Forum - View topicNEWS: Funimation CEO Discusses Anime's Future with Variety
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takiko1999
Posts: 16 |
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I agree with you tissuebubble
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Shiroi Hane
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 7580 Location: Wales |
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You mean, small fry like Geneon and ADV? |
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Goodpenguin
Posts: 457 Location: Hunt Valley, MD |
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I'll toss my hat in with folks putting some perspective on the 'Companies rate/use fan-subs themselves!!!' angle. From it's actual relevant statement:
That's a very broad, common-sense set of data to evaluate, series popularity/buzz in the social fansub communities is one of many things in there. I don't think that bolsters the almost conspiracy-theory-ish 'Corporations really are behind fansubs!!! argument that crops up time to time. In fact I thought both the header/lead line for the ANN article and the actual news article (Fukunaga acknowledges illegal downloads as one of several gauges of popularity/Gen Fukunaga has a great idea for a business model: illegal downloading., respectively) both highlight issues that don't represent at all the 'meat' of what the interviewee talked about. It seems of most relevance/importance to the interviewee was:
....which is of note as it represents a NA licensor openly criticizing Japanese licensee's slow-to-adapt ways in a public fashion, something that's been speculated but not perhaps voiced openly. |
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R315r4z0r
 Posts: 717 |
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You know, I don't believe that the anime market is dwindling strictly because of piracy and fan subs, although I do think it plays a major part.
Other factors to take into consideration are time span and what is actually sold. Think about how people buy things with anticipation. If something is released in Japan, and is a hit, the anticipation for it to be brought over seas grows. People can't wait until they can buy it in stores. However, all of a sudden there is a quicker way to obtain this and it is free. Therefore I believe that if something is going to be localized, it needs to be done within a reasonable time span of the original release. The less time between release and localization, the better chance people will buy the DVDs. The other factor is what is actually sold. I realize there are other factors to take into consideration within this category, like DVD size and format, how ever I think another reason why less people go out and buy anime DVDs are because of an additional 2 reasons (aside from the one I stated above). One reason is what is released on the DVD, how much is the consumer getting for what they are paying for? To me, 4 or 5 episodes doesn't seem worth it. (Honestly think about it. What sells better: 3-5 episode DVDs or entire series box sets?). The other reason is how far apart is each DVD sold? This goes with my last point with what is on the DVD. Do you honestly think that consumers want to pay $30 for 4 episodes of something, then watch them and leave it at a cliffhanger, then wait 1-3 months for another 4 episodes? My guess is no. I understand that it just isn't realistic to ask for quantity as well as fast production-to-market time, however I believe that is the key to get people to first of all realize that it is worth it to buy the DVDs, and also to actually GET them to buy the DVDs. |
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Ryusui
 Posts: 461 |
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And as Fukunaga said, one big issue here is that the Japanese companies are flaming idiots. How else do you explain the existence of BVUSA?
If the American industry falters, it's because their Japanese counterparts are dragging their heels. |
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Siegel Clyne
Posts: 200 |
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The View Of Anime Expo - AnimeOnDVD.com - Powered by FusionBB
06-29-07 04:04 PM [EDT] - Post#479603
I have bought all four volumes of the North American Region 1 DVD releases available from Geneon Entertainment (USA) (Rozen Maiden Vol. 1 Limited Edition with Collector's Box, Rozen Maiden Vols. 2-3, Rozen Maiden Traumend Vol. 1), and the Japanese Region 2 release from Tokyo Broadcasting System, INC., JAPAN of the Rozen Maiden Ouverture Limited Edition DVD with the Suigintou no Koyoi mo Ennu~i Web Radio CD - according to Oricon sales data, the bestselling of all Rozen Maiden DVDs in Japan - plus a number of Japanese Rozen Maiden CDs. Rozen Maiden just may not translate well into English. Not caring for the English dub, if no further volumes of the North American Region 1 DVD are released, I will buy the Japanese Region 2 DVDs of the Rozen Maiden anime, which will undoubtedly continue in Japan now that PEACH-PIT's Rozen Maiden manga will be restarting in Japan. But I rather buy the North American Region 1 DVDs and save money, while supporting the US anime industry at the same time. As for Rozen Maiden in Japan, well, it is a far different story... As I have documented on the Anime News Network Forums in posts like Rozen Maiden Likely to Gain New Fans with Young Jump and elsewhere on the Internet, Rozen Maiden has been a commercially successful and popular series in Japan, particularly the anime. It sold unexpectedly well on DVD in Japan. (Google my animation DVD sales in Japan thread on the Anime**** forums for anime DVD sales figures in Japan, according to Oricon.) Other Rozen Maiden merchandise sold as well in Japan, including music and soundtrack CDs, drama CDs, character CDs, Suigintou no Koyoi mo Ennu~i (Suigintou's It's Ennui Again, Tonight) Internet Radio CDs, games, figurines, and dolls, such as the very expensive limited edition Super Dollfie (SD) dolls from Volks, which retailed up to around US$1,000 each and may have fetched over US$3,000 each on the open market. Many Japanese are surprised at Rozen's continuing popularity among Japanese fandom; perhaps even more so, they are surprised at its commercial success in Japan. The original manga ran in a very minor manga magazine, Comic BIRZ, published by Gentosha. And it's about dolls. It is a niche title among niche titles. Rozen Maiden apparently skews toward a younger audience than other otaku-oriented anime in Japan. Video Research Ltd.'s demographic breakdown of the television household audience ratings for the initial telecast of Episode 1 of the Rozen Maiden Traumend anime series in the Kantou region of Japan (Tokyo, Yokohama, Kawasaki, Saitama, Chiba) on TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System), early Friday morning, October 21, 2005, I seem to recall, indicated that by far the largest group of viewers were teenage boys aged 13-19 years. (Perhaps they identified with Jun Sakurada.) Yet Rozen Maiden managed to sell in Japan anyway. According to Character Databank of Japan, Rozen Maiden made the Character Sales in Japan Top 100 Ranking List for Japanese fiscal year 2006. (One day, I may get around to posting part or all of the Character Sales in Japan Ranking List for Japanese fiscal year 2006 on my character sales thread on the Anime**** forums. I have already done so there regarding Character Databank's Character Sales in Japan Ranking Lists for Japanese fiscal years 1999-2005. You can find the thread using Google.) Now that Weekly Young Jump (one of the top two selling men's manga magazines in Japan) and Shueisha (one of the biggest manga publishers in Japan) have the manga, Rozen Maiden should become even more popular in Japan. |
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Xanas
Posts: 2058 |
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Compared to what? Sales have always been paltry compared to most any other media. And sales capped in 2005 which is not exactly "56k modem" time. |
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Jacut
Posts: 140 Location: Paris, France |
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"Unlike Haruhi though, that had huge fan buzz and should have done really well on DVD because it was actually a good show...but that failed as well."
