Forum - View topicADVFilms down and out?
|
Goto page 1, 2 Next |
| Author | Message | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Dereaper13
Posts: 3 Location: Victoria, Tx |
|
|||||
|
I was wondering what has been happening to ADVFilms. I personally haven't heard anything of them in a while, and was just curious if anyone could fill me in on the situation. Any information would be much appreciated. Thank you.
|
||||||
|
||||||
DuelLadyS
 Posts: 1705 Location: WA state |
|
|||||
|
In short, they're on Life Support- after the Sojitz fallout robbed of pretty much every new show they picked up for the last 2 years, they've had a lot of trouble getting the ball going again- most of their releases have been re-issues/re-re-re-issues of older titles.
Recently, they've managed to sqeak out a couple sub-only new releases (Clannad and Princess Ressurection), plus they got a hunk of CPM's corpse and are re-issuing some of their older titles... but according to the RACS newsletter, they're keeping the print runs very small on all of it. I'm hoping they get back on their feet, personally. |
||||||
|
||||||
|
PetrifiedJello
Posts: 3782 |
|
|||||
|
I won't be a bit surprised if ADV files for bankruptcy by year's end. Some of their decisions scream "desparate" for cash, and that's never a good sign.
Their deal with Sentai Filmworks is more of a "we'll take what we can get" than a business decision to properly distribute the series. I'm actually stunned Clannad, a very successful series, wasn't pushed for a dub to garner more sales. The recent pricing inclusion of their online streaming service is also a shock to me. Charging $7.95, per month, is over the top to me when trying to compete against other sites offering streams at no cost (whether legal or not is irrelevant). The re-releases of older titles may be an indication they're trying to create a cash surplus to get back into licensing newer titles, but it seems a bit too late in the game when DVD sales are on the decline. As for me, I'm rather enjoying it because it's offering me titles I didn't get on the first run at a bargain. I'm sure others feel the same way. I'd be curious if Bandai or FUNimation is watching ADV closely in order to swoop in and buy them out. My money's on FUNimation, strictly to eliminate the competition locally. I guess time will tell. |
||||||
|
||||||
Mushi-Man
 Posts: 1537 Location: KCMO |
|
|||||
|
I don't think they're quite finished yet. I think ADV still has some steam left in their engine and it might just be enough to pull them through. ADV could benefit allot from playing the re-license game. I know their are quite a few people excited to see the re-release of Now and Then, Here and There. Plus there are allot more unlicensed titles floating around out there just waiting to be picked up (Paranoia Agent, nutena, narutaru, basically all of CPM). If ADV plays their cards right they could survive. But nothings for sure.
|
||||||
|
||||||
SXAniMedia
 Posts: 139 |
|
|||||
ANN has been posting a lot of ADV related news lately, granted a lot of it is news of digital expansion via Anime Network (maybe that's why you didn't notice it). My blog covers pretty much almost every news story related to ADV as well (shameless plug  ).
- They've actually been doing a lot of expansion in the digital realm, PlayStation Network, iTunes, Xbox Live, Online, content partnerships with Warner Brothers and YouTube, etc. - Acquisition of Central Park Media's marquee titles: Now and Then Here and There, Grave of the Fireflies, MD Geist (marquee in the sense of CPM's view of it). - New partnership expansions, lots of titles never before online before: Azumanga Daioh, Clannad, Colorful, Cyberteam in Akihabara, Elfen Lied, Full Metal Panic, Ghost Stories, Kiba, Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi, Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok, Panyo Panyo Di Gi Charat, Princess Resurrection, Rune Soldier, This Ugly Yet Beautiful World, Rune Soldier, Sakura Wars, Orphen - Production and distribution for Clannad, Princess Resurrection, 3 Geneon titles, Appleseed. - License rescues of CPM titles and the Geneon titles are not just old existing transfers. In several cases ADV is actually going back to the original material and fixing video and audio issues. I seriously doubt ADV would spend production time and money doing this, if things were that bleak there when they could just do easier releases (ie. not fixing previous issues). - The first R1 DVD distribution/licensing company to post HD content online, Appleseed HD (before Blu-Ray release in Japan), The Place Promised In Our Early Days HD as of now the only place to watch it exclusively. - Diversifying their business model with Live Action (Switchblade Pictures) and Adult anime (Happy Carrot) releases/partnerships. ADV even got a new critically acclaimed one released recently... Karma Saiyuki (Review via Mania.com/AnimeOnDVD). While ADV isn't licensing as much big or new stuff lately, they are actually doing a lot more production (outside of dubbing, subtitling) as a whole this year compared to the last year and half. With the industry and more recently the retail sector going through very difficult times in the last 8 months, it's smart to play it conservatively. ADV is actually doing a better job running their business in the last year with smart decisions, compared to when they were partnered with Sojitz. As to what the future holds, certainly it's very tough times right now for a lot of R1 Anime companies... Who knows what will happen while the industry is in flux as it has been in recent times.
