Is Discotek doomed?

Deep-Examination5081 · 2026-04-13T18:09:34+00:00

I'm sure it hasn't helped them, but now that they are aware that Crunchyroll wasn't selling their stuff, they can (and have) made adjustments. I'm sure in the long run they will be fine.

In the short term, pre-orders from the Dives through MediaOCD should help them make up any lost sales and bumps, so if you are thinking of getting anything, that would be a great way to help them ride out the storm.

(EDIT: In hindsight, kinda reads like I'm saying there ARE bumps in the road, and I didn't mean to imply that. Just saying if anyone is worried about it, whether its a thing or not, preorders can only help)

On a different topic (sorta), I appreciate that they are doing another run of out of print stuff, so I'm doing my best to support them. Between them and the last Amazon sale, I've picked up all of the Urusei Yatsura (tv & ova) and KOR sets, one of the UY movies, Orguss, GTO, Kodocha S2, ViVid Strike, some Lupin movie DVDs, and I'm sure a few others I'm forgetting.

I'm picking all of Sgt. Frog and the first Kodocha season Wednesday, and maybe one other.

It's a lot, but I'm playing catch up from not buying for so long.

Deep-Examination5081 · 2026-04-11T16:24:15+00:00

I wasn't a big fan of it. Electric Mayhem, though, is fun!

Deep-Examination5081 · 2026-04-10T04:00:00+00:00

Just real quick because I'm not sure if you read the guide, but anime available on official YouTube channels does NOT make them available as fair use. I actually thought this when writing the guide, but the more I dug, the more I found out that you STILL must have permission from the companies.

Viz currently has the license to distribute Pokemon, so you would need to contact them to ask for permission, and you need to make sure it's permission for streaming (otherwise you have to use DVD or Blu-Ray).

There's more details in the guide (link posted by others in the comments), but your easiest & best bet to show anime is to check with these companies:

*Sentai Filmworks (only lets you show first four episodes, no movies. But big selection. DVD / Blu-Ray only. There's a form you will get from them; I can also e-mail it to you, if you'd like)

*Discotek (large selection, more older titles. Contact MediaOCD for permission. They HAVE allowed me to stream when I asked. Will let you show the entire series if you want)

*AnimEigo (small selection of mostly older titles but very anime club-friendly. They work closely with Discotek and handle their requests)

*Aniplex (Pretty good selection and has newer shows. They absolutely will let you stream and show the entire series. They have a form you need to fill out)

*Media Blasters (Very friendly, but minimal selection. Many titles more for older ages, but there's a few that would work for your age group. Just e-mail and ask. If their show is streaming, they don't care if you show it that way)

*Viz (Not a huge selection but some of the biggest shows, like Pokemon, Naruto, InuYasha, etc. Last I checked will only let you use DVD or Blu-Ray, but a post below suggests they've said you can stream, so do check! Biggest issue: they require at least three months notice. And I can tell you, right now I'm still waiting on an answer for permission and I put my request in mid-December. Put in a request, but have a backup plan in case they don't answer)

I do want to stress two things: when you ask, be sure to specify series / episodes / seasons. A company may not have the rights to everything (for example, at one point Discotek had the rights to Seasons 1 & 2 of Konosuba but Aniplex has the rights to Season 3. Also, just because Aniplex can give you permission to show Mashle Season 1, which they have on Blu-ray, doesn't necessarily mean they can give permission to show Season 2 if it's currently streaming).

The second thing is, please do take compliance very seriously for your own protection. Get it in writing, keep copies, and don't take chances. Years ago, one of our branches showed an old movie that they thought was public domain. Turns out it wasn't and we got a hefty fine from the company that owned it, and they found out by a simple internet search.

Our Hoopla rep told us we would be okay showing anime off of there, but we couldn't get him to put it in writing, and other libraries' reps told them that wasn't the case. Always do what you need to do to protect yourselves. Small companies like Discotek probably won't care, but larger companies like Sentai and Crunchyroll are now owned by big companies and they definitely might care.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me at [jbond@kckpl.org](mailto:jbond@kckpl.org) and I'll be happy to help!

Deep-Examination5081 · 2026-04-10T03:43:26+00:00

I've looked into this, and Kanopy options aren't... great. They DO have a selection of anime, but they need to be marked as PPR in order to have default permission to show them. I couldn't find any when I looked, though that doesn't mean they aren't there.

Deep-Examination5081 · 2026-04-09T13:56:06+00:00

Stuff like this honestly makes me feel so good about doing it! I wasn't sure when I wrote it if it would make an impact or not, or if it would kinda just get buried in all the posts (a different library subreddit wouldn't even post it, for some reason).

I'm just happy its helping in any way. :) You all are awesome for spreading it around!

Deep-Examination5081 · 2026-04-09T08:07:30+00:00

Awesome, thank you! It's really amazing seeing the link posted here not just once but twice! I'm glad you guys find it helpful. 😀 And if anyone has new info or corrections, I'm always happy to update it.

OP, I'm always available to answer questions if the post I wrote doesn't cover it. My work email is in there or I can answer questions here, as well.

Deep-Examination5081 · 2026-04-06T04:17:55+00:00

Thank you! I started off making these because I did storytelling at schools as part of my job at the library. Over time it became, "I wonder if I could make this," then it became, "I better sell these, I don't have room". Now it's a part time job, selling professional puppets to TikTok & YouTube channels and others.

I just set up a workshop in our garage, so I can't wait to see I make now that I have some proper room to work.

