A Bitter Pill (Part Two)
November 27, 2007 | Industry | No Tags
Looking back at my previous post, it’s clear that I raised more questions than I did provide answers. As troubling as the current situation is, it’s not necessarily something that keeps me up at night. Nor do I think the anime industry is one breath away from wholesale collapse. In fact, I suspect some studios and distributors remain financially sound and strategically positioned to weather the storm with minimal pain and suffering.
At the same time, however, solutions are a dime a dozen. Most everyone has an idea of how to save the anime industry. However, as the saying goes, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” As brilliant or obvious as some of the ideas being bandied about within the fan community may be, none will come to fruition unless the anime industry itself pursues change. And therein lies my pessimism; a willingness to change is not in the personality of the Japanese anime industry.
An analogue for this sort of stubbornness can be found in the fan community. For all my efforts to neutralize the tired fansub vs. industry debate in my previous post, many of the responses both in comments and elsewhere still centered on that particular issue. Too many of us have too much invested in this debate to leave it alone. It’s only human nature to defend one’s actions, right or wrong, just as it’s human nature to avoid accepting responsibility for a problem when there’s a convenient target at which to point fingers and direct blame.
I’m not so arrogant to stake out the high ground here; I’m not even entirely sure where I stand in the fansub vs. industry debate. However, I do think that the debate itself is ancillary to finding a solution to the problems that face the anime industry. It’s akin to being stranded on a mountaintop in a raging blizzard, wasting your time and energy on figuring out which idiot in the party forgot the map and food as you freeze and starve to death.
Of course, the flip side of that analogy is the question of, “what can you do?” People freeze and starve to death on mountaintops all the time, and it’s not for lack of survival skills. The elements and the situation are often too overwhelming for survival to be possible in the first place. I don’t think the current situation within the anime industry is any different. Some studios and distributors are already dying on the summit. Others continue to climb, oblivious to the storm raging all around them. The smart ones, however, remain at base camp, waiting for the storm to pass and the skies to clear.
Waiting isn’t enough, however. If you expect to summit before the next storm arrives, you have to move quickly. Otherwise, there’s no point in being on the mountain in the first place. I believe the anime industry understands this urgency. Or, I want to believe, at least. But whether or not the industry has the will to act on that urgency, I don’t know. Nor do I know if a willingness to act is enough to ensure success and survival. The slopes of Mt. Everest are littered with the bodies of those who died trying, after all.
This all sounds terribly depressing, I know. The reality is, I’m more passionate about anime than ever before, and while I think rough times are ahead for both fans and the industry, I’m not so troubled by it all that I feel it’s time to take to a street corner, “The End is Near” sign in hand. There’s no reason to resort to hyperbole, and even though I have a more fatalistic outlook on the current situation than some, it’s borne more from common sense and a general feeling of impotence as an industry outsider than an honest belief that everything’s going to hell in a handbasket in a hurry.
Enough of the empty rhetoric, though. I’m happy fans are discussing this issue, and I suspect some folks within the industry are at least paying attention. Perhaps the industry will be more willing to change if we, as fans, continue to make it clear that we desire change. And perhaps the industry will be more willing to consider our concerns if we make it clear that we hope for their success. The current relationship between anime fans and the anime industry is nowhere near as antagonistic as that of, say, the music industry or the motion picture industry, and it’s for that reason I believe the anime community as a whole is better positioned to realize change that works to both our benefits.
In other words, we’re all in this together.
I printed my sign already. And it will have cute anime characters on it.
Superbly written, that’s all I have to say…
Well written, I say, Jeff. Well written. Mind if I put in some paragraphs-long comment?
The fact remains that change is something not everyone will either embrace, accept or deny. If I can put it this way, the way Elves in The Lord of The Rings never liked change (hence Galadriel’s hesitance on seeing the One Ring, when the ring tempted her to use its powers to resist the change: the change of complete human dominion over Middle Earth — accept the fact, folks, some of us are still stuck in 2003) is mirrored in real-life examples, and it’s not just tied to the animé industry, but the whole worldwide entertainment industry at large.
If there are any comfort or solace, people are realizing the powers of the Internet are too great to ignore, and it’d be unwise to hesitate. At the same time, the dotcom bubble is still fresh on many people’s minds, so all the while it makes this position more precarious:
Too soon, and they’ll be among the “dead on the slopes of Mt. Everest.” Too late, and they’re “economically marginalized”, unable to reap in the full rewards of e-commerce.
And the window of opportunity between “two storms” — the calm before the storm — is very narrow.
“It’s only human nature to defend one’s actions, right or wrong”
A bit off topic, but this is an excellent example of the psychological concept of “cognitive dissonance” — fans download because they want the anime, but may have the conflicting idea that it is morally wrong. One common response to such a situation is to try and rationalize the bad behavior to reduce the dissonance. Thus come the justifications (”Fansubs really help the industry”; “We follow fansub ethics and don’t distribute licensed titles”; “I plan to buy on DVD whatever I watch fansubbed”; “I watch the raws, that’s different”; “It’s the industry’s fault”; or “anime has become worthless”).
