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NEWS: Japanese Animation DVD Ranking, October 26-November 1

I think the fact that Bakemonogatari is in the realm of the harem/ecchi genre might contribute to it selling so well lately. Also, the storyline itself.

Sigh.

Well, the apocalypse has come. Haruhi fans have proven they'll buy anything no matter how repetitive and dull. Will we see more companies put less work into their hit shows just to save production costs while still enjoying strong sales? I don't see why not.

If fans want good shows, they've actually got to use their wallets effectively. But then, fans don't want good shows. They just want Ecchi, Moe and Ecchi Moe, along with a few hit shows that manage not to have either but which have big and/or blind fanbases nevertheless.

Double sigh.

I find it amusing how you label people as deranged for both daring to disagree with your opinion of a show and continuing to put money into the industry when so many will not.

While the purpose of a company is certainly to make money, I seriously doubt KyoAni or any other company would repeatedly produce poor material purposely. It might save costs in the short term, but it would be a death sentence in the long term due in part to a loss of customer interest and in part to a loss of interest from those who would give the company material to produce. This is based on the tenuous assumption that they bungled Endless Eight on purpose; I find it vastly more likely that someone royally screwed up and they had no choice but to cross their fingers and pray that it did well. In any case, I see no threat of good quality being eschewed in the name of profit in the future, since it's progressively self-defeating.

Your second point is mostly valid, but I would like to point out that there's not much to be done about it. Just as Hollywood puts out a multitude of banal action films and audiences eat them up, anime producers make their fanservice and shounen fighting animes to cater to the average stimulation addict. It's unlikely to change in either situation no matter how much those who care for quality works complain, so there's really no point in bellyaching about it.

All we can do is show what support we can to the series we believe in, and hope that somewhere along the way our positive attentions will attract those of others.

It seems that Japanese Otaku support Endless Eight so much they'll buy it in large numbers. Which is why I'm sad.

I was so irked by "Endless Eight" that I was personally hoping that Kyoto Animation went bust, and we never got any more Haruhi ever again. Ah, well. Maybe I'll get lucky and the film will tank. You've got to be optimistic, right?

(Disclaimer: This is sarcasm. I adored "Endless Eight".)

Putting money into bad shows is just as worse for the industry as not putting money in at all.

Excuse me, but do you really believe that Kadokawa and Kyoto Animation did not plan for eight episodes? Endless Eight -> eight episodes. It isn't a coincidence. Also, I don't see how a company can make the sort of mistake needed to mess up the episodes.

I don't want to see Kadokawa and Kyoto Animation go bust. Oh, I hate most of the latter's works, as well as their blind-as-a-bat fans, but I'm not being spiteful on this one. I just want the people who make Haruhi to also make a loss on this season. Reasons? Well, both to teach them not to screw with fans in the future, and to warn other companies off doing such mind-bogglingly outrageous behaviour. It wasn't art, it wasn't "edgy", it wasn't even entertaining beyond "spot the difference", which was boring for me anyway.

Although as we have seen with these sales figures (getting marginally back on topic here), the fans will buy crap anyway. Six completely extraneous episodes, so three DVDs, and at Japan's prices that's more than two hundred New Zealand dollars (thanks XE) spent on drivel. I could buy seven DVDs with that sort of money, which is an entire season in singles or two brand-new boxsets. I could pay my power bill for a month. Or fill up my car three times. Or go to the cinemas fifteen times. I just cannot fathom how Otakus, who usually aren't the richest of folks, can spend that much money on something so boring, trite and unnecessary.

I mean, what's the point of saving the industry if all that's being made is garbage?

I just think you are confusing entertainment with art.

Did anyone ever figure out why all this happened? One theory that occurs to me now is serious miscommunication that led to Disappearance being slated for both the series and a movie, and when the mistake was uncovered, it was too late to adapt other stories (Snow Mountain Syndrome, Charmed at First Sight LOVER, The Melancholy of Asahina Mikuru, Where did the Cat Go, or just Intrigue), and the only thing anyone could think of was to extend the time loop.