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Answerman - Why Are Sentai Titles Showing Up On Anime Strike?


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mgosdin



Joined: 17 Jul 2011
Posts: 1302
Location: Kissimmee, Florida, USA
PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 11:08 am Reply with quote
I think it may be that the whole of life consists of "Strange Bedfellows". I suppose we shouldn't be at all surprised at the twists & turns of our little anime corner of life.

Mark Gosdin
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lossthief
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 14 Dec 2012
Posts: 1380
PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 11:18 am Reply with quote
One thing I still want to know is just what the relationship between Amazon and Sentai is with regards to shows Amazon has worldwide rights to. Re:Creators, Welcome to the Ballroom, and the Noitamina and Animeism block shows all stream worldwide - non NA viewers get them through regular Prime access.

So will Sentai eventually get the physical rights to those? If Amazon isn't in the business of producing BD/DVDs for their properties, will we just not get home video releases of them? Or will Amazon produce them on their own?
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Greed1914



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4410
PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 11:21 am Reply with quote
Initially, I thought the Anime Strike deal would dwindle when HiDive was announced, but it's pretty clear at this point that the deal between Amazon and Sentai is too lucrative for Sentai to drop in favor of something that might work, but will certainly cost a lot to build. The fact that it has continued despite fan complaints, and the fact that Sentai suddenly started licensing many more shows than it had before is further evidence.

It does come off a tad ironic to me that recent Sentai discs I have watched started with an unskippable promo (even pressing top-menu on my remote doesn't work like it does with Funimation discs) for HiDive, only to be reminded that Sentai's recent licenses end up on Anime Strike instead.
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Angel M Cazares



Joined: 23 Sep 2010
Posts: 5406
Location: Iscandar
PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 11:29 am Reply with quote
Hopefully this piece helps to come down the folks convinced that Sentai is working with Amazon just to piss them off. When in reality Sentai made this deal in order to survive.
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hatguy12



Joined: 04 Mar 2013
Posts: 36
PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 11:39 am Reply with quote
Quote:
Anime licensing makes for strange bedfellows. Just ask Funimation.

A nice chuckle to end the post.
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Nate148



Joined: 24 May 2012
Posts: 465
PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 11:41 am Reply with quote
lossthief wrote:
One thing I still want to know is just what the relationship between Amazon and Sentai is with regards to shows Amazon has worldwide rights to. Re:Creators, Welcome to the Ballroom, and the Noitamina and Animeism block shows all stream worldwide - non NA viewers get them through regular Prime access.

So will Sentai eventually get the physical rights to those? If Amazon isn't in the business of producing BD/DVDs for their properties, will we just not get home video releases of them? Or will Amazon produce them on their own?


Re:Creators is Aniplex
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MarkyMarc413



Joined: 18 Feb 2016
Posts: 104
PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 11:44 am Reply with quote
lossthief wrote:
One thing I still want to know is just what the relationship between Amazon and Sentai is with regards to shows Amazon has worldwide rights to. Re:Creators, Welcome to the Ballroom, and the Noitamina and Animeism block shows all stream worldwide - non NA viewers get them through regular Prime access.

So will Sentai eventually get the physical rights to those? If Amazon isn't in the business of producing BD/DVDs for their properties, will we just not get home video releases of them? Or will Amazon produce them on their own?


It seems like the rights go from Sentai's home video to Amazon's streaming, and not the other way around. If it wasn't initially announced as a Sentai title when launched through Anime Strike, I doubt it'll come to Sentai.

As far as I know, Re:CREATORS is an Aniplex property (the mini-poster I got from the Aniplex booth at Otakon confirms it), while Ballroom is a Pony Canyon title (confirmed by the hand-fan I got from their booth). If either show gets a dub and/or a North American release, it'll be through Aniplex of America and Pony Canyon USA respectively.... which sadly for fans of either or both, will mean expensive box sets. I guess I better start saving up for the four Re:CREATORS box sets of 5-6 episodes each, selling for $80-100 a set...

-Marc.
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Sir Daniel Fortesque



Joined: 04 Jul 2013
Posts: 236
PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 12:08 pm Reply with quote
Honestly, Hidive has a very respectable catalogue, especially for dubs if that is your preference. The only thing preventing me from subscribing is the lack of apps.
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BodaciousSpacePirate
Subscriber



Joined: 17 Apr 2015
Posts: 3017
PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 12:14 pm Reply with quote
We all know that a good chunk of disc sales in the US are generated by people illegally streaming shows and buying Blurays of the ones they like. To that extent, I'm not sure how much Sentai's shows being locked behind a "double paywall" is actually going to influence their bottom line, but I expect that they know, and have made their decisions with all these factors in mind.

Personally, I understand why people who primarily watch anime via online streaming would be extremely frustrated with Amazon's pricing model, but I'm a physical media anime watcher first and foremost. So long as Sentai continues to pump out great anime Blurays at a decent price - as well as premium-quality collectors sets for the shows I really care about - who streams their shows is, at most, a minor concern to me.
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Animegomaniac



Joined: 16 Feb 2012
Posts: 4070
PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 12:18 pm Reply with quote
angelmcazares wrote:
Hopefully this piece helps to come down the folks convinced that Sentai is working with Amazon just to piss them off. When in reality Sentai made this deal in order to survive.


