End of the line for Bandai Entertainment

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JEFFPIATT
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Re: End of the line for Bandai Entertainment

That market uses PAL TV and an different dvd region code. Japan is NSTC like the us so they can back import us dvds and play them on there tv's.
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Uso_Evin
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Re: End of the line for Bandai Entertainment

JEFFPIATT wrote:That market uses PAL TV and an different dvd region code. Japan is NSTC like the us so they can back import us dvds and play them on there tv's.
Ahhh, OK - that explains it. And I guess Beez deals with Bandai America in order to get the English dub, so only gets their releases.

Hopefully now Beez is gone, this Italian company will branch out and make French/English subtitled releases.
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HellCat
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Re: End of the line for Bandai Entertainment

Thing is, it really doesn't take much effort to play an imported DVD. There might be quality factors I'm not aware of but I've long been importing the BEI discs and playing them on a UK sold DVD player set to be region free. So in many ways the argument still stands- why can a country like Italy seemingly get this treatment whilst other parts of the world get treated as sloppy seconds? If anything, to me the situation reeks of Sunrise's often less then profesional way of doing things/playing favourites.
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Uso_Evin
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Re: End of the line for Bandai Entertainment

HellCat wrote:Thing is, it really doesn't take much effort to play an imported DVD. There might be quality factors I'm not aware of but I've long been importing the BEI discs and playing them on a UK sold DVD player set to be region free. So in many ways the argument still stands- why can a country like Italy seemingly get this treatment whilst other parts of the world get treated as sloppy seconds? If anything, to me the situation reeks of Sunrise's often less then profesional way of doing things/playing favourites.
Yes, I have had a multi-region DVD player which I have used to play American Gundam DVDs since well before the release of Gundam Zeta state-side, and I'm sure in modern-day Japan such things are very easy to acquire. All you have to do is search Amazon Italy to see how every gundam release has a limited edition packaging based on Japanese originals. One of the problems Bandai US had was only being able to sell cheap box sets. A solution to this could have been to offer reasonably expensive collectors boxed sets. I would happily pay up to £100 for the whole series of MSG in packaging like that. The only time a set like that has been released in Britain was for the Gundam Wing remaster, which had a great limited edition release. I got that for £70-80 and picked it over the much cheaper Anime Legends set (which I could have got for about £30-40). These italian releases show that the manufacturing is in place - stick an English dub and subtitles on these releases and they could be sold in Europe, and maybe R1 versions made for America and I'm sure they would make alot more money than singles and anime legends. This is especially true for Turn A Gundam. This series would not have a huge audience through anime legends (which is probably why it never happened), but a limited collectors release could sell well, with larger profit margins, especially if launched internationally (for example, the Beez Gundam 00 releases had product descriptions on a leaflet attatched to the back of the dvd - voice avoiding having to print packaging specifically for English and French audiences. This must have saved on manufacturing costs?).

This has happened in Italy, and considering they are still releasing collectors sets for recent releases (and given the number of series they have done collectors editions for) this seems to be working quite well. Now, Gundam may be more popular in Italy than other territories, but why not at least attempt this model? I would love to hear from the Italian company and their dealings with Bandai JPN, as they seem to have been treated completely differently, with much better results for fan and company alike (again, judging solely on the amount of merchandise and the amount of demand/success that suggests)!
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NastyNate
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Re: End of the line for Bandai Entertainment

Anyone else trying to buy up some bandai dvds until they are out of print and real expensive? Anyone have any suggestions of what to buy besides Gundam?
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Chris
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Re: End of the line for Bandai Entertainment

There's no need to rush out and buy everything immediately. These things aren't going to go out of print tomorrow. That being said, if you want some recommendations, go for Escaflowne, Cowboy Bebop, Outlaw Star, Ghost in the Shell, Eureka Seven, The Big O, Overman King Gainer, Wolf's Rain, Code Geass and Planetes.
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NastyNate
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Re: End of the line for Bandai Entertainment

