Is anime inaccessible for those on lower income?

Yet if every pirate bought -every- series they watched, that difference would be staggering and the overseas anime industry might become significantly more powerful in negotiations for better treatment. Heck it's not even about buying; if all of those people watched on legal sites for free instead of downloading they'd be able to significantly influence which series get LEs, BD, dubs and fast-track home video releases since the licensing companies have explicitly mentioned that they look at viewing figures to plan their strategies. It's like the anime equivalent of refusing to vote then complaining when someone rubbish gets into power. People who download are giving their voting power away to crazy people like me who don't share their values. Pirates only have themselves to blame when FUNimation doesn't bother releasing BDs of The Tatami Galaxy and instead plumps for a BD LE of the latest mediocre fan service parade instead.

R
 
Rui said:
Yet if every pirate bought -every- series they watched, that difference would be staggering and the overseas anime industry might become significantly more powerful in negotiations for better treatment. Heck it's not even about buying; if all of those people watched on legal sites for free instead of downloading they'd be able to significantly influence which series get LEs, BD, dubs and fast-track home video releases since the licensing companies have explicitly mentioned that they look at viewing figures to plan their strategies. It's like the anime equivalent of refusing to vote then complaining when someone rubbish gets into power. People who download are giving their voting power away to crazy people like me who don't share their values.
Click to expand...
I don't think that's quite analogous Rui - It doesn't cost anything to vote.

Of course if everyone who pirated anime bought it that would be fantastic news for the industry, but how many of them can actually afford to do that? I absolutely agree and will state again that people who can afford to buy anime shouldn't be pirating it, but some wouldn't be able to afford to buy it in the first place. In those cases the idea of a "lost sale" isn't really true.

Maybe legal streaming sites need to promote themselves and their prices more, I dunno. I'm basing my arguments largely off the idea of buying physical discs vs. pirating because I'm not really familiar with the streaming world.
 
That's why I brought up free streaming services :)

I know there's a sense that people who watch legal streams without paying aren't 'helping' as much as people with premium accounts but people with no money can still uh, pay with their time, effectively, and generate ad revenue by sitting through the occasional annoying car commercial. They don't even necessarily have to wait; Daisuki's 100% free 1080p Kuroko No Basuke stream is two weeks ahead of Crunchyroll's.

(Not going to revive the 'cost of an Internet connection and PC versus cost of a television and DVD player' debate from the other day; if someone can magically afford Internet and a PC to pirate but not to visit Daisuki's website then something is amiss with their priorities, not their wallet.)

Perhaps the most illuminating part of this ongoing cross-thread debate for me is that the people bringing up free streaming are those who are openly willing and able to pay for the alternatives. We have a sizeable demographic here of people who stay out of streaming entirely for a variety of reasons, but of those who are interested it seems that doing the research (or visiting NormanicGrav's thread where it's all in one place already) isn't very popular. I'm not sure how the legal sites can promote themselves better when the only people who care about what they do are those who are already using them.

R
 
Rui said:
That's why I brought up free streaming services :)

Perhaps the most illuminating part of this ongoing cross-thread debate for me is that the people bringing up free streaming are those who are openly willing and able to pay for the alternatives. We have a sizeable demographic here of people who stay out of streaming entirely for a variety of reasons, but of those who are interested it seems that doing the research (or visiting NormanicGrav's thread where it's all in one place already) isn't very popular. I'm not sure how the legal sites can promote themselves better when the only people who care about what they do are those who are already using them.

R
Click to expand...

This is why the likes of Animax and Daisuke frustrate me so much, because they're backed by either big corporations (Sony) or government/industry money, yet get the technical aspects so wrong. Sony must have pumped so much cash into Animax to date, including numerous full page splash ads in the likes of Official Playstation Magazine. Imagine what that money could do if it was pumped into a dedicated UK office for Crunchyroll or something? I'm talking the kind of active fostering of a domestic market the likes of Anime Ltd do with a blog/community etc.
 
I'm surprised so many people apparently feel a pressure to be able to discuss the very latest, fresh out of Japan, "trendy" shows. I mean, where does this pressure even come from? Unless you're already some kind of forum king on a hardcore anime internet forum or something (and thus likely to already have a PC/ good internet connection), I can't really imagine anyone feeling a pressure to be up to date with the most brand spanking new shows. To really have a desire for that, and feel that older shows which aren't being discussed are obsolete, you surely already have to be extremely immersed (to an unhealthy extent) in anime fandom. So yeah I guess if you're used to that lifestyle and then you're suddenly stripped of it, it might take a little adjusting to. But I would wager, that like me, 90% of people on this forum really couldn't give a single toss about "keeping up".

