Aniplex of America Blu-rays

[Clark Kent]

DVD has 70% of the general market but I think the ratio is closer to even for anime sales. The anime distributors have released far more on BD than you would expect based on a 30% market share. I know that I have a tough time buying anime on DVD anymore even if I know it may never hit Blu-ray.

[neoz]

^^^

Sadly, I see a lot of people still buying DVD because the argue that it isn't any better on BD. The argue that even on a smaller HDtv like a 32 or smaller that the quality isn't any different. And that DVD is cheaper so it gives them more money to buy anime.

[BigOnAnime]

Originally Posted by kk1

Hmm well I would think DVD sells even worse than Blu-rays nowadays, seems kind of self defeating...

You'd be surprised. DVD STILL does well. I remember a few years back for say Sentai, they admitted that DVD almost always sells better for them than BD. High School of the Dead was one of the only exceptions. Though I do wonder how these DVD-only releases do for AoA, especially when many times the UK will end up with a BD release, and thus those that really care about BD will import over buying the DVD. As I've heard, Aniplex has taken notice of people importing UK releases, and is thinking of blocking people from North America from doing so.

Hopefully more begin to figure out the benefits of Blu-ray, and it's more than just "those few itty bitty extra pixels". Ex: BD's are significantly harder to scratch than DVD's. And hell, many series in Japan lately have already been BD-only. Though it'll take a while for fujoshi to move on to BD there. For some strange reason, series really popular with fujoshi in Japan sell more or about the same DVD's as they do BD's, when typically DVD's either don't rank or do very pathetic numbers in comparison to the BD's.

Originally Posted by neoz

^^^

Sadly, I see a lot of people still buying DVD because the argue that it isn't any better on BD. The argue that even on a smaller HDtv like a 32 or smaller that the quality isn't any different. And that DVD is cheaper so it gives them more money to buy anime.

Well in regards to digital animation, the difference usually isn't that astronomical, but there is still the difference. A while back I took screenshots of one scene from Another on CR in 360P, 480P, and 720P. The frames aren't exact but the difference between 360P and 480P is much bigger than 480P to 720P.
(No 1080P screenshots as my laptop's resolution maxes out at 1366x768 unfortunately, so I would not be able to see the difference between 720P and 1080P on it. And to begin with for anime, the difference between the two isn't big, especially since hardly anything is animated at 1080P.)

[Naiera]

Which Aniplex DVD only releases have Blu-ray releases in the UK?

[kk1]

Originally Posted by BigOnAnime

You'd be surprised. DVD STILL does well. I remember a few years back for say Sentai, they admitted that DVD almost always sells better for them than BD. High School of the Dead was one of the only exceptions. Though I do wonder how these DVD-only releases do for AoA, especially when many times the UK will end up with a BD release, and thus those that really care about BD will import over buying the DVD. As I've heard, Aniplex has taken notice of people importing UK releases, and is thinking of blocking people from North America from doing so.

Hopefully more begin to figure out the benefits of Blu-ray, and it's more than just "those few itty bitty extra pixels". Ex: BD's are significantly harder to scratch than DVD's. And hell, many series in Japan lately have already been BD-only. Though it'll take a while for fujoshi to move on to BD there. For some strange reason, series really popular with fujoshi in Japan sell more or about the same DVD's as they do BD's, when typically DVD's either don't rank or do very pathetic numbers in comparison to the BD's.Well in regards to digital animation, the difference usually isn't that astronomical, but there is still the difference. A while back I took screenshots of one scene from Another on CR in 360P, 480P, and 720P. The frames aren't exact but the difference between 360P and 480P is much bigger than 480P to 720P.
(No 1080P screenshots as my laptop's resolution maxes out at 1366x768 unfortunately, so I would not be able to see the difference between 720P and 1080P on it. And to begin with for anime, the difference between the two isn't big, especially since hardly anything is animated at 1080P.)

Hmm surprising, I guess I was just going by my own experience of buying all new releases on BD.
Thanks for the example on the screencaps. That's something I've often wondered about dvd's and BD's since many times on here it's mentioned how American releases don't even use the maximum space available on a BD. Is there even that big of a difference on a well authored dvd(are dvd's 720?), the only one I've ever really compared was Is This a Zombie? (accidently put in the dvds since they're in the front of the case) and the difference was noticeable though since it's Funimation I would imagine their dvds are as bad as their BDs. I would think Aniplex does better work on their DVDs since they also do on their BDs.

