Blu-ray only?

[JDWMaine]

I was looking forward to someone licensing this, and was happy that it was NIS America. Then I re-read the release and saw nothing about a DVD release. Maybe I'm in the minority now, but I don't own a Blu-ray player, so I hope there will also be a DVD release down the line.

[SegaValkyrian]

I'm hoping for a DVD release as well.I have a PS3 but I do want others to pick up Occult Academy.

[sideways]

i love the series but i'm also disappointed that its blu-ray only - please do a dvd release as well

[Daverost]

I'm surprised people still don't have blu-ray players. I mean I know people that don't, but it still surprises me.

You can get them for like $60. Just hold off on a game and pick one up. The format's not going anywhere and DVD is long since on the way out.

[JDWMaine]

A Blu-ray by itself may be around $60. However.... a Blu-ray drive may not work on my old desktop. A Blu-ray player may not work on my non-flat screen, non-HDTV. So I may be looking at much more than $60 to watch this.

[vampko]

A Blu-ray by itself may be around $60. However.... a Blu-ray drive may not work on my old desktop. A Blu-ray player may not work on my non-flat screen, non-HDTV. So I may be looking at much more than $60 to watch this.

You are really behind the times. I understand that it can be difficult to keep up, but you are very far behind. I understand why NISA is doing this. Many people have moved on and don't honestly care for the DVD version. I know I don't. And it only costs them more money to have both DVD and Blu-Ray. Blu-rays also can hold more anime on a disc, which is also really nice.

The first thing I would suggest is getting a better TV. Well, upgrading your desktop would be ideal, but that might be more than you can afford for sure. So, starting off with the TV should be helpful.

[Daverost]

A Blu-ray by itself may be around $60. However.... a Blu-ray drive may not work on my old desktop. A Blu-ray player may not work on my non-flat screen, non-HDTV. So I may be looking at much more than $60 to watch this.

A blu-ray player will work on an SDTV. You won't really get to enjoy the quality difference, but it will work.

[Mc-Taz]

There is also the option of connecting a Blu-ray player to a computer monitor via HDMI to DVI cable, if the monitor doesn't support HDMI already. As long as the monitor is a flat panel that has a DVI connector that supports HDCP, then that's one way to go about it. The majority of flat panel monitors support 720p, if not 1080p natively in this way. So this is one way to avoid an expensive HDTV purchase and still be able to enjoy the increased definition Blu-ray has to offer. I personally connect my PCs and PS3 through my computer monitor this way and it works great for me.

As others have mentioned already, most Blu-ray players will support output to SD TVs through either composite or component RCA connections, but without HDCP support on those connectors the output will be automatically downscaled to standard definition.

I look forward to more and more titles being released on Blu-ray, but for those who still prefer DVD maybe they will consider releasing a DVD standard edition later on. I am actually surprised that NISA is the first NA anime distributor to release something as Blu-ray only. I am a supporter of Blu-ray in general though, so I do applaud them for it.

[Daverost]

Well blu-ray as a format has been out for almost six years and it's pretty affordable now. It's about damn time that DVD is on the way out.

[Scruffy]

I like the idea of a BluRay release, but I do have one request. Can you PLEASE not region lock the BluRay? If you do it will mean that I cannot import it into New Zealand as we are in region B.

BTW .. this was an awesome show.

[Mc-Taz]

It's really hard to see from the expanded packaging image from RightStuf's listing, but it does appear to have a Region A logo on the discs there. It is probably within their licensing agreement to only produce and release it for Region A, so I don't know if they would be able to produce discs for Region B without renegotiating the licensing with Aniplex. I guess you will have to hear from them directly if it will be otherwise though.

[Scruffy]

Darn .. it will be a pain if it's region locked. It's relatively easy to get a region free DVD player but you can only get Region free BluRay player of you do hardware mods, or buy a BluRay drive for your computer. I do know that the PMMM BluRays by Aniplex USA are region free, where as BluRays by Sentai Filmworks are region locked.

The only reason I comment on this is that there is a reasonable number of shows that never get licensed in AU/NZ. For instance noone has yet picked up Toradora! which IMHO is insane considering that it the poster child for romantic comedy/drama

[formerroadie]

I like the idea of a BluRay release, but I do have one request. Can you PLEASE not region lock the BluRay? If you do it will mean that I cannot import it into New Zealand as we are in region B.

BTW .. this was an awesome show.

Buy a region unlocked BD player. They aren't that expensive.

[latte]

I was kind of shocked to see this as blu-ray only. I could understand if it were a blu-ray/dvd combo set, but blu-ray only is very limiting.

I have a ps3 so I could play it, but outside gamer friends who also have a ps3, I don't know anyone who owns a blu-ray player. And those gamer friends usually only collect games, they aren't buying movies. I am the other way around...buying lots of movies and only some games. But I personally don't buy blu-ray unless the quality is significantly better (i.e. some distributor made an ugly dvd transfer).

So...I can see where this may limit sales unless blu-ray really picks up in the next year or so. There are some people who haven't gone blu-ray yet and don't plan to.

[Mc-Taz]

There are also people who haven't gone DVD yet, and don't plan to.

But in all seriousness, Blu-ray is definitely starting to pick up in the market. I will admit that I have no hard facts or sales numbers to actually back up my statement, but the prices of Blu-ray players in general are now basically comparable to DVD players. You can even get Blu-ray burners for desktop PCs for roughly the same price. Authoring software is a bit of a different story, however.

I think if you don't give people a reason to upgrade, they probably won't consider it very seriously. While the scope of the anime market itself is not very big, anime fans are typically considered early adopters of new technology. I could see the switch to Blu-ray in the anime realm being widely adopted sooner than you see it happen in other home video releases for this reason. At the same time though, it would be nice for the other mediums to push it a bit more so that prices can drop further and be more affordable across the board. It's all just a matter of time for it to happen.