Forum - View topicDo you think it's hard to be an anime fan?
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yotsubafanfan
 Posts: 653 |
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My sister says that it's hard to be a fan of her favorite movie, because she can't find merchandise for it even though it got wide exceptance right after it came out and the fact it's getting a sequel next year, it makes me wonder if she realizes how hard it is to be a fan of movies such as the Studio Ghibli movies in which we have to travel an hour away just to go see it, not to menchion the merchandise is to expensive for someone without a job (I'm still underage) on top of that I only know a couple of people who have even heard about the movies the company makes and they usually only have seen one (Spirited Away). It may seem like fun and games but if you don't want to spend a ton of money being an anime fan is tough, we can't watch animes online without digging all over the internet for them anymore since the Megaupload shut down (I know we should help the industry by buying the DVD's but paying 70 bucks for a a 12 episode anime is insane so I only buy the animes I know have plenty of episodes so they're worth paying the price or are on sale.) Especially being a small town student in Kentucky, we don't have many anime stores at all (We're lucky to have one where I live but it mostly sells music and not any manga at all.) So we have to travel out of state most of the time to pick up Manga and anime. So yeah, give me your reasons why you think it's hard to be an anime fan, I would continue but I feel like I'm on "rant mode" so I don't want to say stuff I'll regret saying later.
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the Rancorous
 Posts: 2248 Location: Hunting the Dragon in Gransys |
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You say you live in Kentucky which is in the U.S., so funimation.com, hulu.com, crunchyroll.com, niconico.com, animenetwork.com, vizanime.com and probably some others I'm forgetting are all easily accessible sites that are 100% legal and offer quite a lot for free members. There's also plenty of stuff on Youtube through the companies' official YT channels.
I've been buying anime since about 2001 or 2002, and whether it was online or in store I have never paid that much for a 12 episode series*. The closest i ever came was the Tenchi Muyo DVD set for $60, but that was the DVD Ultimate set. It's usually between the $30-$50 range for that many episodes depending on LE or regular Edition sets. It's easier to be an anime fan today than it ever was for us North Americans. Just wait, man. Once you get a decent job and have your own bank account, you'll probably realize this yourself. 
*EDIT: I guess I should clarify this as I have never paid that much for a set of 12-13 episodes of an anime. I bought plenty of singles from those days, so technically, I probably did pay close to $70 for a 12-13 episode series in total, but never all at once. And no, I haven't bought any of the Aniplex or NISA releases... yet
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Saffire
 Posts: 1256 Location: Iowa, USA |
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Yeah, you're definitely not utilizing the Internet enough. It's literally never been easier to be an anime fan right now. There's tons of legit streaming sources and most shows can be had for $30-$40 if you're willing to shop around a bit on the Internet. Most releases are not carrying a premium price tag.
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TitanXL
 Posts: 4036 |
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No... it's extremely easy to download/torrent/irc/whatever anime. Anime fans have it extremely easy in all honesty. They're spoiled and pampered and provided for, I can't see how anyone can say it's hard being an anime fan. Along with being able to do what i mentioned -Even if an anime bombs in ratings/sales in the US, it'll still get made in Japan (Detective Conan, for example) The US market doesn't mean anything for anime, where as if you're a fan of an American show and it gets poor ratings, it'll get cancelled and there's nothing you can do about it. (Firefly) -We get tons of merchandise (high quality figures, statues, wall scrolls) which other fandoms don't get (Want a high quality PVC of... Ben 10? Good for you, keep dreaming, maybe pigs will fly one day as well) -Hundreds of conventions all over the world dedicated to it. Hook up, hang out, whatever. No one else can really make that kind of boast. -Huge online communities, entire sites dedicated to cataloging your viewing and reading habits and discussing them like MyAnimeList and so forth. -Huge doujinshi/hentai CG collection. Find all the high quality porn of these shows you want. No other fandom in the world gets access to this kind of high quality smut. I could go on, but really, anime fans are well provided for. |
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EireformContinent
 Posts: 977 Location: Łódź/Poland (The Promised Land) |
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Person from USA dare to complain? They had closed post offices and all of millions services providing cheap digital manga and anime for USA IPs?
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DuskyPredator
 Posts: 15576 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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Apparently anime costs a lot just in Japan, I think I read a translated comment once that a someone was going to buy it over seas as but was cheaper than it's home country.
