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Answerman - Why Would A Japanese Publisher Restrict Exports?


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ultimatehaki



Joined: 27 Oct 2012
Posts: 1090
PostPosted: Wed Feb 15, 2017 12:19 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
some salaryman in charge noticed that people weren't following the "rules" of media consumption and decided to make blind and pointless enforcement of long-established and somewhat outdated rules a priority. (This sort of thing happens more often in Japan than you'd think.)


It was Tanya right? Totally her.
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mgosdin



Joined: 17 Jul 2011
Posts: 1302
Location: Kissimmee, Florida, USA
PostPosted: Wed Feb 15, 2017 12:26 pm Reply with quote
If it turns out to be a bureaucratic SNAFU that costs AVEX either bad PR or Money, well I would not want to be anywhere near that salaryman's desk when the boss comes to visit. Embarassed

Mark Gosdin
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invalidname
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Joined: 11 Aug 2004
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Location: Grand Rapids, MI
PostPosted: Wed Feb 15, 2017 12:50 pm Reply with quote
Over on Curiouscat.me, @somekindofthing speculates that this decision might be driven by Avex's significant interest in idols/boy-bands.

Last edited by invalidname on Wed Feb 15, 2017 1:19 pm; edited 1 time in total
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leafy sea dragon



Joined: 27 Oct 2009
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 15, 2017 1:03 pm Reply with quote
There are a number of Japanese companies that have a history of xenophobia though. Alice Soft, Visual Arts, and minori all previously outright blocked foreigners from visiting their websites (with minori being particularly bad as the people in charge of that company were posting angry statements about foreigners).

The Japanese music business is incredibly low-tech and behind on their perception of the world though. Or at least incredibly confused at the rest of the world. They're very, very hesitant to digital distribution of music, for instance, insisting that everyone buy their music in albums.
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michaeltanzer



Joined: 25 Nov 2010
Posts: 168
PostPosted: Wed Feb 15, 2017 1:12 pm Reply with quote
There has to be a way to make J-Pop know internationally like they did it with K-pop, right? But how? I mean that is, like just wrong...right?
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zrnzle500



Joined: 04 Oct 2014
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 15, 2017 1:27 pm Reply with quote
invalidname wrote:
Over on Curiouscat.me, @somekindofthing has some speculation that the this decision might be driven by Avex's significant interest in idols/boy-bands.


I've heard similar theories elsewhere, that it was to prevent people in SE Asia from importing the Japanese release of those CDs and stuff instead of buying from Avex's local branch and their other products were caught up in it because Avex didn't put in the work to have a more specific ban in terms of products and markets.

I'm guessing those eager for the Japanese release of Yuri on Ice will be familiarizing themselves with those other avenues. I've not used them myself, but I've heard about them with regard to figures only available in Japan.
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SHD



Joined: 05 Apr 2015
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 15, 2017 1:32 pm Reply with quote
I think it's either Avex trying to take the reins on international distribution to make sure they get most of the profit, or, indeed, misguided and tonedeaf bureaucratic overcorrection/control freakness.

I don't think it's going to impact sales very much though, or cause too much of a bad PR for Avex (overseas maybe, but I'm not sure they care about that).

leafy sea dragon wrote:
There are a number of Japanese companies that have a history of xenophobia though. Alice Soft, Visual Arts, and minori all previously outright blocked foreigners from visiting their websites (with minori being particularly bad as the people in charge of that company were posting angry statements about foreigners).

I think those instances weren't exactly xenophobia, more like childish overreactions to the Rapelay controversy. A lot of their products are fairly rapey/demeaning to women/otherwise "problematic" (underage, etc.). So they're trying to control foreign access to their products to prevent more controversies.


Last edited by SHD on Wed Feb 15, 2017 1:42 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Hoppy800



Joined: 09 Aug 2013
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 15, 2017 1:38 pm Reply with quote
This could've been prevented if Avex thought this through for 5 minutes, if this was about the US branch they could've waited until it was completely open for business to implement the import ban same if it was for the rest of Asia, just block those in the rest Asia instead of everywhere else. Also I keep reading about the reason for this being rights to the music in Asia territories, they should've just blocked it for those territories. It's just poor business decisions all around and was preventable with only a little thought.
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EricJ2



Joined: 01 Feb 2014
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 15, 2017 1:40 pm Reply with quote
Back in '99, before DVD caught on in Japan (LD had never lost popularity, unlike over here where it was just starting to be rediscovered), it was murder trying to get a "safe" US disk release of Ghibli or the Kaiju-Zillas out from under Toho Japan.

