Forum - View topicNEWS: ADV Head Says UK Issues May Be Due to Illegal Releases
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ConanSan
Posts: 1818 |
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I'm not paying Bandai Visual prices for three/four episodes a go when I know half price for much the same is one trip to Amazon away.
Should of thought his cunning plan all the way through, that boi ADVUK |
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Tu101uk
 Posts: 31 Location: London, UK |
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*sigh* I knew this was going to come up sooner or later...
Methinks the comments made by the ADV rep are unfair, and do not address the full problem of setting up shop outside of the safe havens of the US. From a business point-of-view, it's understandable why the UK is a much harder place. After all, the population of the UK is small compared to the US, so which one will they have a higher chance for profit (and thus have a higher priority for)? Not to mention that many distribution companies are already based in the US, so setting up offices elsewhere in the world will cut into profits further. It was only a few years ago that anime on R2 was almost non-existent, and usually only done by small independant distributors or Manga Entertainment. Since then, MVM have made great strides in releasing anime ASAP, as have Bandai and other companies. So it pains me to hear that ADV have given up on us Brits. It's not just illegal downloading (I will admit, I am part of that, and yes it is a growing problem), and I'm not going to dive into that matter in detail. However, there are two other (and, in my opinion, more important) problems that go unresolved, and sadly they are not new problems. They have been mentioned already, but I'll just detail them for those who do not live on our side of the pond. Living in the UK as an anime fan usually means getting everything later than their US counterparts (this applies to our video games too, mind). When the hottest titles to come out of Japan are released a year later in the US, it's bad enough to wait. But when they haven't even been released two years after it was originally aired (Haruhi Suzumiya, as an example), you know you've got a problem. This huge lag time, coupled with the fact that very few new anime series make it to our cable and satellite channels, force people to either hold on to their fansubs for dear life or force them to import from the US. Either way, that region loses money because of it. And, as other people have mentioned already, some series don't appear at all (some examples, though a little old, Genshiken or Great Teacher Onizuka). We have avid anime fans here too, and we would love to see these titles hit the shelves. Faster and simultaneous releases (which does work in the games industry) would be a way to rectify this problem, but I'm not too sure whether anime companies think this is a viable option. The second problem is, of course, price. A single, 4-episode DVD will cost the average British anime fan £15 if they are lucky, though the average store can charge £20. That's $30 to $40 for a single DVD. It's not exactly glamourous, especially for their target market of younger teens, older teens and young adults. Again, this will push people to keep their fansubs or import (yes, my imported R1 titles outnumber the R2 titles), and, again, this will hurt the region's business. However, this particular problem is an industry-wide problem that's not unique to the UK. Something has to be done about the prices. We know the different ideas like premium streams and downloads, and methinks digital distribution with adverts maybe another step forward. But what do I know, I'm just an anime fan, right? ^_^;;; Regardless, it's sad when I can't have the option of buying the good anime series on DVD in my own region, especially after a lot of progress has been made in regards to anime in the UK over the past few years. I love anime, and I am rather proud of my relatively small but immensly priceless DVD collection. Hopefully, another company may try their hand at cracking our market and distributing some decent titles to us. EDIT: Just a quick edit. Yes, it's a two-way thing. Fansubs are a big problem for the industry, especially with faster download speeds and easy access. It's not doom-mongering - anime will decline if they are not profitting, especially when they export their stuff to the West. Fans should try to do their best in supporting the industry by purchasing DVDs, regardless of whether they come from their DVD region or not. I still buy R1 DVDs of series, because I love them and it would be a shame for the industry to decline because we didn't buy ANY DVDs when they became available. O-O~ PS - Yeah, my first post, though a long-time lurker... Hi to y'all... Last edited by Tu101uk on Wed Mar 05, 2008 6:45 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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ConanSan
Posts: 1818 |
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Also, the BBFC can get stuffed too. Those guys are full of it.
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tlatlatla
Posts: 6 |
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Sure, but since BBFC violations can result in criminal proceedings against the violator, I would bet that the companies that have to get rated are likely to pay attention.
Forget piracy, how would you like to go to jail for selling anime to which you actually own the rights? |
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Killtheshrew
 Posts: 118 |
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I think one of the problems that the UK branch is not taking into account is the fact that it is so easy nowadays to purchase a R1 dvd's from america up to six months earlier than the release of the R2 UK version it's almost pointless. I only really buy R1 dvd's due to the fact it can be mine much sooner without the extra wait.
