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Answerman - Hung Over

Can anyone remember why people got worked up over Those Who Hunt Elves, or Sorcerous Stabber Orphen?

Don't know why you felt the need to use a racist word on this forum. There is no place for that here.

Japanese talent agencies are also so spoiled for the level of control they have in Japan that they pretty much don't know how to play well in other markets. Agencies are used to writing marketing disguised as content DIRECTLY for publications, dictating how, when and which photos of their stars can be printed where. The agencies use the threat of withholding access to their stars to enforce these demands, and they get surprisingly little blowback. Some agencies also have yakuza ties, just in case someone was considering screwing with them.

In the case of TV dramas, the agency known as Johnny & Associates (Johnny's Jimusho) is thought by many to be one of the most difficult. Johnny's controls Japan's most popular boy bands and their members, from SMAP and Tokio to V6 and Hey! Say Jump!, and get those guys placed in pretty much all of the popular dramas. Johnny's requires approval on every step of the process, and have a reputation for being so difficult that many companies in Japan refuse to even attempt to work with them. To give some indication of how ridiculous they can get, Cyzo Magazine reported earlier this year that with SMAP's Takuya Kimura reprising his lead role for the Space Battleship Yamato live action sequel, the agency is demanding that all the space battles and CG be ditched in favor of human drama with lots of close-ups.

Movies tend to be easier to license, as the contracts involved give the talent agencies less say over international deals. But for TV dramas? Forget it. Even if you could navigate those disgusting, fetid waters far enough to actually get to release something, the amount you'd have to pay to license it would surely bankrupt you, and the approvals process would probably prevent you from even getting a DVD out. Not worth the trouble, not worth the expense.

Every once in a while one of these agencies attempts to do something with an American media outlet, and is quickly taken aback and insulted when Entertainment Weekly or Rolling Stone either a) doesn't care about their pop star that doesn't speak English; and/or b) uses an image in a way they consider improper. And then they take their toys and go home.

Lord Geo wrote:

Seriously, this conversation is really starting to go into "real fan" territory, so let's just stop it with this post. Just because someone only likes 1 or 2 shows per season doesn't make them any less of an anime fan than someone who tries to watch as much as possible. Shut up with this "real fan" bull**** and just let people enjoy what they enjoy, even if it isn't as much "new" stuff as others would "prefer".

The only one bringing in the "real fan" BS is you. It is obvious from the following messages that others got what I meant, while you chose to go into insta-offend mode.

There are people that are in category 3 (and there is nothing wrong with that), but they think they are in category 2. If someone only finds one or two acceptable shows per season, there is a good chance they are in category 3.

You want to categorize fans, which means that you might want to put the "value" of one type of fan over another. All I'm saying is that categorizing fans, whether it's "real" or "casual" or "hardcore", is absolutely ridiculous & has no point other than to stroke egos.

Hey, can I do a little shameless self (well, company) promotion?

For the past year or two, Yomiuri TV Enterprise has licensed our drama series to CR almost every season.

Deka Suzuki, Secret Agent Erika, Taburakashi, Town Doctor Jumbo, Random Hero, and currently streaming Hakuba no Oojisama...

So
1. Kenrishouri is not impossible for new drama, with proper preparations.
2. The biggest limiting factor is viewership numbers/money at this point.

So if you want more jdrama, watch more legally available jdrama! That'll convince CR and other sites to put the extra effort needed to secure the licenses. Right now jdrama is a lot of work to license for not much return compared to anime.

Sakura Shinguji wrote:

To be honest, I lament the fact that the circumstances of the US industry mean that your company only works on discs for NISA, rather than other studios also being willing and able to outsource to you.

Viz is starting to use him too. I know at least Accel World was authored by Justin. I hope Viz continues to give him work. ^^

Quote:

More power to the majority of fans who don't notice or don't care about minor or even major quality deficiencies. And I mean that sincerely, since the point of all of this is to enjoy it. But, fundamentally speaking, there's a severe lack of justification for the minor problems present in even things that Sentai and FUNimation released just this month, highlighted by the fact that there's nothing wrong with the work that you put your name and MediaOCD's name on.

A reason why I don't quickly buy newer Funimation and Sentai releases anymore. I'd rather read feedback from others before making a purchase. Funimation gets a huge strike against me since they're stuff is always (almost always?) brighter than their JP counterparts. I don't know why they mess around with the black levels (I think this is the correct term). With Sentai - their QC with their discs is so up and down.

I know I'm in the minority and Funi's stuff is decent overall (a little less so with Sentai). So, like you, I have no problems with fans not noticing or caring about quality deficiencies since most of the time you need a copy or screenshots of the JP BDs to really notice.

RyanSaotome wrote:

If you have the same tastes as them (like I do), you will obviously enjoy the medium a lot more but there are still some stuff out there for the crowds who don't like your standard anime offerings.

I still can't believe some people don't understand that simple fact. I'm not talking about the people who are sad about it, but the people who are outraged that more anime that they like isn't being produced. I'm sure you've all seen in on this forum as well: a new show show gets made, it's an adaptation of a popular manga or LN, and the first page has half the comments like this "Why the hell is this getting an anime and not X" or "Why Japan?" etc.

How about those of us who understand this, but still bemoan it as short-sighted, insular, and creatively bankrupt?

I think the complaint that the anime market is being overtaken by moe was legitimate up to quite recently, but that's become less and less relevant. We get plenty of variety these days, even if not all of those shows are good.

My view is a lot simpler: anime as a massively popular mainstream entity was only ever a fad, whose time passed just like all fads pass.

And great, I just knew that if someone asked about drams mdo7 would go on his "muh Korea" tirade. Now we never need to have that ever asked again, lest he never shut the hell up anywhere else. But really, if they make money on the dramas, and they're comfortable with the profits, there's nothing they "need to learn" from Taiwan or Korea. They have the power and control to force their demands, they have the leverage! Korean and Taiwan do not, so they sell their works out cheaper.

The whole Cool Japan angle is something the government wants for tourist bucks, anime, manga, and drama companies don't necessarily need to worry themselves over it, they don't need a Hallyu wave or whatever to save them.