Is anime inaccessible for those on lower income?

Whenever I've posted something in that thread, I've always tried to say something about it. Maybe people read it, maybe they don't, but I'd rather feel that I made the effort - the only reason I can see for listing episode numbers is if you enjoy having a large post-count.
 
I find it interesting to see what people have been watching. I tried posting comments but gave up as it didn't seem worth it because nobody ever responded to them.
 
I used to post what I've watched, I guess I thought that if someone else had watched the same it could help start a discussion, but I stopped doing it as I felt it was a waste of time/no one cared lol
 
I like posting mini reviews of what I watch, as I don't really have much to do with the anime community on Twitter and don't have time to go into full on blog post reviews, so this is really the only place I can really jot down my thoughts. I definitely find getting some of my thoughts down as words helps me interact with a show more, especially trading ideas etc. about characters/relationships etc. Close reading and analysis of a body of work increases its value (and the value of the time you invested in it), even if said piece of work is of poor quality.
 
I'm a little guilty of bare-bones posts in that thread, so I've made a bit more effort in my latest post. I'm not really bothered about no one replying, I just don't always have something to say that hasn't been said by someone else already. That's the main reason I don't post more often throughout the forums to be honest.
 
BanzaiJedi said:
I'm not really bothered about no one replying, I just don't always have something to say that hasn't been said by someone else already. That's the main reason I don't post more often throughout the forums to be honest.
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Even if someone else has said the exact same thing, it doesn't mean that your perspective doesn't offer something new. If anything, it means that others has reached the same conclusion but may have gone through a different journey to get to it.

Opinions means more debate and discussion which should always be encouraged. :D
 
BanzaiJedi said:
I'm a little guilty of bare-bones posts in that thread, so I've made a bit more effort in my latest post. I'm not really bothered about no one replying, I just don't always have something to say that hasn't been said by someone else already. That's the main reason I don't post more often throughout the forums to be honest.
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That's what I was going to say.
 
When you say everything you want to say has been said by someone else, do you mean on this forum? I only really use this site for my anime news and views, so I like hearing peoples views on what they watch, but most of the stuff people watch in the Viewing Journal I just don't see get discussed at all, or at least very little.
I also agree with Rui, in regards to the "no one is replying" thing. It's great when people do reply and a convo is started, but that won't happen every time, and I don't think it should put people off airing their views. And the percentage of the chance of discussion starting will still be much higher. otherwise we'll all just be guessing at what each other is thinking.

I know I don't always write a lot, because due to me seemingly always never having enough time in day I don't always get the chance to watch anime, and if I do, I am slow. But when I do get to watch some, one of the best things about it is being able to share my (usually unpopular) opinions on this site!
 
I just found this thread and read through it - been a busy little freelance comic monkey this last few weeks, so I didn't even know this discussion was going on.

Couple of things I'll weigh in on with respect to the question posed in the thread title:

Is anime accessible for people on low income?
My answer is: Honestly, I think that depends. How low is low? I think, ultimately, the real answer to that question may be another question - specifically 'how much are you able / prepared to spend?'

I think the current model for fancy premium releases first certainly precludes some folks from supporting it. Standard editions later down the line are generally a bit more affordable, but I do get the impression that there's a bit of testing of boundaries going on as well. About £30 is the absolute limit I'll personally spend on a single show. Something like £70 for an OVA series with a miniscule episode count gets harder for me to financially justify. £40 - 50 for something like Animatsu's Nadia release makes me huff and puff a bit. But ultimately, if I really want the item in question, I'll usually work to afford it or save my pennies. There are some things of late that press my 'How much? Sod off!' buttons though.

But if I'm assured of a budget option, that's become my go-to means of getting hold of anime. Funimation's S.A.V.E. line is great. I'll snap up whatever comes up in MVM's deal of the week that appeals. I'd rather be able to support brand new UK releases simply because it feels like a more meaningful way of suppoting the industry - and who doesn't like to have brand new stuff? But, really, it's not within my ability to do that. I'm happy to wait for a price reduction, or a bare bones edition. The problem is, that's never necessarily assured. So, while it may not be the end of the world, it can be frustrating to have that one show you really want to get hold of priced outside of your grasp.

