Forum - View topicAnime on TV vs Anime on DVD
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jackal912
Posts: 7 |
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I'm of the opinion that the current.. methods of selling anime is inherently flawed - everyone blames the fansubbers and the pirates, but I'm of the opinion that merely selling DVDs of series, usually for large amounts of money, isn't exactly a good idea, and that's why fansubbing has become so popular.
First of all, a person usually doesn't even know if said series is worth watching without buying the whole deal - it's even more so if the person is not an anime nerd, and has only a budding interest in anime - nothing sucks more than buying a series only to find out it's utter crap. In contrast to this, in japan, essentially all these shows are /on television/ for a considerable amount of time before the actual release - there's a big difference. They can know if they truly enjoyed a series and if it would be worth buying. On the other hand, we have to buy blindly, or rely on reviews, which aren't always great, as people's taste in anime can differ greatly. If they came up with some.. 'official' method of sampling the first few episodes of an entire series (the major websites only seem to do this with their 'big new series', not the entire deal, and it's obviously not possible to get as much anime on TV here as there can be in Japan), or even to watch the entire thing - I wouldn't care /how much/ advertising or commercials I had to watch to pay for it. I, myself, don't have a big enough budget to buy anime on a whim. What does everyone else think? |
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Murasakisuishou
 Posts: 1469 Location: NE Ohio |
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I just rent anime on Netflix before I buy it. It's affordable and they've got a reasonable range of titles. There're other sites that only rent out anime, but I'm not sure about their prices.
I think the only thing I've ever bought blind was Haibane Renmei (picked up the whole series on sale for $20), but I'd heard enough good things about it that I figured I'd end up buying it anyway after renting. I wasn't disappointed. It would be nice, however, if there were some internet service you could subscribe to and watch anime online. |
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jackal912
Posts: 7 |
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A subscription service is also something i would seriously consider - It's a bit more of a 'safe' purchase.
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Aromatic Grass
 Posts: 2424 Location: Raleigh, NC |
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I've only used fansubs as preview material. I haven't exactly watched the majority of my anime that way, but when I do, I start with only the first few episodes to see if I end up liking the concept, then I usually stop. (That's why I have so many unfinished series.) For example, I watched only two episodes of Nanoha and stopped right after because I decided I was going to buy the series when it came out (doesn't look like the case now); I watched all of Lucky Star, but that doesn't mean I won't pick it up when it comes out -- which I will.
My current budget doesn't allow me to buy too many titles unless all at once, but I do have an order of preference for which series I buy and when. When I get out of school and have a stable job, I think I'll go with Murasakisuishou's suggestion to rent titles from Netflix instead of previewing via fansub (because, although I do it, I don't necessarily like it). 
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marie-antoinette
 Posts: 4136 Location: Ottawa, Canada |
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I do completely agree that a system of sampling needs to happen if people are going to stop turning to fansubs, because that's why I use them. I just don't have the money to purchase DVDs that I don't know I'll like. I do try to pick up most of the anime I really like though.
There have definitely been some good developments though: more anime is getting on TV plus there has been a lot of series with the first episodes being streamed online for free. Both of this have the disadvantage of not allowing you access to subs, but I can live with that. So they are moving in the right direction. |
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Lee1981
Posts: 109 |
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If you have an Xbox 360, then you can download a few series, either watching the entire thing through xbox 360 downloads or just downloading a few episodes for about $2 an episode. The only problem with this is that there aren't a lot of series available yet, I think only about 17.
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Kruszer
 Posts: 8017 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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I would love to see more anime on TV personally. Unfortunately, it's not something that sells well here in the states because it's a niche product and networks feel that their airtime should be better spent showing stuff that brings in the ratings and makes them money. Therefore anime is only aired on stations that already air animation (Cartoon Network), or stations that are trying to be "Undergrouknd" or "Elite" (Sci-Fi Channel, Fuse). Thus our options as fans of this underappreciated product have to take what we get and be happy somebody is even bothering to air it or put it out on DVD so we can own it.
