quote:
Originally posted by Faust:
ADV didn't release X... Pioneer/Geneon did. It was 8 discs, 24 episodes. 25 if you count the Episode 0 OAV on the first disc, the "pre-cap" episode as I like to call it.
And Chobits was 7 discs... or are you not counting disc 7 since it's just recap episodes?
Not counting it since it is not out yet and the series has ended minus the recap on disc 6 if 7 was out though I would count it regradless of recap shows.
Plus the chobits short don’t forget that
I just think it’s easier marketing for the anime companies to say the series is 4 disks than say 6-8 disks, looks to the average fan that it’s a better deal finishing a series in 4 disks than 8 disks although you get more episodes. Plus I bet retailers like less volumes to stock for a series. Remember retailers have a huge say also.
quote:
Originally posted by wanfu2k1:
Plus the chobits short don't forget that [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/wink.gif[/img]I just think it's easier marketing for the anime companies to say the series is 4 disks than say 6-8 disks, looks to the average fan that it's a better deal finishing a series in 4 disks than 8 disks although you get more episodes. Plus I bet retailers like less volumes to stock for a series. Remember retailers have a huge say also.
But they also make money off of these sales, they just don't stock the store because they like having full shelves, so I would think they would want something that is popular, and yes I know that limits it, but if something is popular they would not care if it is 4 discs or 8 discs, though yes I know for every one thing that is on the shelf that is less space for one other thing, but if you are filling it with something that is popular and sells . . .
This is probably a question that can be answered in terms of profit too, but why not do what AYA did then, put more then 4 episodes per disc, they have what 5 discs with 5 shows per disc with AYA? That saves them releasing another disc.
[This message has been edited by SCDawg (edited 01-22-2004).]
quote:
Originally posted by SCDawg:
But they also make money off of these sales, they just don't stock the store because they like having full shelves, so I would think they would want something that is popular, and yes I know that limits it, but if something is popular they would not care if it is 4 discs or 8 discs, though yes I know for every one thing that is on the shelf that is less space for one other thing, but if you are filling it with something that is popular and sells . . .This is probably a question that can be answered in terms of profit too, but why not do what AYA did then, put more then 4 episodes per disc, they have what 5 discs with 5 shows per disc with AYA? That saves them releasing another disc.
[This message has been edited by SCDawg (edited 01-22-2004).]
As for the retailers, most are short of shelf space so they want to give off the impression that they have alot of different things to offer. So it looks more attractive to have 30 different series on the shelf than maybe 10-15 different series. It gives the impression tha that they have a larger selection of items for the customer to choose from.
Well remember AYA wasn't predicted to be such a hit so the liscensing cost for it was probably much lower than the A-list series. With lower costs they were able to put more eps on a disc. Production companies need to make a profit and they figure in how many discs a series has to be along with sales when they decide how many eps they put on a disc. Which is why you are starting to see a lot more 7-disc 26 ep series when before they were 6 discs. In fact Full metal panic was suppose to be a 6 disc release as was kiddy grade.
quote:
Originally posted by wanfu2k1:
Well think about this, an average joe with not much knowlege in anime but wants to buy something. He sees on the shelf 2 series, 1 of them has only 3 volumes and the series is done the other one is 8 volumes. Which one do you think the average joe is going to pick? It looks like it's less commitment and less risk taking the shorter volume series.
If the total episode count is the same, you will see FAR fewer people go for the 3-volume version on a whim, given that each disc contains more than 2x as many episodes - therefore will be like $64.99 versus $29.99. This will more or less kill non-preexisting-fan interest in a show, which is why it is done very rarely and only in things which already did poorly (Magical Project S, for instance).
[edit: continuing below]
In fact this was an acknowledged problem with the Fruits Basket discs - there were too many episodes on the disc, people were saying that the price point was a bit high and the retailers were worried about scaring off customers. It just so happens that Fruits Basket is a terrific series that just about everyone adores, so it wasn't a big deal. As a matter of fact, I believe this was the reason the disc count for Kiddy Grade was tweaked.
[This message has been edited by Nandemonai (edited 01-23-2004).]
quote:
Originally posted by wanfu2k1:
Well think about this, an average joe with not much knowlege in anime but wants to buy something. He sees on the shelf 2 series, 1 of them has only 3 volumes and the series is done the other one is 8 volumes. Which one do you think the average joe is going to pick? It looks like it's less commitment and less risk taking the shorter volume series.
I would think and once again I am probably more idealistic then real world, but if you are a business you want to show you sell what is popular even if that means basically 5 items with a 6th or 7th that is different because that way you might convince the average joe off the street that since 5 things are popular the other two must be too or you would not carry them. That is instead of carrying so many things people have to go in knowing what they want, which is not really how these places want people to shop because the more they browse the more they might buy even with limited selection in stock. Once again I admit I might be overly idealistic.