Chris wrote:There's no need to rush out and buy everything immediately. These things aren't going to go out of print tomorrow. That being said, if you want some recommendations, go for Escaflowne, Cowboy Bebop, Outlaw Star, Ghost in the Shell, Eureka Seven, The Big O, Overman King Gainer, Wolf's Rain, Code Geass and Planetes.
Thats a great list. Thanks for that. :D
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JEFFPIATT
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Re: End of the line for Bandai Entertainment

NastyNate wrote:
Chris wrote:There's no need to rush out and buy everything immediately. These things aren't going to go out of print tomorrow. That being said, if you want some recommendations, go for Escaflowne, Cowboy Bebop, Outlaw Star, Ghost in the Shell, Eureka Seven, The Big O, Overman King Gainer, Wolf's Rain, Code Geass and Planetes.
Thats a great list. Thanks for that. :D
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Mickeymac92
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Re: End of the line for Bandai Entertainment

I never thought I'd see Bandai go. This is a sad day indeed, at least for me. I was just thinking how it seemed like B E was doing so well (I guess I thought the silence was a good thing). So unexpect, and so sad.:( At least we'll still be getting future Gundam shows, albeit from other companies, but really...things just won't be the same (I'm sure the English Voice acting will take a huge hit :( ).
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Richardmvela
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Re: End of the line for Bandai Entertainment

Hello all, I have been a member here for two years but not a big poster, however this is something I wanted to chime in on. Like many of you Gundam is my favorite anime franchise and one of my favorites as a whole. I collect the "Anime Legends" line and before that collected the individual releases which I traded in at the Sanford, Fl Movie Stop for the "AL" box sets.

One of the things that realy bothers me is when you go to events such as Megacon or whatever con where you may live, you see a large contingent of teen anime fans yet most do not pay for their anime. I am only 26 but when you compare the early - mid 2000's (my teen years) to now piracy was a lot less rampant. That coupled with the fact that anime is not aired on TV often I feel hurt the industry immensely. People argue it doesn't but when was anime's best time? During Toonami's run. The Funimation channel is limited/a premium channel, SyFy Animondays are at a late hour and most other stations that air it either water it down or aren't in nearly as many households. On top of that bandai never had much of a pressence on Netflix. I can watch almost any Funimation series on netflix at various times yet bandai seemed to hold off from the streaming option. Then compare most modern releases with how they did Gundam 00. The sets should have just been consolidated into 2 Anime Legend sets and left that way. Breaking them up into smaller releases is not a wise move now a days. I hope to eventually see Gundam on Blu-Ray dubbed here stateside but I fear i won't and it sucks because I am willing to spend on something I adore.
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NastyNate
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Re: End of the line for Bandai Entertainment

Is The Girl Who Leapt Through Time [Blu-ray] worth $29?
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Casval Rem Daikun
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Re: End of the line for Bandai Entertainment

I own it on DVD, and did enjoy the film.
However, I do not know if I would spend $29 for the Blu Ray edition.

If you have any gift cards left over from the holidays though, go for it.
Mecha Anime
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Re: End of the line for Bandai Entertainment

Bandai is the one company I never thought we'd see go. I thought they were the powerhouse in the anime industry here in the states. Sad.
Ceiling_Squid
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Re: End of the line for Bandai Entertainment

Mecha Anime wrote:Bandai is the one company I never thought we'd see go. I thought they were the powerhouse in the anime industry here in the states. Sad.
Nah, the "powerhouse" title has probably gone to Funimation for a while now. Bandai was still releasing on a price model that didn't work here in the states, and it was showing. Heck, I kept noticing that the vast majority of the stuff I was regularly buying over the last couple of years all had Funimation's name slapped on it.

Regardless, Bandai has a lot of stuff in it's catalog that I want, or wished that I could have had (if they didn't cancel certain releases). And while I would have wanted to support them for products that I want, it would have been fiscally irresponsible for me to do so with any regularity, given the means by which they release products.

