Forum - View topicRise of Aniplex.
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P€|\||§_|\/|ast@
 Posts: 3498 Location: IN your nightmares |
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I'm rather curious about Aniplex. First of all I'm not exactly clear what they are. Could they be simply be called an anime studio? I first became familiar with Aniplex, I think when watching R.O.D TV. but at that time they seemed to be billed as more of a broadcaster than and actual studio. In the Encyclopedia under companies there is no description but they are listed mostly as Producer for the titles that are associated with them. Now they seem associated with everything anime these days, and are even a chief sponsor for PopJapan Travel.
So it's evident Aniplex has grown a lot over the last 10 years. But I'm still not clear exactly what role they play in anime "Production" that's a vague word and perhaps a clarification of the word production might suffice (in terms of anime). |
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wcsinn
 Posts: 186 |
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Per wikipedia:
Aniplex Inc. formerly known as Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) Visual Works Inc. and Sony Music Entertainment (SME) Visual Works Inc., is a Japanese anime and music production and distribution enterprise owned by Sony Music Entertainment Japan and established in January 1997. Aniplex has been involved in the planning, production and distribution of several anime series, such as Fullmetal Alchemist, Blood: The Last Vampire, and Rurouni Kenshin. Additionally, Aniplex produces and distributes music and soundtrack records, including the original soundtracks for all of Sony Computer Entertainment's computer and video games. |
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Mushi-Man
 Posts: 1537 Location: KCMO |
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Aniplex is an anime production company that is owned by Sony. They produce and distribute their own anime and music, also they own the animation studio A-1 Pictures. And as of this year they have set up an American branch to distribute their (and others) anime titles directly to the American audience. That's basically all I know.
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ShinobiX
 Posts: 889 Location: NY |
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Yes and no. In reality, Aniplex mostly just distributes anime. They don't make squat. It's called licensing. It's just business and the power of brand names. Theory is when Japanese see and recognize Aniplex, they know its a good product and they'll buy it. If the Japanese see Studio Deen, they'll respond w/ wtf and not buy it. Japanese are known to me more quality conscience.
Example: When I buy coke I'm buying the one w/ the coca cola trademark Rarely do people buy the generic coca cola What many people don't realize is that generic and branded items are very similar and sometimes the generic surpasses the branded item. Cases show that the Japanese would most certainly choose the branded Coca Cola over the generic one. The reason why Studio Deen(apparently Aniplex has a strict contract with them) is a sellout is because Japanese Studios don't have the extra finances to mass produce their anime. Why Japanese production studios form business agreements w/ channels such as Aniplex. Long story short, Aniplex (or we should say SONY) is robbing the studios they have contracts with. The message on the surface is so distorted that most of the American fans don't even know how the anime industry really works or who is really suffering. Why so many "fansub this fansub that" nonsensical threads appear here. The people on this forum should read Japanese published articles to actually know what is going on within the anime industry before posting. I know I posted one earlier, but too lazy to look for it know. Unlike the Americans, who really have no right to say anything, the Japanese audience understands what is going on. Aniplex is a subsidiary of SONY. When people say the anime industry is suffering they are often talking about the brand names they see. When people say Aniplex is suffering most people believe that just Aniplex is suffering but that is not entirely true. Aniplex is a branch of the mega corporation SONY. SONY is doing fine and by law they still have to pay their workers appropriate commission. What is happening is that sales in that department are declining. In other words, that branch from the tree is withering and is about to fall of. In the media you mostly hear brand names being talked about and not the studios. The studios are doing fine or I should say they are affected negatively in another way. ____________________________________________ Now the reason why I said that the Americans have no right to say anything is because as American's we show no appreciation for anime. Although this forum is supportive of anime/manga, just look at all the numerous (one could argue) illicit threads. Even the hypocrites who say they don't fansub mysteriously know the plot lines of animes that have yet to be released legally in America via online (crunchyroll) or dvds. By large America was, is, and will be supportive of fansubs. As such, in order to summarize the American fanbase, we are unappreciative thieves. This notion that Japanese have of us is primarily one the reasons why when we go into retailers, a wide selection of anime does not exists. The market in America is not only untrustworthy, but bad. Again, its just business. You go where the money is. No money to be made in America. More specifically, American consumers are not reliable. |
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wcsinn
Posts: 186 |
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A pretty one-sided view of the situation. Yes, fan-subs in the west (not just the US) have certainly become a problem for the industry as a whole, but it would be grossly unfair to place the blame solely on uncaring, unsupportive fans. Several years ago, most anime was not being actively distributed in the west and fan-subs were seen as immaterial - they couldn't hurt a market that did not officially exist. A case could even be made that they were initially beneficial in that they help to introduce the product to a wider market. The real problems start to show up once the West began to be seen as a possible market. Unfortunately (at least for the distributors), this new appreciation of the west as a potential marketplace and revenue source, more or less, happened in tandem with a huge increase in both Internet use and a large increase in both the band width available to average users and a big jump in Internet technology. Much like the music business had done before them - the anime business failed to appreciate how these changes would effect their business - globally, not just here in the US. The west had always been treated as a red-headed step-child when viewed as a market. Titles, even grossly popular titles (Bleach is a great example) waited years before official translations became available. Fans who had gotten a taste for these titles (and who in my opinion would have been much more likely to pay for titles released promptly) simply stayed with the fan-subs that had gotten them interested in anime in the first place. The industry did far to little - far to late to check this movement in the bud, when it would have been far easier to address. |
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PetrifiedJello
Posts: 3782 |
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I laughed.