I really believe the question asked here is legitimate. It makes sense for entertainment of any description to be accessible to people at all levels of income. Because, if it's in any way viable to do so from a business standpoint, you maybe sell to more people, maybe nurture new fans and maybe even grow the base of people you can sell to long term.


One final thing: People coming to this kind of discussion with remarks about anime being a luxury and not an entitlement, etc. Please guys - that's not helpful. In fact, it's one whit away from saying 'awww, diddums - you're too poor to be a fan.' And from there, we hit a very slippery slope indeed. It's nobody's business here to lecture, or moralise, or concern themselves with the level of income of another board member.

That's my tuppence for this thread.
 
For me, I've never really looked at it from a run time point of view. If something is good, I'll buy it no matter the length. I think it would be foolhardy to reject something because it doesn't fit your personal quota for episodes as you'd miss out on some amazing shows. I will admit that this mindset may be held by myself when it comes to video games, but even then I'd take a 20 hour The Wonderful 101 and Bayonetta 2 or TLOU over a 200 hour Skyrim type of game any day of the week. Its not that I avoid long shows, but they've never really been my cup of tea when it comes to home media. Loads of discs, big boxes, not my thing. So for me, when I had to put down just under £100 to import the limited edition Blu-ray for Do You Remember Love, a 2 hour film, I was more then happy to do so. In fact I'd go as far as to say that I'd rather pay a premium for a shorter show/film than less for a longer show if that extra money goes into creating a nice package and I think that's evident when taking a look at my collection and is one of the reasons I tend to stay away from DVD unless it can't be helped (Robot Carnival being an example).

I think in this case, although these purchases my prove to me costly, it means that I buy a lot less. Instead of paying £10 or £20 here and there on every mediocre release I'd rather save it up for a few months and splash out on a cool import or limited edition. Anime isn't really that expensive, it just comes down to the fact that if you treat it like a game of Pokemon, and trying to catch 'em all and buy everything and anything coming out, you're going to be seeing a lot of money leave your wallets quickly. Unless something is truly limited, which most limited editions aren't unless it's something like the Miyazaki box-set that came out last year, there's no need to rush to a purchase. This is even easier with streaming options more accessible than ever before, allowing you to try before you buy. Interested in Boogiepop Phantom for example? Check it out on the official Manga Entertainment YouTube page! Same thing with Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex and many other amazing shows, all free.

I guess in that sense, it's not that anime is expensive, at least not when it comes to localized efforts from Manga, MVM and even Anime Limited and the likes as imports are a whole different ball game, it just has a lot to do with peoples habits of getting everything and anything, sometimes just to pad out their collection or get the latest hot release. The UK actually has it kind of easy, with things like Gurren Lagann being available for under £30 or thereabouts, compared to the rest of the world. Maybe that's a case of everyone else charging way too much, so our prices look a lot better in comparison, but that's the way it goes really. Something can't be cheap if there's no comparison in the first place. £30 doesn't mean anything by itself. It's when you compare it to the rest of the world that you gain context. There is of course the issue with a lot of things not getting localized here at all, meaning you're stuck importing, but again in my case even with imports, its not that expensive if you pace yourself and only buy what is truly worth your money. Maybe me being a bit of an elitist comes in handy :p

I guess I don't see it as an issue as I buy a lot of video games and its the same thing there. Every release can be £40+ at launch, but with a little bit of smart shopping and patience you can find them a lot cheaper, and again, I don't mind waiting if I have to. It helps that I exclusively buy Nintendo games, so that weeds out a lot of the rubbish too. The next game I have on pre-order is Splatoon, and at £22 that's a great price.
 
The only real issue I can see is if the UK starts to shift more toward the Aniplex of America style model if physical sales of 'standard' editions continues to decline. Personally, I'm not sure I can see it happening as I don't think the UK market is big enough to support that, even editions like that would probably eke a little more money out of the same hardcore audience.

