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UltScorpion
Joined: 24 Oct 2015
Posts: 41
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Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2017 1:48 pm
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You know, I'd be more forgiving of Anime Strike if there was more to it. But Crunchyroll has many more subbed anime to watch, and Funimation has galactic tons of dubbed shows to watch. Really, The only thing Anime Strike is doing for me is holding some shows that I want to watch legally hostage(like Scums Wish) as it doesn't have the catalog of shows to back it up like the 2 services that I mentioned. I really hope Sakurada Reset and Anonymous Noise are good enough to keep me subscribed because if not, I'm gonna try and unsub to this service as fast as I can.
EDIT: Screw it, 15 bucks isn't worth paying for 2 shows when Im already paying for FuniNOW and Crunchyroll, kinda like how Sunset Overdrive isn't worth getting an Xbox One alone.
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dragonrider_cody
Joined: 14 Jun 2008
Posts: 2541
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Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2017 2:01 pm
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Agent355 wrote: |
angelmcazares wrote: |
It is not the ideal situation, but if the only other alternative was the monopoly that Crunchyroll (with the help of Funimation) seemed to be aiming for, that was not the ideal situation either. Hopefully more competition will benefit fans and all companies involved. |
But that wasn't the only other alternative, considering that the United States is the only country that has it, and all the Strike-exclusive anime is available on regular Prime video everywhere else. I'm not sure why Anime Strike is US-only, but it makes me suspicious that they're testing the market to see how much Americans are willing to pay for extra "exclusive" programming before implementing the service elsewhere and preparing to put even more types of shows behind an extra paywall. They already have separate paywall channels for: British TV (Acorn), European TV (MHz), Indian TV (Heera), American Comedy (Seeso), American Horror (Shudder), and most shockingly, PBS Kids! What's most confusing about this system is that almost every genre with an exclusive extra paywall channel has shows and movies available on "regular" Prime Video without the extra paywall. Want to watch PBS Kids' show Arthur? Go ahead! British drama Dr. Thorne? It's available! The Ghibli Studios anime Ronja? It's Amazon Prime exclusive, but not Amazon Prime Anime Strike exclusive. There doesn't seem to be rhyme or reason behind what's put under an extra paywall and what isn't, or where a paywall is implemented and where it isn't. Amazon's lack of transparency behind these decisions makes it all the more infuriating to fans. At least Netflix is clear about their (ridiculous) hold-it-till-you-can-binge-it policy, and releases most of their shows on the same day world-wide.
On the other hand, if Amazon sees that more Amazon Prime subscribers opt to watch anime in Canada, where they don't have a special channel at an extra fee, than America, and if enough Americans complain about it, maybe Amazon will drop the idea and make all their anime available to every Prime subscriber everywhere. Or they'll, sadly, and more likely, implement Anime Strike worldwide. I'm waiting and seeing for now, but missing some good shows in the meantime stings a little. |
The channels that you pointed out aren't run by Amazon. As has already been pointed out, they are third party On Demand channels. Amazon is basically offering an al a carte VOD service. They can buy individual programming for Prime, but they have little say in what the other networks offer on their own channel. You pick and choose the channels you want to pay for, and skip those that you don't.
Just like on your cable, if you want to access a channels specific content, you have to either have a bundle that includes it, or subscribe specifically to that channel. At $100 a year, combined with all of the features that Prime offers (two day shipping, special sales, music streaming, ebooks, etc) even Amazon can't afford to make all of that TV content part of the same package. Not to mention, several of them like Shudder and Here!, survive specifically on a pay on demand system, and offering all of their content on Amazon would probably eat into their subscription numbers and hurt their business.
I live in the US, so I have no idea what other Amazon channels are offered in each market and can't speak to their programming availability. Nor is it possible for me to say where and how Amazon will expand its own channels, including Strike. It's entirely possible that it could expand to more markets after the US, but it also may not. Each market is different and several have Prime features available that aren't available elsewhere. Not to mention, many of their third party channels only operate in the US and Canada, so obviously those won't be offered outside North America.
However, none of that is going to change the fact that it's just not fiscally possible for Amazon to offer every bit of programming across its dozen's of Prime Channels for the $100 fee. It could explore the option of bundling in the future, but until then, it's just a la carte. And none of that changes the fact that Amazon is currently the only major streaming service currently actively pursuing a large quantity of anime, and offering the money to compete with CR. Many of the posters here just don't seem to understand that Amazon was the only one beating down Sentai's door for shows, and they are only with enough capital to fight back against CR and Funimation. There really was no other option for them to increase the number of licenses they acquire right now.
