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If you don't want to buy a player, that's up to you. Right now, that "next" format doesn't exist, neither do the players, media or anything else, and when it DOES get released, will people still be waiting for the "next" format after that one? I believe it is more than a year away and if the present pattern holds, it will take at least three years to take hold in the market in which the players and media are at available at a good price, and all this time you would be stuck with VHS deck and with DVD players costing under 200$, you'll have the use of it for at least four years, at a cost of about 50$ a year, and your media won't degrade as much with time. I doubt any future standard would abandon the DVD format now that it is in full swing with thousands of titles available. It is backward compatible with the CD format and most players can play the old Video CD format too.

"Bottom line, done properly, DVD is so much better than VHS that it isn't funny." (http://www.animeondvd.com/press/ animeigo/ae001.htm)

Besides, the works that they put out will be mostly subtitled only, and the market for subtitled video tapes has "gone to hell" because many of the sub fans have effectively jumped ship to DVD-only.

The masters for most anime are video only (for TV series), meaning being limited to ~525 lines of vertical resolution, finding good original film for a TV series is rare (Macross is the first I've ever heard of this, and it is getting major cleaning). You will gain little by going high-density. Even if the format is supersceded, it won't render worthless the DVDs that you've bought.

Using your argument, no one should buy computers because they'll be obsolete in a few months, they should wait for "x" technological achievement.

I really don't think people should be buying TVs as while they can display downconverted HDTV using a converter, they cant get the detail. I am living with what I have, an old borrowed 20" Sony until the HDTV capable displays come down a bit more in price. The difference here is that HDTV is available as a standard already, but that market is slow as the displays are still expensive being large TVs.

The Tenchi Muyo Ultimate Edition box set - all of the OAV episodes, plus extra stuff, on three DVDs - has excellent quality. Anime on DVD (a very useful site) has several reviews of the set.

The Tenchi Muyo Ultimate Edition box set - all of the OAV episodes, plus extra stuff, on three DVDs - has excellent quality. Anime on DVD (a very useful site) has several reviews of the set.

Ive known this was coming for a while.

First off I'd like to lay down a little known fact about the anime biz.

Dubs sell more. Far more. Most of the US based anime companies revenue comes from dubbed vhs tapes that people buy on a whim. I.E. "Wow this looks cool ill think ill buy it." The devoted anime fans who buy an entire series of subtitled tapes make up a fraction of the market, and a large percentage of these people have already moved exlusively to dvd. Although many people argue that if they carried more subtitled tapes they would sell more.. but this is a cyclical argument.. and i would wager that most people are too lazy to want to read their tapes. (dubs suck btw)

Subtitled anime on dvd is a good thing for the consumer and for the anime companies. Im not sure here, but i think its cheaper to mass produce dvds then it is to produce vhs. The only people this is going to hurt are the small comic/anime shops where most of there revenue comes from tape sales. These stores cannot compete with Online DVD sellers So they usually dont carry dvds. This sucks for a good number of my friends as this move is likely to destroy their livelyhood. (I warned them that this was coming...)

Most individuals who buy subtitled anime are also the kind who want the best quality and are more likely to have a dvd player. I made the move to DVD a while back and i havnt been disappointed with the quality of anime titles available. Ill put the obligitory link to animeondvd.com here.

This shouldnt suprise anyone, and is a good thing for me as a devoted anime fan and someone commited to dvd.

btw, im pretty sure that none of the anime companies are members of the MPAA.. maybe pioneer.

On a region-encoding note.. Gianax, the company that made Neon Genesis Evangelion and Gunbuster is now releasing their newest series on dvd in japan w/ english subtitles. Wonder what that could mean? :)

Im currently writing dvd reviews for atanime.com and a few buddies and myself run #animeondvd efnet, so stop by if you feel like talking.

http://www.animeondvd.com/

Nothing wrong with the occasional Anime post on slashdot, but I agree that it should be its category.

Don't believe me? Click h ere for the Nausicaa.net listserv message in which I first announced the donation (and challenged others to match it or do likewise...sadly, nobody has come forward to do that yet), or here for the AnimeOnDVD article. Of course, you still have to believe I will actually send the money once I get it--but if I don't, I'll completely screw up my good reputation online, and that is a thing I value and cherish, as I've been around since 1992, help moderate a newsgroup, and so on.

I'm proud to be able to do this to give back to a site I so respect and cherish. Would you care to match the funds I donate, palo0019? Or perhaps write a similar article and donate the proceeds similarly? Anyone else?

