Comments for AnimeNation Anime News Blog

Comment on 4°C’s Morinaga Anniversary Anime Online by rbee

rbee — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 13:46:00 +0000

This was really lovely. Shorts have so much impact, and I have to say I like the anchoring around a product for some reason. Makes me appreciate the structure a little bit more — not because I don’t understand it otherwise, but because if the story element fails it’s still interesting to consider as a piece of advertising. And THAT can be very similar or different to international advertising. In other words, all good stuff. ^^

Just not sure the mum character should be smiling if she’s just now realising how difficult parenting will be. And she’s just at the very beginning! Welcome to lifelong exasperation, kaachan!

Comment on Ask John: Which Anime Have Underperformed in America? by GATS

GATS — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 07:45:47 +0000

“Galaxy Express 999 is one of Japan’s most celebrated anime series. It’s consistently been a near flop in America despite all three theatrical films being released on American home video, the complete TV series getting a digital release, and the TV show getting a partial DVD release.”

If you mean during the VHS era or with the manga, then yeah. But the movies made money for Discotek. The only reason the show bombed was ‘cus an a-hole company like S’more got its mitts on it.

“Five different domestic distributors have been involved in ultimately releasing all three TV series and the original feature film on American home video, yet the series has never achieved quite the popularity it has in Japan.”

Yeah, but I think it’s getting there with the help of the games. I just wish the 2000s Fist movies and OAVs were picked up.

“The Gintama franchise has been hugely successful in Japan, yet despite a domestic release of the theatrical feature and a DVD release of some of the TV series, the show hasn’t proven to be a big hit in America.”

It did partly alright, but it gets old fast.

“Similarly, Crayon Shin-chan and Keroro Gunso have had phenomenal success in Japan but haven’t reached similar stratospheric success in America despite FUNimation’s best efforts.”

Shin-chan might’ve had a chance, but it was released dub-only.

“Although extremely popular in America’s VHS-era fansub circuit, by the time the show received an official American DVD release, it didn’t achieve breakout popularity.”

Well, it didn’t help that FUNi marketed it about as well as 4Kids with One Piece.

” None of the Pretty Cure anime has ever reached American home video, and none of the subsequent 8 television series nor any of the feature films has ever received any official American release.”

It could be that Toupee is asking for more than it’s worth.

Comment on Ask John: Which Anime Have Underperformed in America? by seanny

seanny — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 00:42:28 +0000

Seems like the narratives of failed releases in the modern age are those that are too mundane/mainstream for the US home video market, and those that are released too late for the savvy (read: have already watched it to the death on fansub years ago) otaku crowd. I mean, I liked really liked Guu at the time, but when the AnimeNation DVD version came out I was like god, I don’t want to watch that whole thing again.

Pretty Cure is probably the only thing on there with potential today. If they just slap modern Pretty Cure on Cartoon Network, it could gather a Sailor Moon / MLP-esque male fanbase I think. Pretty Cure is engineered for that.

Comment on FUNimation Acquires Evangelion: 3.0 by Corey Adam T

Corey Adam T — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 21:52:32 +0000

I wonder if they licenced the Kyoshinhei Tokyo ni Arawaru (Giant God Warriors Appear in Tokyo) along with the full extras? The live action short was confusing when I saw it the first time on the Japanese Blu-ray. Hopefully domestic fans will get a chance to see it as well. It was… interesting.

“Kyoshinhei Tokyo ni Arawaru (Giant God Warriors Appear in Tokyo) is a short Tokusatsu (Live-action film or tv series that uses special effects) movie created as a promotional video for the special effects exhibition at the ‘TOKUSATSU – Special Effects Museum,’ curated by Anno Hideaki (Evangelion’s director) at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo. The movie was shown with ‘Evangelion 3.0′ by Suzuki Toshio and Anno Hideaki.’”

Comment on Ask John: Which Important Anime Have Never Been Released in America? by John

John — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 15:22:28 +0000

I did consider mentioning Mirai Shonen Conan in my response, but I elected not to because the series has historical significance but not nearly as much influence on the rest of the anime industry or the production of anime since 1978.

Comment on Ask John: Which Important Anime Have Never Been Released in America? by GATS

GATS — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 22:33:20 +0000

Plus, there’s that whole “Worried about getting sued because of confusion with Conan the Barbarian” thing which caused TMS, FUNi, and Viz to opt for name changes. Though that part could easily be remedied by just calling the American release, “Future Boy”.

Comment on Ask John: Which Important Anime Have Never Been Released in America? by GATS

GATS — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 22:29:50 +0000

Keep Disco: Actually, it may not be much of a surprise that the Future Boy Conan hasn’t been brought over here. It’s very possible that the hypothetical American distributor would have to pay Key’s estate on top of the usual licensing fees. The damned book has been out of print for ages and costs a fortune on the used market, but I guess the lawyers are still glomping onto the rights, anyway.