That's why we almost got that "horrible fan-hating" dub-only Princess Mononoke from Disney at first, before we petitioned them out of it, and why the first ADV disk of "Destroy All Monsters" was reduced to a skeletal homemade disk with no chapters, bonuses, subs or commentary.
Because Toho didn't want a US release to look better than their own lack of a JP release, and see "reverse importation" make money for all the other studios if Tokyo fans decided to import a better-looking NA version instead.

I'm not saying that's the case with Yuri or Osomatsu, but safe money says it's either that or music rights.
(And with Japan and these series, how many, er, guess it's probably music rights? Rolling Eyes )
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SuiSeiKen



Joined: 19 Mar 2012
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 15, 2017 2:03 pm Reply with quote
zrnzle500 wrote:
invalidname wrote:
Over on Curiouscat.me, @somekindofthing has some I've heard similar theories [url=https://blog.sakugabooru.com/2017/02/14/avex-pictures-and-music-import-restrictions/]elsewhere, that it was to prevent people in SE Asia from importing the Japanese release of those CDs and stuff instead of buying from Avex's local branch and their other products were caught up in it because Avex didn't put in the work to have a more specific ban in terms of products and markets.


That's an interestng reading, but i'm pissed to smell that "international" means North America and South Asia only. What about Europe and others ? Sounds like we're back in the early 90's lack of consideration.
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st_owly



Joined: 20 May 2008
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 15, 2017 2:16 pm Reply with quote
michaeltanzer wrote:
There has to be a way to make J-Pop know internationally like they did it with K-pop, right? But how? I mean that is, like just wrong...right?


Wrote my dissertation on that. TL; DR the Japanese music industry doesn't care about overseas markets.
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meganinja



Joined: 24 Sep 2015
Posts: 15
PostPosted: Wed Feb 15, 2017 2:21 pm Reply with quote
it makes sense follow aniplex and Poly Cannon, even more that anime is growing up more than never in US and Stream market is on all-time high

even more since Avex opened US offices 6 months ago


Last edited by meganinja on Wed Feb 15, 2017 6:25 pm; edited 1 time in total
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leafy sea dragon



Joined: 27 Oct 2009
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 15, 2017 3:15 pm Reply with quote
SHD wrote:
I think those instances weren't exactly xenophobia, more like childish overreactions to the Rapelay controversy. A lot of their products are fairly rapey/demeaning to women/otherwise "problematic" (underage, etc.). So they're trying to control foreign access to their products to prevent more controversies.


Ah, is that what it was about? I remember a fan translator herself told me that she had to forgo some projects they were planning on because some companies put up notifications on their websites to please not make their stuff available in English. I was curious about that, and some years later, found a few companies that fit that description (or more extreme).

It gave me the impression that there are a few small companies, and maybe some larger ones, that not only had no interest in international markets, but would prefer not to have them. I don't think this is the case with Yuri on ice though, as one of the defining themes in the series is multinational camaraderie, and the theme song is in English.
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relyat08



Joined: 20 Mar 2013
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 15, 2017 4:40 pm Reply with quote
leafy sea dragon wrote:
I don't think this is the case with Yuri on ice though, as one of the defining themes in the series is multinational camaraderie, and the theme song is in English.


To be fair, just because Sayo Yamamoto and Mitsurou Kubo are all about inclusion and open-mindedness doesn't mean the companies on the committee are.
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belvadeer





PostPosted: Wed Feb 15, 2017 6:15 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Or, what most likely happened... some salaryman in charge noticed that people weren't following the "rules" of media consumption and decided to make blind and pointless enforcement of long-established and somewhat outdated rules a priority. (This sort of thing happens more often in Japan than you'd think.)


Oh I can agree with this. Japan is very old-fashioned in a lot of ways, to the point that thinking outside the box (more like hive colony really) is considered detrimental to business.

EricJ2 wrote:
Because Toho didn't want a US release to look better than their own lack of a JP release, and see "reverse importation" make money for all the other studios if Tokyo fans decided to import a better-looking NA version instead.


Reverse importation is definitely one big thing they can't stand over there, particularly with games and anime. They charge out the nose twice over for a measly disc with only two episodes of the latest show currently airing, despite more than two have already aired by that point. It's the worst kind of business practice.
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