I've been out of the anime loop for quite a while now. My DVD collection is still sitting in the trunk of my car. Most of it spawned simply from friends of mine pointing at a box and saying "This looks cool." You can imagine that being a rather hit and miss system.

But it's nice to see official streaming anime making strong headway. It allows the consumer to make an informed decision, and once the series has their hooks in them, who WOULDN'T want to watch it on a nice big screen tv instead of your standard YouTube sized box?

Would have been a hell of a lot cheaper for me back then.

I really ought to check Crunchyroll again sometime.

Yay! Good news! I probably should visit that site some time.

I do hope this is a tidal shift in the anime industry. I've been buying my anime typically, but I'll admit that sometimes it's easier to watch some lesser-known anime for free online that I can't otherwise get without a $20 S&H fee.

Hopefully, with some additional advertising revenue and perhaps box sets advertised along with episodic anime streams, the anime industry will pick back up again.

My problem here is that I am a dub watcher and as you said, dubs are more expensive to produce. So this does little to comfort me as support for dub anime on tv has been diminished here. So still have to shell out a fair sum to watch most anime. Although I have to admit, at least in the US there is anime to buy >.>

But if more shows were to be sold online for cheaper prices, as quite a few are now on amazon, that would help. Though that still does not help those who are too young to have a credit card/can't get parents to buy. : /

Any progress at all is good news and I have my fingers crossed, hoping that this is a step toward a better future for the industry.

This is just the kind of stuff I needed to hear to brighten up my week! Thanks, MarzGurl!
I must admit, I've been out of the loop concerning anime for a while, and I had no idea the industry is in trouble! I only hope that it pulls through.
Now I just have to find a way around the bandwidth cap on my Internet connection...

Thanks for the update Marz ^^

hooray! I feel a bit better now. I've been an anime fan for a while now, so I'm glad to see the industry isn't dead yet so I can continue to consumption of anime.

Awesome! I hope that at the very least, this is certainly a step in the right direction, so hopefully other companies can seize this potential opportunity :'D

As a European. Everything is better than a French anime DVD release.

I only hope they consider to ad holland to the menu.

Signs of improvement, a steady gain in revenue, everything looking okay...

...and that's when the meteor hit!

Seriously though, it's been no great secret that the internet is where young people today are going to watch their favorite shows. Not only anime, but TV shows in general. I rarely watch TV anymore, not when the same show is available on Hulu when I want it, and how often I want it. I've been saying it all along, Hulu, Funimation and Crunchyroll have the right idea.

That being said, these companies won't be making the same kind of profit that good old DVDs bring in. So what should they do to boost DVD sales? Well, my girlfriend Angie had a theory.

Back when anime DVDs came with only 4 episodes for $20 or $30, they often included something to sweeten the pot: Extras; artwork, CDs, clips and storyboards. Whether it was something small or something large, it always felt better to know you are getting something to show your fandom. Nowadays, we get 13 episode sets for $45, but the free T-shirts and CDs are long gone. These items, although small, showed fans that the distributors of these animes really cared about their work, and were seeking fan appreciation, not just monetary gain.

With so much focus on the state of the industry and whether or not a company is profitable, it'd be nice to just go back to the days when people cared more about making the fans happy than making money.

Thank you


P.S. If you want to here more of my thoughts on anime, please visit Anime for Dummies at [url]http:// animefordummies.blip.tv[/ url]

and

Listen to my girlfriend, YamiAngie, each week on the Rising Sun podcast at [url]http:// thegeekfighters.com/ podcasts/the-rising-sun[/ url]

Later...

what I mean to point out is that actually buying dvds or graphic novels gives you extras or did seeing as increased episode cont is making that difficult and you have to get all that approved.

You miss that watching in on the net or downloading it. Heck the tank?bons have extras like comments from the authors and what not.
That and you can compare the dub and subs in on the DVD. It was a pain trying to duplicate that with an online player.

Hi honey!

Good post as always. Anime, like all old media, is taking time to adapt to the irreversible change the internet has made to their business model but it is good to see progress is being made.

Speaking as a dub watcher myself I find the best option when online streaming dubs are not provided is to rent the title off of netflix, waiting for the postal service to get the discs to and from the house is a bit annoying but better that pausing every second (I am a slow reader, which is one reason I like dubs better) it still has the parents approval thing to it but the cost is far cheaper over all and is a good way to decide which shows you only want to see once vs which shows you want on disk forever. Sorry that rant kind of wrote itself on me :unsure:

Hurrah! Anime lives!

Maybe we'll yet see the next great shounen Hot-blooded Giant robot action show! Or that AzuDai sequel I've been hoping for. Or who knows what else!

