I was inspired to create this thread following a discussion in the streaming thread where the news that some of Anime Limited's excellent film back catalogue would be appearing on Animax UK was met with horror rather than delight. Animax UK have a huge image problem amongst anime fans in the UK, and it's making things much worse for itself by steadfastly ignoring fan feedback.
They don't want our opinions, clearly, but that doesn't stop us giving them anyway! I want this thread to outline the fixable problems we're seeing with Animax's service, and give constructive feedback on what would make us change our minds about them if they reached out and listened to their market.
I'll start the ball rolling with my own experience. Over the years I have become a streaming addict and I pay for subscriptions on several sites. I love new things and I'm fortunate enough to be in a position where I can pay for subscriptions to multiple sites without financial hardship.
Because I use streaming so avidly I feel confident in saying that Animax UK's service is not adequate for my requirements and I don't use it, even though they're paying providers for exclusive content and fancy apps. This post collects the reasons why.
1. Their sales message is strong but their homepage is confusing.
Visit the Crunchyroll homepage. It's got news, clearly labelled recommendations and a streaming schedule so you know exactly what's available and can dive straight in. It sells you on the product first, then if you see that a show you want is locked to premium members when you click in you can make the decision to subscribe or wait a few days for the free version. You feel immediately engaged by the content, not the platform, and it encourages you to think about what the service is offering for the money you're spending. I'm an anime fan, not a Crunchyroll/Animax fan, so the anime is what I want presented to me first and foremost.
Visit the Viewster website. They have a non-intrusive pop-up advising that they're starting up subscriptions soon, but the front page is loaded with content, recent updates, simulcasts and other things. I actually think they could improve it further in several ways but the point is, I arrive and immediately know I can watch the latest episodes of hot new shows like Arslan Senki and Prison School there.
Netflix is a bit of an outlier as it relies on its massive brand power to go straight into the pricing right on the first page instead of showing the user the content. Incidentally, I don't have a Netflix subscription.
Finally, Animax UK's website. All I see is a huge picture of the main character from Bleach. Ok, Bleach is popular, but it's an old show and the splash isn't telling me anything at all about what the site is offering (in fact, it's telling me that I should leave the site entirely and get an app in order to watch stuff I already have on DVD). I scroll down and mouseover the three highlighted shows only to see garbage information about an airdate in Eastern (US) time and have to go right to the bottom of the page to see the simulcasts, most of which are not simulcasts at all. I used to get an unskippable splash screen on every page telling me to subscribe so it's a slight improvement, but I still find the site bewildering.
2. Their 'simulcasts' aren't simulcasts.
I know 'simulcast' is a keyword and will attract people to the site, and I'm sympathetic to the delays UK publishers face. Anime airs on different dates throughout Japan anyway, so it's reasonable to accept a few days' delay for new episodes. But that's not what Animax is doing. They're licensing things over a month after they air and posting the episodes up whenever they feel like it, often weeks after the show has actually finished and the rest of the world has moved on. It seems strange to market content as simulcasts when they're so far behind; technically they can say that if they post episode one while the series is still airing in Japan it's a simultaneous broadcast but it really goes against the spirit of the term. There's also a consistent problem with series still being unfinished well after the show has finished airing entirely. It's not fun for users because we have to deal with all of our international (and pirating) friends spoiling the plot twists weeks in advance of being able to catch up.
3. Their free/premium model is frustrating and unfriendly.
My usual modus operandi when trying out a new service is to test out their free offerings and upgrade to premium if I like what I see and want to get more involved (or lose the ads). Animax's free service is so frustrating that I have never once been tempted to upgrade - in fact, I stopped watching their free streams at all and tell myself anything they license is unavailable in the UK. Why is that?
Crunchyroll has made an enormous success of their premium streaming service and I think at least part of the reason is that they organise it so almost everything is free (anime fans are stereotypically young and poor in this country) and then you pay for perks such as ad-free service, early access to simulcasts (which are almost always prompt) and better quality video. It's a no brainer - the premium service is a simply fantastic deal for those who can afford it. Catalogue titles have inherently lower value since you're offering content that is already widely available at that point. I'm a collector and I don't get any additional value from paying to stream content I already have on Blu-ray on my shelf.
