Toradora! - Merchandise (Figurines, Artbooks, DVDs, etc.)

[wistfulloner]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Seriously... package compost with "balloon boobs" on the cover and guess what, it sells. :P

Welcome to the corporate world. I'm glad it has yet to leave its taint on Toradora though, no sure how long that will last.

[0utf0xZer0]

Originally Posted by Kaisos Erranon

But the fanservice in Dragonaut isn't even good either.

It's just a terrible show in every way possible. There is absolutely nothing good about it.

WHY would anyone license it at all? No one who knows anything about anime is going to buy it.

I'm not sure it's the fanservice, actually. Funimation seems to have a thing about licensing generally forgettable Gonzo works, which means that against all logic someone is actually buying them.

[Tyabann]

Originally Posted by 0utf0xZer0

I'm not sure it's the fanservice, actually. Funimation seems to have a thing about licensing generally forgettable Gonzo works, which means that against all logic someone is actually buying them.

No one likes Dragonaut though. No one. No one will spend money on it.

[Raiga]

Originally Posted by Kaisos Erranon

No one likes Dragonaut though. No one. No one will spend money on it.

Alas, no matter what it is, somebody will buy it. That's just the way the world goes. There are many many many spending consumers out there.

[Vexx]

We just need to find the ones buying the idiotic stuff, smack them, and take their wallets

[relentlessflame]

Okay, folks... annoyance at the mass-market aside, let's refocus a bit on how we can do our part to prove that there are some out there with taste by talking about the Toradora! merchandise we're buying (or at least would like to...).

[Vexx]

Well.. so far I've purchased a figurine and the two manga volumes out so far. I'll buy the novels in one-fell-swoop to minimize shipping pain.

Not really counting on a Region 1 release of the series ....

[typhonsentra]

By the way, a drama CD came out. Any clue what it's about?

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by typhonsentra

By the way, a drama CD came out. Any clue what it's about?

Actually, three Drama CDs came out (the third was just released), but even though I bought them, I haven't listened to them yet. I'll try to give them a listen and report in if no one else does.

[Mughi]

Originally Posted by Vexx

I resigned myself long ago to having tastes for things well away from the bell-curve center. So it goes...

Here's to being on the far end of the bell curve. That's where life is lived.

[harubie]

Does anyone have information about the Toradora psp pack? Play asia doesnt have any info about it, just pictures, not even the price ...

[hyl]

Originally Posted by harubie

Does anyone have information about the Toradora psp pack? Play asia doesnt have any info about it, just pictures, not even the price ...

[harubie]

Well other than pictures .. any other info? Like will the psp be in psp3000 ( though i think it'll be in psp3000, there goes cfw :P ) or psp2000, is it a custom designed psp? Price? Im thinking of getting this for someone, and that Taiga figure is only available on the limited edition i guess?

[yeahitschris]

Originally Posted by hyl

are they selling that palmtiger plush? i wouldn't mind having that in my car for design lol.

[Taken]

I saw somewhere that there is a DIY paper cut out for a palmtop tiger.... I just can't remember where it was... anyone know?

[The Sandman]

Originally Posted by relentlessflame

Well, this is the problem. How do you pitch it to people who aren't already here? What's the "angle"? The big selling feature of this show is that it's a very solid production. I don't think there's a single standalone "hook" that, on its own, would really cause people to gravitate towards the show. On the surface, it sounds like any other high school romantic comedy/drama, replete with the quasi-loser protagonist and the small harem of girls who fall in love with him for various reasons. Of course, it's much more complicated and that doesn't do it justice at all, but that's sort of the point. It's one of those "just watch it, you'll probably get hooked" sort of shows, and I think that's what makes it a tough sell. Most shows have sort of the "one hook" that reels people in to start; I'm not sure how to market it beyond those to whom it will market itself (and it's pretty obvious from the state of the anime DVD market that "we" clearly aren't enough).

Mostly because it can be explained in 5 words or less (i.e. none), and the target audience immediately "gets it". That's sort of flippant, but there's a bit of a serious principle at work there too. This is the same sort of reason why Mahoraba hasn't been licensed, I suspect; great show, near-impossible to market without "just watch it and you'll see". (Not that you don't already know this, but there you have it anyway... )

Here's one: "Live-action adaptation".

Think about it. Toradora could probably be done in live-action with relative ease, given the lack of anything particularly supernatural or outlandish (beyond, perhaps, Taiga's height). And I think that a well-done live-action series could actually sell well in the States, especially if somebody competent dubs it (or alternatively if it's actually made here).

Furthermore, I think that it would actually do better if they didn't try to readapt it; leaving it as is would give it enough exoticness to stand out from other live-action adaptations (as well as it being a limited series, of course) while not having too much of a barrier to entry for people who may know precisely jack squat about Japanese culture. And for those viewers that do care, that's what the online community is for. If you can get people to devote time to figuring out how to make sense of the latest asspull on Lost, then I think you could get people to visit a website for (in essence) translation notes.

If you wanted to really go nuts, sell it as an initial offering in a bloc of similar adaptations (to get over the issues that studio execs might have with commissioning something that can't be dragged out until it sucks). Go with Honey and Clover next, for example. Or Nana. Or Maison Ikkoku. Or even something like Beck, if you want to go further afield. Anything that isn't too utterly weird would be fair game.

And if you could get that, then there might just be a market for the original source material...

[Moonkei]

Does anyone know how many episodes are in the DVD they sell on Yesasia, etc.?

The price seems a bit high for just a few episodes. I've seen a set on ebay for $30 but I'm guessing that is the pirated version.

Well, if they ever release all the episodes on blu-ray I'd preorder that in a heartbeat.

[typhonsentra]

Four for the first disk, 3 for every one after that plus some of them having Toradora SOS shorts.

[ichigo_m]

Taiga figure... super cute!!!!!




Here

[ichigo_m]

so cute~