your thoughs on how much the UK gets

[Warmaster]

I think the UK gets about the right amount for the present - but how it is released is the problem, namely not finishing off series' for months on end, and no series box sets (which i believe would make people much more willing to invest in series - i still recall the massive difficulties i had finding all 6 dvds of Excel Saga, before i used amazon of course - it invovled checking all the major shops in 3 cities!)

Oh and some publicity would help. I mean, the BBC has several hours ever night when it goes to BBC news 24 - why couldn't they show something then?

 

[kupocake]

Oh and some publicity would help. I mean, the BBC has several hours ever night when it goes to BBC news 24 - why couldn't they show something then?

Because using 7 hours of material from another channel they own involves zero expense whereas buying in a high-risk programme that most of the audience wouldn't watch even if it was on at a reasonable time of day is going to cost them a fair bit of cash?

 

[Warmaster]

Oh and some publicity would help. I mean, the BBC has several hours ever night when it goes to BBC news 24 - why couldn't they show something then?

Because using 7 hours of material from another channel they own involves zero expense whereas buying in a high-risk programme that most of the audience wouldn't watch even if it was on at a reasonable time of day is going to cost them a fair bit of cash?

Well, it was idle thoughts, but i've always complained at the BBC wasting those hours by not putting anything in them, and i'm not going to stop now!

 

[melonpan]

I think that at the moment we are catching up with the US at a steady pace, i voted for more anime in the UK, because we need to catch up as soon as possible to have the option of maybe having joint releases with the US, then it would be better all round. I voted for more anime in the UK not just on the dvd side of things, but on the artbox side of things as well, and in my opinion it's not acceptable to have the market this good and not have them, yes i'm looking at you ADV, who have even given the Germans artboxes ! We need to same standard as US releases to be here right now, because the UK market has had 2 years to make up to the US releases. I think that we will be at the same releasing times as the US at the end of this year and early 2007, so then we might be able to see joint UK/US releases

 

[Lupus]

We need more artboxes/boxsets.

That is all.

 

[Gawyn]

I voted for more anime in the UK not just on the dvd side of things, but on the artbox side of things as well, and in my opinion it's not acceptable to have the market this good and not have them, yes i'm looking at you ADV, who have even given the Germans artboxes !

The German anime and manga industry is somewhat larger than our own in many respects. It even outstrips the US one in its licences, such as having a licence for the School Rumble manga and anime before it even got announced in the US (the anime still remains unlicenced by an English speaking country). It is a somewhat different story than our own market.

We need to same standard as US releases to be here right now, because the UK market has had 2 years to make up to the US releases. I think that we will be at the same releasing times as the US at the end of this year and early 2007, so then we might be able to see joint UK/US releases

Catching up to the US market is somewhat of a pipedream, which is unlikely to happen unless we begin to acquire licences direct from Japan and work on our own dubs and subs for them. At the moment, since we rely on the US producing the English language versions of anime we are tied to waiting for them to release it in their country before they will consider sublicencing it to us. The best we are likely to see is as little as a 3 month turnaround for the most popular anime (such as happened with Fullmetal Alchemist), which is about the equivalent for most blockbuster movies.

As for general cries for more, I couldn't really agree with that. We are just barely on the brink of market saturation in the anime sector and any more could prove to be disastrous. I think the level we have right now is balanced and given the reduction in the number of new US licences over the last year is not hampering our content greatly as far as titles receiving domestic licencing. Yes, there are titles that I would love to see licenced over here but I know very well that they have only an outside chance of seeing domestic distribution. In some cases the general state of the UK anime market, being fairly hard to read at the best of times, means that companies are very cagey as to what they will try and licence. On the second note they are also keenly aware of the near saturation that we are presently going through.

As far as the ever-contentious boxed-set/cost-of-anime argument, there is an excellent answer to this question in the Answermancolumn on Anime News Network, which explains exactly why it will not happen and it goes doubly so for the UK.

 

[Neon-Noir]

Catching up to the US market is somewhat of a pipedream, which is unlikely to happen unless we begin to acquire licences direct from Japan and work on our own dubs and subs for them.
.

For dub fans out there though, would anime be tolerable if Souske Sagara had a thick North London accent, or if Faye Valentine spoke in liverpudlian dialect?

If such a thing happened, do you think we'd end up Americanising our dubs?

I agree that we're not that far behind, but it depends on the indivdual series to be honest. By the time ADV have started something in this country for example, you'll be able to buy the thinpack for a third of the price from the US. They did it recently with Full Metal Panic.

 

[kupocake]

For dub fans out there though, would anime be tolerable if Souske Sagara had a thick North London accent, or if Faye Valentine spoke in liverpudlian dialect?

Surely this is a non-issue, people with thick accents simply wouldn't get cast into roles unless it was appropriate. The vast majority of US voice actors speak in a standard american accent, with few exceptions made to mirror a dialectal difference in the original Japanese (Osaka in Azumanga, Jigo in Princess Mononoke). Here, the casting would largerly involve people speaking British RP. Still, it isn't unheard of for Americans to be heard complaining of such casts. I remember reading about someone's dislike for the accents in Harry Potter of all things!

