UK Anime Distributor MVM Entertainment Discussion Thread

Just Passing Through said:
Some questions about Live Action...

Do you have the same requirements as for an anime release for your live action titles... preexisting PAL materials and subtitle track (presumably from Australia), or do you also create your own?

I loved Dororo, Ikigami and Cutey Honey. Is there more scope to bring live action manga and anime adaptations to the UK? I'm thinking of the She the Ultimate Weapon movie for one, maybe Beck and Usagi Drop in 1 or 2 years. I'm sure there are others.

Have any of your live action titles sold well enough to warrant a Blu-ray release for future titles?
Click to expand...

Pretty much yes, so we are quite lucky most of the work has already been done - all we need to have done is cover art.
Licensing a title that's based on anime/manga is better but it only works well if the anime/manga its based on is well known. Obviously there's loads of titles just waiting to be licensed but its always about the general audience and selling it to them.

With the last question, sadly no. As mentioned in an earlier post we were going to do Wushu on Blu-Ray but costs are more expensive and the title itself would need to sell a lot of copies for us to recoup our costs.
 
ilmaestro said:
Very interesting answers to read so far. Not massively surprising, I guess, but hopefully people will start to learn that selling anime in the UK is not some goldmine being run by billionaire despots. :lol:
Click to expand...

Right said Fred. I'm learning a lot from these discussions, so thanks to AUKN and the companies for this set-up. There is nothing better than an educated customer base. ^_^

Besides that, it's so much more believable to hear about industry challenges directly from the horse's mouth than from a bitter forum dude nostalgic for the 'before time' and only able to appeal for scarce money on moral grounds. For example, knowing the practical costs/implications of getting Monster makes me way more understanding of the fact that I don't have a boxset sitting on my shelf this minute.

Thanks MVM dude, and welcome!
 
MVM said:
First q - obviously there's a lot of anime that are available from Madman but its all about what sells well, what would be available for us etc.

With the sub only it's a tricky one...Live action does sell well but, as daft as it sounds and not being offensive, a lot of people just can't watch a film and read subtitles at the same time. Live action is more accessible to the general audience as opposed to something like Durarara even though they're both subbed. When Beez started doing this we did think about it, it would certainly bring more anime into the UK but I don't think its working - we're not seeing large orders from our site.
Click to expand...
I'll tell you Beez didn't get my money for Durarara because of sub only availability. I have to agree with Manga that it's sales suicide. the sub only crowd most likely have seen the fansubs so only some of those would be that interested in owning the DVDs/BDs, so with that in mind; always subs with dubs if you want my money to you all, not just MVM. :wink:
 
I don't think it's really helpful to say all fans of material in its original language will most likely have downloaded it illegally, so companies should only rehash readily available American releases :s

For one thing, it's simply untrue! And the fact that subtitled shows do fine if they are live action proves this. It's just an unusual situation that anime viewers are happy to watch subs when they are [often illegally] free but magically want dubs instead when they're spending money. I think all shows which can support a dub should have one for the good of the dub fans, but when a show can't I'd rather have the show than not. More choice makes me happy.

I have another rambling question for MVM, if I may: it's hard not to notice that lately there have been more rereleases coming out from the mainstream overseas companies than new material (topically, this mostly affects shows which are dubbed, big hits - Funimation has been rereleasing things more than say, Sentai). When you reissue something, do strong shows continue to sell well or is there a decline where eventually, everyone who wants it has it? I can see the obvious appeal of rereleasing since you have all the materials and BBFC fees sorted out and in many cases there is a built up demand, but I am finding that with so many reissues coming out, as an older fan there can be droughts of actual new material that's to my taste for long periods. Is it a worry, or are there enough new customers flowing in to keep supporting this current status quo?

R
 
Rui said:
I don't think it's really helpful to say all fans of material in its original language will most likely have downloaded it illegally, so companies should only rehash readily available American releases :s

For one thing, it's simply untrue! And the fact that subtitled shows do fine if they are live action proves this. It's just an unusual situation that anime viewers are happy to watch subs when they are [often illegally] free but magically want dubs instead when they're spending money. I think all shows which can support a dub should have one for the good of the dub fans, but when a show can't I'd rather have the show than not. More choice makes me happy.

