While doing some end of the year financials last night, I stumbled across an interesting number. In 2007, I spent a total of $1,086.73 USD on anime DVDs. At first, the number seemed awfully high, but upon closer examination, I found it only accounted for about 3% of my total spending for the year. That’s exactly what I had budgeted.
For what it’s worth, 93% of that was spent on shows I first watched fansubbed. Damn fansubbers are costing me money.
Are you sure you want to share how much you spent on anime? Just on the numbers you given, I can roughhouse how much you make.
For what it’s worth, 93% of that was spent on shows I first watched fansubbed. Damn fansubbers are costing me money.
That deserves a spot in the quote hall of fame for twisting around what the industry said to make it the opposite meaning, it’s simply brilliant.
(Also, suppose I should clock in: ~$150 on DVDs, ~$50 on artbooks. I’m pretty sure someone like Moyism has already spent that much this year. XD)
Only if you mistakenly assume I spend every dime I make, Koll. I intentionally left out some key information.
Hate to get too off-topic here, but what’s the big deal about knowing how much someone makes? It’s not like he’s giving away his credit card number, SSN, and his mother’s maiden name or anything.
And yeah, that last jab in your blog entry brought a grin to my face. Well done.
I spent about that much on shit like hugpillows, figures and artbooks. Probably ~$200 went to DVDs.
That’s why I stay away from imported collector’s items. The mark-ups are ridiculous. Not to mention the shipping costs. Domestic DVDs are actually a pretty good value as far as anime goods go; especially so if you shop around and take advantage of sales.
Jeff: You also forgot that the importing DVDs argument that basically boils down to ‘the R1 industry then decides there’s no demand, as everyone’s not buying their product, and thus we’re all forced to pay huge markups on 2-episode R2 DVD’s’. Although if more companies followed the Bandai version of limited edition releases (re: Haruhi), they may get more sales… or at least, I usually see the LE ones sell faster, perhaps just due to the ‘LE’ label, or the extras which aren’t the same soundtrack CD’s everyone else sells.
I think the argument goes that fansubs costs some of us money, but save others. This is all based on the implicit presumption that without fansubs, more people will be buying. Which is, well, a sketchy assumption at best IMO.
Only 93% are shows you’ve watched on fansubs first? What happened to the other 7%? DX
Regarding second-guessing Jeff’s balance sheet, I was warned not to ask American collegues about their salary when I just came to work here for the first time. One reason is, employers want to bargain you tougher, and it is made easier if you do not know how much your co-workers get for the same work. So they put it into employment contracts: your compensation package is secret. The second reason, somehow everyone became complicit in this psychologically, or found other, privacy based justifications, and so most Americans simply think it rude if you ask them how much they get. Or at least this is the legend I was fed. It may be far from obvious to Jeff’s readers from other countries.
I watched anime for years and have no idea whatsoever what Japanese norms are on this topic. Clearly it’s not something commonly discussed, but then perhaps it’s something left outside of the frame. I guess only doramas can help.
That’s why I stay away from imported collector’s items. The mark-ups are ridiculous. Not to mention the shipping costs.
I went w-a-a-y over my budget last year, though about a quarter of that was on production art (for which I hadn’t actually budgeted, but at least the shipping costs on those aren’t as bad). Also, Geneon turning into a pumpkin led me to buy several series that I would otherwise have rented.
Looking at the year-to-year growth of my anime-related spending, it won’t be too much longer before a trip to Japan mght start to make economic sense due to cutting out middlepersons.
Doesn’t matter.
Zac Berwhateverhisnameis thinks all of us are contributing to the decline.
Exactly, Omo. Every anime fan’s situation is different. And liable to change.
And, Author, I’m not sure what the Japanese norm is with regard with that issue. It’s a good question, though.
