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NEWS: Witchblade Has Best 1st-Week Sales in 2007 U.S. Anime


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Vortextk



Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 881
Location: Orlando, Fl
PostPosted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 1:03 pm Reply with quote
I'm not implying anything of the whole fansubs/piracy affecting sales of actual product. I'm saying it was a disappointment overall so I was wondering if anyone buying the dvd's had actually watched it beforehand.

Eh, looking at the ratings on this site, I suppose in general it did decently. Still amazing it would sell so well. Even if it is based off an American source, you'd think those people either would not be following a japanese anime or would already be buying other anime dvds.
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Kruszer



Joined: 19 Nov 2004
Posts: 3498
Location: Duluth, MN
PostPosted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 1:26 pm Reply with quote
KabaKabaFruit wrote:
vortextk wrote:
Very surprising. Did these people not see the fansubs or just not care and bought it off the name I wonder. Then again, it did start about 100 times better than it ended up.

I've seen one fansub group attempt it but I think they ceased early on in the series. Witchblade was a Media Factory production, wasn't it?


Yeah I tried following it but only got to see the first 4 episodes after that the title was announced and it was nowhere to be seen anywhere. I really liked what I saw of it too, so I bought the artbox version myself. This is surprising to me as well though I didn't think this series would sell too well.
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Richard J.
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Joined: 11 Aug 2006
Posts: 2931
Location: Sic Semper Tyrannis.
PostPosted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 1:26 pm Reply with quote
I just tried to post on this thread but it apparently vanished into the vast darkness that is the Internet. Weird.

Anyway, I think this is pretty good news and I kind of think you might be selling the success a little short Zalis116 with that (relative) bit. I mean, sure, this series isn't selling numbers so fantastic that Hollywood takes notice, but Best 1st-Week Sales in 2007 for U.S. Anime can't be that tiny either. (At least I hope not.)

Witchblade is on my To Buy list, though right now I'm waiting for a TRSI sale so I can get some Funimation boxsets at the same time. I would have bought it already, but Hell Girl was more important to me. (Ai can take me to hell any time. I'll just get out again anyway. Twisted Evil )

I'm still wanting DVDs of the TNT series, but I'm almost to the point of just buying a bootleg set since whomever so haveth the rights to the Witchblade series shall not releaseth it upon the lands of mortal viewers. Anime cry

The franchise name power is almost certainly the main force behind these good sales. I keep reading fansub watchers say it had a bad ending, but then I heard the same thing with My-Hime, and that one sold pretty well too. (I also don't agree with the haters on that ending, so I might like Witchblade's ending too. Can't be much worse than the cliffhanger way the TNT series ended.)
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Xanas



Joined: 27 Aug 2007
Posts: 1311
PostPosted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 2:57 pm Reply with quote
Quote:

It's one of the main reasons why fansubs help the industry. We're told that all the time on these forums.

This is a strange comment because
1) One could say this is evidence against the point you are making with the sarcasm
2) I know of no fansub supporter who states that "the vast majority buy," what we actually say is "the vast majority who would buy still buy, and the vast majority of those who don't buy wouldn't buy even without fansubs"
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teh*darkness



Joined: 16 Feb 2007
Posts: 588
PostPosted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 3:31 pm Reply with quote
Xanas wrote:
Quote:

It's one of the main reasons why fansubs help the industry. We're told that all the time on these forums.

This is a strange comment because
1) One could say this is evidence against the point you are making with the sarcasm
2) I know of no fansub supporter who states that "the vast majority buy," what we actually say is "the vast majority who would buy still buy, and the vast majority of those who don't buy wouldn't buy even without fansubs"


He didn't say that fansub supporters claimed that fansub watchers will buy the DVD release. He was sarcastically talking about how there are many people on these boards who seem to think that fansubs help the R1 industry "oh so much", when it probably doesn't make a lot of difference, and it's more like the quote you put, which is what I would agree with.
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Xanas



Joined: 27 Aug 2007
Posts: 1311
PostPosted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 4:33 pm Reply with quote
Hmm, I guess that is the problem with sarcasm, it's difficult to know what to make of the intended meaning because as many people as there are out there who may be saying fansubs help a lot, there seems to be a lot who are saying that they are the bane of the industries existence. You are saying his comments are more centered, but it's difficult to tell without knowledge of someone's position prior to reading it. Oh well, in any case I don't disagree. I don't think fansubs make or break the industry.
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Crawly



Joined: 19 Feb 2006
Posts: 204
PostPosted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 4:54 pm Reply with quote
Damn. With all the other titles available, this has the best sales? That's pretty sad. I guess all that talk about fansubs ruining sales isn't true, because if it was, there would have been far few people buying this after seeing it. (Disappointed in the final product, obviously Wink Gonzo could have done better with the available material.)
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clsnwbrdr616



Joined: 30 Jan 2007
Posts: 22
PostPosted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 5:06 pm Reply with quote
lol, i've never liked American comics (actually I don't really like manga either, lol) and had never heard of Witchblade. However, someone made a AMV with Witchblade at Anime Central and it looked so good and had to pick up the first DVD (actually got the boxset w/ CD). I liked it and will pick up the 2nd Vol when it comes out. AMVs can be good for something. Razz
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Siegel Clyne



Joined: 30 Apr 2006
Posts: 105
PostPosted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 6:22 pm Reply with quote
According to Oricon sales data, the Witchblade anime sold rather poorly on DVD in Japan, fairly typical of GONZO anime titles in Japan.

