Do you make 'blind' anime purchases?

[Protocol_Nova]

Sometimes when you visit the anime section of a video store, do you buy a title that you have almost no knowledge of? You haven't read the reviews or gotten any input about it, but you see a title that somehow catches your eye and make a purchase...

I usually do this a lot, especially when I go to the section with no specific anime in mind. The cover would either have to look good, or the summary on the back of the box would be interesting. It's resulted in some good purchases over the years and it's resulted in some that I regret.

Nevertheless, it's one way of trying out new stuff.

[Debitt]

I did this ONCE and purchased Weiss Kreuz because my friend really liked it.

I still regret it, though that DVD is still good for the occasional laugh/Myster Science Theater style commentary. (no offence to any Weiss fans. ^^; )

So...xD; no, I don't make uninformed purchases anymore.

[termyt]

I don't do it as much as I used too, but many of the titles in my collection came from blind purchasing. I wish I could unwatch a few, but I've had pretty good luck so far.

[Azier the Swordsman]

I do all my anime shopping online, so I can easily get a few reviews before giving a series 'Azier's Official Seal of Approval'. But blind purchasing has led to a few favorite titles before.

[Ashley]

I only did it ONE time. I'm usually VERY stingy about my money, and heck, I usually don't even splurge on anime dvds (I mooch from friends). The one exception I made was Full Moon wo Sagashite.

[Arnobius]

Often back in the old days when you could buy everything that came out in a month without bankrupting yourself. Mostly disappointing though

[Yojimbo]

Never I'm also really stingy. I plan out any entertainment purchases I'm going to make ahead of time.

[Bobtheduck]

I used to... I bought Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals even though I hadn't heard much about it... I was happy it was based on FF5, but then I actually watched it...

I also co-bought nadesico tape 1 never having heard of the show. There was this guy at the store in San Diego, near the Marriot where we were having an AG youth convention. We asked what anime would be good to buy, he said "This is a great show! It has your 70's mecha and your 90's mecha all in one!" I wasn't a mecha fan, but he said the show was considered the best show around by many people, so we bought it... I did think twice when I saw what he was buying (a no-discuss show, just so you know) but I was pleasently surprised... I thought it was all serious (even though it did get serious later on... Sorta like M.A.S.H.) but found the humor to be great... It ends on episode 3, so we argued over whether what happened at the end actually happened... It was almost a year before we saw more episodes...

I downloaded basically everything on Lunaarts and then everything I found on Direct Connect anime rooms... That got me some great shows (Like Kodocha), some pretty good shows, though fanservicy (Onegai Teacher and Strawberry Eggs) and some... Dumb shows (Like mouse, abenobashi, hand maid mai (may was tolerable despite the incredible amount of fanservice, Mai was stupid)and one I think it was called "Gojinko" or something)

I don't go blind anymore... I at least read synopses, but sometimes that's not enough... I got marmelade boy and This is Greenwood on synopses... Marmelade Boy is great, I didn't like This is Greenwood... One anime I watched I felt violated by because I read the description and it didn't tell me how sick and twisted it was... The anime is called "Dead Leaves" Yeah... Anyhow, that's it.

[uc pseudonym]

Certainly not; perhaps it is just my personality. It would take an absolutely incredible anime series to get me to buy it (there has yet to be one), and I basically never purchase anything before doing some research on it (though no, I don't research small stuff like pencils).

[Hitokiri]

I do this on occassion (Hellsing, Voices of a Distant Star, Last Exile) but it hasn't become a usual practice.

[Jasdero]

Never. XD; I do look at their summaries and such, and if I find something that interests me, I go back home and check it out before I buy it. *__* / Safety first!

[THE ANIME MAN]

Quite often I do, or I will watching something for myself. Mostly because I will watch things others won't or won't look kindly on. But they don't know if I like it or not so I rather watch something first and form my own opinion about an anime then let others tell me first.

[mitsuki lover]

I only have two DVDs so far,but they're Inuyasha and GITS:SAC.
So no I haven't simply bought without knowing what the content was about.
I perfer to stick to titles that are familiar or that I have read about to be on the safe side.The next DVD I get I'm thinking of Ranma 1/2.

[Rocketshipper]

I have a tendancy to do this a lot although I'm not sure to what degree you would consider something a blind purchase. Like, if I bought it just because I liked the trailer would that be a blind purchase?? I'm trying to cut down on it though...

Magic Knight Rayearth: I bought it just because I downloaded the opening sequence and loved it. I had no idea what the plot was or anything when I bought season 1. I didn't even find out it was a CLAMP anime until later.

Fushigi Yugi: I was at the mall and my mom said she'd get me one thing, so I thought, "I think I'll try some new series", and I saw the FY OVA box set and chose that, cause I'd heard it was good. I'd never even seen a picture of it before ^^.

Colorful: Bought it on a field trip because the summary on the back made me crack up.

Memories: Saw part of one of the three shorts in a music video and thought it looked awesome.

Ah My Goddess: Saw a music video and immidiatly wanted to see it.