Since Animax's model is 'reversed', they're asking me to pay for a service I don't want or need (the back catalogue) so I am less inclined to upgrade from the free service. Cash-strapped young people are probably also less likely to upgrade. Anime is flashy and for most people it's exciting when a series is brand new and they can follow the content as it's being created, alongside their friends in the US, Japan and beyond. So why is Animax's free simulcast service so weak compared to all of its competitors across the globe?
It's not cheap, either, considering what you get. On Crunchyroll I get hours of prompt, brand new content each week for my subscription fee. Animax is effectively offering me a couple of delaycasts each season, which I may or may not even be interested in, yet charging so much that it's sometimes cheaper to wait and buy the BDs for a better experience.
4. It is close to impossible to watch anything on the free service without missing episodes.
Is this a deliberate sales tactic? Their 'reversed' free-premium model (new content is free for a few days, then it goes into the catalogue for premium users - I think) is extremely punitive already but when it's combined with a service which publishes no schedule on its site in the first place it becomes downright aggravating. You're very likely to miss the first few episodes because information about new delaycasts is published so sporadically - and not even high up on the front page - that it's difficult to anticipate it. They don't even tweet the details for their own simulcasts, relying instead on retweeting news posted by third parties from time to time. In contrast, Crunchyroll's regular automated tweets for every single new episode (coupled with immediate feedback about any delays) make their Twitter account an invaluable resource.
Then they upload the episodes haphazardly because they're so late, which means you might suddenly have six new episodes to watch over a few days. Not everyone has that kind of free time. And forget about it if you happen to go on holiday - you'll definitely miss episodes.
Ok, that's how television works (or worked, back when I was a youngster) but there's no reason that VOD has to be subject to the same artificial limitations. By the time the news about the newest delaycasts had made it to most people, the first episodes were permanently locked away for subscribers only. And if you can't see the first episodes, there's no point in watching at all. Perhaps I have a bad personality, but when I miss an episode because the service it's on made a mistake, opening up my wallet to give them money isn't usually my first reaction.
5. The countdowns on their site are confusing.
The Animax website has no published schedule, even for delaycasts, but it has a timer on every new show. The problem is that it is completely non-obvious what this timer is for unless you read the FAQs. When it's a free episode, it indicates that you have that many days left until the show is locked to premium subscribers, and when it's a non-free episode, it's how many days you have left until it becomes free. I think. As this works completely differently to the other anime streaming sites, it implies that the episode will be removed entirely after the expiry date on the paid or free version is reached depending on how you read the information. If that's the case, even a paid subscription isn't enough to cover a holiday away from the site so it all feels pointless. It's an overcomplicated system and even reading the FAQs doesn't make me feel confident that I know how it works.
6. They have a bad reputation which they don't even try to address.
I have read more complaints by customers who have tried to pay and been burned than I have seen positive reviews of Animax's service. It seems the only way to resolve most problems is to telephone them during business hours, and there's no damage control at all. This is a market full of young, passionate, nerdy potential customers and we are accustomed to being treated well; on every occasion I've approached Crunchyroll's support team they have bent over backwards to resolve my problems swiftly and professionally. Yet bad feedback about Animax overcharging or being difficult to deal with is all over most anime forums and they don't seem to care; in fact, they even reportedly block people who say anything negative about them on Twitter rather than responding. That's not how you do social networking in 2015. If they want to act like a faceless corporation, they need to delete all of their social channels outright and push updates through their website instead rather than giving us this inconsistent treatment and pretending to listen. I'd rather they brought themselves up to date and engaged with the fans properly, of course.
7. In spite of all of this, they insist on licensing exclusive content.
The ultimate problem. None of my complaints would matter if Animax stuck to catalogue content or only licensed titles which are already available elsewhere; the market could speak for itself and if they're correct about what customers want, they'd still make money. But Animax is locking away content from other streaming sites and delivering it in a way which isn't working for customers like me. If they want to be the only place in the UK you can legally watch a given show, I feel that they ought to be ensuring all of that show's fans are encouraged to view it through their service instead of resorting to other methods or missing out entirely.
--
Ok, that's all for now. Have I missed anything?