I'm less mad now at the Japanese pricing model and more mad at the Japanese otaku cosumer who's all too willing to throw monetary caution to the wind and take horrible prices up the ass for their hobby. It makes the Japanese market assume that American fans are also obsessive enough to take that kind of gouging for so little actual content, when the bad peformance of the model here was a clear message of "No, stop trying to screw us over." Then again, Japanese prices as a whole are over-the-top. Big combination of crappy factors with many things to blame.

I think the biggest tragedy is that bad pricing models, and ultimately, a complete lack of availability for certain anime in the states is what drives honest people to piracy. I'm not talking about habitual pirates who would do so regardless, but honest consumers who cannot legitimately obtain a product that they would willingly have paid for in other circumstances. Because that's where I sit right now. I am a gundam fan, and I will watch the shows. I just hate myself for having to do so without paying for it.
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Mu La Flaga
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Re: End of the line for Bandai Entertainment

Which is now the case with Turn A Gundam thansk to Bandai.
I myself was prepared to put money down on the release.
Last edited by Mu La Flaga on Mon May 28, 2012 12:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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HellCat
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Re: End of the line for Bandai Entertainment

In light of all this, I'm worried about the recently revealed plan- sticking English subs on Japanese releases and expecting fans to import. There's a ton of reasons to be worried about this (2 eps on a first volume?) but a big one I think is that there's no promise on how long this will last. AGE and SEED HD have been announced to have it but what's to stop them seeing this through to the very end? A key reason for that concern is that those of us who supported the 'domestic' releases of Unicorn the last 2 years are now left with importing the final 2 volumes or missing out.

Over the last 12 months I got the feeling that just maybe Sunrise were getting their act together and realising foreign fans expect similar respect as domestic ones. Now, I'm just broadly reminded of how little respect they have for us as customers.
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JEFFPIATT
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Re: End of the line for Bandai Entertainment

oddly bandai just put out the Anime legends sets for Gundam 00 recently and this was after announcing the end of new products unless they plan to just stop buying new rights and repackage what they have in to cheaper sets to liquidate faster.
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Chris
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Re: End of the line for Bandai Entertainment

JEFFPIATT wrote:oddly bandai just put out the Anime legends sets for Gundam 00 recently and this was after announcing the end of new products unless they plan to just stop buying new rights and repackage what they have in to cheaper sets to liquidate faster.
There's nothing "odd" about it. They had previously announced the Anime Legends sets and said last month that February's releases would be the end of new releases for them. They are officially not releasing anything new at this point.
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Gyra Solune
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Re: End of the line for Bandai Entertainment

I must inquire. Is the profit margin enough for online streaming? I mean, Viz is putting up Lagrange right after it airs in Japan with an official sub and everything, on Hulu and for absolutely free. It makes me wonder if maybe the only way these companies CAN survive is by relying on advertising revenue on websites.

Then again, I've never actually bought...ANYTHING anime-related because I have this odd thing against owning physical objects, ordering stuff goes awry so much for me and I don't know of anywhere to go out and buy it. Therefore all I'm really capable of watching is the stuff they put on YT with liscencing revenue (Gundam, Code Geass, Gurren Lagann), and really small, obscure shows that nobody cares about anyway.
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azrael
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Re: End of the line for Bandai Entertainment

Gyra Solune wrote:I must inquire. Is the profit margin enough for online streaming? ... and for absolutely free.
It's not exactly "free" if you have to watch ads. Just like any show on TV in the States or abroad. Ads are placed in the show to help pay for costs. You may not see the ads if you have an ad blocker in place, but they're there.
It makes me wonder if maybe the only way these companies CAN survive is by relying on advertising revenue on websites.
If that's the hope, then expect shows to be 20-40 minute commercials selling you everything from soap to cars for the entire show (As if some shows aren't 20-minute toy commercials already).
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