Forum - View topicNEWS: Fans Confront Bandai Visual About Pricing
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hikura
Posts: 565 |
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I am sorry i have no love for Bandai when they are trying to do this.The days of my past when you got 1 maybe 2 epsiodes per tape are far past(when subbed tapes were 10..or more.. dollars more then the dubbed ones).
Japan in general has more channels to show anime on a regular basis.Plus animated movies are far more common(spefically when i say anime referring to non disney movies) then here in the US. Plus the fan base in japan for anime(manga and releated material) is much wider spread then here in america.He can not say that america and japan are the same.While yes america is getting close to the fan base of japan(per captia) we have a way to go. In my opnion,i will not be buying the series at it's current price point.Other people who dislike the price point shouldn't buy it either.Maybe we can send a message to them about the price point or the count of epsiodes on any of it's dvd's. |
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noriko-takaya
 Posts: 80 Location: Edgewater, Maryland |
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I think BV is shooting themselves in the foot. I remember the bad old days of subtitled anime when a single VHS tape with one episode of Bubblegum Crisis was $40.00. I really do not want to have to relive that era again. It was bad enough then, and it would be bad now especially now since I have a house payment, car, fuel oil, credit card bills, kids, ect... I make a decent living but I will not pay that much for an anime title again. Sorry.
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mlund
Posts: 60 |
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Seriously - I don't think it can be emphasized enough that treating Region 1 and Region 2 similarly makes for bad business.
Tempest is completely on the money when he indicates the key point: the majority of relevant anime shows in Region 2 are distributed via television or cinema. Shows that are running on television make their money off of advertising revenue from television networks. People can record them freely on DVR or VHS. This means that owning the shows on retail DVD is not necessary to watch the shows at all. So the value added in the retail product has to come from extras and collector's value rather than access to the actual show content. That creates a niche market with a high price point. In Region 1, these sorts of shows are only available through direct sales - with the rare exception on cable TV. Their major value is access to the show content itself. There is no advertiser-sponsored home distribution for most shows in Region 1. Hence, DVD purchase is not limited to a small collector's niche of the show's audience. Ergo, the high price point is not necessary to justify the DVD release as it would be in Region 2. Furthermore, the product itself has to compete with advertiser-sponsored native programming and advertiser-sponsored import content on cable. Bandai seems to be clearly miscalculating the elasticity of the Region 1 market. Raising the price point to this degree with simply depress demand to the point of weakened returns on their investment. If they pay any attention to their accounting records and have someone with a basic grasp of microeconomics on staff they'll figure out what's happened. However, unless they get a better grip on the nature of the Region 1 market they aren't going to understand why it happened. The Region 1 DVD market is not driven significantly by obsessive Otaku collectors but rather casual content consumers. - Marty Lund Last edited by mlund on Thu Apr 12, 2007 10:40 am; edited 2 times in total |
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HitokiriShadow
 Posts: 6251 |
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Marty, you got your regions mixed up.
R1= U.S. R2= Japan |
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giberwitz
 Posts: 36 |
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I'd like to know what the excuse for no dub/higher price on gunbuster 2 is. It's been out since '04/'05.
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kurakami
Posts: 3 |
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At these prices, I would not buy the DVDs. If I was interested in watching the series (none of those listed thus far), I would rent them from my local comics shop or Netflix. These prices seem more suited to the rental market in R1 and really do hark back to the bad old days of VHS distribution. If Anime in general goes to this pricing model, I think we will see a revival of the rental market.
I don't own many Anime series in any form as I usually only watch them once. I like having the English dub (though I prefer subtitled) as an extra value and watching through a series in both languages is a great value (I'm one of those folks who look at every extra and listen to every commentary track). Generally, I buy an Anime series if it's discounted like the ADV Thinpaks (can't resist a bargain) and otherwise don't own it in any form. Thus I can wait if it gets cheaper and no big deal if it doesn't. I see fansubs persisting as long as there are series that will never be released for R1 in English. And frankly, some series will never be licensed. US viewers are not the only ones who seek online distro for series they can't otherwise see. A similar situation to US/Anime thing is Europe and US TV shows. IMHO a better solution to BV's is to release in all markets at once at a cheaper price to make up the difference in with volume sold and reduction of losses due to piracy. |
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NervClaX
 Posts: 42 Location: New Jersey |
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I'm really happy to hear several people respectfully address their concerns regarding the marketing decisions Bandai Visual USA is making. As a long time anime fan, I remember 60min subtitled anime VHS tapes at $30/each. There were few online retailers then and even fewer sales or bargains.
I like the current trend that gives anime fans more for their money. The same should go for manga. As a Finance major, I know that the best we can do as anime fans is to vote with our dollars and support our favorite releases at the price-point we feel most comfortable with. This is the most efficient way to achieve harmony within the industry. We are close to finding a balance between our demand for anime, the supply from Japan, and the profits for creators and licensors. |
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Tempest
 I Run this place.ANN Publisher  Posts: 10429 Location: Do not message me for support. |
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That's completely and utterly beside the point. Regardless of how salaries have changed over the past 30 years, Japanese salaries are not higher than American salaries. In fact, I'm pretty sure that the average Japanese buying power is lower than in America (don't know this for fact, don't have a report handy, but I bellieve I saw it somewhere). -t |
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GATSU
Posts: 15360 |
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tempest: If they can buy a $400 Advent Children set in a recession, it can't be that bad. Over here, we can't even pay for a hospital visit.