I know I whined a fair bit but this thread is not for general ranting about Animax UK and their documented customer service failings. There's already a separate topic for that. Please try to keep it constructive otherwise I'll have to split the topic.
R
They don't want our opinions, clearly, but that doesn't stop us giving them anyway! I want this thread to outline the fixable problems we're seeing with Animax's service, and give constructive feedback on what would make us change our minds about them if they reached out and listened to their market.
I'll start the ball rolling with my own experience. Over the years I have become a streaming addict and I pay for subscriptions on several sites. I love new things and I'm fortunate enough to be in a position where I can pay for subscriptions to multiple sites without financial hardship.
Because I use streaming so avidly I feel confident in saying that Animax UK's service is not adequate for my requirements and I don't use it, even though they're paying providers for exclusive content and fancy apps. This post collects the reasons why.
1. Their sales message is strong but their homepage is confusing.
Visit the Crunchyroll homepage. It's got news, clearly labelled recommendations and a streaming schedule so you know exactly what's available and can dive straight in. It sells you on the product first, then if you see that a show you want is locked to premium members when you click in you can make the decision to subscribe or wait a few days for the free version. You feel immediately engaged by the content, not the platform, and it encourages you to think about what the service is offering for the money you're spending. I'm an anime fan, not a Crunchyroll/Animax fan, so the anime is what I want presented to me first and foremost.
Visit the Viewster website. They have a non-intrusive pop-up advising that they're starting up subscriptions soon, but the front page is loaded with content, recent updates, simulcasts and other things. I actually think they could improve it further in several ways but the point is, I arrive and immediately know I can watch the latest episodes of hot new shows like Arslan Senki and Prison School there.
Netflix is a bit of an outlier as it relies on its massive brand power to go straight into the pricing right on the first page instead of showing the user the content. Incidentally, I don't have a Netflix subscription.
Finally, Animax UK's website. All I see is a huge picture of the main character from Bleach. Ok, Bleach is popular, but it's an old show and the splash isn't telling me anything at all about what the site is offering (in fact, it's telling me that I should leave the site entirely and get an app in order to watch stuff I already have on DVD). I scroll down and mouseover the three highlighted shows only to see garbage information about an airdate in Eastern (US) time and have to go right to the bottom of the page to see the simulcasts, most of which are not simulcasts at all. I used to get an unskippable splash screen on every page telling me to subscribe so it's a slight improvement, but I still find the site bewildering.
2. Their 'simulcasts' aren't simulcasts.
I know 'simulcast' is a keyword and will attract people to the site, and I'm sympathetic to the delays UK publishers face. Anime airs on different dates throughout Japan anyway, so it's reasonable to accept a few days' delay for new episodes. But that's not what Animax is doing. They're licensing things over a month after they air and posting the episodes up whenever they feel like it, often weeks after the show has actually finished and the rest of the world has moved on. It seems strange to market content as simulcasts when they're so far behind; technically they can say that if they post episode one while the series is still airing in Japan it's a simultaneous broadcast but it really goes against the spirit of the term. There's also a consistent problem with series still being unfinished well after the show has finished airing entirely. It's not fun for users because we have to deal with all of our international (and pirating) friends spoiling the plot twists weeks in advance of being able to catch up.
3. Their free/premium model is frustrating and unfriendly.
My usual modus operandi when trying out a new service is to test out their free offerings and upgrade to premium if I like what I see and want to get more involved (or lose the ads). Animax's free service is so frustrating that I have never once been tempted to upgrade - in fact, I stopped watching their free streams at all and tell myself anything they license is unavailable in the UK. Why is that?
Crunchyroll has made an enormous success of their premium streaming service and I think at least part of the reason is that they organise it so almost everything is free (anime fans are stereotypically young and poor in this country) and then you pay for perks such as ad-free service, early access to simulcasts (which are almost always prompt) and better quality video. It's a no brainer - the premium service is a simply fantastic deal for those who can afford it. Catalogue titles have inherently lower value since you're offering content that is already widely available at that point. I'm a collector and I don't get any additional value from paying to stream content I already have on Blu-ray on my shelf.
Since Animax's model is 'reversed', they're asking me to pay for a service I don't want or need (the back catalogue) so I am less inclined to upgrade from the free service. Cash-strapped young people are probably also less likely to upgrade. Anime is flashy and for most people it's exciting when a series is brand new and they can follow the content as it's being created, alongside their friends in the US, Japan and beyond. So why is Animax's free simulcast service so weak compared to all of its competitors across the globe?
