Status of NGE merchandising rights Blu-ray and DVD

For talking about all other entries in the Evangelion franchise: from the various manga and video games to merchandising and various video/audio releases.

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Postby Guy Nacks » Fri Aug 01, 2014 11:06 pm

View Original Postthezeppo1138 wrote:They have never come out with a good print of EOE in America. If they released a blu-ray that looked as good as the one from Japans Renewal set, it would be brilliant. It also sucks that we can't get it distributed in the US anymore cause it hinders the fanbase from expanding very much. I bought it back in the early 2000s on a whim during an anime sale at Best Buy or something and now its one of my favorite things ever. That can't happen to anybody these days which sucks for would be fans who now can't randomly come across it.



The last time I saw a new NGE box set on store shelves was in 2010 in a Best Buy and EOE, the same year in an FYE. NGEs release doesn't really need any improvement, but EOEs release was so bad, Manga was basically baiting English speakers to pirate a better release of the film.

Actually, that sparks an interesting thought: If you already bought a release of a particular film, does that entitle you to all enhanced versions of the exact same content? I kinda think it does, and with a release as botched as Manga's EOE, I think it warrants a closer examination of how our copyright and purchasing laws can be applied. Why should one region of the world pay their money and get stuck with a version that is as ridiculously shitty as ours is?
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Postby The Eva Monkey » Fri Aug 01, 2014 11:07 pm

Just want to highlight my previous post, which is still an accurate inventory of the various Eva media:

View Original PostThe Eva Monkey wrote:Neon Genesis Evangelion - Expired (Formerly ADV Films/Sentai Filmworks)

Video versions 21'-24' - Probably Expired (Formerly ADV Films/Sentai Filmworks)

Death & Rebirth, The End of Evangelion - Expired (Formerly Manga Entertainment)

Evangelion 1.01, 1.11, 2.22, 3.33 - Active (Funimation)

Neon Genesis Evangelion (Manga) - Active (Viz)

Angelic Days - Probably Expired (Formerly ADV Manga)

Shinji Ikari Raising Project, Campus Apocalypse, Shinji Ikari Detective Journal, Comic Tribute - Active (Dark Horse)

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Postby Tumbling Down » Fri Aug 01, 2014 11:16 pm

I'm having a hard time believing that the licensing price for Evangelion went up substantially since when ADV paid for it. It does, however. make sense that it wouldn't be licensed here when it's not being printed in Japan either.

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Postby cyharding » Sat Aug 02, 2014 12:00 am

View Original Postdrinian wrote:With the US and Japan in the same Blu-ray region, there's also a possibility that Gainax will go it alone and release a single Blu-ray with English subtitles for both regions. This strategy has been seen lately with a number of releases -- the Madoka films and the recent Japanese Studio Ghibli box set come to mind.


That's what I think is going to happen too (along with a rebroadcast of the series in Japan sometime next year). The problem is going to be the cost. Going by other box sets, the price for the entire show is going to be around $400-$600, too pricey for a lot of people. I'm personally willing to pay $70-$80 for EoE on Blu-ray, since it's the only thing I'm willing to double dip on as our version is subpar. Otherwise my platinum thinpack will be enough for me.
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Postby thezeppo1138 » Sat Aug 02, 2014 1:18 am

Agreed, I'm happy with my platinum thinpack, the picture is fantastic. But dammit I want a good print of EOE! One that looks like Japan's Renewal version. That print is beautiful. On Blu it would be the best shit ever. Hope this all gets worked out soon, but I'm not holding my breath. The day will come though, the day will come. Frickin anime and its always going out of printness. :facepalm:

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Postby pwhodges » Sat Aug 02, 2014 3:41 am

View Original PostTumbling Down wrote:I'm having a hard time believing that the licensing price for Evangelion went up substantially since when ADV paid for it. It does, however. make sense that it wouldn't be licensed here when it's not being printed in Japan either.

And yet there were recent releases of EoE based on Renewal in France and Italy (I have the Italian one, whose video I have combined with subs and dub from my English copy).
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Postby ElMariachi » Sat Aug 02, 2014 4:24 am

^
Indeed, it's a little surprising how difficult you have it in the US to find anything from the original series, while here in France we had a re-realease collector in DVD with EoE and Death&Rebirth released last here and that there are still lots of Complete Collection Box of Eva Platinum in the shelves.

I could show the photos, but I think that would seriously damage my PR here! -o-;
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Postby FrDougal9000 » Sat Aug 02, 2014 6:32 am

View Original PostGuy Nacks wrote:Actually, that sparks an interesting thought: If you already bought a release of a particular film, does that entitle you to all enhanced versions of the exact same content? I kinda think it does, and with a release as botched as Manga's EOE, I think it warrants a closer examination of how our copyright and purchasing laws can be applied. Why should one region of the world pay their money and get stuck with a version that is as ridiculously shitty as ours is?


I think I'll mention my philosophy with the whole downloading stuff for free debate here, which essentially comes down to If the product is not legally available in any convenient way, then simply download it.

I realize it's a very legally grey issue, but if the publisher of the content isn't offering it in a quick, easy way, let alone any way to begin with, then they won't be earning or losing money either way. Likewise, if they make it very easy/affordable to obtain, then do buy it to show your support of their work.

Think of it like this: I download certain GBA roms (for instance, Sonic Advance) because getting the original cartridges is expensive/a pain in the arse and Nintendo still doesn't offer them on the 3DS eShop. However, if they came up to me and said they would start putting GBA games like Sonic Advance on the eShop, I would delete the roms and buy them officially to show my support.