As for the average joe, well I know a lot of people that once more might not be considered 'ordinary' and that is not meant in a bad way, just that if you had a three volume set they knew nothing about and a 8+ volume set, they would assume that the 8+ volume was more popular in it's TV run thus be willing over time to spend money on the 8+ disc set and pass on the shorter one.
Of course the idea being if there is more of them they automatically have to be better. Now most of us are hopefully experienced enough to know that is not the case, but the common man on the street (remember the idea of the common man factor as I have been taught is to figure out the strangest connection a person can make, to put it nicely), in my opinion that common man is less likely to have such experience with knowing quanity does not always equal quality.
[This message has been edited by SCDawg (edited 01-23-2004).]
quote:
Originally posted by Nandemonai:
If the total episode count is the same, you will see FAR fewer people go for the 3-volume version on a whim, given that each disc contains more than 2x as many episodes - therefore will be like $64.99 versus $29.99. This will more or less kill non-preexisting-fan interest in a show, which is why it is done very rarely and only in things which already did poorly (Magical Project S, for instance).[edit: continuing below]
In fact this was an acknowledged problem with the Fruits Basket discs - there were too many episodes on the disc, people were saying that the price point was a bit high and the retailers were worried about scaring off customers. It just so happens that Fruits Basket is a terrific series that just about everyone adores, so it wasn't a big deal. As a matter of fact, I believe this was the reason the disc count for Kiddy Grade was tweaked.
[This message has been edited by Nandemonai (edited 01-23-2004).]
The variable in this arguement is the price. I bet if FB was priced the same as the normal dvds it would have sold a lot better. Many people don't read what's inside the dvd they just look at the price and say "shit this one costs $10 more i'll just pick up this other one..." Hell I actually fell for it when they first posted the price for the dvds. Then after we went through the math we found out we were actually getting a deal. If we didn't do that I still probably would have thought the discs were a rip off.
quote:
Originally posted by wanfu2k1:
Actually I think what they said was that they wouldn't go back to a 4 vol release for a 26 ep series. FB was an experiment on Funi's part to see if people would pay more if there were more eps on a disc. In actuallity the 4 set FB dvds ended up costing less than if they put them at at 6 or 8 discs. But you are right people and retailers just saw the dvds were more expensive than others instead of seeing how much content were in them. Unfortunately they are using this as justification for putting kiddy grade as a 8 disc release [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/frown.gif[/img]
Not even that they didn't see it - it's just that for a more expensive DVD release like that, if you're interested in a few shows rather than just one, you're likely to keep picking the cheaper ones and so you'll end up always buying the cheaper ones and never getting around to Fruits Basket.
In CS this problem is termed 'starvation' - a task prioritizer has to be careful that tasks that are only slightly lower than average in priority - do not constantly get preempted by a steady stream of higher-priority tasks. Otherwise, even though there's no reason why the task is blocked, the computer will just never seem to get around to it.
quote:
Originally posted by wanfu2k1:
Well remember AYA wasn't predicted to be such a hit so the liscensing cost for it was probably much lower than the A-list series. With lower costs they were able to put more eps on a disc.
Um. I don't know about that, it was apparently this huge hit in Japan. That tends to increase the price - e.g. even though, say, Kanon wouldn't have a very big market as things stand right now that doesn't mean the US rights will be cheap; it's a huge Japanese hit. Ai Yori Aoshi was popular enough to get a second season relatively quickly, which means they must have started work on season 2 almost immediately.
quote:
Originally posted by Nandemonai:
Um. I don't know about that, it was apparently this huge hit in Japan. That tends to increase the price - e.g. even though, say, Kanon wouldn't have a very big market as things stand right now that doesn't mean the US rights will be cheap; it's a huge Japanese hit. Ai Yori Aoshi was popular enough to get a second season relatively quickly, which means they must have started work on season 2 almost immediately.
quote:
Originally posted by wanfu2k1:
The variable in this arguement is the price. I bet if FB was priced the same as the normal dvds it would have sold a lot better. Many people don't read what's inside the dvd they just look at the price and say "shit this one costs $10 more i'll just pick up this other one..." Hell I actually fell for it when they first posted the price for the dvds. Then after we went through the math we found out we were actually getting a deal. If we didn't do that I still probably would have thought the discs were a rip off.
I said it before I will say it again, maybe I am naive and strange but if I saw a series contained on 5 discs (5 shows per disc) instead of one over 8 discs and I knew little about each series I probably would go with the more expensive one because there are fewer to buy.
Yes I might spend ten dollars more per disc, (figure 29.99 instead of 19.99) but how much total would I spend over the 8 discs? About 160.00 for the 8 disc series and 150.00 for the 5 disc series. So even figuring that each of the 8 discs is ten dollars less there is still about a 10 dollar total savings getting just the 5 discs to complete a series even if each individual purchase costs ten dollars more per disc.
I am strange to think this way, others don't when buying something? Or is it a sign I have been well trained in one way or another?
[This message has been edited by SCDawg (edited 01-28-2004).]
