Ask John: What Determines Whether Something Gets a DVD Boxed Set?

Question:
Why are some anime series released into DVD box sets (like Fushigi Yuugi and Tenchi Muyo) and others not? What makes companies want to release box sets?

Answer:
Generally companies make their decisions based on two factors: whether they think a series will sell better as a set or as individual discs, and what demands the original Japanese licensor makes. In the case of the Tenchi Muyo OAV series, a single boxed set was the way the series was released to DVD in Japan, so it’s possible that the Japanese licensor required Pioneer to release the OAVs in a similar fashion in the US. Series that premier in boxed sets are usually re-issues of previously released titles such as the Slayers, Ranma, Fushigi Yuugi and Maze TV series and Tenchi Muyo OAV series. Distributors already know that these series were popular on VHS and consumers are likely to want the entire series on DVD. In these cases, knowing that there’s already an established market virtually guarantees significant sales of lots of $150 items. DVD re-issues of VHS titles in boxed sets also helps guarantee profitability. In the case of a long series like Fushigi Yuugi, it’s more cost efficient to release two boxed sets at a lower price than 16 individual, full priced DVDs, especially for a shoujo series that may not sell as well in individual discs released over a long period of time.

New series are rarely released as boxed sets because of the risk involved. There’s no telling whether a new series will be popular or not, so it’s simply better business sense to release new titles as relatively cheap and consumer friendly individual releases instead of as a single daunting, expensive set. In this case boxed sets can be released later to “mop-up” additional sales after the initial demand has cooled off. Series like Cowboy Bebop, Evangelion and Trigun are released as boxed sets well after the initial demand for the series has cooled, so as not to compete with the sales of individual discs. With popular series, individual disc releases are more profitable than a boxed set because individual $30 discs sell much more readily and in much greater quantity than single $200 boxed sets.

Furthermore, being able to release a series as individual discs allows a production company more time for flexibility in release scheduling and product innovation, and prevents a distribution company from having to pay a large initial production fee. It’s simply much less expensive to have to produce one new DVD in a series each month than cover the cost of producing an entire series of DVDs in advance.

In summation, it becomes easier to predict what will and won’t be released in DVD boxed sets if you remember that in most cases boxed sets are not created nor released as a service to fans. DVD boxed sets are released to maximize profits for the releasing company.