Although not with FUNimation, does what Media Blasters president John Sirabella have to say recently in the Geneon Entertainment Exits thread on the Anime On DVD Region 1 (North America) DVD News & Views Forum about downloads (fansubs), collectors, casual viewers, and anime DVD sales in North America help explain the success of the first week sales of the Witchblade anime Vol. 1 DVD in the United States?

Quote:
As far as downloads, can anyone tell you the number of households in the USA that have access to a computer and than access to the internet? Much smaller than you think...the actual percentage now of anime fans who do is higher than the national percentage, but it is not enough to impact sales as it has.

Truth be told it is the casual viewer who is carrying the market currently as the sales data shows it...they do not download as these titles are not important enough for that to them...

The anime collector long left this market many many years ago and has been replaced with a younger casual viewer with less spending income and grows out of it much more quickly than before...just go to con and look at them...more interested in costumes and headbands than the show...more interested in learning that annoying haruhi dance than care about the show...the collectors are long gone.


Read entire post here.
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Randall Miyashiro



Joined: 12 Jun 2003
Posts: 2450
Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park
PostPosted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 7:56 pm Reply with quote
Siegel Clyne wrote:
According to Oricon sales data, the Witchblade anime sold rather poorly on DVD in Japan, fairly typical of GONZO anime titles in Japan.


This is no surprise at all. Did anyone pay attention at how well the Highlander anime sold? It was at the top of the amazon anime rankings for a real long time. Afro Samurai (while having some Japanese roots) also was reigning champ in the US for a good number of weeks.

One thing people here fail to notice is that the best selling anime titles in the States is determined by non-anime die hards. Series that have ties to Hollywood or the US comics industry usually do way better than most here would suspect.
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SharinganEye



Joined: 01 Feb 2005
Posts: 402
Location: Les Etats-Unis d'Amérique
PostPosted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 9:46 pm Reply with quote
So did it sell because of its underground-mainstream connection to the comic industry and/or heavy advertising?

I mean the artwork alone of the main female lead put me off, and the plot synopsis just sounds terrible.

But it did well?

Why?

We need more of that.
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Randall Miyashiro



Joined: 12 Jun 2003
Posts: 2450
Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park
PostPosted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 11:49 pm Reply with quote
A huge percentage of non-anime fans bought Witchblade as well as Afro Samurai and Highlander propelling them into the best sold anime this year category.

Oddly enough Karas also gets into this exclusive club and actually broke the amazon top 100 DVDs at #98 on it's release day today. To put this in perspective the second highest anime being released today is Mushishi 3 which ranked at #2757. Hell Girl volume 1 debuts today at #6,268th place. That means that there are over 6000 DVDs that just sold better than it on it's release date!

It is very rare when a non-Miyazaki anime title will break the top 1000 rankings in the states, yet these few have managed to escape into the mainstream market. What actually sells in the States is very different from what most "anime fans" tend to follow. Many of the more "otaku" tailored series like Welcome to NHK volume 1 (ranked at #10,730) or the recent When They Cry volume 3 (#30,266) are currently not even it the top 10,000.
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SharinganEye



Joined: 01 Feb 2005
Posts: 402
Location: Les Etats-Unis d'Amérique
PostPosted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 12:06 am Reply with quote
I think even a single solid anime on a national broadcaster's evening timeslot will do more for anime than all the ads for it ever did.

We need more exposure, a method to somehow tie anime into the mainstream like what happened here, then the Halo Effect comes into play.

It's only going to be niche so long as people avoid it using social stigma and "peculiarity."
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Westlo



Joined: 03 Oct 2002
Posts: 1338
PostPosted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 9:32 am Reply with quote
Dargonxtc wrote:
Vortextk wrote:
Very surprising. Did these people not see the fansubs or just not care and bought it off the name I wonder.

Whatever are you implying? We all know the vast majority fansub veiwers who watch a particular series will buy it in the end to give support for the show they finished. It's one of the main reasons why fansubs help the industry. We're told that all the time on these forums.


That's how Haruhi got into the top 10 for Q3 07 anime titles :D
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Vortextk



Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 881
Location: Orlando, Fl
PostPosted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 9:57 am Reply with quote
Randall Miyashiro wrote:

It is very rare when a non-Miyazaki anime title will break the top 1000 rankings in the states, yet these few have managed to escape into the mainstream market. What actually sells in the States is very different from what most "anime fans" tend to follow. Many of the more "otaku" tailored series like Welcome to NHK volume 1 (ranked at #10,730) or the recent When They Cry volume 3 (#30,266) are currently not even it the top 10,000.


Are those two numbers still just comparing to other DVDs that came out at the sametime?(30,000th?!)

To be fair, When They Cry can never be on my shelf and I'd be happy. I think I'd be too afraid to even look at the box.
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