It's a bit of a shame that anime Blu-rays cost so much. And the Japanese versions cost even more especially for older shows. The problem is most pre-2000s shows or movies that weren't mainstream aren't considered profitable so they're rarely given attention. That's when Discotek came in and started licensing lesser-known shows and bringing them in highest quality possible. They're still expensive but I like how they give love to older and more obscure anime. There are a lot of stuff I'd like to see that are still region-locked to Japan though.
Depends i got the entire Dirty Pair series from Japan for 300 bucks. You should see the prices they are charging for the kickstarter for the US release. For just split up parts and not the entire collection. Just so they can dub the tv series.
@@matthewgaudet4064 So Japanese blurays are so expensive because where our market in the US where physical media got way cheaper the studios found that it was the nerds buying the rental shop collections and funding the anime. There system never changed so they have 100-1k sets in price still. The studios don't want the Japanese otaku to buy the american priced sets because most of our anime are WAAAAY cheaper then what they buy but since we're in the same region code it would play natively on their systems. I know far to much about this topic because it interests me.
Discotek gives so much love to their stuff. It's expensive, but they got me interested in physical anime again. I've bought many releases for them, and as long as they keep up the quality they're known for i'll continue to do so.
@@ohgodwhy9853, they are the only ones who would have paid to restore Project A-Ko from the negative. I bought all of those. They also are the only studio who are releasing Urusei Yatsura on Blu ray in USA. The next one of those the third box comes out in October. Love them as much as i do AnimEigo. Boutique labels. With the impending death of physical media and streaming i try to support as much as i can afford.
Discotek produces them in limited quantity but the return value is usually great as they do a lot of effort and the view experience is great. They thrive on cult classics, they do research into how much interest for a particular show there is, produce a certain amount and than go to the next and the prices are reasonable compared to other production companies like Funimation and Sentai, cruchyroll etc and quite a few CE of theirs have a lot to offer, not just cheap art cards which i hate when they do that and think it is worth it as CE. like cmon do more effort.
3:59 most of the cheap DVD sets you see on eBay are actually bootlegs usually made in Malaysia or Indonesia. They should play on every DVD player. But if you're going to buy bootleg releases of anime just to watch it then why not just torrent it.
@@SkywalkerOne1977 you’re 100% right but if you’re pirating it then you really should have no problem not owning it since you’re not paying for it. But yeah I don’t recommend buying anything digital like shows since you don’t own them. Disc is always better.
I stopped collecting anime blu-rays around a year after getting into anime. I absolutely loved owning them, and I was tech savvy enough to create my own digital copy once I had the disc, but they got too expensive for me.
@@rodolfourive7944 I'm tech savvy enough to do both. Honestly either or is fine depending on the quality of a home release. Fans put more love and quality into what they put together on average.
@@rodolfourive7944am not, am digitizing my collection with menu options and everything but am not confident in getting it free for the fear of getting sick. I have VPN but idk a good antiviral medicine to also have
Another reason for the high price on anime, is the studios usually don't get their investment back, so they rely on the DVD / BD sales for income, that makes them very expensive even if you were to buy them locally in japan, they usually include gifts and specials on the Japanese versions, that's how they keep supporting the industry, as you said, it's 100% niche For an example, the anime "saving 80,000 gold for my retirement" costs more than 200 USD (complete series box set) That's also why they sell anime on various volumes, that way the fan buys more discs at 50 USD (although each of them comes with their respective gifts) and the studio gets more money.
Anime Blu-rays in Japan, the country of origin for these anime, usually cost significantly more. Yes, even more than whatever Aniplex puts out. It's really surprising. And most volumes of popular anime sell around 10,000 copies domestically which is considered a good number I guess. These volumes typically only have 2-4 episodes but a lot of extra content, most of which could be considered junk if you only wanted to watch the anime. I think cheaper Blu-rays are made later though.
Did they ever hought about if the prices were apropriate, people would actually buy them? Knowing japanese companies, no probbably not. xD Its not like i dont want them physically, i'm just not paying double or tripple whats actually resonable, thats all.
I'm a physical media nerd. One the reason sword art/madoka/toradora/new FMA releases are hella expensive is because Aniplex is TRYING to move the cost closer to the Japanese market for those blurays. Back in the 90s when rental stores where more of a thing and getting physical media to put in that store costed a lot of money the United States moved away from that format where as in Japan the anime studios found out it was the Otaku buying up those rental shop sets at the crazy expensive prices and funding the anime studios. They never needed to move away from that system which is one of the reasons why their sets are so expensive. Another being that space is a premium over there and it does cost a bit more to manufacture so you are correct on that front. Also you may have noticed some releases get pushed back stateside or get crap releases (looking at you dragon maid) because there is a real fear of Japanese otaku buying the American bluray sets since we're in the same region code for blurays. Why would they buy the 3-500 set for a series they like when the American set could be 50-80 and get all the episodes. The studios really don't want their nerds buying the cheap sets since it funds most of the anime production.
Man, this video reminds me how I really wish I liked SAO more. I never hated it, but it never made much of an impact on me either. But now there's just so much good looking content, from movies to figures, games and visual novels, that it really makes me feel like I'm missing out lol
With me as a fan of anime DVDs and Blu Ray's, I'm very picky with what I get due to high prices. Some shows like Jojo which tends to be around$30-50 a set which while kinda expensive is a 「Reasonable Price」for what you get. Meanwhile other shows I love like Fullmetal Alchemist are really expensive with Brotherhood's Blu Ray's being $100 each for half the show in each set. Even getting the older prints from Funimation are expensive used. With the original series even buying the DVDs is expensive and the Blu Ray's for that aren't much better either price wise.
