Forum - View topicNEWS: Anime Insider Ends Publication After Eight Years
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mrgetalife
 Posts: 60 |
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While everyone screams the internet. The internet doesn't always pay the bills when it comes down to News/Editorial. I subscribed to the magazine for two years when they showed up at the New York Anime Festival in 07. Last year's con while it had a lot of fans. The whole industry is hurting. The only thing going to solve that is money. For everyone that subscribes or buys Anime related magazines at the bookstore if you're like me you feel like you're supporting the legitimate side of the industry.
So what's left is Protoculture Addicts. I should subscribe to it. I used to buy it at Borders just to hopefully have them keep ordering it. But they stopped doing that. Otaku USA's a bi-monthly publication and they've also trimmed back production. And there is a British Magazine called NEO which gets imported into borders and B&N. Its more of a Anime / Movie mix. Whats interesting is that you can see because of licensing they are 6-months to a couple years behind on releases. We are lucky that ANN is around. While anyone can just make a blog these days and report "news". They make the effort to keep make sure everything is true to the best of their ability. |
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enurtsol
 Posts: 14886 |
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Well, it's hard times getting commercial ad sponsors and subscribers these days. And more and more people moving to the Web for free instant news and free instant interactive feedback participation.
Probably Neo UK. They used to sell that here too, but I guess it wasn't selling well, so they stopped selling it here a couple years ago.
And they'd have to be like Time or Newsweek in that they have to offer something more, like in-depth stories and behind-the-scene scoops. News come out when news come out, so they can't beat insta-news websites about that. But what they can control in a timely manner in print are such things as in-depth stories and scoops.
Old?! We have old stack of that from the mid-90s! 
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NimbusRain
 Posts: 148 |
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Sigh. It seems magazines just can't compete with the internet anymore. While I'm very grateful to websites bringing me news within seconds after it's released, it just can't beat that feeling of opening a glossy new magazine with tons of colorful pictures.
I was never a huge fan of Anime Insider since I already read Animerica and NewtypeUSA, but I did pick it up from the library every once in a while. It makes me sad that so many great writers are losing their jobs like this... With the way things are going, I really need to start picking up Protoculture Addicts and Otaku USA to appreciate magazines before they become obsolete! 
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Greboruri
Posts: 387 Location: QBN, NSW, Australia |
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Such a shame. Though really sites like this are where most fans get their news from, as an older fan I'm still quite enjoy buying magazines. I love going back through all the anime magazines I've collected through the years (Anime-zine, Anime UK/Anime FX, Animag, Animeco, Animerica etc). With both Otaku USA and Protoculture Addicts no longer being distributed through Diamond, this brings my standing order at my local comic book shop down to zero titles. Both not good for me or the comic book shop.
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irishninja
 Posts: 344 Location: Seattle-ish |
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This makes me really sad. I loved that magazine.
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tlsmith1963
Posts: 100 |
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So sorry to hear about this, Zac. It's always sad to hear about things like this. 
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lord_darkseid
 Posts: 57 |
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The more I learn about Wizard closing down other areas of its business to the point it only has one building on the west coast and less convention shows, the less this move surprises me.
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Andrez
 Posts: 67 Location: Tokyo |
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Thanks for all the commentary, positive and bordering on negative, above. It's been interesting to skim through it all, as I only just found out a few hours ago about the demise of A.I.
Being over here in Japan, it was kind of weird to discover that a magazine you've called home for 5 years has just gone under, and I'm just happy to be able to wade through all these observations before closing the chapter. Regardless of your feelings about Anime Insider, it set out to spotlight and clarify our interpretations of anime, and I think it achieved this objective with class and panache. I was honoured to be a member of the team so long - god knows why they put up with me! 
Cheers for reading, supporting and enjoying the mag, Best regards, etc, etc, Andrez Bergen - (now) ex-Anime Insider Tokyo Correspondent *** |
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Redd the Sock
Posts: 55 |
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Is protoculture Addicts still around? I haven't seen an issue here for a year, and the weblink above still has their latest issue as the Jul/Aug 08 one.
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Keita-sama
Posts: 17 |
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Oh man, this is depressing news! And I'm so sorry to hear about this. I've been an avid fan of Anmerica, Animerica Extra, Newtype and now Anime Insider. ever since their conception. (Zac, I forgot you used to be a staffer at AI. My bad.)
However, what all these publications are going through is indicative of what the entire industry as a whole has been going thru for years, since the 90's ended. And the current economic climate simply is exacerbating the whole problem with anime distribution, licensing merchandising. . .etc. There isn't a magic bullet or a simple answer to this problem. I'm digressing here, though. I hope that the AI staff will be able to find suitable employment somewhere. (I empathize with their position- I'm unemployed myself.) And Farewell to AI. It was a cool magazine. |
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JC90
Posts: 18 Location: Oh, just here and there.... |
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Damn, that's too bad. Anime Insider was a pretty decent mag (at least, it's the only one I'd follow on a regular basis). So does anyone know what happens if you had a two-year subscription to them? I'm not even through my first year yet. I don't suppose Wizard would reimburse.
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Kakalini
Posts: 26 |
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Aw man, that's just depressing. AI was one of the very few magazines I subscribe to, and I really enjoyed it. Even if the news was quicker to find online, I loved their articles on specific shows--I've found a lot of shows that way that I just ignored when I heard about them online--and, well, everything else in there, from the By The Numbers column to the parting shot on the last page.
Dang. Even if it does move online, there's nothing like having a physical copy to read. |
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jenthehen
 Posts: 835 Location: Cincinnati, Ohio |
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Yes, this. Does anyone know?? |
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fighterholic
Posts: 9193 |
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Whoa. The magazine is bi-monthly so they would have been on issue number 101 by now, but they're only on number 97. Although I think they were also making a transition for some of their books into e-books. How much of it though I don't know.
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CaptainAvatar
 Posts: 381 Location: Saint Louis, MO |
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It is a double-whammy right now for anime publications - the downturn in the economy in general and in the anime sector in particular. Advertising expenses are some of the first things to get cut, and publications make there money from advertising moreso than subscriptions. So even with huge circulation, if nobody is advertising, it is a losing proposition. I have to hurry up and re-up for PA, and maybe give Otaku USA a look. Even if you prefer the internet to magazines, get an ANN subscription and support this vital part of the industry!
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