Is there any reason to buy DVDs/Blu-rays anymore when the episodes are streamed online?

[precita]

Back in the early/mid 2000's DVDs were "all the rage" in that they replaced VHS tapes and you could have a huge number of episodes of a show on discs and have an entire series in boxsets. Then came blu-rays, and people got excited about higher quality.

However...we're now almost in the year 2018. Now far more people just watch shows online than on their TV sets or buy discs. We're basically in the modern age of streaming media. Owning DVDs or blu-rays doesn't feel like a big deal anymore when the episodes are online to be watched legally for free.

Has anyone else lost interest in discs now due to the "modern age" of online streaming? I mean we're not in 2005 anymore. A decade ago I'd never be saying this, but 2017 is a lot different than 2005.

[KBABZ]

The convenience with discs is that you have access to the episodes at any time. Many streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu will regularly rotate their content in and out as their contracts expire and they sign into new ones. Another biggie is internet connections: not everyone will have rock-solid Silicon Valley internet, and they will rarely get high-quality video or audio when watching the episodes. I know DBZ is from the 80s and 90s but a bad picture is a bad picture.

[sintzu]

I always prefer physical media cause it gives the sense of owning the product.

You can read books and comics online but there's something special about owning them.

[sangofe]

I like releases to have pretty boxes and cool extras.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

I always have and always will prefer physical media. I take pride in ownership, especially when I can see cases with pretty cover art displayed on a shelf. It also feels like a more rewarding experience when you can play a disc and not have to put up with compressed picture and sound quality. Streaming certainly has its benefits like being able to watch on the move, but it cannot substitute for all the advantages of owning the series, not even close.

[Forte224]

I know you're speaking in general, but for something like Z, the only way to watch the show in its original format is to own the DVD Singles or the Dragon Boxes. Any legal streaming of Z is 16:9 cropped footage. And adding to what others said, having things as collector's items is still very valuable to a lot of people, including myself

[Kinokima]

This is a genuine question but is Z in Japanese even streaming legally anywhere? Is it on Funimation's website? When it comes to streaming anime I really only pay attention to Crunchyroll these days and they only have Super.
I know at least when you buy DBZ digitally only the English dub is available (which really annoys me).

But while I do understand why people don't buy DVDs and BR I still do because I like to own things I love and I am a collector at heart. I have stopped buying most physical copies of manga though and mainly stick to the Kindle editions. It was a hard decision to make though.

[Forte224]

This is a genuine question but is Z in Japanese even streaming legally anywhere? Is it on Funimation's website? When it comes to streaming anime I really only pay attention to Crunchyroll these days and they only have Super.
I know at least when you buy DBZ digitally only the English dub is available (which really annoys me).

But while I do understand why people don't buy DVDs and BR I still do because I like to own things I love and I am a collector at heart. I have stopped buying most physical copies of manga though and mainly stick to the Kindle editions. It was a hard decision to make though.

Yes the Japanese is available on Funimation streaming, of course it's the 16:9 cropped stuff. Funnily enough the only thing that isn't available Z-wise is the Bruce Faulconer score. It's either Japanese Z or English with Kikuchi

[VegettoEX]

For me, it's less about a "collector's" mentality (surely I have enough Dragon Ball crap, right?) but more about the ephemeral nature of streaming.

Anyone else remember when King of the Hill was on Netflix? It hasn't been there for years. Anyone else remember when Futurama was available in its entirety on Netflix? It hasn't been for months, and the supposed Hulu listing still hasn't shown up.

For things you genuinely love and want to have available to you regardless of the current sub-license and management whims, it's important to actually own it. No-one's coming to take your DVDs away, but someone's always actively looking to exploit a streaming deal.

Even for a franchise like Dragon Ball, FUNimation won't necessarily own it forever.

(See also: yeah, I'm not watching a shitty widescreen crop of Dragon Ball Z.)

[Vegard Aune]

I like to own the stuff I like.
I like to be relatively certain that I'll still be able to watch the thing I like whenever I want in a few years' time and won't have to worry about it having been taken down.
I like to be able to sit through things uninterrupted, which my connection rarely allows me to do with streaming.
I like to have consistent quality.
I like my movies to have proper surround sound, which my current setup does not allow for when I'm streaming through my PC. (I mean this issue could be fixed with a better sound system, but I'm constantly hard-pressed on cash).
And in the case of Dragon Ball, I like to be able to see the show the way it's supposed to look, rather than some American dubbing company's misguided attempt at modernizing it. (And yes, I know the Dragon Boxes have their shortcomings too, but at least there there wasn't anyone putting in conscious effort to distort the colors or blow out the white levels, and the audio quality thing was down to a business decision that probably made sense at the time it was made even if it's kinda screwed us over in the long run.)

...So from where I'm standing, yes, there is very much still plenty of reason to buy DVDs and BDs.

