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NEWS: N. America's 2007 Anime Market Pegged at US$2.8 Billion

Of course it's slowly changing now with internet streaming because the industry themselves is realizing that the idea of infinite patience is costing them money.

I think a better comparison would be comparing anime to a Honda or a Nissan. Even back in the 1980s, those cars were comparably priced with American made cars. Why? Because nobody is gonna buy your super expensive non-luxury cars when they can get an American one for cheaper! They knew that they had to crack the market so they priced accordingly.

The anime industry is doing the opposite. Rather than try to crack the market, they're distributing a product thats inferior (Blu-Ray > DVD) and then charging more for it... as if that's gonna make sales sky rocket.

LOL @ the "thick skulls" line. Why so serious, son? You have anger as if your dad owns an anime production company or something.

I don't like being tied to my PC any more than I already am at work or when I'm on assignment, so it's nice to put that aside for a bit and sit in front of the TV at my house or at a friend's place and watch a well-crafted show.

I totally agree with supporting shows by buying them, but wow, you guys really have to move into the 21st century!!! Like every HDTV comes with a VGA input and HDMI and like every PC has at least a VGA output and most laptops nowadays have a HDMI out port on them. Theres nothing quite like sitting down in front of a nice flat screen, and watching some anime in 720p.

Dargonxtc wrote:

babbo wrote: I'd point out here that alot of this mentality comes from the ridiculous prices companies have tried to push. Bandai heck, Bandai is still trying to push Haruka 8 at 29.99 a disc for 2-3 eps a disc without a dub. the American market just won't support those prices, it has widespread, ingrained expectations for what is charged for dvds. Well that falls in line with what I am saying. If that venture turns out to be a massive failure then it is their fault and will therefore be punished for it(low sales). It is more in tune with falling behind current market trends(which is a can of worms that I didn't really want to open). Either way, they are the exception, not the rule. Plus there are conditions that brought about those exceptions, namely the absorption of Bandai Visual.

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Unless you're living in a third world country, anime isn't a luxury good for most people. This is just guessing on my part, but I doubt that the demand for it is noticeably higher among people with higher incomes or lower among people with lower incomes.

If you are talking about the income elasticity of demand(>1), then let me introduce you to HyugaHinata. When talking about a poor college student, and then talking about someone in their late twenty's early thirties with a job, there will be a huge difference in realistic demand.

There is a technical explanation for luxury goods, and then there is a general one. Both are entirely valid. It goes like this: a good (or service) that is not essential but makes life more enjoyable. DVDs, by their very nature are non-essential. Though perhaps TVs are not, but HD TVs are. The difference is easily understandable if you just think about it for a minute. You can see which angle I was going for. And regardless it meets both definitions.

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My point still stands though. BMW doesn't compete with saturn for the same customers.

Actually I could argue they do. If we were talking Lamborghini and Saturn it would be a different story. But I won't. It involves car pricing schemes, buying habits, multiple car purchasers, corporate fleets, and leasing. I will save you all of that. BMWs aren't that much more expensive then regular cars(about 30K, which is within the same price range as Saturn). They are seen as a luxury items more because of the quality they possess, and the features owners enjoy more so than large differences in price.


Relation to anime? Most watch and purchase anime for the features it bears. Features that can't be found in most other alternatives.

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Anime and domestic TV shows do. And there are plenty of good shows out there,

If your talking about that there is only 24 hours to a day, and only so much time can be devoted between two mediums then yes. If your talking about the anime market in general, then no, at least not really. The whole reason that there even is a market for anime is because fans find something in it that they can't find locally. It's features represent something they value more than everyday local sitcoms and dramas, or else they would be watching more of them and not anime. And there certainly is no shortage of the former to devote all of ones free time to. Couple this with the import status of anime, as previously explained, and I don't see how you can't recognize the special status anime must endure.

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it's not like people are just buying newer TV shows on dvd (I'd suggest you refrain from using the royal "we" from now on).

