Since I ws informed that this is a con that serves to be educational and informative with its panles and events, here was an idea that would appeal to many of us: How does one start and manage a company that licenses, dubs and distributes anime in America?

It would be quite impressive if Gen Fununaga of Funimation or John Ledford and Matt Greenfield of ADV Films would come to discuss how their respective companies were founded by them and how one could start or become involved in the anime industry in America.

It could be quite educational, right?

That is an interesting concept.

I don't know how that could happen but it would be an amazingly interesting panel...

I can talk to some of our industry guests about doing something like this. I strongly feel that anime fans should know more about the licensing process, and that if they did there would be less petty complaints about the industry, and maybe even a stronger focus on buying legit DVD's, rather than downloading fansubs which not only off inconsistant and questionable quality, but also take money away from the industry (both east and west).

Not exactly what I want to do, But it does sound like it would be full of useful information.

Yay, I have suggested sumthing good for once lol.

Yeah, a lot of fans, myself and friends included, have wanted to get involved in the industry but going to where the work is (Texas, California, etc.) is a drastic move. We've wondered "How could we perhaps start our own company" or "Wonder if anyone in Ohio would be interested in starting a business like this, or has the resources/knowledge of it?"

It be very informative knowing about the industry from a business, corporate and financial point of view, from those who run it or own such companies, ya know.

Heh, I'm not sure you would want to get involved in an industry that looses money every year, and where 90% of the people who know about the product just steal it, and get REALLY pissed when you imply it's wrong for them to do so!

90% I think you rounded down a lot.

Eh, every company has to deal with its own delema's and issues- especially ones that deal with media and entertainment- music, movies, gaming, and even anime. But that would be an interesting point of discussion for the guests to address and discuss the impact that media channels (file sharing, fansubs, bootlegs, etc.) have from their perspectives, how they resolve these issues and what the future holds in the industry.

See I wish people who downloaded were more like me...I download but only to see if I like a series and then if I do after a few episodes I will go out and buy it. I don't like just downloading it and not buying it, cause thats like ordering a pizza the guy gets there you take the pizza...then mug him take his money and send him back to his car empty handed...and then the boss freaks and fires him...lol

Downloading I think is valid when an anime isn't available on DVD as of yet, or if you want to stay current with a series that is still airing in Japan. Fansubs do vary in quality but if you stay with a group that's pretty much reputable I think it's better than nothing.

What do you mean 'valid'?

valid meaning it justifies the theft, , or at least they think so..much like if I said that I only download things that I otherwise would have no interest in buying, like music. Course, this'd come into effect only if I put forth even that much effort. I mean, I do for music, but they make plenty of money. And I get maybe 3 or 4 cd's a year XD

Valid as in "as long as I steal it before I buy it, it's cool if I don't buy it once I can"! Am I right?

I have a large amount of anime dvds that I have purchased legally, I think buying dvds whenever possible is the way to go, I'm just saying that if you want to see a show that isn't on dvd yet and you plan to purchase it when it does come out on dvd, I personally believe it's not a horrible thing to do. If you opt to only illegally download anime over buying it to support the industry, it's only hurting yourself in the long run. This is such a hot button topic, it's hard to talk about it without offending someone but if I have offended you I apologise.

We all understand the arguement, but at the same time, there are a lot of people in fandom, and on this forum, who have never bought a DVD.

One person in a recent debate on here when confronted with the notion that the Japanese market is in fact collapsing, and that quality anime might not be produced anymore in the near future even said we should just switch over to American shows.

So when people come on here touting the merrits of fansubbing, I have to scoff. Especially because we all know that ideology aside, when I download a show the odds of me buying it when it comes out are SIGNIFICANTLY lower than if I had not. Like Beck, I love that show, it speaks to me. I have it all on my computer even still. When the first disc came out I bought it, but since then I have yet to get the next. Had I waited, I would be current with its releases right now. I doubt there is a single fan (besides maybe Sweettea) who can honestly say that the same can't be said about them.

