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NEWS: Cease & Desist Letters for Eva: 1.0, Soul Eater Fansubs

These Japanese companies have a flawed assessment on why their sales in other countries are declining.
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$30 a volume is budget for the Japanese audience, yet that's because they have the ability to differentiate.

Kireek wrote:

DmonHiro wrote: I don't care about the laws, I don't care about the R1 industry (I hope it collapses), I don't care about ethics. No offence sir but this is what has allways confused me when people call themselves fans, in that context cud you explain to me how you are a fan so I can get a better understanding.

From wikipedia: "A fan is someone who has an intense, occasionally overwhelming liking and enthusiasm for a sporting club, person (usually a celebrity), group of persons, company, product, work of art, idea, or trend."

As I have an "intense, occasionally overwhelming liking and enthusiasm" for anime, I am an anime fan, by deffinition.

Nowhere does it say that to be a fan of anime you must buy anime DVDs.

PS: I didn't say I don't buy anime DVDs. I said I don't buy R1 anime DVDs, out of principle. In Romania, it cost the same to import, wether it's an R1 or R2 (the shipping, I mean, as R2 are more expensive) I will NEVER support the R1 industry.

Check it out here:
www.funimation.com/survey

Thankyou for clearing that up sir, I was under the assumption that you were a 100% leech making up excuses not to buy anything, Tho I personally would not go as far as saying I hope the R1 industery collpases myself, but hey each to there own and some people are more demanding than others.

It does make it less likely that certain future titles will be made. Creating an anime is a big risk. If the Japanese industry can only recover its costs from Japan, it is likely to be more conservative with the amount and kind of shows it makes. I'm fine with this, personally, because I like the kind of anime popular with those who buy Japanese R2 DVDs. I suspect most people will not be. Of course, anime will still be made, even if our options become more limited.

configspace wrote:

I doubt that shows like Hell Girl 1,2,3 and Baccano are among those producers pitched at investors/publishers using its marketability in other countries when negotiating their budgets.

Based on the information publically available, R2 DVD sales for Baccano averaged in the 3,000s per volume; Hell girl was in the 2,000 range. While not bad, neither one sold particularly well either (in Japan--no public data for R1, of course). It would seem likely that both properties need overseas revenue more than say Kanon (average upper 10,000s per volume). Granted the unknown factor--how much it costs to produce those shows--makes all the difference. Still, it does seem that both Baccano and Hell Girl could have been made with the idea that there would be some overseas revenue.

Future sales, future overseas licensing revenue, and the fact that overseas methods of illegal distribution are easier and more prominent than the arcane ones Japan has. Japanese people do download fansubs or use the infrastructure foreign fans created for fansubs to distribute other things. This impacts R2 DVD sales and also rentals, not to mention TV ratings.

We know R1 license fees have come down in recent years, based on public comments by FUNimation. While this is (perhaps) good for the R1 industry, this is likely bad for the Japanese industry.

Honestly, the Japanese industry has their reasons, the North American industry has their reasons, and fansub watchers have their reasons. It's not so much a matter of there being a party who is acting irrationally. Instead, while our interests overlap and are intertwined, they also sometimes compete with each other. I can never fault someone for acting in their own interests, even if they are counter to mine.

bayoab wrote:

Exactly. Japan, those people who actually make anime, is having FUNi do this for them. This is Japan telling people to knock it off.

Between this Viz censoring over half of their Manga stock (Viz is owned by two JAPANESE companies by the way), and the way Toei had dubtitled releases of their Slam Dunk and Air Master properties, makes me think Japan either doesn't care about region 1 fans or thinks we are all stupid.

First, it's good to get a reply (really ) Like I mentioned before, MFI, d-rights, etc. copyright holders != creators, with a few exceptions. The actual staff are already paid. And their pay is not contingent upon overseas licensing; royalties for some perhaps, but not for production costs.

PS: I didn't say I don't buy anime DVDs. I said I don't buy R1 anime DVDs, out of principle. In Romania, it cost the same to import, wether it's an R1 or R2 (the shipping, I mean, as R2 are more expensive) I will NEVER support the R1 industry.

Draneor wrote:

Bottom line is watching anime on broadcast TV is not the same as watching a popular TV show on say ABC. Unlike ABC's programs, Most anime are not designed to earn money from broadcast TV but DVD sales.[/url]

OK, you may be right, but I'm 100% sure a lot of people in Japan record anime on TV and collect it that way and don't buy DVDs. Especially when it airs late at night.

I'm not going to tell you what to do. Just keep in mind that someone else is paying for the anime you watch. As such, you really don't have a voice in what gets made or how it is treated. If you like a show and want to see more of it, it's in your best interests to buy official products related to it. And if you don't buy anything, the industry really shouldn't care if you want to watch anime for free either. If you want your opinion to matter, you need to help the industry make money somehow.

Gonzo is a prime example of what to do to sell your series. Stream them on 0day to others.

