Forum - View topicHey, Answerman! [2006-03-17]
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Ceru
Posts: 44 |
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He's not DEAD, he's SLEEPING!!
Anyway, this is the cutest pic you've put up so far.  Thanks!
P.S. The woulda-been novelist is a little too high on his horse, methinks... |
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v1cious
 Posts: 6203 Location: Houston, TX |
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it's pretty obvious Funimation's gonna release the FMA movie through their new film venture, i really don't see them going nationwide with it, too much money to lose.
heh, i love how people have been bitching how the voices in Bleach will be "Butchered", like a Shounen series has such scathing dialect. |
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TakinawaTonfa
Posts: 96 |
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We have witnessed the birth of the BLEACHers. |
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.Sy
Posts: 1266 |
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HeeroTX
Posts: 2046 Location: Austin, TX |
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That's ridiculous, companies do what they do to maximize profits, not because it's most cost efficient. Otherwise please explain why there are like 15 different versions of the same material (Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop, etc). That's not cost-efficient, that's profit milking. And in the case of a title like Evangelion which has totally run it's course, it is JUST profit, they've already paid everything they need to pay for it. But as I noted last week, this attitude assumes that the price of anime (from the corporate end) is "static", but it isn't. If it were, ADV never would have gotten off the ground and titles like "Devil Hunter Yohko" or "Hades Project Zeorhymer" or others, never would've had the success they had. Anime licensing used to be CHEAP (comparatively) because Japanese companies had made "their money" and didn't care about the US market and didn't expect much from us. Now they DO expect more and sometimes even make or modify a series JUST for the US market. The cost has of course increased as a result, HOWEVER, part of the cost is craziness in how and what is licensed and in some cases, licensing shouldn't matter at all. "Gundam Seed" has a cost associated for localizing (re-dubbing/subbing) but that's about it. Bandai USA shouldn't have to pay anything to release their own companies titles. I dunno about Geneon or Viz (both of which are linked to Japanese companies) but FUNimation and ADV get the "shaft" on this one. But that comes down to "what is it worth" to them. Again, while I agree that for many, fansubs are "free anime" and always will be, I think that could be blunted somewhat with a "cheap" alternative. (like the iTunes suggetion altho I don't like that implementation) $2/episode of online content is a good way to pitch a show and let people "try before you buy". If it isn't cost effective to market the show like that, then they could "NOT BUY THE SHOW". I mean, we're currently in an environment where most anything of note WILL get licensed, but is that really necessary? Even with the current model, some things that are licensed just AIN'T gonna sell in any appreciable number of here. Again, I think the "fans" are GOING to buy the show to put on their shelf, but for some things, the "masses" are gonna buy it (or even part of it) ONLY if it's "reasonably priced". And for those people $30 for a 4 ep DVD often isn't "reasonable" for a non-"top tier" title. |
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Keonyn
 Subscriber Posts: 5567 Location: Coon Rapids, MN |
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$30 per DVD? Not sure where you're shopping but might want to shop around or hit up some online retailers. Most sell for around $20, it's very very rare I've ever had to pay $30 or even more than $25.
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Joe Mello
 Posts: 2261 Location: Online Terminal |
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People need to realize that we're joking about the whole dead kitten thing. It's is not a former kitten. It is a present kitten.
Wait, if you can do something cheaper, wouldn't you be able to make more output and thusly more money? The reduxes exist because a) it's material they don't have to buy again (I don't think) b) DVD's are cheap and easy to press, and c) there's enough of a demand for it to sell. Note that most of said reduxes are sold for less than the original bricks. |
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Tempest
 I Run this place.ANN Publisher  Posts: 10421 Location: Do not message me for support. |
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True. But the difference between the two is semantics. I suspect Zac more or less meant what you said, but wrote it differently.
You forget that Bandai Japan doesn't 100% own many of those titles. There are other licensors involved. Three or four companies may own right to the anime, and another three or four companies mayown rights to the music. I need to finish my "Licensing 101" article.
Absolutely, but the problem is finding a price point that's cheap enough to blunt the fansubs, and high enough to be profitable. $2/per episode seems too low to me, I'd expect it to be $3 to $6 per episode. Will that be cheap enough for fans ? We'll see. I know that several anime companies are carefully looking into this, and trying to convince licensors to let them try it (you need the licensor's permission for every distribution method, and Japan doesn't like to let licensees put stuff online, they prefer to keep that exclusively for themselves). I also know some companies are sitting on their asses saying "It'll never work."
Then someone else will. Although its becoming somewhat of a buyer's market right now, its still not in the situation where the buyers can make demands of the licensors. If an American company says "we won't buy any licenses unless we can sell teh shows online for $2 per episode" chances are they just won't get any shows at all.
Agreed, we just need to give the companies enough time to find a working model for online distribution that the licensors will agree to and the fans will buy into. But keep pressuring them, they need the "motivation." <g> -t |
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Tempest
I Run this place. ANN Publisher Posts: 10421 Location: Do not message me for support. |
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Zac's not kidding, we have two contests planned for the summer that will totally blow you guys away. -t |
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Michi
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 741 Location: Los Angeles, CA |
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I can see why the Yu-Gi-Oh and Shaman King DVDs didn't sell well; they released like two of them with low episode counts and never again. I didn't want to end up with only the first 6 episodes after paying so much money, so I didn't bother buying the Shaman King ones myself. =/ I wouldn't trust them to keep bringing out the volumes, and they didn't, so it wouldn't've been worth it.
