Forum - View topicHey, Answerman! - The Con Artist
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sharpied
Posts: 17 |
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If you really want a credit card with an anime theme, it's probably best to pick something that isn't mainstream and domestically licensed. A lot of the people at these card companies have kids, or are fans of anime themselves. They know who Naruto is and may have had to endure Bleach filler arc episodes. But something obscure that most people don't know, either due to age of the anime/manga or foreign exposure, would probably work, providing you don't scribble the name of said character/story all over your application. And in the case of people using original artwork that they themselves own (ie. Fan Art of an original Pokemon trainer character you created), how then, do you draw the line? Yes, you might not own the original concept, but you do own the artwork involved and/or the creation of said character. Since you're not trying to sell the character but just use the image that you own in a way that will not directly affect the holder company's license (because an alternative product is not legally offered in your region), will there be an issue of rights to said image?
I used to have the same problem when I would bring big production cels and sketches to FedEx Kinko's many years ago. I wanted to scan them for my own gallery, nothing more. While I do not own the rights to the character, I figured that, since I physically own the media on which they were drawn on, I would have no problem scanning them for my own not-for-profit gallery. But every time I would go there, the staff would ask me questions about the item such as if the item I was scanning was my original creation, did I do the artwork myself, etc. In order to scan, I had to lie that I created the items myself. In the case of having a licensed image on a credit card, I don't see a problem with it provided that you're just using it as a credit card, and not attempting to state that the image is your creation. Most people just want to express love for whatever hobby they have. While I understand that Wells Fargo is just trying to protect themselves in the event that they get sued, I also look at it from the point of view of the user who just wants to show others what they love. |
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jyuichi
 Posts: 125 |
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Japanese otaku don't have as bad as you make it seem. Unlike the US, Japan has a thriving rental market. When I was in Saitama I would go to the local Tsutaya rental store and rent anime old and new for 300yen/week. Many of these older out of print titles are still very available at rental stores. My host family's TV also had a digital rental service built in which also had anime including many episode 1's for free. Publisher's are also not that behind. Bandai runs a Internet Channel with over 2000 free episodes and many many more for pay http://sp.b-ch.com/. Kadokawa has a similar service also though more targeted for mobile users.
Us in the West can only import or wait for official DVDs and tend to see the 100$ discs as our only (legit) option but within Japan there really are many other reasonable ways to acquire anime. |
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RyanSaotome
 Posts: 4210 Location: Towson, Maryland |
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All of those top anime and character lists in Japan show that they only really care about the new stuff. Like the top waifu lists typically consist of all girls from the last 2 years and maybe like Haruhi and the Eva girls. Same with top anime.
Its tough to get excited about older anime when its not the hot new thing anymore. |
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superdry
 Posts: 1309 |
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Besides the rental market, Japan does have a rather large second-hand market where you can pick up older anime titles for relatively cheap. Or buy old rental copies when stores blow them out.
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Sewingrose
 Posts: 579 |
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Chi Plushies from Chi's Sweet Home, Vertical has sort of half mentioned that that might be a thing they're interested in, it was one of the options on one of their face book polls. Fans of the manga would love to have their own little stuffed Chi's. (I myself imported a set of two to give to my sister who is a huge fan).
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lostrune
 Posts: 313 |
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Japan has no need to wear those rose-tinted nostalgia goggles because they get like 100 new anime a year. And despite what American fans always complain about, it wasn't better back then 
It happens with American animation too. People will gush up 80s/90s cartoons like they're the cat's meow, and dismiss current animation or insist nothing can compare to my old Thundercats or Batman cartoons. I guess when you only get 6 cartoons a year, it's not as easy to move on like Japan can. 