Okay I was at Best Buy the other day when I saw a blu-ray version of Who framed Roger Rabbit?, and it was like 17 dollars. I was baffled at the price until my friend mentioned it was in 4dhd and blu-ray, not less then 10 minutes later we found another Roger rabbit movie; only 7 dollars. It was a normal version. I love movies, films and series but I think it's gotten more expensive because of streaming services and time with popularity with there respective fandoms. Sad but true for some, other times when things are made world wide its at the wrong time for its popularity. Like Kateyo Hitman Reborn; awesome and famously popular in Japan, it's homeland but if it was shown in America today it needs to be high depth and needs American voice actor/actresses. There are other examples but I'm mentally tired thinking for other examples without rant or raving on the matter.
the issue is due to streaming services a lot of people stopped caring about physical media so the market became way smaller. that in turn is the reaon they need to up the profit margains on every sold disc which ups the price
At least Reborn got 2 Blu-ray sets that cover the whole series (aside from the OVA) that are pretty cheap, luckily. I'm very, very, very happy with them. Discotek releases some nice stuff
Um … just stop being cheap I guess. 17$ is not that crazy. Most new releases of movies are 20$ to 25. Although the movie you mentioned ain’t that new like at all. But people like you that way for dvds to get discounts are the same ones that complain “well why isn’t the full series made on dvd” (it’s not like I purposely waited to make sure sales didn’t do good by waiting to get it cheaper).
And why the hell do they have to have so many volumes… they can 100% fit all episodes on 1 disc but they make me pay 70$ for two episodes… yea take my money, give me my special daki and other merch~ but then the other vols come with nothing, so why ;~; Also, i love SAO too. I dont give a crap at whatever other people think, this show is really entertaining for me.
570$ for the entire first season of ayakashi triangle… plus shipping which comes up to 640$ for me. Sure thats just 4 whole days of work, but thats absurd.
damn $70 for 2 episodes? i remember paying $30 or so for 2 episodes of gantz back in the day and i was rubbed the wrong way by that since the standard was 4 episodes for dvd at the time. but yikes. i wouldn't doubt it though.
You're just like me fr Blu-ray addiction has been crazy lately JP BD's especially and same with art books there pricey but man just owning it physically and having it in your collection is something special that digital media will never have
Actually most anime Blurays are pretty cheap these days. You can find many anime Movies and OVA's for around $15-$20. And can find season set's for $20-$40.
The reason why sword art online is so expensive is because Anyplex The people that dub sword art online. Use Japanese principles on selling their products. For example the first release of sword art online on DVD was cut in half and only had like six episodes on one set. And that was for about $80. In comparison Funimation released DVDs where they have 25 episodes on one release. That’s the difference.
Not an anime, but one show I bought for a high price was Batman Beyond on Blu Ray. I did I cuz it was one of my favourite childhood shows. Plus, you get All 52 episodes and a movie, so it felt Worth it to me. Which I why I just wonder if I should get Dragon Ball Z and My Hero Academia on Blu Ray or not, because they Cost a ton for split seasons.
hey so about MHA i would recommend you to get crunchyroll, i can only recommend dvds if you are a really big fan of a show and want a physical copy of the anime thats how i do it mostly haha
That Alicization part 2 blu-ray art does look really good. At that high price though, I might as well get the Japanese blu-rays. An important point about quality though is that different regions' blu-rays can be better than others. For example, apparently the Italian blu-rays for Cowboy Bebop and Madoka Magica are the best ones.
Also a Huge Fan of SAO! Haven't seen the progressive film, just because i'm waiting for it to come out on blu-ray so I can continue to build my collection so far I've got everything up to progressive including Alternative. Still hoping for a season 2 of that one. Also have the first two season of SAO on DVD sitting on my shelf collecting dust after upgrading to the Blu-Ray Versions
12:58 I think it depends. If it’s a show you really love & love to rewatch & maybe show your future children or girlfriend/boyfriend or whatever in the future then you should own it so that you don’t rely on a streaming service that’ll likely lose it whenever you need it. I’ve watched naruto seasons 1 & 2 a hundred times on Netflix waiting for season 3 to 5 to finally go on Netflix which hadn’t happen until many years later when I didn’t even care anymore to finish it so I decided to rewatch it but on Blu-ray by getting a few of the sets.
Looks like you're buying the special editions of these Blu-Rays. I mean, yes, alot of anime do cost alot, and idk of SAO has any Normal blurays out those look like special edition box sets. Some anime are getting cheaper, you have the "essentials" label and the "S.A.V.E." label as well.
I love Sao too but I didn't catch progressive in theaters. I'm waiting for it to come out on DVD and then I'll try and catch the next progressive movie when it comes out in theaters later this year.
I’m so jealous of your collection!!!!!! I love sao and I could never find the blue rays for a good price so I always thought they weren’t from the manufacturer and were scalpers or something. Thanks for the video! I need to buy season one and two. I’ve been thinking of spending that half a grand for the 10th anniversary edition
I want the SAO blu ray so badly, but I can't justify paying over $800 for all the blu ray. Also War of Underworld is still season 3, it's technically season 3 part 2. Also would 100% suggest the Light Novels. They are amazing. Not to mention the first 5 novels have been released in audiobook form with Bryce and Cherami reading them.
My wife has the audiobooks. When we met Cherami and Bryce she got to talk with them about those. Bryce apologized nonstop for "butchering" Asuna's voice but Cherami kept assuring him he did just fine.
@@SkulShurtugalTCG I'm gonna be meeting him in early July, and gonna be having him sign my first volume of SAO. Also I agree he does a good job. They could have had Bryce and Cherami read each line for the voice needed, but that could've been a lot of extra work.
Buy the UK releases for SAO. I'm telling ya if you want something physically that is an Aniplex release, 9 out of 10 times it's going to be insanely cheaper with a Region B copy. I bought the first season of SAO new for under 35, and Madoka Magica for under 30. SAO S1 goes for like 160, and Madoka goes for 120. If you do the math for the cost of a region free player, you make more than even buying one, especially saving on releases.
