Aaaaaaaaaand… Fixed.
That was easy
Well, we waded through six posts where I barely talked about anime at all, wasn’t that boring? Then I pretended to know about economics, and so did some other people. I pissed off Scott again, this time really badly, and as I mentioned, we probably all looked like those old honkies sitting around drinking cheap beer on a Sunday and fixing the world’s problems after a round of golf. Except without the ethnic slurs and pink polo shirts. Good times were had by most.
Here’s what we’ve learned.
- The sky is not falling.
- Problems with “middleman” companies reflect globalization and internet-related growing pains, not just the easily-available fansubs and pirate copies that the internet provides. Japan will probably be OK, but companies like ADV are going to get worse before they get better.
- We should vote with our dollars, and even if new initiatives aren’t perfect, we should try to support them. Meaning, watch Blassreiter, like now.
- As a sort of inverse corollary, we shouldn’t feel obligated to support companies based entirely on good will. This is a capitalism, not a charity.
- Otaku will likely not stop buying DVDs altogether, because shiny objects and bright colors fascinate us.
- Anime bloggers can’t agree on whether teenagers have money, even if marketers seem to.
- Ad-supported content is good in theory, but there are plenty of potential kinks to work out first. Mostly, that it might not pay off. Let’s get on that.
- Many of my usual commenters couldn’t care less about this stuff, but some people who never comment showed up to provide some fantastic insight.
If it were in my power to instantly travel all around the country, I’d sit down and buy you all a beer right now (yes, you too, Scott). As it is, you’ll have to enjoy this less substantial beer with the queen of fanservice for the moment.
And here’s the post roundup:
- Me: Eleventeen easy steps.
- Kabitzin: Stop scapegoating fansubs and get with the solutions.
- Baka-Raptor: The market will correct itself.
- TheBigN: Respond to your customers.
- CCY: Try a new ad-supported model.
- OGT: Count on otaku to buy fetishize the physical.
Anything we didn’t quite cover? I fully expect the world to be completely righted by the time my next post goes live, at which time I’ll return to my regularly scheduled programming, which should wreck the world again since I’ll just be blogging about fansubbed anime.
EDIT: Thanks to omo as well for all the intelligent participation in the comments, here’s his take on things.
Hinano | July 29th, 2008 at 9:22 am
I approve.
Jason | July 29th, 2008 at 10:45 am
Whattaya mean “we”, kemosabe? I barely skimmed through all those posts. :p
otou-san | July 29th, 2008 at 10:49 am
I know, you hate to learn. But you did read the one about having a shit-pile of anime DVDS…
Baka-Raptor | July 29th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
I agree with Pen Pen.
IcyStorm | July 29th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Lol, wait, what did Scott say about this?
Good series of posts, might write a response to this soon @_@ when I get around to it, whenever that is.
otou-san | July 29th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
hey Icy, didn’t I solicit you for a response in the first place?
Scott stopped following me on Twitter, blocked me from The Live, and left a “nonplussed face” comment smiley on the first of these posts, so I guess he didn’t say anything. He’s got a right — he took a comment very personally, that’s fine, I made the comment because I took some of his personally, so I understand. I regret the conversation ended before it really started, he would have been welcome in it but I don’t think he’s one for that kind of participation anyways.
Oh well, movin’ on time! I want to get back to the cartoons.
Jason | July 29th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
That’s the one I skimmed. :p
yaku | July 29th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
–This is a capitalism, not a charity.
Damn well said. As fans, we don’t have any obligations but with the series itself (and even then just some).
blissmo | July 30th, 2008 at 1:49 am
I like shiny things too
IcyStorm | July 30th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
@_@ When did you ask me for a response?
otou-san | July 30th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
blissmo you’re a girl, isn’t that assumed?
Icy: I sent in a contact form on your blog. I just assumed you didn’t love me
IcyStorm | July 30th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
Aw, I never received such an email.
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