I just wanted to let Jeff know that perhaps he was sharing a little too much info with everyone in case he didn’t want people to spend their spare time not watching good anime to instead do some number crunching for his salary. Good staticians or accountants can figure out how much some makes off the smallest revelations. I’m not saying this to be a jerk, just to let him and other people know that sometimes to be aware of stuff like this just in case.
Besides, I suck at math, so I guess I’ll go back to looking for some good anime to watch instead of being jealous that Jeff can spend more money that how much I make. lulz
Author, heh, it works the other way around too. If you have the bargaining power, you can negotiate with your boss with the understanding that you won’t spread news of his generosity in your case around - i.e. he doesn’t feel obligated to give everyone the same raise you’re getting.
On the other hand, yeah, the effect you state is operative too, though not a whole lot of people are actually mandated to keep their rates secret.
Then again, I don’t say how much I’m making off any particular subtitling job either… ;p
And only $1k, Jeff? C’mon, I’ve written off more anime expenses than that in a year. You raising a family with all that money or something?
The fact that my mind said “Only one thousand dollars?” says something about my purchasing habits on anime goods.
-_-;
Thats only the total expenses on anime DVD’s…
What about other expenses like anime figures or wallscrolls. Well i suppose i spent some money in all of them once in a year time to time, but i rarely do the financials for those items.
^_^
Thanks for your concern, Koll, but I considered that before making the post. Based on the limited information I provided, the only thing that can be determined is that I make above a certain amount. And, even then, it assumes I’m not going into debt or selling drugs on the side or something.
If I had thought I was revealing too much personal information about myself, I wouldn’t have made this post.
“That’s why I stay away from imported collector’s items. The mark-ups are ridiculous. Not to mention the shipping costs.”
Yes, but I can’t help it. I love these things :x
In response to other comments…
Avatar: I’m saving up for a hovercraft. Actually, I’m just a cheapskate. I could spend a lot more on anime (and if it weren’t for fansubs, I probably would), but I don’t. And, of course, the cost of living here in Denver is a little high. Not California high, but much higher than where I grew up in Texas.
Phossil: I only buy other anime merchandise on rare occasion. Don’t get me wrong… there’s a lot of stuff I’d like to own (artbooks, certain figures, etc.), but I can’t really justify the cost and don’t want to get into the habit of spending that money. And since it costs so much to import from Japan, it gets really expensive, really fast. For example, I thought about importing a desktop calendar a couple months back, and the shipping ended up costing more than the calendar itself. For the same amount of money, I could have bought a couple of R1 DVDs.
Wildarsmheero: Just try not to buy anything that’ll get you picked up by Interpol. ;-)
Like Avatar, I first thought “Only $1000?”, but then I did the math — that’s 50-75 DVDs. More if you’re buying thinpacks at sale prices, less if you’re buying tchotchke-laden limited editions. Ten to fifteen series, perhaps? Maybe a bit more than one DVD a week, which pretty much means you’re watching anime just about every night.
That’s a lot of anime viewing, particularly if you also are going back and rewatching favorite series from past years, or … watching or reading or playing or doing anything else.
My point is that $1000 is about all that the industry could expect a reasonably devoted fan to spend in a year on DVDs. Maybe another $500 on music (soundtracks for 20 series at Japanese prices), and a third $500 on manga (one book a week, in the US). And some people might buy thcotchkes, but the industry those people are helping is the shipping industry.
So, a solution that requires fans to buy more doesn’t sound very practical — the per-fan numbers are just pretty small. What you need is a solution that involves making more fans.
PS, Jeff, Simoun DVD 3 is up for pre-order.
I wouldn’t say I’m watching anime every night, but it’s a regular activity. It’s easy to watch a lot on the weekend if you’ve got nothing better to do.
For what it’s worth, I only buy shows on DVD when I plan to rewatch them multiple times. If I spend $19 on a DVD and watch it five times over the course of my lifetime, that’s $3.80 per viewing. I think $3.80 for an evening’s entertainment is reasonable.
