Forum - View topicHey, Answerman! - DEATH DECAY CHAOS
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Vaisaga
 Posts: 13227 |
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Well, all I can say is that if it does become an import only industry where a 13 episode series runs for $400:
Long live piracy. As much as I like owning physical copies of shows I like I have to like them one heck of a lot to shell out that much. |
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Tenchi
 Posts: 4469 Location: Ottawa... now I'm an ex-Anglo Montrealer. |
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As someone only interested in owning anime on physical media, there is no difference to me between "doom" (re: all North American licensors going out of business) and "transitioning to digital", since, if I can't get an anime I want on a shiny disk, it doesn't exist as far as I'm concerned.
I'm already coming to terms with the possibility that I'll just have to import more from Japan if I want to own the slice-of-life moé shows I enjoy in a physical format. We may still get a few of the a-list moé shows like K-On!! (which I'm sure someone else will pick up) on physical media in the west for the time being , but a couple of years from now, I'll be completely out-of-luck if I don't import. |
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
 Posts: 7912 Location: Anime News Network Technodrome |
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Just gonna throw this out there: all the apocalyptic doom-saying after a struggling, increasingly small company finally goes out after more than a year of people speculating that it would do exactly that is ridiculous and unnecessary.
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doctordoom85
 Posts: 2093 |
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Zac is absolutely right, it's a major loss in terms of the great impact Bandai had on the anime industry in North America over the years, but the number of licenses they were putting out each year could be counted on one, maybe two hands practically, they weren't that huge a player in the game anymore. And they didn't suddenly crash and burn, they're wrapping up what series they had started (Star Driver, 0079 Gundam, Tales of the Abyss), and even giving K-On! a boxset (would like two boxsets for Hayate, but doubt it will happen, so I need to snag the singles eventually this year) and going to be focusing on giving out licenses and such to other companies. This feels less like a death and more of a company bowing out gracefully.
Meanwhile, FUNimation and Sentai, two companies who license plenty of series a year, are doing just fine. We got a few series from Media Blasters and Viz Media each year. And even though Aniplex will apparently release over-priced BR/DVDs every now and then, some of their releases (Durarara, the non-LE version of Madoka) are a bit more reasonable. It's not the death of the industry, it's just another sign that the industry will remain more niche for the time being and that the days of "let's license everything!" are over. Which they have been for quite a few years. Tenchi: I'm not sure if K-On!! (or the movie) will get licensed, since we don't know how much Japan is asking. Nichijou is a pretty safe bet though from Sentai, seeing as it bombed in sales in Japan so I highly doubt they'll be asking for much from such a small-performer. And I wouldn't automatically assume no one will be licensing moe shows eventually, Sentai has a few (Clannad, Hidamari, etc.) in their possession already and they've shown no indication that these didn't make a profit (since they dubbed Clannad later and licensed the 3rd season of Hidamari). |
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DmonHiro
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You should paint it on a wall so people stop freaking out about it. Guys... relax. |
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tuxedocat
 Posts: 2183 |
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Agreed. .....considering there have been like, five licensing announcements this past week alone that include physical media..... |
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Imperial_Commander
 Posts: 44 |
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That's true, but I don't think I'm out of line by asking for focus on Bandai Entertainment - not only have they released some of the most popular titles in the last half-decade or so, it's also the simple fact that quite a few people who worked in an industry they probably loved, or at least were in a position that many of us envy, lost their jobs in a market that at best has a shaky and even contradictory recovery. Is it a sign of the inevitable collapse of the industry? No. But it's never a good feeling to hear about job losses in an industry you love. |
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penguintruth
 Posts: 8461 Location: Penguinopolis |
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It's almost as if the remaining companies are screaming, "We're still here!" |
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agila61
 Posts: 3213 Location: NE Ohio |
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That's a quite different reaction than the overblown Bandaimageddon talk. It is, indeed, sad news the people in the industry that Bandai was still contracting work out to can no longer look to Bandai Ent for more of that work. |
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fuuma_monou
 Posts: 1817 Location: Quezon City, Philippines |
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Yeah. One of my friends did a lot of translation work for Bandai. Streaming pays translators much less. |
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PlatinumHawke
Posts: 204 |
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And I say: Bring on the boxsets, my wallet is ready. I'm more than willing to pay the money to have that one or two series a year that I really want, rather than wait for a licensing announcement that may or may not be made. |
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PetrifiedJello
Posts: 3782 |
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Bandai: "People won't buy our products with singles prices? Bye!"
Brian: "The industry can see an increase again, but kinks need to be ironed out." Young man, you should be the CEO of Bandai. |
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Sunday Silence
 Posts: 2047 |
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And make sure he doesn't hire "Yes" men. |
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Mohawk52
 Posts: 8202 Location: England, UK |
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Bandai's first board meeting with Brian in the chair:
Well Brian, whats the answer, how do we iron out the kinks? Brian: F*** if I know! I'll just get my coat. 
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configspace
Posts: 3717 |
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I totally disagree. If anything there's much more content, and more variety now to choose from. Maybe that's the problem for people. There are more licenses now, and more available--forget TV, it's all streaming now. There are still a good number of unlicensed shows on Crunchyroll. Though a few TV and many movies and OVAs still go unlicensed I'll admit. Ultimately the audience has moved on from being a singular audience who all share the same love for a handful of shows, to a larger more diverse base. But first, my pet peeve on the misuse of the word "pandering". It's something that can only be determined by intent, not outcome. It's only pandering if it's *not* genuine. For example it's ironic is that AnoHana turned out to be at least a partially pandering title--to the mainstream--since the writer actually intended and wanted it to be more ero-comedic when the producers forced her to remove/edit those scenes, much to her initial disappointment. Anyways, there's like only two shows with fanservice this winter season for example. That's a small fraction. Overall I think there is mostly a perception issue. I've been watching since those so-called Halcyon Days, vhs bootlegs of Ramna, Dirty Pair, Silent Mobius, laser discs.. but now really, now are the true golden days. Heck, thank goodness for CR just for the sports shows! Them false-nostalgia days do not compare to the sheer number of many great shows that will satisfy literally anyone's taste now. Again, because of the variety and amount, that means a lot won't, which again can distort perception. Last edited by configspace on Fri Jan 06, 2012 6:00 pm; edited 3 times in total |
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