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vanfanel
 Posts: 1261 |
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I'm writing from an Internet cafe in Japan right now. The home page on the computer I'm using has links to a bunch of streaming anime. Excluding recent stuff, the following are only a click away:
* Yankee Neppuutai OVAs * Be-Bop High School OVAs * Slam Dunk movies * Fist of the North Star movie * Star of the Giants TV * Princess Nine TV The lineup changes every month, and there are always old classics and a few obscure titles in the mix, so someone must want to see them. In addition, as others have already pointed out, the rental and secondhand markets are more than sufficient to satisfy demand for classic (edit: or just old) anime. Anime is actually a surprisingly cheap hobby over here if all you want to do is watch the shows. It only gets expensive if you want physical media or get hooked on merchandise. WRT Fist of the Northstar's enduring popularity over here, I've met several people who have mentioned that they were kids when that show was on TV, and they all smile nostalgically as they tell me an eerily similar story: "Yeah, Mom wouldn't let me watch that show." I'm halfway joking here, but I do kind of wonder if that might have had something to do with the big FotNS revival several years ago--the pachinko games, the new movies, the endless merchandise. If Moms all across Japan turned that show into forbidden fruit, that would have only added to the appeal, and possibly increased its nostalgia value as that wave of thwarted viewers entered their thirties... |
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TitanXL
 Posts: 4036 |
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A sensible thing to do. Especially in a fandom where fan works are so huge. There's little reason to obsess over old shows all the time when there's so many new and exciting ones being made. I've noticed it's mainly a western thing to do to live in nostalgia, even if the stuff they liked was garbage (i.e. bad 80s and 90s anime dubs) but it was their childhood so they put it on an untouchable pedestal. The doujinshi scene at Comiket is a good example to use. At C80 the main show stealer was AnoHana, which probably had the most doujinshi. Anaru especially was a very popular subject to depict in them. Come next year at C81? The new big thing at C81 was Sena from Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai who got a ton of doujins. It'll be interesting to see who the popular show/girl at C82 will be once it finishes. But yes, I suspect the 30+ shows a season help this out. - As for the question on merchandise... Anime merchandise in America's always been lacking, mainly since it's all greed and licensing deals I imagine. Why import the high quality figures from Japan and repackage them and sell them here when you can sell the popular license to some company like Mattel to make a quick buck and probably get more of a cut of the profits than if you had to split them with Japanese companies. Besides, the only series they bother to merchandise are the heavily edited kids dub shows on TV. One Piece, Naruto, Yu-Gi-Oh, etc.. they get marketed at like 6 year olds here so they just slap some poorly made Mattel or Fisher Price figures in a package and sell them because little kids wont care about quality. Especially if the Japanese merchandise goes against the squeaky clean image they've tried to give these shows. Speaking of Yu-Gi-Oh regards to the previous answer, it's another good example for merchandise differences. Konami of America has made a mess of the American version of the card game. So many cards that were common and easily gotten in starter decks there have become ultra rare, only available in tournament packs (you have to win tournaments to get tournament packs) or just made some arbitrary "we're only going to print 4 copies of this card in English, despite it being found in every starter deck in the Japanese version. Basically they don't care about the actual game for here, just getting kids to spend their money on it to try to get those 'rare cards the characters use in the show!'. The Japanese game only costs a fraction of what the American version costs. Not to mention all the American made/exclusive cards which royally destroy the metagame, but get made so they can hawk them as 'super secret powerful rare' cards for kids to buy 100 booster packs to get. It's amazing how bad you can mess up a franchise. I think it all boils down to companies find more money in marketing poor merchandise to dumb little kids than actual anime fans. There's no sense of quality control or respect in this field. Most we can hope for is maybe a key-chain or something, but the big merchandising efforts will always be towards the lowest common denominator and shows they can exploit the little kid fanbases of.
It is something most people don't seem to realize. Home video is a 'premium' in Japan. Heck, some anime don't get released to the public and are only sold to rental stores so people can only rented the DVDs for. |
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Maidenoftheredhand
 Posts: 2634 |
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I understand not thinking everything old was the most wonderful best thing ever. It is obvious we remember the "better things" and that is what people are nostalgic for, but what is wrong with that? I think it is ridiculous to ignore the new & old. There are wonderful series from now and then. Also Japan certainly does get nostalgic for certain series. I am not sure if you were actually there but when I was all the old classics were on TV there was tons of stuff on Rose of Versailles especially. Of course these are the very best classics but my point is nostalgia exists. And that can also be seen in the creation of the new Sailor Moon anime. |
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RyanSaotome
Posts: 4210 Location: Towson, Maryland |
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While that may be true, people have limited time. I watch about 25 ongoing anime at a time, so I don't have time to marathon old shows that I may or may not like... I do know I like the current style and fads of anime though, so I stick with that. |
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Maidenoftheredhand
Posts: 2634 |
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I have limited time too and I definitely do not watch anywhere close to 25 shows because I don't have the time for that. To tell you the truth I mostly watch new shows too, but I try to make time for classics (I am watching Legend of the Galactic Heroes on the side). Look I am not saying you have to watch old shows. People should watch what they enjoy with their time. My only point is old shows do have value as much as new shows. Of course this is coming from someone who values silent films, so old anime doesn't even seem that old to me. |
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Brand
 Posts: 1029 |
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As for the anime credit card I think the issue was the logo was included and that was what set them off. My friend has a Big Daddy from BioShock on his but that's it. There is no logo or anything.
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Greed1914
 Posts: 4640 |
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An interesting variation on the attempt to contact the Japanese companies this week. Anytime I see one of these, I am curious why they send an email the Answerman inbox. It just seems like a little bit of research would at least let people know that Brian isn't the person to contact about such things, and quite often the wording of the email isn't even asking where to look but rather it is worded in a way that indicates the person thinks they have contacted the right person.
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Vaisaga
 Posts: 13240 |
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Regarding the debit card, I suggest contacting the North American licensor and asking them about it. I have a friend who sometimes publishes their fanfiction for others to buy but always asks Funimation about it first. Funimation usually okays it, so long as the books aren't sold for a profit.
I don't know if the same would apply for this, but it's worth a shot. |
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TitanXL
Posts: 4036 |
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I usually do that too unless it's a for a reason. I'm currently re-watching all 200 episodes + movies of Sailor Moon so I can have it fresh in my mind when the new show premier so I can more accurately compare it and judge them better.
Sure, stuff like Dragonball will always be a classic, but it's not like the American fandom is with stuff. The people who insist a 10+ year old show like Cowboy Bebop as the pinnacle of anime, and Adult Swim continues to air it for 10+ years straight on TV and always talking about it. Though stuff like Dragonball is a bit of a special case since it had Kai recently and a new movie. |
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