I have to admit, I'm inclined to think we might see a lessening in titles picked up - some of the lower tier titles coming out at the moment are selling so badly it's hard to imagine they even break even. Whereas back in the day someone like Manga could count on a long tail to ensure most titles did over 1k in sales, I think they took a big hit when a lot of HMVs closed down, as I feel that was potentially a big sales-outlet for them.

The past two years were a real 'boom' in terms of quantity - both saw around 140 individual anime titles released in the UK over the course of the year. I'm not sure we can count on that again this year.
 
In the past, I've spent small fortunes acquiring the Aniplex of America Puella Magi Madoka Magica releases (both Limited Edition domestic and Japanese movie imports) and importing blu-rays such as K-ON!! from North America, but now, I haven't bought a single anime home video release in eight months; with the last being The Wind Rises on release day back in September 2014.

That has nothing to do with the variety of titles on offer, because there are plenty that I really want to own (like Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions and Usagi Drop), but I simply haven't had the disposable income to purchase them. Thankfully I am now in employment and have the benefit of still living at home, but as it's a part-time, zero hour contract position at minimum wage, I'm still finding it hard to justify almost £30 for the barebones DVD of an eleven episode series (yeah, not even the "barebones" editions are that cheap any more).

With the increasing cost of home video releases I have admittedly felt "locked out" of being able to purchase them due to my financial status at times, but streaming services like Crunchyroll and Netflix have basically been my knight in shining armour. Even the absolute pittance I earn from my freelance writing is more than enough to cover the combined £11 it costs for my monthly Crunchyroll and Netflix memberships, so I've been able to stay on top of recent seasons (aside from a few titles; thanks FUNimation 9.9). Although I am fortunate that my family pays the line rental and broadband costs; I know some people don't have that luxury.

Whereas in the past I would buy the home video release of any show I liked, I've found that even my wishlist is being prioritised now. For example, I will be less inclined to purchase a series now if it is available for legal streaming on a service I have access to; whereas a series that I don't have access to will be a higher priority.

To answer the original question though, I think an argument can definitely be made about the price of physical editions, but in regards to the anime medium as a whole, I don't think it's becoming inaccessible. Affordable streaming services have opened up a whole new affordable avenue for people to access the medium.
 
I'd say I'm probably in a similar but somewhat better position than Joshawott but I do have to be careful about what I buy. I'm always trying to decide if something will be more expensive to buy later compared to pre-order prices or if it might go out of stock. I also prioritise my list based on what is on Crunchyroll, although it can be annoying when I've seen and loved a show but have to choose between it and something new that I might love. Still, I'd say I'm happy with what I can get even if I'd always like a bit more. It's not too common that I'll feel bad about missing out on something and then it's usually due to availability rather than money (not counting Japanese releases, though even then only subtitled ones would really count). That said, I do have a tendency to spend a little recklessly so I might end up suffering in the long run.

I think the availability of things like Crunchyroll and Netflix on more common viewing devices and consoles is a good thing, I think it'd be great if more people stumbled onto anime by trying out a free app on their console or whatever. Still, Crunchyroll isn't currently available on Sony consoles in Europe and that's kind of annoying (especially since the PS4 seems to be doing particularly well).
 
I think that all interests and hobbies can cost a lot so I don't think that anime is particularly different to other interests and hobbies,

I tend to spend a lot of time deciding which titles I might want for birthdays and Christmas - and I think that channels like crunchyroll etc are great I just wish that they did more dubbed !!

I used to look at them to see how many episodes you got for your money but have learned that doesn't necessarily mean that its an anime you like lol
 
Some absolutely excellent points being made in the last few posts.

Personally, I do absolutely subscribe to the view that material things are JUST things. But the joy (for me) in owning anime is that I can decide when I want to watch it, when to dig it out, how long I take over watching a show, etc. Working freelance and having no set schedule from day to day means I can't say 'oh, this is my anime time! DOWN TOOLS!'