[neoz]

I can tell you that Haganai and HS DxD has a noticeable difference from the DVD versus the BD.

[javac]

Since I see a discussion regarding Blu-ray and DVD sales, I thought that I'd drop some sales data in here. It's nothing to do with AoA, but hopefully it's relevant to the discussion.
Top Selling Blu-rays in Japan (LTD)

2,400,875 Frozen (7/16/2014)
464,375 EVANGELION:2.22 YOU CAN (NOT) ADVANCE. (5/26/2010)
400,952 EVANGELION:3.33 YOU CAN (NOT) REDO. (4/24/2013)
296,817 Big Hero 6 (4/24/2015)
208,044 Cars 2 DVD + Blu-ray set (12/2/2011)
205,199 Monsters University (11/20/2013)
181,935 Toy Story 3 DVD + Blu-ray set (11/3/2010)
181,935 EVANGELION:1.11 (5/27/2009)
160,762 Tangled DVD + Blu-ray set (7/20/2011)
154,042 Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie: Rebellion Limited Edition Blu-Ray (4/2/2014)

Top Selling DVDs in Japan (LTD)

2,401,992 Spirited Away (7/19/2002)
1,608,743 Finding Nemo (6/18/2004)
1,250,737 My Neighbor Totoro (9/28/2001)
1,223,370 Howl's Moving Castle (11/16/2005)
912,860 Ponyo (7/3/2009)
779,137 Castle in the Sky (10/4/2002)
757,428 The Incredibles (6/15/2005)
667,504 Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (11/19/2003)
571,467 Monsters, Inc. Special Edition (9/20/2002)
536,691 Kiki's Delivery Service (6/8/2001)

[kk1]

Originally Posted by neoz

I can tell you that Haganai and HS DxD has a noticeable difference from the DVD versus the BD.

Popped it into check, yeah that seems to be par for the course for Funimation (I wonder if they don't bother optimizing the DVDs since they just throw them in with the BD instead of having separate releases), though I put in my R2 DBZ's and Funimation's "digitally remastered" DB discs and both actually look really good even on a 60" TV. For some reason they look even better than the new stuff like Haganai, etc. which look all pixilated.
Anyone have a newer dvd only release from a different company like Wagnaria or something, better than Funi's dvds or the same?

[neoz]

The BD for Unbreakable Machine Doll is kind of like that as well. It really isn't pixelated per say just a very soft image.

[BigOnAnime]

Originally Posted by Naiera

Which Aniplex DVD only releases have Blu-ray releases in the UK?

I know Magi is one.

Originally Posted by kk1

Hmm surprising, I guess I was just going by my own experience of buying all new releases on BD.
Thanks for the example on the screencaps. That's something I've often wondered about dvd's and BD's since many times on here it's mentioned how American releases don't even use the maximum space available on a BD. Is there even that big of a difference on a well authored dvd(are dvd's 720?), the only one I've ever really compared was Is This a Zombie? (accidently put in the dvds since they're in the front of the case) and the difference was noticeable though since it's Funimation I would imagine their dvds are as bad as their BDs. I would think Aniplex does better work on their DVDs since they also do on their BDs.

The resolution of DVD goes up to 480. Higher than that on DVD and you're talking about the obsolete HD-DVD format. Also, just to note, Aniplex's DVD's are authored by Bang Zoom! (Their BD's are authored by Aniplex Japan), and I haven't heard exactly very good things about them.

As for space, that really doesn't have that much to do with things, it's more due to animation being well animation. Like look at this comparison between the R2 DVD's for Garden of Sinners and the R2 BD box.
https://web.archive.org/web/20120412...&postcount=356

Many thought the BD's were just upscales, but they are not. Garden of Sinners was animated at a higher resolution than what it was released on at the time, so the BD's just simply revealed the detail that DVD could not. The difference isn't exactly huge, mainly due to animation being line art. Meanwhile with live-action there's so much you can keep trying to reveal, so the difference will be much bigger there.