The passion of fans is so intense precisely because such an important part of their hobby is involved, so the dissonance is extreme. An alternative to justification, of course, is to change the behavior causing the problem–like drop fansubs altogether. But it’s also through reducing dissonance that new ideas are created, and perhaps new innovations to reduce internal struggle. We will have to see what comes of it…. There’s a potential psychology paper here, I think! :)
The R1 industry people do what they can, according to their own agenda. ADV started to pay attention to what what they license (e.g. Gurren Lagann), and there’s an increasing number of subtitled shows. In addition to your example of Simoun, and my MKM, I found today that Paprika is subbed and … Gundam IGLOO (what in the world is that anyway). But some will try to use this crunch to destroy the physical media ownership, like David Ma warned in the comments for the previous posting. The movement is happening, it’s just the question for good or for ill. Also, Japan is where the real problem is. Makes me wish I read Japanese blogs, it does.
I’ve seen so many posts, articles and whatnot that I can’t even formulate a definite opinion on the subject just yet. There are a lot of good arguments from many angles but the truth is that nobody actually KNOWS anything about what’s going to happen!
Amidst all the speculation and doom-mongering I think this is a good opportunity for everyone to have a long, hard look at the state of things. Like the music industry to a certain degree, the technology to acquire the material has exploded so fast that the corporations, both in Japan and the West, have been taken by surprise. Ok, maybe that’s all stating the obvious.
My view is a bit naive perhaps, but I can see all this as bubble-burst like some sort of stock market crash: the amount of money invested is disproportionate to the quality and quantity of the products, and as a result a lot of hard-working people are going to wind up out of pocket and in some unfortunate cases out of work too. I feel really sorry for them, and waiting for the DVDs of my favourite shows is the best I can do to help them.
Taking a more pragmatic view, is this such a bad thing? In my short time as a fan (around four years or so) I’ve heard countless observations as to how the sheer number of new shows has risen - possibly from investment from the West, which is interesting in itself - to the point where fans sift through a lot of stuff to find something of outstnding quality. Maybe within the inpending disaster there’s the side-effect of giving fans and creators a reality check and slowing the market down to more manageable levels.
There’s the issue of the industry panicking, bacause so much money and livelihoods are at stake, but I think fans are overreacting too…but then, when you’re so enthusiastic about something, that’s understandable really.
Paprika is subbed because it wasn’t licensed by an American anime company, but was imported as a foreign film. Foreign films are rarely subbed (the Ghibli things Disney imported are, but they generally serve the younger market).
Everyone keeps saying that the anime industry isn’t charity, but wouldn’t it be nice if it was? Imagine a big non-profit organization, “International Animator and Seiyuu Support Fund” or something, that would accept donations from fans around the world, and transfer the money directly to the hard-working people who have dedicated their lives to creating the wonders we view as an everyday convenience.
I’m not saying this could ever happen, due to infinite number of issues, but I do believe there is some strange incentive for giving money to the people who have created your favorite piece of entertainment, you could perhaps call it gratitude in the absence of a better name.
I personally don’t feel that buying a shitty overpriced DVD made by a badly run US company fulfils this desire, especially when nobody needs the product itself.
Fans can’t be made to buy anything they can get for free, internet has made them almighty over the producers and distributors. Most fans don’t want to “support the industry”, but “supporting the creators” definitely has a certain allure to it, even when/precisely because there’s the icky patronizing air of charity.
I might be delusional of course, but I can’t help wondering what the revenues could be if every torrent page had donation links for the studios that made the anime that’s being distributed. This would naturally mean making crime legal, so I guess it’s still a bit far-fetched thought.
I download fansubs every day, but I also buy anime DvD’s every month. I’ll download a subtitled anime and watch it. If I enjoy the show there’s a 90% chance I’ll purchase It on DvD if It’s released in America.
I believe there’s a lot of people like me. Lets face it, anime is expensive and most people aren’t willing to invest cash in something they might not like. And with limited TV broadcasts and virtually zero anime DvD rental stores what are people to do? Fansubs for most people are the only answer.
My suggestion is to start airing subtitled anime in America the same time It’s airing in Japan. Or anime companies could start making websites with monthly subscriptions(thats not outrageously priced) to download and view their anime. I’d pay for it. I’m all for supporting the anime industry. I consider myself a hardcore fan, and try my best to help the companies out.
@Zhemos:
I don’t know… personally, I think there are MANY people who don’t really buy all that much. I’m one, for example, and 4chan is full of them (Well, 4chan is populated by idiots. It’s just an example).
