OZC Anime: A Little Clarification On Our Policies On Releases

A Little Clarification On Our Policies On Releases

Posted by OZC

I've been seeing a lot of requests from people in the last 2 weeks that are requesting shows that do not fall under the category of shows that we will release. It's getting to the point where some of the regular commenters and myself are getting a bit tired of endlessly repeating ourselves on my policies. Allow me to reiterate exactly what we will and will not release. Note that I use "we" here since EZ8 and ssj2_goha both provide conversions of some of my releases and as such, are also following these policies by proxy.

1. We will not release any series that is already available in the US with no improvement in quality. For example, Evangelion. It has been released in the US in it's remastered form, so there is no reason to spend the time ripping the dub to add it to the remastered footage. You want to see it? Buy it. However, in the case of Gundam Wing, there is no indication that the remaster is coming, so I release that. Many new shows get released in the US at the exact same quality level as Japan as far as DVD goes. Remasters tend to only get done on shows from the 90's and before.

2. We will not release anything that is a license of Funimation. This is two-fold. One reason is because I take a view of "You scratch my back, I don't infringe on your licenses" policy with them. Funimation is by far the leading anime company in the US in support of Blu-Ray. I appreciate that fact and so I am content to leave them alone as I have faith that they will release everything they can get at an affordable price. Also, the second reason is because they protect their licenses like I've never seen before. The last thing I need is a cease and desist order, so I'm happy to leave them alone.

3. We are not a traditional fansubbing group. I barely speak any Japanese, certainly not enough to translate a show. That's why I use R1 DVD subtitle rips. Please stop emailing me asking if I can pick up [INSERT NEW ANIME HERE]. No, I can't. I didn't start this to fansub new shows, I started this to provide anime in the highest quality possible with English audio. I don't release raws either. If I use pre-existing raws, you can get the same ones. If I ripped them, they are ripped for the purposes of projects, so there is no point in releasing raws.

4. As I've said before, while it may be hypocritical of me since I download the Japanese raws, I refuse to work on a series I don't have the DVD's for. The US anime market is hurting, and what I'm doing can't be helping. Sure, only around 100 people downloaded my 00 releases for Episodes 8 and 9. But lets assume that 80 of them are not going to buy the DVD now. Of those 80 people, I'll guess that 50 of them weren't going to buy the DVD anyway and would have waited for DVD rips by another group. So fine, that's 50 people that wouldn't matter anyway. However, that still leaves 30 people that won't buy the DVD. Let's subtract 5 bucks as markup at RightStuf. Ignoring the S.E., that's 750 dollars Bandai loses. Doesn't seem like much, but keep in mind, that $750 serves to pay for the licensing, dubbing, and DVD production of further series. If we want to ever have a chance of seeing other shows get dubbed, we need to support these companies or they are going to end up going the way of Geneon, or ADV. Dead, or dying.

So to all of you asking for me to do DBZ, or Fullmetal Alchemist (the first one), or any other show, here's what you need to ask first before you request it or you are going to get ignored. If you find the anwser is YES to any of these questions, see option B.

1. Is this show already available in Region 1 in the same quality as Japan (Remastered DVD/Blu-Ray)?

2. Is this a Funimation license?

3. Has the licensing company announced plans for a Region 1 release of the Remastered/Blu-Ray version?

OK, ask yourself all those questions. If you don't know the answer, do some Googling. Now, use these answer keys:

Option A: You answered NO to all of the above questions. Congratulations, you have a candidate for release! Now you need to find out if there is a Japanese remaster/Blu-Ray, and if I have the R1 DVD's. If I do, great, throw in a request and I'll certainly consider it. If not, suggest it anyway and if there are enough requests for it, I can try and allocate donation funds toward buying the DVD's. Otherwise, it'll have to wait.

Option B: You answered YES to any of the above. Forget about it, it isn't going to happen! If you need to know why, re-read this post.

So, that's my long-winded rant. I really want to take requests for shows, and as some people can tell you, I do follow through with them. Full Metal Panic is the first request I have accepted, used donations to buy the DVD's, and begun to release. Outlaw Star, which I'm planning for after I finish Gundam Wing, is also a request that I already own and plan to release. But in order for me to want to pay attention to them, I need people to do a little homework first.

Thanks for your support!

OZC

21 comments:

Chris21010 said...: this is GREAT!! is there anyway to keep it on the top? cuz if all the new people dont see it the way it is now i know they wont go searching for it. then the same issues will come back.; July 12, 2009 3:02 PM
OZC said...: Yeah, I'm adding some static links on the right in a bit once I finish getting the addresses..From now on, we'll be able to just point them to the links and tell them to read the policy page.; July 12, 2009 3:13 PM
Chris21010 said...: ok sounds cool.; July 12, 2009 3:14 PM
frischespjb said...: Hey, I just wanted to thank you for what you are doing. I stumbled across your site the other day and downloaded a few things, and have kept seeding them since yesterday (as they finished).

I don't plan on requesting any shows.

I have the Zeta box set and the Wing complete operations set. I had not got the chance to see any 00 episodes and had not heard of the Code Gaess series, but am interested to see what they offer.

If many of these shows were available in blu-ray format I would totally go buy them. I wish bandai would release them stateside since they have more than a few Gundam blu-ray releases over in Japan. Same goes for FMP! which I really like.

I was a big supporter of ADV until they went under, and really don't want to see any more of these companies go down. But being able to watch a few shows (Gundam 00 and Code Gaess I mean) before deciding to buy is a nice option.

