×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

Forum - View topic
NEWS: Funimation Clarifies Witchblade's Best-Selling Debut


Goto page 1, 2  Next

Note: this is the discussion thread for this article

Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
britannicamoore



Joined: 05 Dec 2005
Posts: 2618
Location: Out.
PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 11:39 am Reply with quote
of course it was their dvds that sold the best. lol. Wink
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website AIM Address
Vortextk



Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 892
Location: Orlando, Fl
PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 11:48 am Reply with quote
Quote:
It now says that Witchblade's first volume was the best-selling debut of an anime series so far this year, but not the best-selling anime release in its first week so far this year.


Is this worded wrong or am I missing a subtle point in there somewhere?

Does that mean...Witchblade was the best selling first volume this year, but not best selling release which could mean any dvd out of a series?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message AIM Address My Anime
Zalis116
Moderator


Joined: 31 Mar 2005
Posts: 6864
Location: Kazune City
PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 11:56 am Reply with quote
Maybe by "debut," they mean series first appearing on home video in 2007 -- Afro Samurai had a TV premiere, and obviously DBZ had its "debut" years ago. That's what I make of it, anyway.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
Vortextk



Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 892
Location: Orlando, Fl
PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 12:03 pm Reply with quote
Ah that too maybe, didn't think about that.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message AIM Address My Anime
Dargonxtc



Joined: 13 Apr 2006
Posts: 4463
Location: Nc5xd7+ スターダストの海洋
PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 12:41 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Funimation has corrected its announcement that the Witchblade anime had "the best-selling anime home entertainment release to date in 2007" in North America as previously reported. It now says that Witchblade's first volume was the best-selling debut of an anime series so far this year, but not the best-selling anime release in its first week so far this year. Among others, Funimation's Afro Samurai and the Dragon Ball Z season boxes sold more copies during their first weeks.

Vortextk wrote:
Does that mean...Witchblade was the best selling first volume this year, but not best selling release which could mean any dvd out of a series?

Zalis116 wrote:
Maybe by "debut," they mean series first appearing on home video in 2007 -- Afro Samurai had a TV premiere, and obviously DBZ had its "debut" years ago. That's what I make of it, anyway.


Could it mean that DBZ S4 and Afro Samurai are considered best selling animes because they were complete shows? To where Witchblade was just the first volume, therefore incomplete, and can only be considered a debut?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website My Anime My Manga
Vortextk



Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 892
Location: Orlando, Fl
PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 1:24 pm Reply with quote
Apparently it all means something needs a re-write and FURTHER clarification from the article or the paraphrasing author, I would say.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message AIM Address My Anime
DClark



Joined: 11 Aug 2007
Posts: 110
PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 2:37 pm Reply with quote
The wording of the original release is "According to analysis of Nielsen VideoScan data after its September 25th release date, Witchblade volume 1 is the #1 best selling anime series launch of the year based on first week sales."

So the original release indicated "anime series launch" as opposed to "anime release". Scanning over the 2007 'DVD 1' releases that means it beat the first week numbers of Coyote Ragtime Show, Utawarerumono, Solty Rei, Tokko, Le Chevalier D'eon, Black Lagoon, When They Cry, 009-1, Haruhi, Mushishi, Kurau, Beck, and others.

With Rightstuf's 40% off sale going on now I'm debating whether to get the first two DVDs; I saw the first episode streamed and was neither impressed nor disappointed with it, but it's giving off a 'Devil Lady' vibe and I really liked that series.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Richard J.



Joined: 11 Aug 2006
Posts: 3367
Location: Sic Semper Tyrannis.
PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 9:07 pm Reply with quote
Well, it's still apparently a success for them one way or the other. Yeah for Funimation! Cool

It's strictly my opinion, but the Texas-based companies seem to be the most solid and reliable right now. They license varied series, they rarely fail to make a profit, and while I'm sure they wish their sales figures were better, they aren't going away any time soon.

Now, if Hell Girl sells well too, I can be a happy man child.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
JackCox



Joined: 22 Jun 2006
Posts: 386
PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 9:39 pm Reply with quote
Just a question who played the bizarre Ex-cons?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
HitokiriShadow



Joined: 09 May 2005
Posts: 6251
PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 11:17 pm Reply with quote
Dargonxtc wrote:


Could it mean that DBZ S4 and Afro Samurai are considered best selling animes because they were complete shows? To where Witchblade was just the first volume, therefore incomplete, and can only be considered a debut?