When the article is available, I hope you'll click on it and help out Nausicaa.net by a dime. It might also be nice if you'd look at some of the other articles I wrote, including one on Jon Katz, that I will be keeping the money for, but that's entirely up to you. :)
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Slashdot, while many of its readers are into anime, probably isn't the best place to get news about anime DVDs. I find the following two sites most helpful in documenting daily developments in Anime, Animation and DVD. They also have reviews of almost all the anime that's been published on DVD as well...

AnimeOnDVD.Com
DVD Animania

some interesting anime dvds that I consider top of my list of dvd anime other than those you listed are:

Ghost in the Shell, has amazing visuals, a good storyline, but most importantly, this disc contains the most impressive 5.1 surround soundtrack among all anime. If you have an AC3 amp, get this.
Sol Bianca, is quite possibly visually the best anime ever to grace DVD. It was completely created with computers, and show no flaws that you notice with conversions from non-digital sources to DVD masters that other releases suffer. Stunning!

Get those two at least, and check all the reviews on that site to get other things that you like...

some interesting anime dvds that I consider top of my list of dvd anime other than those you listed are:

Ghost in the Shell, has amazing visuals, a good storyline, but most importantly, this disc contains the most impressive 5.1 surround soundtrack among all anime. If you have an AC3 amp, get this.
Sol Bianca, is quite possibly visually the best anime ever to grace DVD. It was completely created with computers, and show no flaws that you notice with conversions from non-digital sources to DVD masters that other releases suffer. Stunning!

Get those two at least, and check all the reviews on that site to get other things that you like...

some interesting anime dvds that I consider top of my list of dvd anime other than those you listed are:

Ghost in the Shell, has amazing visuals, a good storyline, but most importantly, this disc contains the most impressive 5.1 surround soundtrack among all anime. If you have an AC3 amp, get this.
Sol Bianca, is quite possibly visually the best anime ever to grace DVD. It was completely created with computers, and show no flaws that you notice with conversions from non-digital sources to DVD masters that other releases suffer. Stunning!

Get those two at least, and check all the reviews on that site to get other things that you like...

• Ayashi-no Seles
  • Ayashi.net
• Bubblegum Crisis
  • Bubblegum Crisis page
  • Tokyo 2040: Rare and Useless Pages
• Neon Genesis Evangelion
  • Neon Genesis Evangelion site
• A.D.V. Films
• AnimEigo
• Anime Grapevine
• Anime Hideaway
• Anime International Company
• Anime Marriage Prospects
• Anime Nation
• Anime On DVD
• AniPike
• AniSound
• Ex
• OX-11 ("Gall Force: The Web Page")
• U.S. Manga Corps

I'm suprised noone has mentioned animeondvd.com. It's a wonderful site that focus's on the the whole anime scene from a purely dvd aspect.

Of course, everyone's taste differs ... but it really boils down to as what kind of anime are you looking for? Japanese Anime, unlike historic American anime (read: Disney) doesn't just feature the cutesy animal stories ... there's a lot more variety in the Japanese anime world.

The two main "categories" of Anime are "girl-type" and "boy-type" Of the examples given, Cowboy Bebop and Trigun fall into the "boy-type" while "Battle Athletes" falls into the "girl-type", for example. Obviously, the boy-type focuses more on action, violence, etc. The girl-type is more story and relationship driven. When I list my favs at the end of this post, I'll put a (b) or a (g) (or a (bg) ... figure it out :o) )to indicate the type.

Most people, however, enjoy both sides of the fence, just be aware that there is a fence there ... the Japanese equivalent of "My Little Pony" vs. "GI Joe".

Also when looking at Japanese Anime, you need to determine whether or not you're interested in movies, or series ... with the series, if you get hooked, you could end up paying through the nose to get the entire series. Some of the Anime vendors, such as Viz (who makes the aforementioned "Ranma" and "Pokemon" animes) sell tapes/dvds with only 2 episodes per disk/tape. And sells 'em for about $30 per. There is 8 seasons of Ranma, I believe ... imagine paying $30 per 2 episodes for the entire 8 years. It gets pricy.

You mentioned that you prefer DVDs over VHS ... a very wise decision. The quality is much better, and the fact that they usually come subbed AND dubbed, with options to turn either one on/off as desired, makes the market less splintered than the VHS tapes and you always get what you want.

Some companies are doing limited runs of the anime that they can get licensed for ... I'd suggest checking out websites such as Animeigo ... they will be doing the Macross (aka Robotech) series very soon ... not the butchered American version that most of us are familiar with, but the original Japanese version ... and as such, there can't be an English track included, because they would have to re-record the English track to cover all the sections that was cut out of the original when the American version was made. They're also going to be doing the "Oh, My Goddess" anime, as well ... check 'em out, good stuff.

The definitive source of information about Anime available on DVD is Anime On DVD They've got reviews of just about everything released in Region 1 DVD (including the Hentai stuff), and they're working on the Region 2 and 3 ...