TL;DR - If Gainax can't be bothered to release NGE or EoE is an easy-to-obtain, easy-to-afford manner, then you may as well get the series however you can because it really won't affect Gainax until they do start releasing it officially; in which case, do buy it unless it's total rubbish!
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Postby svenge » Sat Aug 02, 2014 7:32 am

View Original PostElMariachi wrote:^
Indeed, it's a little surprising how difficult you have it in the US to find anything from the original series, while here in France we had a re-realease collector in DVD with EoE and Death&Rebirth released last here and that there are still lots of Complete Collection Box of Eva Platinum in the shelves.


The thing is that European DVDs (especially ones without English-language options) are the least-likely targets for reverse-importation because of the PAL encoding. 99.99% of all DVD/BD players in NTSC-based countries (US, Japan, S. Korea, etc.) are completely incapable of playing PAL content even if the region code is taken out of the equation.

Of course playing PAL DVDs on a PC with a DVD drive is a relatively trivial problem, but even then they're still sped up by ~4%.

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Postby drinian » Sat Aug 02, 2014 7:51 am

View Original PostTumbling Down wrote:Woah. How the heck does that happen? I thought Eva was pretty popular there.

Most home media releases in Japan operate the same way that Disney does in the US: they strategically undersupply the market and take things in and out of print to try and motivate collectors to buy things now, rather than later. They would rather have a guaranteed sellout run of 10,000 than possible sales of 100,000.

svenge wrote:99.99% of all DVD/BD players in NTSC-based countries (US, Japan, S. Korea, etc.) are completely incapable of playing PAL content even if the region code is taken out of the equation.


Actually not true. I have a DVD player that's over a decade old that can do PAL, and a modern Blu-ray player that can do PAL. This was not a specially advertised feature on either.

I was surprised to find, though, that amazon.co.jp is actually selling the French import of Evangelion in Japan -- speaking of reverse importation:

http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/switch-language/product/B002C3JVHG/ref=dp_change_lang?ie=UTF8&language=en_JP
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Postby The Eva Monkey » Sat Aug 02, 2014 9:02 am

View Original PostTumbling Down wrote:I'm having a hard time believing that the licensing price for Evangelion went up substantially since when ADV paid for it.

First of all, ADV jumped on Evangelion early. I want to say it was early 96, before it had even finished airing. So it had not become a huge deal like it is now. Also, inflation. Think about it, how else could a small fledgling company afford Evangelion? Eva was only the second series dubbed by ADV, Blue Seed being the first. They had only done a few OAVs and a few sub-only releases at that point.

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Postby hui43210 » Sat Aug 02, 2014 5:26 pm

If something ever does happen in terms of re release of NGE/EOE, I imagine 2015 would be the year even if it is unlikely.
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Postby Gendo'sPapa » Sat Aug 02, 2014 8:50 pm

^ I agree.

Gainax has made a living off of Evangelion merchandise & I can't imagine their going to pass up 2015 - the 20th Anniversary of NGE & the year the show takes place - without putting out new products, gear & home video releases.

I feel pretty confident a Blu-ray of NGE & EOE is gonna happen in 2015. Perhaps a tie-in with the release of Final.

... In the meantime I'm gonna keep writing Criterion saying they should pick up NGE & EOE for release. :)

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Postby svenge » Sun Aug 03, 2014 8:04 pm

View Original PostThe Eva Monkey wrote:ADV jumped on Evangelion early. I want to say it was early 96, before it had even finished airing.


The first US VHS volume (Genesis 0:1) was released on 08/20/1996, which was just under 5 months after the series ended airing (03/27/1996).

Considering the amount of time it takes for contract negotiations, translation/dubbing, and distribution it's a good bet that ADV did begin the licensing process while it was airing.

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Postby Dataprime » Sun Aug 03, 2014 8:13 pm

View Original Postsvenge wrote:The first US VHS volume (Genesis 0:1)

That is some horrible box art.

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Postby Guy Nacks » Sun Aug 03, 2014 8:21 pm

View Original PostGendo'sPapa wrote:... In the meantime I'm gonna keep writing Criterion saying they should pick up NGE & EOE for release. :)


good luck with that.
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Postby svenge » Sun Aug 03, 2014 8:25 pm

View Original PostDataprime wrote:That is some horrible box art.


It is a bit of a mess. The interesting thing about the first 10 VHS volumes is that the main character image is the same on both the Japanese and US releases.

The main divergence was the background behind the featured character (i.e. key words/phrases from the episodes contained within a given volume for the Japanese tapes, but other image(s) from the series along with some promotional text was what the US tapes used).

Of course when ADV "jumped the gun" and released the broadcast editions of 21-26 before Gainax released the home video editions of 21'-26' in Japan that meant that ADV couldn't borrow any key art for those tapes. I don't think that it would've helped any, though.

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Postby AR-99 » Sun Aug 03, 2014 10:04 pm

View Original PostDataprime wrote:That is some horrible box art.

Brings back memories! Eva-01 looks so whack though. :eva01_gwar:
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Postby TheDrmcvey » Mon Aug 04, 2014 12:32 am

Are any of you all worried that Aniplex may pick up the rights to the original series? I know this sounds crazy, but hear me out. Gainax gave the rights of Gurren Lagann to Aniplex after Bandai fell out in 2012, and helped them create that huge Blu Ray set for them to distribute. So far, Gurren Lagann has been successful for both Gainax and Aniplex in sales.

Since Gainax still owns the rights to the original series, they already know that it's going to be high in demand for many collectors, and they would probably like to do something similar to that of Gurren Lagann. I know that Funi has the rights to Rebuild, but I'm still not sold on them acquiring the rights to the original series just yet. Let's however do hope that they do get them, or else we all may end up spending $500 for them :sniffle:
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Postby Ray » Mon Aug 04, 2014 12:39 am

I'd only be on board with that if they had both the original ADV dub and a new redone Dub with most of the Rebuild cast.


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