Forum - View topic

Bandai Entertainment Responds to ANNCast Comments

Technically aren't they just trying to keep things positive and not say if they are doing bad or else the shareholders and stock holders will withdrawal support from that company? Aka cause a panic?

Gotta admit, the thought that Sherman didn't really have a basis to speak to Bandai's future did cross my mind at one point listening to that segment of the ANNCast interview.

His company is a dubbing studio.

Eric sounds like a really nice guy, he's obviously passionate about his work and fond of the talent pool he's helped cultivate over the last 10 years or so, but the more that's said on his comments, the more I tend to agree with the person in the other thread who said he's stuck in the past and not actually well informed. Like a lot of people in the thread his blog posting spawned, he seems like a guy who knows just enough of the in's and out's of the industry to be dangerous enough to jump to conclusions and make seriously flawed judgments about where the industry is and where it's going, when his experiences in the business are really considerably below that level of knowledge and expertise.

In response to Mr. Sherman's comments and how they were interpreted, Bandai Entertainment has no plans to close down.

We actually had a very good year in 2009 and good results in the first quarter of 2010.

We have new titles to announce soon and we will be exhibiting at Anime Expo, Otakon, and New York Anime Festival this year.

It was stated that Bandai's North American business (as far as dubbed anime goes) was almost completely riding on the success of Haruhi and an unnamed project. In other words, if it doesn't sell, it's likely that investors and board members alike at Bandai would cut their losses and get out of the North American dubbing business, switching to sub only instead.

Mr. Sherman's speculations about the state of the anime industry are interesting, but not accurate as it pertains to Bandai Entertainment, except in regard to the point that he was actually trying to make that if the market trend continues where there is little support for dubbed anime products, we may unfortunately discontinue creating dubs and focus on sub-only releases. Hopefully this does not happen. We continue to be grateful to the fans that support our business.

All I can say is that if they stop making dubs, I stop buying their DVD's. I won't buy sub-only releases as they are just glorified fansubs.

All I can say is that if they stop making dubs, I stop buying their DVD's. I won't buy sub-only releases as they are just glorified fansubs.

poehitman wrote:

All I can say is that if they stop making dubs, I stop buying their DVD's. I won't buy sub-only releases as they are just glorified fansubs.

That is one of the most idiotic things i have read on here in a while. Please explain how in the world you came to this conclusion?

Maybe people would buy dubs if they didn't suck so much. Try getting the characters right from a American point of view. Like high-pitched girls do NOT need to be the same for US dubs... my god is that annoying. NORMAL voices are favorable, that tune into the character.

It actually takes people with ACTING under there belt, along with singing. If a person can sing, they can do well voice acting. Every-time I see a Dub, I slap my hand to the forhead thinking "what have they done."

poehitman wrote:

All I can say is that if they stop making dubs, I stop buying their DVD's. I won't buy sub-only releases as they are just glorified fansubs.

I find that rather harsh. You won't support the anime industry if there isn't a dub?..

poehitman wrote:

All I can say is that if they stop making dubs, I stop buying their DVD's. I won't buy sub-only releases as they are just glorified fansubs.

That is one of the most idiotic things i have read on here in a while. Please explain how in the world you came to this conclusion?

Silvanoshei wrote:

Maybe people would buy dubs if they didn't suck so much. Try getting the characters right from a American point of view. Like high-pitched girls do NOT need to be the same for US dubs... my god is that annoying. NORMAL voices are favorable, that tune into the character. It actually takes people with ACTING under there belt, along with singing. If a person can sing, they can do well voice acting. Every-time I see a Dub, I slap my hand to the forhead thinking "what have they done."

I've never understood all the complaining about dubs. Sure, there are bad dubs out there - especially older ones - but as far as I've seen, most dubs are fine. Do many of these people who think dubs sound bad not watch many of them, or are a lot of people just a lot pickier than I am or something? I see little reason to complain about your average dub these days. They're generally good.

ZenErik wrote:

poehitman wrote: All I can say is that if they stop making dubs, I stop buying their DVD's. I won't buy sub-only releases as they are just glorified fansubs. I find that rather harsh. You won't support the anime industry if there isn't a dub?..

Well, for some people, a dub is required for them or they won't watch it, let alone buy it. For other people who are looking it purely from the standpoint of whether buying an anime will get them something that they can't get for free, sub-only doesn't cut it because they can already it get that with fansubs.

Now, refusing to buy a series because it has no dub - whatever your reason may be - isn't exactly going to help the industry, but there are definitely reasons why people consider it unexceptable to buy anime DVDs without a dub. In this case, it looks like poehitman is favoring the idea that the R1 release doesn't give you anything more than a fansub, so they're not going to pay for it. They insist on added value.

And while I find that to be a poor attitude, it's definitely something that R1 anime companies should think about when releasing sub-only DVDs. How can they add value to it such that it's worth it to people to buy it rather than just downloading the fansub? Rightstuf/Nozomi certainly tries to do that with extra booklets and nice boxes and such, but other companies like Bandai or Sentai give you pretty barebone stuff, such that folks like poehitman will find little reason to shell out money for their releases - especially when many fansubs are in HD, and the R1 releases generally aren't (in fact, I don't think that there have been any sub-only BD releases, but I'd have to check to be sure). Making it so that sub-only releases have something that fansubs don't is at least one potential way to regain some sales which would otherwise be lost.

I use fansubs to decide what series' I like, and which I don't. Fansubs are the same as watching a show on television first before buying the show on DVD. I'm not going to spend my money on something I don't know if I'm going to like or not.

I have to survive on Social Security Disability ever since I got hurt 10 years ago. So what little I can buy has to be worth the money. Sub-only dvd's simply aren't worth it when I can get better quality for free. Plus, I much prefer dubs. So I'm not going to pay for something I don't particularly enjoy watching in the first place. Also, I'm not going to support an industry if they are going in a direction I don't like.

I have to survive on Social Security Disability ever since I got hurt 10 years ago. So what little I can buy has to be worth the money. Sub-only dvd's simply aren't worth it when I can get better quality for free. Plus, I much prefer dubs. So I'm not going to pay for something I don't particularly enjoy watching in the first place. Also, I'm not going to support an industry if they are going in a direction I don't like.