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NJ_
Joined: 31 Oct 2009
Posts: 3014
Location: Wallington, NJ
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 Posted: Sat May 07, 2011 6:52 pm
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| Cutiebunny wrote: | | I don't think the 'dated' aspect will affect any "Sailor Moon" comeback - the show was already dated when it first aired in the US in 1994.
I remember watching the first run of the series in the US in 1994 and wondering who, in their right mind, would give Usagi a green knit vest and a purple jacket to wear. |
Sailor Moon first aired in 1995 not 1994.
| Quote: | | There are many cartoons that are dated now - movies like "Dumbo" and many "Looney Tunes" cartoons all fit into that category. But put one of these 'old' shows on in front of a small child and watch them be mesmerized by it. Kids aren't as picky as us adults. |
This!
If a show's age was a factor to kids then none of us would've liked what Cartoon Network & other channels were airing in the early-mid 90s which was mostly MGM, WB & Hanna-Barbera cartoons from the 60s-80s so this age argument is nonsense.
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Covnam
Joined: 31 May 2005
Posts: 3666
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Posted: Sat May 07, 2011 9:00 pm
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| kakoishii wrote: |
| Gina Szanboti wrote: | | Answerman wrote, "Once the title is licensed, they're stuck with it until their contract expires. So at that point, even if they didn't get enough pre-orders, they might as well release something if they have the license to it."
That seems like a no-brainer to me too, and yet one well-known anime company which shall remain nameless has not only licensed, but entirely dubbed more than half a dozen series which they have then abandoned midstream without a complete release on dvd.
How can it cost them less to kill a title in which they have already invested significant money, than to press a small production run to satisfy the fans who want a given series, recoup some of their investment, and, no small consideration, to show the rest of the anime buying public that it's not a risk to buy the first volumes of this licenser's series that aren't about teen ninjas or soul reapers? How much more can it cost just to release a title once the dubbing and editing are already done?? |
me thinks you're talking about viz 
also that you're probably still waiting on the rest of full moon. I don't think that one will ever come back. You have to wonder why though, viz just didn't just release the rest of the series sub only if they knew it wasn't turning the profit they wanted. Somehow I don't see it making sense that they didn't license the entire series and it isn't as if it was several hundred episodes or it least longer than 52 episodes like when funi dropped case closed and kodocha. But then again viz's business practices have always perplexed me. They can bang out something decent like inuyasha and then turn around and pull out something shitty like Blue Dragon. |
This seems like a good situation for a commit-to-buy model. Where they already have the license but can't justify a normal release. To get it going sooner they can even set price tiers based on the number of orders. More orders = a cheaper product, fewer orders and you've got an expensive collectible. Hopefully they'll remember to place a ticker on the site
Without a license though, I don't think a company that was independent of the original company could use this model since it's not a fixed variable. Production isn't as well, but at least they should have a general idea on the likely cost based on past work.
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ljaesch
Joined: 03 Apr 2009
Posts: 299
Location: Enumclaw, WA
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Posted: Sat May 07, 2011 9:28 pm
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| Cutiebunny wrote: | | There are many cartoons that are dated now - movies like "Dumbo" and many "Looney Tunes" cartoons all fit into that category. But put one of these 'old' shows on in front of a small child and watch them be mesmerized by it. Kids aren't as picky as us adults. |
Yes, very true! My 10-year-old son is a perfect example of this. He enjoys the old Looney Tunes shorts, Speed Racer (the original 1960s series), the 1960s Astro Boy series, Animaniacs, Tiny Toons, and Voltron, among other older titles. Right now, he's working his way through the first season of the original Dragon Ball series, and he's really liking it. He enjoys some newer stuff as well (for example, he watches Pokemon Black & White every Saturday), but he definitely has quite an appreciation for older animation.
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delf20k
Joined: 30 Mar 2011
Posts: 2
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Posted: Sat May 07, 2011 11:07 pm
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How about if a title is popular in japan then sub and maybe dub the release and have it region free and then if they start getting enough overseas orders make deals with all the amazons etc with the packaging changed in the local language no license needed at all and not as much extra cost.
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SaharaFrost
Joined: 13 Jul 2009
Posts: 95
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Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 12:09 am
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| delf20k wrote: | | How about if a title is popular in japan then sub and maybe dub the release and have it region free and then if they start getting enough overseas orders make deals with all the amazons etc with the packaging changed in the local language no license needed at all and not as much extra cost. |
Actually, I think that's a really great idea. Since I don't know much about business, I'm not sure whether or not that idea is feasible...but if it is, I'd be all for it.
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Greed1914
Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4439
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Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 3:36 am
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| SaharaFrost wrote: |
| delf20k wrote: | | How about if a title is popular in japan then sub and maybe dub the release and have it region free and then if they start getting enough overseas orders make deals with all the amazons etc with the packaging changed in the local language no license needed at all and not as much extra cost. |
Actually, I think that's a really great idea. Since I don't know much about business, I'm not sure whether or not that idea is feasible...but if it is, I'd be all for it. |
The problem is that licensing revenue represents the bulk of what a Japanese company stands to make from a show in the overseas market. There is almost no chance of that facet of the industry going anywhere.
