I'm sending this to 3 MLs, so you might get multiple copies...

I recently came across a website that had a voting box, that asked who
people thought was the best Anime Distributor in the US -- ADV,
Pioneer, Bandai, AnimeWorks, and 1 or 2 others...

Given the choices, I had to pick Bandai, but boy was I surprised by the
voting results -- Pioneer dwarfed all others by a huge margin (and
AnimEigo wasn't even on the ballot).

There was a comment section, so, I decided to go ahead and comment...

Since the MLs need some active debating (or at least some activity), I
decided to copy my comment, and offer it up to debate on these 3 MLs...

Think I'm wrong?  Let me have it! Bitch-slap me (I need to wake up),
and let me know if you think someone else does a better job and why. 
Hell, I plan to start buying lots of anime again, now that I have a
job...



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3 years ago, I would have agreed that Pioneer was the best, but the
only thing they have running for them now, is the quality of their
translations, and most of the time, the quality of their dubs.
Currently, they spread material across 8 DVDs, when 5 or 6 will do,
they charge about 30-40% more per minute than all but Manga and Kitty,
the quality of their pressings are lacking in comparison to ADV (I've
had 2 data corruptions on ADV discs, but more than 10 on Pioneer discs,
and I have 5 times as many ADV discs...  do the math).  Pionneer has
repetitively screwed the Primary Supporters of their anime releases
(i.e., I pre-ordered all titles 4-6 months in advance, but I never get
the first pressing bonuses -- I do when I purchase direct from Japan --
because Pioneer won't prioritize companies who pre-order, instead they
prioritize quantity -- so I would have to go to a store that buys
thousands of copies, to get a chance to get the bonuses -- I can't do
this, I live in rural NJ and the chains that buy this many are RETAIL
stores).  And, of course, those who buy 2 years after the release, get
pretty boxes and a 20-25% discount, including the bonus of often
getting the first pressing materials with some of those.
Also note that when Pioneer released Pretty Samy TV on DVD, they didn't
correct any of the altered titles, deliberate mis-translations, or any
of the censorship that was present on the VHS release -- I have the
Japanese LDs, I know how altered it is.

Pioneer is also the only company that is consistently not including any
of the omake that is present for current releases in the US  (I have
compiled more than 500 minutes of omake segments that were present on
the Japanese LDs of Tenchi Muyo! and Pretty Samy, and so much of it is
hilarious or enough of a reason to buy the LDs alone.

Strangely, ADV is the company (along with Funimation - shock!) that are
advancing the art of releasing good anime in the US (except 50% of ADVs
dubs suck beyond belief, now and in the past).

BTW, hands down, no exceptions, the best releasing company is
AnimEigo!!!  And they aren't even on your ballot...  ^_^
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Wanna see GXP pictures? The URL has changed! Project Kutani hosts:
http://projkutani.castledragmire.com/greg/GXP/PAN/GXP_Pans.html
Many pan-shots and pretty pictures.  Or my incomplete website:
www.TenchiMuyo.150m.com (and use the site map presented).
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