I think folding Strike into Prime is very unlikely, as it works against Amazon's VOD channel's business. The best course of action right now for fans is to keep contacting them and suggesting that they offer a separate, non-Prime subscription to the service. Even though it would probably come with a higher price tag than Strike does for Prime subscribers, it would still be cheaper than subscribing to both. Plus, it would still offer it at a discount to Prime members, as many of the Amazon channels already are as compared to their cable counterparts.
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dragonrider_cody
Joined: 14 Jun 2008
Posts: 2541
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Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2017 2:07 pm
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UltScorpion wrote: | You know, I'd be more forgiving of Anime Strike if there was more to it. But Crunchyroll has many more subbed anime to watch, and Funimation has galactic tons of dubbed shows to watch. Really, The only thing Anime Strike is doing for me is holding some shows that I want to watch legally hostage(like Scums Wish) as it doesn't have the catalog of shows to back it up like the 2 services that I mentioned. I really hope Sakurada Reset and Anonymous Noise are good enough to keep me subscribed because if not, I'm gonna try and unsub to this service as fast as I can.
EDIT: Screw it, 15 bucks isn't worth paying for 2 shows when Im already paying for FuniNOW and Crunchyroll, kinda like how Sunset Overdrive isn't worth getting an Xbox One alone. |
It takes time to build up a catalog. Even with Amazon's money, it doesn't happen overnight. They have been consistently adding new dubbed and subbed shows from Sentai, Aniplex, and even Funimation though, and the catalogue has increased significantly from when they first launched. Even CR didn't get its massive catalogue overnight.
All the complaining though has reminded why I prefer to stick to Bluray releases. No worries about who's streaming it, how long they will have it, or issues with third party servers crashing.
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Lord Vaultman
Joined: 03 Mar 2017
Posts: 810
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Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2017 2:09 pm
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Lord Vaultman wrote: | All of us should have already known this was coming. Still im surprised at how many potentially big titles Sentai managed to snag this go around |
I don't think they have acquired that many potential big titles, and Attack on Titan and My Hero Academia still belong to Funimation.[/quote]
I said POTENTIALLY BIG TITLES. Sagrada Reset, Fukumenki Noise and Atom are all potential shows that could turn out pretty big. They arent direct sequels so noone knows if they will end up being great or not though.
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Lord Vaultman
Joined: 03 Mar 2017
Posts: 810
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Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2017 2:12 pm
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Tuor_of_Gondolin wrote: |
Lord Vaultman wrote: | All of us should have already known this was coming. Still im surprised at how many potentially big titles Sentai managed to snag this go around |
What are you talking about? I'm guessing Amazon gave them a big check to license as many anime as they could, and then put them on Strike so that Amazon could justify charging everyone an extra $5/month on top of Prime.
It's a shame, but there are some titles now that I won't be watching because of this tactic by Amazon/Sentai. If only Amazon tried to be reasonable about their fees, their service might be worth getting. As it is, I refuse to get Strike and when my Prime membership ends, I doubt I'll re-subscribe for it. |
Im talking about the fact that Sentai already announced they had licensed this show a week or so back. So everyone being surprised that they announced it would be in strike isnt all that surprising to me
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SpacemanHardy
Joined: 03 Jan 2012
Posts: 2509
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Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2017 2:27 pm
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dragonrider_cody wrote: | All the complaining though has reminded why I prefer to stick to Bluray releases. No worries about who's streaming it, how long they will have it, or issues with third party servers crashing. |
That kind of thinking is a double-edged sword though, especially in this day and age where a show's popularity in streaming numbers dictates what kind of a release it's going to get, if it gets one at all.
Shows with low streaming numbers are more likely to get barebones, sub-only releases from companies like Sentai and Funimation, whereas Aniplex might decide not to release the show on home video at all.
Like it or not, streaming numbers are very important even when it comes to the bluray release. Fewer eyeballs means less time, money, and effort spent on the home release.
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dragonrider_cody
Joined: 14 Jun 2008
Posts: 2541
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Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2017 3:01 pm
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SpacemanHardy wrote: |
dragonrider_cody wrote: | All the complaining though has reminded why I prefer to stick to Bluray releases. No worries about who's streaming it, how long they will have it, or issues with third party servers crashing. |
That kind of thinking is a double-edged sword though, especially in this day and age where a show's popularity in streaming numbers dictates what kind of a release it's going to get, if it gets one at all.
Shows with low streaming numbers are more likely to get barebones, sub-only releases from companies like Sentai and Funimation, whereas Aniplex might decide not to release the show on home video at all.
