Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
In a move that they have provided no justification for (because I’m not sure there’s any way this makes sense), Avex Group has reportedly banned the sale of Blu-rays, DVDs, and CDs to markets that aren’t Japan.
Publishing company Avex Pictures (owned by Avex Group) has suddenly decided to place an export ban on Blu-ray, DVD, and CDs. This means that they cannot be sold outside of Japan. Avex Pictures is responsible for publishing a plethora of popular anime including YURI!!! on ICE, ONE PIECE, and Mr. Osomatsu.
It seems this export ban now applies to all subsidiaries of Avex Group, so anything published by Avex will not be able to be shipped overseas.
Every single online shop in Japan has to abide by these new rules. The restriction begins promptly at 6:00PM (Japan Time UTC+9) on Feburary 15th, 2017. Customer service reps from CDJapan, and other popular online shops including Amazon.jp has said they will try to fulfill as many orders as possible before the deadline.
The only hope here is that the company hasn’t said anything official yet, but the online shops seem to be in agreeance that restrictions have been placed on them.
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So once again, Japanese companies are basically actively discouraging the international market from being fans. People can try to blame the consumer all they want, but them limiting accessibility and making it a pain in the ass to be a fan is simply the reality at the moment.
Seriously, I don’t know what to say about this because it just seems so goddamn stupid. Really all this does is create a massive opportunity for middle men in Japan to make money, but of course that cost will be passed on to the consumer as well.
Great.
