It never ceases to amaze me how big companies think they can make *MASSIVE PROFITS!!* by putting their IP into the tiniest box they can find, and then putting the weight of an entire legal team on top of it, and refusing to distribute.
You would think that content creators would want their content to... you know.. BE FUCKING SEEN. But Nooooooo. "This is for JAPAN, and ONLY JAPAN! Screw you gaijin bastards!" seems the most likely explanation, but then you have to remember that these companies exist to make money, so why aren't they selling product to people that are literally shouting "JUST SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!" at them?
It's mot just Japan doing it either. You see this with just about EVERY major media company. "Oh, What's that Australia? You want to watch something made in the USA? FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU WITH A FLAMING, NAIL ENCRUSTED DILDO! HAHAHAHAHA! TWO YEARS WAIT, AT LEAST!" and other such dickery just flies every direction.
Now, the problem with Japan and Anime seems more drastic, since we are talking titles that were created more than TWENTY YEARS AGO, like Macross and Robotech. (as cited.) The local market is already totally saturated; Everyone in Japan that would be interested in those franchises, knows about, and has pruchased merch, for those franchises. They are NOT making any additional money through import controls, or regional licensing.
So...
What the fuck are they thinking?
The world may never know.