;
But wasn't the claim originally "we want the dub version to get ahead of the DVDs"? No one cared anymore. |
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CorneredAngel
 Posts: 854 Location: New York, NY |
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Another issue with any kind of Internet distribution, which ADV alluded to at their panel at this past NY ComicCon, is that they simply may not have the rights to put their shows up. Once something is on ITunes, it can be downloaded by anyone in the world who has a credit card. From the point of the Japanese licensor, letting an American company provide access to episodes to the whole world would cut into the potential profits of licensing it to separate licensors in each individual country/region. |
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HeeroTX
Posts: 2046 Location: Austin, TX |
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I was merely using Bandai as an example since I know they are a direct extension of the Japanese company whereas Viz is more of a subsidiary or something. (not sure what their EXACT relationship is at this point, at least vis a vis anime) The point being SOME of the argument is "smoke & mirrors". I'm not saying ALL of it is, and for a company like ADV the argument is different. But "licensing fees" as blanket excuse for the methods of distribution is just wrong. If a channel of distribution is not AVAILABLE for licensing (if Japanese company X says "no online distro" that's not fees, that's "they won't allow it") then that is one thing, but if it IS available, but cost prohibitive, then that is a question of the "value" of the show. The bigger issue is probably that Japanese companies wouldn't want it because it can impact JAPANESE DVD sales, altho they've already started electronic distribution of things like "manga" in some cases, so *shrug*.
At $5 or more, I can tell you it won't, period. Heck, if you can buy a 6/ep DVD for $30 (or less) why would you pay the same price "per episode". People pay more for an individual song than the price of the "collective" CD because often they'll only WANT 1 song from an album, but for a tv series, especially most anime, you want the full run, so why pay for each individually when you can get them all. This is one way anime companies ALREADY shoot themselves in the foot because now they've shown consumers they'll release "box sets" or "thin packs" so people wonder why they should bother buying individual DVDs when the collections will just come out later. (I've talked to convention dealers who say this EXACT thing is happening)
True enough, but if that's the problem then THAT is the problem. I personally am bothered if its a problem of "licensor denial" but you TELL me it's "cost is unrealistic". Companies ALREADY use "purchase rate" as their primary arguement in opposition to fansubs, which is VALID, but somewhat shaky (IMO, "shaky" because they're unrealistic with their projections/expectations, valid because it DOES impact sales) so extending it now to what could help blunt the problem as a "licensing fees" issue is idiotic in my opinion. Based on the current market, if you could find a price point to increase sales of episodes I believe it's a net POSITIVE to the bottom line (unless Japanese companies try to charge some exponential factor for the right, which is possible, but then it's "they won't LET us" not "licensing Naruto cost $1 billion and we gotta make that money SOMEWHERE").
And then THEY will take a bath on a show that's not worth the price being charged. There are shows that are worth some crazy number for price (let's say DBZ as an example). Then, once you've paid your astronomical amount, you can make it back because it will SELL an astronomical amount. BUT, if you're looking at (let's pick something at random, say) "Bottle Fairy" and thinking we gotta sell X DVDs just to break even and that's looking bad already, only gonna be worse if we have episodes online for $2/pop. That's EITHER saying (a) I don't have faith in the series that seeing early episodes will encourage you to buy more OR (b) sales are gonna suck so letting people buy it cheaper only makes it worse. In EITHER case I ask "Then WHY did you license this show?". This is why I don't think it's such a big difference between "Family Guy" DVDs and anime DVDs. There's a HUGE difference between "what I'll watch on TV for 'free' because I'm bored" and "what I like so much I must own it on DVD" for the average consumer. $2 episode download vs. $20+ DVD is the difference between "hey, I'm gonna buy a pretzel in the mall food court while I'm here" and "hey, let's go to a fancy restaurant". Anyway, that went all over, my point being if the COST of something is such that a shift in distribution will adversely impact the sales, then I question WHY you buy it. If you're SO insanely in love with the product that you'll take a loss in an attempt to pitch it, that's one thing. But to spend a ridiculous sum on something and them moan that people aren't buying it, is YOUR stupidity and it's not my "duty" to subsidize it. One of my favorite mangas got licensed and I bought all the US release vols, and then the US distro folded halfway thru the run. Now I have English vers of half a series, and IMO one of the reasons the company died is they made BAD decisions on what they licensed (that MAY include my title, I dunno for sure). This is why I say if "fees" are such a big issue, then practice some freaking restraint rather than trying to grab anything and everything and "see what sticks". |
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JHawkNH
Posts: 42 Location: Minnesota |
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Am I the only one who sees the irony in the "Flakes" letter where he complains about Viz butchering names, but manages to butcher every third word in his rant. (And this is coming from someone who can't spell to save his life.
 )
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.Sy
Posts: 1266 |
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Vantos
 Posts: 102 |
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I just gotta say: The "sound advice" guy really spoke to me. His path sounded a lot like the one I'm taking now; I used to have delusions about my storylines becoming manga, but being more of a writer, I decided to do them as novels instead. Now, I'm not published or anything - hey, I'm only 18 years old - but I feel that it is coming along nicely. Whether I complete my tale(s) remains to be seen, though: The amount of work that telling a nice story requires is staggering.
Though I still read and enjoy manga, I decided to just leave manga to the artists. |
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