Comment on Ask John: I Got Nothing. by TheLaughingMan

TheLaughingMan — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 16:42:15 +0000

You have officially answered every question about anime ever? We are now all knowing because of your tireless efforts. What are you going to do now?

Comment on Ask John Editorial: On AnimeSols by sfriedberg

sfriedberg — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 03:01:51 +0000

I think a very large part of AnimeSol’s low participation is a nearly complete lack of knowledge. Their effort is not widely publicized and when I visited their website a couple of weeks ago I had to DEDUCE what the heck their objective was. The site did not SAY what they planning to do. Poor communication. Poor marketing.

I don’t believe it’s fair to pin this one on “American fans just aren’t interested.” You’ve got to cross the “American fans have even heard about the effort” milestone before you can conclude anything about interest levels.

Comment on Ask John: Which Important Anime Have Never Been Released in America? by Keep Disco Evil

Keep Disco Evil — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 21:49:21 +0000

A classic that I’m surprised hasn’t had a official U.S. release is Future Boy Conan, since it was directed by Hayao Miyazaki.

Comment on Ask John Editorial: On AnimeSols by John

John — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 18:10:59 +0000

Thanks for the explanation. Hope I didn’t come across too antagonistically, as that wasn’t my intention.

Comment on Ask John Editorial: On AnimeSols by quarkboy

quarkboy — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 09:15:13 +0000

Sam here, let me answer one of your questions about the goal costs: Just because we don’t have to pay “MG” doesn’t mean that there aren’t royalties that must be paid. Basically it works like domestic sales instead of international ones since we’re going straight to the rights holders. ~30% of the support goal is to run the site, and the other 70% is split between the actual production costs (printing, shipping, preparing the extras), royalties for the writer, director, music composer (or music production company), JASRAC fees if applicable, and profit for the rights holding company that’s usually about 50% of the overall supporter money.
The main reason that it might be higher than you’d think is that the royalties need to be paid for the entire manufactured print run of 1000 discs, not just the number that are pre-ordered. We could theoretically make the goals about ~20% smaller if we only planned on making 500 pieces, but then the profit margin shrinks and it’d require more DVD releases to be profitable as a business, plus the theoretical upside of selling the extra discs nearly vanishes.

You can’t compare the values of traditional licensing with this model directly, since the “Goal” money is closer to total sales receipts than an MG paid to a licensor. A better number to compare the goal amount to would be “What would be the total receipts of disc sales we would need to get to justify paying an MG of XXX” where XXX is the number you’re probably thinking of for MG.

In short, the goal amount is not an MG, it covers a lot of extra costs as well.

Comment on Aniplex to Release Gyo & Zetsuen no Tempest Domestically by Bradster

Bradster — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 20:32:51 +0000

I liked ZnT enough to shell out for the series, but I’m uncertain about GYO. $30 for a BD release would be an insta-buy, but I’d have to have the money burning a hole in my pocket for mere DVD…

Comment on Ask John Editorial: On AnimeSols by GATS

GATS — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 23:02:53 +0000

“The tremendous support for a print publication of Tezuka manga may benefit from the intangible perception that the work is “literary” and “classic,” and therefore deserving of financial support…seems to clearly illustrate the long-speculated belief that American fans just aren’t particularly interested in vintage anime..”

If it were about age, I’ve been trying to get KodanshaUSA to set up a Kickstarter for the rest of Cromartie, and they declined, even though I cited the Tezuka thing. Their response was that Tezuka fans were a unique bunch, and yet, they can’t get funding for the AnimeSol shows. So my theory is that fandom’s gotten spoiled, and expects an entire show to be uploaded before considering buying it. Plus, we’re still stuck with the https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0EKCQnUVMs&list=PL466F968575CC5E73&index=26 demo. And so unless Mami starts getting dark like Madoka, this generation is just not able to accept the former show’s light-hearted antics for what they are. That’s why we’re still perpetually stuck with series which rip off hentai tropes, but without the actual hentai. [*Cough* Aku no Hana *Cough*]

Also, the price for a lot of those sets isn’t any higher than what they were willing to pay for Urusei Yatsura and KOR pre-orders back in the early 2000s. And they’re still a steal compared to what Aniplex thinks it can charge for Gurren Lagaan on Blu-Ray. Anyway, they appear to be aware of the possibility that it might not work out for them, which is why they had back-up suggestions in their survey. So we shall see what Anime Sols’ next plan of action is pretty soon. Anyway, I hope at least AniPipo is luckier, since its goals are smaller.

Comment on Ask John Editorial: On AnimeSols by seanny

seanny — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 20:41:22 +0000

One perspective that’s missing is the fact that Kick-Heart and Eve no Jikan aren’t just new, it’s the creators themselves, still active in the industry, who are asking for direct support from the international fandom to do what they do. For Anime Sols it simply comes down to whether you want some historical anime on disc or not, long past the point of the creators or studios being relevant to the future of the industry.

While I like Masaaki Yuasa’s anime and the Eve no Jikan movie, a big part of my pledges were for the connections it establishes between active Japanese creators and their international audiences.