Purchasing your anime is a whole 'nother topic, however, you really can't go wrong with DVD Express. They've got a very large selection of anime, and ships fast ... be aware that they, more than other companies, pay attention to street dates, so don't expect to get your pre-ordered anime days/weeks sooner than everyone else! Though they sell all types of DVDs, anime typically makes its way into their "Top 15" list each week ... this week I think it's Neon Genesis Evangelion and Gundam Wing in the Top 15, at spots 3 and 4 ... very not bad.
Now, on to the actual Anime (all on DVD) ...

5 Star Anime:
Ghost in the Shell (b)
Macross Plus, Vol. 1 & 2 (b)
Trigun Vol. 1 (b)
Armitage III (b)
Cowboy Bebop (b)
Fushigi Yugi (g)
Revolutionary Girl Utena, Vol. 1 & 2 (g)
Neon Genesis Evangelion 0:1 (b)
Lain, Vol. 1-4 (bg)
Iria, Vol. 1 (bg)

4 Star Anime
Ranma 1/2 OAV (bg)
Tenchi Muyo! (bg)
Record of the Lodoss War (b)
Trigun Vol 2 (b)
Battle Athletes Victory Vol. 1-8 (g)
Blue Submarine, Vol. 1 (b)
El Hazard: The Alternative World, Vol. 1-4 (bg)
Dominion Tank Police (b)
Bubblegum Crisis (b)
Ninja Scroll (b)
Sol Bianca (bg)

3 Star Anime
The Venus Wars (b)
Eatman 98 (b)
Battle Athletes OAV, Vol 1-3 (g)
Ninja Ressurection (b)
Ranma 1/2: Big Trouble in Nekonron, China (b)
Ranma 1/2: Naiho, My Concubine (b)
Tenchi in Tokyo, Vol. 1-8 (bg)

2 Star Anime
A Wind Named Amnesia (bg)
Ninja Cadets (b)
Cybernetics Guardian (b)

1 Star Anime
Fist of the North Star (b)
Project A-KO (g)
Green Legend Ran (b)
Kite (too much cutting) (bg)
MD Geist (no plot) (b)
Darkside Blues (b)
Demon City Shinjuku (b)

I don't know if that will include Streamline's dub or not, but it probably will include subtitles and the Japanese audio track, unless for some reason they couldn't get the rights.
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This is all good stuff, most of which is on DVD, so it's accessible. There are a lot of good series that aren't commercially available in the US though which can be obtained as fansubs (fan subtitled copies) or raw (sometimes with translated scripts that you can refer to ;)

• Vision of Escaflowne
  1 part fantasy, 1 part mecha, 1 part brilliant music by Yoko Kanno (Japan's answer to John Williams), 1 part fun with physics and a dash of Bob Hope's nose. Excellent. On DVD in October.
• Neon Genesis Evangelion
  Giant mecha and girls, but so much more. It gets heady with lots of religion and philosophy. Expect to watch it twice. It owes a lot to the old British Thunderbirds show, particularly in the realm of music. (sounds 50's and 60's) Excellent work by Gainax, as usual. Coming out on DVD now.
• Castle of Cagliostro
  The best of the Lupin III films, largely because it's by Miyazaki (Nausicaa, Totoro, etc.) On DVD now, very good.
• Serial Experiments Lain
  Weird and creepy. Good animation, gets hard to figure out what's happening towards the end. Which really just means that you should watch it again ;) On DVD.
• Macross Plus
  Top Gun, with mecha and computer generated idol singers. Good animation, great music (Yoko Kanno again) especially fun for fans of Macross or Robotech. On DVD now.
• Bubblegum Crisis
  Animation quality is fairly poor until halfway through, but it's actually a good series. It was done in the late 80's, it's cyberpunk and it owes more than a little to Blade Runner. Worth seeing, if only because most big anime otaku have seen it and it's still popular. Not to be confused with Bubblegum Crash (the awful sequel) or Bubblegum Crisis: 2040 (the 90's remake). On DVD now.
• Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind, Kiki's Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke, Porco Rosso, Laputa Castle in the Sky, My Friend Totoro, everything else by Miyazaki
  Miyazaki is good. Disney got a lot of rights, but there are no DVDs yet of his Studio Ghibli stuff. Some of it is on tape. If you like Spielberg movies (good, sense of adventure, happy ending) you're going to like his films.
• Cowboy Bebop
  Bounty hunters in a well-developed solar system. Can range from hilarious to gritty. Excellent characters, animation, Yoko Kanno music. A solid winner. Coming out on DVD now. A must-see.
• Wings of Honneamise
  Rumored for DVD for some time now. Early space exploration in an alternate world where no one treats the space forces seriously. The first big thing from Gainax. Very good. You can see it on tape, at least.
• Grave of the Fireflies
  Tragic story of a brother and sister at the end of WW2. Good but really sad.
• Ghost in the Shell
  Really, the manga (comic) version is better. It's pretty deep for a cyberpunk special ops movie, but Shirow, the guy that does the manga (and another one, Appleseed) is like that. Sweet animation though. On DVD now.
• Patlabor 2
  The 2nd Patlabor movie. Since the backstory for the world relies on knowing more about Patlabor, it's a near future where labors (mecha) are used in construction of a global-warming-rising-seas-proof dam around Tokyo Bay. Naturally criminals start using the labors and so the police get a few PATrol LABORs of their own. Darker than the series, with conspiracies and terrorists. Same animation as Ghost in the Shell. Excellent movie. On DVD soon.
• Record of Lodoss War
  A 13 part series based, it's said, on the D&D campaign of the creators. Really quite good if you're into fantasy. Even has elf babes. ;) On DVD now. A sequel has come out recently on VHS, and will probably be on DVD soon.