Like it or not, streaming numbers are very important even when it comes to the bluray release. Fewer eyeballs means less time, money, and effort spent on the home release. |
I'm well aware of that, and I do stream some episodes of shows that I'm interested in. I also subscribe to services that offer the streams that I feel offer me value. This season, most of the shows I wanted to check out have landed on Strike, so I added a subscription to that.
However, many of my recent home video purchases, like Amagi and Dan Machi I bought in spite of never watching the streams.
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UltScorpion
Joined: 24 Oct 2015
Posts: 41
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Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2017 3:33 pm
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dragonrider_cody wrote: |
UltScorpion wrote: | You know, I'd be more forgiving of Anime Strike if there was more to it. But Crunchyroll has many more subbed anime to watch, and Funimation has galactic tons of dubbed shows to watch. Really, The only thing Anime Strike is doing for me is holding some shows that I want to watch legally hostage(like Scums Wish) as it doesn't have the catalog of shows to back it up like the 2 services that I mentioned. I really hope Sakurada Reset and Anonymous Noise are good enough to keep me subscribed because if not, I'm gonna try and unsub to this service as fast as I can.
EDIT: Screw it, 15 bucks isn't worth paying for 2 shows when Im already paying for FuniNOW and Crunchyroll, kinda like how Sunset Overdrive isn't worth getting an Xbox One alone. |
It takes time to build up a catalog. Even with Amazon's money, it doesn't happen overnight. They have been consistently adding new dubbed and subbed shows from Sentai, Aniplex, and even Funimation though, and the catalogue has increased significantly from when they first launched. Even CR didn't get its massive catalogue overnight.
All the complaining though has reminded why I prefer to stick to Bluray releases. No worries about who's streaming it, how long they will have it, or issues with third party servers crashing. |
Fair point but if Anime Strike its gonna really need to step up its game to make it worth it again, and holding some airing anime shows isn't gonna cut it. Unless you have prime membership(and not gotten prime privileges from a friend/relative), Anime Strike will cost you $15 bucks a month(including the Prime Membership), whereas having both FunimationNOW and Crunchyroll only cost $12.94. Until something worthwhile happens otherwise with Anime Strike(which might be a while), I'm gonna stick with what I got now.
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dragonrider_cody
Joined: 14 Jun 2008
Posts: 2541
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Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2017 3:38 pm
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UltScorpion wrote: |
dragonrider_cody wrote: |
UltScorpion wrote: | You know, I'd be more forgiving of Anime Strike if there was more to it. But Crunchyroll has many more subbed anime to watch, and Funimation has galactic tons of dubbed shows to watch. Really, The only thing Anime Strike is doing for me is holding some shows that I want to watch legally hostage(like Scums Wish) as it doesn't have the catalog of shows to back it up like the 2 services that I mentioned. I really hope Sakurada Reset and Anonymous Noise are good enough to keep me subscribed because if not, I'm gonna try and unsub to this service as fast as I can.
EDIT: Screw it, 15 bucks isn't worth paying for 2 shows when Im already paying for FuniNOW and Crunchyroll, kinda like how Sunset Overdrive isn't worth getting an Xbox One alone. |
It takes time to build up a catalog. Even with Amazon's money, it doesn't happen overnight. They have been consistently adding new dubbed and subbed shows from Sentai, Aniplex, and even Funimation though, and the catalogue has increased significantly from when they first launched. Even CR didn't get its massive catalogue overnight.
All the complaining though has reminded why I prefer to stick to Bluray releases. No worries about who's streaming it, how long they will have it, or issues with third party servers crashing. |
Fair point but if Anime Strike its gonna really need to step up its game to make it worth it again, and holding some airing anime shows isn't gonna cut it. Unless you have prime membership(and not gotten prime privileges from a friend/relative), Anime Strike will cost you $15 bucks a month(including the Prime Membership), whereas having both FunimationNOW and Crunchyroll only cost $12.94. Until something worthwhile happens otherwise with Anime Strike(which might be a while), I'm gonna stick with what I got now. |
I'm not arguing that. Everyone is going to do what ultimately offers them the most value. I cancelled CR a long time ago because I would go weeks without watching it, and most of the shows I wanted to watch it were available on other streaming sites that I either already had or were free with ads, and many of those sites had better interface or apps and were more reliable.
But I already have Prime and have had it for a long time, so $5 to them is less than what CR or Funi is charging. Honestly, I would have preferred Sentai had been able to stick with Hulu, as they offer a much better bang for my buck the anime specific services.
