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ANIME CORNER UPDATES ***
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Updates
Roundup
I have good news and
bad news to report this morning!
First, the Ikki Tousen Dragon Destiny #3 DVD that has been
delayed so many times in the past few months has arrived and is now
IN STOCK and SHIPPING! We have plenty of copies everyone, so come
and get them. YEAH!!!!!
On the heals of the arrival of Vol #3, Media Blasters informed us
that the Dragon Destiny Boxed set has now been delayed.
It is being removed from the current release schedule and will
reappear for release sometime next year. So for you folks that were
holding out for the cheap boxed set, you'll need to buy the singles
if you want to see the entire series this year.
Funimation, due to the wrong content being on one of the
disks, has recalled the new Birdy the Mighty: Decode Part 1 DVD Box (Eps
#1-13) (Part # FN-06720) - you know, the one that just arrived
a couple days ago. Funi will be remaking a batch of new Birdy
boxes, and they will ship them to us together with the 2nd half boxed set which is due to street on
November 30th. We have suspended all in process shipments of Birdy
(they will automatically become pre-orders for the fixed box), and
will be pulling our remaining inventory for return to Funi. For you
the folks that already have it, just
e-mail us to request a replacement ticket. We will setup an
automatic shipment to you for a fixed box once they arrive next
month.
One more delay to report - Funimation moved the upcoming One Piece Season 3 Part 4 DVD Boxed Set (Eps
#179-191) from December 21st to January 25th. ~sigh~
And finally, Funimation has reduced the MSRP on the Negima Season 2 Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set
(Eps #1-26) FN-07763 from $69.98 to $49.98. We lowered our
regular price from $49.98 to just $34.98, and the set is in stock
and shipping at the new price now!
2011 Import Calendars - Now
Available for Pre Order!
We'll, after lots of consideration we've decided to
take the plunge against a really terrible exchange rate and
bring a few 2011 import calendars in this year. We've placed
advanced orders for these, and they are now up on the site fore
pre-order:
Angel Beats 2011 Calendar (Japanese
Import) (A2)
Bleach A 2011 Calendar (Japanese Import) (A2)
Bleach B 2011 Calendar (Japanese Import) (B2)
Code Geass Lelouch Rebellion R2 2011 Calendar (Japanese Import)
(A2)
DragonBall Kai 2011 Calendar (Japanese Import) (A2)
Gintama 2011 Calendar (Japanese Import) (A2)
Hetalia 2011 Calendar (Japanese Import)(A2)
Ikki Tousen Xtreme Xecutor 2011 Calendar (Japanese Import)
(A2)
Ladies Versus Butlers! (Redi x Bato!) 2011 Calendar (Japanese
Import) (A2)
Maid Sama! 2011 Calendar (Japanese Import) (A2)
Mayoi Neko Overrun! 2011 Calendar (Japanese Import) (A2)
Naruto Shippuden A 2011 Calendar (Japanese Import) (A2)
Naruto Shippuden B 2011 Calendar (Japanese Import) (B2)
One Piece 2011 Calendar (Japanese Import) (A2)
Rebuild of Evangelion 2.0 2011 Calendar (Japanese Import)
(A2)
To Aru Kagaku no Railgun 2011 Calendar (Japanese Import)
(A2)
We'll close the pre-order window on each as our allocation sells
out, and we should start shipping these in December. I told our
vendor in Tokyo to try to ship them all to us at one time if
possible.
Funimation's January 2011
Releases - Now Available for Pre Order!
Funimation has given us their January 2011 release schedule,
and we now have it available on the store site for pre-order.
Here's what's coming:
Black Butler Season 1 Part 1 DVD
Collection (Eps #1-12)
Disgaea Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set (Eps
#1-26)
Gantz Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set (Eps #1-26)
(Classic Collection)
Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom DVD Collection #1
(Eps #1-13)
Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom DVD Collection #2 (Eps
#14-26)
Sacred Blacksmith Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set
(Eps #1-12)
Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE OVA Collection
DVD
Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE OVA Collection DVD (BLURAY)
This release schedule, if you'll notice, is significantly
different than what we've been getting from Funi for the last few
months. Gone are the dozens of recycled series reissues, reprices,
and economy boxes and replacing them is a streamlined list that
contains lots of actual new material. It's good to see they are
actually listening to us. :-)
More here.