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doc-watson42
Encyclopedia Editor
Joined: 10 Feb 2003
Posts: 1708
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Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 3:46 am
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| Wrial Huden wrote: |
| Quote: | | Unfortunately, a "commit to buy" model for anime just doesn't seem feasible. Honestly, the upfront costs of licensing alone are far too big to spend on the idea of potentially releasing a series, and then backing out of it if they don't get enough pre-orders or whatever. |
It has been attempted in the past by others besides Aniplex.
Animeigo offered pre-orders, but they had already acquired the licenses to series like Urusei Yatsura, Macross, and Kimagure Orange Road. Like Aniplex, they were trying to gauge how many box sets to produce plus a few more to offer to retailers (primarily dealing in anime like Rightstuf) as well as individual volumes. Of course these days Animeigo seems to be leaving anime behind to focus on other Asian cinema. |
See "News: AnimEigo Updates". They also conducted a survey in 1999 to determine which series they should license, and a contest last decade, which resulted in their licensing Yawara!:
• "Most Outrageously Stupid Yet Possibly Believable AnimEigo License Rumor Contest" (Mania.com/Anime on DVD)
• "News: AnimEigo Picks up Yawara"
On the Japanese side, there was an unsuccessful attempt by the creators of the Legend of the Galactic Heroes anime to gather support for Region 1 box sets:
• "News: Legends of the Galactic Heroes: US Market Inquiry"
• "News: Legend of the Galactic Heroes R1 DVD Update"
| Lapin noir wrote: | You forgot Zakka Films' [url]The Roots of Japanese Anime[/url]! That includes one of Mitsuyo Seo's predecessors to Momotaro's Divine Sea Warriors, Momotaro's Sea Eagle and other films – different ones from those in the Digital Meme collection, and for a much more affordable price to put it mildly. The Kenzo Masaoka Benkei and Ushiwaka film in particular is a stunning revelation. |
The Roots of Japanese Anime—Until the End of WW II direct link. The Zakka Films set duplicates The Monkey (Sword) Masamune and Song of Spring from the Digital Meme set, but is (AFAIK) otherwise new to English-language video.
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Sea Lion
Joined: 07 Apr 2009
Posts: 307
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Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 9:40 am
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I'd forgotten about the Sailor Moon article until now. It's odd because I picked up five VHS tapes of Sailor Moon S yesterday at a yard sale for 50 cents apiece. I figured I couldn't rent that much anime for that price, so even if I hate it, no biggie.
That said, I hope to see what some of the hype around Sailor Moon is.
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Mohawk52
Joined: 16 Oct 2003
Posts: 8202
Location: England, UK
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Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 12:25 pm
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| Brian wrote: | | In fact, it's because those early silent Japanese films were lost to the aether of time that there's this perceived "lack of interest. |
It wasn't the "aether of time" it was the fires of war. You yanks bombed anything that looked like an industrial complex and that included studios.
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samuelp
Industry Insider
Joined: 25 Nov 2007
Posts: 2231
Location: San Antonio, USA
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Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 12:47 pm
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| Mohawk52 wrote: |
| Brian wrote: | | In fact, it's because those early silent Japanese films were lost to the aether of time that there's this perceived "lack of interest. |
It wasn't the "aether of time" it was the fires of war. You yanks bombed anything that looked like an industrial complex and that included studios. |
Not exactly... It was the fact that studio warehouses were built out of wood like 90% of the buildings in Tokyo and EVERYTHING burnt to the ground in the firebombing.
I don't think there's any record of direct airstrikes on animation studios  .
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Mohawk52
Joined: 16 Oct 2003
Posts: 8202
Location: England, UK
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Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 2:02 pm
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| samuelp wrote: |
| Mohawk52 wrote: |
| Brian wrote: | | In fact, it's because those early silent Japanese films were lost to the aether of time that there's this perceived "lack of interest. |
It wasn't the "aether of time" it was the fires of war. You yanks bombed anything that looked like an industrial complex and that included studios. |
Not exactly... It was the fact that studio warehouses were built out of wood like 90% of the buildings in Tokyo and EVERYTHING burnt to the ground in the firebombing.
I don't think there's any record of direct airstrikes on animation studios . |
Old film, in cans, stored in warehouses, wooden warehouses that look like they might have stored munitions from the high altitude recon photos? "We better target it just in case." operational procedures? You're having a laugh!
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Lord Geo
Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 2558
Location: North Brunswick, New Jersey
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Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 5:22 pm
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| Quote: | | So at that point, even if they didn't get enough pre-orders, they might as well release something if they have the license to it. |
It's funny yet sad that this was mentioned in reference to the idea of licensing via committing, yet there are companies that don't follow this basic idea even when it comes to general licensing parctices, i.e. Viz, Illumitoon, etc.
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CG-LOVER
Joined: 22 Mar 2010
Posts: 355
Location: East Lansing, MI
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Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 5:54 pm
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Yeah the commit-to-buy model does sound good on paper, but in practice it would be much more difficult. But like some others said, for companies like Viz who license titles and still don't release them anyway, they may not lose much by adopting to that model.
As for anime production quality, I'd say it's about the same as it was five years ago. Now don't get me wrong, I certainly think that around 2-3 years ago there was a big dip in overall quality. But lately I feel that the industry is starting to pull itself together, and that is being reflected in some of the great shows we've seen over the past year or so.
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