Anime Limited announces partnership with Wakanim.tv

I think we need to rely on bigger fish like France and the US to some extent since the legitimate purchasing part of the UK market is so tiny on its own. It would also be nice if series with the appropriate rights could have both French and English subs available in both territories for those of us who travel, to benefit from sharing a resource.

The best part about this venture is having access to people like Andrew who can freely talk to us, take on feedback and put our interests first, whereas AoD seemed to be so wrapped up in its other aims that the decent parts we were all so excited about were sort of strangled out of existence. Having a UK streaming industry (however small) can really help us if there's a dialogue and it's not neglected. I maintain that the worst thing about AoD was the silence; having to figure out what they were streaming ourselves rather than it being explicitly mentioned anywhere, and never being told when episodes were delayed for extended periods. To this day I still don't understand why the staff of Kaze France kept uploading episodes for us without posting information explaining what was going on in any language.

While I'm on the subject I have a friend who will love you forever if you can get catalogue shows like Bebop on the service in some form, Andrew...:)

R (How come everyone else likes DTO suddenly?! Wouldn't it be weird if we end up with a completely different model being popular over here compared to the US? :D)
 
Well, DTO, as it's ascribed to here suggests basically getting the fansub and paying the people who made the show whilst doing it which, providing there's no shady nonsense going down DRM wise sounds just about exactly how I want it.
 
I've never taken to streaming, but download to own for a reasonable price (ie: not MORE than buying a bloody physical copy)? Hell, yes, please, finally!
 
This is great I guess but i cant watch them in my country so Ill keep using the same old way to watch anime and then I'll buy the shows i did enjoy. :)

Anime Limited got a Portuguese fan here and I am waiting for Perfect Blue, Makoto Shinkai and Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann releases :p
 
Rui said:
The best part about this venture is having access to people like Andrew who can freely talk to us, take on feedback and put our interests first, whereas AoD seemed to be so wrapped up in its other aims that the decent parts we were all so excited about were sort of strangled out of existence. Having a UK streaming industry (however small) can really help us if there's a dialogue and it's not neglected. I maintain that the worst thing about AoD was the silence; having to figure out what they were streaming ourselves rather than it being explicitly mentioned anywhere, and never being told when episodes were delayed for extended periods. To this day I still don't understand why the staff of Kaze France kept uploading episodes for us without posting information explaining what was going on in any language.
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To be fair - I feel that is partly my fault - it was mostly a project I started and when my efforts had to be re-aimed to other projects nobody really replaced me managing a chunk of it. I should have been more pro-active in replacing that and I actually think there are some maybe cool developments that could still come out of AoD if they find the right partners in the UK to run a subscription service...

Rui said:
While I'm on the subject I have a friend who will love you forever if you can get catalogue shows like Bebop on the service in some form, Andrew...:)
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I'm looking at how to manage catalog services on something like Wakanim - so watch this space by MCM Expo time for what the results of this are ;).

That said, my core issue is that I do believe catalog content's primary place are on subscription services like Crunchyroll or even Anime on Demand. I really respect the subscription model and my hope is what Wakanim are doing is not interpreted as a move that way or trying to nuzzle in on things - my thoughts were much more on the other key point which is: A lot of us don't want to stream - we want actual files we can watch on the train or ideally stream to our media servers etc etc.

So ultimately - I'd like to work to see our catalog (and actually simulcasts) out as wide as they can be digitally barring the occasional exclusive much like we've done with Kill la Kill for the UK.

At anyrate, not out to hurt the subscription model which does work well when it has bulk although I would like to see people with these services do more promotion in the UK. Digital is not some cash-cow to replace homevideo in my opinion - you're meant to be introducing people to cool shows that they may like (and in an ideal world, you like too) and letting them decide if they want to support them further than a streaming of it.

Andrew
 
(Talking of Samurai Flamenco)
56Y8v01.png

So, uh, Andrew, want to run that by us again?

I'm trying not to be an ass here but...well!
 
Well, with Samurai Flamenco too you're really not holding back picking up titles I want to see :D

The more (legit) ways to push titles the better. I often upgrade my purchasing decisions if a show I saw simulcast was better than expected (i.e. I'll spend more on a fancier home video release, and while it doesn't really help the UK industry, it also pushes me to buy more merchandise and get more 'into' a show). Meanwhile I have a TV-loving friend who no longer buys discs due to space constraints, unless they're for something exceptional. He wants to try out more anime but without ripping off the makers. Being able to link newer fans straight to a legit source without having to bluster and say "I'm sure they're working on it..." or "Er yeah, that one isn't streaming, but how about you watch Attack On Titan instead?" each time would be marvellous. If we can get availability to the same point as the US - whether we end up with DTO being more of a hit with fans here or not - it will be a great relief.

