Bandai Visual

[CptGreedle]

Anime fans, we all know Bandai Visual... and yet I still have to wonder what they are thinking.
I know they have released and will release several Blu-ray titles, including Jin-Roh, Royal Space Force, SOS Tokyo Metro Explorers (The Next), etc...
But they right now have Freedom slated only for HD DVD. And not just one disc either, they plan to continue to release new HD DVD versions of Freedom into August '08! There is no word on any Blu-ray plans for this title.

I suggest that we email Bandai Visual and bring up our concerns about this to them. I for one will not buy this, and I think that, in the wake of the end of the format war, they should learn to adapt.
Contact them via their website here:
https://www.bandaivisual.co.jp/usa/

It looks like Bandai Visual may be one of the few companies to continue to release exclusive titles to HD DVD, and one of the last to release HD DVD as well.

[ground chuck]

hopefully, they'll come to their senses sooner than later.

[CptGreedle]

Originally Posted by ground chuck

hopefully, they'll come to their senses sooner than later.

Send them a message, and demand/request that they get their act together and release Freedom to Blu-ray as well.

[OokieSpookie]

The explained their reason behind still releasing Freedom in a press release.
They already released the first couple so they are not going to dick over fans that bought the first ones.
There is no big consipiracy.

[CptGreedle]

I could care less if they release them all to HD DVD... the fact is, they are not releasing it to Blu-ray.
Now that the war is over and Blu won, they should at least make an announcement that they plan to release them to Blu as well, but instead they tell us they will stick with the same plan... sounds familiar... like someone famous I know... that didn't work either...

They need to release to both if they want to stick with HD DVD, but they are loosing a lot of customers if they continue to treat it this way.

[u_nick]

No, I'll go find the press release. I vaguely remember it saying, (and if not the PR, other industry insiders), basically saying that the HD thing was part of a contract, so they are upholdin gtheir end of the contract.

Once it's finished its individual HD release, you will more than like see a Blu individual release, or box set releases for both Standard and Bluray.

I'. 93% sure a Blu release is in their plans. They just cant talk about it until the HD version finishes release.

[WickyWoo]

Anime fans, we all know Bandai Visual... and yet I still have to wonder what they are thinking.
I know they have released and will release several Blu-ray titles, including Jin-Roh, Royal Space Force, SOS Tokyo Metro Explorers (The Next), etc...
But they right now have Freedom slated only for HD DVD. And not just one disc either, they plan to continue to release new HD DVD versions of Freedom into August '08! There is no word on any Blu-ray plans for this title.

I suggest that we email Bandai Visual and bring up our concerns about this to them. I for one will not buy this, and I think that, in the wake of the end of the format war, they should learn to adapt.
Contact them via their website here:
https://www.bandaivisual.co.jp/usa/

It looks like Bandai Visual may be one of the few companies to continue to release exclusive titles to HD DVD, and one of the last to release HD DVD as well.

Toshiba co-financed the project. The discs are already done. There will be a Blu version in the future of the whole series

[u_nick]

Some Bandai Visual 'title delay' news:

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news...rue-tears-sola

Bandai Visual delays Shigofumi, True Tears, and sola.

President of Bandai Visual USA Tatsunori Konno says, “Many aspects of the anime market are in a transitional phase. We need time to reinvent ourselves so that we can bring our customary quality together with better customer satisfaction. We will also try to focus much more on Blu-ray Disc releases now that format war has ended.” Bandai Visual USA noted on February 19, after Toshiba's announcement of HD DVD's discontinuation, that it will continue Freedom's release on HD DVD/DVD Twin Disc Format. The company previously announced in January that it would be releasing Yukikaze on Blu-ray Disc on April 8, and that release has not been postponed.

That bolded line seems like a pretty good indication for Blu-ray fans.

They want to give me a [expletive deleted] True Tears Blu-ray release, whether it be singles or box set, I wont even complain about their high prices. I'll buy that [expletive deleted] on day one. (My sorry [expletive deleted] even emailed and told them the day they announced the SD press release details!)

[MikeRox]

I think the reason this series hasn't been announced for Blu-ray is because it used the HD DVD TWIN disc and counted as the DVD release of the series as well, something that they can't do and keep uniform if they introduced Blu-ray for the remaining episodes.

I am actually considering picking up the HD DVD versions of this if only for novelty value. But I do hope they release a 2 disc Blu-ray set with the entire series on it once the BD-Live updates are completed for PS3 and the BD-Live players start to hit the market.

[u_nick]

Update:

(even more good news for us Blu-ray fans)

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news...y-in-japan-usa

Bandai Visual USA President Tatsunori Konno has updated his blog after his company announced the delay of Shigofumi: Letters from the Departed, true tears, and sola. He notes that the move is part of a larger strategic shift that affects Bandai Visual in both Japan and the United States. Both regional arms of Bandai Visual "are now rushing to reschedule all future releases, focusing on Blu-ray" for both new and old titles. Konno emphasizes, "It does not mean we will not release any standard DVDs at all, but we will concentrate on expanding our Blu-ray catalog." The company plans to reschedule the three delayed titles, but not before summer.

Konno adds that before the three titles were delayed, his company was "already in the progress of manufacturing the English versions along with the production of the Japanese releases. Some materials have already been printed. And some promotional planning started, and a detailed promotion plan had been developed for Sakura Con with many people involved." However, he says that the American anime market needs a revolution due to its worsening conditions. According to Konno, the decision to focus on Blu-ray was largely instigated by the staff in Japan.