Still, this was a pretty interesting thread to read.
 
vash representing with his avatar for a series that is exact opposite of trendy and popular these days :D

Lutga said:
This is why the likes of Animax and Daisuke frustrate me so much, because they're backed by either big corporations (Sony) or government/industry money, yet get the technical aspects so wrong. Sony must have pumped so much cash into Animax to date, including numerous full page splash ads in the likes of Official Playstation Magazine. Imagine what that money could do if it was pumped into a dedicated UK office for Crunchyroll or something? I'm talking the kind of active fostering of a domestic market the likes of Anime Ltd do with a blog/community etc.
Click to expand...

I think part of the problem is what comes across as an antagonistic attitude towards the streaming services from some of the distributors here. Andrew has been putting effort into taking control of the streaming side and actively drawing attention to Anime Limited's offerings but some of the things said on behalf of Manga UK over the past few years made it feel as though they saw the streaming companies almost as competitors fighting over the same customers and turning people away from the DVD version. Whether that actually happens to any extent is anyone's guess (I'd argue that the possibility of new fans attracted by the stream will easily offset any negative aspects) but I think the whole industry needs to be pulling in the same direction together otherwise they only end up confusing their potential customers further.

I've said it over and over again but why aren't we seeing Crunchyroll ads on anime DVDs next to the distributor showreels? Why aren't we seeing ads for the DVD companies on streaming sites? Why isn't anyone talking to anyone else in order to present a clear distribution strategy to the customer base? The US situation is so different because the US companies openly recognise the benefits of getting this stuff up on lots of sites and talking about it too.

Animax is frustrating. It would be so easy so get the management aspects right when they've invested so heavily in the technological and licensing side, but the whole project continues to treat fans with such disrespect that it's impossible to recommend it. As it is I wouldn't even know what they were streaming if I didn't keenly follow the news on otaku-orientated websites, not least because none of it is ever up on their bally website on time.

R
 
It really depends how long people have been waiting for a sequel to something if they want to watch stuff as it comes out. There is a certain thrill being in with a conversation with everyone and makes it easier to watch multiple series at the same time.
 
vashdaman said:
I'm surprised so many people apparently feel a pressure to be able to discuss the very latest, fresh out of Japan, "trendy" shows. I mean, where does this pressure even come from? Unless you're already some kind of forum king on a hardcore anime internet forum or something (and thus likely to already have a PC/ good internet connection), I can't really imagine anyone feeling a pressure to be up to date with the most brand spanking new shows. To really have a desire for that, and feel that older shows which aren't being discussed are obsolete, you surely already have to be extremely immersed (to an unhealthy extent) in anime fandom. So yeah I guess if you're used to that lifestyle and then you're suddenly stripped of it, it might take a little adjusting to. But I would wager, that like me, 90% of people on this forum really couldn't give a single toss about "keeping up".

Still, this was a pretty interesting thread to read.
Click to expand...

I wonder about this too, I can only conclude that it must be newer members of the community that are more active on forums and come into the hobby super keen to watch all they can.

I basically only post here, and we are pretty light on discussing the latest episodes of xyz, as said earlier a lot of people just reel of what they watched without a comment. Outside of the internet there's basically no one who is interested in Anime so I don't have regular conversations about shows. Back in school however there were 3-4 people all interested in Anime so I can definitely see someone in school/college/uni wanting to be more up-to-date but also being constrained by their limited budget.

I don't really have time or want to sit at a PC streaming, but I can set aside a sat/sun morning to watch a show. Over time I've learnt that most shows are mediocre, that's not to say they aren't an enjoyable watch but I know I can now target my purchases a bit more and that I definitely don't need to buy it all.
 
Rosencrantz said:
Over time I've learnt that most shows are mediocre, that's not to say they aren't an enjoyable watch but I know I can now target my purchases a bit more and that I definitely don't need to buy it all.
Click to expand...
I think this is the number one tip for keeping an anime hobby affordable.

I'm inclined to agree with most responses here, if you're looking to legally keep up with the very latest or more obscure shows for whatever reason, then anime becomes inaccessible for those without deeper pockets. Whereas if you're just hunting down domestic DVD releases of excellent older shows, suddenly anime becomes a lot more affordable, especially if eBay is involved.

Personally I try to adhere to the quoted rule and try to stick to buying only shows I know I'll REALLY like which keeps spending in check. Occasionally I'll go mad and import something new and expensive that I've developed an interest in. But I often find if I am in need of money, I can eBay off the purchase for close to cost, to someone as mad as I was when I bought it.
 
as said earlier a lot of people just reel of what they watched without a comment
Click to expand...