To bring in another example, here's Ergo Proxy. The show was aired in HD, so it too is an example of the BD's revealing what DVD could not show. The DVD's he's comparing are Geneon's. Geneon generally was by far the best out of all the R1 companies for DVD quality back in the day.

So you can sorta see why many decide to pick up DVD's for anime still instead of BD's. Still, BD is the way to go as there is a difference.

[kk1]

Originally Posted by BigOnAnime

The resolution of DVD goes up to 480. Higher than that on DVD and you're talking about the obsolete HD-DVD format. Also, just to note, Aniplex's DVD's are authored by Bang Zoom! (Their BD's are authored by Aniplex Japan), and I haven't heard exactly very good things about them.

As for space, that really doesn't have that much to do with things, it's more due to animation being well animation.

Many thought the BD's were just upscales, but they are not. Garden of Sinners was animated at a higher resolution than what it was released on at the time, so the BD's just simply revealed the detail that DVD could not. The difference isn't exactly huge, mainly due to animation being line art. Meanwhile with live-action there's so much you can keep trying to reveal, so the difference will be much bigger there.

So you can sorta see why many decide to pick up DVD's for anime still instead of BD's. Still, BD is the way to go as there is a difference.

Thanks for all the info. Hmmm I wonder how much anime is (or was) animated higher than 480 since it went digital. I was playing around on Crunchyroll switching between 480 and 1080 (on a 720 computer screen) in the settings and I couldn't see any difference.

[Oniros]

Quick PSA: Persona 3 The Movie #2 has been recently added to Netflix in North America. If you, like me, refuse to give Aniplex a dime from your wallet, this would be a good chance to watch it.

[Tiberius]

Rather than refuse them a dime from my wallet, I willingly invite Aniplex to party with my Benjamins all the time.

[Sylontack]

Originally Posted by Oniros

Quick PSA: Persona 3 The Movie #2 has been recently added to Netflix in North America. If you, like me, refuse to give Aniplex a dime from your wallet, this would be a good chance to watch it.

A shame they don't have the first film. I'd have liked to give it a try before buying them...

[Girls With Guns]

Originally Posted by Oniros

Quick PSA: Persona 3 The Movie #2 has been recently added to Netflix in North America. If you, like me, refuse to give Aniplex a dime from your wallet, this would be a good chance to watch it.

Originally Posted by Tiberius

Rather than refuse them a dime from my wallet, I willingly invite Aniplex to party with my Benjamins all the time.

I'm currently watching Persona 3 Movie 2 on Netflix myself - But if I happen to like it at all, I'll happily spend the money to purchase it from Aniplex anyway. I personally view streaming as the least-desirable way to watch anime; I only use it to preview series I might wish to spend massive amounts of my money on.

[jala12]

The only way I'd spend anything on the Aniplex release is if they got the NA game cast to do the dub. But I don't think that will happen anytime soon.

[Trig]

Originally Posted by Girls With Guns

I'm currently watching Persona 3 Movie 2 on Netflix myself - But if I happen to like it at all, I'll happily spend the money to purchase it from Aniplex anyway. I personally view streaming as the least-desirable way to watch anime; I only use it to preview series I might wish to spend massive amounts of my money on.

While i know its not the thread for this, i watch all my shows by streaming first, then i buy. But yea, i understand yours as well.

[Oniros]

Originally Posted by jala12

The only way I'd spend anything on the Aniplex release is if they got the NA game cast to do the dub. But I don't think that will happen anytime soon.

Hell, even subbing the extra features would have made it easier to swallow, but they can't even get the bare minimum right. I'm so sad that Funi didn't get to publish the Persona movies. I'm currently finishing P3P and I really wanna introduce more people to the franchise.

[Naiera]

I'm so happy that FUNi didn't get to f*cki the Persona movies!

[Kiramay]

Originally Posted by Naiera

I'm so happy that FUNi didn't get to f*cki the Persona movies!

Here, here. Funimation does a lot of stuff I love, but I don't think I would want them touching Persona much.. I have mixed feelings about them. My trust has been destroyed quite a deal with Yona of the Dawn dub, though.