I used to torrent my anime but not anymore. one of my friends gave me the exact point about the company loosing money on it and probably stop distributing anime all together and I stopped. the ONLY series I have downloaded is usagi-chan de cue. the rest I just buy. if people just bought the dvd instead of downloading it maybe the prices for them would drop.

I was going to make fun of you for not knowing the laws of supply and demand, but it turns out that there are rare cases in a monopoly market where a sufficiently large increase in demand can cause a reduction in market price.

So instead, I'll just call you a furry and go sulk in a corner, since I apparently have no life and nothing better to do than learn economics from Wikipedia.

Illegal downloading is attractive to most people because either you could go to say, Best Buy and spend 20 bucks on 3 episodes or you can download the whole series without going out of your house, putting forth any effort and little to no money. It's also easy to fool yourself into thinking it's a victimless crime, but it really does only hurt us in the end because prices are higher on legal dvds because they have to compensate for the loss in sales.

But then again I know nothing about the market and how they price things, so I could be wrong.

Drop?

Back in the '90s, when the biggest show was probably Ranma 1/2, VHS tapes - remember those? - were $24.95 each. For a 2-episode tape. Subtitled tapes were $29.95. Online discounts did not exist; you paid list. Or you waited for the season box sets, which went for... $149.99.

Compare this with today, where a 12-episode box set of Emma: A Victorian Romance is priced at $49.99, or $37.99 straight from publisher.

Drop?

They can't drop any lower.

You can actually find pretty good prices on ebay sometimes, it's just the longer series that tempt most people over to the dark side of illegal downloading :P

Although, if those're used they don't help any industry one bit. but I don't dwell in ebay often, distributors can use it too I suppose. I know other items are done that way.

12-episode series for $50 hmm? I've never heard of that particular anime but I do know that deals are out there, I can get a few things at Wal-mart for 25 (13 episodes of Naruto mostly comes to mind) instead of 40 or so everywhere, but I think people mostly just need to look around. Instead of going to whatever store you happen by at the time or buying from Anime Conventions, (not always but pretty often) they could go online and find a dozen better well-established places. Though it is still fairly expensive to get what you actually want sometimes. Course, I don't know if regular T.V.'s any different myself, but you can just watch that when it's on or rent it.

Congratulations on missing the point. Guess I have to make it explicit.

Rather than resorting to the Gestapo tactics of the MPAA/RIAA and suing potential customers, anime companies are cutting prices to the bone to drive consumer appeal. If such bargin basement prices for a first-run release are not enough to prevent even casual downloading, then anime will die in America.

Drop prices? How much lower do they have to be?

And, yes, Emma is a great series.

Once again, charity cannot support an industry.

There's obviously demand for a online, ad/subscription-supported distribution medium. I'd like to see more progress in this direction. DVDs are a good secondary market, but when it's the only way to legitimately see decent shows, then there's no wonder the industry isn't doing too well.

As I recall several anime companies stateside and in Japan DO have pay for download services, and to my knoweldge none are doing very well.

We're not talking about the companies asking for charity, or the industry expecting us to go out on a limb for them, or even market forces. They are asking us to stop breaking the law and stealing their product illegally. They are saying that not only is it hurting the international relicensing of the properties, but it is causing considerable harm to the production. Furthermore, economics and market research are not even an issue in this case, because it is not a market issue. A market issue would mean competators, varrying degrees of product, and different pricing schemas. This isn't the corner store next to wallmart going out of business. This is the corner store next to a wallmart with unlocked doors, no security, and no cash registers!

Everything is economics. =P

competitors -> fansub groups
varying degrees of product -> legal DVDs vs. illegal fansubs
different pricing schemas -> $X / Y episodes vs. cost of bandwidth and morals.

Then again, this is just how I'm looking at it, from what I believe would be the industry's perspective. You might be able to manipulate people to a certain point by asking people to stop breaking the law, but the honor system really falls apart when there's not even an expectation of an outside chance of accountability.

I don't have a solution. I don't think the industry people do either, the way they're talking. I'm just saying that I doubt that raising awareness and getting more people to be "nice" and pitch in a few bucks is going to be the key change to save the industry. Sorry for being the pessimist.