[quote name='Tsukento']Is This a Zombie? pre-orders just when up on RightStuf and sure enough, DVD-only. It's definitely Kadokawa pretty much cock-blocking Blu-ray releases. What the reason is, is still unsure (and I'm still sticking with them not wanting the risk of reverse importation affecting their own sales). I very much doubt they'd block one company from getting Blu-ray releases when the whole reverse importation thing's a very big deal for Japan.
More or less, the Japanese companies don't seem to understand why sales tend to be low for their series' that aren't full of fanservice and don't understand why Japanese consumers tend to import US Blu-ray releases instead; higher episode count, far lower price. Instead, they continue to stick to the method of releasing singles with 2 to 4 episodes per disc for the equivalent of about $80 per BD. Giving US companies DVD-only effectively stops the Japanese consumers from importing since the US and Japan don't share the same region coding like the Blu-rays do.[/QUOTE]
Sigh, I don't want to get into this, haha.
Reverse importation fears aren't exclusive to Kadokawa; all of the Japanese licensors fear it. Now, it is a possibility that Kadokawa is at fault, but if it's solely for the fear of reverse importation, then why isn't every company doing it? That's not hard evidence. It doesn't prove anything. A more probable scenario is that Funimation pissed off Kadokawa. However,
no one knows who is at fault, except the parties involved. HLP Forte, Panty & Stocking, and Is This a Zombie are fully owned and licensed to Funimation by Kadokawa, and so far all of them have been relegated to DVD only releases. Another is also fully owned and licensed out by Kadokawa, but the difference is that it is licensed to Sentai Filmworks, who has had no trouble putting out Blu-rays thus far. When Another is released, the truth will be revealed.
The release that I care about is Steins;Gate, but Kadokawa only holds control of the international licensing, not the whole show itself, so maybe that will actually get a Blu-ray release. Who knows.
As for why anime is so expensive and is released in singles in Japan, it's because it has to be for the companies to make back their money. They can't release it any other way. I suggest you read all three parts of Justin Sevakis' article about it on ANN:
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/2012-03-05