In a post last week, I described my anime DVD purchasing habits as follows: “I don’t buy much anime on DVD these days, mostly owing to the fact that much of what’s being licensed and released lately is of little interest to me.” Well, somewhere around mile one thousand, two hundred and twenty three driving through rural Nebraska yesterday, I got to wondering about the accuracy of that statement. So, this afternoon, I sat down and ran the numbers.

Generally, if I watch a show fansubbed from start to finish, it’s because I enjoy it. In other words, if I dislike a show, I’m unlikely to finish it. So, if I watched a show in its entirety, it’s at least “of interest” to me. Since the R1 licensing landscape began to change with the DVD market downturn of 2004, I chose to limit my data set to those shows which have aired since January of that year. That’s just under three years worth of new anime. So, let’s get to it…

Number of shows watched fansubbed, in their entirety, since January 2004: 59

Of those, the number of shows licensed (and announced as such) for R1 release: 19

Now, let’s look at the details for those shows which have been licensed. So far, 10 shows have either been released on DVD in their entirety or are in the process of being released. Of those shows, I have purchased or am in the process of purchasing 5 (Comic Party Revolution, Diamond Dust Drops (R2), Genshiken, Ichigo Mashimaro, and Koi Kaze). Now, of the remaining 9 shows that have yet to be released on DVD, I tentatively plan to purchase 4 (Mushishi, School Rumble, Shuffle, Suzuka). So, of all shows licensed, I have either purchased, am in the process of purchasing, or plan to purchase a total of 9 on DVD. Half, basically. The remaining 10 shows aren’t bad, by any means - I just don’t feel they have enough rewatch value to justify owning on DVD.

Now, the number of shows that remain unlicensed: 40

Twice the number of shows that have been licensed, basically, or nearly 70% of all shows watched. Of these shows, I have purchased a grand total of 1 on R2 DVD (Uta Kata). That leaves 39 shows unaccounted for. Of these, how many would I be interested in purchasing on DVD should they be licensed for R1 release? 20. That’s a lot of shows. Unfortunately, looking at the list, I won’t be holding my breath.

So, what’s the conclusion? Of the all the shows I’ve watched fansubbed in their entirety the past three years, roughly 30% have been licensed for R1 release. I own or am interested in owning half of those. Of the remaining 70% of shows that have gone unlicensed, I’m interested in owning half. Of all shows watched, licensed, and unlicensed, I own or am interested in owning, you guessed it, half.

Taking all of that into consideration, was my original statement accurate? For the most part, yes. It’s worth noting that, of all of the shows that have been licensed thus far, the vast majority aired in 2004. And it’s also worth noting that, of all of the shows that remain unlicensed, there are quite a few I’d consider personal favorites. Hear that, R1 distributors? I’m an untapped market!

Oh, and while I was at it, I calculated the value of my anime DVD collection: roughly $11,000.

Hey, it’s got to be cheaper than buying figures.