Japan's found a way to block playback of US Region A BDs

[manicsounds]

This is frustrating news, and if it becomes more widespread to other companies and countries, will be a massive problem.

First off, Japan and the US used to have different region codes for DVDs, so parallel importing US titles to Japan was not much of a concern.

With Blu-ray, Japan and the US are both Region A.
Some anime companies were concerned that Japanese fans would import titles from the US instead of buying domestic, which is smart because considering the insanely overpriced Japanese Blu-rays and boxsets, the US releases were way more reasonable.

Some anime companies licensed titles out as long as they had non-removable English subtitles, or having intertitles or credits in English only, making it harder for Japanese fans to enjoy it, especially when it covers up the original Japanese text.

The came this Blu-ray title: Inu x Boku Secret Service collection from Section 23/Sentai.

Although it has a region A and Region B logo on the back, if you play this disc on a Japanese player, this appears:


Well, this seems to be a new thing that the anime licensor has implemented....

How to bypass it? The languages menu won't help. You must go to the player's settings, to the parental lock / country code settings, and configure your player to the United States. Then it will work.

But some BD players (and programs like WinDVD) don't have a country code settings menu, and it can't be changed. If this is the case, SOL.

If other countries or companies start using this anti-loophole region locking technique, even region free players might have some issues...

[hearthesilence]

Shit, I didn't think this was possible. I didn't realize Japanese BD's were Region A either, so this is a surprise.

[David M.]

I wondered when this would happen, since there is more than one way to get an idea of the country where the player is.

WinDVD doesn't have a country settings menu? Does it derive it from the operating system itself?

[TMDaines]

Let's give people another reason to pirate stuff!

[matrixschmatrix]

I think as far as they're concerned, importing might as well be pirating- they don't make any money either way

[TMDaines]

Sorry, what? The licensors are still getting money whether the buyer is purchasing from one market or another. I'll never understand why film licensors seem to hold their customers in such contempt with all this kind of shit. The only people who get screwed over are those trying to legitimately buy a product. Pirate your stuff and you'll never have to worry about stuff like this. Can you imagine trying to play some music you've bought when abroad and being told that it will only work in a particular nation?

[hearthesilence]

Exactly. Unless you're talking about a film that's somehow split up among different owners in different markets, but how common is that? I know some films have messed up rights situations, but I think they're very much in the minority, right?

[tenia]

I think as far as they're concerned, importing might as well be pirating- they don't make any money either way

Domestic editor/distributor doesn't get money, but rightholders do. Just like when you're French, and you're buying a MoC release instead of the Gaumont one. Still some money being given, and some being received.

[jindianajonz]

I think as far as they're concerned, importing might as well be pirating- they don't make any money either way

For the distributor this is true, in the same way that as far as Pepsi is concerned anyone who buys Coke might as well be pirating Pepsi.

The fact that the product they produce can't stand up to overseas competition is more a problem with their product than anything else.

[TMDaines]

From the perspective of the consumer, this is the biggest problem with the home video market. Too many labels can rest on their laurels that they have a monopoly on a particular film in a particular region. There's no immeadiate competition so mediocrity gets pumped out. Only once your eyes are opened to imports, do you actually have a choice in how to watch a particular film.

[tenia]

I'm quite sure a lot of things happen on the video market that would be deemed illegal for other markets : BDs have a standard price (so that's price cartel), they have created a market without any competition (so it's a monopoly).

In the end, the customer is losing it all. For 95% of the people, it's "buy our stuff or die".

[manicsounds]

Consider the price gouging of Japanese anime titles:

The above mentioned "Inu x Boku SS" Blu-ray complete set from the US is 13 episodes, average $50 at retailers.
In Japan it is not available as a boxset, but 7 blu-rays available separately, with 1 or 2 episodes each, costing average $60 each!

So buy the US boxset for $50 plus importing, or buy the entire Japanese set for $350, give or take.

The problem is with the Anime companies. They are overpricing the Japanese sets making them only for a niche market, as opposed to selling them at affordable prices to make them more appealing to a bigger audience. And people complain about "Twilight Time" pricing....

[Sarky]

Consider the price gouging of Japanese anime titles:

The above mentioned "Inu x Boku SS" Blu-ray complete set from the US is 13 episodes, average $50 at retailers.
In Japan it is not available as a boxset, but 7 blu-rays available separately, with 1 or 2 episodes each, costing average $60 each!

So buy the US boxset for $50 plus importing, or buy the entire Japanese set for $350, give or take.

The problem is with the Anime companies. They are overpricing the Japanese sets making them only for a niche market, as opposed to selling them at affordable prices to make them more appealing to a bigger audience. And people complain about "Twilight Time" pricing....

There is no price gauging in Japan on anime.

In Japan, they need to recuperate the costs to produce and animate these shows. Merchandise like figures, CDs and other goods help recoup costs. The typical "manabi line" is 3,000 to 4,000 copies average (DVD+BD) to break even in Japan. DVD and Blu-ray sales are pivotal to recouping the costs of the production. Things still sell well over that line.

