Made it to week two of this thing. POW! The distinct lack of other posts this week was due to my attempt at getting crippling RSI via Dynasty Warriors.
As there is only one thing released this week, let me weigh in on the whole ADV shutting up shop in the UK temporarily malarky. With the weak dollar, it’s the sensible thing to do. As nice as ADV’s UK office was (I dealt with them occasionally in my three years at Videolog), they were the only US anime company that had a UK office (Beez are part of a bigger, global organisation, that isn’t so reliant on anime, namely Bandai).
I imagine whoever puts out ADV’s content in the end will be getting a good deal with the weakness of the dollar, and ADV no longer have to pay what must have been becoming an increasingly expensive UK staff.
And now the one thing released this week!
Tales From Earthsea
Optimum have done a fantastic job with Ghibli releases over the past few years. Not just in terms of DVD releases, but cinema releases too. Many small, local and arthouse cinemas has shown this film over the past few months, meaning that it’s had a good chance to gather fans before it’s DVD release. It’s also meant that this and the other Ghibli films that have had the same tour of screens, have picked up fans that are outside the ghetto anime fandom. My mum owns a copy of Spirited Away for instance.
So, should you buy this on Monday? Well, I’ve not seen it, so I’m going to use two pieces of information to guide me. Firstly, it’s not been that well received. Secondly, if you are willing to wait, Optimum DVDs can usually be picked up for less than a tenner. So, unless you’ve seen it already and were a big fan, I’d wait until you can pick it up at a reduced price.