Name: Anonymous 2007-08-29 3:29 ID:ExJmQChy
It seems more and more companies are making cheaper sub-only releases for anime that they feel have less mainstream appeal. Companies like Media Blasters, Bandai Visual, Right Stuf and Geneon are not including dubs at all for some new titles or dropping the dub in the middle of a series. I think it's an interesting reversal of the situation in the VHS days. Back then, dubs were the norm and sub tapes were more expensive than dubs, ostensibly due to smaller production runs since subs had less mainstream appeal and sold fewer copies than dubs.
Now after a period of tremendous growth, the anime market seems to be plateauing while licensing costs continue to rise. Instead of everything selling like before, high profile anime still does well but middle-tier and crappier anime is less profitable. Some might blame piracy. Others might blame the numerous review sites and blogs acting as filters. Either way, dubs apparently aren't the draw they once were in getting more casual viewers.
It will be interesting to see if these cheaper sub discs do well enough to keep a series going until its end, or do even better. If a sub-only DVD brings in more sales than expected, could that mean that the market is more sensitive to the lower price point than the added value of a dub? Might the casual buyers have become more willing to watch subs since the VHS days? Dubs will probably always be necessary for TV broadcast anime, but I wonder how many more anime will be sub-only releases if these initial bids sell well in spite of a lack of dub tracks.
Now after a period of tremendous growth, the anime market seems to be plateauing while licensing costs continue to rise. Instead of everything selling like before, high profile anime still does well but middle-tier and crappier anime is less profitable. Some might blame piracy. Others might blame the numerous review sites and blogs acting as filters. Either way, dubs apparently aren't the draw they once were in getting more casual viewers.
It will be interesting to see if these cheaper sub discs do well enough to keep a series going until its end, or do even better. If a sub-only DVD brings in more sales than expected, could that mean that the market is more sensitive to the lower price point than the added value of a dub? Might the casual buyers have become more willing to watch subs since the VHS days? Dubs will probably always be necessary for TV broadcast anime, but I wonder how many more anime will be sub-only releases if these initial bids sell well in spite of a lack of dub tracks.