only difference that I know of between the sets is that the R0 version probably doesn't have any UPC/EAN code, which is just strange. Based on the numbers I've seen floating around (40 or so allocated to 2-3 locations), this may be one of the rarest US market anime releases ever made, along with possibly the only Japanese only (no sub, no dub) release.

[The Collector FX]

Originally Posted by v_i

I'm also not sure if it even counts as a Japanese release, as it was only ever sold in the United States (the R0 version, at least). Me asking is a combination of a lot of things. Yeah, owning it would be cool, but this is more so just me trying to uncover information on such a weird release, as I've wondered about it for years. According to rumors, it was on shelves for less than 2 months, and Bandai clearly had to do a whole print run of discs just for the US. This set is essentially a ghost, with no pictures of it anywhere, even if it does look nearly identical to the JP release. Currently, the only difference that I know of between the sets is that the R0 version probably doesn't have any UPC/EAN code, which is just strange. Based on the numbers I've seen floating around (40 or so allocated to 2-3 locations), this may be one of the rarest US market anime releases ever made, along with possibly the only Japanese only (no sub, no dub) release.

Interesting.

Well if it doesn't have a UPC, it'll make tracking it down through any official cataloging means very difficult.

I'll keep my eye out for it. Though I do have to ask - is there anything other than forum posts that gives any credence to the legitimacy of this "Region 0" DVD?

A jap dvd clone with no barcode seems.... suspiciously and highly unusual. How would a store/retailer (online or brick) even go about selling that if the UPC isn't present or logged into a retailers database?

[v_i]

Originally Posted by The Collector FX

Interesting.

Well if it doesn't have a UPC, it'll make tracking it down through any official cataloging means very difficult.

I'll keep my eye out for it. Though I do have to ask - is there anything other than forum posts that gives any credence to the legitimacy of this "Region 0" DVD?

A jap dvd clone with no barcode seems.... suspiciously and highly unusual. How would a store/retailer (online or brick) even go about selling that if the UPC isn't present or logged into a retailers database?

In my initial post, I linked to an archive of Bandai Visual USA's site where they announced it. Click this for the link. I've also screenshotted the relevant section:

[v_i]

The "no UPC" thing is less concrete, and comes from this forum post

[The Collector FX]

I didn't realize it was a screen cap of the official website. Thank you.

[v_i]

Managed to find someone who owns one of these, through a contact of a contact. The set is almost identical to the JP set, with a few key differences:
•The set has no UPC/EAN code at all
•Despite this, the stock number is still listed on the spine as BCBA-2053 (same as the JP release)
•The individual DVD cases and the DVDs themselves say "ALL" instead of 2 in the region globe icon

[BigOnAnime]

Always fun when there's no UPC or EAN... Luckily to add things here, you don't need a UPC (though it of course should be entered whenever possible) unlike with ANN where it's required, so if something doesn't have a UPC, it can't even be manually added.

[v_i]

How often does a release not have a UPC/EAN? I understand not knowing one, making entry more difficult, but outside of those Pokémon Mystery Dungeon promo DVDs, I can't think of that many releases without a UPC or EAN

[BigOnAnime]

When I was looking up more info on the Cowboy Bebop: Bounty Hunter's Steel (I was living under a rock during that whole thing), apparently that set does not have a UPC anywhere on it, so that's another thing that won't be able to be manually added to say ANN if they ever give select users that aren't Encyclopedia Editors the ability add releases manually.

[Edit]Looks like the DBZ 30th Anniversary Edition doesn't have one either looking more closely at unboxings of it. Now something like Legend of the Galactic Heroes does have one however. Also, props to people showing it very clearly during their unboxings so I was able to enter it in months ago. BTW, many times a release can have the UPC, but it's simply a sticker on the shrinkwrap, so you want to get that sort of info down when you can because when there's no new copies left and all those stickers are in a landfill somewhere...

[The Collector FX]

Originally Posted by v_i

How often does a release not have a UPC/EAN? I understand not knowing one, making entry more difficult, but outside of those Pokémon Mystery Dungeon promo DVDs, I can't think of that many releases without a UPC or EAN

It's definitely rare. I always do UPC checks when dropping cash on OOP DVD's that I'm not familiar with just to make sure they match up, and also to make sure they're not bootlegs.

That's cool you found someone who owns one. I don't make a habit of collecting anime that doesn't either have subtitles or english dub track. (i only two exceptions out of my collection of 750 dvd's/blu's) but that would be a great find to have in a collection.

Makes me wonder how many are left in circulation...

[Naiera]

Originally Posted by v_i

How often does a release not have a UPC/EAN? I understand not knowing one, making entry more difficult, but outside of those Pokémon Mystery Dungeon promo DVDs, I can't think of that many releases without a UPC or EAN

There's plenty of Hong Kong Blu-ray releases without UPCs. I own a few. Some a crap.

[Herry Dunston]

I own a Taiwanese DVD of Macross: Do You Remember Love, which includes the Soundtrack CD which may also be a bootleg.

[TThomas]

Originally Posted by BigOnAnime

Looks like the DBZ 30th Anniversary Edition doesn't have one either looking more closely at unboxings of it.

Partly true. Stock sold in the UK and AU got EANs by Manga UK / Madman.

[QUOTE=BigOnAnime;18867239]BTW, many times a release can have the UPC, but it's simply a sticker on the shrinkwrap, so you want to get that sort of info down when you can because when there's no new copies left and all those stickers are in a landfill somewhere... ]
Note that UPC starting with 4 (or EAN starting with 04) are "restricted circulation numbers within a company " and no real UPC/EAN, even if you see these on products shrink wrapped together and sold as bundles (e.g. Right Stuf)