R
 
That still leaves the elephant in the room of KLK and it's DTO status.

Having it being the only non DTO thing is sort of like launching the Next Nintendo console and only allowing the next Mario game to run on black and white tvs from the 70's.

Again, I'm not trying to rain on the parade, I'm just wanting to make absolutely sure I can leave my umbrella at home and I'm going to call and Black Cloud what it is.
 
Is it an elephant in the room? The reports I read said that Wakanim.tv will do various things, and that Kill la Kill will be streamed in partnership with that service (but I haven't seen any press saying that Kill la Kill will be available in all forms from the outset). It's very interesting that the first title won't (initially?) have DTO rights while the later ones have expanded availability from the beginning.

Andrew, is there anything helpful fans can do to help with getting expanded rights, like more viewers on the stream or more DTO uptake on the titles which do offer this service? Or perhaps there's a party they can submit polite, enthusiastic feedback to in order to demonstrate interest?

I wonder whether the "future titles" are for later seasons or whether there are more in the pipeline for this one...

R
 
It certainly sounded in the release like KlK wasn't this "special" case where it was stream or nothing and, frankly, I'm not enamoured with the concept at all.

Like I said, it's launching the a console only to have the star game half baked.
 
ConanThe3rd said:
That still leaves the elephant in the room of KLK and it's DTO status.

Having it being the only non DTO thing is sort of like launching the Next Nintendo console and only allowing the next Mario game to run on black and white tvs from the 70's.

Again, I'm not trying to rain on the parade, I'm just wanting to make absolutely sure I can leave my umbrella at home and I'm going to call and Black Cloud what it is.
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It's no elephant in the room - Kill la Kill I had to move quickly on due to timescales especially to make an exclusive arrangement. The quickest way was to secure that was streaming first, then go back to examining what could be done separately for DTO/DTR.

Obviously until the beta platform launches - in week 2 of Samurai Flamenco (so a week on Thursday), it's all a bit of a moot point anyway as that functionality will come in around then! So make your voices known in the short term and I'll use that as a good gauge for deciding but as spoiler - to add those rights for this title is a big step upwards in terms of cost. I.e. I'd need to be very sure it's a deal-breaker for a significant number of people - but it's absolutely possible.

You may not be trying to rain on a parade - but it's a blip - in future it will be an all or nothing as part of this model as that's what the defining factor is - it's also fixable if it's the will of the people :). We've some surprises too coming up regarding catalog content to add further means to test the platform too, which will prove that point.

Didn't sugar coat the above detail and gave it straight - would rather level with you guys than not!

Hope this helps clarify! We'll have an FAQ up on Monday covering this among other points since it has been raised and is a fair point :).

Andrew
 
Rui said:
Andrew, is there anything helpful fans can do to help with getting expanded rights, like more viewers on the stream or more DTO uptake on the titles which do offer this service? Or perhaps there's a party they can submit polite, enthusiastic feedback to in order to demonstrate interest?
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All I'd need to see is really enthusiastic feedback to make me reassured the model is viable before investing a metric tonne on the digital rights there only (long story why digital only). But it's possible and fixable :).

Having seen the first episode, I'm convinced KlK is awesome though - so what I need to know more is would people pay £1.69 for an episode of it?

Rui said:
I wonder whether the "future titles" are for later seasons or whether there are more in the pipeline for this one...
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Both - I have some surprises from the ghost of Christmas past too for the platform as an experiment too ;).

Best,

Andrew
 
anime_andrew said:
...
Hope this helps clarify! We'll have an FAQ up on Monday covering this among other points since it has been raised and is a fair point :).
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Ok, Ok. This clears things up, it seems like everything is on the level and you have noted the cercumstances for KLK's thing. Ok, so, moving on we can just get to monday, safe in the knowlege that everything has been sorted and laid down, ready to go an-
anime_andrew said:
Having seen the first episode, I'm convinced KlK is awesome though - so what I need to know more is would people pay £1.69 for an episode of it?
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Oh for the love off-!

Look, is episodes going to be X price or Y price? I don't mind paying 1.70 per episode (assuming that's _it_ let's not have this creep upwards), christ, I'd pay 2 even if that ups and breaks through the physical media price in most, not Insane (read: Aniplex) cases, but can we just get a basic line here?
 
