While Region 1 anime is a lot cheaper compare to Region 2 ones, anime series are still at least twice as much as regular TV series or movies in North America. And among the anime distributors, Aniplex USA is no doubt the most notorious for its expensive price tags.
It's pretty much common sense that Aniplex USA's prices are at least twice of other anime series. That's the only reason why I haven't bought the DVDs for the very highly acclaimed Durarara. I would definitely love to own the series, but not for that price. 後悔なんて、あるわけない。
When Neko-tan and Magic Frog were talking about the North American license for Puella Magi Madoka Magica but forgetting who the distributor was, I recalled telling Neko-tan before that it would likely have nice packaging but be expensive. As soon as I repeated that description, I immediately re-linked the forgotten name to be Aniplex USA.
So with much anxiety and worry (for my wallet), I considered the possible release options and waited for the news. 夢の中で逢った、ような……
The verdict is here. The 12-episode series will be released in three parts in the limited BD/DVD edition, and regular BD and DVD versions.
Recent trend in the limited BD releases in Japan often include extras such as soundtracks, commentaries, booklets, etc. North American releases usually don't get any of this due to copyrights and labour cost reasons. I was quite shocked to learn that the limited editions of Madoka come with the soundtracks (no commentary tracks, though, and all other extras are negligible IMO)! 奇跡も、魔法も、あるんだよ。それはとっても嬉しいなって～
But I under-estimated Aniplex USA. あたしって、ほんとバカ。
Even for the regular BD version, it comes to US$10 per episode before tax. そんなの、あたしが許さない！ I'm not going to hope for reasonable prices from Aniplex USA again... もう誰にも頼らない！
本当の気持ちと向き合えますか? Yes, which is why I'm NOT going to buy this. While Madoka is interesting for a mahou shoujo show and I think QB is really cute, it's not high up on my list to deserve the big investment.
Luckily, Neko-tan pointed out an alternative: Region 3 BD. There probably won't be any of the BD extras, but the price tag will be within reach. 最後に残った道しるべ！ It's also translated by Haniwa! I haven't followed up on Haniwa's blog and stuff for many years, but I know I can always trust the quality of his work. わたしの、最高の友達～
So now all I need to worry about is the Region 1 release for Fate/Zero. Having seen the price tags of Madoka, I won't be taken off guard when the time comes for Fate/Zero. もう何も恐くない。 orz
PS. If you watched Madoka, you'd recognize the Japanese phrases randomly inserted throughout the post to be the 12 episode titles for the series. They weren't planned at first. I just felt like putting them all in after I wrote in the post title. Some of them don't really fit, but... meh! XD
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