I see it is mentioned on your twitter thinger, but it should be noted that rightstuff.com is offering 40% off MSRP (or more) on all (or most) of their Bandai DVDs with code "combat." I'm looking to pickup the SEED series and probably 00 too.; July 12, 2009 3:16 PM
Anonymous said...: Funimation is hunting people who spread their licenses like the SS the Jews.
>they are going to end up going the way of Geneon, or ADV
It is a real shame for Geneon, i bought stuff before they even released on dvds and used VHS.
Tenchi Muyo and so on.
I am not going to buy from Funimation because they treat peopple shit and are behaving like assholes in general.

But serious. I was wondering why you do Gundam Wing. EG made a superb version that i enjoyed. Same as with Outlaw Star. Code Geass and Gundam 00 are covered by THORA too.
Please don't misunderstand me, i don't want to criticize you. On the contrary i find it great that you put your time and nerves into making something for us dirty leechers.
It's just hard to compete against those well known groups.

By the way, thanks for your help with the changing of subs, it worked out. Just can't change the ass types only srt or something. Looking better but i am still left with ugly yellow subs.; July 12, 2009 8:10 PM
Arysse said...: This post has been removed by the author.; July 12, 2009 8:15 PM
OZC said...: Well, I disagree about Funimation. They pay a lot of money for their licenses and I find that their DVD's are priced very fairly. Plus the fact that they release Blu-Rays, to me, because of the money they spend, they are entitled to "behave like assholes".

I don't particularly feel that I'm competing with EG and THORA because people who don't care about the dubs will already have their stuff and be plenty happy with it. However, I'm a fan of English dubs as well as the original Japanese, and so I want to provide a more complete version. I've said it MANY times before; I mostly do these for myself, and release them so that anyone who wants them can have them. I wouldn't care if I released something and it got one download or one million.

As for changing the subs, no problem. However, I only use .ass files, because SRT's don't support all the little effects and stuff I use. You should be able to adjust them unless you are transcoding them or something that is reconverting them to SRT.; July 12, 2009 8:25 PM
ssj2_goha(gohanjk2000) said...: I guess I will add my $.02......
In all honesty if anime studios had in the dvd releases a digital copy of the episodes on the dvd, I would never be part of groups like this, I would also probably buy alot more dvds. although i would want the digital copies to better quality than most of the videos in the itunes store, those things look bad compared to the stuff I encode.....; July 12, 2009 10:02 PM
Anonymous said...: Thanks for your hard work on Gundam Wing and the rest of your releases. I really appreciate your effort and commitment, especially for just being a one man gig and doing this out of your own free time. Keep up the good work, I'm sure many other people besides myself appreciate it as well.; July 12, 2009 10:06 PM
EZ8 said...: There's no rule that says more than 1 group can't release the same show, think of it as a little friendly competition. EG's releases were very good and I like that he puts a lot of work into them, but they're not what I'd call a "complete" package.; July 12, 2009 11:12 PM
jazir5 said...: im sorry, can someone please link to EG? i cant find a site for them anywhere. this isnt any hate towards you ozc, im not leaving, just seeing if they have any releases i want that you dont have ;); July 13, 2009 5:08 AM
EZ8 said...: Thats because EncoderGasm does NOT have a site. I'm pretty sure its a 1-man job. The only way to get in contact with his is through IRC or look for RX78-2 on 4chan's /m/, he shows up there sometimes when a new release comes out.; July 13, 2009 5:49 AM
jazir5 said...: well thanks for the info XD; July 13, 2009 1:40 PM
EZ8 said...: Well, I'll be damned...I accidently stumbled across EG's "stie" while googling for something else. Here it is jazir5: http://eg.warywolf.net/egfaq.txt; July 26, 2009 10:43 AM
Anonymous said...: Just thought I'd point out, as someone who keeps up on the foreign disk scene (and imports far to many.)

We HAVEN'T gotten the remastered Cowboy Bebop.

We got the 'Remix' version of Bebop, which had cleaned up and 5.1 audio (hence the Remix in the title), the video itself is basically the same as the old disks. The remastered version is completely different, and far far superior.; August 16, 2009 3:34 AM
OZC said...: Hmm, I've been told differently, but to be honest, haven't compared the R2 Bebop stuff to the Remix discs, and the only version I own is Remix. The only person I know that has anything to compare to has a shitty bootleg copy, and I'd be an idiot if I thought to compare bootlegs to an official release. I'll do some research into it.; August 16, 2009 3:37 AM
OZC said...: Well, I just saw a comparison and that sells it. I have changed the post above to refer to Evangelion, since it was the first thing that came to mind that was for sure a remaster.

That said, I've added Bebop as a future project.; August 16, 2009 3:48 AM
Anonymous said...: Thanks.; August 16, 2009 3:59 PM
Anonymous said...: Thanks so much for these releases.

Okay here goes a far fetched suggestion - Card Captor Sakura .I know it doesn't fit your type of anime and also there was a crappy 'localized' version produced by nelvana . However i think Animax did a English sub that didn't cut and chop out bits.

Gah probably too difficult. I cant believe the BD price for these two boxsets for over a grand @_@

.... thought it might be worth a try :P.; September 14, 2009 6:19 AM
Anonymous said...: Gah Sorry about the above post, wrong place.; September 15, 2009 5:09 AM
Anonymous said...: Any chance of doing Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo it's a good show.

No release of BD by anyone yet.

I would support Card Captor Sakura like the above too, but I guess the $ is a bit too much.; September 29, 2009 5:45 AM

A Little Clarification On Our Policies On Releases

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