OK, maybe I went a little overboard with the "hope R1 collapses" comment, but I do hate R1s. The quality is most of the time pretty bad. There's a reason R2s have 2-3 episodes MAX per disk. It's all about the quality, and when you cram 4-6 episodes on a DVD and add an english dub as well, the quality is going to go straight to hell. That's why I don't minf paying an extra 10-20$ per disk, even if there are less episodes. I want quality, and the R1 industry is not poviding me with that.

OK, maybe I went a little overboard with the "hope R1 collapses" comment, but I do hate R1s. The quality is most of the time pretty bad. There's a reason R2s have 2-3 episodes MAX per disk. It's all about the quality, and when you cram 4-6 episodes on a DVD and add an english dub as well, the quality is going to go straight to hell. That's why I don't minf paying an extra 10-20$ per disk, even if there are less episodes. I want quality, and the R1 industry is not poviding me with that.

The best thing I think would be if these C&Ds at least came with a release date or announcement. The fact they come with "this doesn't mean we are licensing" is actually the annoying bit. I really want to see a release for Spice & Wolf, but there is no date/etc.

DmonHiro wrote:

OK, maybe I went a little overboard with the "hope R1 collapses" comment, but I do hate R1s. The quality is most of the time pretty bad. There's a reason R2s have 2-3 episodes MAX per disk. It's all about the quality, and when you cram 4-6 episodes on a DVD and add an english dub as well, the quality is going to go straight to hell. That's why I don't minf paying an extra 10-20$ per disk, even if there are less episodes. I want quality, and the R1 industry is not poviding me with that.

...do you really understand how the DVD format works? Your standard single-layer DVD has something like 4.5 GB of available space, with that doubling to around 9 GB for a dual-layer disk. If you're trying to tell me that that sort of space can't support 6-7 properly-encoded episodes without sacrificing quality, then I have a bridge I'd like to sell you. I'd imagine that most R2 releases have a significant amount of wasted space on them, or else encode their episodes at a ridiculously unnecessary bitrate.

And like enurtsol said, I could give a damn less if the DVDs I buy have encoding flaws that are utterly imperceptible to my eyes. I'm more concerned about actually watching the show than wanking over its disk's technical merits. Last time I checked, every single DVD I own looks just fine to me.

I'll grant you that future funding may become more limited for certain shows, most of the costs from smaller titles are recouped from TV deals.

You have that the other way around actually I can tell you the local crowd could care less about the torrents and networks dedicated to english fansub since they have their own much faster and more accessible networks (without the annoyance of subtitles).

If anything, what the Japenese want--what we have and they don't--are cheap dvd box sets I hear reverse importation of these occur and why shouldn't it? I can't fathom paying per R1-DVD anymore so nearly all of my collection are box sets, particularly the older, cheaper titles. With the prices they way they are for 2 (occasionally 3) eps per R2 dvd, I'm surprised they even have any sales to begin with lol.

err.. I don't see how it's bad for the Japanese industry if the cost savings can be passed to us resulting in more sales and thus more titles licensed. Ones that they might never had if prices were high.

mythus wrote:

Gonzo is a prime example of what to do to sell your series. Stream them on 0day to others.

Well, with Gonzo being in financial trouble, getting bought, then halving their annual output, I don't think they're getting any love from the buyers, 0day or not.

Top Gun wrote:

And like enurtsol said, I could give a damn less if the DVDs I buy have encoding flaws that are utterly imperceptible to my eyes. I'm more concerned about actually watching the show than wanking over its disk's technical merits. Last time I checked, every single DVD I own looks just fine to me.

It may look "fine" to you, but some of us have better eyesight, and like to see real quality.

Also, enurtsol is right. And if the R1 does not hold my interest, then screw it. Bring on the fansubs.

enurtsol wrote:

mythus wrote: Gonzo is a prime example of what to do to sell your series. Stream them on 0day to others. Well, with Gonzo being in financial trouble, getting bought, then halving their annual output, I don't think they're getting any love from the buyers, 0day or not.

Actually.. one of those 0day titles, Strike Witches, was one of their best ever sellers on DVD.

DmonHiro wrote:

Top Gun wrote: And like enurtsol said, I could give a damn less if the DVDs I buy have encoding flaws that are utterly imperceptible to my eyes. I'm more concerned about actually watching the show than wanking over its disk's technical merits. Last time I checked, every single DVD I own looks just fine to me. It may look "fine" to you, but some of us have better eyesight, and like to see real quality. Also, enurtsol is right. And if the R1 does not hold my interest, then screw it. Bring on the fansubs.

Ah, but as I mentioned, that goes both ways. You couldn't meddle when the R1 parties sort out their issues, particularly if you're depending on R1 fansubs/fandom.

Shiroi Hane wrote:

enurtsol wrote: mythus wrote: Gonzo is a prime example of what to do to sell your series. Stream them on 0day to others. Well, with Gonzo being in financial trouble, getting bought, then halving their annual output, I don't think they're getting any love from the buyers, 0day or not. Actually.. one of those 0day titles, Strike Witches, was one of their best ever sellers on DVD.

Well, true how ever it is, still wasn't enough for their bottom line. They're losing more than they're getting back.

No one cares. GONZO is a terrible studio who haven't put out anything worthwhile since Gankutsuou, so we wouldn't mind seeing them go down the drain.