I know of a music store in a shopping center I frequent that sells some movies and anime, they do tend to have high prices, mostly has Naruto, Bleach, Ghibli, and recently Fairy Tail. |
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A Mystery
 Posts: 1888 Location: Netherlands |
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So you're specifically asking how hard it is to obtain anime dvd's, streams, etcetera? Even here in the Netherlands it's not that bad. We only have Crunchyroll, but that site does have a lot of good titles nowadays. I can order anime dvds on sites like archonia and some Dutch ones. Some titles aren't available with Dutch subtitles... or the 'Dutch' subtitles are actually Flemish
 , but if you're Dutch and an anime fan it's expected you can understand English subs.
Sometimes I'm sad I cannot buy titles because they're not available in my region or not at all, but I think I should be grateful for what I can get. The prizes vary, but they're okay. Singles are too expensive for me. Fullmetal Alchemist was quite a lot of money because it has so much episodes. I bought RomeoxJuliet for just €30,00, a two cour series. Come to think of it, it used to be much harder... Crunchyroll is still a recent development, newer titles have been released, you can buy anime without a creditcard now and I've learned the ways to obtain it. And if I cannot watch a series legally, I just turn into an evil high school kid again *runs to illegal streaming site  *
(But it is sometimes hard to be an anime fan because people think your hobby is weird, or you think other people think like that )
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factual_error
Posts: 7 |
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In America? No, it's super easy to an anime fan today in America, everything we could want is available for free and for those who like to pay anime is cheaper than it was 20-25 years ago. We can chose whether to watch the dub or the sub unlike in the late 80s early 90s where you got a terrible dub for a terrible anime and you paid $30-70 for only a couple of episodes. I don't know where you're seeing an anime for $70, series are pretty cheap these days. Yeah, it's easier in America.
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Veers
 Posts: 1197 Location: Texas |
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Streaming sites have already been covered.
Want cheap DVD/BD/manga? Go to rightstuf.com or amazon.com. Need figures? amiami.com, kidnemo.com, hlj.com just to name a few. Complaining about megaupload being taken down somehow hurting your ability to find anime stuff online is hilarious. You're posting on ANN which means you have an internet connection. Learn how to use it. |
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DavidShallcross
 Posts: 1008 |
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Still, it's hard having an urge to make jokes involving references few people will understand.
For example, there should really be a series of videos, involving a travelling anime fan who gets into all kinds of situations, but never gets the girl. We could call it "Otaku wa Tsurai Yo". Otherwise, no, not hard. You can be a fan just watching official streams, and writing comments, fanfic, and so on, without spending nearly any money at all, beyond the cost of broadband network access. |
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EricJ
 Posts: 876 |
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Not to mention, it's easier to be an anime fan in the US than to be an anime fan in Japan. Try saying you're an anime fan in your 20's in mainstream Tokyo society, and see the looks you get. (The fact that it's not "common" over here has managed to conquer the local "kiddy" stereotypes: While you're at it, try telling people in England you're a Classic Doctor Who fan...  )
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Fifth B
 Posts: 213 |
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I can't speak for anybody else, but I, for one, find watching cartoons to be far from difficult.
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V1046-R
Posts: 172 |
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It used to more difficult in the USA. But now in addition to a good library of DVD s & Blu Rays, we have legal streaming services for other newly licensed shows not on disk. I used to resort to underground unlicensed fansubs, but now we have more options than I have time to watch in the legal licensed arena...which is what I prefer because I want to vote with my wallet to tell anime distributors I want them to provide this product for us over here.
If DVD's are too expensive I can understand, then watch on basic Hulu for free. You can deal with a few commercials like regular TV if you are a true fan. |
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504NOSON2
 Subscriber Posts: 647 Location: Body:Santa Barbara, CA ~ Heart:New Orleans, LA |
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I think it depends on where one is located. If you're a major city in the U.S., finding a decent variety of fairly recent titles should be a piece of cake. If you're in a small town in Malta or North Dakota, it isn't as easy. Also, as the OP mentioned, price is an issue. Now, anime DVDs are cheaper than ever, as of 2012. And some would probably argue that the TRSI's "bargain bin" and blow-out sells should be illegal for being so cheap. But, if you're a 12 year-old junior high school, too young for paycheck, then allowance (if you're lucky) is your only bet. However, that's only if you actually want physical media. Many people today couldn't care less about it.
So, to someone who just wants to consume as much anime as they want, but doesn't have a lot of money to contribute to that addiction, or doesn't care to: the ANN weekly "North American Streaming List" is your friend. Crunchyroll, The Anime Network, Hulu, ANN video, hell even illegal streams are still accessible with like 10 seconds of Googling, despite one of the biggest games in town (Megaupload/Megavideo) being shutdown. It ain't hard being an anime if you live in the right place, but this is definitely the right time. |
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