Out of all the hobbies and fandom out there, anime fans are some of the most backwards people I know. It's the only fandom I can think of where it's members actually encourage each other NOT to support the very thing they love. Why is that?
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Anonymous2009-08-25 14:48
Because the Japanese anime industry is a shameless ripoff meant for socially retarded otaku and the North American anime industry is a half-assed piece of shit that markets itself exclusively to the stupidest parts of the fanbase.
so you want copypasta?
here:
Fact is once a publisher has paid the studio for the work. the studio itself get nearly nothing of the sale profits, if anything at all. Worse is when the anime is licensed outside of japan. The deals usually dont include any royalities. Which means any sale outside of japan has no real effect on the studio that made the anime...
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Anonymous2009-08-27 19:20
>>5
But you'll be supporting professional translators and the actual publishing of the shows in other countries.
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Anonymous2009-09-01 20:51
I buy sometimes - mostly when it comes to stuff I really love. Boxes and extras look nice, despite of their ridiculous prices.
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Anonymous2009-09-02 14:49
Why would I buy anything but japanese stuff?
I only watch jap dub, 98% of all non-jap dubs suck ass.
Figurines are for faggots, I read scans for free from people who translated them for free, same goes for subs and visual novels etc.
Since I can't read japanese I simply buy nothing.
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Anonymous2009-09-02 16:31
Companies will buy the anime and manga rights from overseas and publish them here, but there are times when an anime is not gaining popularity, or it's loosing it so they'll stop publishing them. Scans of manga that are translated for free at least get completed.
i am cheap and a lot of the anime i want are not avlabe in the states
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ushigatana2009-09-20 15:31
It's overpriced for the regular stuff, the stuff on TV sucks, is heavily edited, or is on at 4 am, and nobody wants to go to mall to buy hentai at FYE cause we're all self-loathing lazy bastards.
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Anonymous2009-10-21 18:34
Out of all the hobbies and fandom out there, anime fans are some of the most backwards people I know. It's the only fandom I can think of where it's members actually encourage each other NOT to support the very thing they love.
If you're a true anime fan you would show your support and buy the dvds.
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Anonymousgirlwithawrench2009-11-15 0:54
Well..there are always people who want to support it, but do not have the money to buy it. But, I do see what you mean, to a point..
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Anonymous2009-11-15 19:45
>>16
>there are always people who want to support it, but do not have the money to buy it.
You can still support a show and not have to pay for it. Things like streaming via Crunchyroll and FUNimation brings in advertising revenue which goes back to Japanese companies.
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sage2009-11-15 22:48
>>2
This is the most brainless sentence I've ever read.
Good job failing to understand ANYTHING about your hobby.
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Anonymous2009-11-16 5:03
because most anime aren't meant to be dvd releases, I don't pay for shit I can see on free tv.
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Anonymous2009-11-16 15:27
>>6
Not necessarily. Once a license is obtained, there are no market forces to encourage quality translation, as the show will be marketed
The main reason that buying anime is so unpopular in north america is because of the pricing discrepancies. The price of the anime DVD releases in north america are artificially inflated in order to have comparable prices to the native japanese prices.
It's like if PS3 games went to go for about $120 instead of $60-ish; even fans would bulk at paying such prices, due to games on competing consoles costing only half the price.
>>19
This is completely false. Heck, DVD sales is where a lot of their revenue comes from. Which is why shows that get good ratings are not usually considered successful if they don't get good DVD sales (Dennou Coil is a good example of this). This is why fan service shows are so predominant these days; because they tend to get decent DVD sales.
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Anonymous2009-11-16 21:23
>>20
>The main reason that buying anime is so unpopular in north america is because of the pricing discrepancies. The price of the anime DVD releases in north america are artificially inflated in order to have comparable prices to the native japanese prices.
I'll assume you're comparing anime dvds to regular american dvd releases. Anime dvds aren't artificially inflated, they cost more than other non anime dvds because of the licensing costs + extra costs it takes to churn out the dvd. Translations, voice actors (assuming the show is being dubbed), authoring the dvd, QC, extras on a dvd, etc. all costs money. Anime companies have to make that money back and turn a profit, otherwise it wasn't worth licensing the title in the first place. On top of that they have to work with less exposure than say a non anime tv show because most anime does not get aired on tv in North America. Non anime dvds can be priced cheaper because they've essentially made the cost of production back by running on the tv networks. DVDs in most cases are for pure profits, and they don't have to pay for licensing, translations, etc. which is why they can price the dvds at a cheaper price.
>>19
>because most anime aren't meant to be dvd releases, I don't pay for shit I can see on free tv.
Japanese tv works differently than tv networks in North America. In North America, the network pays for the show and earn it's money through commercials and tv ratings. This is why when a show gets low ratings it can be pulled off the air for another tv show. In Japan, it's the television show that pays the network to get a given timeslot. This is why many anime shows end up with a shit ton of sponsors to help pay for the production or acquiring a given timeslot. This is also the reason why many niche shows can air on tv, despite getting low viewership. Anime companies don't make anything off of getting a show on tv, but they do it because it's been proven that it helps dvd sales. DVDs sales is how anime companies earn a profit. Also saying "I don't pay for shit I can see on free tv. " is false because the Japanese are technically paying for it when they watch the advertisements of the sponsors from a given timeslot. They don't have the option of skipping ads, choosing when to watch it, etc. which a lot of people who view fansubs take for granted. If you want an accurate comparison to how Japanese are able to watch it on tv, a good example would be watching streams through Crunchyroll because advertisements pay for the show when you watch it.