Shine on, you crunchy(roll) Diamonds!

I will quote a friend who has been using crunchyroll since it started.

[quote=Hikargh] “Sorry, this video is not available in your region...”
GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH RRRR! sorry about that, but I get a tad upset every time I see this message. I won’t pretend I know all the details surrounding licensing, but a valid guess would be that the companies are trying to milk as much money as possible by selling off as many individual licenses as they can; a very short-sighted solution that could be the ruin of the industry. Instead of hoping for the farfetched possibility that all non-American countries will buy their own license, they should let the American license holders spread the gospel to the rest of the world, thus bringing in more customers and make more money. It’s not like there’s anything wrong with importing DVDs from the states, so how come watching streams is not allowed? I firmly stand by the belief that unless these companies start to realize that there is a world outside of America, the industry will never pick itself up.[/quote]

As dubbing is expensive, why do companies keep dubbing? I always watch anime with original audio, that's who it's supposed to be experienced. Sure, if dubbing is good and original voice actors are crap then it might be watchable but I havn't came across any horrible voiced anime yet.

[quote=Dorden]As dubbing is expensive, why do companies keep dubbing? I always watch anime with original audio, that's who it's supposed to be experienced. Sure, if dubbing is good and original voice actors are crap then it might be watchable but I havn't came across any horrible voiced anime yet.[/quote]

Some people don't want to watch a subbed episode, or rather, they can't.

I have a friend who loves anime, but he can [b]not[/b] watch a subbed episode, it's not that he doesn't want to, doesn't have the patience or anything like that. It's that he legitimately can't watch a subbed episode. He's dyslexic, and subbing is reading subtitles, so therefore it's working against him.

Subs are all well and good for some people, but then, are we really going to punish the dyslexic people, simply because they were unfortunate enough to have difficulties in reading?

Dubbing is a means of making sure that anime is accessible to everyone. For some people, it's a matter of convenience/preference to watch an anime dubbed, because then you can keep your eye on the action, and not have to constantly read subtitles.

I myself am a mixed viewer, sometimes I'll watch an anime dubbed, sometimes subbed. Personally, I preferred the dubbed version of Full Metal Alchemist, but most anime I'll watch the subs for.

I'll have to admit that I haven't been watching much anime, (and I've been buying even less) but it's good to hear that at least one source is doing fairly well. I can only say that I've been watching the new Slayers and Tenchi series, but newer anime has failed to grab my attention. I think that lack of top-tier content in more recent years can at least take partial blame for the decline in sales. I think the anime industry needs another Akira so to speak, (even though I think that anime was overrated). A new vision of animation that grabs people's attention in countries all over the world, and sets a new standard for every other studio.

Maybe Crunchyroll will show way to the others and legal anime will more and more transfer to the Internet. Least I hope so.

[quote=Solin] [quote=Dorden]As dubbing is expensive, why do companies keep dubbing? I always watch anime with original audio, that's who it's supposed to be experienced. Sure, if dubbing is good and original voice actors are crap then it might be watchable but I havn't came across any horrible voiced anime yet.[/quote]

Some people don't want to watch a subbed episode, or rather, they can't.

I have a friend who loves anime, but he can [b]not[/b] watch a subbed episode, it's not that he doesn't want to, doesn't have the patience or anything like that. It's that he legitimately can't watch a subbed episode. He's dyslexic, and subbing is reading subtitles, so therefore it's working against him.

Subs are all well and good for some people, but then, are we really going to punish the dyslexic people, simply because they were unfortunate enough to have difficulties in reading?

Dubbing is a means of making sure that anime is accessible to everyone. For some people, it's a matter of convenience/preference to watch an anime dubbed, because then you can keep your eye on the action, and not have to constantly read subtitles.

I myself am a mixed viewer, sometimes I'll watch an anime dubbed, sometimes subbed. Personally, I preferred the dubbed version of Full Metal Alchemist, but most anime I'll watch the subs for.[/quote]

precisely why I myself am a slow reader, it is not as bad as your friends case but it does make subs very hard to watch. And as for "watching in the intended language" do you watch Anime set outside of Japan in the tong of the country they are set in? Victorian romance Emma comes to mind, it is released in Japanese with English subtitles because the target audience is more likely to speak Japanese than English. If you want a true sense of what is should sound like get actors to do it in the style of Victorian English.

The best subtitled film I ever saw that I think was better for the use of them was Joyeux Noel, a WW 1 film from 2005. The English and Scots spoke English, the Germans German and the French French. You only got subtitles when a non English speaker was talking and they stayed on screen a bit because people were talking at normal speed and not on top of each other.

