I had my doubts going into Oreimo at first. However, it was very popular, so I started reading the manga at first. It had some funny parts to it, and didn’t appear to have any incestuous undertones. So, when I saw the anime on Crunchyroll, I decided to give it a whirl.
The seiyuu really brought the characters to life. Soon enough, I was laughing harder at parts that only managed to make me smirk in the manga by comparison. Like any series, it took a few episodes to really hit its stride, but I was definitely enjoying the storyline. Every time Kirino’s otaku side came out when she played eroge, I couldn’t help myself from laughing at her expressions. As far as I could tell from the comments, a lot of people agreed.
I finally caught up to season 2 and was instantly confused. The story line didn’t seem to fit the end of season 1. What gives? Comments led me to some unlicensed streams of OVAs that weren’t on CR that finished the season and bridged the gap. It was a shame, but I ended up watching the OVAs before I continued on to season 2.
Despite my renewed interest in supporting the anime industry (see my previous post about this), I found unlicensed streams of the Oreimo OVAs to fulfill my impatience and desire for instant gratification. As a result, I knew that even before I started watching Oreimo 2 that I was going to buy this series on BD, if available. CR had advertised a DVD box set on their site, so I decided to check my first two spots: Amazon and Right Stuf. No listing on Amazon (it seems Aniplex is so niche, even in distribution), but a BD box set was available on Right Stuf. For $280.
Wait, WHAT?
It was quite shocking, but after looking through several forums about the topic, the high pricing is due to Aniplex controlling the pricing model from Japan and basing it on Japan’s economy. It doesn’t make sense, because at this point, you’re pretty much buying the Japanese released BDs but with subtitles. There isn’t even an English dub track. However, if you want to legally watch the OVAs and own a copy of the full season, you can pretty much bet this is your only way. At least shipping would be free.
I stumbled across an old, locked forum post on Crunchyroll that detailed on how little the anime studios get paid (as well as other fansub info). It’s an interesting read, but is rather low in credible references, so I took everything at face value. However, after being involved in the political and bureaucratic hierarchy of businesses for so long, I cannot help but think that some of the theories surrounding anime studio profits could be true.
I ended up ordering it yesterday. The things we do for the anime industry, right? I had to take the funds out of my computer and clothing budgets to buy it, since I had already exhausted my entertainment budget on my earlier purchases this month.
The Oreimo 2 OVAs are going to be simulcasted worldwide on August 18th, so that will give me a chance to watch the new OVAs without having to shell out $280 again. At least until I can budget the money properly.
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