What a week!
What a week to be in anime fandom! Shall we recap and offer some editorialising? Why yes, let's!
1. ADV vs. Comcast
Earlier this week, ADV issued a press release asking fans to rise up in arms against Comcast, as the latter was being ambivalent at best and hostile at worst towards picking up The Anime Network Linear, and was offering a rival Video On Demand service in conjunction with CPM.
First and foremost, let me get this out of the way now: I don't like ADV. There is *ONE* ADV series on my DVD shelf, and *ONE* ADV series on my VHS shelf, and I got the former at below-wholesale price and the latter secondhand for $1/tape. I think they do poor quality work, and that their licensing practices are predatory and questionable. Also, I just think Matt G. is an asshole.
So how does this sound to me, someone who does drop a good $100-300 on anime every month (my DVDs are listed separately on my renter's insurance)? It sounds like ADV is coming to terms with the fact that they're not getting a good return on investment and are trying to pull every string and trick that they have. If the most recent article on ADV is accurate (The AP one from earlier this week), ADV pulls in $150 million per year on sales (I don't know if this includes the manga, toy, US video, etc. sides or not). From other articles I've seen, launching a cable network costs around $100 million. And other stuff I've read says that they've already dropped a good $50 million on this venture.
In other words, ADV's performing a standard business measure - they're risking a big debt in order to expand and recover in a couple years. That said, Anime Network has been on VOD for maybe a year? And linear just rolled out in...October?
Methinks ADV wants too much to happen in too little time. It's hard to get onto cable, and the recent Echostar/Viacom spat shows that the only way to guarantee entrance is to be part of a bundle with other networks. ADV is going this alone, and that makes it harder for them to gain clout. I'm not sure if this is turning into a pissing match, but my guess is that ADV is just miffed that they're not going to get on basic cable any time soon. If Comcast, Cox, TW, DirecTV, Dish, etc. *do* pick up TAN, it's going to be on the upper tiers of channels for satellite and digital for cable.
It doesn't help that ADV is aiming their channel at the casual viewers and not the established fanbase who they're trying so hard to mobilise. Having seen screeners of TAN Linear programming at a club function, I have to say that I have no desire to watch their network, even if it was offered to me on basic cable. It's 100% dub (supposedly there will be subtitle blocks coming online in the next few months, but even the VOD stuff is all dub), the programming is heavily skewed to the new and shiny (they have one oldskool block per week), the in-channel promotions are obnoxious (do we *really* need to see Matt Greenfield's bad haiku tribute to catgirls?), and they put up a giant quarter-screen bug twice an episode (goes across the top and left side of the image).
Gee, I can't see why fans aren't clamouring for this.
Mind you, here's the real issue: Comcast and Sony have a deal to put new channels together, one of which is rumoured to be a long-awaited US version of Animax. For those out of the loop, Animax is a satellite network in Japan (as well as other parts of SE Asia) which broadcasts a wide variety of both new and older anime (Hana Yori Dango was re-aired on Animax in the last couple years, and it's the original broadcaster of stuff like Panyo Panyo DGC). Would I like to see this? Hell yes. Sony has way more money to push this type of project with, and they can put enough cash on the table to entice anyone they want to OK the broadcasting deal.
On the other hand...ADV supposedly wants to cater to the fans. I can see ADV being more likely to put subtitled material on the air, but as long as they're feeding it primarily with their new and shiny regardless of actual quality catalog, it's not going to be my cup of tea.
2. Pandora's Cube Raided By The Feds
I think everybody knows how I feel about this. The Cube and Byron the Hutt have had it coming to them for ages, but only time will tell if the raid has any sort of effect. The general feeling on /. was that yes, it's good that they're getting busted, and yes, they are morons, but jail time vs. a fine.
IMHO, the fine should be enough to ensure that they never try anything like this. And as one poster on the AoDVD forums put it, it must be interesting to see what turns up in their tax records. Would it be nice to see them go legit? I guess. Is it going to happen? No.
Interestingly enough, the doors are still open at all three locations. According to psipsy, the stock is greatly reduced (all the Xbox stuff and blatantly pirated VHS tapes are gone), but the HK DVDs (which look real enough to not be immediately noticeable as pirated) and most of the generic merchandise are still on the shelves.
3. Japanese Company 'Media Factory' sends a C&D to Fansubbers
This one's been interesting to read, although by this point (about 300 messages via Suki, AoDVD, and ANN later), everything that needs to be said by most people has been.
