ADV Films discussion thread

[GuidoHunter_Toki]

I really don't know what to make of this. I'm leaning more towards this being some short term problem, but of course you never know. No matter what happens it doesn't matter to me personally because I have plenty of ways of getting the anime I want. I've never been a big buyer of ADV licsensed anime anyways.

[DragoonKain3]

Hmm... short term problems = money problems eh?

I guess that means I'll let my pre-order for Kanon to go through still even at the risk of it being uncompleted, and Utawarerumono right now is placed. It might not be much money, but it's still sometihng.

Won't touch Kurau though until the last volume arrives. Nothing would piss me off more than being 1 volume short of a complete set.

[NoSanninWa]

Originally Posted by xris

One could say you are in despair!

You might say that, but I wouldn't.

That reference was funny for a month or two. Now everytime I hear the joke I just want to bang my head repeatedly on the table until the pain makes me forget it. It will be funny again someday, probably in about a year. In the meantime I'll have to deal with headaches several times a day.

[Kayin]

I thought ADV threatened to sue a lot of torrent sites that provided downloads to series they licensed. Hell, I think even boxtorrents got shook up and stopped putting up ADV titles. Granted, there is those torrentz, pirate bay, etc sites that are 100% illegal with everything, but despite fansubbing being a problem, I still blame ADV for picking tons of series to bring stateside that no one will spend their hard-earned money on. Although I love having so many choices in DVD releases to choose from, I can't buy all of them, and I think this is something all the major American anime distributors are just beginning to understand. Hi-budget/popular series will definitely get DVD sales, namely if their shown on TV (Bleach, Deathnote, etc.), but I think bringing the more cult-favorite series to DVD is starting to bite them in the ass.

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by Kayin

I thought ADV threatened to sue a lot of torrent sites that provided downloads to series they licensed. Hell, I think even boxtorrents got shook up and stopped putting up ADV titles. Granted, there is those torrentz, pirate bay, etc sites that are 100% illegal with everything, but despite fansubbing being a problem, I still blame ADV for picking tons of series to bring stateside that no one will spend their hard-earned money on. Although I love having so many choices in DVD releases to choose from, I can't buy all of them, and I think this is something all the major American anime distributors are just beginning to understand. Hi-budget/popular series will definitely get DVD sales, namely if their shown on TV (Bleach, Deathnote, etc.), but I think bringing the more cult-favorite series to DVD is starting to bite them in the ass.

Not all those titles are ADV's fault. A lot of time, the production company will bundle a desire title along with a shitty title together in package. Companies like ADV and Geneon would basically force to take a shitty title along with the tile they want.

That said R1 companies have made plenty of licensing mistakes without the Japanese companies help but the japanese companies is defintely not helping with thier bundling packages.

[DarkCntry]

I posted this elsewhere in regards to the recent actions ADV has taken...

Well, I can attest to the reasons why ADV dropped the linear TAN and it was simply because they couldn't get both the market penetration through the major cable companies (I'm glaring at you Comcast) and they couldn't support what they already had established because advertisement deals were low. Taking a niche audience in a small subsection of a market and you don't see too many people jumping on the wagon to throw advertisement dollars at it.

The ADVocate program was simply a money pit for ADV, as was its much older Rep program. These programs were based upon the free distribution of properties with absolutely no real financial return. For every half-decent club/rep out there, there are 10 more that just mooched off the service for free goods.

With Newtype, it surprised me more when ADV decided to return to the high-cost format a year ago after trying it without the included goodies. Of course fans weren't thrilled with the idea, but at the same time it was sucking ADV dry on many fronts having to produce a very high-quality glossy magazine with so many inserted extras...especially when most fans were finding the $10 price tag a bit high, and when almost everywhere you turned around you found at least 90% of the issues having their shrinkwrap ripped open to 'borrow' the DVDs.

As for the website thing, well that could be any number of things, be it throwing shows on hiatus to cover the costs of producing them, or if it is just website restructuring (which has happened in the past with their site) is something that I don't think we should be directly alarmed with...at least not until we start seeing their catalog showing up under other company banners.

I've always been a pretty staunch fan of ADV simply due to their depth of love for anime as a whole, even when it was a financial burden for them. Say what you want, without ADV almost all of our anime obsessions would be limited to more kid-aimed shows. Even comparing their production work from their humble beginnings to now shows just how much they want to better their properties and appease the almost forever-unhappy fanbase.

[Conan-san]

All I knows is that I has monies, but monies for Lagann and Gunsou.

