Hey Answerman,
I forked out the 400 bucks and bought the Blu Ray boxset of The Garden of Sinners because it had English subtitles, and now they are going to release the first Blu Ray box set of Fate/Zero with subtitles as well. Do you think that Aniplex of America will cut a deal again with Right Stuf and bring it over here for about 200 bucks cheaper like they did with KnK or will I be stuck paying another 100 dollar markup for one being sold on eBay? Will there ever be a chance for dubbing studios like Funimation to get a hold of Garden of Sinners or Fate/Zero or will American audiences always have to pay hundreds of dollars for subtitled imports of these amazing shows?
Think of it this way: if Funimation wanted Garden of Sinners or Fate/Zero, they would've grabbed them already, before Aniplex decided to release them themselves.
And as far as any sort of "discount" on the Fate/Zero boxset goes, that's... all up in the air. I know that the speculation is that Aniplex of America is planning some sort of simultaneous Western and Japanese release, but I'll believe that when I see it. Still, though, it's curious that the Fate/Zero boxset was announced with English subs in the first place, so one would have to assume that there's something going on in regards to a Western release. As they say, where there's smoke, there's usually fire.
But, I will say this: The Garden of Sinners boxset was pretty much a unilateral success for Aniplex of America. It was a gutsy move to release such a pricey product in such limited qualities, but it sold out. I'd have to think it proved to Aniplex that, in a pinch, the hardcorest of the hardcore will buy them if there's no other option. Just thinking about it logically, it seems like sort of a no-brainer; what worked once typically works a second time, right?
I know that's not what the ardent Fate/Zero fans want to hear, but that's the sad truth. And in regards to re-licensing and Funimation and all that, well, listen: think about how completely rare it is for anything to be re-licensed these days. The halcyon days of "license rescues" seem to be behind us. The popular shows once owned by the triumverate of failure known as ADV, Geneon, and CPM have already been picked over and scattered, the marrow from their bleached bones sucked dry. In the past few years, try and think of something, ANYTHING, that's had a drastic re-license or "license rescue" from Funimation or anyone else. Didn't think so.
Again, though, Fate/Zero is still airing, and though the English subs on the Japanese Blu Rays is a bit of a warning sign, it's far too new of a property to go flipping out about how much it'll cost to own, just yet.
Odds are that it'll be expensive, yes, but hold on to that hope. Or something.
Curse artboxes for having great art, you make me want to double dip on shows when I get them!!
--- Randy
