Forum - View topicNEWS: Aniplex USA Adds Sword Art Online, Blast of Tempest, Magi Anime
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Shiroi Hane
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 7580 Location: Wales |
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Please explain why Kara no Kyoukai went unreleased prior to AoA's entry into the market. |
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 23769 |
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I imagine plans to start up an American arm of Aniplex had been around for a while before they actually came to fruition. Or perhaps Aniplex was simply asking too much for the license and no R1 distrib thought it would be profitable enough to justify the expense.
Come on, let's not be silly here - that one title hardly destroys my argument that AoA cherry picks titles that other companies would release more cheaply. Take a look at AoA's catalogue and tell me that's not true. |
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BigOnAnime
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 1229 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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I really don't have a problem with someone saying they find a show good or bad, but the moment they say it's objectively good or bad, then we have a problem. As much as I love and hate certain shows, and find them awesome (Ex: The Tatami Galaxy, One Piece, Escaflowne) or pure shit (Ex: Shakugan no Shana III (Final), Eureka Seven AO, the Rock Lee Naruto spin-off), I won't say they're objectively good or bad. Why? Because I'm human, and we're unable to judge the objective quality of a show, so really, objectivity when it comes to shows does not exist. It's all about point of view. |
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Fencedude5609
 Posts: 5088 |
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Its also irrelevant. |
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 23769 |
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It was extremely relevant to my point that AoA is not needed in the R1 market since other companies would very likely snap up their titles and offer them more cheaply. This puts them in stark contrast to a company like NISA which puts out better LEs (in my opinion), prices them more sanely AND offers titles that would likely not get a release otherwise (i.e. House of Five Leaves). So as usual your comment was wrong, boring, rude and pointless. Way to keep the streak alive. |
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BigOnAnime
Encyclopedia Editor
Posts: 1229 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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So what you're saying is, everything they ever got was guaranteed a license, and would have been picked up by FUNi, NISA, and/or Sentai if AoA didn't exist?
Yeah it doesn't work like that... Where's my "guaranteed license" of Nodame Cantabile (I know it's not Aniplex, but it's here to prove a point)? Oh wait, it's stuck in a licensing mess and the chances of it getting licensed is nearly zero. |
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crosswithyou
 Posts: 2892 Location: California |
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I understand where you're coming from, but at the same time I have to agree that I don't find it entirely relevant. I think the American branch of Aniplex is around because it is profitable for them to operate their own branch. Why allow another company to reap the profits off a hot series when it's worthwhile to put out the product yourself and keep those profits? Whether consumers feel AoA is "needed in the R1 market" or not is not much of an issue to their business. They're there and as long as they're able to continue making money in the R1 market, I think they'll continue to stay. |
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 23769 |
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Yeah, it works exactly like that. To cite Nodame Cantabile is dopey because it is a very niche title. I don't care if you don't think other companies wouldn't have got AoA's licenses. That's just mindless AoA fanboyism talking without any real thought to back it up. @ GokuMew2 - duh, duh, duh. Yeah, believe me, I get that AoA is around to make a profit. That's fine. See if you can understand my point: I PERSONALLY DON'T NEED THEM. I BELIEVE I'D BE BUYING THEIR TITLES CHEAPER FROM OTHER DISTRIBS IF THEY WITHDREW FROM THE R1 MARKET. That's the point I've been making, so I don't understand why you think it's irrelevant. Ironically, your point - i.e. that AoA is a business out to make money - is utterly irrelevant to my point that consumers would be better off without them, assuming they are interested in buying shows for less than $150. 
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crosswithyou
Posts: 2892 Location: California |
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You previously wrote, "It was extremely relevant to my point that AoA is not needed in the R1 market since other companies would very likely snap up their titles and offer them more cheaply," which sounded like you were stating a fact. You didn't say that YOU personally don't need them, which is why I made the comments I did. It seemed like you were making a generalization rather than just stating your personal opinion so excuse me if I misunderstood you and commented based on that misinterpretation. |
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 23769 |
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Well, I haven't yet reached the dtm42 point where I believe my opinions are objective fact. There is no way to scientifically prove or disprove my contention, that should be obvious. But again, if anyone who is familiar with the types of shows that get licensed in R1 took a look at AoA's catalogue, I think they'd have a hard time insisting that those aren't made up of titles very likely to have been picked up by Funi or Sentai. The same cannot be said for NISA's catalogue (for example). |
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crosswithyou
Posts: 2892 Location: California |
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I'm certainly not going to deny that the titles picked up by AoA are ones that can easily be licensed by any other company, but I'm still struggling to figure out how that is relevant to the overall discussion. Don't get me wrong-- I'm not trying to argue or anything... I'm just genuinely curious. Perhaps the discussion took a turn somewhere and I missed it, and if that's the case then I apologize. I guess I'm just wondering why you're trying to prove that AoA "cherry picks" their titles. My answer would be, "Of course they do," but I would have to also add on an "And...?" |
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 23769 |
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Um, how did you miss the conversation over AoA's prices? That is a feature of any AoA announcement thread. If you didn't notice all those posts, you clearly are not reading much in this thread and therefore should refrain from making judgments on what is relevant or not.
