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Anime Distributor CPM kicks the Bucket

Noname Given said:
Sephiroth said:
there is no one person/group to blame for the downfall of anime, the anime distrbuters are partly to blame because the DVDs are disproportionaly expensive,then you have fansubbers and dubbers who download and burn to DVD or vhs, which I don't understand why people buy because every fan sub/dub I have bought was in piss poor, grainy quality, then there's the networks, like CN & Adult Swim, who saw fantastic ratings for "safe" anime, and tried to air some of the more niche anime (like wolf's rain blue gender, ect) and completely over reacted and practly droppedanime alltogether when the niche stuff got turned out
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You think the DVDs are expersive? Hahahaha - Try collecting in MY Anime heyday (the late 1980ies, early 1990ies); where I you really wanted a copy of something, you purchased it on Laserdisc direct from Japan (there wasn't much being brought over once Robotech went off the air). Cost of your average Japanses LD ? $80.00 - $100.00 U.S. dollars (in 1987 dollars) for 2 episodes/one 45 - 60 minute OVA/One Feature film.

Sorry, when I hear anime fans cry 'too much money' because it's $20.00 for a DVD with usually 2 hours or more of content, I shake my head. It's the simple fact that no fan ever felt the need to spend a dime when the majority of stuff was available (in decent quality) for free from various internet sources - and as soon as some company picked up rights; there was a cry of "Oh crap, my bit torrent seeds are gonna dry up!" - "Damn them for actually wanted to charge me money....."

Cry me a river; U.S. anime fandon brought this on itself.
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Indeed. Even popular, mainstream cartoons like Transformers and Voltron could only be bought here on VHS tapes with only a couple of episodes on each that they still charged $29.99 a piece for. This is an issue that effects all media: people don't know what it's like to pay for anything anymore. They ignore the fact that it costs money to produce this stuff and make a living doing it and they whine about having to pay money for a limited run of some anime that will only ever sell 10,000 US copies and barely make a cent back for the creator and the distributors even at full price.

FFS, at least by the stuff you loved after the fact to support the production team and artists/creators, but people don't even do that much....
 
Maybe not the best examples since both Transformers (the original) and Voltron were also animated in Japan and can be considered anime. (If you were listing them as domestic examples that is.)

Anyway, yes anime is pricey and there's nothing we can do about it really except not buy it if you feel it's not worth it. It's imported which means companies who bring the stuff over here have to pay all kinds of extra fees like copyright, distribution, and broadcast licensing, and also have to fork over cash to each of the Japanese musical artists who did the opening, ending, and insert songs. Dubing and translation also cost money too. Anime charges a little extra because they have to break even. Otherwise they go under like CPM just did and we're back to the dark ages of pirating everything if we wanted to see it and not being able to own a physical copy of a work we enjoyed in a language we can comprehend.
 
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zakkrusz said:
Sorry, when I hear anime fans cry 'too much money' because it's $20.00 for a DVD with usually 2 hours or more of content, I shake my head. It's the simple fact that no fan ever felt the need to spend a dime when the majority of stuff was available (in decent quality) for free from various internet sources - and as soon as some company picked up rights; there was a cry of "Oh crap, my bit torrent seeds are gonna dry up!" - "Damn them for actually wanted to charge me money....."
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Well, technically the single volume is at $24-30 right now at Best Buy, but whatever, the point still stands. There are a lot people who whine about prices but you can get arround that with online sales and such. Any rate it's dumb to buy singles anyway unless you really want the meager extras. (Sometimes they're removed for the collections) I pretty much stopped doing that earlier this year and only have 2 I'm collecting singly (Claymore because it's awesome, and Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit for the same reason but also because I'm trying to keep Media Blasters alive so I can own all of the series.). It's better to wait and buy full sets or the new half-season sets the industry started to switch to this year. They're cheaper and take up less space on my shelves.
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I see anime as only slightly over premium. Remember, ST:TOS came out in two-ep sets before season sets became the rule, rather than the exception. Also, as to recycled plots, its best to recall that basic literature has maybe ten basic plots in all of existence, and that may be a huge stretch. Some of the recycling is standard fan stuff. Hulk 2003 was a mixed bag, 08 much closer to Hulked-out goodness. Devilman anime 70's ended as a standard superhero show, even allowing the plucky girlfriend her licks against the bads. Needless to say, the 2001 Devilman Apocalypse gave us close to the true manga ending, where her fate was among the grisliest seen in any medium. In other words, they eventually go back and do it right, just like Stephen King did for The Stand--whose TV adaptation was based on the original version. If the industry is seeing a retrenchment, I think it is smart enough to adapt. Another example I'll offer is of all the cartoons I grew up with that were 'quest' shows, and most invariably got cancelled before seeing that quest finished. Today's animators saw these same shows, and now create shows that always have some manner of resolution. As newer animators come on, while respectful of their elders, they may just decide to skip bathhouses, tsunderes, and power levels that only need you to realize that you have them, in favor of something we haven't even guessed at yet.
 
CPM is done for? No suprise there, when was the last time anyone saw an 8" floppy drive?

Will a successor be known as MS-DOS?
 
Alpha_Geek said:
CPM is done for? No suprise there, when was the last time anyone saw an 8" floppy drive?

Will a successor be known as MS-DOS?
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Yes and the TI99/4A are no longer being programmed for as well. And forget about storing data on cassette tapes too.
 