... I thought the reason for the Funi/CR partnership was to stay alive because Sentai was teaming up with one of those "unlimited funds" sources. Which also means it's not that I think Sentai titles are ending up on AS, it's that someone had to take the physical/non US streaming rights of Amazon's license deals and it just happened to be Sentai.

And, yes, Sentai is working with Amazon just to piss them off... like when CR gave Free's physical rights to Diskotek just long enough. However, it's not the "them" you're referring to...

What a weird but awesome world we would live in if Japan didn't combine the physical/streaming licenses. Viz could still be a player for example...
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katscradle



Joined: 05 Jan 2013
Posts: 469
PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 12:29 pm Reply with quote
HIDIVE is the first anime streaming service I’ve paid a subscription to since they have LoGH exclusively. They’ve got some dubs of other shows I haven’t bought yet I want to see too. I do hope HIDIVE end up with apps soon though since I prefer watching other ways than my clunky laptop. Otherwise I’ve been happy with HIDIVE, though I agree they probably aren’t ready yet for a super popular US simulcast. Still, while I recognize it’s about competition for Sentai I very much dislike Amazon. So I hope eventually shows might appear legally elsewhere. I can’t justify paying so much when I hardly watch anything and I don't buy shows blind anymore. Even though the new shows that go to Amazon for streaming every season are usually the few I’m interested in.
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yuna49



Joined: 27 Aug 2008
Posts: 3804
PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 12:39 pm Reply with quote
I saw nothing on the now-defunct The Anime Network to entice me to subscribe; I doubt I'll have a different attitude about HiDIVE. These decisions are easy if you don't care about dubs.

I expect to see Amazon cherry-pick a half-dozen shows every season that can appeal to people outside the anime mainstream. I suspect that's why they leave most of the high school romance/harem/ecchi type of shows to Crunchyroll and concentrate on more unusual offerings like Made in Abyss or Princess Principal. I've been a Prime member for years now so I only faced the extra five dollars per month to subscribe to Strike. In Summer, 2017, I watched five series on Amazon and just one, Sakura Quest, on Crunchyroll. I've started to wonder how much longer I'm going to maintain a subscription to the latter. I dropped my Funimation subscription months ago.
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CANimeFan88



Joined: 19 Feb 2016
Posts: 346
PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 1:01 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Amazon doesn't want or need the latter, since they're not in the DVD/BD publishing business


What does that even mean? I purchase DVDs and Blu-rays on Amazon all the time.

Anyway, about this this so-called "parntership" between Sentai and Amazon, this could not have come at a more bad time since I was almost thinking of signing up on HIDIVE. The service is available in my area so....why not? I of course DO have an account on Amazon but I cancelled my subscription with Prime 'cause I thought it would be too much for me to pay for at this time. For the moment, it looks as though there's still plenty of Sentai's titles on Crunchyroll (and I of course am paying for that) but it's likely that deal won't last long because CR is now with Funimation. I wish to watch some of Sentai's best titles in HD soon since that's the way to go but for someone like me I won't invest in something costly unless I know that it's something I really like. So maybe purchasing Sentai titles on home video might be a better option for me at this point.
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Angel M Cazares



Joined: 23 Sep 2010
Posts: 5406
Location: Iscandar
PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 1:05 pm Reply with quote
BodaciousSpacePirate wrote:
We all know that a good chunk of disc sales in the US are generated by people illegally streaming shows and buying Blurays of the ones they like.

I seriously doubt this is true. People who pirate anime don't care about giving money to the creators and owners. How in the world will they have the decency to pay for legal discs.

Animegomaniac wrote:
... I thought the reason for the Funi/CR partnership was to stay alive because Sentai was teaming up with one of those "unlimited funds" sources.

How? The Funi-CR partnership came into existence one year ago. The Amazon-Sentai partnership came into existence six months ago. Funimation and Crunchyroll united their forces to fight off Amazon and Netflix, not the then struggling Sentai.
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mangamuscle



Joined: 23 Apr 2006
Posts: 2658
Location: Mexico
PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 1:12 pm Reply with quote
yuna49 wrote:
I expect to see Amazon cherry-pick a half-dozen shows every season that can appeal to people outside the anime mainstream.


I highly doubt Amazon is doing any cherry picking (beyond the Notamina and Animeism blocks, where they have no say in what series will shown in their broadcast slots). Sentai is the one doing the choosing of titles and comes to amazon to pay some of the tab by selling them the USA streaming rights. That might be another reason why shobitch and hoozuki were not added to AS, shobitch's preview has the female lead lifting her skirt to the MC and saying she has gone commando while hoozuki is a comedy where most jokes will not be understood.

In summary, do not think Amazon has any real knowledge about how to please the anime community, they are fishing for viewers, plain and simple.

angelmcazares wrote:
BodaciousSpacePirate wrote:
We all know that a good chunk of disc sales in the US are generated by people illegally streaming shows and buying Blurays of the ones they like.

I seriously doubt this is true. People who pirate anime don't care about giving money to the creators and owners. How in the world will they have the decency to pay for legal discs.


It has already been shown that pirates buy a lot of media. OK, the study talks about music and not video (or anime) in particular, but I do not see why it would be different, if you pirate is because you are interested and if you really like what you saw chances are higher than you will buy it than if you went into a store and said "hey, that bluray cover looks nice".

If you want to read a more recent study, just take the red pill.
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