TRSI added a bunch of items to their online catalog today and along with many repackagings and consolidations in FUNimation’s September solicitations, there were many previously unannounced items and details to be found as well.
(UPDATE 6/24 3:44PM PDT: Robert of his eponymous Anime Corner Store wrote a post [saw via scottfrye] saying they now have pretty much all the same items up for pre-order.)
GONZO anime Burst Angel is evidently getting a Blu-ray release on September 29th at a list price of $79.98. (TRSI’s pre-order price is currently $60.) It will have all 24 TV episodes and the Infinity OVA, just like its Viridian Collection release in June 2008, except now in high-definition.
Nabari no Ou will have its first 13-episode set come out on September 22nd at a typical $59.98 price point. The ninja action series was one of Funi’s New Show A Go Go licenses last December and the manga is currently being published by Yen Press.
Sgt. Frog (aka Keroro) Season 1 Part 1 comes out on Sept. 22nd. That date was announced during their main panel at Anime Next but not the “budget” list price of $39.98 for 12 episodes. That’s at the same level as their Shin-chan releases but this will be a hybrid release (remember their test episode from November?) unlike the dubbed only Shin-chan.
Other first-run releases include the second half of Big Windup! sliding home (TRSI; RACS) on Sept. 29th ($59.99 MSRP), 6 weeks after the first half; the second half of Kaze no Stigma dropping on Sept. 1st ($59.98 MSRP); and One Piece Season 2 Part 3 continuing the adventures of the Going Merry crew on Sept. 29th ($49.98 MSRP). RACS also has that One Piece box set listed, saying it contains episodes 79-91.
After having finished with their Dragon Ball GT and DBZ uncut box sets, Funi will give the same treatment to the original Dragon Ball series when they release the first season uncut DVD set on Sept. 15th for $49.98 MSRP, the same price point as their previous uncut box sets from the franchise.
I’ll wrap up talking about Funi with some former Geneon releases. On Sept. 29, a box set of Heat Guy J will come out at $49.98 MSRP (TRSI) and both Black Lagoon seasons are being repackaged into a single box set at $69.98 MSRP, also on Sept. 29 (RACS; TRSI). There will also be a number of repricings of their $69.98 Geneon box set reissues last year: Ergo Proxy on Sept. 29th (RACS; TRSI), Fate/stay night on Sept. 1st (RACS; TRSI), and Shakugan no Shana on Sept. 15th (RACS; TRSI).
Finally: there are some Nozomi releases of some decades-old series. The first of two Kimba the White Lion mini-collections come out at $49.98 MSRP on October 6th (link), the second Gigantor collection on Sept. 15 for $39.98 MSRP (link), and two mini-collections of Astro Boy, both on Oct. 6th at $49.98 MSRP apiece (set 1, set 2)
Whew, that was tiring to put together!
UPDATE 6/23 11:10 PM PDT: I later found out that Nozomi had issued separate press releases about the Kimba and Astro Boy mini-sets.
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Simulcasts of Anime Premieres Reach New Level, But Now What?
April 14, 2009 in Commentary by Tom Langston (calaggie) | 2 comments
This spring season features the highest amount of premiering anime being streamed legally with more than a half dozen premiering series currently “simulcast” on the Internet. Most of them are on Crunchyroll – Saki, Hayate no Gotoku!!, Natsu no Arashi, Shangri-la, Mainichi Kaa-san, and Ristorante Paradiso – while FUNimation is following up Shikabane Hime with Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood except this time, they are restricting the new episodes to their video portal.
The ball got rolling in spring 2008 when Gonzo GDH placed Tower of Druaga and Blassreiter onto YouTube, BOST, and Crunchyroll (CR); Strike Witches went onto those same three services that July. October saw CR play host to premiering series Linebarrels of Iron and FUNimation push Shikabane Hime onto YouTube, Hulu, Joost, and their newly launched video portal. Crunchyroll added Shugo Chara and Skip Beat in November; in January, they took on Gintama, Natsume Yujincho and Naruto Shippuden, the latter of which Viz also streamed through Naruto.com, Hulu, and Joost. Crunchyroll added Hitman Reborn in March.
One of the things that worries content providers about putting their video portals is whether the sites will actually generate revenue. It seems that Crunchyroll has gotten off to a good start by establishing an attractive platform for foreign content owners to get their properties global reach – a Yomiuri article about TAF 2009 relays the following figures for Crunchyroll: 4.5 million visitors who were often exposed to advertising, 1.5 millions of hours viewed monthly, and almost 15,000 paying memberships at $6.95 a month ($100,000+ of regular revenue).
On its about page, Crunchyroll says “[p]roceeds from the subscription service are shared among [their] content publishers”. It’s assumed that a portion of advertising revenue also goes toward that pool of creators. The question is whether the allocated distribution is based on a uniform rate or dependent of video views. That distinction could be be important for a studio in financial troubles like GONZO, which is undergoing restructuring.
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Tags: Anime, Commentary, crunchyroll, funimation, simulcasts, streaming