Forum - View topicHey, Answerman! [2006-05-12]
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xvkarbear
Posts: 21 Location: USA |
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Although the see the point of this person's rant. I disagree.
There would be no anime market, without anime fans. There's probably a small percentage of people who buy anime but don't know it's anime. Who buy the DVDs because they see it on TV and think it's cool and don't notice the japanese elements or anything.. or their kids (where shows like yugioh are aimed at anyways.) I think the anime companies are like: Well, fans can't really get a lot of anime on their own.. so the demand is high so we can supply that demand at higher prices. And I feel that notion/idea is kind of behind the times. It's easy to get bootlegs and download fansubs much more then it was years ago when the companies set their selling standards. I feel like the companies are out to milk as much money as they can without reguard to the fans that fuel their success.. and that they could blame the high prices in downloads and bootlegs. But I think that's just an excuse. I'm allow to complain and be discontent if a 3 episode disc is $30. Sorry, I'm not paying $10 per episode (although I realize a lot of it has to do with the store your buying it at and not the companies. Still their MSRP could be lower.) Although, I could have missed the total point of the rant. |
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jmays
ANN Associate Editor
 Posts: 1390 Location: St. Louis, MO |
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What makes you feel that way? The logic just doesn't add up--if something is more expensive to make, it will be more expensive to sell, especially if you are not going to sell a lot of them. |
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NGE1113
 Posts: 1081 Location: Alexandria, VA. |
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Unfortunately, another week, another misguided rant. It was an interesting subject to start with (DVD pricing), then just somehow shifted to a generic bashing of 4Kids. I know a rant isn't a formal essay, but still, if you choose a topic stick with it, okay?
I understand the frustration over high costs, though. Actually, I believe Anime Insider did an article on the subject sometime in 2005. It must be remembered though that domestic titles (i.e., "The Simpsons") require no leasing; FOX/Matt Groening already own distribution rights. Today, a lot of Japanese companies have raised licensing fees for their properties, which contribute to the $29.99 per disc cost. Add to that the fact that some of the American distributors (esp. Geneon) help finance various projects, and they need to make that money back as well. In other words, anime pricing has a lot in common with current US gas prices: can't live with it, can't live without it. |
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GATSU
Posts: 15306 |
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It'll probably be the norm in Japan. 
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ChrisBeveridge
Posts: 162 |
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We'll definitely see blu-ray and hd dvd releases that only have the standard amount of episodes on it. The reason being is that when we actually get HD anime on either format, the episodes will take up more space. Now, talking about older series getting ported over, yeah, expect to see things like the Slayers TV release where you get the box set on a couple of discs or one disc. But even non-HD anime will make out better since you can achieve higher bitrates with less compression so shows will look better.
Anyone expecting brand new series on HD in either format to not follow existing norms of release is just not being grounded. There'll always be exceptions but we'll still have 6-8 volume HD releases. |
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FeralKat
Posts: 402 |
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That bunny is the cutest thing on Earth.
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Gauss
 Posts: 519 Location: Finland |
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It's so cuu-uute I want to cook and eat it!
Hrmm, I think the only way we could get a higher average episode count at the same price is if sales are strong enough to support it. Don't hold your breath as Blu-ray will be up against an established digital format. It's not digital DVD vs analog VHS this time around. I think the most we can hope for is more extras. Of course the extras would be produced as cheaply as possible so don't expect that much quality-wise. Another possibility is multilanguage releases, especially with English and Spanish dubs. If a US company already distributes stuff on the South American market (or in Spain itself) there's no particular reason not to bundle Spanish dubs on North American releases. |
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HMS Thunder Child
Posts: 12 Location: Ze Netherlands |
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Well, the guy in the Rant has a point.
If bootlegs and fansubs also contribute in the high prices, I don't know and I don't care really much, but frankly I would like to have the *** of bootleggers whooped and burned and fansubbers to stop once a series gets licensed ( highly unlikely in some cases ). |
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Anime_Freak
 Posts: 420 Location: Oklahoma |
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[sarcasm]Thank You Zac for getting that Alvin & The Chipmunks Christmas song stuck in my head, that song, IMO, is REALLY annoying. I'm having to replace that song with Last Christmas, sung by Rei Hino's Japanese VA.[/sarcasm]
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DriftRoot
 Posts: 222 Location: NH |
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Any perceived price gouging is capitalism by any other name. No one's forcing you to buy $29.99 3-episode discs, and if it really was so horrible, there would BE no market for anime on DVD. What would lowering prices to "acceptable" levels achieve? Nothing - while more product might be sold, it would be at a lesser gain - so there's no incentive for anyone to start a DVD price revolution. It's funny how the rant reflects that one question about buying anime online vs. in stores, isn't it?
