big (bad?) change for the R1 anime industry coming

[fate]

http://www.animeondvd.com/aodvb/showthread.php?t=82660&page=8

Yeah, I really don't like how the reps are just saying it's coming, and leaving everyone waiting for 2-3 weeks.

Anyways, what could it be?

Everyone seems to think it's ADV closing, but given that Geneon, CPM have both closed up in recent years... and Tokyopop killing half their titles, it wouldn't be a big change. I hope it's not ADV closing :/

Personally, I think it will be an end to singles... bad news for those who like to collect singles, but "thrilling" for those who hate waiting for boxes. Besides, singles tend to not sell well, local stores being any indication.

 

[Gohansan]

From whats going on over here, ADV and other distributors are slowly taking over the small humble european anime/manga industry.
I predict that companies will be concentrating more on our sector and less on the north american. God knows there is a lot of money to be made over here. Who knows? maybe companies will sell DVD's, comics and merchandise in
STORES!

 

[rocketfueled1999]

Chris, the head guy at AOD who seems to be in the know, said it's something that would be "thrilling" to some despite the fact that it's bad. I don't know if he's referring to childish anime fans who just want to get their stuff for free, or fellow companies that figure this would benefit themselves, or both.

I wish they'd come out and say it already!

 

[fate]

I highly doubt this has anything to do with illegal fansubs. No matter what anyone does, there will always be a flow of them. "Changing an era" for the sake of an attempt to stop fansubs would be an absolute waste of resources.

Is it being caused by fansubs? Maybe. I feel fairly certain that they do hurt the R1 anime industry. Yes, some people buy the series they liked in the fansubs, most probably don't though.

There are many warped opinions when it comes to anime, so it's really hard to tell what bad news people would be "thrilled" by.

But yes, I agree it was a bad decision for him to let it out like that. The cat was let out of the bag, so he should take our blindfold off and let us see it.

 

[Satoshi-chan]

In many cases fansubbing gives the US licensing companies an idea of what people want to see. Naruto may have never made it over to the US (though it took forever) for example if it wasn't for the strong fansub community that was completely enthralled with the series and the many people who cared to download it. A series such as that which has a lot of potential may have never made it over here, same as with Bleach. Both took a while before they were licensed in the US.

A company does not want to blindly buy a license and risk having it completely flop, so if there were no fansubbers and people who cared enough about a series to download the subs, who knows what would and wouldn't be licensed.

While it is not good to continue to watch a fansub after it has been licensed, and while it may not be the best thing to do in the first place, it does help insure that we have anime that we really want being sold over here, and not crap that a majority of people don't really care about.

Just my two cents on the matter.

Now... now... if you asked me what could be very bad but would be something I could be "thrilled" about? Well, there is one company with the number 4 and the word "kids" in their name that I don't care much for... actually I despise them. If they went out of business, it would be a bad thing because people would be losing jobs, but I would be totally thrilled.

 

[fate]

More evidence in might be ADV's closing:

They've gotten an outside group to come and auction off some of their "excess" assets.

Though they don't appear to be selling their primary equipment, this still is not a good sign.

 

[Gohansan]

Even MORE evidence-
ADV have pulled out of the european market.
Which is balls to my theory as they were the biggest. One can always dream...

 

[fate]

So far...

Well, as expected, the announcements would come around Anime Expo, and they are here. They are HUGE as far as the state of the industry goes.

First of all, about ADV. It's not looking good for them. They had a brief panel at Anime Expo, where they said they were in negotiation for about 25ish titles.

Today, Funimation announced that it has obtained almost all of ADV's recent series. The list is quite long, around 30 titles. http://www.animeondvd.com/news/pr.php?pr_view=1438

Next, Kadokawa has officially opened shop in the US. It was expected for some time... but this largely affects manga only as of now.

Finally... the biggie, and the one that made A LOT of people happy. Geneon is alive again. They have been revived by Funimation in a partnership venture.