Forum - View topic

Answerman - How Long Will Anime Stay Up On A Streaming Site?

This is not helping my crippling anxiety issues. They're toying with my heart.

The simple truth is that japanese executives are annal retentive. They can't wrap their heads around the idea that there are a small group of fans that want a disc release now (with lots of extra) that will pay loads of cash for discs with ~4 episodes and there are lots of mainstream (or poor) fans that will buy one or two years later a boxset with no printed extras for a lower price. In their minds everybody MUST pay full price, otherwise they are loosing money.

I think it's more complicated than that, considering that the Japanese execs HAVE tried releasing anime at lower price points in Japan but weren't able to sell much more. The result, understandably, is that they're convinced anime MUST sell at these price points because they won't be profitable otherwise.

What they overlook is the fact that regions like China, North America, and Europe have much higher populations than Japan and thus a bigger potential of buyers, enough to lower their price points and increase sales to be more profitable in that way.

That, and the anime that become timeless classics elsewhere are different than the ones that become timeless classics in Japan. (While it's not Aniplex, the biggest example I can think of is Tatsunoko's Samurai Pizza Cats, which was mostly forgettable in Japan, mostly in the realm of trivia and animation historians there, until it was a top requested franchise from westerners for Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, to the confusion of the people at Capcom and at Tatsunko.)

Well, one thing is for sure, japanese hardcore consumers love their limited edition releases, not only of anime, but of videogames also (and they hate releases where there are no extras llke a limited edition figure or exclusive softcover image book). Trying to sell a cheap release to your base in an effort in futility (I doubt they marketed said low cost releases outside akiba and similar), I am sure to date mainstream japanese do not buy anime discs because all their lives have been a niche product with an exorbitant prices.

The problem still is their stupid fear that reverse import of anime discs would collapse the whole industry, that is why they are ok with the sabotage of the overseas market that even now AoA does with ridiculous prices and limited print runs and lack of license renewals.

They could also do multiple releases for different audiences: A cheap one for the viewers, an expensive one for the collectors, and maybe something in between. Hollywood, especially Disney, has been doing this for decades. But for anime, that doesn't work either. Outside of the late night anime niche, there hasn't been much interest. I think that is the issue there: There are other problems with trying to sell to a wider audience, so they've decided to sell to a narrow audience who give them lots of money. They've pigeonholed themselves.

What's the point of buying DVDs if in a few years the DVDs will stop working either through corruption of data or damage to the disc itself?

What they overlook is the fact that regions like China, North America, and Europe have much higher populations than Japan and thus a bigger potential of buyers, enough to lower their price points and increase sales to be more profitable in that way.

Indeed. Casual fans aren’t the ones buying every DVD and Blu-ray releases. The hardcore fans are since they’re the ones who want to own every single episode of their favorite shows, regardless of the price. Casual fans may buy a couple compilation DVDs, but never every volume of the DVD singles or box sets. Compilation DVDs wouldn’t work for serialized shows, so it’s either the multiple-volume DVD singles or box sets, which, again, casual fans aren’t gonna buy. So for those reasons, cheaper-priced releases wouldn’t work for niche shows. It’ll only work for mainstream shows.

Saidah Gilbert wrote:

What's the point of buying DVDs if in a few years the DVDs will stop working either through corruption of data or damage to the disc itself?

I shudder at the very thought. Those (flimsy plastic) discs have metallic coatings! Woe betide anyone who'd suggest they are impermanent and prone to decay! We all know how dear they are.

Japan trying to win over western audience never really works out either. Space Dandy, Neo Yokio, etc. It's all bombing either way because nobody in the west cares and nobody in Japan cares. A lose/lose situation.

What they should do is track which anime gets in the western spotlight and capitalize on it as fast as they can while the momentum is still going, to not have situations like with Nichijou when the goods start being sold in the west 4 years after the show aired.

Do you mean compilation DVDs as in those "The Best of..." and themed groups of episodes?

I can see why they wouldn't work for serialized shows, though I have seen them done with semi-serialized ones (in which episodes have self-contained stories but have wider season-long arcs or lasting changes).

What's the point of buying DVDs if in a few years the DVDs will stop working either through corruption of data or damage to the disc itself?