I, oddly enough, can not buy what's not out and you won't catch me dead buying shit I don't want just to get a crack at geting Lagann and Gunsou.

That and £20/5 eps is shit episode ecomony but that's another can of worms.

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by Kayin

Hell, I think even boxtorrents got shook up and stopped putting up ADV titles.

Box got a cease-and-desist letter from ADV, and a couple of other distributors if I remember correctly. Members are forbidden from uploading series from these distributors, and torrents of them are removed.

A glance at the Box "do not upload" list shows Funimation, Central Park Media, and NuTech Digital on the list as well as ADV.

This policy has been in effect for a number of years now.

[Kayin]

Boxtorrents still supplies quite a few series on their site that have been dubbed for awhile, a business practice that I don't agree with.

Anyway, I guess my biggest beef is how long it takes to come out with a compact, and affordable box set for major anime series. I don't think a lot of people care about the fancy, expensive box sets unless its Christmas time or something. They should really just put out the cheaper box sets faster, namely with long series like Bleach and Naruto. Am I ever going to buy all the Bleach DVDs one by one? Can I even afford to do such a thing? The answer is no.

[Forbin]

ADV Just announce Anime in Blue Ray!

While completely useless (Unless they are putting out the whole series on one disc) it does mean that they are not giving up the fight yet!

[hobbes_fan]

ACtually I'd assume that's the hold up. Some license are for DVD only releases some are Bluray/HDDVD release. Few are both DVD and Blray/HDDVD. With the bluray hddvd situation very very clear now, I think ADV has had to make choice between DVD only or BD only. Or alternatively they've been reworking licenses so releases can be made simultaneously on both DVD and BD. It's only the newer series affected so I'd assume that was what happened.

[Vexx]

That would be very cool.... but then ADV stepped on its own honker with that "no comment" remark (sheesh!) if thats the case. "Just stand by, you'll see." and smile like a cheshire cat would have been better buzz.

If anime starts coming out in Blu-ray only... that might be the first incentive I've had to care about the technology.

[Sirth]

Yeah, would of been better to just repeat Kanon and smile knowingly. That's what I figured was going on when I found the Blu-ray thing.

Give me a near heart attack, would they?

I'm wondering if it's entirely possible for the first one to be Air TV...

EDIT: I just had a thought, though rather negative.
Do you think they wanted this to happen?

[cyth]

Originally Posted by Sirth

EDIT: I just had a thought, though rather negative.
Do you think they wanted this to happen?

Yes, that's why I'm not saying anything. That Blu-Ray announcement hasn't stated anything concrete. It was probably just an announcement of their "future" choice medium. But yeah, I think this is just excellent PR work.

[Wervy]

Personaly I hope this is a good sign for the future of ADV, with newtype and now these titles getting dropped. I have been waiting for them to go down the tubes for years since they started treating their fanbase badly. At least when they are gone, you can buy anime from a company that knows what they are doing.

[Slice of Life]

Originally Posted by Toua

Yes, that's why I'm not saying anything. That Blu-Ray announcement hasn't stated anything concrete. It was probably just an announcement of their "future" choice medium. But yeah, I think this is just excellent PR work.

Toua is correct. Good timing, but doesn't mean anything. For all we know this might translate to: "We have nothing, but that we will sell on Blu-Ray." Or: "Yesterday I didn't have a Volkswagen, but today I don't have a Porsche."

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by Wervy

Personaly I hope this is a good sign for the future of ADV, with newtype and now these titles getting dropped. I have been waiting for them to go down the tubes for years since they started treating their fanbase badly. At least when they are gone, you can buy anime from a company that knows what they are doing.

You can buy form BV and thier 39.99 2ep/vol release.

[DragoonKain3]

I have no beef from ADV. Judging from my collection, I reckon I own more from them from any other company. Price for these boxsets are better as well, and I find I rather like their dubs. With Geneon gone, if ADV goes down as well, there will be very few series left I will be wiling to collect in R1.



But... Bluray won over HD-DVD in the anime category? Man, am I ever so glad I got a PS3... though to be fair, I was planning to get an HD-DVD/Bluray combo disc reader for my new comp anyway. ^^;

[Vexx]

Actually Blu-ray is dominating HD-DVD, *period* .. not just in anime. The market shuddered (major studio dropped it) and HD-DVD lost some footing this month... and then the landslide began.

[aohige]

^
Mr Betamax is dancing in his grave right now.
"My death was not in vein!!"