Fansubs are not likely to dissapear any time soon so either do something about it or take a different approach to over come it, don't do nothing and then moan about it after everything goes tits up. People are fickle and thick they do what they do because they don't care what affect it has in the long term. Anime is still a very niche market in jolly old England and was always going to be harder to push in the right direction than the North American market. I am as thick as the next fickle person so I don't really have any suggestions on what to do about this problem... but then that's not my job is it. I buy Anime instead of downloading because I don't want to see what I love become non-exsistent... that's all I can do really. |
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Pinkwings
 Posts: 234 |
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Maybe people would buy more anime if it didn't cost so much and included so little episodes.
I dont think its right to steal but most people when faced with the choice of watching something for free or buying the dvds that costs 20+ $ and has like 4 episodes..well..what do you think they would pick? Maybe they should make it cheaper and include more episodes. I do buy some anime but not alot. I cant afford to buy every single anime I like or want to watch. Manga on the other hand, I own alot of. Since it is cheaper. (duh) |
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krelyan
Posts: 173 Location: Utah |
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As far as the Radiohead/Reznor analogies... First off, these are two hugely successful artists that 1. have a large fanbase (this does not seem to be some attempt to win over new fans) and 2. the assets to afford such an endeavor. Also, you're comparing apples to oranges. Music, as a whole, generates itself as "repeatable format." While listening to a song would not diminish your desire for legally acquiring some kind of possession of the song, this does not necessarily hold true with video.
Oh, the irony...
You mean like this? 
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Greed1914
 Posts: 4489 |
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I'm tempted to say that a fair number of people are missing the point of what ADV is saying and just writing it off as them scape goating fansubs. Could they use a revamp of their current system, certainly. However, the company executives aren't likely to just start placing blame where it isn't due. Let's not forget that they have the numbers and the research, and most of us don't. It's hard to believe that so many presidents of all the R1 companies would be saying the same thing if there wasn't some merit to it.
Last edited by Greed1914 on Wed Mar 05, 2008 9:05 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Greed1914
Posts: 4489 |
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Yes, I agree wholeheartedly with your comments, especially in light (pun intended) of your link. |
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james039
Posts: 103 |
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But, the reason the English language is so great, is because instead of trying to maintain some sort of artificial "linguistic purity", when we come into contact with foreign cultures, we grab up their words like crazy and integrate them into the language. We *SHOULD* do the same with subbed stuff from Korean, or Chinese shows. Don't avoid foreign culture references, *explain* them, this serves to enrich the experience. I personally cannot stand "adaptations/localizations" in anime. This is why I avoid most dubs. They're way too comfortable rewriting things. As someone who is proficient in Japanese, however, I can say the vast majority of subtitle tracks on anime discs are very accurate, only occasionally missing or deliberately dodging Japanese cultural references. |
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GregZor
 Posts: 25 Location: Northeast Ohio |
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are any other anime fans getting sick of constantly hearing the anime industry blaming all their problems on fansubs? anyone? it kind of makes me WANT to download more anime for free just to give the whiners something more to whine about.
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Greed1914
Posts: 4489 |
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Somehow I don't see this as an overly valid solution. |
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TsubomiKoneko
 Posts: 247 |
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I fail to see how 3-4 episodes on a DVD "isn't enough" considering the Japanese DVDs have 1-2 episodes generally and they spend way more per DVD than we do. People really need to consider the original source of things before complaining about stuff like that. |
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spimmy
Posts: 8 |
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hmmm as a an anime fan in the uk i only import
The only adv uk dvd i have is the ugly brick eva set witch cost me £90 and that set had 0 bonuses etc sure i had only just started geting into anime but £90 is alot for 6 disc set. since then the only uk dvds i have bought are from MVM. here in the uk we dont get extras like you guys in the us get artboxs etc. The new company who now bring funi titles here are doing a much much better than adv did they have even brought out starter sets with volume 1 of some titles you guys in the us get that same company has anounced they will bring Haruhi out here with everything you guys in the us had! http://forums.animeuknews.net/viewtopic.php?t=8633 ^ topic made announceing beez had haruhi why buy uk anime dvds when there more expencive and have less if not any extras? sure things are improveing but adv uk as far as i no ever did any artboxs |
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la_contessa
Posts: 200 Location: Pennsylvania |
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This is exactly what I was thinking--I've yelled at bad translations in fansubs MUCH MUCH more often than in official releases, including ADV's. If I DO have a problem at all with an official release, it's usually something that has no bearing at all on the actual content and is more stylistic ("Hmm, that should have been in passive voice."). There's this myth that fansubs are more "accurate," but in my experience, that's not true at all--I think people who want to defend their free anime console themselves with reasons like that, despite the fact that they are easily disproved. If these people actually spoke Japanese, they may just have their minds changed (mine was, I'll admit it--I parroted that line for a few years after I discovered fansubs, but then after I learned the language and seriously translated, I was appalled and ashamed).
That made my night, thanks 
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