I personally don't think the problem is necessarily one of dialect anyway (American Vs British Standard). It's a problem of neither the UK or the US industry having enough talented voice actors that fit the range of parts that need to be performed. The US industry is characterised by being loud, brash and with no concept of subtlety. The reason is simply that the entire industry is entrenched in kids / adult comedy cartoons where this is more useful. The UK on the other hand is a bit of an unknown substance because... well, it doesn't really exist, though if it did it would likely be similar to the US one.

Important to remember that British VAs aren't unheard of in anime dubs though. Patrick Stewart puts in a fine turn as Lord Yupa in Nausicaa, for instance, though I think i'd be hard-pressed to find a more American-iconised British speaking star!

 

[Ichigo-Chan]

I did use to think that the UK needs more because the amount of DVD's we get compared to the US and other countries is poor, however these days the UK market is growing abit at a time and I'm happy with the way it is.

Anyway the advantage of the UK not publishing loads of Anime DVD's saves me on money lol, however it would be good to see more Anime in the UK ^_^.

 

[kupocake]

It is a bit silly to expect an industry the size of that in a country that is 5 times as many people than us...

 

[Ninja Boy!]

i voted for, just the right amount.
because we are seeing fairly new dvd series comming out every few weeks, and when i start collecting one, i see another i want and so on.
so i think if this continued people would be going crazy, over which ones too choose and stuff, cos, the anime here has been very low, and if out of nowhere, they catch up to the US anime pace over a short period of time, then that would be a problem.
but the only problem is that they arent aqquiring any really good series. if they could license an anime the same time it has been licensed in the us, then we will have the (somewhat) same release date and stuff, not to mention up2date anime.

 

[hopeful_monster]

We need more artboxes/boxsets.

That is all.

Amen brother. Voted for 'there lots just not the type of things im after', there's enought out there, but not the stuff i really like. Not interested in some of the more popular genres and series (harem and rom coms especially). More into mecha and more serious anime.

 

[Ramadahl]

Just the right amount.
There are quite a few good series coming out AFAIC, and between keeping up with them and replacing crappy bootlegs that uses up all that it's sensible for me to spend...
Not that I don't suddenly go crazy and decide to put in a massive order sometimes, but hey...
Oh, I also think more artboxes would be great.

 

[melonpan]

As far as the ever-contentious boxed-set/cost-of-anime argument, there is an excellent answer to this question in the Answermancolumn on Anime News Network, which explains exactly why it will not happen and it goes doubly so for the UK.

I checked that link, but i can't seem to find the part about the UK, is it on another section?

 

[kupocake]

so you should probably stop expecting Ghost in the Shell to be offered at the same price as Family Guy.

26 Episode Ghost in the Shell SAC Gig 1: £39.99 RRP
---
14 Episode Family Guy Series 1: £24.99 RRP
15 Episode Family Guy Series 2: £24.99 RRP
---
The Irony: Priceless

Out of thousands of anime series, poor answerman managed to select the one exception to the rule ^^

Edit: and it's worth pointing out that a series like Futurama is £39.99 RRP for half the episodes you get with GitS SAC

 

[Gawyn]

As far as the ever-contentious boxed-set/cost-of-anime argument, there is an excellent answer to this question in the Answermancolumn on Anime News Network, which explains exactly why it will not happen and it goes doubly so for the UK.

I checked that link, but i can't seem to find the part about the UK, is it on another section?

It doesn't mention the UK but it does mention the US not getting direct to boxed set releases like the Simpsons and US TV shows get. I wsa just making the point that if they won't get it, with their much larger anime market and higher anime TV coverage, we definitely won't.

26 Episode Ghost in the Shell SAC Gig 1: £39.99 RRP
---
14 Episode Family Guy Series 1: £24.99 RRP
15 Episode Family Guy Series 2: £24.99 RRP
---
The Irony: Priceless

Out of thousands of anime series, poor answerman managed to select the one exception to the rule ^^

Edit: and it's worth pointing out that a series like Futurama is £39.99 RRP for half the episodes you get with GitS SAC

The point being that those went direct to a boxed set (which are admitedly fairly pricey for reasonably popular US shows) whilst the GITS boxed set came out after a full priced single volume release.

 

[cornixt]

You might want to check the current prices of those at Amazon right now. Even Futurama is less than £20

 

[kupocake]

You might want to check the current prices of those at Amazon right now. Even Futurama is less than £20

I was quoting the RRP, because that's the best indication of a fixed price that actually means something. Regardless, Ghost in the Shell goes for 10 quid cheaper as well, so the effect is exactly the same.

The point being that those went direct to a boxed set (which are admitedly fairly pricey for reasonably popular US shows) whilst the GITS boxed set came out after a full priced single volume release.

True, but the effect is reached eventually so it doesn't really matter. Besides, it's not as if American shows never take similar approaches. How about those terrible Simpsons DVDs and Videos that just plonk random episodes on media for quick cash? They predate the series Boxsets. Also there's South Park which goes on single volumes first, series boxsets later.

 

[Charter_Mage]

I wasn't really sure which i should vote for as there is much the UK market doesn't have and that i wish to see over here very much, but i don't think i could afford to buy more than i do, and i feel that the UK is probably at a good level at the moment, it would be rubbish if it got over saturated like the US market, so i voted for it having theright amount, even if i would like to perhaps see a little more diverse range