Slashdot Mirror
Profitmon Catches The Dollars
An anonymous reader writes "The mainstream press has finally discovered the cash in anime. Fortune's Daniel Roth profiles ADV, the largest anime distributor in the U.S.. He uses it as a way to talk about how the anime and manga business has, in what's become a rarity in showbiz, managed to find a way to do 'more than not alienate its customers: It has found ways to keep them buying and buying.' The article also details the madness of the anime superfans--the Otaku--and the likely Neon Genesis Evangelion live-action flick that Weta's Richard Taylor is pushing for." Good Content + Bittorrent = Profit?
It fails to mention ADV's recent financial troubles, highlighted by the fact that in the past year they've had to give up funding the creation of several new shows and didn't announce any licenses during this year's con season (which is very unusual.)
It also fails to account for the fact that despite how small all of the anime companies are compared to say the music and movie giants in the states, the size of the warez base is MUCH LARGER relatively. There's a prevalent attitude among anime "fans" that paying for it is somehow supporting "the man" despite the fact that international licensors provide the japanese with a non-trivial amount of funding.
To be perfectly honest, the reason ADV is raking in the dough, is that as one of the biggest anime distributers in America, they can charge an arm, a leg, and three kidneys for their product, and it will sell. You'll notice there are not a lot of anime distributers out there, so there are only a few mediums where you can get it from. While it is still cheaper to obtain it from online sources (AnimeNation and the like), it is still costly. I could buy all of Buffy, Angel, or even Hercules right now, and it would be cheaper than getting a box set of a particular anime series.
They won't come down in price, cause pretty much there is no reason for them too. While I download the occassional anime series, I still buy some of my stuff from Brick N' Mortar, or other various online sources. Hell, I am going to buy Grenadier, even though I have the fansubs to it on my computer.
Seriously, if they want to really rank in the dough, start dropping the prices to under the $20 level. At least then, it might make is justifiable to only the DVD for its extras. Keeping it at $29.99 might net you big profits in the short term, but as the years progress, there is only so much people are willing to take before they forever go the way of fansubs.
The Galatic Freedom Force marches on! Defend!
Most anime fans avoid hentai...but you seem to know alot about it. ^_~