8:11 even though i dont really collect blu ray or dvd. But yeah , coming from a person who doesnt have wifi ( i used usb broadband when my dad isnt using as a kid) And no data on my phone for obvious reasons (as a kid) Theres somethijg about owning it and having accessibility to it at all time. No subscription/server/internet limit. 🥰♥️😊😜
To shed some clarity and these are my guesses Anime is extremely expensive in Japan. Like 50 bucks for 2 episodes (not even joking). And if it's expensive in Japan then it's expensive here because of both being region A. Otherwise people in Japan will just import. Physical media just don't sell. So they just jack up the price cause even if it's 50% less, chances are there may not be that big of a drop. Higher prices and lower demand earns more than lower prices and higher demand. Specifically for the example in this video being SAO. SAO is produced by aniplex who is known for having very expensive blurays. Such as kaguya sama where a 13 episode season cost 125 dollars. Bunny girl senpai which consists of 13 episodes and a movie also cost over 100 dollars. Collecting all of monogatari will cost I believe around 1300 dollars which is only 100 episodes.
Well, SAO is not a great example because the publisher is Aniplex of America. Just about everything from them is basically priced the same as it would be for the Japanese releases. Otherwise, the amount you get for the price these days is wayyy better than when you had to pay upwards of $30 or so to get a few episodes on a tape from Suncoast Video back in the day.
Most of the semi-recent anime TV shows I buy on Blu-Ray are distributed by Sentai Filmworks in North America and Sentai's Blu-Rays are nowhere near Aniplex-priced and can often be gotten on sale.
Its so hard to justify paying for the blue ray discs when stream sites exist both payed and free sites. and then you can always screen record your own or download a blue ray rip. Its absolutely insane that if you want to be legit and buy your anime, its better to hold off and get a box set which might come out several months or years after the anime has finished vs the individual volumes. don't see anything changing though, they know the hardcore fans will pay whatever for the blu rays, merch, figurines, everything. i had my own first hand experience when i started getting into anime/manga and was absorbed by it. I remember paying $30 way back in the day for TWO episodes of Gantz- gd bastards were on some highway robbery when the standard was 4 episodes per disc-. now that was along time ago when i believed anime was not so main-stream in the west so that's just how it is and i was hooked on that show so i payed the price. and look where we are now. still overpriced
If streaming is your thing there's no reason to buy Blu Rays, so i agree with you entirely. I like owning physically but i'll stream for free on practically anything i don't want to own.
I bought the second half of season 3 of SAO war of the underworld. 2 separate dvd sets £50. Just for half a season. Season 3 underworld has been out for months, saw it randomly last week (i check weekly), grabbed them without a second thought. First half of 3 never seen it in store, I asked them and they said they haven't had it yet. It cost me £40 for the blu ray of the 4th part of season 2. I still need to find the first 3 parts, which the same store as before said weirdly they never got them. I have season 1 and the ordinal scale movie. I have the games on vita and switch. I love SAO! Its one of the few things I will indulge in. I suggest you watch sao abridged, by something witty entertainment on youtube ... its so funny.
I paid about $26,6 for the complete first season of steins gate. (I didn't know a new season came out. And Akira I got for$8. That's the only anime blu rays I own, and I would like to get more, but as the topic of the video suggests, they are expensive. The ones I consider to be fairly priced. Props to you for liking what you do. SAO was one of the starter animes I watched in high school after not knowing what to watch, and my friends were watching it. Back then, I thought it was great, but like 2 years later, I was like... you know what... it was fine. Season 2 was the one I liked the most, but only the first arc. After that, it dropped off for me, and I didn't care about it anymore. So, those blu rays were unfamiliar to me. I think SAO alternative was the most recent thing I remember coming out in the franchise. Akira, on blu ray, blew my mind and convinced me to get a few more Anime blu rays.
I just realized that some of my favs are now out of print and going for nutty prices, so now I am seriously considering buying as many as I can even though Ive seen the shows and I likely wont watch them again anytime soon. Ugh...
I own the full series DVDs of the anime that time I got reincarnated as a slime eng dub no movie though not out yet and I also want the anime bofuri I don't want to get hurt so I'll max out my defense English dub dvd once season 2 eng dub finishes I'm getting the DVDs for season 1 and 2
I actually own the complete Blood C series on Blu Ray. And that isn't even the most expensive anime I own. that goes to the DVD full series set of Witchblade. That full series DVD set goes for $150 used.
Ughhh the Aniplex tax as i call it. I once wanted to get the Madoka Magic Blu-Rays and at 40 bucks per discs because you have to buy three discs to get the whole series and even more if you want to own the movies. Look at something like Panty and Stocking and its under 30 bucks in the US for the Blu-Ray version. There are cheap anime Blu-Rays if its not a title that Aniplex is distributing. Aniplex = You're going to be paying so much for the Blu-Ray its just better to go stream the episodes instead.
If you're looking to collect Anime physically in the long term i would highly recommend buying a modified region free player. I say this though because all the extra money you'd of spent on the "Aniplex Tax" you'll recoup on buying future releases. I bought Madoka Magica for 30 dollars buying the Manga UK release over the 120 Aniplex wants. Bought SAO for under 35 over the 160 that Aniplex wants. if you have a PS3 laying around you can easily softmod it via youtube tutorial(do your research though) with HEN to access Region switching on both DVDs and Blu Rays. It'll require you to put an application called Multiman on your console.
UK anime blu ray prices are usually significantly cheaper than their US counterparts *Cough* Aniplex *Cough*. Just purchased a region free player just to own my favorite shows without breaking the bank.
You know I usually wait certain times a year is for really good sales I got a season of anime that normally goes for close to $200 for around $30 So there are ways to get anime cheap but you gotta be patient
USA and Japan share the same Blu-Ray region code of A. I can't say the exact reason for Aniplex prices but reverse importation may be one of them. Depending on the series the Japanese release may be cheaper than Aniplex USA. But again you won't get subtitles and or English dubs. You could also get much cheaper Euro releases but would need a multi region player. I myself have been collecting the Sao sets one a month. I just have to get War of the Underworld, and the two Gun Gale online sets and waiting for the third Sao film since i bought the first two. Even with the Righstuf discounted price cheapest on their site anywhere on the web, there are no further discounts can't use coupon codes or got anime membership sadly. I could barely justify the first two season sets and i did because of how much i love the show. But the Alicization prices are absurd. Have to pay it because i don't stream. Have antiquated equipment. A turtle of a laptop and no smart tv. Can barely stream video from this thing. Physical blu rays are a must.