I have another rambling question for MVM, if I may: it's hard not to notice that lately there have been more rereleases coming out from the mainstream overseas companies than new material (topically, this mostly affects shows which are dubbed, big hits - Funimation has been rereleasing things more than say, Sentai). When you reissue something, do strong shows continue to sell well or is there a decline where eventually, everyone who wants it has it? I can see the obvious appeal of rereleasing since you have all the materials and BBFC fees sorted out and in many cases there is a built up demand, but I am finding that with so many reissues coming out, as an older fan there can be droughts of actual new material that's to my taste for long periods. Is it a worry, or are there enough new customers flowing in to keep supporting this current status quo?

R
Click to expand...
No. The majority of anime fans will have already seen the show subtitled, through legal streaming or fansubs. It's a straight up fact.

People who wait for an official English release are in the minority.

Live action is a whole nother story. Live action only gets dubbed on few occasions.
 
Paradox295 said:
No. The majority of anime fans will have already seen the show subtitled, through legal streaming or fansubs. It's a straight up fact.

People who wait for an official English release are in the minority.

Live action is a whole nother story. Live action only gets dubbed on few occasions.
Click to expand...

The majority of anime 'fans' aren't going to buy it whether it's subbed, dubbed or comes in a golden casket. I'm not sure it's logical to sweepingly say that sub-only will fail because a free 'product' already exists out there. Of the sub viewers not all will have seen it for free, and not all of the ones who have won't want their own DVD version.

(And it's not like people don't illegally copy dubs too.)

R
 
Am I actually reading "people only pay for dubs" seriously, when so many US companies had to drop dubs because they weren't profitable?!

As Rui already beat me to, you need to start differentiating between fans, and "fans".
 
Another question for the MVM rep...

Is there a legal, or an industry requirement that DVDs sold in the UK have to be PAL? Beyond the obvious that it would make licensing anime a whole lot easier if you could cut out the Region 4 conversion.

I can't think of any modern TV that doesn't display NTSC, and with progressive equipment.
 
Another question. Considering your great relationship with Gonzo any chance that you guys could pick up Red Garden and Pumpkin Scissors that ADV couldn't finish over here? Also Kaidelo Star would be a great show to bring over here as well. :D
 
Rui said:
I don't think it's really helpful to say all fans of material in its original language will most likely have downloaded it illegally, so companies should only rehash readily available American releases :s
Click to expand...
You will have noticed, I'm sure, that I made no mention that a dub had to come from America. :wink:

For one thing, it's simply untrue! And the fact that subtitled shows do fine if they are live action proves this. It's just an unusual situation that anime viewers are happy to watch subs when they are [often illegally] free but magically want dubs instead when they're spending money. I think all shows which can support a dub should have one for the good of the dub fans, but when a show can't I'd rather have the show than not. More choice makes me happy.
Click to expand...
If that is so "untrue" then can you explain Manga's position on the matter? Why would they say it's "sales suicide" then? I can understand why live action subs do better that anime subs and that's simply down to the cultural dogma of "cartoons are for kids " and so subbed only cartoons are even going to be further down the food chain to mainstream consumers. I'm also one of those people who due to their physical disablilies can not read and watch at the same time so sadly sub only is as good as not being here at all.

I have another rambling question for MVM, if I may: it's hard not to notice that lately there have been more rereleases coming out from the mainstream overseas companies than new material (topically, this mostly affects shows which are dubbed, big hits - Funimation has been rereleasing things more than say, Sentai). When you reissue something, do strong shows continue to sell well or is there a decline where eventually, everyone who wants it has it? I can see the obvious appeal of rereleasing since you have all the materials and BBFC fees sorted out and in many cases there is a built up demand, but I am finding that with so many reissues coming out, as an older fan there can be droughts of actual new material that's to my taste for long periods. Is it a worry, or are there enough new customers flowing in to keep supporting this current status quo?

R
Click to expand...
I don't know what MVM's answer to that will be, but mine is; I certainly hope so.
 
I'm really uncomfortable arguing about things which have very little to do with MVM in MVM's thread, so I've spun the other comment into another thread of its own.

Mohawk52: MangaUK also say on their Twitter that their buyers have "fanspergers" syndrome and importing anime funds criminal activity. That's why I like to hear what the other, less mainstream companies have to say, in a less sensationalist way. Manga very much plays to their market, which is younger people in college who don't have much disposable cash. I'm interested by the potential companies like MVM and Beez have to reach out to different audiences so we have the most choice possible.

I have nothing against people enjoying dubs, and if the market was there and we could have local dubs again I'd be delighted that anime was succeeding. But I'm very interested in alternatives to being bottlenecked by dubs in our current position, because the industry is clearly struggling to make a lot of series profitable. In the US, Funimation has a strict dub-everything policy, and not coincidentally in the US it's Funimation leaving a huge amount of shows unfinished and seemingly losing market share hand over fist to Sentai, who only dub selectively. I want our companies to do well and grow, one way or another!