The short version (for those who haven't heard): The Japanese distributor for shows like School Rumble and Vandread have gone after fansubbers and torrent linking sites like AnimeSuki for posting copies of their stuff. Suki has pulled all related torrent links, but only about 1/3 of the groups fansubbing this stuff have publically stated that they're going to drop the projects.
The simple truth is this: The Japanese company is perfectly within their rights to do it, and their requests should be complied with. If any JP company came to A-C and told us to stop distroing a title, it would be gone as soon as I could get on the torrent FTP and wipe the files. And yes, it did make me a little uncomfortable last night when posting this week's release. Also, it looks like I can't call Matt G. a liar about threatening JP legal action, even if he *did* do it for three years before anything actually happened.
I believe that one of the Lupin Gang guys put it best when he said that the digisub scene has a "warez" feel to it, and reading some of the posts on Suki definately makes that apparent as people raised hissy fits, ranted about how evil the company was, and so on. Reality, though, says this: The hot new shows don't need to be fansubbed, and time spent doing so is a waste. Nobody needs to sub FMA, Gundam Seed Destiny, Naruto, Ah! My Goddess TV, Bleach, etc. All of them are going to be picked up within the next year, and turnaround times for hot properties has dropped to under a year, esp. as copros mean that masters are being sent to the US as fast as they're finalised. The buzz is built in, and people will buy them regardless.
lynxara also made a valid point via AIM last night, in that if trends continue, the majority of titles produced on both sides of the ocean are going to be those which are just one part of a massive merchandising system. FMA and Gunparade March exist as anime to sell their respective games (and the former having the backing of a studio known for their obsessive buy-everything fans). Gundam SEED had more time spent on the toy designs than the anime. Initial D was made to sell Eurobeat compilatons. And look at the number of dating sim titles. Tie-ins are the ticket to production money, and make licensors drool at their potential.
So the question returns to all the forums: Do we need fansubs anymore? The answer is a wishy-washy 'sometimes'. It depends on what they're of, and who needs them.
For example, anime clubs rely heavily on fansubs as a hook for drawing in members. By providing the new hotness as well as the obscure, clubs provide a place for fans to preview before buying, and to see things outside of the commercially accessible. Conventions used to show lots of fansubs as well, but this is rapidly changing: the NoVA Alliance cons have gone to commercial screeners only, and the quantity of fansubs on Otakon's programming schedule has plummeted.
The other issue is exposure. Let's face it folks, shows like Touch and Dendoh are not going to be covered anytime soon in Newtype USA or Anime Insider or any of the other US magazines except in a "Cool things that you'll never actually see" sidebar. These are the shows which fansubbers should be focusing on, because passing out copies and hooking people with the material itself is the only way to generate enough buzz to convince a licensor to fork over the cash.
There's also the unlicensables: things like Macross 7 and Prefectural Earth Defense Force, where the materials are unavailable, or too far split up and expensive to make bringing them over feasable. The only way people in this country will see them translated is through piracy.
All that said, fansubbing's not going anywhere. While I don't think this will be an isolated incident, the hobby's too entrenched in fandom (there have been fansubs for over ten years now). There's either going to be a shift away from the new and shiny (doubtful), or things are going to go more underground (most likely) or back towards traditional media (less likely).
4. Bandai Fscks up Zeta Gundam
Despite two years of release delays, Zeta Gundam got screwed up. In this case, the original OP and ED music is missing, replaced by pieces of BGM with sound effects. According to a Bandai rep on the AnimeNation forums, it was a licensing issue. It appears that the songs in question *have* been used recently in Japanese Gundam video games, and they are present on the R2 sets, so it looks like Tomino or someone at Sunrise (or JVC/Victor) got uppity about something or another.
The fan response has been, as one can imagine, overwhelmingly negative. While this is an understandable anger, the larger issue is that Bandai made *no* announcement of these changes before releasing the set, amplifying the outrage of people who paid up to $200 for their sets. As for the rest of the release, fan response has been middling. The A/V quality is decent, and obviously remastered, but not to the level of 0079, and certainly not jawdropping like the remastered edition of Macross. There's also a dearth of on-disc extras...apparently the HK's have more content goodies than the R1.
I side with the fans on this one. Bandai should have said *something* about this before putting out the release, especially as it was clear that this was a release aimed at a small number of hardcore fans who were destined to nitpick it. It also makes me wonder if ZZ, Turn-A, or V will be coming out at all over here, as UC seems to have been given the shaft both by Bandai and mainstream fandom.