Section 23's January 2011
Releases - Now Available for Pre Order!
Section 23 has given us their January 2011 release schedule,
and we now have it available on the store site for pre-order.
Here's what's coming:
11 Eyes Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set (Eps
#1-12)
Ghost Sweeper Mikami TV Series
Collection #2 (Eps #13-23)
Kampfer Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set (Eps
#1-12)
Koihime Muso Complete Collection DVD
Boxed Set (Eps #1-13)
All sexy Anime series that fall right into Section 23's niche.
Note that there are no dubbed shows on the list, and Section 23
seems to have settled into a routine of about one release per week
- of course, at 12 or 13 episodes of something per week, it's
really quite a lot of content coming in small economical packages.
After their experiment with dubs over the summer I think they have
discovered that in the current environment it's really hard to
recoup the cost to dub a niche show. They may dub more shows going
forward, but I'm sure they will choose which titles very
carefully.
More here.
State
of the Industry - Market Share By Company
ICv2 recently sent us a copy of their quarterly
industry magazine, which included a detailed analysis of Anime
company video market share. The results may be a surprise to
you:
Percentage of Anime market share:
Funimation 39%
Disney 25%
Viz 13%
Bandai 6%
Sony 4%
Section 23 3%
Media Blasters 3%
Manga Video (Starz) 2%
Other* 5%
*'Other' would include folks like NIS, Nozomi, Discotek, and
companies like Urban Vision, AnimEigo that still have legacy
products that, while probably discontinued, are still shipping from
distributors warehouses. I figure Nozomi and NIS's market share are
probably around 1% each.
In a separate article, ICv2 recently estimated the current size of
the R1 Anime market this year at around $160 Million, which
represents about a 65-70% decline over the peak 4-5 years ago. That
peak was in 2005-2006, before Geneon went under in 2007 and pulled
all their titles off the market.
Now, as much as we like all the Miyazaki titles that Disney
publishes, we really need to take those numbers out of the equation
when speaking about the 'core' Anime market. Disney's marketing
machine can put titles like Spirited Away (which have a unique position in
the market to begin with) in high volume places that will never
ever see a regular Anime show (places like Costco), and thus they
tend to sell in such high quantities that they schew the stats.
It's worth noting, by the way, that Disney is still carrying 25% of
the market and has only released one new title in the Anime
category in the past year. Wow.
If we take Disney out, we see a picture of a 'core' R1 industry
that currently has around $120 Million in annual revenue. The
leading company, Funimation, carries half of the market share,
while Viz has around 17-18% (which is mostly made up from sales of
Bleach and Naruto), and then all the other regulars
(Bandai, Section 23, and MB) are left to fight for what is left
over. In fact, if you calculate the probable annual revenue for
companies like Section 23 or Media Blasters based on market share
vs. market size (maybe what, around $5-8 Million in annual revenue
each?), you get a picture of how small these companies really are -
i.e., why Section 23 isn't dubbing much, why Media Blasters is
looking to vending machines for alternative sources of revenue, why
Bandai is going off the handle starting their own store (setting
the dial to dumb - again), and why Navarre wants to sell off
Funimation while it's still worth selling.
As a final note, these market share numbers clearly demonstrate
that 'how Funimation goes, so goes the industry', which is why
we're so concerned about what's going to happen to Funi under new
ownership. But I guess that's just Karma.
Anyway, no one has done a 'market share' chart for awhile, and I
thought it might put some of the happenings of late, and some of
our collective worries, into a little clearer perspective.
It
also shows clearly why some companies can do certain things, and
others can't.
Anime Word
of the Week
Will return next week... - until
then, a little online philosophy - click here for more.
Odds and Sods
The wraparound jacket band on the
60th volume of Eiichiro Oda's One Piece pirate manga highlights the
fact that the series has over 200 million copies
in print. The volume officially ships next month. Wow.
Entertainment figure and former
Morning Musume idol singer Nozomi Tsuji posted a Sunday blog entry
to deny reports that she wanted to name her second baby after the
Dragon Ball anime hero Goku. Tsuji was responding to reports by
Nikkan Sports and other media outlets that claimed otherwise last
week. HEH.