There are two primary definitions: Anime Producer - studio responsible for putting together the content, though not necessarily the studio to do it all. As an example, Bones may be the anime producer, but Studio Deem may get credit for doing the OP/ED. In today's market, sharing work between studios is growing. Producer - these are the responsible party(ies) for financing the anime production. Many times, you'll see committees, rather than names, such as "Lucky Paradise" (producers for Lucky Star). These production committees is where the money goes, and is then distributed to the members within the committee. I've been told anime studios are part of this committee, but I've found no confirmation on this, and it seems difficult to believe when studios still report the wages remain incredibly low. Then again, if there are no profits, there is nothing to share. It's really difficult to prove the health of the anime industry when such information to judge the health is locked up tightly. With that, I firmly believe anime studios are work for hire, rather than members of profit sharing. |
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ShinobiX
Posts: 889 Location: NY |
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@wcsinn
Oh I know it's the industry fault as well. It's everyone's fault. However the difference is that one is not morally acceptable. Guess which one it is? Yes the industry neglected the problem, but that problem should not even exist to begin with. To put it in elementary terms, fansubing causes harm. Therefore, whatever excuse fansubbers make, they are in the wrong. Fansubs are never done without causing harm to someone else period. No and if or buts. To clarify, my statement on that was referring to why their is a lack of anime in America. I don't know about Europe or other countries. Anyhow, in general, anytime an industry collapse it's because of poor management or PR. In anime's case, I'm going with poor management. @PetrifiedJello Well I believe underpaying anime studios is robbery don't you? I know you've heard of the hard times anime artists face. They all say, "you don't go into the anime business to make money." Those artists are always broke. I'm saying it should not be that way. Companies like Sony should start paying these people appropriate wages. Heck go look at the documentary video in Spirited Away if you don't believe me. American market are comprised of mostly thieves, hence the lack of anime. Well that controversial statement is debatable anyway. As an aside note, I believe if budgeting (cheapskates really) was not an issue, we would see much more high quality anime. Even Spirited Away was affected by this. Imagine how much greater it could've been if people weren't cheap. |
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Mushi-Man
Posts: 1537 Location: KCMO |
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We don't really have a "lack of anime" in America. In fact our selection of anime is probably the second largest in the world (only behind Japan of course). And I'm sure we would license everything but in the end that's not really necessary or wise. And either way I don't really see how this has anything to do with the topic. The OP was just asking what Aniplex's roll in the industry was. It seems like your just hijacking the thread to do some un-needed and un-wanted grandstanding. If you want to debate about this over-debated topic then just start your own thread. This really just comes off as useless rather than helpful. |
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P€|\||§_|\/|ast@
Posts: 3498 Location: IN your nightmares |
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Thanks everyone for your replies, especially Petrified Jello and his very informative remarks about production terms.
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PetrifiedJello
Posts: 3782 |
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I'm sorry, but no, I don't believe this. The reason is quite simple: people are trying to judge pay on value, not business. "Hey! This anime was awesome and it sold a gajillion copies, so artists should get more money!" This is not how things work. It's like saying "Hey! This big screen TV sold millions so all Walmart employees deserve a raise!" People always forget about those other TVs which didn't sell millions. Economics is a harsh mistress.
Ask any art teacher if a career in art is worth it and most (if not all) will tell you to have a backup plan. It's an honest message many students refuse to listen to.
The phrase "starving artist" has been around longer than I have. Why do you suppose this is? From my HS art teacher: "Art is to be experienced. We listen. We read. We watch. We enjoy. How does one put a price on that?" It's not until most artists learn business that they realize why they're always broke.
Define "appropriate".
Documentaries skew the perception of the problem because they're designed to focus only on one side of it. While they try to be truthful, they're never a complete picture.
This is where perceptions are skewed, I'm afraid. The population of America is between 200-250 million people, but US anime distributors rate a break even of titles in the thousands. Yet Britney Spears is a multi-millionaire. Think about this a while to see why it's not theft that's the problem. |
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