Nobody in Japan has any qualms about paying those prices given the work that goes into the shows, but there does exist a very small minority who want a cheaper release. And also much like us, they do prioritize which shows or movies to buy first dependant on whats offered in Japan for bonus preorder goods and then wait for a cheap release somewhere else in the world for the ones they want to own but don't want to pay much for or want the goods.

The only people who complain about anime prices in the US are those with the entitlement bug. Because even $50 is too expensive for their blood. Heck, even $40 is too expensive to anime fans in the US. It's pretty terrible. Anime fans are a whole 'nother beast that I don't think you really get or understand.

[TMDaines]

Nobody in Japan has any qualms about paying those prices given the work that goes into the shows...

The guy above does.

[Sarky]

Nobody in Japan has any qualms about paying those prices given the work that goes into the shows...

The guy above does.

He's in that minority (he's probably the second person I've ever encountered with this sort of opinion or belief) then that I mentioned that you did not. Because some shows still do 10,000+ average and some even 40,000+ average at $70-80 for 2-3 episodes and there's been a few to do over 70,000 and that's just strictly TV anime, not even counting movies or OVAs. So clearly he doesn't remotely represent the majority. The problem certainly isn't the price because nobody would pay $70-80 for 2 episodes. But people do. And we get monster sale data.

This is all clearly a foreign concept to people here so I'm probably wasting time and energy on people. No better than the people on another forum that I can't stand who simply don't get it. New things are scary to learn about.

[Sarky]

Price gouging isn't some "new thing" that's "scary". You have to consider who you're talking to in this forum.

It's extortion. Bloody minded greedy fucking capitalism. You are probably too young to even remember the Laserdisc era but the history of retail is littered with the corpses of very bad business models.

I wasn't aware that creators, artists and the like shouldn't get supported. That's essentially wat you are telling me. If an anime series or movie flops in Japan, nobody who was associated with it gets work. I guess I shouldn't buy or go to any movie ever again. I guess I shouldn't support a director's work. Or a writer's work. Anime studios and animators in general get paid crap (they work 18 hour days and grueling pace to get episodes done to air on TV) in Japan but they do it because they want to/love it.

The Japanese business model has been in place forever and it will remain that way because that's what has worked and what sustains the anime industry there. There is no problem with it. What's so hard to understand? Its not gauging nor extortion. Is it really that difficult for non-anime fans to get? It's not complicated and I honestly expected people here to be a bit more intelligent and thorough. Comparing apples to oranges here you guys, you seriously can't compare this to your expansive knowledge of the movie/retail industry (comparing it to TT, seriously? Great chuckle there.) of the US. It's seriously way more complicated than you are apparently aware.

[domino harvey]

The Japanese business model has been in place forever and it will remain that way because that's what has worked and what sustains the anime industry there. There is no problem with it. What's so hard to understand? Its not gauging nor extortion. Is it really that difficult for non-anime fans to get? It's not complicated and I honestly expected people here to be a bit more intelligent and thorough. Comparing apples to oranges here you guys, you seriously can't compare this to your expansive knowledge of the movie/retail industry (comparing it to TT, seriously? Great chuckle there.) of the US. It's seriously way more complicated than you are apparently aware.

[Sarky]

The Japanese business model has been in place forever and it will remain that way because that's what has worked and what sustains the anime industry there. There is no problem with it. What's so hard to understand? Its not gauging nor extortion. Is it really that difficult for non-anime fans to get? It's not complicated and I honestly expected people here to be a bit more intelligent and thorough. Comparing apples to oranges here you guys, you seriously can't compare this to your expansive knowledge of the movie/retail industry (comparing it to TT, seriously? Great chuckle there.) of the US. It's seriously way more complicated than you are apparently aware.

I was honestly hoping for better from this community. I guess I shouldn't have expected too much. Sad.

[knives]

When you are ranting incorrectly the response will always be one that is snide. No one here is arguing against the artists getting money, but if independent artists like Hertzfeldt and Plympton can work at a steady clip and personally release their work at an affordable price much of your argument is already sunk. Add to that that the argument that Maniac and pretty much everyone else is making is that they want to buy the best product and if that product is also the cheapest than so be it. Importing is the right of all people, not just corporations, and these insane methods of preventing importing are frankly illegal.

[George Kaplan]

Price gouging isn't some "new thing" that's "scary". You have to consider who you're talking to in this forum.

It's extortion. Bloody minded greedy fucking capitalism. You are probably too young to even remember the Laserdisc era but the history of retail is littered with the corpses of very bad business models.

I wasn't aware that creators, artists and the like shouldn't get supported. That's essentially what you are telling me. If an anime series or movie flops in Japan, nobody who was associated with it gets work. I guess I shouldn't buy or go to any movie ever again. I guess I shouldn't support a director's work. Or a writer's work. Anime studios and animators in general get paid crap (they work 18 hour days and grueling pace to get episodes done to air on TV) in Japan but they do it because they want to/love it.

