Downfall of R1 Anime Industry?
I always hear about lagging sales and the eventual collapse of the R1 anime industry and how its going to implode and destroy everyone in sight.
First off, the "enormous" amount of people stealing the series from P2P file sharing systems destroys the R1 market and thus can't make nice big fat profits. Second, anime series just don't sell. Sure, there are the big money makers like bleach, naruto and the like, but how many people will buy "Groove Squad" or "Magikano"??? Not enough to turn a profit, that's who.
Third, There's always talk about the evil conservative people who send petitions to the president and whoever to get anime banned because of its implicit content. "Oh no! they're going to ban all of anime and ignore freedom of speech!" talk is usually given and sure, they do it, but do congressmen and politicians care to do anything about it? Fourth, smaller companies can't afford the licensing of bigger titles that actually make money, and will all eventually fail and be left in some swamp somewhere. Take Geneon for example: They had good series and awesome dvd quality, but they didn't have enough big titles to sustain their enormous amount of "no one wants to buy" anime dvd's section.
So is this all eventual, or can companies combat this first hand? Can they stream the episodes subbed before fansubs and delete them after a week to get rid of people who "want it for free"? Or should they just destroy your entire livelyhood with an enormous 500,000 dollar lawsuit and more than a decade in jail?
Re: Downfall of R1 Anime Industry?
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First off, the "enormous" amount of people stealing the series from P2P file sharing systems destroys the R1 market and thus can't make nice big fat profits.
If it wasn't for this people the anime scene would not be as big as it is in this country. The R1 market is losing money because they charge too much ($40 most of the time) for a DVD containing only 2 episodes or 3 episodes.
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Second, anime series just don't sell. Sure, there are the big money makers like bleach, naruto and the like, but how many people will buy "Groove Squad" or "Magikano"??? Not enough to turn a profit, that's who.
Most licensed shows suck and the voice actors suck as well. So most fans are left with the choice to not buy it and look for something else worth their money.
Re: Downfall of R1 Anime Industry?
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Originally Posted by
ketaro 
If it wasn't for this people the anime scene would not be as big as it is in this country. The R1 market is losing money because they charge too much ($40 most of the time) for a DVD containing only 2 episodes or 3 episodes.
Most licensed shows suck and the voice actors suck as well. So most fans are left with the choice to not buy it and look for something else worth their money.
Well not always, now you cant get some DVD's for $20 and get good deals on box sets. Like a whole season of Inuyasha for like around a $100. Where if you bought them indv. it would cost 10x more.
I happen to love the voice acting, but if you don't you can switch to the Japanese language. So that shouldn't keep them from buying.
Re: Downfall of R1 Anime Industry?
The fact that DVD's in general does not help at all. Personally I do not see spending 20$ for a DVD that contains only 4 episodes, and always leaves me at a cliff hanger forcing me to buy another DVD to see what happens. (although I end up doing it neway ^_^)
Personally I wait and find some good deals at EB Games, or even Dollar General (picked up 6 Tenchi Muyo DVD's, 3 Gatekeepers, 1 Scrapped Princess, 1, G Gundam, for only 3$ each)
It really frustrates me when people complain about how anime is violent and should be banned. If you do not like, then do not watch it is that simple. If your kids watch it and you do not want them to, do not let them that is your business none of mine. People put so much work on trying to change everything around them because it "they" think its wrong and do not stop to think maybe they are wrong.
I do not think anything will happen to Anime Industry anytime soon. Anime has a huge fan-base. Maybe not here in the US, but around the world combined there is. Also Anime inspires people to create Anime of their own, so even if the big shot writers/creators go down there will always be one person out there making an Anime of his own that could someday become huge.
Re: Downfall of R1 Anime Industry?
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Originally Posted by
Miroku4444 I happen to love the voice acting, but if you don't you can switch to the Japanese language. So that shouldn't keep them from buying.
Yes you are right, but like i said before few people would buy a DVD that only contains 2 or 3 episodes for $20 or $30 dollars a piece. Also, i guess i was being a bit biased when i said American voice actors suck. There are some licensed shows with good voice acting. ^^
Re: Downfall of R1 Anime Industry?
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Originally Posted by
ketaro Yes you are right, but like i said before few people would buy a DVD that only contains 2 or 3 episodes for $20 or $30 dollars a piece. Also, i guess i was being a bit biased when i said American voice actors suck. There are some licensed shows with good voice acting. ^^
Yes, there are very decent and amazing voice actors out there, however the ones they use that are good tend to be "overused". By that, I mean that if they put the best in most of the animes, your suddenly going to notice that it gets unimaginative. You've heard his voice over many times, and at some point one says, "I think I wanna hear someone else". So they never use the best all the time. However, the voiceovers that they use, for example, in Naruto and One Piece are horrendous for the hype that they receive. However, I have to give them props for making Naruto sound his age, even though he sounds like a person you'd wanna punch in the face. :)
And dvd's are fairly expensive to produce. (This includes licensing fees) So you can get away with small potatoes that had their licenses expire by selling them at dollar stores and what not. But you'll never see a Naruto dvd for a truly cheap price unless the store is having a closing, liquidation, or extreme super sale. The big ones just are going to cost more also based on the fact that even the big anime shows aren't as popular. The amount of fixed cost associated with making them doesn't change, and the variable cost for the business may be cheap. But If you implement a large fixed cost on a small number of dvd's versus a large amount (like the bourne ultimatum) it does change the price point.
So this is only hurting the R1 industry even more? Is there a way to save cost, like cheaper packaging? Is there a physical means on the R1 producer's side to make people want to buy rather than download?
Re: Downfall of R1 Anime Industry?
I find it really sad the downfall in sales, because it is true that anime is costly now. But if you look you can find tons of reasonable series. I always by my anime in full series sets, and i usually don't pay over $35.00. I never buy the individual volumes for $30-$40 a piece. If people actually wanted to by anime on dvd you can find individual volumes for reasonable. I always find them for under $5. I just think people like to outwit paying for things. So that's why they download, and now the anime distribution is taking a hit from it all.
Re: Downfall of R1 Anime Industry?
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