Re: Is It Me Or Is Buying Anime Just Way Too Expensive Nowad
Apologies if it comes across that way; I do tend to feel that sometimes I make a point about something and it gets overlooked. And when ignoring my point harms other customers, I will continue making it until I'm blue in the face. For example, the anomalous pricing of Gundam Unicorn on Amazon UK when a UK-based distributor exists and sells it at half the price - I love Gundam passionately so I want more people to be properly informed of their options (thank goodness Anime Limited is handling the promotion for Origin so the word can spread better) ^^;
The problem I have with these shy friends who aren't members of the forum is that anyone can say they have friends who back up their opinion and it's impossible to prove either way or move forwards in a debate if we're taking the word of silent lurkers into account. I'm not saying they don't exist, but it's the easiest thing in the world to come into an argument and say "I think this and by the way I have 100 friends who think the same thing so my point is especially valid!". Of course I know you're not that kind of person, but if people don't care enough about a topic to jot their individual opinions down and add them to the debate then I'm not sure how much those opinions should be worth to me either. Just my personal take on third parties - like I said, I have friends who have opinions which run closer to my own, too, so I have no reason to doubt yours exist. Mine aren't interested in joining debates because they're not into forums, so as a tradeoff they sacrifice the privilege of having their opinions heard.
Oh, and I don't think you're a monster for wanting to save money! Like I've said (twice) I buy budget releases too, and when they can be supported without screwing the industry over they should definitely exist as an option for shows which already made their money back. I do feel that the 'Japanese prices for Japanese fans' assumption is rather privileged though; on one hand it's true that we still don't have the same access to free airings they do, but that still doesn't explain why we feel we deserve to pay less for our OAVs and movies too just by virtue of living in the UK and let foreigners subsidise our hobbies. It also means they're the ones choosing which titles are hits and which shows get cancelled if they're the only ones investing in anime's success as a medium.
Ultimately I think my ideal model would be to have everything given a worldwide Japanese-style release one day and then those titles which are big enough hits to sustain it can then be fully localised with cheaper editions and boxed sets to let them reach a wider audience across the world. Which is, I think, what is planned for Gundam Origin. I hope it's successful.
(Dear lurkers, I'm really not that scary. I promise.)
R
HdE said:
Apologies if it comes across that way; I do tend to feel that sometimes I make a point about something and it gets overlooked. And when ignoring my point harms other customers, I will continue making it until I'm blue in the face. For example, the anomalous pricing of Gundam Unicorn on Amazon UK when a UK-based distributor exists and sells it at half the price - I love Gundam passionately so I want more people to be properly informed of their options (thank goodness Anime Limited is handling the promotion for Origin so the word can spread better) ^^;
The problem I have with these shy friends who aren't members of the forum is that anyone can say they have friends who back up their opinion and it's impossible to prove either way or move forwards in a debate if we're taking the word of silent lurkers into account. I'm not saying they don't exist, but it's the easiest thing in the world to come into an argument and say "I think this and by the way I have 100 friends who think the same thing so my point is especially valid!". Of course I know you're not that kind of person, but if people don't care enough about a topic to jot their individual opinions down and add them to the debate then I'm not sure how much those opinions should be worth to me either. Just my personal take on third parties - like I said, I have friends who have opinions which run closer to my own, too, so I have no reason to doubt yours exist. Mine aren't interested in joining debates because they're not into forums, so as a tradeoff they sacrifice the privilege of having their opinions heard.
Oh, and I don't think you're a monster for wanting to save money! Like I've said (twice) I buy budget releases too, and when they can be supported without screwing the industry over they should definitely exist as an option for shows which already made their money back. I do feel that the 'Japanese prices for Japanese fans' assumption is rather privileged though; on one hand it's true that we still don't have the same access to free airings they do, but that still doesn't explain why we feel we deserve to pay less for our OAVs and movies too just by virtue of living in the UK and let foreigners subsidise our hobbies. It also means they're the ones choosing which titles are hits and which shows get cancelled if they're the only ones investing in anime's success as a medium.
Ultimately I think my ideal model would be to have everything given a worldwide Japanese-style release one day and then those titles which are big enough hits to sustain it can then be fully localised with cheaper editions and boxed sets to let them reach a wider audience across the world. Which is, I think, what is planned for Gundam Origin. I hope it's successful.
(Dear lurkers, I'm really not that scary. I promise.)
R