Aiight, that's enough for now. This has gotten way too darn long (read: guess who's bored at work).
1. ADV vs. Comcast
Earlier this week, ADV issued a press release asking fans to rise up in arms against Comcast, as the latter was being ambivalent at best and hostile at worst towards picking up The Anime Network Linear, and was offering a rival Video On Demand service in conjunction with CPM.
First and foremost, let me get this out of the way now: I don't like ADV. There is *ONE* ADV series on my DVD shelf, and *ONE* ADV series on my VHS shelf, and I got the former at below-wholesale price and the latter secondhand for $1/tape. I think they do poor quality work, and that their licensing practices are predatory and questionable. Also, I just think Matt G. is an asshole.
So how does this sound to me, someone who does drop a good $100-300 on anime every month (my DVDs are listed separately on my renter's insurance)? It sounds like ADV is coming to terms with the fact that they're not getting a good return on investment and are trying to pull every string and trick that they have. If the most recent article on ADV is accurate (The AP one from earlier this week), ADV pulls in $150 million per year on sales (I don't know if this includes the manga, toy, US video, etc. sides or not). From other articles I've seen, launching a cable network costs around $100 million. And other stuff I've read says that they've already dropped a good $50 million on this venture.
In other words, ADV's performing a standard business measure - they're risking a big debt in order to expand and recover in a couple years. That said, Anime Network has been on VOD for maybe a year? And linear just rolled out in...October?
Methinks ADV wants too much to happen in too little time. It's hard to get onto cable, and the recent Echostar/Viacom spat shows that the only way to guarantee entrance is to be part of a bundle with other networks. ADV is going this alone, and that makes it harder for them to gain clout. I'm not sure if this is turning into a pissing match, but my guess is that ADV is just miffed that they're not going to get on basic cable any time soon. If Comcast, Cox, TW, DirecTV, Dish, etc. *do* pick up TAN, it's going to be on the upper tiers of channels for satellite and digital for cable.
It doesn't help that ADV is aiming their channel at the casual viewers and not the established fanbase who they're trying so hard to mobilise. Having seen screeners of TAN Linear programming at a club function, I have to say that I have no desire to watch their network, even if it was offered to me on basic cable. It's 100% dub (supposedly there will be subtitle blocks coming online in the next few months, but even the VOD stuff is all dub), the programming is heavily skewed to the new and shiny (they have one oldskool block per week), the in-channel promotions are obnoxious (do we *really* need to see Matt Greenfield's bad haiku tribute to catgirls?), and they put up a giant quarter-screen bug twice an episode (goes across the top and left side of the image).
Gee, I can't see why fans aren't clamouring for this.
Mind you, here's the real issue: Comcast and Sony have a deal to put new channels together, one of which is rumoured to be a long-awaited US version of Animax. For those out of the loop, Animax is a satellite network in Japan (as well as other parts of SE Asia) which broadcasts a wide variety of both new and older anime (Hana Yori Dango was re-aired on Animax in the last couple years, and it's the original broadcaster of stuff like Panyo Panyo DGC). Would I like to see this? Hell yes. Sony has way more money to push this type of project with, and they can put enough cash on the table to entice anyone they want to OK the broadcasting deal.
On the other hand...ADV supposedly wants to cater to the fans. I can see ADV being more likely to put subtitled material on the air, but as long as they're feeding it primarily with their new and shiny regardless of actual quality catalog, it's not going to be my cup of tea.
2. Pandora's Cube Raided By The Feds
I think everybody knows how I feel about this. The Cube and Byron the Hutt have had it coming to them for ages, but only time will tell if the raid has any sort of effect. The general feeling on /. was that yes, it's good that they're getting busted, and yes, they are morons, but jail time vs. a fine.
IMHO, the fine should be enough to ensure that they never try anything like this. And as one poster on the AoDVD forums put it, it must be interesting to see what turns up in their tax records. Would it be nice to see them go legit? I guess. Is it going to happen? No.
Interestingly enough, the doors are still open at all three locations. According to psipsy, the stock is greatly reduced (all the Xbox stuff and blatantly pirated VHS tapes are gone), but the HK DVDs (which look real enough to not be immediately noticeable as pirated) and most of the generic merchandise are still on the shelves.
3. Japanese Company 'Media Factory' sends a C&D to Fansubbers
This one's been interesting to read, although by this point (about 300 messages via Suki, AoDVD, and ANN later), everything that needs to be said by most people has been.
