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Supporting the Anime Industry

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ConsiderPhlebas:

--- Quote from: CappinHoff on June 08, 2013, 06:48:05 PM ---It's not about supporting the Japanese industry, it's about supporting the US anime industry.
--- End quote ---
No, about this thread, go back and read OP's first post.

SirSkyRider:
If the anime industry is dying in the US, it would be best to divert the focus of attention to the reason why. Because the way I see it, no industry dies just because people start downloading stuff.

Saras:

--- Quote from: SirSkyRider on June 08, 2013, 07:07:39 PM ---If the anime industry is dying in the US, it would be best to divert the focus of attention to the reason why. Because the way I see it, no industry dies just because people start downloading stuff.

--- End quote ---

"Piracy is a service problem."

Still, I see good reason in supporting the North American/European anime industry. Also, the Japanese do get money from you buying anime in your own area, it's called a licensing fee. The larger it is, the more sense will it make for the Japanese to tailor shows to us and not just these guys


I certainly know which I'd rather.

SirSkyRider:
While that may hold true, it is not what I meant.

What I meant is that both anime and manga publishers have severe issues selling their stuff to people outside a very niche, very hard-core fan base with specific tastes. While my findings are now completely based off my impression of the German market, I believe it may hold true for other markets out of Japan as well.

"Manga"
Did you know that a great variety of Manga dealing with more adult (no, I do not mean this in a sexual way) topics are not marketed as such? The works of manga-ka such as Jiro Taniguchi, Osamu Tezuka and Keiji Nakazawa are not sold under the "manga" label, but are labeled "graphic novel". While it is true that a great many of their stories can be placed en par with some excellent novels of the post-WWII-era, this is merely a political expression, hollow in itself, but it is also a daunting necessity. Most "manga" readers shun the works delivered by these authors, because they're "boring real life stuff" (if you remember my thread about escapism, yes, that is where I'm coming from), but at the same time, "graphic novel" readers shun manga, because they're "crap". Why is that? For instance, I believe it stems from many manga here being marketed towards girls age 12-17 (rough estimate), meaning we get to see a boatload of yaoi and second-rate shoujo manga (something that breaks my heart as a lover of shoujo manga), some shounen (mainly Jump/"Battle-shounen" stuff) and – a little on the sidelines – some seinen and jousei. (We also started getting Yuri stuff recently... good Yuri stuff at that too) Another fallacy is deeply rooted in the fact that "Manga" was marketed as a simple pastime as there was a point in time when the medium was all about entertainment. And while I think this is something legit to do, it is also selling the medium short – especially when (at least from my perspective) some manga that were great entertainment also had at least some redeeming value (one of my favourite examples for this is Love Hina... I read that on the brink of my twentieth birthday and I could appreciate it a lot (still do) because I could to some extent identify with the characters's dilemmas), but this was diminished under the quick superficial glances at bishounen and bishoujo.

"Anime"
Anime too, has suffered from trying too hard to be just entertainment. While some of the anime that I like don't necessarily reflect the concept of having "redeeming value", they are powerful stories, written in a manner that is highly engaging or are just plain pastime, but made in such a fun way that it is not hard for me to express my love for them (these are mainly Yonkoma and SoL anime, such as Working!!, K-On, Acchi Kocchi, Hidamari Sketch or Lucky Star). But, the anime that has come out here recently is neither. We recently had a wave of dull, repetitive stuff with flat characters and not-so-flat chests. And there I was, thinking, that after the "death" of action-oriented shounen anime, there would come the time of things like Kaiba, Penguindrum, Nodame Cantabile and the like. Oh, how wrong was I. However, the problem is that no one would actually advertise these series. Even at the peak of the anime boom in Germany (which was around 2003, with three of my all-time favourites – Noir, Escaflowne and Cowboy Bebop – being on air), anime that wasn't shounen (also censored to the point of being bloody nonsensical) was restricted to nighttime blocks. Great idea.

So, what would I tell the anime and manga industry to do? TTbh... some of these can be done by us fans as well.

1. Emphasize variety. Do get the message out that there is more to "Manga" and "Anime" than just hot dudes kissing or girls screaming when their chest is exposed. Even some of the die-hard escapists might try that stuff out if they see they can hook up other people with the medium through that.

2. Advertise. You can't sell anything if the people out there know squat about the existence of your products. Also, choose your channels for advertisement carefully. A more culturally-oriented TV station is the wrong place to air K-On, as you should better not air something like Nodame Cantabile on a network that is known for over-the-top comedy. Or if you don't want to air things, at least offer the chance to preview on your website or such. No one buys things as expensive as anime DVD and BD on good faith.

3. Make good products. People will buy your stuff if you can give them something worth their money. It is legit to offer single-disc boxes, but bring out boxes with complete or halfway complete series as soon as you can. Also, make these worth owning too. It just doesn't feel good when you want to buy a complete series to save space only to find out that you just bought four full-size boxes in a rather cheap carton box. And please: Invest in good dubs. It is so worth your money.

4. Get the stuff out quickly. Try licensing something that might pique your viewer's interest while it's still airing and bring it to your target destination during that period or shortly thereafter. The fresher it is, the better. All-time classics may be an exception.

5. Emphasize quality. No one needs the umptillionth generic high school action harem comedy series, when there is something truly awesome on the market just waiting to be brought over. Also, pay attention to which master you are given, even if it may piss off your business partner in Japan. TV masters are a definitive no-go, unless they offer something the DVD/BD master does not have (like in the case with Haruhi Suzumiya no Yuutsu)

(6. Offer streaming. This comes directly from No. 4, but I can see some issues here in terms of the international market, as the attitude towards streaming is very different in Europe and the US. Also, us Europeans cannot access US stuff. Which sucks.)

Anything you might want to add?

LillyTown:

--- Quote from: Bob2004 on May 18, 2013, 11:54:09 AM ---I would subscribe to CR, since the majority of airing anime are streamed at roughly the same time nowadays anyway, and the translation quality is usually pretty decent (a lot of their staff are ex-fansubbers, after all). But the video is terrible (seriously, one look at their 1080p preview put me off immediately), and I much prefer having actual files saved to my computer which I can watch any time I want, without having to worry about having an internet connection, and which I can copy to my phone to watch while travelling, or do whatever I want with.

If CR could achieve equivalent quality to fansubbers in all aspects, and were able to provide offline downloads (never gonna happen - which also means good quality won't happen, since fansub quality is too high bitrate to easily stream for most people), then I'd subscribe in an instant. But they don't, so I won't.

--- End quote ---

This is exactly what I was gonna say, other than the bit about watching on my phone. I draw the line at listening to music or watching quick videos I'm 'texted', I'll wait till I get home to watch a quality bdrip. Never seen any streaming video of decent quality, youtube/crunchyroll/netflix are all junk. I don't understand how people can watch that **** let alone go on about how great it is!  ???

Also, to all the moe haters: people DO care about moe/loli/ecchi/whatever shows. Maybe you don't, a lot of people do. Moe character designs are a big part of why I watch what I watch, without cute little girls I don't think I'd care too much for Lucky Star, Nanoha, PreCure, K-On, etc. I guess some of you prefer gorillas or nancyboys in your anime???

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