And of course there are a zillion anime series of every genre and sub genre. There are just not so many DVDs and not enough commercial releases on disc or tape. For those of you wanting to find more, check out:

• Anipike the yahoo of anime
• Anime on DVD
• EX a good web magazine.

Between all of these, you're sure to find some good stuff, and more information.

And I'd suggest anything by Miyazaki, too, but about the only work of his that's on DVD yet is Castle of Cagliostro . (Which is easily one of the best anime movies of all time, by the way, and hit Express.com's top-ten list the first week it was out, selling out over 2500 copies in just a couple weeks.)

The original Bubblegum Crisis is another good one, though you might be advised to wait for the re-pressing/additional disc set that's due out one of these days; the first set, being a relatively early DVD issuance, had some problems.

And hey, if someone can suggest The Matrix as anime, then I feel more than entitled to suggest Tampopo . It's Japanese live-action comedy (like anime except not animated!), and deals with another geek staple--ramen noodles. (It's a "noodle western," a parody of/homage to all the samurai movies/westerns of bygone days.) It's probably the best movie ever made that you've likely never heard of.

There are so many good anime, and I'm at least fond of most of them. A good place to check for tips is AnimeOnDVD; it has an "Essential Anime" section that hits a lot of the classics.
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Probably the best site for info, reviews, release dates, etc, is www.animeondvd.com. Plus, they even have a page that's exactly what you're looking for: check out their Essential Anime. I don't necessarily agree with all their opinions, but they usually have multiple reviews for each show, and their essential page has explanations. Users can even submit their own reviews. Check it out if you like anime on DVD.

Two of the best cinematic anime movies out there are the Patlabor movies, and they are coming to DVD, the first on 7/25 and the second on 8/1 supposedly (according to Anime on DVD)...

"Much like the Star Wars discussions on its lack of DVD, this is another one that always gets a chuckle in my mind. How many other products do you have where the customer is practically throwing their money at the company and the company doesn't release the product. Only the video industry..."

If you liked robotech (Which was a basterdization of three seasons of macross) try macross plus.

Macross plus takes place long after minmei and the robotech saga takes place, but it still specializes in the Macross subtext of music (besides the big robots.) With yoko kanno doing the music, your ears are in for a particluar treat.. Not only that, the visuals are incredible and the story line is nothing short of amazing. Not even mentioning the references to HAL.

Goto anime on dvd

Oh yeah, shameless plug for the anime mag i write for, at anime

If I was an anime addict and the movie wasn't released in the USA, I would by it off the internet from a sight in Japan.

Actually, this example is somewhat backwards. The studios wouldn't mind at all for you to import their $60 dvd's. I don't think Gainax's dvd release of Neon Genesis Evangelion is even region locked; you can order it directly from them for around $52/disc. I just hope you can understand japanese and don't expect any extras. In fact, they usually come in standard jewel cases.

The studios are much more worried about japanese consumers importing american dvd's. No worries about them understanding english either. Traditionally, american dvd releases of anime contain the video stream, english language and the original japanese language audio streams, as well as english subtitles and often even spanish subtitles. There are usually other extras as well, all in a handy keepsake case for a MSRP of $29.95 which usually drops to below $20 when ordering online from, for example, DVD Express. Not to mention the awesome deals on box sets. Look up Tenchi Muyo! and Fushigi Yugi at DVD Express for examples.

This is the reason Bandai (AnimeVillage.com) has a policy to wait at least six months after a japanese anime DVD release to produce the american one. I suppose if a title is never going to be released here in america you may want to import it from japan, but that problem is disappearing as anime becomes more popular over here.

Anyone interested in anime on dvd can check out Anime on DVD.