As far as my policy I buy most of what I watch, whether it's because I saw it through fansubs when it was unliscensed or because I read the back of the DVD case and found it interesting. Most of my anime watching is done through DVD. |
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Terrestrial_Cel
 Posts: 99 Location: SF Bay Area |
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Yes, a subscription service I think would be effective. I've posted before that people like instant gratification these days, and to download (or watch anime on tv with a choice of language) instantly for some monthly fee, I think, would be an interesting solution. DVDs still being available, the subscriber would also be offered some sort of discount on the DVD versions of what they watch to intice them to buy that as well. It still wont be free, and it still wont be the "most current" titles which many fansub watchers argue as the reasons they download. However, I think there will be consumers happy to pay for such a service, including myself. This will not be a replacement of DVDs, which many cherish, instead be an addition to them. I could see Funi being a company that might try something out like this (like FuniTV or something). Right now they have a limited selection of their titles on itunes, of which you have to pay per episode. |
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KyuuA4
 Posts: 1371 Location: America, where anime and manga can be made |
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At the same time, TV networks like Anime Network struggled just because the material provided is in English.
I haven't read much on Geneon's faltering - but - I do know they kept licensing the "latest" anime. Apparently, they're not selling fast enough. TV has one major advantage over DVD sales; and that's advertising revenues. The bottom line to all this -- has -- and always have been -- Money. |
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Jih2
 Posts: 403 Location: East coast |
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In response to Jackal:
OK, but, those in Japan pay MUCH stiffer prices on stuff. I really don't think fans in North America should be complaining nearly as much as they do. I almost think the Japanese pricing system should be used for North American releases. Why? Because if we don't buy more stuff, we're not getting more stuff. A good example is Haruhi. Tons of people had already seen the entire thing before it came out and have no intention of buying the DVDs. If and when Deathnote (anime) and Claymore (anime) begin being released this will probably turn into the same problem. A ton of people have already seen Welcome to the NHK, etc. Certainly, there is a different kind of fan out there who will buy something that looks cool off the shelf on a whim. Then there are those who buy very little and download most of their stuff. Then people who just download. I don't think samples would change too much with the current mindset of the fansubber: why watch only a smaple when I can watch all (or almost all) of this series fansubbed. |
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banas
 Posts: 116 Location: In a house in a country in Southeast Asia.. |
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If you're so concerned with your money that you don't want to waste it on animes unworthy of your time, you could try renting it first. Anime on TV really works for you. But I really prefer watching on DVDs because I don't really like dubbed series. I suggest you first do a research of whatever you plan to buy on DVD so that if you ever buy one, it would not be a waste of money. Try watching some episodes on the Internet, so that you'll know if you'll like the series.
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jackal912
Posts: 7 |
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That's just a problem with the easy-to-become used to nature of internet piracy - what i was trying to say is, the problem with anime is there is few other alternatives - due to the nature of anime, you can /never/ judge a series by it's cover, including the back cover, and as such, people tend to turn to fansubbing. If buying anime was more /convenient/, like aforementioned subscription service, or buying individual episodes on the cheap like aforementioned xbox service, it would grab quite a few customers who would rather stick a bit more to the straight and narrow. I personally view the current situation with anime fansubs and poor anime DVD sales as an pretty identical parallel to the current situation with music piracy and dwindling actual purchases of music - sticking with just selling thick packages of DVDs I don't think will work any more - they need to find a new method which would reach people better. |
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Randall Miyashiro
 Posts: 2451 Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park |
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I can currently get from On Demand:
Air Air Gear AM Driver B'tX Boys Be Excel Saga Eureka Seven Godannar GTO Ghost in the Shell Gundam Seed Destiny Innocent Venus Inu Yasha Jubei Chan Kare Kano Legend of Himiko Maburoho Nerima Daikon Brothers Ninja Nonsense Patlabor Real Bout HS Red Garden Samurai Champloo Sham Princess Xenosaga This is the current free lineup which seems to change fairly often and can be ordered at any time. In addition 009-1, Ah My Goddess 2, Guyver and Utawarerumono can also be viewed for $3.99 each. If you count all the shows available on The Click this totals to a huge number of free anime if you get cable. |
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Jih2
Posts: 403 Location: East coast |
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OK Jackal,
Anime doesn't market itself very well or very often (if at all). Also, music sales went up with the rise of file sharing networks. |
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Zalis116
Moderator
 Posts: 6921 Location: Kazune City |
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