To bring things back to MVM, in the US (and with Durarara!! here, in due course) there have been a few shows where they've started out as sub-only then, after becoming successful, been rereleased as bilingual series. I don't see how that's terrifically viable here where it will need two sets of disc masters making, presumably, but since it's still happening in the US from several different companies I suppose it must be, for them. I'm not saying that exact model would work here, but I do enjoy seeing various experiments taking place to improve anime distribution in the English speaking world.

I think it's a shame Durarara!! apparently had less than spectacular sales here, and even in the US it seems to have flown well under the radar compared to its clout in Japan. Bah.

Really hoping for an answer to the interesting PAL/NTSC question too.

R
 
ilmaestro said:
Am I actually reading "people only pay for dubs" seriously, when so many US companies had to drop dubs because they weren't profitable?!
Click to expand...
There is clearly a tipping point where the number of extra sales a dub generates won't cover the cost of the dub (Say you'd expect Title A to sell 2000 copies with a dub and 1000 without, but you'd need to sell 3000 copies to cover the cost of the dub - even though you'd be doubling sales you'd still be losing money)

devilrules666 said:
Another question. Considering your great relationship with Gonzo any chance that you guys could pick up Red Garden and Pumpkin Scissors that ADV couldn't finish over here?
Click to expand...
Are we talking about the same Mr Red "sold 10 copies" Garden here? ^^;
 
Just Passing Through said:
Is there a legal, or an industry requirement that DVDs sold in the UK have to be PAL?
Click to expand...

I bet the EU has a few things to say about that. I can imagine any conversion to go away from PAL would most likely need to go through them?
 
Rui said:
I don't think it's really helpful to say all fans of material in its original language will most likely have downloaded it illegally, so companies should only rehash readily available American releases :s

For one thing, it's simply untrue! And the fact that subtitled shows do fine if they are live action proves this. It's just an unusual situation that anime viewers are happy to watch subs when they are [often illegally] free but magically want dubs instead when they're spending money. I think all shows which can support a dub should have one for the good of the dub fans, but when a show can't I'd rather have the show than not. More choice makes me happy.

I have another rambling question for MVM, if I may: it's hard not to notice that lately there have been more rereleases coming out from the mainstream overseas companies than new material (topically, this mostly affects shows which are dubbed, big hits - Funimation has been rereleasing things more than say, Sentai). When you reissue something, do strong shows continue to sell well or is there a decline where eventually, everyone who wants it has it? I can see the obvious appeal of rereleasing since you have all the materials and BBFC fees sorted out and in many cases there is a built up demand, but I am finding that with so many reissues coming out, as an older fan there can be droughts of actual new material that's to my taste for long periods. Is it a worry, or are there enough new customers flowing in to keep supporting this current status quo?

R
Click to expand...
Good question - short answer; yes. Samurai Champloo for example, which has been out for ages, from the original fat artbox, to the slim artbox, to the version we have now still sells well as do many other series. It can be annoying to some people seeing reissues of the same thing, granted, but the stuff sells constantly.
Manga are currently the only ones bringing new stuff out all the time which is great as it keeps the anime market alive but there is demand still for the older stuff so its a win win situation.
 
Just Passing Through said:
Another question for the MVM rep...

Is there a legal, or an industry requirement that DVDs sold in the UK have to be PAL? Beyond the obvious that it would make licensing anime a whole lot easier if you could cut out the Region 4 conversion.

I can't think of any modern TV that doesn't display NTSC, and with progressive equipment.
Click to expand...

I can't answer this properly as I don't really know myself but I am pretty sure that it is. Obviously pretty much all TV's/dvd players can play any region dvd nowadays. But like I said I'm not 100% sure on that.
 
devilrules666 said:
Another question. Considering your great relationship with Gonzo any chance that you guys could pick up Red Garden and Pumpkin Scissors that ADV couldn't finish over here? Also Kaidelo Star would be a great show to bring over here as well. :D
Click to expand...

It is possible - ADV did license some good series that we could get back in the UK market as a straight to boxset if the prices were right etc. But considering how poorly Red Garden sold it's highly unlikely.
 
A quick question from me, I tried watching volume 2 of Slayers today and on episode 8, at a certain point(30:30) it froze and everything after, the picture went wierd. So I was wondering if the problem only on my copy?
 
Back
Top