ConanThe3rd said:
anime_andrew said:
...
Hope this helps clarify! We'll have an FAQ up on Monday covering this among other points since it has been raised and is a fair point :).
Click to expand...
Ok, Ok. This clears things up, it seems like everything is on the level and you have noted the cercumstances for KLK's thing. Ok, so, moving on we can just get to monday, safe in the knowlege that everything has been sorted and laid down, ready to go an-
anime_andrew said:
Having seen the first episode, I'm convinced KlK is awesome though - so what I need to know more is would people pay £1.69 for an episode of it?
Click to expand...
Oh for the love off-!

Look, is episodes going to be X price or Y price? I don't mind paying 1.70 per episode (assuming that's _it_ let's not have this creep upwards), christ, I'd pay 2 even if that ups and breaks through the physical media price in most, not Insane (read: Aniplex) cases, but can we just get a basic line here?
Click to expand...

When wakanim.co.uk itself is launched, it will simulcast new anime, and also offer older anime titles. It will be possible to watch episodes free on the site for a month. Customers will also be able to download them free for a period of four days. Premium customers will have the options of paying to rent episodes, or buying them permanently. The premium rental - access to an episode stream for 30 days from payment – will cost 69p per episode. Download to buy will cost £1.25 per episode.
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I think the prices quoted in the press release are reasonable
 
I have yet to watch Kill la Kill 1, because my laptop is out of order, so I'm stuck to my iPad and Wii U. Are there any plans to optimise the streams so that they can be viewed on the Wii U browser? (It doesn't have a Flash player, but can play HTML5 videos). I tried asking Anime On Delay to do this many times but never received an answer.

In terms of the business model for Wakanim, I'm actually surprised that the Japanese, who we have been made to believe are really frugal, are allowing us to have download-to-own. I'm not fussed about Kill la Kill not having it at the moment (See: laptop situation above) but knowing that the option will be available for titles in the future, is good.
 
Just Passing Through said:
ConanThe3rd said:
anime_andrew said:
...
Hope this helps clarify! We'll have an FAQ up on Monday covering this among other points since it has been raised and is a fair point :).
Click to expand...
Ok, Ok. This clears things up, it seems like everything is on the level and you have noted the cercumstances for KLK's thing. Ok, so, moving on we can just get to monday, safe in the knowlege that everything has been sorted and laid down, ready to go an-
anime_andrew said:
Having seen the first episode, I'm convinced KlK is awesome though - so what I need to know more is would people pay £1.69 for an episode of it?
Click to expand...
Oh for the love off-!

Look, is episodes going to be X price or Y price? I don't mind paying 1.70 per episode (assuming that's _it_ let's not have this creep upwards), christ, I'd pay 2 even if that ups and breaks through the physical media price in most, not Insane (read: Aniplex) cases, but can we just get a basic line here?
Click to expand...

When wakanim.co.uk itself is launched, it will simulcast new anime, and also offer older anime titles. It will be possible to watch episodes free on the site for a month. Customers will also be able to download them free for a period of four days. Premium customers will have the options of paying to rent episodes, or buying them permanently. The premium rental - access to an episode stream for 30 days from payment – will cost 69p per episode. Download to buy will cost £1.25 per episode.
Click to expand...

I think the prices quoted in the press release are reasonable
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I agree, so why are we now wavering on that and asking "Oh, BTW, can you throw us 50p extra for KlK?"
 
Why are you making .50p sound like £50? KLK isn't my favourite bisquit, but many other's are frothing at the mouth to see it and maybe own it. If I could own an episode of my favourite anime for the price of and convenience of an mp3 DL from Amazon, or itunes, My shelves would be a lot more straining under the weight of discs than they are now. An people call me a grumpy old git. :roll:
 
ConanThe3rd said:
It's less the amount and more the lack of a coherent narrative.
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If you had stopped and explained - I'd have been able to explain. Looks like a typo on the ANN report - the number should be £1.69 - Kill la Kill isn't the exception, the £1.25 is.

EDIT - TL;DR - Andrew is working too hard and a tool - it is £1.25 / Ep for downloads globally. Hodor.

I missed it because I'm dealing with a lot just now both business wise and personally so when the rental price checked out at £0.69 and knew the EUR rate was €1,50 a download - I just merged the two in my head in a fit of idiocy.

Terribly sorry for any confusion or upset caused! Running two film festivals, coordinating production and planning for MCM Expo a 100% together Andrew does not make. Shall be more careful in future!

AP
 
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