The short version (for those who haven't heard): The Japanese distributor for shows like School Rumble and Vandread have gone after fansubbers and torrent linking sites like AnimeSuki for posting copies of their stuff. Suki has pulled all related torrent links, but only about 1/3 of the groups fansubbing this stuff have publically stated that they're going to drop the projects.
The simple truth is this: The Japanese company is perfectly within their rights to do it, and their requests should be complied with. If any JP company came to A-C and told us to stop distroing a title, it would be gone as soon as I could get on the torrent FTP and wipe the files. And yes, it did make me a little uncomfortable last night when posting this week's release. Also, it looks like I can't call Matt G. a liar about threatening JP legal action, even if he *did* do it for three years before anything actually happened.
I believe that one of the Lupin Gang guys put it best when he said that the digisub scene has a "warez" feel to it, and reading some of the posts on Suki definately makes that apparent as people raised hissy fits, ranted about how evil the company was, and so on. Reality, though, says this: The hot new shows don't need to be fansubbed, and time spent doing so is a waste. Nobody needs to sub FMA, Gundam Seed Destiny, Naruto, Ah! My Goddess TV, Bleach, etc. All of them are going to be picked up within the next year, and turnaround times for hot properties has dropped to under a year, esp. as copros mean that masters are being sent to the US as fast as they're finalised. The buzz is built in, and people will buy them regardless.
lynxara also made a valid point via AIM last night, in that if trends continue, the majority of titles produced on both sides of the ocean are going to be those which are just one part of a massive merchandising system. FMA and Gunparade March exist as anime to sell their respective games (and the former having the backing of a studio known for their obsessive buy-everything fans). Gundam SEED had more time spent on the toy designs than the anime. Initial D was made to sell Eurobeat compilatons. And look at the number of dating sim titles. Tie-ins are the ticket to production money, and make licensors drool at their potential.
So the question returns to all the forums: Do we need fansubs anymore? The answer is a wishy-washy 'sometimes'. It depends on what they're of, and who needs them.
For example, anime clubs rely heavily on fansubs as a hook for drawing in members. By providing the new hotness as well as the obscure, clubs provide a place for fans to preview before buying, and to see things outside of the commercially accessible. Conventions used to show lots of fansubs as well, but this is rapidly changing: the NoVA Alliance cons have gone to commercial screeners only, and the quantity of fansubs on Otakon's programming schedule has plummeted.
The other issue is exposure. Let's face it folks, shows like Touch and Dendoh are not going to be covered anytime soon in Newtype USA or Anime Insider or any of the other US magazines except in a "Cool things that you'll never actually see" sidebar. These are the shows which fansubbers should be focusing on, because passing out copies and hooking people with the material itself is the only way to generate enough buzz to convince a licensor to fork over the cash.
There's also the unlicensables: things like Macross 7 and Prefectural Earth Defense Force, where the materials are unavailable, or too far split up and expensive to make bringing them over feasable. The only way people in this country will see them translated is through piracy.
All that said, fansubbing's not going anywhere. While I don't think this will be an isolated incident, the hobby's too entrenched in fandom (there have been fansubs for over ten years now). There's either going to be a shift away from the new and shiny (doubtful), or things are going to go more underground (most likely) or back towards traditional media (less likely).
4. Bandai Fscks up Zeta Gundam
Despite two years of release delays, Zeta Gundam got screwed up. In this case, the original OP and ED music is missing, replaced by pieces of BGM with sound effects. According to a Bandai rep on the AnimeNation forums, it was a licensing issue. It appears that the songs in question *have* been used recently in Japanese Gundam video games, and they are present on the R2 sets, so it looks like Tomino or someone at Sunrise (or JVC/Victor) got uppity about something or another.
The fan response has been, as one can imagine, overwhelmingly negative. While this is an understandable anger, the larger issue is that Bandai made *no* announcement of these changes before releasing the set, amplifying the outrage of people who paid up to $200 for their sets. As for the rest of the release, fan response has been middling. The A/V quality is decent, and obviously remastered, but not to the level of 0079, and certainly not jawdropping like the remastered edition of Macross. There's also a dearth of on-disc extras...apparently the HK's have more content goodies than the R1.
I side with the fans on this one. Bandai should have said *something* about this before putting out the release, especially as it was clear that this was a release aimed at a small number of hardcore fans who were destined to nitpick it. It also makes me wonder if ZZ, Turn-A, or V will be coming out at all over here, as UC seems to have been given the shaft both by Bandai and mainstream fandom.
Aiight, that's enough for now. This has gotten way too darn long (read: guess who's bored at work).