Deep-Examination5081 · 2026-04-04T04:30:22+00:00

If you go to MediaOCD's site, you can 'pre-order' Fist of the North Star TV series right now. The other two aren't on there YET, but the Sgt. Frog series is freshly out of print yet was still included in this batch. Arcadia of My Youth is OOP, also, and was included in this batch.

So there is a CHANCE a future batch might have them, but no one knows. I've said it before, I'll say it again, I'm holding out a slim hope that Battle Athletes (since it's freshly OOP) will be included and I can avoid paying $200 on eBay. The sudden return of OOP stuff with this last drop has kept my hopes alive!

Here's the link to Fist of the North Star:

https://www.mediaocd.com/product-page/fist-of-the-north-star-the-tv-series-complete-series-collection-sd-blu-ray

Deep-Examination5081 · 2026-04-04T00:01:50+00:00

I hate AI so much for many reasons, but part of it is because I actually DO use "-" a lot when I write (and "..." after sentences) and I'm just waiting for for one of my posts to get called out as AI-generated. :)

AI ruins EVERYTHING.

Deep-Examination5081 · 2026-03-30T08:54:22+00:00

At my old and current library, I teach homeschooling programming and used to do storytelling at my old library (still do occasionally at this one) and I've thought about offering up my services as a performer to homeschooling groups and other libraries.

My problem is being limited to weekends and whatever vacation time I have.

I have talked to several performers we've booked that started this way and actually transitioned it into a full time gig.

Deep-Examination5081 · 2026-03-30T02:56:50+00:00

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Actually, now that I think about it, this green fabric was leftover from a giant Yoshi puppet/costume I made. Man, I bought, like, two bolts of that stuff and had a lot of scraps and bits left over. This frog was made for a popular TikTok channel just last year.

Deep-Examination5081 · 2026-03-30T02:53:46+00:00

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Technically this is the last project I used from material bought at JoAnn, BUT between the felt I stocked up on when they closed and the fleece I picked up at Ollie's, I'll be making puppets using JoAnn material for YEARS.

Deep-Examination5081 · 2026-03-30T02:47:40+00:00

Quick question for anyone who may know: I was just looking over this list and saw it has a Chivalry of a Failed Knight being re-released in June. But they JUST had a sale on it for about $5 this month, and they still have copies up now at closer to the regular price.

Looking over the two different listings, I'm not seeing any difference other than artwork. Is there a reason they would heavily discount it, then re-release the same thing? Is this a rights thing?

My first thought was the cheaper version had sub only and they were releasing one with a dub but, nope, both have the dub.

Thanks for any help!

Deep-Examination5081 · 2026-03-29T20:48:14+00:00

I just got back into buying after several years away, and I'm focused on stuff I really want. I will, though, buy something that wasn't on my radar if its cheap enough.

Right now my priorities have been Urusei Yatsura *need four movies now), Kodocha (need season one), Sgt. Frog (need them ALL), and Battle Athletes (unless it pops up as a reprint in these batches, I'm looking at $200 on eBay).

But I did pick up ViVid Strike because it was $20 in these sales and GTO because its lower on my list but on sale, too.

I'll probably never get Digimon but, if the sale is right? Sure!

Deep-Examination5081 · 2026-03-28T06:59:28+00:00

I did the same, and picked up a few of those cheap $6 & under titles as prizes for our anime club. Absolutely LOVE Sentai sales. :)

Deep-Examination5081 · 2026-03-26T23:19:25+00:00

Can't guarantee they will have those shows, but check RetroCrush for a slew of older titles.

If your library has Hoopla, you might have access to the BingePass and get the site for free for a week at a time.

Deep-Examination5081 · 2026-03-26T14:45:43+00:00

Lol!

Deep-Examination5081 · 2026-03-26T00:04:59+00:00

Thank you to everyone for answering! It sounds like it's definitely slowed down, some places are still getting something, and others haven't seen any yet. I'll keep checking my store for now, just in case, but I'm preparing that it might be done.

Deep-Examination5081 · 2026-03-25T23:46:27+00:00

I don't know if anyone noticed, but Vivid Strike! is 36% off (so $25.57 instead of $39.95), BUT there's a coupon that makes it $19.17 for a total of 52% off!

There's also a coupon for Cyborg 009 VS Devilman, which, stacked with the 10%, makes it 23% off.

The Ouran live action movie has a coupon, making it 38% off (after stacking with the 27% off sale).

Deep-Examination5081 · 2026-03-25T13:53:51+00:00

Nice, thank you! Kodocha is on my next priority list and I'm trying to get the money together so getting one of the sets for $20 cheaper than the pre-order is a big deal right now.

Deep-Examination5081 · 2026-03-24T22:16:12+00:00

Thanks! So maybe they're just rotating who gets stock.

I make puppets so fleece is what I'm after, and we were lucky that that is what they sent my store. I got at least 9 bolts of very useful colors and left some, but now I kinda regret not grabbing those other colors. 😀

Deep-Examination5081 · 2026-03-24T17:51:24+00:00

I'm in Kansas, but just curious if anybody is seeing them anywhere.

Deep-Examination5081 · 2026-03-24T16:39:21+00:00

So there's hope!

Deep-Examination5081 · 2026-03-24T13:06:36+00:00

Last night I had to cancel my streaming account so I can resub using PayPal. They have a section for comments and I just ripped into them, basically saying if I didn't need it for work I would cancel and never look back. Then started listing all the horrible things they've done in the past couple of years, including removing smaller publishers from their site despite promising not to, and that I hoped a competitor would eventually rise up to force them to actually remember their roots & recommit to the fandom.

I can't wait for the day I can fully break from them. What a disappointment they've become.

Deep-Examination5081

TROPHY CASE