Re: Anime streaming and simulcasts: what do they mean to you
1. Do you use any legal anime streaming services (e.g. Crunchyroll, Wakanim, Animax UK, Daisuki, Viewster, Netflix, Nico Nico, the occasional legal uploads on YouTube etc.)?
Yes. Crunchyroll, Nico Nico, and Funimation. The others I either might or have tried, but they seem bad for one or more reasons.
2. Do you have a paid subscription to any of them? What are your thoughts on paid subscriptions versus ad-supported business models, and which subscription fee is the best value?
Yes. I hate ads, I would much rather have a paid sub. At the moment there is so much value in subbing to CR's that it's probably them, but I think "best value" is less relevant than singling out services which offer below-par value.
3. Crunchyroll uses a system which splits its revenue between the titles people actually watch, so if you sign up and only watch Gintama, all of the share of your subscription which goes to the creators will go to companies involved with Gintama. According to reports, the other services tend to split the funds differently depending on individual license contracts. What do you think about this? How do you think the payments should be split, most fairly?
I'd rather my support for particular titles was more directly recognized.
4. Which service(s) do you consider the best, and why?
Crunchyroll, they have the highest number of simulcasts and the best record of putting them up as close as possible to Japanese air time.
5. In the UK, we have an unusual arrangement where most of our simulcasts are completely exclusive to one service; in Japan and the US the local distributors try to spread them out where possible. This obviously has advantages for the UK streaming companies as it provides a reason for people to (be forced to) visit their platform, but how do you feel about these arrangements, as a customer?
They will be the death of the UK industry going forward. It's fine for individual services to offer their own programming, but it must be done through some kind of unified front end and one subscription fee (ie. in a similar manner to the way anime is broadcast on TV in Japan). I have no interest in subscribing to five services for five individual shows.
6. Do you find it easy to keep up with which series is airing on which site?
As long as that site is Crunchyroll, sure. Otherwise only because of the stellar efforts on people on this forum.
7. Have you ever missed out on a series because it's only available on a site you can't use (e.g. for technical reasons, as some only support certain platforms)?
I don't think so, but I am more willing and able than most in those regards.
8. If something isn't licensed for a simulcast in the UK, and you really want to watch it, what do you do? Miss out until the DVD/BD release, 'take a flight' to another region like the US, or resort to illegal distribution channels?
At the moment a little from column A, a lot from column B, none from column C.
9. What makes you resort to illegal methods even when a series is licensed and available in the UK?
I don't.
10. How likely are you to buy the DVD/BD of a series if you saw it streaming? What if you never had the chance to see it streaming?
The likelihood of me purchasing the BDs is tied solely into the quality of the series and the quality of the BD release. I'll still blind buy shows if I'm expecting them to be worth purchasing and I didn't see them while they were airing.
11. If you saw a series online in HD and the home video version is only available on DVD, do you feel disappointed?
I feel disappointed for the company that isn't getting my money, sure.
12. Do you wish there were more multilingual streams available (including English dubs for catalogue titles and experiments such as Space Dandy)?
No.
13. How important is it to you that streaming services keep a schedule showing when content will be available?
It's important.
14. How important is it to you that streaming services make content available without sudden delays?
It's very important.
15. How important is it to you that simulcasts are released on the same day that they go up in other regions (or at least in other English-speaking regions)?
It's very important.
16. A couple of the streaming services have large back catalogues of older titles on offer. When you're picking a service to subscribe to, how important is the size of their catalogue?
It's mildly important, not nearly as important as their simulcast offerings but still worth consideration.
17. Do you prefer streaming or download-to-own (e.g. Wakanim, iTunes)? Any particular reason?
Streaming. Because I live in 2014 and have the internet to prove it.
18. Do you use legal online manga services (e.g. Viz's SJ, Renta, Crunchyroll)? What do you think of them? As many aren't documented well, do you have any recommendations for other forum users who might not know about legal online manga?
No, but I do buy and read manga for Kindle. My recommendation is get a Kindle.
19. If you had the chance to make a suggestion to improve the current streaming situation here, what would it be? You can suggest more than one thing if you want!
I would close down all the UK streaming sites and make sure everything was available to us via Crunchyroll.
