Forum - View topicNEWS: Fans Confront Bandai Visual About Pricing
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LordRobin
Posts: 354 Location: Akron, OH |
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Like virtually everyone else who posted, it blows my mind that they think this will work.
Question: Has BV given one thought as to where they plan to sell these? I don't know about you, but where I live, the only video retailer to stock anime in large quanitities is Best Buy. (You can get some anime everywhere, but that's the only place you'll find every major new release.) Best Buy sells videos at a slim profit or even a loss to bring customers in to buy electronics. I have trouble seeing BB make any serious effort to stock a $50, 30-minute, Japanese-only DVD. By the way, thanks to everyone for making me feel old. I never thought the day would come when fans would be outraged at the lack of a dub. In my early otaku days, the reaction to a sub-only video release would have been dancing in the streets. 
------RM |
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CrazyCanuck
 Posts: 101 Location: Canada |
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7 minutes!? I was one of the few that was going to buy this series. I don't like the price and was going to do everything I could think of to get a discount, but I was going to buy it. If that run time is accurate though, then they have just lost a sale. Either the article or the encyclopedia needs to be corrected. The encyclopedia entry lists it as "Running time: 24 minutes". As full length episodes the price sucked but I was still willing to buy it. If it's mini-episodes for that price, then not a chance. I blow about $1000 per month on anime, but I have to draw the line somewhere. |
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DragonsRevenge
 Posts: 1150 |
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Part of the reason why DVDs are more expensive in japan is because the Yen is hardly worth a damn, and the standard of living is so much higher. Plus, as much as anime's popularity has grown here, its merely a drop in the water compared to South America, Canada, and Oh yeah, Japan. It's not, nor will it ever be that popular. People complain enough about paying 20-30 bucks for 4 episodes. What the holy hell are they thinking? Sony's PS3 Strategy makes more sense than this. What a f'ing moron.
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thebaron
Posts: 149 |
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I very dislike dubs, but would not buy an overpriced DVD just to get it early or else it better come with a TON of extras on the DVD and in the case (artbooks, etc).
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bob_loblaw
Posts: 229 Location: Tanning in Hell |
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Perhaps. But I can tell you that many of those pricey "sub-only" VHS tapes I bought, during th 90s era, didn't exactly have me "dancing in the streets". My checking account openly wept, but that was about it. Speaking of the 90s, is anyone else wondering why BVUSA's marketing strategy seems like a throwback to that era? The days when a sub-only VHS tape was often more expensive than its English-dubbed counterpart and was lucky to have two episodes on it at best. When the company president mentions a desire for cross-Pacific, simultaneous releases, Japanese authenticity and knowing "anime fan wants", I can't help but think they're stuck in 1991. 
Maybe back then, most hardcore fans would've been excited to own a title the same day (or month) it dropped in Japan. Of course, I'm sure fans TODAY would be just as excited, if the price-points reflected what they are normally used to seeing in North America. Also, a "sub-only" release would not have been frowned upon as much because of the media restrictions and that subtitled VHS was a rare commodity to have then. Well, it felt that way to me, whenever I tried to find sub VHS to some favorite titles of mine. In the end, I'm just left scratching my head, like most readers here. Hopefully, BVUSA will take the panel criticism to heart and take a long hard look at what they intend to do in the future. However, if any changes are to be made (or considered), it will take some time for them to bear fruit. I just hope that should BVUSA attend any future con panel that the fans there are just as civil and respectful as they were at Sakuracon. Then again, maybe I should just hope I hit the Pick 6 Lotto, while I'm at it. 
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eviltimes
 Posts: 116 Location: Callisto |
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They are crazy if they think Americans will pay that much for Anime.
Just look at what happened with Innocence. Plenty of R1 fans have a copy, and not one dollar went to the owners. And Solid State Society. Despite the threats (or because of them) there was a good quality sub within 2 weeks of its JP TV release. Doubling prices will only send people to Pirate Bay. 
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Gamen
Posts: 224 |
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In reply to all those who are wondering why Japanese fans are willing to pay such prices for their R2 DVDs, it is indeed because of the cost of living.