It's not cheap, either, considering what you get. On Crunchyroll I get hours of prompt, brand new content each week for my subscription fee. Animax is effectively offering me a couple of delaycasts each season, which I may or may not even be interested in, yet charging so much that it's sometimes cheaper to wait and buy the BDs for a better experience.
4. It is close to impossible to watch anything on the free service without missing episodes.
Is this a deliberate sales tactic? Their 'reversed' free-premium model (new content is free for a few days, then it goes into the catalogue for premium users - I think) is extremely punitive already but when it's combined with a service which publishes no schedule on its site in the first place it becomes downright aggravating. You're very likely to miss the first few episodes because information about new delaycasts is published so sporadically - and not even high up on the front page - that it's difficult to anticipate it. They don't even tweet the details for their own simulcasts, relying instead on retweeting news posted by third parties from time to time. In contrast, Crunchyroll's regular automated tweets for every single new episode (coupled with immediate feedback about any delays) make their Twitter account an invaluable resource.
Then they upload the episodes haphazardly because they're so late, which means you might suddenly have six new episodes to watch over a few days. Not everyone has that kind of free time. And forget about it if you happen to go on holiday - you'll definitely miss episodes.
Ok, that's how television works (or worked, back when I was a youngster) but there's no reason that VOD has to be subject to the same artificial limitations. By the time the news about the newest delaycasts had made it to most people, the first episodes were permanently locked away for subscribers only. And if you can't see the first episodes, there's no point in watching at all. Perhaps I have a bad personality, but when I miss an episode because the service it's on made a mistake, opening up my wallet to give them money isn't usually my first reaction.
5. The countdowns on their site are confusing.
The Animax website has no published schedule, even for delaycasts, but it has a timer on every new show. The problem is that it is completely non-obvious what this timer is for unless you read the FAQs. When it's a free episode, it indicates that you have that many days left until the show is locked to premium subscribers, and when it's a non-free episode, it's how many days you have left until it becomes free. I think. As this works completely differently to the other anime streaming sites, it implies that the episode will be removed entirely after the expiry date on the paid or free version is reached depending on how you read the information. If that's the case, even a paid subscription isn't enough to cover a holiday away from the site so it all feels pointless. It's an overcomplicated system and even reading the FAQs doesn't make me feel confident that I know how it works.
6. They have a bad reputation which they don't even try to address.
I have read more complaints by customers who have tried to pay and been burned than I have seen positive reviews of Animax's service. It seems the only way to resolve most problems is to telephone them during business hours, and there's no damage control at all. This is a market full of young, passionate, nerdy potential customers and we are accustomed to being treated well; on every occasion I've approached Crunchyroll's support team they have bent over backwards to resolve my problems swiftly and professionally. Yet bad feedback about Animax overcharging or being difficult to deal with is all over most anime forums and they don't seem to care; in fact, they even reportedly block people who say anything negative about them on Twitter rather than responding. That's not how you do social networking in 2015. If they want to act like a faceless corporation, they need to delete all of their social channels outright and push updates through their website instead rather than giving us this inconsistent treatment and pretending to listen. I'd rather they brought themselves up to date and engaged with the fans properly, of course.
7. In spite of all of this, they insist on licensing exclusive content.
The ultimate problem. None of my complaints would matter if Animax stuck to catalogue content or only licensed titles which are already available elsewhere; the market could speak for itself and if they're correct about what customers want, they'd still make money. But Animax is locking away content from other streaming sites and delivering it in a way which isn't working for customers like me. If they want to be the only place in the UK you can legally watch a given show, I feel that they ought to be ensuring all of that show's fans are encouraged to view it through their service instead of resorting to other methods or missing out entirely.
--
Ok, that's all for now. Have I missed anything?
I know I whined a fair bit but this thread is not for general ranting about Animax UK and their documented customer service failings. There's already a separate topic for that. Please try to keep it constructive otherwise I'll have to split the topic.
R
), and clicking the 'HD' button never improves the quality. It's something that annoyed me from day one and something they have not fixed.