That's because the industry and people's outlook on it hasn't changed much. Aside from:

*3 less anime distributors (Cinch Point, Geneon, and now CPM)
*Companies now offer tons of free legal streaming anime on places like Crunchyroll and Funimation.com to counter the downloaders.
*More anime in theaters, even if they are only limited releases
*Funimation ate Geneon's and ADV's inventory of titles like Greed from Fullmetal Alchemist.
 
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Aren't Crunchyroll and Funimation sort of on the legal end of things now?
Or do they do streaming on their own websites?
 
Crunchyroll made a deal with TVTokyo (I think) or one of the other Japanese TV stations as well as some other companies and is allowed to legally stream their shows. A lot of what they stream is up less than week after it airs in Japan which is pretty damn sweet. They used to stream fansubs but went legit last year and only do legal streams now. Any fan of good sci-fi should go there and watch Pale Cocoon and Time of Eve.

Funimation streams it's own shows on their website. (Not a bad deal considering their inventory is massive.) They also have an official legal Youtube "channel" and stream more of their shows from there. You can watch a few there that haven't been released in the US yet like Fullmetal Alchemist 2, Requiem for the Phantom, Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino, and Shikabane Hime.

ADV has it's own division called the The Anime Network which streams a whole buch of ADV shows. I haven't tried it lately so I don't know if it still functions though.
 
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Ah, I parsed that sentence wrong. I thought the downloaders were on those websites. Whoops.
I actually started watching Ouran Host Club in English on the Funimation site. Still not sure how I feel about the voices and/or the translated songs, let alone the localization. :lol:
But yeah, that seems to be a better way to monetize. You can also buy anime on iTunes, from what I gather.
 
Oh, I see. Yeah, sorry, my fault. I can see how it could be easily confused by the way I phrased it, in hindsight. Fixed.
 
Leroy said:
Cutter John wrote:
But maybe Meredith is right and it is time for the bubble to burst a little. We could use a few more epic Yamato, or Macross type series and a hell of a lot fewer harem and collectible card game shows.
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I agree as a fan of those, unfortunately they don't sell well enough over here to bring them over space operas are a lost art. Heck fansubbers won't even touch something old as Yamato.:(

zakkrusz wrote:
Such as plot recycling and the increased number of sequels and remakes.
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At least with sequels and remakes I feel more confidant that I'll like a show such as the case with Gundam 00 and Macross frontier, but I see where you are coming from.

I remember there used to be a company called Bandai-Visual USA (not to be confused with Bandai-Entertainment) that attempted to use the Japanese model to put only 3 episodes on a disc at $50 per volume! I think they tried to release Super Robot Wars divine wars a 26 episode series at 9 volumes! Fortunately they failed and were absorbed into Bandai Entertainment thank goodness.
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Also, unless if it's Speed Racer, Voltron, Robotech (Macross) or Ronin Warriors, old school anime will never in the US among all the non-Japanese anime market, the US market seems to be less acceptive of old school anime due to new wave anime fans complaining how the animation look old and less shiny.:rolleyes:
 
Well, it's the same way that people don't really watch black and white films anymore... with new technology, it's inevitably difficult to go back.
Same thing with language if you think about it... how many people read Chaucer if they don't have to?
 
firehawk12 said:
Well, it's the same way that people don't really watch black and white films anymore... with new technology, it's inevitably difficult to go back.
Same thing with language if you think about it... how many people read Chaucer if they don't have to?
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Why can't people just enjoy the classics for what they are?

Lupin III inspired Cowboy Bebop and yet US fans refuse to admit Lupin III's influence.

Like I said old school anime is better accepted in other parts of the world like Central Europe, the Middle East except the English speaking market.

Well let me say this, I rather watch Yamato, Captain Harlock, Legend Of The Galactic Heroes, the original Gundam titles and other old school titles over Naruto, Bleach, and Inuyasha.
 
I don't know. I mean, there will be people who will think that the new Star Trek movie will be better than all the original ones because it looks good. Same with Indiana Jones 4 and the SW PT.

Of course, a lot of it has to do with changing tastes as well.
 
ll let me say this, I rather watch Yamato, Captain Harlock, Legend Of The Galactic Heroes, the original Gundam titles and other old school titles over Naruto, Bleach, and Inuyasha.
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So would I, but that's because shounen fighting anime like those are middle tier series to me. I'd take things like Monster, Planetes, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Haibane Renmei, Elfen Lied, Black Lagoon, Rumbling Hearts, When They Cry, Kurenai, or Infinite Ryvius and a bunch more over all of them. Not because they're newer but because I liked them and out of what I've seen they're my top favorites that apeal to me. I don't think the title's age really matters at all. I've seen lots of good older titles, lots of good newer ones, lots of crappy older titles, and many newer titles that suck. Quality is subjective and varies with both the same way. Similar to way that classic series should not be dismissed new series should not be completely panned either.

Personally, I prefer more recent series for what computers have done to assist in animation and I see nothing wrong with that. For instance, animation is more fluid and less choppy, there is a wider range of usable colors which assist in making the enviorment, textures, and characters more realistic, and it reduces the number of mistakes made in the animation process. It's not always done flawlessly but you can't win 'em all.

I may not like the look of something but it doesn't mean I'm not going to give it a chance though. There are several series (new and old) that I've watched and really disliked the character designs but liked the show anyway.
 
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I like the old and the new anime. I watch Naruto, but I adore shows like PatLabor. Nothing like a good cop dramedy with giant robots. It's great!
 
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