WAIT YOUR COMPLAING ABOUT 25$ WHILE look at gurren lagann blu ray over 100 that somehting you should be mad i would not mind if blu ray cost 20$ it a steel for me
Aniplex is the type of company that values quality over quantity, I bought the KLK box set at a con for 135 USD Typically those Blu-ray box sets are more valuable then Funimation/crunchyroll’s Blu-ray’s (I.E the fucking 50 dollars for a PART 1 OF A FUCKING SEASON OF ANIME)
I must live under a rock. I've always bought my Funimation titles 2nd hand, haven't had too bad of time saving money that way. Only thing that nips that in the butt is stuff going out of print or stagnating in price.
Complaining about current prices. 🤷 Try being a anime media collector back in the 90's and early 2000's. Back when they would take a series or season of a anime that would typically be 26 episodes and put 2-3 episodes on one tape/DVD then charge $29-$39 per volume. And if you bought the whole season it would cost you $180-$400.
Yeah the weird thing all the blu ray versions of anime movie's i have are in the $20s or is extacly $20 my lupin the 3rd the first steelbook case 25 dbs broly 20 lupin the 3rd castle of cagliostro 20 my hero academia 2 hero's 25 one piece episode of east blue 20
First off youve got some super strange points. Why bother saying you dont watch anime, and pretend to not know Demon Slayer or Attack on Titan. But act like Your Name was a "worldwide phenomenon". Or buy the Box Set for Sword art online. A pretty normie anime. You obviously have a deep love for pokemon. You dont need to save face to say you couldnt name 10 animes. Its more embarrassing to try and hide it and then clearly demonstrate your obvious passion for it over the next 15 min video. While it is niche I am happy to report that over time it has become significantly cheaper to buy anime on blu rays. I will usually pick up anime seasons for 20-50 dollars. But this is for multiple blu ray disc's. All filled to the brim with episodes and beautifully transferred video and audio. Multiple disc's should have the price be above 60. But Amazon and used video stores you can find for under 40 easily. My collection is growing with all my favorites and it looks way better than watching then online. Pair it up with some dolby atmos and a big TV. Living the dream :) there are even 4k animes out now. The options are low but the fact it exists at all I think is amazing. Wish the shows got 4k treatment too and not just the movies.
Anime gone mainstream like gaming and superheroes. AOT is actually a popular anime. You showed a bunch of SAO bootlegs from ebay. Your Name is overhyped garbage. I own plenty anime blurays btw but not SAO.
$150 for 25 episodes is a reasonable price. That's $6 an episode. And you own the physical copy in the highest quality possible. Where do you lose? What's ridiculous is when I started collecting anime i would spend nearly $300 for 25 episode series on VHS. And that's just dub if I wanted the sub as well. That's another $300. So $600 in VHS quality. If I wanted the complete series. I have no sympathy for someone complaining about how expensive anime is.
I love SAO but i still need to get both parts of Alicization, if i can ever afford them. Also recently got into Code Geass and found a collector's edition blu ray with all seasons and movies... Only about $550 🥲
![ว้าว!ลุงบีมแบกทองมารับขวัญหลานกันยกบ้าน [cc] แดนแพทตี้ SS2 | EP.49 |](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Osihq1OAs-4/mqdefault.jpg)
We're gonna need to take out a loan out once the Attack on Titan Bu-Ray Complete Series comes out
We are thinking similarly
This😂😂🥲👌🏻
1 down... 2 more to go for AOT:TFS
I too want to buy all aot blu ray from S1 to S4p3 but as you said loan🥲🥲🥲
It's a bit of a shame that anime Blu-rays cost so much. And the Japanese versions cost even more especially for older shows. The problem is most pre-2000s shows or movies that weren't mainstream aren't considered profitable so they're rarely given attention. That's when Discotek came in and started licensing lesser-known shows and bringing them in highest quality possible. They're still expensive but I like how they give love to older and more obscure anime. There are a lot of stuff I'd like to see that are still region-locked to Japan though.
Depends i got the entire Dirty Pair series from Japan for 300 bucks. You should see the prices they are charging for the kickstarter for the US release. For just split up parts and not the entire collection. Just so they can dub the tv series.
@@matthewgaudet4064 So Japanese blurays are so expensive because where our market in the US where physical media got way cheaper the studios found that it was the nerds buying the rental shop collections and funding the anime. There system never changed so they have 100-1k sets in price still. The studios don't want the Japanese otaku to buy the american priced sets because most of our anime are WAAAAY cheaper then what they buy but since we're in the same region code it would play natively on their systems. I know far to much about this topic because it interests me.
Discotek gives so much love to their stuff.
It's expensive, but they got me interested in physical anime again.
I've bought many releases for them, and as long as they keep up the quality they're known for i'll continue to do so.
@@ohgodwhy9853, they are the only ones who would have paid to restore Project A-Ko from the negative. I bought all of those. They also are the only studio who are releasing Urusei Yatsura on Blu ray in USA. The next one of those the third box comes out in October. Love them as much as i do AnimEigo. Boutique labels. With the impending death of physical media and streaming i try to support as much as i can afford.
Discotek produces them in limited quantity but the return value is usually great as they do a lot of effort and the view experience is great. They thrive on cult classics, they do research into how much interest for a particular show there is, produce a certain amount and than go to the next and the prices are reasonable compared to other production companies like Funimation and Sentai, cruchyroll etc and quite a few CE of theirs have a lot to offer, not just cheap art cards which i hate when they do that and think it is worth it as CE. like cmon do more effort.
I remember buying DVD’s with only 3 episodes on the disc for $30. We didn’t get a season at a time. You got 3 or 4 episodes tops a month.
