serpantino said:
That's pretty much the point I was making about anime becoming elitist. Us low income peons aren't fit to actually own it, just watch it. (Not accusing you personally.) I buy series that I enjoyed so that I can watch them again at my leisure in the best quality possible & show the industry support. If the industry prices me out of physical releases then I'll just give up on anime. Anime is a luxury as I've often seen said in defense of prices, but i fail to see how a dwindling fan base is good for the industry.
I don't think it's fair to suggest there's any elitism going on here, the price of anime is a side effect of external circumstances. Companies need to make money so that they can both continue to operate their business as part of the industry and pay their employees (so they can continue to operate their lives). There's already a shortage of customers for anime so the companies have to make more per sale than a more mainstream industry that can have lots of customers paying smaller amounts each.
Whether people can afford releases doesn't have anything to do with how big a fan they are, that's something else that's affected by external circumstances and will have little to do with anime. It may be the case that those who can afford the fancy releases can contribute more money to the industry but any fan who consumes anime legally is still contributing. Money is certainly important in the current system but for the industry there are numerous other ways fans can contribute. Talking about anime with others and building interest/attention, reviewing shows to help others find things they might like, giving feedback on shows that could get back to creators, going to conventions and all sorts of other things are still important to the industry as a whole. The main purpose of anime is basically to be watched and enjoyed so anyone doing that is at least playing a part.
It's also worth noting that fancy releases aren't the only ones being made. They tend to come earliest and be the most expensive because that's how they can make the most money. That money will generally go back to the same people who make more standard and (hopefully) affordable releases down the line and add shows on to streaming services that can make them available to a much larger number of people (as well as the people working on and producing shows in the first place). It's easy to get annoyed when you're made to wait for a release that suits you and the uncertainty about future releases can be frustrating but that doesn't mean that companies are deliberately treating you as inferior customers, they're just doing what they have to in order to make the money that allows them to make anime available in the first place.
In Anime Limited's case specifically, they've shown a pretty consistent willingness to try to make anime available to a variety of customers through different releases and platforms. Many of the shows they have rights to end up streaming, often in multiple places. They frequently release standard editions of shows once it's economically practical to do so. They maintain good communication and show a genuine interest in anime as more than just a product. They genuinely seem like about the best kind of company we could hope for in terms of both releasing more anime and supporting anime fans.
It seems odd to complain about releases when the alternative may well be having no release at all. I can certainly understand being frustrated that the only currently available release of a show you want is either out of your price range or simply has too many unwanted extras for you to justify buying it at the asking price. Still, that doesn't mean that Anime Limited (or whoever) is deliberately holding back on an affordable release. Just as you may not be able to afford a fancy release, Anime Limited may not be able to afford going straight to a low cost standard release. Letting them know about the kind of releases that are more suitable for you is certainly worthwhile but suggesting that they shouldn't be making their other releases is almost a kind of elitism of it's own. Anime Limited have proven that they can often accommodate different releases, it can just take time (and perhaps some degree of success of the original release) for circumstances to allow them to make the other types of releases.
To be fair, it's certainly true that there will be times where "business" decisions are made that are bad for fans even if they do end up benefitting the companies (or their shareholders). I do think a balance needs to be maintained where sight isn't lost of the main purpose of the industry. There's no point making anime if no one can enjoy it and that means both fans and creators. We're certainly in dangerous times where interests like this, that have to try extra hard to remain financially viable, are at risk. Still, I think it's worth remembering that it's not just fans who suffer from this and that sometimes the people working in the industry have to do things they'd rather not in order to keep going.
serpantino said:
I watch the odd bit on Netflix but I won't touch YouTube (age gates, I refuse to register) or crunchy roll (adverts & buggy apps that loop them).
Crunchyroll has a pretty good service overall, I wouldn't say they're perfect but it's certainly been a long time since I had any issues with using it (and even then I've only had fairly minor issues). If adverts are the only problem, a subscription isn't too expensive (especially if you pay for a year upfront, assuming you'll be using it most months). If you haven't tried it for a while, it might be worth giving them another go.
Streaming isn't the best option for everyone but that's something else that's often affected by external factors. Still, I do think it's pretty great that so much anime is now fairly easy to access for so many people.
I also wonder if streaming availability is a factor in people's frustrations about having to wait for standard releases. They can see a show streaming (or hear a lot about it), then have to wait over a year to see a fancy release (that may not be suitable) and then even longer for a standard release (which might still be pricey, due to circumstances). I don't think it's totally unreasonable for people to be enthusiastic about picking up shows as soon as possible but it's probably worthwhile to take a step back and think about the reasons that these things can take a while.
thedoctor2016 said:
Thats only if we can afford to take you up on the deal which I cannot as I cannot drop £90 on something months in advance, so I'm stuck with amazons £133 price or you make you website pay for preorders on dispatch.
The deal is available for a little while, if there are purchases you could hold off on for now that would allow you to pay the £90 then by the time the set is released you'll have more money saved up and you won't have to worry about money going out for the set. You'd be better off in the long run but it might mean waiting a bit for some new releases. That does rely on you being able to get the £90 together (also that you intend to get the set either way) and obviously some releases may be higher priority if they're likely to go out of stock or whatever but it's maybe worth taking a look at your budget and purchases to see if you can make it work. I know that I always seem to be adding to my backlog so holding off on things isn't usually a problem for me (though some shows you just don't want to hold off on).
Well, this post ended up longer than intended. Apologies for any rambling and hopefully no one will take offence to anything I've said because none was intended.