I think DBZ and Afro Samurai sold more, but they aren't considered a "debut" due to Afro's TV run and DBZ being a re-release (which also had a TV run). But this is the first time Witchblade is available (officially) in the US in any form, so its a debut. Being complete or incomplete has nothing to do with it that just happens to be how it worked out. Regardless, it makes Witchblade Funi's 3rd best selling release of the year (well... if you count all of the DBZ sets as one release).
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Cowboy Cadenza



Joined: 31 Oct 2005
Posts: 243
Location: Poughkeepsie, NY
PostPosted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 7:19 pm Reply with quote
DClark wrote:
So the original release indicated "anime series launch" as opposed to "anime release". Scanning over the 2007 'DVD 1' releases that means it beat the first week numbers of Coyote Ragtime Show, Utawarerumono, Solty Rei, Tokko, Le Chevalier D'eon, Black Lagoon, When They Cry, 009-1, Haruhi, Mushishi, Kurau, Beck, and others.

With Rightstuf's 40% off sale going on now I'm debating whether to get the first two DVDs; I saw the first episode streamed and was neither impressed nor disappointed with it, but it's giving off a 'Devil Lady' vibe and I really liked that series.


Ironically, I would list six of the series you just mentioned as better than Witchblade, and two of them on par with it...

If you weren't impressed with the first episode, I wouldn't bother spending money on it. I think a huge part of the appeal of the show is for those who are fans of the original comic. I don't know, it really seemed like a boring show full of cliches, as far as I saw. Granted I only saw 7 or 8 episodes, but I feel like if that didn't impress me, I wasn't going to stick it out for 16 more episodes.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message AIM Address My Anime
Dargonxtc



Joined: 13 Apr 2006
Posts: 4463
Location: Nc5xd7+ スターダストの海洋
PostPosted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 7:33 pm Reply with quote
HitokiriShadow:
Yeah that makes sense, but I still think they worded that, well, poorly.

But as others have said, it's good to hear about legit anime successes. Especially around this time.

Cowboy Cadenza wrote:
Ironically, I would list six of the series you just mentioned as better than Witchblade, and two of them on par with it...

Damn, people keep saying this and it scares the hell out of me. I saw the first episode, and thought it had a lot to work with. Oh well, we'll see.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website My Anime My Manga
Randall Miyashiro



Joined: 12 Jun 2003
Posts: 2451
Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park
PostPosted: Sun Oct 28, 2007 7:26 am Reply with quote
DClark wrote:

So the original release indicated "anime series launch" as opposed to "anime release". Scanning over the 2007 'DVD 1' releases that means it beat the first week numbers of Coyote Ragtime Show, Utawarerumono, Solty Rei, Tokko, Le Chevalier D'eon, Black Lagoon, When They Cry, 009-1, Haruhi, Mushishi, Kurau, Beck, and others.


I'm not surprised that all the titles you listed sold very poorly compared to Witchblade. The numbers might be different at anime specialty stores, but I believe the units sold at retailers like Best Buy and Suncoast most likely reflect amazon's sales which the have posted for public viewing. Unfortunately I don't have how well they ranked when they came out, but this is the current DVD rankings on amazon for the first volumes of the series you mentioned. A couple of these have to split their sales figures between LE sets but this is also the case with Afro Samurai and Witchblade. I have listed the better selling edition when applicable.

Coyote Ragtime #69,637
Utawarerumono ##38,622
Solty Rei #28,273
Tokko #32,217
Le Chevalier #45,369
Black Lagoon #29,025
When They Cry #25,831
Haruhi #14,257
Mushishi #36,547
Kurau #61,198
Beck #49,487

None of the above are currently in the top 10,000 ranked DVDs (Haruhi is closest at 14,257th place) so below I listed a few dvds that have sold better than these fan favorites. I think Haruhi volume 1 ranked as high as around 3000, but am not sure.

Afro Samurai #5,477
Highlander #11,158
Dragon Ball season 1 #1,254
Witchblade #6,230
Dragon Ball season 2 #1,097
Dragon Ball season 3 #554
Karas the Revalation #237

Obviously this doesn't mean that Highlander, and Witchblade are better than Black Lagoon or Haruhi. If you look at the ANN rankings the popular opinion amongst anime fans is actually quite the opposite. I think that name recognition really helped both titles and the sales were not limited to anime fans like many other anime titles. I have no idea why so many non-anime fans have latched on to Karas which broke the top 100 a few days ago. Afro Samurai and Highlander also managed to rank really high when they were released and have dropped significantly over the last several months.

