Forum - View topicNEWS: Madoka Magica Anime Earns Over 40 Billion Yen in Goods
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Stark700
 Posts: 11762 Location: Earth |
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Wow, nice accomplishment. I'm also curious how much the third film will make in terms of revenue; hoping enough to inspire maybe even a fourth film
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MorwenLaicoriel
 Posts: 1617 Location: Colorado |
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Hah, I'm amused this news came out on the same day that I got a Madoka Magica figure in the mail.
Hmm, unless it's really needed I'm not sure if I want a 4th film, at least not with the same characters. I don't want them to run it into the ground just because it's popular. |
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Polycell
 Posts: 4623 |
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Well, Gen Urobuchi has said he has ideas on where to take the series after the third movie. Whether PMMM can match Hidamari Sketch's longevity and maintain its quality remains to be seen, however.
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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Even after you take out the cost to produce, distribute and market the goods, and of course tax, I'd imagine the franchise has still made a pretty penny on merchandising alone. Add in home video releases and movie tickets, plus event tickets, and it seems like the show has paid off Big Time.
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.Eckilsax.
Posts: 48 Location: Toronto |
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An anime that's actually good making bank in Japan? What are the [expletive] odds? Oh wait, it has magical girls... nevermind.
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invalidname
 Contributor Posts: 2444 Location: Grand Rapids, MI |
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In other words, Kyubey is The Merch.
Well that's terrifying. |
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Juno016
 Posts: 2386 |
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Urobuchi actually said he doesn't have an intent to stick with the series to the end, if they decide to continue it in some way, and has mentioned that this sequel is his last planned contribution to the project. I assume that's until further notice, but he is quite busy, so don't expect too much. Either way, if they have someone take over the project, I would personally hope that person is Hanokage. Hanokage has shown he/she is potentially capable of maintaining the message and catch that made Madoka the "masterpiece" it's claimed to be.
I dunno if you're just joking or trolling or what, but... I wanted to point out, in response to this, that... well, you're half right, maybe? Madoka Magica doesn't bank on its magical girl premise or cliches, and in fact, it debuted from the niche market and made its way into the public through sheer reputation alone. That said, I seriously doubt Madoka could have survived this well and made the impact it did if the "magical girl" genre wasn't already so dear to the Japanese audience, niche or public. =P Consider this the first major bridge between the otaku and mainstream audience since evangelion, maybe? |
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.Eckilsax.
Posts: 48 Location: Toronto |
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I fully agree with your last statement. Not sure if I agree with your first. I'm sure it's reputation helped with the buzz and word-of-mouth, but I'd bet my left nut that it wouldn't be HALF as popular if, say, the protagonist wasn't a pink loli with a creepy MG transformation sequence. |
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Juno016
Posts: 2386 |
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Erm, no offense intended, but... please be honest. Have you actually watched the anime? Like... more than just the first episode or two? >.> If so, then I suppose the naked "transformation" in the opening sequence was a little creepy at first (later on, we find out it was emotionally symbolic--in case you didn't realize that), but outside of the PSP game, she has no direct transformation sequence in the anime, for obvious reasons, if you watched the show. If you haven't seen the whole of the anime, though... you might want to be careful what you say. In fact, if that's how you view this anime from the promotion material and some of the merchandise, then you just might have fell right into the intended clutches of creators. There's more to this anime than any of us ever would've given it credit for when it was first announced and promoted. Either give it a try (you probably won't appreciate the first two episodes until you finish the show) or you have a questionable right to comment on it. At least, I won't be able to credit your words. =P |
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.Eckilsax.
Posts: 48 Location: Toronto |
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I've seen the entire show 4 times now. Why else would I agree with your comparison to Evangelion? My point is the show is is aesthetically tailored to pander to otaku, regardless of the story content. I'm saying the show is popular more for it's style than it's substance.
Hopefully in the future another great show will get this popular and not have to be about cute magical girls. I guess I can dream. |
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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.Eckilsax.
Posts: 48 Location: Toronto |
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Tell that to the 40 billion yen in figures, hug pillows and the piles of underage dounjinshi. Yeah, everyone loves the show for how deep the story is. Has nothing to do with how much the show is saturated in pure otaku-bait.
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Polycell
Posts: 4623 |
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Shows just as saturated, if not more, in the same tropes have failed to earn anywhere near this much. You don't get megahits from pandering alone.
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Chagen46
 Posts: 4377 |
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Or maybe it's that Otaku love to spend money on merch for their favorite shows? Unlike american fandoms Japanese ones love to blow tons of cash on merch and shit, that doesn't mean that the show is pandering shit. |
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Juno016
Posts: 2386 |
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Well, then... I'm not sure how you experienced the show or where you're getting your evidence from, but I highly doubt a lot of non-otaku Japanese citizens were staying up until 1:25am Thursday night (Friday morning) just because they wanted to watch cute, half-nude, loli magical girl transformations. Or that a lot of old men and women (60's-80's?), and young men and women (including, but far from limited to the "otaku" demographic), and parents with their kids (yes--I'm talking elementary school age) were standing in line next to me in Kyoto to see the opening of either of the first two films, contributing to their opening week record sales much beyond those of an otaku flick and more comparable to a mainstream anime film (like that of a certain popular children's magical girl series that was releasing at the same time)... just because they thought it looked aesthetically nice. Or because it was a magical girl show. I mean, the Nanoha A's theater run was kinda filled to the brim with otaku, and that's a popular magical girl series directed by the same director as Madoka. Evangelion 3.0 had more otaku in the theater than Madoka did when I went to that, and actually, at our public Halloween party, I put together a quick, handmade (but creative?) Kyuubey costume and got 60% of the votes for the costume contest (effectively winning the contest) and lots of shoutouts from the mothers of the elementary school kids attending. Almost all of them knew Kyuubey's name. And I wasn't even in Tokyo... But that's my experience. I certainly know many Japanese otaku watched it from the start because they like Hidamari Sketch and/or the magical girl genre. I'm just kinda convinced by what I had heard online, what I experienced in Japan, and what I've read in interviews that Madoka won its reputation primarily through its substance. And is the first series in a long time, as I see it, to have done so without relying on just its aesthetic.
I know what you're trying to say, but these sales figures are far more than those that come straight from otaku-pandering merchandise. In around the same amount of time, the biggest-selling otaku-pandering series to date, K-ON!, sold just over 15 billion yen in merchandise. (animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2011-11-03/k-on-sells-more-than-15-billion-yen-in-merchandise) Madoka's official merchandise contributing to this number consists of more than just the otaku-pandering stuff (and it doesn't consist of any erotic fan content). It also involves mini-figures found in chain grocery stores like Beisia and convenience stores, business scheduling books, Madoka food products sold across Japan, school supplies like notebooks and pens sold in common department stores, gashopon toys that also include cell-phone charms and keychains, Lawson lottery tickets (which do often target otaku, but certainly didn't stop all the older folks I watched from buying them), and so on. |
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