3:59 most of the cheap DVD sets you see on eBay are actually bootlegs usually made in Malaysia or Indonesia. They should play on every DVD player. But if you're going to buy bootleg releases of anime just to watch it then why not just torrent it.
You can control physical media, you can't control digital.
@@SkywalkerOne1977 you’re 100% right but if you’re pirating it then you really should have no problem not owning it since you’re not paying for it. But yeah I don’t recommend buying anything digital like shows since you don’t own them. Disc is always better.
@@SkywalkerOne1977 They can't take away your license if you didn't buy one to begin with
Fr. You can’t trust the bootlegs will play all the way either
@@neoPeakeenjoy your disc rot 😂
Sentai Filmworks can be pretty cheap sometimes.
absolutely sales are essential to collecting anime
I buy Sentai stuff on sale only.
Snagged Clannad for little over 50, usually goes for 100.
Would never pay the regular price.
I stopped collecting anime blu-rays around a year after getting into anime. I absolutely loved owning them, and I was tech savvy enough to create my own digital copy once I had the disc, but they got too expensive for me.
I'm tech savvy enough to get them free
@@rodolfourive7944 I'm tech savvy enough to do both.
Honestly either or is fine depending on the quality of a home release.
Fans put more love and quality into what they put together on average.
@@rodolfourive7944am not, am digitizing my collection with menu options and everything but am not confident in getting it free for the fear of getting sick.
I have VPN but idk a good antiviral medicine to also have
Another reason for the high price on anime, is the studios usually don't get their investment back, so they rely on the DVD / BD sales for income, that makes them very expensive even if you were to buy them locally in japan, they usually include gifts and specials on the Japanese versions, that's how they keep supporting the industry, as you said, it's 100% niche
For an example, the anime "saving 80,000 gold for my retirement" costs more than 200 USD (complete series box set)
That's also why they sell anime on various volumes, that way the fan buys more discs at 50 USD (although each of them comes with their respective gifts) and the studio gets more money.
Anime Blu-rays in Japan, the country of origin for these anime, usually cost significantly more. Yes, even more than whatever Aniplex puts out. It's really surprising. And most volumes of popular anime sell around 10,000 copies domestically which is considered a good number I guess. These volumes typically only have 2-4 episodes but a lot of extra content, most of which could be considered junk if you only wanted to watch the anime. I think cheaper Blu-rays are made later though.
Did they ever hought about if the prices were apropriate, people would actually buy them? Knowing japanese companies, no probbably not. xD
Its not like i dont want them physically, i'm just not paying double or tripple whats actually resonable, thats all.
I'm a physical media nerd. One the reason sword art/madoka/toradora/new FMA releases are hella expensive is because Aniplex is TRYING to move the cost closer to the Japanese market for those blurays. Back in the 90s when rental stores where more of a thing and getting physical media to put in that store costed a lot of money the United States moved away from that format where as in Japan the anime studios found out it was the Otaku buying up those rental shop sets at the crazy expensive prices and funding the anime studios. They never needed to move away from that system which is one of the reasons why their sets are so expensive. Another being that space is a premium over there and it does cost a bit more to manufacture so you are correct on that front.
Also you may have noticed some releases get pushed back stateside or get crap releases (looking at you dragon maid) because there is a real fear of Japanese otaku buying the American bluray sets since we're in the same region code for blurays. Why would they buy the 3-500 set for a series they like when the American set could be 50-80 and get all the episodes. The studios really don't want their nerds buying the cheap sets since it funds most of the anime production.
Actually the Japanese discs tend to be of higher quality, that is where they justify the price.
Here in Merica it more about the value business model.
Man, this video reminds me how I really wish I liked SAO more. I never hated it, but it never made much of an impact on me either. But now there's just so much good looking content, from movies to figures, games and visual novels, that it really makes me feel like I'm missing out lol
With me as a fan of anime DVDs and Blu Ray's, I'm very picky with what I get due to high prices. Some shows like Jojo which tends to be around$30-50 a set which while kinda expensive is a 「Reasonable Price」for what you get. Meanwhile other shows I love like Fullmetal Alchemist are really expensive with Brotherhood's Blu Ray's being $100 each for half the show in each set. Even getting the older prints from Funimation are expensive used. With the original series even buying the DVDs is expensive and the Blu Ray's for that aren't much better either price wise.
Okay I was at Best Buy the other day when I saw a blu-ray version of Who framed Roger Rabbit?, and it was like 17 dollars. I was baffled at the price until my friend mentioned it was in 4dhd and blu-ray, not less then 10 minutes later we found another Roger rabbit movie; only 7 dollars. It was a normal version. I love movies, films and series but I think it's gotten more expensive because of streaming services and time with popularity with there respective fandoms. Sad but true for some, other times when things are made world wide its at the wrong time for its popularity. Like Kateyo Hitman Reborn; awesome and famously popular in Japan, it's homeland but if it was shown in America today it needs to be high depth and needs American voice actor/actresses. There are other examples but I'm mentally tired thinking for other examples without rant or raving on the matter.
the issue is due to streaming services a lot of people stopped caring about physical media so the market became way smaller. that in turn is the reaon they need to up the profit margains on every sold disc which ups the price
At least Reborn got 2 Blu-ray sets that cover the whole series (aside from the OVA) that are pretty cheap, luckily. I'm very, very, very happy with them. Discotek releases some nice stuff
Um … just stop being cheap I guess. 17$ is not that crazy. Most new releases of movies are 20$ to 25. Although the movie you mentioned ain’t that new like at all. But people like you that way for dvds to get discounts are the same ones that complain “well why isn’t the full series made on dvd” (it’s not like I purposely waited to make sure sales didn’t do good by waiting to get it cheaper).
And why the hell do they have to have so many volumes… they can 100% fit all episodes on 1 disc but they make me pay 70$ for two episodes… yea take my money, give me my special daki and other merch~ but then the other vols come with nothing, so why ;~;
Also, i love SAO too. I dont give a crap at whatever other people think, this show is really entertaining for me.
