Look at the first volume covers of Noein for Japan (left) and the US (right). Assuming you know nothing about the plot or characters, what impressions do you get about the series just from looking at the front of the box? This anime is different from a majority of licensed series in that its box art greatly differs from depending on whether it’s from region 1 or region 2 instead just sharing the same art and putting an English title and description over it.
Most cover art on American anime releases comes from the original covers of the Japanese DVD releases. FMA and the first arc of Bleach are good examples of this with their grey backgrounds. I guess one defense of movitation following this “standard” method is that it preserves a part of the original Japanese release along with the original Japanese audio and sometimes commentaries and/or commercials that are on the disc itself. A nitpicker can say a distributor should have chosen one cover over another but the design usually only have two existing covers to select from when needing to relate together the 3-5 episodes in a single volume. (That’s why reversible covers were created.) However, a more fierce argument could be made over why a distibutor would use completely different art that evokes distinctly contrary feelings that the original art produced for Japanese release.
Recall the pictures I posted at the top of this post. To me, having only seen one episode of Noein, I prefer the Japanese art over the R1 version for a couple reasons. #1 is the distinctive art style. The line drawings are simple and more romantic and makes me think of an art movement that I can’t remember the name of. #2 is the indication that the main characters are ordinary people, an assumption that could possibly lead to the false conclusion that it’s a slice-of-life series. The American cover (taken from an R2 extra) is scarier and has a red, “dangerous” tone to it, passing over the coming of age story that also exists in Noein. I do credit it for having all the relevant cast standing in a row, though.
Now, don’t get me wrong and say I’m an elitist who thinks Japanese anime covers are always better than American-created ones. In my opinion, there are a number of titles for which I think the R1 covers are better than its R2 counterparts.
I admit I picked the one on the left for the meganekko catgirl.
A good example of this is Chrono Crusade; pictured above are the volumes containing episodes 17 and 18. In Japan, the covers featured usually two characters posing in front of a white background and seem to give off a happy tone; ADV’s covers use a blue background with effects behind it and usually Rosette aiming a gun at something, which obviously conveys action rather than joviality. Uh, Azmaria, you shouldn’t be that happy near a gun, even if Rosette is the one holding it…
One of the advantages of DVD packaging over, say, VHS or Laserdisc is the ability to manually transpose the slipcover and have to two different designs on the same card. Some clever designer at an anime company years ago must have seen that the number of R2 covers overnumbered the amount of volumes set for R1 release and conceived of the “bonus feature” of a reversible cover as a way of bringing more of the original Japanese releases to the American market, albeit in a somewhat hidden fashion.
I posted a poll on this topic in the sidebar and it was about time I made a new one. 64 people managed to vote in the past three weeks on the question of which Haruhi character had the best character single and the vote was close. Yuki got 14 votes (21.9%), Kyon got 13 (20.3%), and Ryoko came in 3rd with 12 (18.8%). Tied for last place were Kyon’s Sister and “None of the Above” at one vote apiece.
P.S. Before someone else points this out: I know that the R1 releases of Chrono Crusade feature reversible covers. The point I was trying to make (which I think I failed at) involved what’s on the FRONT cover, not what is sometimes on the flip side of the front cover. And yes, the reversible cover for volume 5 is the one with Shader, my favorite secondary character from the anime.
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you posted this blog so fast i was like wtf. anyways cover-wise, if i was buying a dvd then it depends on the cover sometimes because if its crap art cause i know theres some out there it makes the anime look bad unless you know its a good anime but the cover just sucks xD sure people say not to judge a book by its cover but showing off our bookcases or dvdcases in this case is the fun part. a friend could come by and be like this anime looks whack from the cover, however its a good conversation starter. so maybe it doesnt matter whats on the cover unless its an anime u truly love/like
I think Japanese covers can be more artistic because most of the buyers already know about the anime because they’ve seen it on TV (except OVAs of course). I prefer the Japanese covers as the R1 covers tend to look kind of… overdone.
While I find the Japanese cover for Noein more aesthetically appealing, I think the American cover does a better job of capturing the atmosphere of the series.
I think u gotta go by the cover sometimes.. but best to go on recomendations if possible.. that way u can keep your money for the good stuff. and let ur friends buy the crap.. hahahaha :)