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Crunchyroll hopes to reach 50,000 fee paying members.

"Anime-related profits in the United States, especially DVDs, are dwindling," said Keisuke Iwata, director of animation channel AT-X.

"Thanks to megahits such as 'Evangelion' and 'Pokemon,' Japanese animation has fared well in the past. But it has already maxed out as an export industry," Iwata explained, adding that besides the lack of big-name titles and a decrease in overseas airplay in recent years, the greatest obstacle lies in the illegal Internet sites that provide free content.

"These sites upload programs almost immediately after they are broadcast in Japan," accompanied with "fan subs" — English subtitles translated by fans," Iwata said. "This is causing a very big dent in sales."

To counter the trend, TV Tokyo tied up with popular San Francisco-based animation-sharing site Crunchyroll in January, offering some of TV Tokyo's popular titles in advertisement-free, high-quality format with subtitles for a monthly fee of $6.95.

Yukio Kawasaki, manager of TV Tokyo's animation business department, said the move was an attempt to create a legitimate distribution channel between animation producers and overseas fans, as well as a way to send out a message.

"Animation isn't free. It's the product of hard work and a lot of money, and we cannot continue producing quality content without the financial help from fans," Kawasaki said, explaining that if the strategy succeeds, they could expand by selling DVDs and comic books on the site, "like Amazon.com," and establish a valid business model.

Kawasaki said they have signed up more than 10,000 fee-paying members since the tieup began Jan. 8 and hope to reach 50,000 by the end of this year.

"We are seriously concerned that the industry will not survive if things go on like this," he said, acknowledging that whether their new plan succeeds or not, the structural issue undermining the industry will still exist.

If we say DVD quality is a ten, then we can only compare 480p video files. Sure an amazingly encoded 480p file can look great, but 720p will simply have more data. In that case, DVD itself can only rank about 6 or 7, and then CR would be around 2 or 3.

Streaming is fine for those who want it, but I prefer more control of my shows in my own video players. So for me it's not a viable solution. And there are people who are far more militant about this view than I am.

To continue their success they're going to need to keep getting more titles all the time. But it's obvious that for newer titles, they won't really be getting the A-list stuff.

walw6pK4Alo wrote:

If we say DVD quality is a ten, then we can only compare 480p video files. Sure an amazingly encoded 480p file can look great, but 720p will simply have more data. In that case, DVD itself can only rank about 6 or 7, and then CR would be around 2 or 3. Streaming is fine for those who want it, but I prefer more control of my shows in my own video players. So for me it's not a viable solution. And there are people who are far more militant about this view than I am. To continue their success they're going to need to keep getting more titles all the time. But it's obvious that for newer titles, they won't really be getting the A-list stuff.

If DVD quality is ten how can DVD quality also be six or seven? As that would mean it's no longer the baseline and there is something that is a better release that is equivalent to a 6 or 7 DVD quality.

Hey, can someone give me a rundown of CR's anime subscription benefits? For instance, if a show isn't streaming but has downloads up, does that subscription mean you don't have to pay as much or at all for the downloads or what? (Curious since I'd like to watch Strike Witches and CR's site is kinda hard to find answers on.)