The Japanese business model has been in place forever and it will remain that way because that's what has worked and what sustains the anime industry there. What's so hard to understand? Its not gauging nor extortion. Is it really that difficult for non-anime fans to get? It's not complicated and I honestly expected people here to be a bit more intelligent and thorough. Comparing apples to oranges here you guys, you seriously can't compare this to your expansive knowledge of the movie/retail industry of the US. It's seriously way more complicated than you are aware.

What you are saying is so inconsistent and ridiculous it barely merits response, especially considering the knee-jerk contempt you express for everyone here based upon a handful of responses that do not happen to agree with you, but here goes.

Firstly, no one is talking about not supporting artists of any kind - purchasing an artists' product from a licensed distributor can hardly be construed to be anything but support. Additionally, if the consumers within the Japanese market who wish to purchase products from "foreign" distributors of said product create a deleterious effect within that market then it is the result of the bad business model and decision made by the licensors within the original market, unless you are implying that that most "sacred" of capitalistic rights - the consumers' freedom within the marketplace to chose whom to buy from be strictly confined by national borders. (Which I think is what is afoot here, along with some over-zealous nationalism.) And, if that injurious effect is in fact felt it would then make nonsense of your claim that Japan's anime industry has such an impenetrable business model. Lastly, explain yourself in something resembling a coherent fashion before flying into a snit about not being understood. Or must one first be on the payroll of a Japanese anime/media corporation in order to grasp the ideas you hint at?

[George Kaplan]

I was honestly hoping for better from this community. I guess I shouldn't have expected too much. Sad.

I'm sorry but I just have to ask (someone must) - just how old are you? Eleven?

[Lord of Pirates]

The Japanese business model has been in place forever and it will remain that way because that's what has worked and what sustains the anime industry there. There is no problem with it. What's so hard to understand? Its not gouging nor extortion. Is it really that difficult for non-anime fans to get? It's not complicated and I honestly expected people here to be a bit more intelligent and thorough. Comparing apples to oranges here you guys, you seriously can't compare this to your expansive knowledge of the movie/retail industry (comparing it to TT, seriously? Great chuckle there.) of the US. It's seriously way more complicated than you are apparently aware.

It is when they want to block playback of the cheaper release. It's not about what media you like, it's about not liking absurd prices like those of the Japanese market. I'm a big fan of anime, but I would never pay the going rate in Japan, kudos to Manic for importing.

[manicsounds]

Nobody in Japan has any qualms about paying those prices given the work that goes into the shows

If nobody in Japan has any qualms with those prices, everybody in Japan would be buying those sets making those anime companies billions and billions of yen, but it's not true... I know so many people who say they don't bother with buying anime because of the cost. (If I had a choice of buying a $400 boxset of 13 episodes of a show, or spending $400 for a trip to Kyoto and staying in a nice hotel for 2 days, I'll obviously take Kyoto...)

If one Japanese anime company is relying on their 5,000 otaku fans of a certain show to pay $400 for a Blu-ray set, buy $100 figurines, $50 CDs to recoup costs of the show, they are only limiting themselves to those 5,000 fans.

If they lower the price of the Blu-ray set to a more affordable $50 range, competitive to their overseas counterparts, it's guaranteed that people who wouldn't have bothered with purchasing previously would instantly be a new consumer.

Plus these shows get money from cable TV syndication, and video rentals. Their thinking is way too small to sustain themselves.


By the way, the kudos to me for importing, yes most of my movie collection is non-Japanese, but I'll admit I didn't purchase a copy of the above mentioned title. It's just something I found out about recently on a Japanese forum.

[tenia]

Good ol' fight of selling 3 Ferraris a year or 5000 Twingos.

[Lord of Pirates]

Nobody in Japan has any qualms about paying those prices given the work that goes into the shows

If nobody in Japan has any qualms with those prices, everybody in Japan would be buying those sets making those anime companies billions and billions of yen, but it's not true... I know so many people who say they don't bother with buying anime because of the cost. (If I had a choice of buying a $400 boxset of 13 episodes of a show, or spending $400 for a trip to Kyoto and staying in a nice hotel for 2 days, I'll obviously take Kyoto...)

If one Japanese anime company is relying on their 5,000 otaku fans of a certain show to pay $400 for a Blu-ray set, buy $100 figurines, $50 CDs to recoup costs of the show, they are only limiting themselves to those 5,000 fans.

If they lower the price of the Blu-ray set to a more affordable $50 range, competitive to their overseas counterparts, it's guaranteed that people who wouldn't have bothered with purchasing previously would instantly be a new consumer.

Plus these shows get money from cable TV syndication, and video rentals. Their thinking is way too small to sustain themselves.


By the way, the kudos to me for importing, yes most of my movie collection is non-Japanese, but I'll admit I didn't purchase a copy of the above mentioned title. It's just something I found out about recently on a Japanese forum.

They also get paid whatever the licensing fee is if it's licensed in the US or elsewhere.