Think about it. They live on an island with limited space and limited resources. Almost all raw materials have to be imported. And the space taken up by factories and offices, as it is finite and in great demand, costs a lot of money. So everything costs more. OTOH, land is by comparison cheap in the US, as we have almost all the natural resources we need, and more space than we can currently use. So everything is cheaper. This is also the reasoning behind why it's more expensive to live in England compared to the US... We just have most of what we need already. Edit: As for why out R1 licensees can release it for cheap with added material, it's because we're a secondary market. It's licensed for (comparatively) cheap, because any profit made for the R2 licensers is icing on the cake. After that, the costs of the extra material for the American company are cheaper than they would be doing it in Japan. Of course, all that goes out the window if R1 is made into a primary market... Last edited by Gamen on Wed Apr 11, 2007 9:46 am; edited 1 time in total |
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LydiaDianne
 Posts: 5633 Location: Southern California |
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Well, you also have to keep in mind that most do not drive, and therefore, do not have to pay for gas. No car payment, no gas bill = extra money. It all works out the same but the Japanese do have a bit more playing around money. |
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Gamen
Posts: 224 |
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Point. I was just doing a straight across the board comparison. In addition to transportation, I didn't take into account that they just can't have living spaces as large as an Americans, thus there's an upper limit on that, and there's many more difference I can't think of. Still, I think the high cost of resources in Japan are a larger portion of the higher prices that the extra cash in their wallets leading to high profit margin. |
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PhatPhil
Posts: 37 |
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I was just about to comment on the whole issue of money. But regardless, I myself can barely deal with the 30 dollar pricetag of regularly priced DVD's, dubbed and with 4 full 24-30 minutes episodes. When I say this however, I mean I can barely deal as in I can barely afford them. It's not an issue of disgust at the price, it's just that for 10 or 20 dollars more, I could buy a video game or movie with an hour or two to 40+ hours of content, game depending. But nonetheless, I know well enough that if Bandai is expecting to be able to charge that 40-50 dollar pricetag, they better be willing ti include SOMETHING extra. I can't say much and I don't wanna be taken seriously, other than in the issue of that with the many things americans have to pay for versus the japanese and other countries, the charges do not need to match. Doing some rough math in my head after seeing some of the ads stuck into various artbooks I have purchased from conventions, I've seen the prices of the DVD's, rather amazed that they're in the 40-60 dollar range for 1 volume with 2 episodes, specific example being with AIR and the DVD's having been about 58-62 bucks per DVD. I really think it's time a GOOD survey was done to ask americans their view of the anime industry, what titles we'd like to see, what we're getting sick of, what would be reasonable prices, what we want as extra content ON the DVD, I think the idea is expressed here. |
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Tempest
 I Run this place.ANN Publisher  Posts: 10425 Location: Do not message me for support. |
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No, I don't need to, but the article is better with the speakers being identified. To be honest, I should have also named the Kyle and Karl Olson since they are both well known individuals in this community. When a person acts in public, it becomes my prerogative to state their name should I wish to. Regardless of that, I asked Betteridge if he was okay with his name being used in the article. I didn't have to, but I did. -t |
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HeeroTX
Posts: 2046 Location: Austin, TX |
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Answer: All those people who download fansubs and use "I don't want to wait for the domestic release" as a rationale. I personally applaud this decision and agree with the "hardline" stance of "if you don't like it, don't buy it" that fansub detractors normally give fansub supporters. I like this decision for one reason, it'll give a clear view of what fandom looks like and help clarify the fansub argument assuming Bandai V holds to it for future stuff. You have an INSTANT argument against fansubs right from the bat: "we're fansubbing it because it won't get a US release" BS, Bandai is going to do their own US release, they said it themselves. Alright, well "we're fansubbing it because it won't see US shores fast enough" BS, Bandai is doing simultaneous. That'll leave only marketting and you'll get a clear picture of if it helps sales or hurts sales, clear as day. Do I WANT to pay higher prices? No, but I'll take some short term pain if it lets everyone (fan and corporate) get a clear view and depiction of how this market works. And if we shake out some "marginal" fans in the process, that's just a bonus. |
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Tempest
I Run this place. ANN Publisher Posts: 10425 Location: Do not message me for support. |
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Wow. Everyone talking about why Japanese fans pay more... while a few good points have been made, the real point hasn't been covered. Japanese fans get a lot of their anime on TV. They go see a lot of their anime in theaters. They only need to pay for OVAs. For the most part, the people buying TV series and movies are collectors, or big big fans of those shows in particular. There's no need for Japanese companies to release DVDs that are reasonably priced so that casual fans will buy them... Because regardless of the pricing, the casual fans won't buy the DVDs. Despite the attractive prices offered for North American TV on DVD, when was the last time you bought the DVDs for a TV series (or movie) that you were only a casual fan of ? (I'm sure someone can answer "yesterday" but most people won't). So dropping DVD prices in Japan simply won't lead to increased sales. Bandai Visual's stuck in a bit of a crux that faces the North American anime industry. It wants to release DVDs in North America same day & date as Japan. North American anime fans have been clamoring for that (despite what was said at the panel) and it is one of the best ways to deal with rampant online piracy. Problem is, if they release their R1for less than they release them in Japan, same day and date, Japanese fans will reverse import those DVDs and watch them on Region Free DVD players with the subs off. Bandai Visual would end up losing money in the Japanese market. See, anime companies are damned if they do, damned if they don't. Honestly, I don't think Bandai Visual's solution works. American fans won't pay $30 to $40 (after retailer discounts) for the DVDs. It's a noble effort, but destined to fail IMHO. If that's the best solution they can come up with, they're probably better off accepting online piracy and releasing American style anime DVDs 6 or so months after the Japanese releases. The negative effects of online piracy will be less than the negative effects of uncompetitively priced DVDs. -t |
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Ragebot
Posts: 42 Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba |
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Just to clarify, the episodes of Galaxy Angel Rune are full length. The first volume will feature one 25-minute episode for $19.99. While subsequent volumes will feature four 25-minute episodes for $49.99. This doesn't change the fact that the pricing is any less absurd, however. |
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Tempest
I Run this place. ANN Publisher Posts: 10425 Location: Do not message me for support. |
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Japanese cost of living is higher than in the USA. Japanese salaries are not. Tokyo has the highest average salaries in all of Japan, nearly double the rest of the country, but everything costs twice as much too. However the price for consumer goods (ie CDs, DVDs and electronics) does not vary much from prefecture to prefecture. So those anime DVDs are very expensive for an Otaku in Nara prefecture. -t |
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