Konno has also announced that he has been appointed General Manager of the Business Support Group overseeing both Japan and the United States, and therefore will be returning to Japan in May. Shinsuke Hori, the licensing manager at Bandai Visual in Japan, will be taking Konno's place in Bandai Visual USA.

[MOONPHASE]

Originally Posted by u_nick

Update:

(even more good news for us Blu-ray fans)

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news...y-in-japan-usa

awesome thanks for the news

[WickyWoo]

I think they're going to work to get the prices down, but don't expect miracles. $39.99-$49.99 is about the lowest they're going to go for a feature film on Blu without entirely sabotaging the home market

[Mobe1969]

Yeah, they got to take the approach they had with Patlabor. Release a single cheaper version and a more expensive collectors set. Give people the option.

The pricing is crap at the moment. And frankly I can't understand how anyone has bought freedom. What an utter ripoff. I've bought Jin Roh and Honnemaise from the US and Patlabor 1 and 2 from Japan, and at least with them you are getting more than a 20 minute episode. What a joke.

[WickyWoo]

Yeah, they got to take the approach they had with Patlabor. Release a single cheaper version and a more expensive collectors set. Give people the option.

That has nothing to do with it

The extra goodies are there to soften the blow of the huge pricetag, not the huge pricetag is there because of the goodies.

[Mobe1969]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

That has nothing to do with it

The extra goodies are there to soften the blow of the huge pricetag, not the huge pricetag is there because of the goodies.

Yes and no. OK, the goodies are there to soften the blow, but the bare bones cheaper release was there as well on those bandai visual releases. So fans (like me) buy the expensive version. Casual buyers and video shops are more likely to pick up a bare bones. It is a win win. Selling a bare bones release as well will always make them more money in the long run, IMHO..

Just watched the US release of Royal Space Force: Wing of Honneamise. I'm unsure of some of the complaints. Yes, it was 16:9 although pillared to native 35mm AR (1.66:1)

Print quality was very good. The only "damage" I could see was cell dirt in some spots. Eg, stuff left on the cel layers when they were photographing it. It could have been cleared up digitally, but it was obvious it was cell dirt, now master damage.

BTW, does anyone here have Patlabor WXIII, or know of anyone with it? I really want to find out if it is a 4x black bar'd title, or is full like the Patlabor 1&2 releases (and I can categorically confirm that Patlabor 1 and 2 are NOT black bared on all 4 sides). I want to get WXII, but after both Jin Roh and Honneamise I'm feeling kind of burnt. I'd really appreciate anyone with WXIII and a non-overscanning setup (eg, 1080p with 1:1 pixel mapping) letting me know. I'd REALLY appreciate it.

Thanks.

[jd213]

I have it, but I haven't watched it yet since I've been re-watching the Patlabor TV series after getting the remastered DVD box from Japan (picture is much better than the US DVDs but has severe aliasing problems even though it's progressively encoded, it was probably introduced when downscaling from the HD masters, hopefully it'll be released on Blu someday without this problem). I can check it out on Monday, if you don't here from me then gimme a PM as a reminder.

[jd213]

I also saw your post on AVS about Jin-Roh, and while I agree to a point that it wasn't that great looking of a film due to stylistic choices, screen shots comparing the DVD (which had rainbows and other composite artifacts) and the Blu-ray showed how much of an improvement it was.

http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/1...oh31dvdrr9.jpg
http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/5054/jinroh31bdjs1.jpg

[WickyWoo]

Yes and no. OK, the goodies are there to soften the blow, but the bare bones cheaper release was there as well on those bandai visual releases. So fans (like me) buy the expensive version. Casual buyers and video shops are more likely to pick up a bare bones. It is a win win. Selling a bare bones release as well will always make them more money in the long run, IMHO..

I'm talking the Blu-ray versions mostly. Patlabor is the only title where they did the cheaper versions BTW. They could do those cheaper versions in that case because those remasters have been out in Japan for YEARS, and have already had discounted versions issued there. (They will release bare-bones, price lowered versions of many titles for a limited time)

If you notice, nothing else has been issued that way.

Bandai is restructuring right now. Hopefully the low sales in the US will finally push through to Japanese management that they simply cannot sell at these prices here. How they'll solve the reverse importation problem is a mystery to me. You can't undercut the retailers by selling at 40% cheaper to your mail order customers after all

[CptGreedle]

I understand that the price of movies (and CDs) are more expensive in Japan, I am also used to paying $30+ for an anime DVD (SD DVD). And yet, to see these titles listed at such a high price really is just too much. As much as I love Blu-ray and anime, I can not spend nearly that much money on it.
I hope they do see the problem, but I don't know if they will since anime is a Japanese product intended for a Japanese audience. We are just lucky enough to have the chance to see these at all.

[krumlin]

Originally Posted by CptGreedle

I understand that the price of movies (and CDs) are more expensive in Japan, I am also used to paying $30+ for an anime DVD (SD DVD). And yet, to see these titles listed at such a high price really is just too much. As much as I love Blu-ray and anime, I can not spend nearly that much money on it.
I hope they do see the problem, but I don't know if they will since anime is a Japanese product intended for a Japanese audience. We are just lucky enough to have the chance to see these at all.

Yeah I wanted to get "GITS Innocence" but 80 bucks is BS. Then I read a review that said it's only slightly better than the SD dvd version.
I don't know about blu-ray anime...