570$ for the entire first season of ayakashi triangle… plus shipping which comes up to 640$ for me. Sure thats just 4 whole days of work, but thats absurd.
damn $70 for 2 episodes? i remember paying $30 or so for 2 episodes of gantz back in the day and i was rubbed the wrong way by that since the standard was 4 episodes for dvd at the time. but yikes. i wouldn't doubt it though.
@@crazedmonk8u Ayakashi triangle… yea, it’s terrible.
You're just like me fr Blu-ray addiction has been crazy lately JP BD's especially and same with art books there pricey but man just owning it physically and having it in your collection is something special that digital media will never have
Actually most anime Blurays are pretty cheap these days. You can find many anime Movies and OVA's for around $15-$20. And can find season set's for $20-$40.
The reason why sword art online is so expensive is because Anyplex The people that dub sword art online. Use Japanese principles on selling their products. For example the first release of sword art online on DVD was cut in half and only had like six episodes on one set. And that was for about $80. In comparison Funimation released DVDs where they have 25 episodes on one release. That’s the difference.
Brother put AoT on the screen and said "I'm 99% sure this is obscure"
Lol😂
Not an anime, but one show I bought for a high price was Batman Beyond on Blu Ray. I did I cuz it was one of my favourite childhood shows. Plus, you get All 52 episodes and a movie, so it felt Worth it to me.
Which I why I just wonder if I should get Dragon Ball Z and My Hero Academia on Blu Ray or not, because they Cost a ton for split seasons.
hey so about MHA i would recommend you to get crunchyroll, i can only recommend dvds if you are a really big fan of a show and want a physical copy of the anime
thats how i do it mostly haha
@@lgabrielk2320 Yeah. I'm fine with DVDs.
Dragon Ball is pretty cheap.
If you really want it cheap cheap i'd recommend the Orange Bricks.
That Alicization part 2 blu-ray art does look really good. At that high price though, I might as well get the Japanese blu-rays. An important point about quality though is that different regions' blu-rays can be better than others. For example, apparently the Italian blu-rays for Cowboy Bebop and Madoka Magica are the best ones.
I got the steelbook for your name for like $30. Definitely worth the price as I’ve watched it like 3 times
Also a Huge Fan of SAO! Haven't seen the progressive film, just because i'm waiting for it to come out on blu-ray so I can continue to build my collection so far I've got everything up to progressive including Alternative. Still hoping for a season 2 of that one. Also have the first two season of SAO on DVD sitting on my shelf collecting dust after upgrading to the Blu-Ray Versions
BRO I MISSED THE FCKING MOVIE and its only in one city in Indonesia and its not my city i want to buy the Blu-ray but im broke
12:58 I think it depends. If it’s a show you really love & love to rewatch & maybe show your future children or girlfriend/boyfriend or whatever in the future then you should own it so that you don’t rely on a streaming service that’ll likely lose it whenever you need it. I’ve watched naruto seasons 1 & 2 a hundred times on Netflix waiting for season 3 to 5 to finally go on Netflix which hadn’t happen until many years later when I didn’t even care anymore to finish it so I decided to rewatch it but on Blu-ray by getting a few of the sets.
Looks like you're buying the special editions of these Blu-Rays. I mean, yes, alot of anime do cost alot, and idk of SAO has any Normal blurays out those look like special edition box sets.
Some anime are getting cheaper, you have the "essentials" label and the "S.A.V.E." label as well.
I love Sao too but I didn't catch progressive in theaters. I'm waiting for it to come out on DVD and then I'll try and catch the next progressive movie when it comes out in theaters later this year.
I’m so jealous of your collection!!!!!! I love sao and I could never find the blue rays for a good price so I always thought they weren’t from the manufacturer and were scalpers or something. Thanks for the video! I need to buy season one and two. I’ve been thinking of spending that half a grand for the 10th anniversary edition
That's probably a fair price, honestly. At least you get all of that in one nice, clean package.
@@SkulShurtugalTCG haha that’s if my wife lets me 😂 she already hates my bionicle figures and naruto boy ray collection haha
I want the SAO blu ray so badly, but I can't justify paying over $800 for all the blu ray.
Also War of Underworld is still season 3, it's technically season 3 part 2.
Also would 100% suggest the Light Novels. They are amazing.
Not to mention the first 5 novels have been released in audiobook form with Bryce and Cherami reading them.
My wife has the audiobooks. When we met Cherami and Bryce she got to talk with them about those. Bryce apologized nonstop for "butchering" Asuna's voice but Cherami kept assuring him he did just fine.
@@SkulShurtugalTCG I'm gonna be meeting him in early July, and gonna be having him sign my first volume of SAO. Also I agree he does a good job. They could have had Bryce and Cherami read each line for the voice needed, but that could've been a lot of extra work.
Buy the UK releases for SAO.
I'm telling ya if you want something physically that is an Aniplex release, 9 out of 10 times it's going to be insanely cheaper with a Region B copy.
I bought the first season of SAO new for under 35, and Madoka Magica for under 30.
SAO S1 goes for like 160, and Madoka goes for 120.
If you do the math for the cost of a region free player, you make more than even buying one, especially saving on releases.
8:11 even though i dont really collect blu ray or dvd.
But yeah , coming from a person who doesnt have wifi ( i used usb broadband when my dad isnt using as a kid)
And no data on my phone for obvious reasons (as a kid)
Theres somethijg about owning it and having accessibility to it at all time.
No subscription/server/internet limit.
🥰♥️😊😜
I was looking for a video like this for a while
Not just "Blu Ray's", also "Anime DVD's" are so expensive too
Mmm 🤔 I feel like it’s mostly Blu-rays that are the most expensive from my experience
To shed some clarity and these are my guesses
Anime is extremely expensive in Japan. Like 50 bucks for 2 episodes (not even joking). And if it's expensive in Japan then it's expensive here because of both being region A. Otherwise people in Japan will just import.
Physical media just don't sell. So they just jack up the price cause even if it's 50% less, chances are there may not be that big of a drop. Higher prices and lower demand earns more than lower prices and higher demand.