Of course, that’s why, most of what I buy, I’ve already watched at least once… otherwise, how would I know whether or not a show is worth rewatching?
And thanks for the heads up on Simoun… glad to see they’re not repeating the long delay between the first and second volumes.
I see that Wildarmsheero made roughly the same calculation on his blog.
Even if you didn’t only buy shows you intended to watch more than once, the industry can’t really expect a fan to buy more than 70-80 DVDs a year unless they don’t expect that fan to actually watch them. That’s a pretty hard ceiling. The anime DVD industry can’t expect more than about $1500 in revenues from even their most devoted fans.
The only solution is making more fans.
And, surprisingly, fansubs actually have a positive impact in doing that.
For awhile there, I thought this discussion would devolve into a “Guess How Much Jeff Lawson Makes” fiasco. Keep those drugs coming, Jeff!
“…and a third $500 on manga (one book a week, in the US)”
Oh god, if I could only go back to the days when I’d only buy one or two manga a week. Hell, from Jan 1 to the present I’ve already gotten over twenty volumes of manga (buy 4 get one free sales + buy three from XXX get a 4th free +discount cards for the win!). It scares me when I think of how much I spend on manga a year.
I think I’ve done about $400 in DVDs, and an equal amount in pocky and ramune…
Wow $1000 on DVDs, that’s pretty impressive. Personally I don’t buy much in terms of media, but I love the merchandise. I wish I lived in a place where there was more merchandise (and anime-related concerts) to go to!
I feel bad about mentioning salary here, so I figured I would mention Darkmirage’s recent rant about the state of DVD sales in Japan since I’m pretty surprised no one else here did. If you haven’t read it yet, I recommend doing so. In a nutshell, it’s look like the sales of DVD sales have decreased as Japanese fans have moved on to digital file-sharing. Sound familiar?
Personally, I figured this was bound to happen considering the massive proliferation of anime over the last couple of years. It reminds me of the dot.com age, when everyone and his friend went into the business because they thought the money was there. It’s the same with the amount of anime out there. I still remember at some point the shock of hearing that there were over 50 titles being released in a season. I can’t imagine having 50 titles stocked on my shelf (imagines his friends shelf as it holds over 100).
It’s good that most people do support the industry, but I think in the long run, it’s not going to help what’s been going on to begin with. There’s a bubble that’s bursting and we’re going to see people out of business. I know people want to point fingers, but in the end, there’s only so many DVDs/figures/posters/etc that people can own before business model collapses.
Well, damn. Now I feel bad, because I don’t, frankly, support the industry. I confess I rarely buy DVD with the few exceptions of animes that I am dying to support, which are mostly movies like 5 Centimeters per Second.
I blame it on the zero income as a college student. I would purchase Simoun if I had the money, but I’m just trying to keep my expenses below 1,000 dollars a semester, including food.
And I find myself usually purchasing Region 3 DVDs more than Region 1 since Hong Kong, being a former British Colony, tends to have English subs for all their DVDs, and the prices are much lower.
Sorry American Anime Industry!
Well Jeff I agree with you about anime spending levels, I spend about the same amount on anime on a yearly basis as you do. I also only spend money on things like anime, movies, books, electronics and so forth after reading reviews of the products or sampling them before hand. I work too hard to just go out and spend my money on any product sight unseen.
The problem the US anime industry has is that it’s counting on US fans to spend at the levels the Japanese otaku do, but that’s not going too happen. The US industry needs to put out much more free material to create a larger fan-base. Anyone in the main stream media industry will tell people that the key to sales is to get your material out to the public in as many ways as possible. Even though I can watch my favorite TV shows like ER, Lost, The Sopranos, and other shows often for free on cable TV or On-demand I still purchase DVDs of these shows so I can watch them when and where I want to see them.
If anyone wants to see the results of my years long anime habit they can check out my “anime cave”, I’ve posted pictures on my blog of how I’ve converted a spare room in my house in to my anime/digital lair.