Forum - View topicNEWS: ICv2: North American Anime DVDs Were Down 20%+ in 2007
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testorschoice
Posts: 468 |
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2007 sales are down more than 20%. Moreoever, the drop comes after the 25% drop between 2003 and 2006. In other words, sales are down at least 40% since 2003, with the drop accelerating in 2007. https://www.dot-anime.us/blog/industry/index.php?type=leaf&val=13 |
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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So allow me to get this into my head. According to ICv2's "most popular anime/manga" list, Dragonball Z is STILL number one?
Inconceivable. Who is still buying the DVDs? Or am I confusing "top property" with high DVD sales (though what else could they mean?)? And the Pokemon Manga is ranked higher than Full Metal Alchemist? Sure, Pokemon is popular among children, a big market. But what child would get the Manga? Small children cannot read well, and have short attention spans. Therefore, they flock to the animated medium. Until I read that page I didn't even know there WAS a Pokemon Manga. I have seen short novels (covering an episode each), but Pokemon Manga in North America? Oh dear, my blood pressure is rising...... Emerje makes a good point, in that the average episode count per disk has increased. Rumbling Hearts fit fourteen episodes onto three disks, saving me the cost of one (possibly two) disks. I can definitely see how that would lessen the money made per series. As to the issue of fansubs, now might not be the best time to discuss them. All I am going to say is that I have no sympathy for those who release Anime two YEARS after it initially airs on Japanese television. Even Star Wars didn't take that long to get around the world, and that was back in the 70s. I would be willing to wait two months, and I might not even care if it is dubbed or not. But when I see Gundam 00 R2 DVDs already being released, when the show is still running, and knowing that those same episodes will not reach the stores in my hometown until 2010...... I get annoyed, to put it mildly. I had better calm down, or else I might blow a gasket (or the human equivalent). |
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testorschoice
Posts: 468 |
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Conceivable. Dragon Ball Z had chart-topping DVD sales last year. The season box sets were big sellers for Funimation last year, and still are. Check out the Amazon Bestsellers list, and at least one DBZ box is in the top five, if not #1. As great as the sales were last year, imagine the bump they'll get this year with the live-action film.
"Even Star Wars"? Uh, that implies that people don't expect Hollywood blockbuster summer films to be released worldwide nearly simultaneously, but most people do. Hollywood can afford to put out simultaneous worldwide marketing, and have done so for years before Star Wars. On the other hand, most non-Disney, non-Two-syllable-mon anime are less like Hollywood blockbusters and more like French or Italian television series or films which get an English release much later, if at all. At least British television series like The Office or Doctor Who are already in English. If people aren't blowing gaskets over the long wait for English releases of European television series, what makes Japanese anime series different? |
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Tyrenol
Posts: 398 Location: Northern California |
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Apparently; kids go for the bragging, muscle-flexing, steroid-induced, wisecracking, OVER-9000 type of anime. But hey. Just as long as the alternatives are out there, we shouldn't worry about it that much. Besides: You'll be amazed with what young kids can learn in this day and age. I have a couple of nephews and a niece who are more outgoing and articulate than me.  _=
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Parvati-IV
 Posts: 72 |
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However, the big switch from 8 to 6 happened back in 2003 or so. 2006 and 2007 both saw 6 disc releases as the norm. I'm not thinking the bulk discount has changed either - in fact it might be less. since more and more more DVDs at BB are $25 instead of $20 like they used to be. |
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Ranma824
 Posts: 456 |
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Thank you Fansubs!
Hell, groups should start charging; could've made a cool $100 mil. |
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
 Posts: 7912 Location: Anime News Network Technodrome |
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Just a heads-up, I'm not going to allow this thread to turn into Raging Angry Fansub Debate #2184375-A, so let's keep the ridiculous, purposefully incendiary comments to a minimum, OK? Any more posts like this will be considered trolling. |
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calawain
Posts: 192 Location: New York, NY |
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Sky is falling, word is ending, etc.
Of course DVD sales are going to be down a lot when an entire company goes under (Geneon). The rest of it probably is following the general DVD market downturn. However, none of us are really qualified to speak on why the sales are down so I find these threads kind of funny, even if I decide to give my two cents. |
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Strephon
Posts: 177 |
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4 of the top 25 items in the Amazon anime DVD category right now are DBZ boxed sets. (The only series with similar coverage is Naruto.) So, yes, someone is buying them.
Again, going by sales (which is what the article says the listing is based on), "The Best of Pokemon Adventures: Red" and "Yellow" are rated significantly higher at Amazon than any of the volumes of FMA. The less popular one, "Red," is number 27,000, while the most recent volume of FMA is #34,808 and the volume closest in release date to the Pokemon volumes has fallen to #124,751. Again, someone is buying them. Bear in mind that ICv2 is a site aimed at retailers with comics and game stores. The purpose of these lists isn't to show which series have the most buzz among otaku or the most approval from the online community; it's to tell retailers what the highest and most consistent sellers are, so they can stock them in their shops to bring in customers. (There's also an emphasis on series with a large amount of associated merchandise over standalones; Paprika, to name one example, might be selling well at the moment, but a retailer can't stock their store heavily with Paprika-related merchandise the way they can with DBZ.) They're also aimed at bringing in new business from those who like a certain property (or their parents) but aren't aware of what else is available that they might enjoy, rather than at the fanboys who already buy everything that's out there. And as the Amazon sales figures show, what sells in large numbers to the general public doesn't necessarily overlap with what the online otaku community thinks is (or should be) popular. Just because you don't read/watch it or know anyone who does doesn't mean that it doesn't sell. |
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Kyokat
Posts: 50 |
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When you all ask "anime fandom is increasing, so why aren't anime sales," are you sure by anime fandom you don't really mean manga fandom? Because manga's doing just fine, and I know a lot of manga fans who have no interest in DVDs but they do attend conventions.
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Dargonxtc
 Posts: 4463 Location: Nc5xd7+ スターダストの海洋 |
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Well, this has sort of been the writting on the wall now for some time. But 20% in one year is massive. Surely this did(or didn't, tired on my end, sorry) take into account Geneon's collapse. Even so it shouldn't surprise anyone, even with all factors taken into account, a downturn was still expected.
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calimike
Posts: 113 |
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You part blame for free download/stream anime from fansubs... end of discuss.
 Devil fool you, isn't he? 
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
Posts: 7912 Location: Anime News Network Technodrome |
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I was trying to decipher this message so I ran it through Babelfish, first into Japanese and then back into English, hoping to glean some meaning. I got this:
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Mohawk52
 Posts: 8202 Location: England, UK |
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Nope, fansubs are not to blame. Nope, not one bit. It's all down to the incompetance of the NA companies and I'm going to book a flight on the next pig to Texas to give them a piece of my mind.
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Dr.G
Posts: 27 |
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Our suncoast closed years ago. I didn't buy from them because they were so marked up in price. |
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