Bluray release (TV + original movies) - August 26th 2015

[backseatjesus]

I've never listened to the 5.1 mix because I switch the audio track to the stereo mix because, you know, I only got two speakers.

Basically this, but I know 5.1 is downmixed when not played through a surround system. I just always went with the stereo version because in my experience, downmixed 5.1 can be very iffy considering it's not specifically designed for stereo. Some things can be incredibly loud whereas dialogue can be incredible quiet. I never knew about missing sound effects/dialogue in the stereo mixes and always assumed the stereo mix had everything the 5.1 had.

[MoroNoKimi]

I'm really hoping the Archive DVD box and the new bluray box get licensed by Sentai instead of Funimation, then maybe they'll have a chance of ACTUALLY COMING OUT.

[Nuclear Lunchbox]

I ordered the BD set. Then I ordered the DVD set along with it for good measure.

[Illustrious]

I tried to order the BD set from Amazon Japan, but the online form would not allow me to properly input my zip code. It requested a half-width font. Can someone in the US directly order from Amazon Japan? If so, what am I doing wrong? Also, I am much less than fluent in Japanese. Would it be better for me to wait until it comes westward for English subtitles? Thanks for any help.

[pwhodges]

You cannot assume that it will ever happen (see Gunbuster for an obvious counter-example!), so you have to choose whether to risk losing out or to get the Japanese release and do your own work muxing it with the subs or dub of your choice.

[MoroNoKimi]

I don't give a shit about the dub but I'm really not a fan of paying upwards of $500 for a bluray set which is in a language I can only partially understand and which I have no guarantee will actually be playable on either my computer or XBone. Yes I know they're region free, but blurays have a habit of not playing nice with different players, they're so touchy.

Besides, I think it'd be a stupid move to not license it, a lot of money to be made there. Why would nobody pick up something like that? Especially considering all the earlier Eva sets are OOP anyhow.
(Additionally, I'm already filled with despair over Funi and their shitty treatment of the Q release, don't add to my despair!)

[pwhodges]

I have no guarantee will actually be playable on either my computer or XBone. Yes I know they're region free, but blurays have a habit of not playing nice with different players, they're so touchy

We already know it will play in one player (MacGo), though that's not free. (I'd already bought MacGo to play previous BDs that wouldn't play otherhow.)

Why would nobody pick up something like that? Especially considering all the earlier Eva sets are OOP anyhow.

For the same reason the previous sets are OOP - they don't see enough profit in it to care?

[MoroNoKimi]

Well just compound my despair, why don't you.

Frankly I just can't stomach the price. I could afford it, technically, but it would blow such a gaping hole in my discretionary money. If it was even ~$100 less I might consider it but that price makes me ill.

[shinhito]

I tried to order the BD set from Amazon Japan, but the online form would not allow me to properly input my zip code. It requested a half-width font. Can someone in the US directly order from Amazon Japan? If so, what am I doing wrong? Also, I am much less than fluent in Japanese. Would it be better for me to wait until it comes westward for English subtitles? Thanks for any help.

Yes, I ordered my set from Amazon Japan and I live in the US. You know on Amazon Japan you can change a good portion of the website into English. Right when you arrive at Amazon.co.jp on the top blue bar there's a link that says "In English". Or while you're browsing a lot of times there will be a place that says "View this page in English? Click Here."

Here is a screenshot of where to click.

SPOILER: Show

So I would suggest changing the page into the English format first and then attempting to sing up for an account and then ordering.

As for if you should wait for a western release or not, that is really up to you to decide. A western release may never come (just look at what's going on with Funimation and Eva 3.0) and even if it does it probably won't be in as fancy as a form as this set is. So buying this without knowing much Japanese would be mainly as a collectors item. Also a western release will most certainly not come with as many extras as this set. Another thing to add is that there are ways to rip the Blu-rays and add subtitles to them if you're so inclined but that does take a little bit of technical know-how. So really, just weigh all those pros and cons for yourself.

And this is for MoroNoKimi: where are you getting that $500 price from?! The total cost from Amazon.co.jp for the Blu-ray set was $240.96 with shipping.

[Nuclear Lunchbox]

I ordered from CDJapan. For both the BD set and the DVD set and shipping, the whole thing came to $498. I'm likewise confused as to where that high number is coming from.

[MoroNoKimi]

I was looking at this: http://www.evastore.jp/pc/index.php?toid=PC_ARTICLE&fromid=PC_STORE_TOP&article_id=20987
So admittedly ~$500 at current exchange rate is still too high of an estimate even with shipping, but when I last checked amazon.jp (this was a few months ago) the price was closer to that. I now see the 30,369 yen price (I guess the higher price is for yet another variation?)

JFC there are a lot of versions of this.

[shinhito]

I was looking at this: http://www.evastore.jp/pc/index.php?toid=PC_ARTICLE&fromid=PC_STORE_TOP&article_id=20987
So admittedly ~$500 at current exchange rate is still too high of an estimate even with shipping, but when I last checked amazon.jp (this was a few months ago) the price was closer to that. I now see the 30,369 yen price (I guess the higher price is for yet another variation?)

JFC there are a lot of versions of this.

You were probably looking at the Danbo "First Printing" version of the Blu-ray which came with a limited edition Seele figurine thing.

The normal version of the Blu-Ray is ¥30,369 which in USD is $250.46 at this moment.

