Forum - View topicAnswerman - Why Are Anime DVDs More Expensive Than Western Animation?
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mangamuscle
Posts: 2658 Location: Mexico |
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Nowadays is no different, grab any anime disc you have bought and in the fine print in the back cover it will say it is for domestic use only, further down it will say you have no right to use it to copy, edit, recruit, lend or public exposure (as in, any anime convention). |
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H. Guderian
Posts: 1255 |
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As a collector, I appreciate the market is coming around to catering to me. I'm not a hardcore collector, either. I buy them for my own personal benefit and the knowledge my purchase is vastly more important to them.
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Dfens
Posts: 459 |
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Simple answer is western shows can sell many more copies since they will get broadcast on TV or through streaming services and are main stream enough to get more people to watch them. While Anime is far from hitting that and will never be a power house that is watched in every household to the point millions of kids are begging their parents to buy them it on physical media.
Using Korra as a example lets say 1 million kids convinced their parents to buy them a copy of season 1 in it's first year, while your typical Anime series is lucky enough to sell 5-10K copies if that ever. Either way American shows can charge a little less and still come out ahead since the sales numbers are at levels Anime in even Japan just doesn't come close to reaching. As for VHS tapes being so expensive I remember back in the day up until the late 90's you would have to wait 3-6 months after the rental stores got said VHS tape in before you could buy it. And they were on average 20-30 dollars a tape. But the rental stores and chains paid about 150-200 dollars per tape to get it early and to rent it out. Towards the end before DVD took off they allowed people to buy them at the same time so you either paid 15-20 dollars or so to own it or 5-6 dollars to rent it. Now it's the other way around you wait 30 days or so after it's for sale to rent it out of a machine for a dollar or so. That way the people who will buy it will have bought it when it first comes out and the rest are just people who want to rent it. My Anime collection vastly out numbers my Hollywood collection that's because their isn't too many American Movies I want to re-watch ever again. Plus their collectors editions are tacky that I would never want to own one. But it's getting to the point Anime wise I'm just not buying as much even though I'm making more money than ever. I just don't have the time to re-watch much of anything anymore and watching something once more and letting it collect dust is just something I can't do anymore and feel good about. |
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BigOnAnime
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 1232 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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The market here does have inelastic demand, albeit not to the extent the Japanese have (One of the reasons why anime costs so much there, what we pay for 13 episodes they pay for 2-3). Like Geneon tried different price points back in the day, and sales didn't change. http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1snsi4f (Excuse the few typos-I'd recommend just going to the timestamps listed (Top and bottom of post) in the ANNCast) After the death of singles in 2010, sales didn't increase enough to offset the sudden decrease in prices, so sales did worse here. It's the main factor considering anime never got back up to where it was before streaming really, really boomed and the recession was over. http://i.imgur.com/u6hVSjI.jpg |
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Touma
 Posts: 2651 Location: Colorado, USA |
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Unfortunately streaming is not fine for everybody. It is not fine for me.
There are still some of us who need to buy, or at least borrow, a disc if we want to watch something. There may come a time when everybody has fast Internet and nearly unlimited data, but that time is not here yet. |
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crazieanimefan1
 Posts: 409 Location: Auburn, AL |
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I remember once I wanted to buy Clannad and it's sequel. It was like fifty bucks and that's just for the DVD. I noticed it's more expensive than say...Noragami, which on the same site (Walmart.com) was about 35 dollars USA. I almost thought the more popular the anime, the more expensive until then.
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Top Gun
 Posts: 4594 |
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The follow-up question I always have to this particular one is whether there's ever been a high(ish)-profile anime series that's attempted the Western model of primarily profiting off the original broadcast, as opposed to home media sales. And I don't mean the likes of Detective Conan or Sazae-san or One Piece that essentially print their own money, but something that would traditionally air in a late-night slot and be aimed at otaku. I mean even Western television has some fairly niche titles that still manage to make bank because advertisers know that a guaranteed fanbase will be tuning in every week. I think about the closest thing we have to the late-night infomercial anime model are HBO/Showtime originals, or more recently Netflix/Hulu productions, and even in those cases they're feeding off a large pool of subscription and/or ad fees. Is the ad-supported TV model just something that's not sustainable in Japan unless a big chunk of the country is watching your show?