@Marzgurl I had expected you to cover ANN's recent ACTUAL INTERVIEW with Eric Sherman! THat was only posted yesterday! It's on their latest blogcast over at their site! However, I have not listened to it, and it may not fit with your good-news theme here if Eric does reliterate his bad news.

I hope FUNimation prospers- they are a god send. But I am also considering watching videos on Crunchyroll now that I know they are stable!

[quote=magnut]As a European. Everything is better than a French anime DVD release.

I only hope they consider to ad holland to the menu.[/quote]

trust me, spanish anime releases are much much MUCH worse

lets hope so MarzGirl

without a doubt we just finally got tired of some of the companies, even if they were good ones, but its nice to see a place such as crunchyroll see a marginal increase

Good, and interesting news. I agree with you and share in your hope.

But, whatever happened to going to Japan and making videos about it?

Funimation and Cruncyroll seem to be on the right track. As with most website, your revenue comes from the adds, and given that most people skip over them, that is still how people manage to make something of a profit with a website. I think this is where the potential is to make money for the anime industry, rather then bitch about how the industry is dying and how its all our faults. As times change, trends change, and the internet ain't going anywhere any time soon (except for maybe in 3-D, XD) so companies better get on the ball and get with the program.

Crunchyroll is my favourite place to watch anime! I'm glad to see some light shining through the dark hole that the anime community seems to have fallen into lately.

I enjoy watching anime on Crunchyroll, but continue to buy boxsets as well. I'm glad things aren't all bad with the anime industry.

Funimation responded to Crunchyroll's revenue update yesterday morning stating that Crunchyroll only took into account Funimation's website increase, while Funi also streams on sites like Hulu and Youtube, which reflect the popularity differently.

However, this is also good news because they're taking the right steps in keeping their streaming prosperous. By putting their streams on other sites, more people who don't know or can't access one platform can find the same content on another and still have it be completely legal and stable. I'm glad that sites like Funi and Crunchyroll are taking the right steps and listening to the consumers rather than pointing their finger at us and blaming us for its downfall.

(Now to get Funi to start streaming Detective Conan..)

[b][color=navy]I had to make an account on here just to comment on your vid this time. I have watched several of your videos recently and I must express some of my disappointment in your vids and tips that I think could be helpful and useful to perhaps improve.

Being a huge Otaku, with an anime library the size of blockbuster, with some manga and loads of games thrown in and a HUGE collector of Figures and Statues, I keep myself up to date on alot of subjects in the anime world. I have even recently become an Otaku reviewer, reviewing Anime, Manga, Games, Figures/Statues and other things related. So watching you had to be apart of my routine. This is more or less a critique, MarzGirl, I am not attacking you, but giving you my honest opinion and what might be done to improve it. I am currently in college, I have a fulltime job as a graphic designer and pursuing a degree in animation, I have taken alot of classes from filming, programing, art and what have you, so maybe some of my experiences could help improve?

My disappointment comes down to a few simple things, Yes, I know you have your own style on how you make your videos, and this is something I can respect, STYLE is key! But for me, personally I don't get alot out of the way you pursue your vids. first on how bland your vids are, you and TheDudette have the same problem (main reason I don't watch her anymore) when it comes to this where you talk in a monotone voice and just sort of read off your script really, dishing out your opinion and the news like you were just reading it, this certainly does not make for an interesting piece. If you are in college, I recommend taking some Radio/Television classes, they teach about the peaks and valleys of your voice and how to drag in your audience, I am sure you can find tips on this online as well.

Next, you only give us a snippet of you in the vid, personally I would like to see more of you rather then just dishing our one picture/snapshot after the next, the bland voice and just staring at pictures doesn't capture the audience very well and i think we would like to see more of you and your surroundings. It makes you more human and gives us something to really pay attention to, instead of just having your video run in the background because at this point, you could just get away with your video being pure audio. Perhaps try and experiment with different techniques and ways to pursue this? And then ask your audience what ones they like the best! ^^ Afterall, videos are meant for 1 of 2 reasons... Either to Entertain or Inform, these are more informal, but just throwing out more and more information to us does not make for such a good piece. Give it a shot!

Lastly, when you're giving us these pieces of news in the anime world, I was most upset about how you leave out information, most of this is just you telling us what happened and the rest is a rant of how you feel, most people don't want to som...

With this progress I'm sure companies will find a way to make more anime available online, legally. I'm sure they'll also find a way to make a profit with this method. As much as I want to buy anime dvds, I have a very limited disposable income. I want to support the industry but unfortunately many of the shows I want to watch aren't available online legally and I either don't have the money or don't know if I want to buy the anime in question. So hopefully companies can make this legal streaming method more profitable so that more shows can become available.