>>21
You're assuming that the licensing costs somehow go to paying everyone that was involved in the production of the anime in the first place. This is an incorrect assumption. If an anime is licensed in north america, no one (or almost no one, in some cases) involved in the actual production of that anime is getting paid for it. It's not like the voice actors are getting royalties or the artists and technicians are suddenly finding a check in their mailboxes after a licensing deal has been signed.
And since the revenue of licensing the show abroad isn't usually factored into the financial planning of producing an anime (and thus, the paychecks of those people) (due to many reasons, amongst which is the delayed nature of such licensing), your argument comes up short. If it's any consolation, your error was not one made by fault in judgement, but rather a common misunderstanding of the matter upon which you laid your claims.
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Anonymous2009-11-17 4:42
>You're assuming that the licensing costs somehow go to paying everyone that was involved in the production of the anime in the first place.
What are you even talking about? I never said that. You're just making that assumption and then ranting about it like it somehow disproves my argument. If you're >>20 I'm saying that your idea of "The price of the anime DVD releases in north america are artificially inflated in order to have comparable prices to the native japanese prices." is incorrect. Which was what my rant is about. Please read carefully next time before you go on some tirade that doesn't deal with what I'm addressing.
and this, folks, is a classic example of a straw man argument.
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Anonymous2009-11-19 19:39
Most white people who are otaku usually have height, weight, and health problems. So they're not Aryan enough anyway.
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Anonymous2009-12-02 1:55
>>24 >>25
Straw man argument? Hardly. The assumption was conveyed in this statement:
>Non anime dvds can be priced cheaper because they've essentially made the cost of production back by running on the tv networks. DVDs in most cases are for pure profits, and they don't have to pay for licensing, translations, etc. which is why they can price the dvds at a cheaper price.
Cost of production refers to the cost to produce (create) the show. Licensing fees don't go to the the people actually creating the show, but rather the publishers of the show.
Now, the publishers are generally the ones setting the budget for the show, so one might argue that profits from licensing are factored in when the budget is being set, but this has flaws, predominantly the low chance that most shows have of being licensed in the first place (especially the shows that are original works or otherwise are on shaky funding).
As for the costs of translations and voice acting, I think you are overestimating the costs of both of these, compared to the costs of native TV show DVDs. Contrary to your statements, they are not made as pure profit, due to such costs as the creating of the various extras included with the show, and the various residuals payments (which is not an issue with licensed material), to name the more prominent ones.
So no, there really isn't an reason why anime DVDs should cost more than DVDs for local shows.
Luckily, they often aren't significantly more expensive these days, as a quick search on Best Buy would be quick to inform that the prices are fairly comparible. So you all are quacking about the color of a wall that isn't even there.
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Anonymous2009-12-03 15:26
>>29
It's a strawman argument because you assumed something I never said and are trying to divert the topic at hand. And good job quote mining me by stringing together two sentences from two different posts addressing two different issues. All your attempts at derailing the main argument doesn't change the fact that you're wrong about the reasons why anime dvd prices are higher in North America compared to non-anime dvd releases. They aren't "artificially inflated in order to have comparable prices to the native japanese prices" like you suggest.
But I'll spell it out for you once again. When a U.S. anime company licenses an anime from a Japanese company, they are already in the red. On top of the costs of licensing a title, they have to pay for translating the show, English dubbing, QC, etc. Compare this to a non-anime show where they made all their costs back + possible profits when they aired the show on tv. When it comes to releasing the show on dvd, the non-anime show has already made back all it's costs so it's in it for the pure profit. DVD sales becomes one of the sources of revenue. In the case of anime dvds, dvd sales is THE source of revenue. They have to make the costs of churning out the dvd (the reasons were previously mentioned) and break even before they can start making a profit, and they have to do this mostly from dvd sales. Anime companies don't have the luxury of having their shows exposed in the mass media like The Simpsons, Family Guy, and other non-anime shows do. And on top of that they are catering to a much narrower market. This is why you see anime dvds priced higher than non-anime dvds.
You know, this discussion might be worth continuing but only if you stop using fallacies.
>>30
There was no assumption, things were stated quite clearly.
It's not two sentences from different posts strung together, as they come right after another at the very end of the second paragraph in post >>21.
Regarding you spelling it out again, those arguments were read the first time (save the one new bit about the market being narrower, which I imagine was already understood by all parties), and have already been addressed above.
And as was pointed out, US series DVDs are comparable in price to anime series DVDs these days.
I like how this all fell apart at the end here. I have a related question, however. The companies that license and distribute the show in the US, all they need to do is get retailers to buy large amounts, right? I mean, they don't really rely on the consumer to actually purchase the DVDs, just the retailer. Theoretically, then, the dvds could languish on shelves in Amazon's warehouse for years until some pirate cleans up their act and purchases them.
Pick this apart, please.
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Anonymous2009-12-20 20:48
I see now I didn't really put a question in there. Here is the question then: Isn't this basically how companies can keep licensing animes when most douches steal them?