It would have sold more with a dub, how much more is debatable. I remain a skeptic that it would sell a lot more DVDs to earn back dub production costs, Clannad just doesn't have enough mainstream appeal in my view... Especially one has to remember how the retail market and the economy tanked shortly after Sentai and ADV got the rights to Clannad, on top of that the Best Buy situation... it would have been a disaster for it to have been dubbed at the time due to those other elements in play. Who exactly are they going to sell it to with the stores carrying and ordering less? Perhaps if the situation of the market improves or if they pick up After Story they might dub it all at once. |
||||||
|
||||||
Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 25658 |
|
|||||
|
The ADV site is pissing me off today. I've tried to log on throughout the day and having been getting this:
I did actually manage to get on long enough to register as a member. Between this and Funi's video portal being down for maintenance a good chuck of the time lately, legitimate streaming (except for good old reliable Crunchyroll) has been a bit of a hassle. |
||||||
|
||||||
DerekTheRed
 Posts: 3544 Location: ::Points to hand:: |
|
|||||
|
I can't speak for why Funimation is down, but a month or two ago ADV's site was down for a week or two. When it finally came back they posted something that basically said that they'd been attacked and pretty much had to all start over.
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
PetrifiedJello
Posts: 3782 |
|
|||||
I will say this: You're definitely ADV's #1 fan. But you need to realize what you say I take with a grain of salt. Now it would be a bit different had you actually worked for ADV.
Then wait I shall do. I absolutely refuse to pay full price for a series receiving no dub at all, as I assign much of the cost of a collection to this service. I did start out the series with the On Demand service, but I couldn't wait to finish it so I went elsewhere (which, by the way, had better text than the crappy yellow offered). Still watch repeats on demand, though. No matter. ADV's loss more than mine. Sad, but true. |
||||||
|
||||||
|
DarkGyraen
Posts: 34 |
|
|||||
|
I figure if ADV wants to bounce back, they're going to have to do a lot better at providing quality products to their remaining customers.
I'm personally disgusted by the entire Sentai Filmworks ploy to try and grab some easy cash. They distribute sub-only DVD's at a price that's comparable to the fully dubbed DVD’s being put out by the other companies, and the subs aren’t even acceptable quality. I own both the Clannad and Princess Resurrection series unfortunately, and in both cases there are misspelled names, dropped letters and other mistakes in the subtitles. Frankly, this would be unacceptable in a fan-sub, and I’d stop watching that group because of the kinds of mistakes that I saw on these DVD’s, but to pay for that? And the DVD’s don’t even have the subs on by default; you actually have to turn them on! Honestly, most of the anime fans that I’ve known over the years have always found ADV’s dubs to be poor by comparison, and they’ve always had quality control issues. Given their issues now, you’d think this would be a good time for them to try and start fixing these problems. If ADV continues to put out inferior products, then they bring this on themselves and I say good riddance! |
||||||
|
||||||
|
Brians9824
Posts: 281 |
|
|||||
|
ADV Has been going down the drain for years. Just try to think back to ADV's last major seller, it's been years since they had a really powerful show behind their name.
|
||||||
|
||||||
archaron
 Posts: 1024 |
|
|||||
|
I hope ADV recovers, but I don't know how realistic that is in the current economic environment. They would have a better chance if the economy picked up, but then again I don't think that will be soon.
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
SXAniMedia
Posts: 139 |
|
|||||
Hey, that's not a bad title to have, I'll take it.