I thought about buying more anime I like, but when it comes down to it, I can’t get myself to spend 50-80€ on a series that I already saw and archived in pefect DVD quality. Most of the time, I’m quite hard-pressed for money (I’m a student) and spending 70€ would force me to be on a budget for two months or something. I realize that I’m in the wrong, especially if I consider the fun I have when watching good anime… but… well, whatever. I just wanted to remind everyone that there are LOTS of anime fans just like me.
PS: Are any Germans reading this? Well, amazon.de is currently selling the Haibane Renmei Box (4 DVDs) for just 21 Euros. That’s an offer even I couldn’t refuse… If any of you guys don’t have it yet - GO!
No, we’re not all in this together - except if you mean ‘we’re all going to be hanging from the end of ropes after some idiot pulls the lever that’ll trigger the trapdoor on the gallows, out of ignorance or spite’. We’re all in a fucking snakepit, and too busy biting each other’s heads off to try and acknowledge there’s even a problem, much less work towards solving it.
There will be those who change.. and those who won’t, and will continue to stay the same old way. Many of those won’t survive… but some will, and in doing so perpetuate their ideas and attitudes, as fossilized as they are. I’m sick and tired of all these posts, of reading the same damn thing (some people jump onto the bandwagon blindly on one side or another, others offer excuses, and few really think through their posts).
Technology provides both the problem and possible solutions, as the enabling means by which things have begun to change. On the other side of that line, part of the problem is that everyone gambled the ‘good times’ would last forever - which they don’t. Anime producers have launched a cavalcade of titles, but they always have…. and now they’re losing money over it, because the landscape has changed, as far as the economy and people’s interests are concerned. R1 licensors ditto - they’ve invested a LOT in their licenses (too much, sometimes - i remember ADV Manga’s collapse and cessation of activity), and they’re set on making their money back by selling things the way big media conglomerates do, never mind that the market for THEIR material is far smaller than that for the dumb, blind masses whose favorite shows are ‘reality’ TV. The increasing availability of broadband and computing power has meant subs are now much, much easier to produce and it’s EASY to download and upload these shows by the gigabyte… which may have whet the appetite of R1 viewers for the current anime in Japan.
But what can we do? Everyone’s too married to their ideologies to meet in the middle. I’m too married to the idea that I need to eat and sleep somewhere warm to spend all my income on DVD’s for series I’ve never seen and probably have no interest in.
And I -have- bought several series this year… which has me at my limit for spending, at the moment. I do like the variety of shows which have been released the past few years, but at the same time… well, they’ve got a lot of stuff out there on the shelves that I wouldn’t take if I was paid for, which is the dark side of having a lot of choices to pick from.
I’ve ranted enough on the subject for now, I fear. But what else can we do at the moment? We can all go out and break our banks buying DVD sets, but that won’t fix the main issue that faces everyone at the moment.
Uh, about that camping on the mountain and getting blown off by a blizzard thing. Most people shouldn’t even think about this sort of activity, and they don’t. They sit at home, warm, full of crappy food, watching Bear Grills camp on a mountain. They also sit there and say, “I could do that…” I guess it’s really easy to detach in our time.
Sorry, the mood is just too tense :) Jeff, you’re very, truly right on that last line.
When I started watching anime, I downloaded episodes, because I knew no other way to get them. After I discovered video websites, that method disappeared + a 40GB hard drive is a serious limitation. (It’s now a 250 GB drive, but why spend 1-2 hours of my time, when in seconds an episode is fully available for viewing? Or am I the only one with this situation?)
It seems like the anime industry in the US did things too fast; over-licensing of shows seems too big of a risk, especially if the shows aren’t stellar to begin with. Companies needed to take it slow until they were sure of what works and what doesn’t works.
Then again, they might have still lost profits, but not the disaster that is happening right now.
There is no way that everyone will give up fansubs or downloading raws “for the good of the industry.” It is hopeless to expect more than a minority of us to act out of anything but self-interest. We’re human.
The natural model to me is open distribution of degraded versions of the shows (with or without subs) and quick issuing of final DVDs. If I were a Japanese company, I might ask the fansubbers to give me their translations in return for not prosecuting. Then I’d edit them a bit and stream a subbed version of all my shows, as a kind of advertising, with a “buy me” button prominently displayed.
Another minor compromise could be to have the raws include the commercials, and the subs be released as .ass files rather than hard-coded. So there would be a greater difference between the sub and the DVD.
Few of us are rich, and very few of us are so addicted that we will go without food to buy anime, as Japanese otaku are reported to do. So getting rid of fansubs would actually harm the industry, in my opinion. Foreigners need to see shows in order to know whether they want to buy them, just as Japanese can see them on TV first. With Hollywood movies, we usually rent before we buy, depending on price.
Of course, it may just be that there is a limit to how many foreigners can actually appreciate a lot of Japanese anime. It is either the very best or the most primitive anime (it seems to me) that actually sell much outside Japan.
In any case, I guess I do not want the number of anime issued to fall. The anime I like are far from the most popular, and if numbers dropped, I suspect the shows that were kept would be the most popular shows rather than the best ones.