You don't like animation? You don't like anime? Anime is not one of your preferred forms of entertainment? I realize I am wrong on this one, but I thought I was being so universal in the my descriptions that at least everyone here could relate, or why would we be having this discussion on a site like this in the first place. Either way, it was technically wrong of me, so I apologize.

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Not like it matters though. The consumer base won't support higher prices. Otherwise we'd still be seeing $30 singles.

Then expect to see more reports like the the one this article links to.

Also, just to nitpick. If we aren't seeing $30 singles right now, then why did you bring up Haruka. Furthermore, I am collecting Darker than Black, Claymore,and Baccano!, not to mention a slew of others that I just finished collecting. $30 singles haven't hit the road quite yet.

Unless your talking solely about episode count, in which case, never mind.

Cloe:
I haven't brought up fansubs once in this thread. It's not really relevant to the point I'm making.

babbo wrote:

DomFortress wrote: babbo wrote: Expecting people to pay more from a product just because it's an import (no matter how much sense it might make) is no way to compete >.> At least it makes more sense than trying to rationalize stealing from the anime industry as a "competitive business" that's even "profitable" for the said industry. As an anime fan who supports the anime industry with his disposable income, you don't sound convincing with your whines and complains to me. 1.) I'm not talking to you, much less complaining to you.

This is an open forum, so you caught my attention as soon as you make a comment here, just like you made a comment regarding one of my post which wasn't addressed to you:

babbo wrote:

Oh and last time I checked it took a couple years for Tokugawa to completely consolidate power after Sekigahara. If you're going to throw around useless unrelated trivia to back up your line of reasoning, at least get it right >.>

Maybe you should have listened to your own advice:

babbo wrote:

Next time I suggest you respond to the actual content of the post your replying to instead of going on auto pilot <.<

With patience and perseverance, you could have allow yourself time to think, when you lack the intelligences and the experiences required for you to consolidate your own actions and the consequences of those actions. After all, intelligent is pattern recognition, which means the sooner you can recognize your own fault, the better that you know about yourself more than anyone else knows you.

babbo wrote:

2.) I never mentioned stealing in my post once. I was responding to a part of a post regarding pricing; specifically the line of reasoning that people need to understand that there are costs (such as licensing fees and dubbing) that drive prices. It's a silly expectation, especially for a niche product such as anime. The companies know this, which is why we see cheaper box sets are coming out all the time. Kinda makes me wonder why people even bother bringing this up all the time.

However, even after all the post-productions, and the licensing fee(BTW, that's how anime piracy is illegal, because they didn't acquire the license to distribute the intellectual properties by paying the licensing fee in the first place), the R1 anime distributors still managed to bring the price of their anime DVD way below the Japanese R2 anime distributors could with theirs(localization not included). So yeah, it is kinda silly to whine and complain about the R1 anime DVD price when you think about it.

Also, as a friendly reminder, the anime production companies get paid for their works by licensing their anime. Just thought you should know.

In any case, along with anime's incredibly niche status in the R1 region, the vocal fan base has quite a bit to do with why R1 prices are so much lower. If Japanese Otaku were nearly as vocal and didn't gobble up everything that is thrown at them they'd probably have lower prices too. Funi and the like would gladly ask $65 for 2-3 eps if they thought they could get away with it. In short, complaining and whining isn't entirely a bad thing <.<

I'll agree with you on the DL, especially in regards to rips of R1 releases, complete with extras and ready to be burned to DVDs. Forget about the fansub controversy for a second, 'cause that's piracy, plain and simple.

You can thank the fansubs for the high toy sales. The more people watch anime the more toys will get sold. Fansub watchers go up, toy sales go up. Fansub watchers go down, toy sales go down. The Japanese have figured out that the anime is just a means to sell merchendise a long time ago. When is R1 going to get it through it's thick skull? If you kill all fansubs, you ain't gonna be selling many toys.