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zrnzle500
Joined: 04 Oct 2014
Posts: 3768
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Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2017 3:41 pm
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@UltScorpion If you're buying monthly you can get a Prime Video subscription at $8.99, for a total cost with Strike of $13.98. The effective monthly rate with an annual (regular) subscription would be $13.24. It is more, just not that much if you are only looking to stream video.
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Ozzy4k
Joined: 09 Mar 2016
Posts: 156
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Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2017 5:27 pm
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It's becoming clear that money is the sole driving force for this decision not like they care about views as long as they get paid. And it looks clear as day that crunchyroll can't compete with amazon in terms of money.
It really sucks for those of us who live in the United States getting stuck behind a double pay wall while the rest of the world gets to watch it with just prime!
I wonder how long amazons test run of buying out exclusive anime lasts until they finally realize that people will not stand for their double pay wall and they aren't getting much viewership (U.S.) they're basically saying anime is for those who can afford it! And it's a bad way of doing business especially when we have to already subscribe to other streaming platforms
Lastly I wonder how much pirate websites traffic increases when Amazon prime exclusively streams a show . And it's increasing number of anime, last season it was 3 I believe and this season it's 5+
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dragonrider_cody
Joined: 14 Jun 2008
Posts: 2541
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Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2017 5:44 pm
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Ozzy4k wrote: | It's becoming clear that money is the sole driving force for this decision not like they care about views as long as they get paid. And it looks clear as day that crunchyroll can't compete with amazon in terms of money.
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That's how business works. They have to make money. Number of views is great, but not if your aren't making money. If it was just about views, and not about revenue, Sentai and Funimation would just upload all their shows to YouTube and call it a day. Funimation would have never partnered up with CR, and Amazon wouldn't be working with Sentai.
Hell, CR could probably increase their viewsif they completely did away with their paid tier. It might even help combat privacy, because less people would be pirating their shows until they hit the free tier. However, I doubt CR would be able to acquire as many shows.
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Ozzy4k
Joined: 09 Mar 2016
Posts: 156
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Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2017 6:03 pm
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I wasn't just stating the obvious . It's how large corporations manage to stay rich and on top. But somehow I'm not surprised that Amazon US would choose to be the only Amazon to screw its people over with a double pay wall . I think the rest of the Amazon top dogs in other countries said" sorry there's no way we can do that to our people" and Amazon us said we'll let's just try to squeeze out every drop out of our subscribers "if non of you other countries won't do it then you're all a bunch of sissies"."who cares about screwing over the hardcore fans only the ones who can afford to throw away money will stay" muahahaha.
And thats how I goofy along with Luffy and other sailors became pirates and went on our way to search for the one piece and the rest is history.
The end
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dragonrider_cody
Joined: 14 Jun 2008
Posts: 2541
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Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2017 6:15 pm
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Ozzy4k wrote: | I wasn't just stating the obvious . It's how large corporations manage to stay rich and on top. But somehow I'm not surprised that Amazon US would choose to be the only Amazon to screw its people over with a double pay wall . I think the rest of the Amazon top dogs in other countries said" sorry there's no way we can do that to our people" and Amazon us said we'll let's just try to squeeze out every drop out of our subscribers "if non of you other countries won't do it then you're all a bunch of sissies"."who cares about screwing over the hardcore fans only the ones who can afford to throw away money will stay" muahahaha. |
I find that highly unlikely. In fact, I doubt there are that many entertainment execs at Amazon that know a whole lot about anime fans, let alone enough that each individual country would have an expert.
More than likely, the service is being tested in the US first because it's Prime's largest and highest revenue region. It also happens to be where they test the majority of new Prime services before expanding them to other regions. Hell, my city ha same day grocery delivery from Amazon, while many countries don't even have the video streaming option yet.
Even if something isn't doing as well as planned, Amazon rarely pulls the plug on a business quickly. Even if it's not initially very successful, I imagine Strike will be sticking around for at least several seasons. Considering it's just piggy backing on Amazon's pre/existing structure, the only real costs are content acquisition and advertising. So any losses won't be that great for Amazon. It most definitely won't be like the Fire Phone, which was a billion dollar disaster, requiring huge writeoffs, and impacting their earnings. When it comes to digital offerings, they usually play the long game.
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Divineking
Joined: 03 Jul 2010
Posts: 1296
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Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2017 6:21 am
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zrnzle500 wrote: | @UltScorpion If you're buying monthly you can get a Prime Video subscription at $8.99, for a total cost with Strike of $13.98. The effective monthly rate with an annual (regular) subscription would be $13.24. It is more, just not that much if you are only looking to stream video. |
It (sadly) doesn't work that way. You have to be fully subscribed to Prime to have access to Anime Strike
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