Good example - I'm on my fourth re-watch of Gundam OO. I LITERALLY think to myself some days as I settle in front of the TV how lucky I am to own some of the material I have. It's still entertaining me years after purchasing it. And in that respect, I am quite happy to pay the asking price for certain things. So yes - quality of purchase over quantity wins every time.

End of the day, though, it comes down to 'can I afford it?' No money in the bank = no purchases. And if I DO have a bit of money to burn, I'm pretty happy to grab a show I wouldn't necessarily have had at the top of my shopping list if the price is right.

Had some really pleasant surprises that way - Blassreiter, Btooom!, Heat Guy J, Blade of the Immortal... and I don't think I paid more than a tenner for each.

That's ultimately why I join these discussions and stir 'em up a bit from time to time. I LOVE anime, and I naturally want to consume as much of it as I can, reasonably speaking. So I'm interested in anything which supposedly could affect the accessibility of it, the sustanability of it, and the ease with which people can buy it.
 
HdE said:
Working freelance and having no set schedule from day to day means I can't say 'oh, this is my anime time! DOWN TOOLS!'
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I'm going to have to try that one at work, I'm sure people will understand. If I strategically select the anime I could both take a break from work and create new anime fans so that'd be worth it and maybe I wouldn't even get fired if the show was good enough.

I'd agree that the biggest advantage (for me at least) to owning anime is being able to watch it whenever I want. I buy a lot but I think it's good to have a wide variety to choose from and finding hidden gems is always good. I get the whole "they're just things" but I do actually get a good feeling when I look at my Yotsuba volumes or whatever even when I'm not actually reading them. I guess it's just nice to know they're there.

I have to admit, I do worry that I'll end up with a bunch of things I just don't like anymore if my tastes change in the future. At the very least, the more anime I watch the more likely I am to find a "superior" equivalent to a show I've watched. Still, the positive feelings I get at the time are probably worth it and even if I leave a show behind I might still have the precious memories (or at least a vague feeling that I enjoyed myself, my memory is kind of terrible).

Sort of related but something else I think about is that I have an awful big collection that mostly has no purpose. If I set out to re-watch everything I own it'd take years (maybe one year or less if I was very dedicated but it'd be a lot of non-stop anime watching) and I keep adding more so basically most of my collection is "idle" for the majority of the time. I kind of feel like it'd be nice to be able to share it with people but I don't really have anyone to share with and when I die (or stop watching anime, which is probably much the same) it's likely the collection will go to waste. Maybe people will pick it up cheap at a charity shop or whatever but who knows what kind of homes it'd go to. I guess I have conflicted feelings in that I like my collection and want to protect it but it somehow doesn't feel right keeping it to myself.

I'm not sure any of that is really relevant but I suppose I'm just thinking out loud.
 
S'all good stuff, though!

Ownership of the stuff we enjoy means different things to different people. I came to appreciate that most when dealing with comic book fans. Some folks prize and cherish specific books or items, but they're not necessarily reading them all the time. Others are reading and re-reading their books literally to destruction.

Same with music. I remember one pal of mine telling me how he thought Led Zeppelin were the greatest band on the planet, and the albums he had were literally the only music he needed... yet he didn't listen to them very often.

For some people, having a nice product on their shelf is important. For others, the enjoyment of the product itself is the big deal. And there are all kinds of attitudeswithin those two goalposts.

I get what you say about collections being 'idle' and 'going to waste', though. I've personally never been into the idea of hoarding stuff just to say you own it. And there's a good deal of crappy anime I've got shot of, simply because there's no point in hanging onto mediocre rubbish. But I do enjoy having a library of stuff I can dip into now and then and dust off something I haven't seen for a while - sometimes even if it's a year or two later. That actually feels about right for frequency of re-watching to me.

I guess the thing is just to keep it all in a good, balanced perspective.
 
Yowanda-san said:
but recently I came to the realisation that material possessions are frivolous and ultimately worthless
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Part of me feels that when you buy anime - like any piece of art - it should be because it is meaningful to you, so price shouldn't be an issue - within reason - because the emotional value far outstrips the material worth.
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I think these two statements are kind of at odds with each other, but I agree with the latte wholeheartedly.
 
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