Advertising for the seventh volume of Minari Endo's Maria
Holic manga has revealed that the second season of the television
anime adaptation has been green-lit. Akiyuki Shinbo is returning to
direct the animators at SHAFT. I wish I had been so creative when I
named MY company! :-)
Finally, the official website for the K-ON!
anime franchise has announced on Friday that production on a new
side-story episode has been green-lit for K-ON!! Pony Canyon will
include the episode in the ninth Japanese Blu-ray Disc/DVD volume
on March 16, 2011.
Hot off the
Truck - Just Arrived!
Just one new early arrival today
from Funi that has just hit the dock:
Blassreiter Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set (Eps
#1-24)
This title won't be updated on the site until later today, but it
is in stock and available to ship with orders going out
today!
New Arrivals In
Stock this Week
This week we have more great new DVD arrivals,
including the much anticipated Ikki Tousen Dragon Destiny, Vol #3, Sousou's
Ambition (Eps #9-12)! We also have the UtaKata DVD Complete Collection, the Oh! Edo Rocket Season 1 Collection, and the
reissue of three series - Trigun, Gunslinger Girl Season 2: Il Teatrino, and the
2nd season of World of Magic Knight Rayearth Complete Collection
Season 2 - all for your viewing pleasure!
New manga in stock
this week include Bamboo Blade , Vol #6, Tena on S-String , Vol #4, Cat Paradise , Vol #5, Kingyo Used Books , Vol #2, Vagabond, Vol #33, Graphic Novel, and
several new series like the Darkstalkers/Red Earth: Maleficarum Graphic
Novel, March Story , and the Card Captor Sakura, Omnibus Edition #1.
And finally ,we
have a few more new figures in stock this week from Kotobukiya
including the gorgeous Evangelion: Rei Ayanami Yukata Version 1/8 Scale
PVC Figure, the latest Armored Core: Silent Line Potable Crest Assault
Type Fine Scale Model Kit and the Black Lagoon: Second Barrage Revy 1/8 Scale PVC
Figure that Jun planning denied us last year. That REALLY BIG
figure shipment that I promised you last week actually hit the dock
this morning, but it's going to take the better part of today to
sort through and unpack the pallets, so all that stuff won't be
updated on the site until probably Monday - unless I decide I
absolutely can't wait and do a small update over the weekend.
Hmmmmm..... -_^
That's
all for this issue! Have a great weekend everyone - and, enjoy your
Anime!
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***
RACS
'Sustain the Industry' Video Challenge
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In
a recent newsletter I highlighted how a small movement has appeared via YouTube titled "Sustain the Industry," in which fans detail
their monthly anime-related purchases in an attempt to encourage
fans to purchase anime DVDs, manga volumes, and/or
merchandise.
We've decided to
take the original concept to the next level, and offer a $25 merchandise coupon to any
RACS fans who posts a YouTube video in that thread
highlighting what they purchased from the Anime Corner Store. We're
calling this our RACS 'Sustain the Industry' Video Challenge.
The rules are very simple. All
you have to do is place an order on the Corner Store, create and post your video
(remember, you have the show the receipt in the video - and make
sure to show your stuff too!), and then e-mail me with your NAME, the video's LINK (the
URL) AND your RACS ORDER NUMBER and I'll e-mail you back with a $25
Anime Corner coupon code that can be used on your next order.
One code per customer please. Please only plug your purchase at
RACS in your video. Order highlighted in your video must have been
placed on or after Sept 1st, 2010. Offer is good for video's posted
through the end of October, so crank up those video cameras and get
some free Anime from RACS!
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UtaKata DVD Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set (Eps
#1-13)
Two years ago, Shibuya was ravaged by a biological
terrorist attack using the deadly Ua virus. Maria Osawa was saved
when her father inoculated her against the virus, but is left with
partial amnesia from the shock. Now working as a cameraman, she
reunited with her friend Canaan in Hong Kong. Canaan is an assassin
gifted with synesthesia, and she's being targeted by the terrorist
squad Snake. Meanwhile, numerous groups converge on Hong Kong, all
after either Canaan or Maria.
Ikki Tousen Dragon Destiny, Vol #3, Sousou's
Ambition (Eps #9-12)
With Sonsaku's apparent death, Nanyou's position in
the Kanto region is in question. Discussions with Seito bring
Koumei's long-term plans into focus, and the two schools join
forces against their common foe, Kyoshou. Its leader, Sousou,
continues to lose more of himself to his ancient namesake and when
he is consumed entirely, it's his friend who pays the price.