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Alan45
 Village Elder Posts: 9860 Location: Virginia |
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leafy sea dragon wrote:
I didn't realize the mid 1980s were a forgotten time. 
Initially VHS tapes of recent movie releases were all high priced, in the $70 to $90 range. Most were sold to video rental stores which seemed to pop up on every block. When Tomb Raider came out on tape they decided to try a much lower price point. It reportedly sold so well that it became obvious that for main stream stuff this was the way to go. What they came up with was a two tiered system. Movies would usually be issued at the higher price point and sold to rental stores and people who couldn't wait. A few months later the price would be seriously reduced and sold to anyone who wanted a copy to keep. The delay allowed rental stores to recoup their investment at the higher rate. At least that was the idea. They were rather slow and hesitant about bringing out entire TV seasons. That happened in anime as well. I remember a columnist for Animerica Magazine noting that most of the good (and a lot of bad) OVAs and movies had been issued in the US and expressing the opinion that fans would not shell out to buy the longer and lesser quality TV series. 
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iamthevastuniverse
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I'm curious to know where your avatar is from? |
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mewpudding101
Industry Insider
 Posts: 2206 Location: Tokyo, Japan |
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Are we seriously complaining about the price of American anime box sets? 13 episodes for anime is considered a BOX in Japan, and costs around 200 bucks. In comparison, the first volume of Maoyu in Japan with two episodes on it is the same as that American FULL series price (or MORE). Sellers on Amazon JP often import the American box sets and jack up the price a bit, and still it's leagues away from being as expensive as the Japanese volumes.
Now, personally, would I prefer the cheaper version? For series that are almost impossible to get and ones I don't care about AS much, yes. But the Japanese releases often come with special packaging and bonuses. But seriously? I'm used to people living in America complaining about Japanese prices for anime (it's not your market! It doesn't affect you! Lol), but as someone living in Japan, it makes me half laugh and half face palm when someone living in America complains about how expensive their anime is. Just as a note, this is not making fun of anyone. I just think people don't know how good they've got it! 
Also...
Both Clannad series contain 26 episodes each. Noragami is 13. Double the content. For less than double the price. Last edited by mewpudding101 on Wed Dec 02, 2015 8:22 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Wandering Samurai
 Posts: 875 Location: USA |
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Things in Japan are typically more expensive. And seeing as these things are imported in name because of American companies licensing these series, and going through the whole ordeal of editing, subbing, and dubbing, it makes a lot of sense of why they would cost more.
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TarsTarkas
 Posts: 5847 Location: Virginia, United States |
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Baltar, from the original Battlestar Galactica. I haven't found a male anime avatar that I much liked. Though now that I think about it, I always liked Captain Gloval. |
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configspace
Posts: 3717 |
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If you want to watch corrected animation or revised cuts (something every single show gets on home video), uncensored animation, bonus animation episodes, or extended animation or a more complete version and/or a continuation of the show, then the only way are the discs. Look at Gatchaman Crowds (which Sentai completely dropped the ball on), Kokoro Connect or Knights of Sidonia as just a few of many of examples of why one would want the home video release, not just "to collect". |
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Mikurotoro
Posts: 3 Location: Valley Springs,CA |
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wouldn't a big factor in this be that anime has to be imported from japan so the price is to cover the shipping costs whereas cartoons don't have to be imported? however i do think it would be interesting to see how it is the other way around like how expensive cartoon DVD's are in japan!
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wmderemer
It...it's not like I post for you or anything! Posts: 302 Location: Stroudsburg, PA |
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Yup, Alan nailed it. Basically, VHS tapes were 'rental' priced ($100+ each) to discourage your average Joe Six-Pack from buying it outright, and rather, going to his local video store to rent it instead as part of an agreement between the studios & video rental stores. You could then either buy a discounted, previously-viewed VHS from said rental store a few months down the road, or finally buy it outright, new, at a regular price a few months after even that...it was generally 6 months after it was released to rental that the movie made it out to retail at a $20 or so pricetag If the consumer could buy the new-release movie for $20 or less, like they can now, why the hell would they go to a store & rent it? I remember working in a Suncoast store in the 1990's and having to watch the disappointment on people's faces as we told them the new release that just came out that day on VHS that we didn't have in stock that they wanted us to order would cost them $100+...or they could check back in about 6 months time & it should be available at a realistic price. 
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