Sakura Diaries: I liked the cover art

Blood the Last Vampire: I was in the store and they were playing the trailer on the TVs and I thought "the animation in that looks good"

Love Hina: A hilarious music video

Dual: The box said "from the creators of Tenchi" and I love Tenchi ^^

Shamanic Princess: The box said "CLAMP fans will love this anime" so I bought it

Sakura Wars: I was in the mall and had some money to spend and didn't want to leave without buying something, And Sakura Wars caught my eye, so I bought it

Out of all of those the only ones I really regret are Colorful and Sakura Wars. Two of them (FY and MKR) ended up among my all time favorite shows

[rocklobster]

This is why I wish Best Buy and places like it would let you rent DVD's. I mean, it doesn't seem like it'd hurt thir revenue.
THe only blind purchase I've ever made that was anime related was "Castle in the Sky", but I already liked Studio Ghilbi at the time, so I guess it wouldn't count.

[Lightstream]

The only anime I've purchased is the Robotech 3rd generation DVD set, because I was a fan of the series. Haven't made any other anime purchases, although my cable TV service is offering anime for purchase as part of its digital, on-demand service.

Sometimes, it's quite tempting to go for it when a whole bunch of anime are at your disposal with just a few clicks of the remote, most of which I'm not familiar with. I haven't given in yet, but I probably will watch something this summer after checking out some reviews.

[Namelessknight]

yeah, 3 times. First was Armored Trooper Votoms, then Nadia:Secret of BlueWater and finally RahXephon.

The only one I don't regret was RahX. The other 2 were complete wastes of time and money. So now I research something as much as I can before buying it...

[Mangafanatic]

Nevaaaa!

[Hephzibah]

The only series I have bought is Gundam Wing... and that was after ALOT of research and checking out Christian opinions of it. I kinda wish I hadn't forked out all that money, but I still enjoy the show.

[kazekami]

No I don't. I'll rent things blind but not purchase. Since I don't have much money I want to buy things I know. I have bought titles i've gottan tierd of and traded with friends or for videogames. =)

[Protocol_Nova]

I have a tendancy to do this a lot although I'm not sure to what degree you would consider something a blind purchase. Like, if I bought it just because I liked the trailer would that be a blind purchase??

Pretty much. Basically I was talking about something that you haven't quite researched or something that just pops up subconciously when you see the cover. I remember buying Stellvia because I loved the opening song, but I never read any review about the show. Needless to say I was lucky with that series.

[iamneo19]

I've only thought of it. Surprisingly, not many anime covers "catch" my interest, even after the front may have caught my eyes. Most of the time, I just don't have the interest, much less the money.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

i dont buy, but im not really a blind "downloader" either, because:

1. anime takes up harddrive space!
2. i don't have time to watch a lot in one sitting XD or i dont feel up to watching many episodes

so i usually download things i REALLY want to see

[Rocketshipper]

A few more to add that I remember now.

Ai Yori Aoshi: I loved the song that was in the trailer. If it had been any other song I might not have even payed attention, but for some reason the opening theme really caught my attention.

Escaflowne: The trailers on fox looked really cool

Revolutionary Girl Utena: I saw a music video with footage from the movie and was blown away by the animation. I bought the movie first, then the series.

X: the cover looked cool. didn't know it was CLAMP till later.

Angelic Layer: It was created by CLAMP. I'll buy any anime/manga by them

So, it seems that a majority of the anime I own was purchased blindly ^^. And I'm about to make two more blind purchases in the near future ^^. I decided to get New Fist of the North star because Gackt is in it, and I've had my eye on "Pretear" ever since I downloaded it's opening sequence like 5 years ago.

[eva-boy7985]

I'm usually very research oriented in buying anime, that is I research stuff alot ahead of time and read reviews and hear opinions. The impulse buys that I have are Noir, Rahxephon, Record of Lodoss War, and Geneshaft. These titles I had either no knowledge about whatsoever or was going on one person's opinion. All of these, have been really satisfactory buys though! Recently I purchased all of Generator Gawl merely on the fact that it has one of my favorite English VAs in it, Vic Mignogna.

[Kaligraphic]

No. Never.

I don't think I'm likely to ever start just buying anime without seeing it first. Even reviews are often incomplete, and I've seen shows with decent reviews that nonetheless completely failed to grab my interest. I'll download a new show on a recommendation or a good animenfo review, but it'll have to grab my interest pretty quickly for me to watch the whole thing.

[Maledicte]

I did it once. On an unkown anime called "Garvey's wing." there's a reason why it's unknown, you know.

[Joshua Christopher]

I bought a Dai-Guard DVD, and much to my surprise, it was pretty good.

'Course, it only cost me like $4.

[Rev. Doc]

I use to buy blindly much more than I do now. In fact many of the series that are now my favorites, like Figure 17, I passed up a number of times on the shelf before taking the time to pick it up.

Most of my orders these days are done online and are more thought out in regard to series I am collecting. But even with that, I still cruse the Anime titles at Best Buy when I am there just in case some rare jewel has eluded me.

[ChristianKitsune]

I only buy ON SALE anime' dvds blindly...and I have only done that a few times... I bought and Anime called Someday's dreamers...I was impressed...(so far)

but I bought His and Her circumstances (epis 17-21) blindly....*cough*

I was going to buy Fuushi Yuugi the movie blindly (because I was buyijng Full Metal Panic vol 2 for only lik 8 bucks and the second on sale dvd you bought was like 1 cent...but...I bought my sister The Village instead....I still wonder if that was a good decision..because I have always wanted to see FY...buuuuut...whaeva