History continues to be replayed, and the circumstances leading to
another Battle of Red Cliffs fall inexorably in place. When dragons
appear in the sky, only an ancient orb can change the tide for
those fighting against their destinies.
Oh! Edo Rocket Season 1 Collection #1 (Eps
#1-13)
In Edo during the mid-1800's, fireworks maker
Seikichi Tamaya and his friends struggle to live under the harsh
frugality laws imposed by the strict city magistrate, which ban all
luxuries, including fireworks. One day, a strange girl stops by
Seikichi's shop with an equally strange request: she wants Seikichi
to build a firework that can reach the moon.
Trigun Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set (Eps
#1-26)
Vash the Stampede is a wanted man
with a habit of turning entire towns into rubble. The price on his
head is a fortune, and his path of destruction reaches across the
arid wastelands of a desert planet. Unfortunately, most encounters
with the spiky-haired gunslinger don't end well for the bounty
hunters who catch up with him; someone almost always gets hurt -
and it's never Vash. Oddly enough, for such an infamous fugitive,
there's no proof that he's ever taken a life. In fact, he's a
pacifist with a doughnut obsession who's more doofus than
desperado. There's a whole lot more to him than his reputation lets
on - Vash the Stampede definitely ain't your typical
outlaw.
Gunslinger Girl Season 2: Il Teatrino DVD Boxed Set
(Viridian Collection)
The girls of the Social Welfare Agency are no
ordinary children. They are the grizzly remains of human wreckage
pieced back together with cybernetic implants and trained to kill
by the government. The oldest, Triela, pursues her targets with a
ferocious enthusiasm - unwilling to settle for less than total
annihilation. Her mirror in this bloody stalemate is Pinocchio, a
shell of a boy raised as an assassin by the FRF - a terrorist
faction at war with the SWA. Cold and cruelly efficient, he wields
sharpened steel as though it were his own hand. Once human, these
shattered souls have become murderous machines with only vague
recollections of what it meant to be real - and a brutal compulsion
to be the last killer standing.
World of Magic Knight Rayearth Season 2 DVD Boxed
Set (Eps #21-49) (Remastered)
The Pillar of Cephiro is dead. The
Magic Knights, Hikaru, Umi and Fuu are filled with the sadness of
the tragedy and resolve to return to Cephiro and do something to
help its people.
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New
Arrivals - Now In Stock!
20th Century Boys (Naoki Urasawa's), Vol #11,
Graphic Novel
Alice the 101st , Vol #2, Graphic Novel
Bamboo Blade , Vol #6, Graphic Novel
Bunny Drop , Vol #2, Graphic Novel
Card Captor Sakura, Omnibus Edition #1, Graphic
Novel (576 pgs)
Case Closed, Vol #36, Graphic Novel
Cat Paradise , Vol #5, Graphic Novel
Chi's Sweet Home , Vol #3, Graphic Novel
Darkstalkers/Red Earth: Maleficarum Graphic
Novel
Kingyo Used Books , Vol #2, Graphic Novel
Laon , Vol #3, Graphic Novel
March Story , Vol #1, Graphic Novel
One Fine Day , Vol #3, Graphic Novel
Tena on S-String , Vol #4, Graphic Novel
Vagabond, Vol #33, Graphic Novel
Vampire Knight Official Fan Book (208 pgs)
With the Light , Vol #7, Graphic
Novel
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*** FIGURE &
TOY UPDATE ***
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Upcoming Figures Recently Posted for
Pre-Order:
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***
TRADE IN YOUR DVDs, CDs, MANGA, or GAMES - IT'S
EASY! ***
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Did you know that you can trade in
your previously viewed DVD's, CD's, Manga, and Video Games for
store credit?
Trading in your excellent condition previously
owned stuff for credit is now very easy, and we've even expanded
the program for some non-Anime items too! Just click on this link
to see the trade in values of your used stuff, then pack-up your
items and send them to us - there is no need to contact us first or
obtain an authorization number. Once they arrive and are inspected,
we'll e-mail you with a special credit code you can spend on our
store.
It's
that easy!
So
why just let your stuff collect dust? Trade it in and get
something you really want!
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