terrence huey (thuey@UCDAVIS.EDU)
Sun, 10 Oct 1999 22:31:29 -0700
X-Sender: ez073369@sandman.ucdavis.edu Message-ID: <Pine.GSO.4.10.9910102135080.24195-100000@sandman.ucdavis.edu> Date: Sun, 10 Oct 1999 22:31:29 -0700 From: terrence huey <thuey@UCDAVIS.EDU> Subject: Re: ADV release date> On the Animeondvd.com site from a rep from CPM. CPM has the rights to > Slayers (All of it) on DVD Plus they aquired Try. Slayers is a BIG exception > to the rule as it went from one owner to another over the course of the > first series. true, but it took CPM a little bit to acquire Next, and as you say Try(I don't believe I read about any official announcement on that one though). > Unlikely they probably asked for ST and got Panzer Dragoon and Sonic thrown > in. That seems more likely. Or perhaps it was just thrown in with something non-sega related. They announced a bunch of titles at that time. But who knows, I guess we're just speculating. > Weather YOU like it or not is Completely > irrelevant as I could find 50 people that are walk in customers that will > refute your point. 50 people that like ADV? Why? Because ADV's rich? The only thing the company has over others is the fact that they've got tons of money, and because of that, they buy other licenses(and sit on them for a year or so...). > I don't think you have such a big vendeta against it if > Say Animeigo picked it up. And you're absolutely right about that one. Though I think my #1 choice would have been Pioneer, just because they do the best job when it comes to DVDs. Their format varies from series to series though. But the point is, yes, I would have preferred AE because they have not "wronged" me in any way. > So stop ADV bashing because there people on this > list that actually like the anime (regardless of format). Your ranting is > only going to infuriate most of the people on this list so Please Knock it > off. Well, now you're infuriating ME. Last time I checked, Joshua wasn't very "in the know" about anime in america. Maybe if I say "I'm boycotting ADV", he will ask, "Why?" > > For the record, ADV is the most hated anime company among anime fans and > > with reason. > > That is your opinion!! This is NOT my opinion! My opinion is that I hate ADV and I would be very happy if their office burned down to the ground. The above is a fact. There are only two companies out there that people consistently complain about, and taken a step further, will not support at all. One is Viz(well, perhaps US Manga too). But I don't think Viz is doing any harm since they're mainly doing Ranma and those who care for Ranma will buy it, those who don't won't. But the other is definitely AD Visions. How many "Boycott ADV" threads have I seen in NGs? Or how about that article I read somewhere(I think it was anipike) saying that a lot of people were complaining about ADV, and others were complaining about AnimEigo, but which company do people actually hate? It was ADV because it is ADV that actually pisses off the fans, and AE in retrospect, tries to appeal only to the fans. You wanna know what ADV does wrong? You own an anime shop, I believe, am I correct? 1) How good quality are those ADV tapes you get? It is from my experience that ADV tapes are of considerably less quality than those put out by other companies. I am talking about the physical tapes themselves. ADV tapes tend to have audio dropouts, fuzzy video, and wear out faster than the other companies. 2) What about extras? Let's see... AnimEigo has box sets for people as collector's items. Pioneer has first pressings that usually come with stickers, cards, etc. And before last year, they stuck tapes in clamshell cases for subbed anime so it was some compensation for paying extra for subs. Anime Village also has box sets(nicely done, as well as beautiful clamshell cases for those too). CPM has box sets too. ADV releases? Just the normal flimsy cardboard material. 3) Prices? Yes, I am just thrilled to know that Yuna OAV 1+2 go for $30 each if you're a sub fan, yet is $15 for both of them dubbed. $60 vs $15? Am I the only one who is bothered by this? This is just the extreme case, but normally the dub/sub gap is $10 with ADV(as opposed to $5 for other companies or no gap at all some cases). You can argue that ADV is doing wonders when it comes to dub fans. I concur. But what if you don't happen to be a dub fan? In this way, ADV excludes some of their customer base. Yes you can name me 50 people who love what ADV are doing. But at what cost? The cost is that others are not included in this deal. Is it that hard to imagine that some of these will have feelings of hatred toward a company? 4) What about descriptions and advertising? ADV started out with a lot of adult titles and that was their main selling point. Yet even though they mainly do mainstream titles now, they sometimes try to advertise a product as being sexual in nature or whatever. I know a bunch of people were upset with how they handled Boku no MARI/My Dear Marie because if you read the description on the back of the video, it gives you the impression that it is porn-ish or at least ecchi. But the video is a great love drama, without all those undertones ADV tried to sell it as. 5) Translations? Check out Slayers the Motion Picture. Subtitled, dubbed, both have many inside jokes about other ADV-licensed titles. If you were expecting a faithful translation of the Japanese version, well, you won't get it. I dont' remember which was changed more, but both subbed and dubbed had their script altered to suit ADV's purposes. Note that I am not saying that only ADV does these things, but if you ask me what's wrong with ADV, there's my answer. Maybe you are right and I am in the "extreme minority", but it doesn't mean that what I say above is any less true. > > I'm not about to support a company who's practices I disagree with, "just > > because it's Sakura Taisen" or moreover "just because it's Sakura Taisen > > IN ENGLISH." > > That's you. And you are in the Extreme Minority in that situation as stated > previously. Well, maybe you misunderstood me but I would love to have a Sakura Taisen DVD with both a language option and a subtitle (on/off) option. On one hand there's the import $120 DVD with japanese language and nothing else. On the other, there's a $30 MSRP DVD with both english and japanese on it, with the option of having english subtitles on it. So it's the import and then some. And boy is this thing cheaper than the import. But while the latter sounds fine and dandy, the fact that ADV fits in this equation changes everything and I will most likely get neither. My point was, I know why I don't like ADV, and because I believe in that, I won't support ADV even if they have something I want. Some of the other people here may not know anything about ADV, and will buy the DVD. Well, that's fine too. But people need to know why there is this controversy in the first place. If any of you wish to discuss this further, I'd be happy to take you up on it via email or whatnot as I don't want to disturb the peace on this ML. But I had to address this publicly to state my reasons for what I believe. I am not going to let myself be called a "ranter" without saying anything. Whether you believe me a ranter now is your choice, but at least I had the opportunity to state my case. -Terrence