Specifically for the example in this video being SAO. SAO is produced by aniplex who is known for having very expensive blurays. Such as kaguya sama where a 13 episode season cost 125 dollars. Bunny girl senpai which consists of 13 episodes and a movie also cost over 100 dollars. Collecting all of monogatari will cost I believe around 1300 dollars which is only 100 episodes.
Well, SAO is not a great example because the publisher is Aniplex of America. Just about everything from them is basically priced the same as it would be for the Japanese releases. Otherwise, the amount you get for the price these days is wayyy better than when you had to pay upwards of $30 or so to get a few episodes on a tape from Suncoast Video back in the day.
Most of the semi-recent anime TV shows I buy on Blu-Ray are distributed by Sentai Filmworks in North America and Sentai's Blu-Rays are nowhere near Aniplex-priced and can often be gotten on sale.
I'd love to collect SAO, but I keep side-eyeing those prices haha
Its so hard to justify paying for the blue ray discs when stream sites exist both payed and free sites. and then you can always screen record your own or download a blue ray rip. Its absolutely insane that if you want to be legit and buy your anime, its better to hold off and get a box set which might come out several months or years after the anime has finished vs the individual volumes.
don't see anything changing though, they know the hardcore fans will pay whatever for the blu rays, merch, figurines, everything. i had my own first hand experience when i started getting into anime/manga and was absorbed by it. I remember paying $30 way back in the day for TWO episodes of Gantz- gd bastards were on some highway robbery when the standard was 4 episodes per disc-. now that was along time ago when i believed anime was not so main-stream in the west so that's just how it is and i was hooked on that show so i payed the price. and look where we are now. still overpriced
If streaming is your thing there's no reason to buy Blu Rays, so i agree with you entirely.
I like owning physically but i'll stream for free on practically anything i don't want to own.
I only have 3 animes on bluray, paprika, ghost in the shell(4) and spirited away
I bought the second half of season 3 of SAO war of the underworld. 2 separate dvd sets £50. Just for half a season. Season 3 underworld has been out for months, saw it randomly last week (i check weekly), grabbed them without a second thought. First half of 3 never seen it in store, I asked them and they said they haven't had it yet. It cost me £40 for the blu ray of the 4th part of season 2. I still need to find the first 3 parts, which the same store as before said weirdly they never got them. I have season 1 and the ordinal scale movie. I have the games on vita and switch. I love SAO! Its one of the few things I will indulge in. I suggest you watch sao abridged, by something witty entertainment on youtube ... its so funny.
Have not seen your TH-cam in a while missed you I used to watch your TCG vids back in the day
4:12 just by looking at that picture you can tell it's pirate
I paid about $26,6 for the complete first season of steins gate. (I didn't know a new season came out.
And Akira I got for$8. That's the only anime blu rays I own, and I would like to get more, but as the topic of the video suggests, they are expensive.
The ones I consider to be fairly priced.
Props to you for liking what you do. SAO was one of the starter animes I watched in high school after not knowing what to watch, and my friends were watching it.
Back then, I thought it was great, but like 2 years later, I was like... you know what... it was fine.
Season 2 was the one I liked the most, but only the first arc.
After that, it dropped off for me, and I didn't care about it anymore. So, those blu rays were unfamiliar to me.
I think SAO alternative was the most recent thing I remember coming out in the franchise.
Akira, on blu ray, blew my mind and convinced me to get a few more Anime blu rays.
I just realized that some of my favs are now out of print and going for nutty prices, so now I am seriously considering buying as many as I can even though Ive seen the shows and I likely wont watch them again anytime soon. Ugh...
I own the full series DVDs of the anime that time I got reincarnated as a slime eng dub no movie though not out yet and I also want the anime bofuri I don't want to get hurt so I'll max out my defense English dub dvd once season 2 eng dub finishes I'm getting the DVDs for season 1 and 2
I do the same if I like something I’m a get the bluray or the 4K bluray to get the highest quality it and it can be god dam expensive I feel you lol
I actually own the complete Blood C series on Blu Ray. And that isn't even the most expensive anime I own. that goes to the DVD full series set of Witchblade. That full series DVD set goes for $150 used.
Dude I love sao to death I have the movie on Blu ray even the progressive movie
Honestly in high quality it looks so good with the animation
😊
Damn
you can whatch anime for free online the enterenet if you know the right sites and some let you downlode the hole seasons one buy one at a time
Ughhh the Aniplex tax as i call it. I once wanted to get the Madoka Magic Blu-Rays and at 40 bucks per discs because you have to buy three discs to get the whole series and even more if you want to own the movies. Look at something like Panty and Stocking and its under 30 bucks in the US for the Blu-Ray version. There are cheap anime Blu-Rays if its not a title that Aniplex is distributing.
Aniplex = You're going to be paying so much for the Blu-Ray its just better to go stream the episodes instead.
If you're looking to collect Anime physically in the long term i would highly recommend buying a modified region free player.
I say this though because all the extra money you'd of spent on the "Aniplex Tax" you'll recoup on buying future releases.
I bought Madoka Magica for 30 dollars buying the Manga UK release over the 120 Aniplex wants. Bought SAO for under 35 over the 160 that Aniplex wants.
if you have a PS3 laying around you can easily softmod it via youtube tutorial(do your research though) with HEN to access Region switching on both DVDs and Blu Rays.
It'll require you to put an application called Multiman on your console.
Iphone 13 pro max supreme pic got me to sub 😂 oh and i love SAO too. Cherami Leigh gave me a hug.
Oh god I just saw the part where you dropped the disk and it slide on the data face. I think you just killed a part of my soul
UK anime blu ray prices are usually significantly cheaper than their US counterparts *Cough* Aniplex *Cough*. Just purchased a region free player just to own my favorite shows without breaking the bank.
