I see the logic, but I'm not sure distributors will. If there was s dip in sales, they'd probably chalk it up to a lack of interest in the shows themselves as opposed to assuming it's something to do with the specific way to was streamed. I'm not sure boycotting a release for such a reason would have any long term impact unless it was done en mass, it just seems like kind of a waste of time and ends up only spiting yourself by getting the inferior US release.
I don't see the US release as inferior because I have primarily region A players, so it's actually more convenient to have foreign discs even if the presentation is not as nice. I don't hold the lack of UK streams against the US companies when we are meant to have UK companies advocating for us (and trying to sell product). Of course, I'm also lucky enough to be able to afford both if I screw up and think Hyouka is the best show ever after watching it.
While I like CEs, a CE of a series I know very little about just doesn't get me going at all. I need to feel involved to start throwing cash at something. When I bought the Fate/Zero sets from AoA, it was because I had seen Fate/Zero streaming and loved it. I was pleased that they had supported me with the simulcast and also given me an opportunity to buy just like any other English-speaking customer on the planet, even though, objectively, in the long term it was kind of a bad deal since cheaper sets were obviously coming later. The CE model doesn't work for me when the companies are taking my wallet for granted and banking on me having pirated it or being a big fan of the key art/description. I need to feel as though they value me if they want me to value them back.
I get what you're saying about them not being able to do anything about lost sales if they don't know why. There's a lot of talk about people who choose to pirate rather than buy, but I'm willing and able to buy local yet still refusing when I feel that the industry isn't serving me.
That's why I welcome being questioned about my quixotic one-man campaigns
Edit: Psychologically speaking it annoys me even more in a CE-driven market. If I love the show, I want the CE. If I like the show, I'll get the standard. For a blind buy, this model puts me in a very difficult position; do I buy the CE and risk sinking a lot of money into a show I might not care about that much, or the standard and risk having the extra expense of a double dip if I don't hate it in the first place? Either way I'm potentially wasting my hard-earned cash so I may as well wait until some future date when a stream is available in a season where nothing newer, better and shinier is stealing my attention - this will never happen. There are other anime titles out there. I don't need Hyouka, Yamato or GARO. It's even more insulting when fans in Japan and the US are able to try before they buy just because they happen to live in a more favourable region.
R
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