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sorvani
Posts: 71 |
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Salaries are definitely not on par with the US. My fiancee did secretarial work in Tokyo for a company that makes radio equipment for 3g networks. Her salary was less than the her counterparts at companies here in the US. Yet she still had about $30,000 in savings, and complained that she did not have as much as her friends because she shops too much.
it is a completely different mindset towards the money. for the person who said the yen was worthless.. umm www.xe.com shows 119 : 1 right now.. you do know that is compared to $1 which is 100 pennies.. so 119 yen = 100 pennies... that seems pretty level to me....... the only difference between the yen and the dollar is we upgraded our base concept of value from cents to dollar long long ago. Japan just stayed on the Yen. as for the person who said something having a car. do you have any idea what it costs to take the trains? From Omiya in Saitama to Shinjuku-ku Tokyo is about 1100 yen, just under $10 round trip and a 45 minutes each way. Ever do the math on your car? it's only about double that. my commute to work is about $20/day (assuming that 100% of the insurance and car payment is only used for "work", which of course is not true...). My fiancee's commute includes a 20 minute walk (one way) or an additional train fair(190 yen one way) once she's in Shinjuku which brings that cost even closer to my $20 a day right there. Your Krispy Kremes do not cost 150yen each/1500 yen dozen glazed (170/1700 for all other doughnuts) either. back on topic. all of that said the concept of simultaneous releases is superb. the concept of same pricing simply will not work in the US market. Obviously too much of a price point reduction will have the reverse import problem. i do not have a solution. but i do applaud BV for trying this. I hope they take the open and constructive criticism they received at the panel and look for more options. |
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Cosplaybunny
 Posts: 224 |
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Although I don't really agree with Galaxy Angel's pricing ($10 cheaper would be nice ) but the other titles coming out (and are out) are really worth it at their prices. I've purchased the Collector's sets of both Patlabor movies and Gunbuster and I have to say I've been really impressed with their releases so far. They are definately worth the price. I remember paying $30 for the Sailor Moon R movie when it was orginally released and it didn't have half of what these releases have.
The price point may not be the exact same as many other American distributors but you get ALOT for your money. I may not be buying Galaxy Angel from them but I can't wait to see what else Bandai Visual brings out. I'd hate for them to be scared off from the American market just because of one title. Let them know how you feel about the current price point but don't just blow them off because of it. They are a wonderful company and I can't wait to see what else they bring out. I can't wait for Gunbuster 2 to come out! |
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Randall Miyashiro
 Posts: 2451 Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park |
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I just thought of something that I don't think has been mentioned. What Bandai Visual should do is include subtitles on their R2 releases even if it would cost a few yen more. It might even be a nice idea to make the imports region free. That way those fans (that they believe they are catering to) can get a high quality subbed release at the same time as the Japanese market. Meanwhile they can take their time and release a more affordable dub/sub version in the US. I think that Ghibli has the right idea, and their R2 releases are still half the price as Bandai Visual Japan's.
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bglassbrook
 Posts: 1243 Location: Gaithersburg, MD |
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(Sorry, it's a little too late after reading all these to find the original quotes.)
Not that I disagree with almost any point made so far ... but has anyone going on about R1 not paying $30-50 per disc for an episode or two bothered to check in on the Geneon panels relating to Helsing Ultimate? Granted, that includes a dub (and potentially superior, not just leaving you wondering if they pulled random people in from the street,) some extras, but was delayed from R2 release. Or does everyone just give them a pass, simply because G is expected to charge more than anyone else in the industry? |
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Deltakiral
 Posts: 3338 Location: Glendora, CA (Avatar Hei from Darker than BLACK) |
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Other then Freedom most of the titles have been available for a while, Hellsing is a brand new titles that's coming to the US shortly after the Japanese release. Also Hellsing adds values with a quality dub, and also if you don't like Geneon Special edition you can get the regular edition (that comes with a dub/sub) for $20 MSRP. Hell Best buy had the special edition (Minus figure) for $25 which is a heck of a deal. Do I think that Geneon charging $40 is a tad expensive, certainly. But at least they are giving people an option. You simply get more bang for your buck with the Hellsing release compare to the BV releases. |
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Nagisa
Moderator
 Posts: 6128 Location: Atlanta-ish, Jawjuh |
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And their $20 release is for a single 45-50 minute episode, not a single 24-minute episode as with Bandai Visual. And really, it's either release one episode a few months after its Japanese debut, or pile up the episode count per disc and release one volume of Hellsing per year (or one volume per 1½ years, or whatever), or wait until the entire series is done and release the whole thing like a normal series...which would be about five or six years from now, once most people have downloaded it or bought the Region 2 out of impatience. Geneon's doing what they're doing to continue to capitalize on a slow-releasing show that'll actually be a hot property here. Bandai Visual's simply trying to hose North American fans for money on any property they can think of. |
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