Viz acquires Death Note, but with a twist; Rozen Maiden

Paul

Paul

Ghost of Animes
Administrator
Last week it was announced that Viz Media had licensed the ever-popular Shonen Jump thriller Death Note, but this is not a license announcement in the traditional sense. Aside from the usual DVD releases, Viz intends to sell subtitled episodes of Death Note online shortly after they have aired in Japan, essentially providing fans with a legal alternative to fan subs.

No release dates or schedules for the online episodes have been confirmed, and it's unsure how the digital rights management will be implemented, but this announcement in itself, perhaps for the first time, marks the intention of the anime industry to finally embrace the digital age and provide (at first US-based) fans with anime almost as soon as it has aired in Japan.

In other news, Geneon have licensed the gothic lolita adventure series Rozen Maiden.
 
If I would ever purchase something legal, in the fansub style... I would want it with ALL the trimmings, which is what makes a fansub a fansub...
If it's just going to be rushed, plain subtitles, with the same quality as another fansub, then it seems pointless... The fact is still there though, that this will only be an alternative, with normal fansubs being FREE and probably a faster release.. which is 'generally' what the public want.
So.. I guess, good luck Viz, but I'll still have my fansubs thanks :)
 
DaNiMé said:
If I would ever purchase something legal, in the fansub style... I would want it with ALL the trimmings, which is what makes a fansub a fansub...
If it's just going to be rushed, plain subtitles, with the same quality as another fansub, then it seems pointless... The fact is still there though, that this will only be an alternative, with normal fansubs being FREE and probably a faster release.. which is 'generally' what the public want.
So.. I guess, good luck Viz, but I'll still have my fansubs thanks :)
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So.. you want a sub, that's like a fansub, only isn't?

If Viz plays their cards right I see no reason for them not being able to beat the fansubbers in terms of speed, and I can't help but think that their translations will be a tad more professional somehow.
 
Obviously Viz will have bought the rights to the episodes before they air in Japan, so they have an edge over the fans when it comes to subbing them.
 
They probably will dub it for DVD releases - which I am assuming will eventually come. The subs are just for the more dedicated fans, and an experiment, to see if releasing a series as such can lower the fansub rate.
 
Yeah, I agree with Raujinn. People will get into this if Viz are able to release an episode before the fansubs - generally it takes one to three days for a Death Note episode to be fansubbed, if Viz can get their version out in a matter of hours (which they should) then I can see a ton of desperate fans investing in this. The simple fact of the matter is that anime fans just want to watch anime; of course you'll get cheap skates, but I don't underestimate the number of people willing to pay a few bucks to catch Death Note the night it airs in Japan.
 
Although come to think of it, it'll probably be off-limits to us in the UK. We'll need to wait for DVDs from MVM or Manga or whoever gets the license.
 
This is a great idea, and one I can only hope other licensors get on board with as well. Providing they keep the price reasonable (maybe a couple of quid each, or a fiver a month), the speed up and the quality high, I can see people going for this.

Of course, if you pay to watch the episodes online, and then want buy the DVDs, you are effectively paying for something twice, which only the most hardcore of fans are likely to do. If Viz could get some kind of rebate offer going, whereas you get money off the DVDs if you watched the eps online - that would represent some great value for money, and would get a lot of people interested.
 
Conan-san said:
This can only win if Viz offer it for the UK aswell.

Otherwise, they might as well not bother using the WORLD wide web.
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I doubt they will. I can see it now: "Sorry, this service is only availible within the United States!"
 
Conan-san said:
Otherwise, they might as well not bother using the WORLD wide web.
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Why? Everybody (in America) knows that America is the world.

But seriously, getting a worldwide licence for this kind of thing would probably be stupidly expensive. They are more likely to trial something like this in the US where the market is much more sizeable than to publish it in Europe as well. The difficulties in handling such widescale distribution are also likely to provide problems and with servers in the US providing the backbone, the possibility of a reduced reliability of the service in the UK is also a possibility. (US-Europe work fine most of the time but they can get glitchy on occasion and viewers would not be best pleased to rent something and not be able to view it in a reasonable state.)
 
Gawyn said:
Conan-san said:
Otherwise, they might as well not bother using the WORLD wide web.
Click to expand...

Why? Everybody (in America) knows that America is the world.

But seriously, getting a worldwide licence for this kind of thing would probably be stupidly expensive. They are more likely to trial something like this in the US where the market is much more sizeable than to publish it in Europe as well. The difficulties in handling such widescale distribution are also likely to provide problems and with servers in the US providing the backbone, the possibility of a reduced reliability of the service in the UK is also a possibility. (US-Europe work fine most of the time but they can get glitchy on occasion and viewers would not be best pleased to rent something and not be able to view it in a reasonable state.)
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YAY! Imports!
 
adamcube said:
YAY! Imports!
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Yes but you can't import an internet stream, you would have to use a proxy server or some such to fake yourself as a US user and would likely have to have a credit card registered to a US address to be able to pay for the service.
 
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