It depends on how you’re “buying mindset” is at the time. If I’m planning my purchases out, then it’s easy to set the idea in my mind that I’m paying more initially but overtime will be less. If I just happen to be at the store and in the mood to buy an anime (or most other things for that matter), my initial reaction is to buy a single lower price disk of a series instead of a higher price set because my mind is on how much I’m spending at the moment. (And more than once I got home and went “why the heck did I do that?”)
quote:
Originally posted by SCDawg:
I said it before I will say it again, maybe I am naive and strange but if I saw a series contained on 5 discs (5 shows per disc) instead of one over 8 discs and I knew little about each series I probably would go with the more expensive one because there are fewer to buy.
[This message has been edited by SCDawg (edited 01-28-2004).]
I really think this has to do with marketing problems. VHS tape were $29 for two episodes. DVD's cost more to produce but have less media cost. $29 for four episodes.
( 100 minutes ). The snag is how to market the product. Most TV shows other than anime
do well with the favorite episodes since only about a dozen shows people really like,so people only will buy a few dvd's.
Anime is serial so you need the whole series so you want the whole series, but you can't afford $90 or $180 for a boxed set at once.
Yet even if the set is $75 or $150 you can't
buy the DVD'S because you don't know if you will like it. The test drive DVD's may be the answer. The other problem is new releases whant to sell and have as many DVD's they can to look like they are a popular series. Pretear looks to have 3 episodes per DVD to compeate with longer running shows like chobits with 6 1/2 DVD'S.
Kids shows are marketed at $12 each.
---
PS. Now looking for a DVD anime set and the last sugar DVD from the right stuff. Any ideas for in stock items recomended?
[This message has been edited by woodelf (edited 01-28-2004).]
quote:
Originally posted by woodelf:
PS. Now looking for a DVD anime set and the last sugar DVD from the right stuff. Any ideas for in stock items recomended?
Scdawg: I’m just saying your wierd, just that the average joe just looking for a anime fix might not read how many eps are on the disc and just might look at the box art or the summary. And looking at the runtime is a joke since it’s so easy to fudge. Just look at Manga’s 90min runtime for blood So I stand by my assumption that an average joe who doesn’t know anything about the series, would pick the one with less volumes thinking they got a better deal.
quote:
Originally posted by perigee:
[quote] Originally posted by woodelf:
[b]PS. Now looking for a DVD anime set and the last sugar DVD from the right stuff. Any ideas for in stock items recomended?
If I remember correctly, it's been a while since I saw DNA. He does pick one but doesn't work out [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/wink.gif[/img] Then the last disc also has the OVA which has the megaplayboy's offspring timewarping for more mayhem [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/smile.gif[/img]
Don't have sugar looked a little to sweet for my tastes [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/wink.gif[/img]
quote:
Originally posted by wanfu2k1:
Scdawg: I'm just saying your wierd, just that the average joe just looking for a anime fix might not read how many eps are on the disc and just might look at the box art or the summary. And looking at the runtime is a joke since it's so easy to fudge.
I freely admit I am wierd, when I go into buy something I look at the long term cost of having to replace parts, filters, cleaning, etc and/or in the case of anime, of getting an entire anime series over time, and it always seems to make more sense to me to pay more upfront if it saves you more in the long run they paying less at the time, even if I must fudge a bit to get that more up front.
So I do freely admit I am wierd, then again maybe it is just that Penny has me well trained after shopping with and for her over a few years.
quote:
Originally posted by perigee:
Isn't Sugar great! I thought it would be nothing more than a children's show - and it is - but the heroine has a fully developed personality and she deals with some of life's most complex issues. Love the op theme!
Well have you seen the extras on the DVD's for sugar? Makes note to buy the Sugar Summer DVD. The producers had the time and money and talent to really make the BEST animie they could --- it just kept getting better and better.
PS. I thought the ending in Chobits was a let down, an twisted sneaky but only OK ending.
quote:
Originally posted by woodelf:
Well have you seen the extras on the DVD's for sugar? Makes note to buy the Sugar Summer DVD. The producers had the time and money and talent to really make the BEST animie they could --- it just kept getting better and better.
PS. I thought the ending in Chobits was a let down, an twisted sneaky but only OK ending.
I actually am not sure which version of Chobits, the manga or the anime, I like better in terms of ending, I think the manga in all of book 8 had a better lead up to the ending, but as for the endings themselves it is very hard to choose for me at least which is better.
quote:My favorite extra was the live action video they did of Rothenberg for location photos. It didn't look much like a business trip. The seiyu who played Saga interviewed the director for narration. She finished by making the him promise to invite her along when they did the 'fan tour'. Is this series still airing in Japan?
Originally posted by woodelf:
Well have you seen the extras on the DVD's for sugar? Makes note to buy the Sugar Summer DVD. The producers had the time and money and talent to really make the BEST animie they could --- it just kept getting better and better.