[90sDBZ]

Like everyone else has said it feels much better to actually own something in a form that can't be taken away at random. Having cool box art is a big plus to me, and is like the cherry on an awesome cake. Inevitably the time will come when DVD/Blu-ray is a thing of the past, which actually saddens me quite a bit, although I can understand the convenience of saving shelf space. For me there's nothing quite like walking into a DVD or game store and being surrounded by all kinds of titles and finding pleasant surprises along the way, sort of like being a kid at Christmas. Browsing through some onscreen menu just won't feel the same.

I think nostalgia plays a part in it too though. Going out with your family, buying a DVD or game or whatever and then excitedly holding it your hands on the way home while checking out the disc art or instruction manual in the case of games.

[Baggie_Saiyan]

For Super I think there still a big incentive for people to buy the BD/DVD, for the folks interested in Japanese they have the comfort of accurate subtitles (no more Supreme Kai sama) and English version fans have access to the dub that is otherwise Adult Swim exclusive.

For me personally I like to own physically where possible as that is the best way for you to support what you are buying directly. Plus it is nice to own a fancy release of something you like.

[Hellspawn28]

My reasons to buy DVD and Blu-Rays are:

1. It can save hard drive space. With DVD and Blu-Rays, I don't have to worry about wasting space on my PC hard drive, my Ipod or my phone.

2. Streaming websites won't have the TV show or movies on their website forever. If I own something on DVD or Blu-Ray, I can watch anytime I want too. Not to mention stuff like Netflix or Hulu won't always have the shows or movies you want. For example, if I want to watch an obscure anime like Detonator Orgun, it won't be on Netflix. That's why I still own my DVD copy that I bought in 2009 because you can't find a legit way to watch it online.

3. If the titles that you download end up getting deleted or somehow destroy, you can't always re-download the TV show or movie if the company no longer has the license to that title. Also stuff like Itunes, won't let you re-download movies, TV shows and music seeing that you will get a "Your computer is not authorize to play or watch this song, movies or TV show" message.

Even James Rolfe is pretty spot on it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4ZqfvgUOWU&index=13

4. Blu-Rays didn't catch on until the end of the 2000's and the start of the decade. Yeah they came out in 2006, but most people didn't have a HD TV at the time. Most people didn't move on to HD until the start of this decade like 5 or 6 years ago. So Blu-Rays are still a popular thing to own.

5. If the Internet is down, you have movies and TV shows to watch to pass off time if you can't watch things digitally.

[Forte224]

For Super I think there still a big incentive for people to buy the BD/DVD, for the folks interested in Japanese they have the comfort of accurate subtitles (no more Supreme Kai sama) and English version fans have access to the dub that is otherwise Adult Swim exclusive.

Haha I can't believe I didn't even think of this but yeah. You get the best version of Japanese with subs and the dub, neither of which are online. Good stuff

[simtek34]

This is a genuine question but is Z in Japanese even streaming legally anywhere? Is it on Funimation's website? When it comes to streaming anime I really only pay attention to Crunchyroll these days and they only have Super.
I know at least when you buy DBZ digitally only the English dub is available (which really annoys me).

There IS a legal stream online of DB and Z in 4:3, on Netflix Japan. All 444 Episodes in Japanese with the Dragon Box Masters.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Dragon+ ... 66&bih=630 (First 2 pages have DB)
https://www.reddit.com/r/dbz/comments/5 ... nd_dragon/

C'mon Toei and FUNi! Bring it to Netflix USA! (And don't change the footage!

The movies are also on Netflix in Europe.

[Bardo117]

I personally haven't purchased anything Dragon ball Super related because I'm waiting for the show to finish and release some sort of definitive or collectors edition of the series.

As for DB/Z content, yes there is still reason to buy the DVD/Blu-Ray. There's always been other ways of getting the episodes, and to this day the BEST version of Dragonball out there exists in this other way.... BUT that still hasn't stopped me from physically buying the disks for a sense of ownership. Physical ownership of the disks is very very rewarding, personally.

[Luso Saiyan]

Is there any reason? Yes, there is. Blu-ray still hold the best version available in terms of picture and audio quality and you don't have to rely on an internet connection to watch said content (also valid for DVD). Wether one cares about quality or not is another matter.

[ABED]

I like to stream to test the waters and see if I like a show and it's much cheaper, but I prefer hard copies. A number of shows that I really like have been taken off Netflix in 2017 (Psych, One Tree Hill, 30 Rock).

[TheBigBoy]

I think the Golden Age of streaming is coming to an end. As more and more content providers start their own services, you'll no longer be able to subscribe to just Netflix and/or Hulu and get nearly everything you want. Disney splitting from Netflix is a good example of this.

I wouldn't be shocked if physical media saw a bit of a revival because of this. Either way, it'll always be around for collector purposes.

[nato25]

Yeah ill still get the blurays I think. They are nice to have and then i dont feel bad about having the entire run on my pc for easy viewing as well.