You know I usually wait certain times a year is for really good sales I got a season of anime that normally goes for close to $200 for around $30 So there are ways to get anime cheap but you gotta be patient
Is cheaper in the long run to get a region free bluray player
USA and Japan share the same Blu-Ray region code of A. I can't say the exact reason for Aniplex prices but reverse importation may be one of them. Depending on the series the Japanese release may be cheaper than Aniplex USA. But again you won't get subtitles and or English dubs. You could also get much cheaper Euro releases but would need a multi region player. I myself have been collecting the Sao sets one a month. I just have to get War of the Underworld, and the two Gun Gale online sets and waiting for the third Sao film since i bought the first two. Even with the Righstuf discounted price cheapest on their site anywhere on the web, there are no further discounts can't use coupon codes or got anime membership sadly. I could barely justify the first two season sets and i did because of how much i love the show. But the Alicization prices are absurd. Have to pay it because i don't stream. Have antiquated equipment. A turtle of a laptop and no smart tv. Can barely stream video from this thing. Physical blu rays are a must.
I just snag movies, if its a show i will just stream it or sail the high seas.
I hate how the TH-cam algorithm isn’t recommending your videos to me anymore 😢
2:37 wait....did bro just said AOT a non-mainstream show..what🤨😑
I understand youuuuuu. I am so over Overlord💖
Where do you buy it from
am I missing something or why does this video only have 411 views yet the channel has 240k subscribers
WAIT YOUR COMPLAING ABOUT 25$ WHILE look at gurren lagann blu ray over 100 that somehting you should be mad i would not mind if blu ray cost 20$ it a steel for me
Aniplex is the type of company that values quality over quantity, I bought the KLK box set at a con for 135 USD
Typically those Blu-ray box sets are more valuable then Funimation/crunchyroll’s Blu-ray’s (I.E the fucking 50 dollars for a PART 1 OF A FUCKING SEASON OF ANIME)
Its expensive enough to know not to purchase the wrong thing.
Where can I buy discs
the ending music where is that fromm
Your name is 10€ in finland🤣 brand new
i understand calecting cuse i do that my self as well with many things so all is hopfuly good just mean well is all
You probably haven't bought Funimation's Bluray Essentials or SAVE Edition DVDs? They're $34 per BD and $20 per DVD.
I must live under a rock.
I've always bought my Funimation titles 2nd hand, haven't had too bad of time saving money that way.
Only thing that nips that in the butt is stuff going out of print or stagnating in price.
I love this show and my concern is in the future the streaming rights will go away and this is the way to see a great show.
Which would you say is cheaper, collecting anime or manga?
Manga, definitely.
Region free dude. Region free. Takes an Australian...
i subscribed and hit bell notification
I'm a SAO fan too! i have all the LE blu rays but the movie one =(
Attack on Titan obscure?! XD
Lol me and my 2 grand Naruto and Boruto anime box sets 😂 so I get it
when are you going back to splatoon 2? :(
Complaining about current prices. 🤷 Try being a anime media collector back in the 90's and early 2000's. Back when they would take a series or season of a anime that would typically be 26 episodes and put 2-3 episodes on one tape/DVD then charge $29-$39 per volume. And if you bought the whole season it would cost you $180-$400.
Yeah the weird thing all the blu ray versions of anime movie's i have are in the $20s or is extacly $20 my lupin the 3rd the first steelbook case 25 dbs broly 20 lupin the 3rd castle of cagliostro 20 my hero academia 2 hero's 25 one piece episode of east blue 20
First off youve got some super strange points. Why bother saying you dont watch anime, and pretend to not know Demon Slayer or Attack on Titan. But act like Your Name was a "worldwide phenomenon". Or buy the Box Set for Sword art online. A pretty normie anime. You obviously have a deep love for pokemon. You dont need to save face to say you couldnt name 10 animes. Its more embarrassing to try and hide it and then clearly demonstrate your obvious passion for it over the next 15 min video. While it is niche I am happy to report that over time it has become significantly cheaper to buy anime on blu rays. I will usually pick up anime seasons for 20-50 dollars. But this is for multiple blu ray disc's. All filled to the brim with episodes and beautifully transferred video and audio. Multiple disc's should have the price be above 60. But Amazon and used video stores you can find for under 40 easily. My collection is growing with all my favorites and it looks way better than watching then online. Pair it up with some dolby atmos and a big TV. Living the dream :) there are even 4k animes out now. The options are low but the fact it exists at all I think is amazing. Wish the shows got 4k treatment too and not just the movies.
i thought it was because they imported from another country lol
edit: i own spirited away, even though i’m not into anime it’s a good movie
I only own Your Name as a BlueRay atm, plan to expand the collection soon tho
Anime gone mainstream like gaming and superheroes. AOT is actually a popular anime. You showed a bunch of SAO bootlegs from ebay. Your Name is overhyped garbage. I own plenty anime blurays btw but not SAO.
@16bit Classics I saw the movie and it was garbage in my opinion. So not an excuse.
girl frend movies
The expensive sword art online blu ray is unacceptable I wish it was $12.00 less
Honestly I’m not that surprised but their not that valuable right? What would be the obvious point cause it seems like a waste of money.
Evangellion dvd sets are so expensive 😭
save your money
i calect games and sestems
I think dbz sold 30 million dvd/bluray in the us alone
Dragon Ball is so be of the best Anime’s released. It is very popular worldwide
I have Funimation so I’m going to watch as many anime as I can, my top favorites are Cardcaptor Sakura, kill la kill, and Kuma Kuma Kuma bear
$150 for 25 episodes is a reasonable price. That's $6 an episode. And you own the physical copy in the highest quality possible.
Where do you lose?
What's ridiculous is when I started collecting anime i would spend nearly $300 for 25 episode series on VHS. And that's just dub if I wanted the sub as well. That's another $300. So $600 in VHS quality. If I wanted the complete series. I have no sympathy for someone complaining about how expensive anime is.
Avatar the Last Airbender is NOT a Japanese anime. American made show. Get your facts right.
I love SAO but i still need to get both parts of Alicization, if i can ever afford them. Also recently got into Code Geass and found a collector's edition blu ray with all seasons and movies... Only about $550 🥲