I'm not trying to "prove" AoA cherry picks their titles. It's obvious they do. And I can't believe I have to repeat why this is relevant to why I don't like them. It is so obvious and clear but I guess I'll have to repeat for the millionth time. Here let me spell it out for you so you can follow: 1) This is a AoA license announcement thread. 2) As happens in every AoA license thread, people started discussing AoA's pricing strategy. This is an absolutely inevitable result of them being the R1 distrib with the highest prices. 3) I weighed in on that topic and in the course of the discussion pointed out that I personally don't find them useful to the R1 market because the titles they release would almost certainly be picked up by other distribs and released more cheaply. 4) As a tangent of point 3, I also pointed out that another detail that makes AoA's business model odious to me is that, unlike other distribs, they have a sweetheart deal with their Japanese parent that lets them cherry pick titles. As a consumer, I would have less of an issue with their prices if they had to outbid and out-hustle other distribs to get them. Then the libertarian in me can say, "well, it was a level playing field, all the distribs had an equal chance, but AoA outbid or did whatever it took to get the license. More power to them." And before you drive me crazy with once again raising your utterly irrelevant observation (to me) that what AoA is doing is totally rational FROM THEIR PERSPECTIVE let me just say I agree with this incredibly obvious statement. Jesus. But that super-obvious statement has ABSOLUTELY NO relevance to me AS A CONSUMER who has a beef with AoA's pricing strategy. That too should be super obvious, but I guess isn't for some reason that I cannot fathom. I think this is all pretty damn clear and straightforward and I am perplexed why I have to re-explain it or justify its relevance to a discussion over AoA's pricing policies. |
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Ingraman
Posts: 1077 |
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I'll presume that Funi or Sentai could get some of those titles, but are unwilling to pay Aniplex a sufficient amount to win the licenses because it would force those titles far enough outside their "usual" pricing levels that they wouldn't expect to get the sales that they want. Or something. Who knows? ^_^ |
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 23769 |
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Who knows, indeed? All that outsiders like us can do is speculate. To me it's all the same thing: whether Aniplex specifically sets titles aside for AoA or whether this happens "organically" because Aniplex puts license fees for its shows artificially high (for any distrib whose initials aren't AoA), we end at the same result: an uneven playing field.
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crosswithyou
Posts: 2892 Location: California |
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Thank you for the summary. I mostly go through the forums during work (*cough*) so at times it's hard to follow what everyone is saying, though this is my own fault for commenting on a discussion where I may not be processing all the details.
Anyway! So AoA makes an announcement, everyone groans about the prices/potential prices. Perhaps I'm simplifying it a bit too much but the way I see it is, AoA sets a price and people are either going to buy, not buy, complain and still buy, or complain and not buy. As long as AoA still makes a profit using those prices, they're probably not going to change their pricing strategy so what is there to discuss? In the end it's just people on one side comparing the prices of different companies and complaining/wishing that AoA's prices were the same as other companies', and people on the other side explaining/defending AoA's position and strategy. Rinse and repeat. Many times. In my first comment on this topic, I said that I people are hard set in their thinking and that no matter what anyone writes, nothing is going to change their opinion. I am just reminded of how true this is. Even if I come up with a killer argument that no one can dispute, it's not like people are suddenly going to be all, "OH! I get it now! Okay, yeah, I guess AoA's prices aren't that bad after all." The same can be said of the reverse if someone made an irrefutable statement about AoA's prices being too high, no one is going to say, "I see! You're right; AoA's prices should definitely be lower." You're going to be either on one side or the other (or I guess you can sort of be in the middle like Vata Raven where you feel some releases are priced fine but others are too expensive  ), and no matter how much "discussion" takes place no one's going to budge.
And with that said, I think I'll bow out now because there's nothing really left to be said. If AoA has a title that I like and want to own, I'll perhaps wish it cost less but still hand over my money because it's not like a different company is going to re-release it for cheaper. If I for some reason don't have the money for it then, well, I'll just hold off until I do, or I'll decide I don't really need it and won't buy it at all. Complaining about the high prices or "uneven playing field" won't change the situation so I personally don't find any use in doing so. I can only see AoA making some changes (perhaps some that may mimic other companies' strategies?) if there was some kind of boycott on their releases that started to hurt their bottom line. |
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isn't everyone tired of debating that show?
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