[Nuclear Lunchbox]

The yen's trading pretty low at the moment, too (thank you based Chinese stock market crash) which is why I opted to buy both the BD and DVD sets. I knew I'd want the DVD set later at some point, so I figured I could just buy both of 'em now and save a little bit of money-- or maybe a lot of money, since the yen was trading at around 80 to the dollar a mere three years ago, and it was trading at 121 to the dollar when I bought the set today!

The time to buy would certainly seem to be now.

[svenge]

I was looking at this: http://www.evastore.jp/pc/index.php?toid=PC_ARTICLE&fromid=PC_STORE_TOP&article_id=20987
So admittedly ~$500 at current exchange rate is still too high of an estimate even with shipping, but when I last checked amazon.jp (this was a few months ago) the price was closer to that. I now see the 30,369 yen price (I guess the higher price is for yet another variation?)

JFC there are a lot of versions of this.

There's about 20 different Japanese retailers who are offering their own exclusive bonus items with purchase of the Blu-ray and/or Archive sets. Some of the more notable ones are the "SEELE Danbo" from Amazon Japan, the Rei mousepad from CDJapan, the Rubik's Cube from HMV Japan, and physical copies of the script for Episode 1 (Blu-ray) and Episode 26 (Archives) from the Evangelion Store.

The way I see it, they serve 2 purposes for retailers:
1) Lets them try to actively drive purchasers towards their store.
2) Allows them to sell copies with those items for a higher price-point than otherwise.

As you can see from the Amazon "Blu-ray + Danbo" listing, Amazon gets to sell that combo for full MSRP (￥41040) instead of the heavily-discounted ￥30369 that they sell the Blu-ray set by itself. Obviously it doesn't cost ￥10000 ($82) to produce that Danbo, even with the kickbacks to Kiyohiko Azuma and ASCII Media Works!

Of course this also means that retailers who cannot afford to be as aggressive as Amazon on their stand-alone pricing can still generate enough demand and thus profit by having an attractive bonus item. It's a win-win, provided that people who don't want the bonus items have the choice of buying the boxes by themselves at a relatively lower price (which did happen in this instance).

[KRandMJ]

I tried to order the BD set from Amazon Japan, but the online form would not allow me to properly input my zip code. It requested a half-width font. Can someone in the US directly order from Amazon Japan? If so, what am I doing wrong? Also, I am much less than fluent in Japanese. Would it be better for me to wait until it comes westward for English subtitles? Thanks for any help.

Maybe this will help.
[url]http://cdn.halcyonrealms.com/Japan/how-to-order-from-amazon-japan-a-detailed-buying-guide/

It's possible that it'll get re-licensed for Blu-ray, but who knows when that will happen and/or how badly the eventual licensee will botch it.

I'm still of the opinion that this will be a limited release like its 2003 "Renewal" monolith counterpart, so if you can spare the $252.40 (assuming you're Stateside) that it costs from Amazon Japan I'd do it. You may well not get a second chance for some time.

$252.40?
How is the Shipping fee?
Can I use my Amazon(U.S.) account for purchases on Amazon(Japan)?

I included the shipping fee in my quote (note that they use DHL for Japan -> US shipments). You'll have to create a separate Amazon Japan account to order it, but it's pretty easy to do so.

I'm sold...What the hell do I put under "Phonetic"
http://i.imgur.com/l7c7CnP.png

Just put your name in there again.

The form's original intent was for Japanese people to put their full name (typically consisting of kanji and hiragana) in the first box and a phonetic representation of their name (using katakana) in the second box. Obviously that concept doesn't exactly carry over in Western languages, but that's just how Amazon Japan's account database is...

Uhhhh... What the difference between "Address Line 1 & 2"?
Sorry, I don't want to screw this up.
http://i.imgur.com/zQFye9w.png

Also Thanks!

Address Line 1 is for your residence's physical address (e.g. "1 Main Street"). Do not put a PO Box there.

Address Line 2 is if you live in an apartment building or other multi-residence building. Were you to live in Apartment 37Q of 1 Main Street, you would put just "Apartment 37Q" in that line. If you live in a single-residence building (like a house) then leave it blank.

Thank you Svenge, you have been very helpful!

[ath]

the Rei mousepad from CDJapan

That thing is unusable - it's barely larger than a regular mouse.

[pwhodges]

Some people set their mouse that sensitive, though; several of my users at work could easily find it handy. Mind you, I'll be a bit disappointed if it's the same mousemat they already sent me with Q - that would be a waste of effort!

[vito]

With Amazon Japan giving both 26% discount and deducting Japanese sales tax at the checkout, the price isn't that bad, given you essentially get a definite version of the original series & movie. Their shipping is pretty cheap, given it's counted as one item.

I very much doubt the Japanese companies are eager to license this in the States, so that a company can release a $100 set which will end up reverse imported and listed on Amazon Japan by 3rd party sellers.

I mean honestly, the US companies will probably reduce the disc count (lower bitrate), possible omit even some extras. I think the Japanese set is the way to go, if you want a collector's item.

[svenge]

Mind you, I'll be a bit disappointed if it's the same mousemat they already sent me with Q - that would be a waste of effort!

CDJapan's 3.33 mouse pad was different than the one for the TV Blu-ray box. Of course the supply of both mouse pads is now exhausted, but still...

[pwhodges]

Right - I'd forgotten the first actually has 3.33 written on it!