"Kirben" wrote:So far I'm hearing too many excuses, about why not to buy an item. In a thread which is asking for a company, to re-release an anime series for sale.
I totally agree that it doesn't make sense!
I am really not against what you are saying. I'm not trying to say otherwise, although I do have a little bit of difficulty explaining what I really mean.
I'm not one to advocate illegal downloading: almost all of my .mp3s (say 95% *at least*) are actually bought and of those who aren't, it's often because the CDs aren't even available anymore and sometimes because for some reason most of an artist's CDs have been available in mp3/WMA for years, but not a particular song or album. That's my personal stand.
"Kirben" wrote:The current price is around $95-100 AUD, and I expect you could find it cheaper, if you waited for sale. While they price may seem high, it is available to buy. The first two episodes are 48 minutes, with the extras disc offering 90 minutes total.
The first two episodes are 48 minutes, but about half of these were, after all, included in the North American version, and I think there may even be a little more 1980s extras in Manga's set (though they do not have the first 1963 episode), not to mention the subtitles available only on Manga's. If one has to choose one over the other, it's a really difficult choice to make and where one lives will probably play a role in deciding which version to buy.
"Kirben" wrote:The combination of DVD release from Manga Entertainment, and the extras disc from Madman Entertainment, offers the complete 1980s series in Japanese, with English subtitles. While they are still edits to episodes, it is as close as we can get to an uncut release of the 1980s series.
Oh I agree, I own both sets myself and I do not regret buying either. But if Manga's set had been available at the time I ordered Madman's, I probably wouldn't have bothered with the latter even though I would have been really really sad over the two halves episodes missing.
As for DVD players, DVD zones aren't the biggest problem. The biggest problem is the PAL format that is still not compatible with most DVD players here. In fact my only PAL capable player just gave out and I didn't have too many choices in finding a replacement. If you are an anime fan, that item is a must, but if you are just an Astroboy fan, it adds to the cost, unless you are fine with being able to watch the series only through a computer. Quite frankly, if I had had only the Astroboy series as PAL DVDs, I may not have bought a replacement, or may have waited (now of course I've watched those two full Japanese episodes so it's not like I'm dying to see them even though I do enjoy them very much).
Anyway, I was just trying to convey that even though I'm personally for buying through legal channels and even though I do that most of the time, for an average fan of the 1980 series in North America, it's pretty hard to come to the conclusion that the 24 minutes missing footage is worth it so much. One has to be a VERY big Astroboy fan right now to buy Madman's set since it would really only be for those missing 24 minutes footage. If I had just fallen in love again with Astroboy right now, I'd have a bit of a though time trying to convince myself that I would enjoy that part so much that it would be worth so much money, even if there was no way to watch it through the Internet. My heart would have said it's worth it, but logically, unless one really has a lot of money available, it's hard to conclude that it makes sense. In practice, it's Manga's set that I watch - I love the subtitles and I can watch the series on any of my TV sets. I only keep the extras from Madman's close and stored the rest elsewhere. Many members here owe a lot to Madman - in some old threads, many members, myself included, were ecstatic when their boxset arrived and we're all so glad they included the missing footage of those episodes with subtitles! So while I can't say it's fair to Madman to download their work, at the same time, I totally see why few fans would want to buy the boxset. It's sad that their extra disc is the only one that was never available separately.
That being said, I am glad to know that Madman's set cost a lot less now than it did 5 years ago (sounds like it's about half of what it was). I'm also happy that it should still be available in the near future. This is good news!
I really do not want to discourage anyone from buying it - this is a totally cool thing to own for a big 1980 Astroboy fan!