Well, anything on the internet should be taken with some grain of salt, especially when it comes to Anime and industry news. It's a very secretive business where sometimes only the higher-ups know what's really going on. That's one of the reasons I try to focus on just straight and dry news on my blog, rather than posting opinions. I don't think there's always a bearing for working at a company or not (which in the interest of full disclosure... I have not, but I know several people down in Houston and I have helped their digital arm and other digital/cable/IPTV providers in various ways for over 3 years in various advisory/relations capacities). I know what's going on at ADV more than some employees there or some employees at other respective companies anyway. Many employees at any given anime company are not exactly always there out of love or have the kind of interest we fans have. It's work and nothing more (not true for all mind you). Even though I have better access to the company than most people through official and non-official means, at the end of the day indeed I'm just a fan who likes to talk about issues that are of interest, a few of which are Anime and ADV.
Well that comes down to company philosophy. ADV has always preferred to bring over titles they enjoy (ADV is one of the few companies in the R1 industry that was formed essentially by anime fans rather than business types). John Ledford said last year they like to bring over shows that people don't necessarily know about but ones that the fans may hopefully enjoy. Perhaps in some ways that has hurt them, but it has also produced a lot of strong support from fans who enjoy non-mainstream offerings - I'll take Princess Nine and Kaleido Star over Naruto any day of the week. John Ledford and many other industry figures have talked about how it's easier to make money with smaller, niche titles - bigger shows sometimes require a much longer turn-around to make a profit, if at all. A big name title doesn't always equate to company status. See how Media Blasters and RightStuf/Nozomi's titles are keeping themselves in a very balanced position compared to most companies and are the only R1 companies who have not had a report on major employee layoffs in the last 7-8 months (while the other big 3 have). To your point though... Not years, 11 months with Devil May Cry. DMC Vol 1 and 2 was one of the best selling DVDs of last year. They also picked up TTGL before people even knew of it or before it became so popular, so I personally don't underestimate ADV has people there that are able to discern what sells and what doesn't. They've had to hit the reset button since their dissolved Sojitz partnership, and with the economy and retail sector as it is in the last few months and the limited amounts of huge big titles to pick up in Japan that is within the time-frame of availability... Clannad is their big one right now. While it's not a "powerful show" it seems to be doing very well for them. But I agree if ADV wants to come back they will need to look more into shows that have wider appeal in the US... action/mainstream titles. They have a very difficult challenge ahead of them - they have to be both very selective, yet at the same time rebuild their catalog with new offerings. |
||||||
|
||||||
Sheleigha
 Posts: 1675 |
|
|||||
Wait, you mean ANIME DVDs and not normal DVDs, right? Because I know those did not top Amazon charts... Still, those had DMC4 to back them up because, right, the limited edition game HAD the first disk inside of it as a sort of sample. |
||||||
|
||||||
|
SXAniMedia
Posts: 139 |
|
|||||
|
Sorry yes, I mean Anime DVDs. In terms of the sales data of DMC (or what passes for sales data in the Anime industry, given the industry's private nature), it was discussed earlier last year by various sources on this site, AoD, as well as ICv2 (ICv2 had it on the top of the sales charts from release while ADV was releasing the singles, in the top 4 and 7 in Q1 and Q2 2008, respectively surpassing even juggernauts with TV deals like Death Note and Bleach at given times).
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
Brians9824
Posts: 281 |
|
|||||
|
It is kinda funny that the 2 shows you named are over 4 years old, princess nine is VERY old and is in definite need of a re-release.
I will say that both of those shows are in my collection and are . I don't really see ADV as being in touch with the fans at all by evidence of their re-releases. I've lost count of the number of times they have re-printed Evangelion when the previous sets are readily available in stores. Everytime I see a list of ADV titles getting re-releases I find they are shows I can turn around and buy new still for $30 off amazon, rightstuf, and other sites. Also lets not forget that ADV never owned the rights to Devil May Cry anime, it was owned by ARM and it was taken away from ADV and given to Funimation almost a year ago. animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-07-04/funimation-picks-up-over-30-former-ad-vision-titles I do want to also mention that in the last year and a half ADV has lost more then 50 titles from its catalog to other companies. Even companies like Bandai stole popular shows like Guren Lagann from them. |
||||||
|
||||||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group