This probably isn't a very good indication that our community here at AUKN is particularly passionate :lol: . Not the fact that people don't really care about "keeping up", but the fact that the most active thread on this forum is 90% just worthless posts with zero content. That probably comes across as a little harsh, I'm not trying to insult the many people who do those posts, but it's just that thread enrages me so much. I often go into it and see that someone has watched an episode of a show I'm interested in, but has offered not even a snippet of insight into what they thought of it! It's like, what's the point of it all then? Would you ever walk up to a friend and say "Pokemon series 1, episode 3" and then walk off without further ado?

Sorry, I've been holding this in a long time...
 
This is going totally off topic but I couldn't agree more vash (somewhere Aion is laughing). I think society is going through a really weird time with how people interact. It's becoming individualistic to the point that not only do people not care about others' opinions, they're not even that interested in hearing or trying to understand other people's, or discussing their own in any meaningful way either. Social media exemplifies this, where so many posts are just a running commentary of what someone has done / is doing / thinks without any thought as to whether other people are interested or even attempts to engage people in discussion. I find myself doing it and I almost have to smack myself round the head to stop.

As a society it feels like we barely talk to each other any more, we just talk at each other. That thread and the way people post in it is just... I really cannot see the goddamn point. But obviously some people feel posting such inane things is worthwhile.
 
I don't know if it's just me who feels this way but when I started posting in that thread, I did offer somewhat of an opinion a lot of the time but I stopped because I felt no one was reading it. Whenever I posted something, I don't think I ever got a reply or anyone even acknowledging I posted it so I stopped. If no one is going to bother reading it, why put the effort in. Now I just save anything I have to say for the Rating out of 10 thread where I'll right a good paragraph on the series as the whole. While the thread does seem a little pointless, I still think that knowing what people are watching can be interesting. Now if this forum allowed small Signatures displayed under people's posts like on a lot of forums and people could put their MAL lists their such as this then I think the thread would indeed be pointless.
 
I would rather focus my funds on expensive collectors editions of shows I really like than buying all the shows I have watched. The main motivations for me buying physical releases is so I can re-watch it (and build back some of my conscience :p ) and so I can get my friends to watch it.
 
Lawrence said:
As for social media, I guess personally, I find it to be sort of amusing to see what other people are doing but I do get a bit tired of making an effort only to be ignored, like sometimes I'll write out a slightly longer point discussing something that's recently happened in the news but no-one seems interested, those always go completely ignored. And when I do get a response, it's always the same three people, makes me wonder if Facebook has watered down the meaning of 'friend', I mean, you see people with 500+ friends and you think, they can't possibly have had meaningful interactions with all those people?
Click to expand...
Just because people aren't acknowledging the fact they've read something, doesn't mean that they're not actually reading it (not to sound like a jab or anything!).

For example I imagine a number of people looking for input on a show might stumble across this forum using google, read someones writeup and leave better informed, they might even discuss your opinion elsewhere with other people. It'd be nice if they made an account to thank the original poster or let them know their thoughts, but I can understand not everyone wants to go through that kind of trouble. All I'm trying to say is people do probably appreciate in some way what you're writing.
 
I think MAL only worsens the problem by taking the anime content off-site. I understand why people use it but I find it a very joyless experience to record and advertise my exact hobby activity that way and have it compared to random strangers as though both people having seen Attack On Titan means something. I tried making one and couldn't be bothered to keep running there to add new episodes to my lists. It also annoys me that it will never be complete anyway because I no longer know exactly which old stuff I've seen/read before anyway unless it comes up in a discussion. If it can't be perfect I don't see the point ;_;

People don't usually respond to things unless they're clickbaity or present some problem which needs answering. The problem I have with Facebook and the like is that they're unfocused; you can pick who you want to listen to (to some extent anyway, since they now bombard you with suggestions and garbage) but if I look at my Facebook timeline it's full of really uninteresting topics like childrearing, politics (in countries I'm not living in, at that), hijab fashion, motivational tips and school memories. It's an interesting blend but I'm never going to read any of that stuff thoroughly or make a comment on it. I could delete all my family members from my feed and only add anime fans but I bet it would end up pretty similar, pictures of drunken parties with people I don't know or care about and the occasional "I watched Guilty Crown today 10/10" post which warrants no productive response. If anyone wants to write something interesting I find they usually put it on a dedicated blog anyway.

R
 
While I do use MAL to record the shows I watch, I like to use it mainly to store shows that I want to watch. Take my to watch list for example:
ShhWnNc.png


There is no way in hell I'd remember even half of those shows. Hell, there are more shows/movies/OVAs, etc, on that list than I've actually seen. It's really handy for noting down shows that you like the look of.
 
I just use MAL to remember where I'm up to in a show, as I've got a memory like a goldfish. Especially for non CR stuff where I don't have the queue to remember for me.
 
Back
Top