I don't know where you got your facts, but Haruhi actually sold VERY well, more than 60000 copies of each limited edition DVD in just one or two weeks, which is 2 or 3 times more than any "normal" anime DVD, and at a price of 45 dollars at that ! From what I understood, Haruhi is the biggest seller in the US anime industry for quite some time now, and the Internet buzz and fansubs actually helped the show to be recognized. btw, this article is very interesting even if I don't like Funimation's vision of the anime industry. |
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Effect
Posts: 31 |
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Perhaps some people don't know or were maybe to young. I remember when fansubs were obtained by mailing in blank VHS tapes to a group or 3rd party or sending them enough money to cover shipping and VHS tapes and having them sent back to you. The goal was to try and get copies that were from 1st or 2nd generation tapes as quality degraded over time. Though sometimes you had to settle for the lower quality. I still have some fansubs like this. This is really what allowed me to get into anime during the mid to late 90s. |
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Brians9824
Posts: 281 |
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I don't think anyone has ever said that they ONLY look at fansub popularity when they look for potential anime to license. However its been a factor for years.
Also anime has been on the rise for a good 10-20 years but even before torrents and quick downloads fansubbers still provided a large push to help make it popular today. Anyone who doesnt think fansubbing helped create the level of popularity we enjoy with anime today is just deluding themselves. The problem comes down to the fact that Anime companies know this and have turned a blind eye to fansubs for over a decade. Now we have an entire generation who has grown up being able to download fansubs for free and they have no desire to actually BUY the dvds. I usually see most of the older fans, the ones 20/25+ still download fansubs but they actually BUY the dvds as well. These are the people supporting the industry. The other problem is with shows like Bleach being insanely long it just takes FOREVOR to get to the point where the show is in Japan. |
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Goodpenguin
Posts: 457 Location: Hunt Valley, MD |
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Jacut wrote:
This isn't to question your credibility, but what's your source on those figures? 'MoHS' was one of the few titles to have somewhat rough sales number talked about in a previous thread, and while the first limited edition wasn't a 'bomb', it also wasn't exactly eye-popping for a series which had such a huge fan build-up. The sales figure was also no where close to 60,000, I think the licensor's' would have done naked cartwheels in the street if they moved that many units per release of just the LE. animenewsnetwork.com/bbs/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=498360&highlight=vidscan#498360 Generally, while there is a nugget of truth in fansubs bringing positive exposure in a past era; in the anime scene of the last several years, with millions of downloads a week and numerous magazines and websites dedicated to covering anime, 'exposure' as a major need/stumbling block for anime is extraordinarily far-fetched. Siegel Clyne wrote:
Just on an academic note, aren't teenagers (and tweens) the over-whelming audience of anime to start with? I could be incorrect on this, but I would think it would be very rare for even an 'otaku' oriented program to have a specified target audience older then the 16-18/19 segment at the far end of your demo scale. |
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Yoda117
Posts: 406 |
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And it was mostly illegal back then too. Remember, after 1997, the laws in the US changed. The old methods of using IRC channels and "underground" FTP sites couldn't be used any more. Don't get me wrong, most still stayed around until supplanted with newer technologies, but still. Jeez... 56K? Folks were hitting cons by the thousands (though not many) when we were still at 9600 baud. /feels old Brians9824 pretty much hit the nail on the head. |
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matrixdude124
 Posts: 40 |
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Go us, I guess.
Also, fansubs usually help me in deciding what shows I want to buy on DVD. For example, I wouldn't have bought Excel Saga or Mushishi or Azumanga Daioh DVDs without fansubs... |
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Ryokosha
Posts: 107 Location: North Eastern United States |
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Everything they are saying, not just him but everyone on this topic makes me a bit scared. I am more reassured now that industry is not going anywhere but fearful of a push on mostly legal downloads. I don't have the harddrive space for it and love the DVD's.
I hate to see the industry perhaps starting a push away from them... or am I reading too much into a few short comments made here and there? |
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Siegel Clyne
Posts: 200 |
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Video Research Ltd's demographic breakdown of television household audience ratings showed that Rozen Maiden skewed toward younger audiences than other late night anime shows in Japan. Because it stuck out, Japanese posters talked about it quite a bit on the anime television ratings threads at 2ch a few years ago. |
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