The top animation is dominated by non-anime cartoons. Here are a few examples of animation that is doing much better than any anime title at the moment.

Its a Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown #98
Barbie as the Island Princess #128
Leap Frog Letter Factory #178

When it comes down to it most anime sells very poorly in the mainstream market. Sadly enough those wonderful specialty shops that have banners on ANN only represent a very small percentage of the market, especially compared to giants like Best Buy, Amazon and Wallmart.

The best thing that can happen to a series is to have it get major exposure on television. Here are some of the popular CN titles. These are a mix of recent releases and boxed set editions.

Bleach #13,711
Witch Hunter Robin #2,230
Wolf's Rain #11,213
Inuyasha #3,730
Gundam Seed Destiny #1,973
Fullmetal Alchemist #7,301

While not as popular as Sponge Bob these titles are currently doing better than the first volumes listed in the above post. It makes me a bit sad that there are over 60,000 DVDs that are selling better than Kurau volume 1 right now.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website My Anime
Vortextk



Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 892
Location: Orlando, Fl
PostPosted: Sun Oct 28, 2007 12:00 pm Reply with quote
To Dargon, it was just...ugh. I was like you and thought it had some good material but it ended up so flat. For me, the obviously declining animation in some episodes did it for me as well as the story. It was never terrible looking and disfigured, just obviously cheap looking.(Panning, still shots, way too few action scenes for a somewhat action anime...) But hey the ratings on ANN give it a what, 7ish average?

And Randall, thanks for the great comparitive post. I still don't quite understand how well something like Witchblade sells in retail even with the name behind it, I would've thought those were already anime fans and would be buying other dvds. But obviously I'm wrong. Karas is really surprising as well.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message AIM Address My Anime
Dargonxtc



Joined: 13 Apr 2006
Posts: 4463
Location: Nc5xd7+ スターダストの海洋
PostPosted: Sun Oct 28, 2007 2:17 pm Reply with quote
Randall Miyashiro wrote:
I have no idea why so many non-anime fans have latched on to Karas which broke the top 100 a few days ago.

Matthew Lillard fans... seriously.

Also while I agree with your overall point, just using Amazon sales numbers can be very misleading in general. I think your average anime fan is a bit more thrifty than your average 'Hollywoods my life' buff or your average person in general. Again I agree with many of your sentiments, but don't lose too much sleep over Kurau having 60k Amazon rating. And remember Tokko and Noien had TV exposure as well.
Randall Miyashiro wrote:
The top animation is dominated by non-anime cartoons. Here are a few examples of animation that is doing much better than any anime title at the moment.

Its a Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown #98
Barbie as the Island Princess #128
Leap Frog Letter Factory #178

When it comes down to it most anime sells very poorly in the mainstream market. Sadly enough those wonderful specialty shops that have banners on ANN only represent a very small percentage of the market, especially compared to giants like Best Buy, Amazon and Wallmart.

Keep in mind that every women that is pregnant or has a child under 4 is going to be buying those DVDs, especially from well known online retailers like Amazon, where they don't even have to leave the house. Have you ever seen a child go down a DVD aisle and destroy it?

As far as the retailers you listed, I would love to see Best Buy's sales numbers. They have much better deals than Amazon, and with an excellent selection both online and in brick and mortar. I know they don't give out numbers like Amazon, I am just saying it might give a better picture.

Vortextk wrote:
To Dargon, it was just...ugh. I was like you and thought it had some good material but it ended up so flat. For me, the obviously declining animation in some episodes did it for me as well as the story. It was never terrible looking and disfigured, just obviously cheap looking.(Panning, still shots, way too few action scenes for a somewhat action anime...) But hey the ratings on ANN give it a what, 7ish average?

Yeah I decided to bite the bullet and give her a whirl. You never know if you will like something until you try it out for yourself I guess. I have liked things in the past that other have not, then again things have turn out to be turds as well. I can't imagine it being too bad as and action show, but well see. As someone had already pointed out in this thread, I thought that Devil Lady had some merit to it as well, and many people thought that was horrible.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website My Anime My Manga
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page 1, 2  Next
Page 1 of 2

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group