I've said it before and I'll say it again, the whole anime scene is teetering on the edge of a massive cliff called the Internet. The past few months have seen more and more companies take to the Web, offering all kinds of anime for legal download, and there's no sign it's going to suddenly stop. I think most people, including myself, will embrace the idea of obtaining anime via download as long as its efficient and affordable. There's no reason it shouldn't be, because it essentially cuts out all the extra expenses involved in marketing, packaging and shipping curently required to sell that product. The problems illegal downloading cause the industry and its effect on prices and quality is not one exclusive to anime retailers - its trashing the entire audio/visual media business world. Regular network programming and movies companies also are waking up to the fact that people use their computers for entertainment, not just word processing, and are scrambling to make a buck offering their goods online as well. I wish people would just be a little more patient and a little more willing to hold anime distributors to the same standards all other businesses are held - very low ones. They're in this for themselves and whatever decisions they make about price, dubbing quality and production extras directly reflects their chosen strategy for getting the most out of their licensing investment.  I am a huge Saiyuki fan and I HATE and DETEST Reload and Gunlock. Does this make me not a diehard? I can hardly bear to look at it. The manga isn't much better, in all honestly, although at least it's as good or better-looking than the original run of the series. Ugh...just thinking about it makes me want to retch. Honestly, the worst insult I can come up with is that they turned the sequels into American-style 2-in-the-afternoon cartoon hideousness. Please God, let there be Gaiden in our future.
p.s.That bunny is the cutest thing I've ever seen. The last time I saw a baby bunny, my cat had brought three of them, half-dead, into the house. Don't worry, two lived through the ordeal. |
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Animedude35
 Posts: 98 Location: Dallas, Texas |
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If no one likes the prices at one store.....like the top of the Answerman's emails, find it online or at a different store that would give about 40% discounts!
Price shouldn't be a concern as much anymore because of the online internet stores that keep prices just as low as American DVDs, I'm looking at tons of anime dvds right now priced at $20 or lower on deepdiscountdvds and that's as much as a movie! It's sad that many people still don't know how to shop to save 
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Zalis116
Moderator
 Posts: 6867 Location: Kazune City |
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I think that question about Tough could have qualified for "Flake of the Week," considering that the user could have easily gone to the Encyclopedia for his answer. In fact, I remember reading somewhere, "Don't ask AnswerMan questions that could easily be answered with Google or the ANN Encyclopedia." But, I'll just assume that it was an opportunity to take a shot at Tough.
Sayuki+Reload+Gunlock: I've heard that the sequels are better in terms of art and animation, but not in story...also that the sequels might not actually conclude the plot at all. One reason that Reload and Gunlock are so maligned is that while ADV dubbed the original series, Geneon did the sequels--people disliked the new voice casts and missed ADV's distinctive comic touches, or so I've heard. Honestly, hearing this stuff about the sequels makes me not even want to watch the original Sayuki, since it's long, the movement/animation is substandard, and the "cute guy" appeal doesn't work for me. Pricing and Teh Rant: I think I've made some comments about rip-offs in the Anime forum lately; whether or not those contributed to the rant, I can't say. But honestly, I agree; compared with Japan, Europe, and elsewhere, anime prices in America are great. Even if MSRP's are high, there's no excuse to be paying them if you know what you're doing. It also helps if you branch out and buy older series & boxed sets, instead of focusing only on the newest anime coming out disc by disc. Now, I have commented on how companies are gouging us on specific series with high disc counts and few extras to justify low episode counts. Series like that are the exception these days, and if I feel like a particular series doesn't offer enough value, I'll buy something that is worth my money. DDD's models seem to be working...I had to redo an order that included My-Hime Vol. 2, and it was sold out. (Gee, it must be doing this well because there weren't any fansubs to kill the sales of that series...) Some people take issue with below-MSRP pricing, though:
Last edited by Zalis116 on Fri May 12, 2006 5:15 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Treeloot
Posts: 140 |
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I don't think most anime companies price gouge with the exception of Geneon. Their prices are insane. I want to watch Samurai Champloo, Last Exile, and Trigun and all series are still over the $100 mark even on cheap online retailers.
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JELEINEN
 Posts: 253 Location: Iowa |
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Wow. What you quoted has to be one of the stupidest things I've ever read. If the large retailer or online store is paying the same wholesale price for the disc and can afford to sell it below MSRP because of lower overhead, then how does this hurt the industry? |
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Astribulus
Posts: 15 |
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I just want to add one point to the Saiyuki answer. Yes, Reload is a continuation of the story. Unfortunately, the first seventeen episodes are poorly-constructed, one-shot filler episodes. The series finally gets back to the manga after that. I can't say how long this lasts since I haven't bothered to touch Gunlock yet.
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