Re: ADV Box Set Sale at Animenation

starcade@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
On Apr 21, 10:23 am, Farix <dhstran...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
starc...@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
On Apr 20, 3:39 pm, Invid Fan <in...@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
In article <fug7gr$ar...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Farix
<dhstran...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Nearly 10 years of $25-$30 for four episodes, and there has been no
decline in prices.
It is a case where popularity drove up license fees for some shows
which counteracted the previous trend of price decreases. The $25-30
price range works, so only the number of episodes per volume varies.
No it doesn't, because not enough copies are being bought.
And we know this because? So far, none of the companies are complaining
that they haven't been able to cover their costs.

The only other alternative would be to claim rampant industry-wide
fraud vis-a-vis the crusade against fansubbing.

What crusade?

And the moment word gets out that you can't cover costs, for whatever
reason or purpose, that's a no-confidence vote against the company
from which a company cannot usually recover.

That kind of no-confidence vote is probably what cost ADV it's
partnership with Sojitz, which cost it at least Gurren Lagann and
probably Sgt. Frog. (Basically, it's entire marketable current
catalog.)

_THAT_ is why you haven't heard what really happened with ADV early
this year -- except in very cryptic tones. If they told you what
really went down, the only ADV stock that would be flying off the
shelves would be that which stores pulled to send back, as essentially
worthless.

In short, you have no evidence to back up your assertions.

Unfortunately, I do think that BVUSA has the right _price point_ --
And why do you think that? Clearly the higher prices are going to drive
away buyers. On top of that, it is highly unlikely that the few units
that are sold are going to reap in higher profits for the company.

Most anime "fans" do the industry no good anyway. It'd be better to
drive them away in the first place and find out how many fans are
actually willing to support the product without stealing it wholesale
off the Internet.

So driving away your customer base is a "good thing"? Sounds more like financial suicide.

You seem to work under the fallacy that more fans is a better thing.
In a business, more SALES are a good thing -- but if people aren't
buying, but just taking your product anyway, they serve you less than
no purpose, but a negative one...

More fans means a larger potential customer base. The larger your potential customer base is, the more you can sale.

BVUSA finally saw that the DVD-based model has completely failed, and
has decided to continue to cater to a higher-classed part of anime
fandom by moving to Blu-Ray.

No, BVUSA was just full of themselves in thinking that a marketing model that works in Japan will work in the US. They failed!

But when you lower your price, you attract more buyers and sell more
units. So even though you have a lower profit margin per unit, you will
still make a higher profit buy selling more units.

I did pull one small fix -- though I don't think changing "attacking"
your buyers to "attracting" them changes your point here.

The problem with that is simple math: Cut the cost in half, and you
have to sell twice as many units. That's not as a profit-loss --
that's just a general statement.

But if cutting your profit margin by half means that you end up selling three or four times as many units, then the cut more then justifies itself. The real question is just how much of a profit margin is built into each DVD release.

but there are too many fans who wouldn't pay any realistic price, just
taking the anime and,
And what, in your opinion, is a realistic price? And how did you come to
that "realistic" price?

Why does it matter? I just said that there are too many fans who
wouldn't pay ANY realistic price. Go ahead -- set a realistic price
-- ANY realistic price. There are too many fans who wouldn't pay even
_THAT_.

There are a few that won't buy anime at any price, but they are the minority. But I believe that the majority of fans will still buy the series so long as they can afford it. So if you make it more affordable, they are likely to buy more. Why else would ADV have such success with their thinpacks?

if they buy at all after becoming thieves, it's
buying, essentially, the physical media as merchandise as if it were
another Naruto headband or fan-service figurine.
And what proof do you have of this? Because, based on how the stores
stock their selves, the regular Naruto box set is selling better then
the box sets with the headband or figure.

If that's the case, it's because they're buying it as Naruto
merchandise, as many of these Narutards would buy condoms if it had
Naruto's little swoosh on them, or whatever you call that thing.

So you dodge the point.

Too many "fans",
There is no such thing as too many fans. More fans means a larger market
to sell to.

Bull***. Categorical and undeniable bull***.

Again, you simply dodge the point.

Note that I put the word "fans" in quotes. I am saying that there are
too many people who call themselves anime fans while they basically
jam the industry by taking the product. It would appear, by your (you
being collective here) opinion, that the anime IS worthless and even
the DVDs themselves should be taken as merchandise.

First, don't put words in my or any one else's mouth. I never said that anime is worthless. In fact, the only one who has been saying that anime is worthless is YOU. So this is your strawman and yours alone.

> too many shows,

That's debatable.

Oversaturation in the American DVD market + reliance on American money
to complete series = Too many shows are being made.

And which series in the last couple of years has been funded with American money? And what is the percentages are those "funded" series compared the anime series that weren't funded by American money? And no, I am not going to count anime that has been licensed as being funded by American money. To count the American company has to directly fund the production of the anime or sponsored the series.

I'd assert at least 2/3rds of the anime series in Japan are money-
losers right out of the gate and should not be made at all.

Then why do the Japanese companies keep making them? Because they actually DO MAKE MONEY.

too many studios,
Oh really?

Too many shows --> Too many studios.

Instead of explaining your point, you simply restate it with no explanation as to how you came to your conclusion.

> too many licensors.

Just how many *licensees* should there really be? There are four major
companies—Funimation, ADV, Bandi Entertainment, and VIZ—and at least
three smaller companies—one of which has already experienced crib
death—in competition with each other.

ADV is definitely extraneous, and Viz is pretty much out of the game
except for the Big Three.

But there is no evidence that there are too many companies.

And it all goes back to that companies on both sides of
the Pacific think they can sell to "fans" of "FREE!".
The Japanese companies are clearly make their market work for them.
However, the attempt to transplant that same model to the US market has
resulted in the crib death of Bandi Visual USA. And while there isn't as
much profit in the US market as their use to be 5 years ago, there still
is a profit to be had for the companies that play it smartly, such as
Funimation. Fans are willing to buy at the right price point, you just
have to find it. But just because they are fans doesn't mean you can
gourd them for all they are worth.

But if that price point, at the number of fans who would pay for it,
can't support the industry...

The market will adjust itself, either by companies finding ways to reduce costs, putting pressure on the Japanese companies to reduce the license fees or switch to a royalty system, limit themselves to the titles which are more likely to turn a profit, and/or diversifying their catalogs.

Farix
.

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