Kristyonna wrote:If the American television companies thought they could get away with charging us that much for a simple TV show they would. They don't do it because that would be crazy and they would all go out of business. And yet this is what the domestic anime companies are trying to do.
You're missing a big point in your argument. With American TV shows, they make their revenue from commercials and whatnot. Anime Distributors do not have commercials and do not air on TV (for the most part..and when they do Cartoon Network gets the $$$ for the commercials). Distributors like ADV and so on BUY the licenses to distribute the anime in a foreign country (since it is native to Japan and aired on TV). In turn, they mass produce DVDs and tapes and sell them. It's simple supply and demand.
They aren't doing this "crazy" thing you're talking about where you pay to watch TV. I think you're exagerrating and missing the point of distribution. I think DVDs of popular shows like "the Soprannos" is a much more accurate example of what anime distributors are doing.
tsumiKi wrote:I'm not saying that downloading an entire short series that is already domestically released isn't bad. It is. But just downloading a few episodes to make sure it isn't crap doesn't seem so bad to me. After all, we buy anime to support the distribution of anime. But I refuse to support something I don't like. And I totally agree that it is unreasnable to charge multiple hundreds and even thousands of dollars for an anime series.
First off, I'm guessing you're new to this forum based on your statement I bolded. I wish it were true, but sadly a lot of people even within this community (which is just a small distribution of all anime fans) download and DO NOT have any intention of buying anime. This is the reason Garylisk posted this thread and is also the reason I am so passionate about my views.
Lastly, I will be the first to say that yes, your example isn't
as bad as downloading the entire show and not buying it. In fact, I applaud the fact you buy it at all. You're supporting and industry/hobby you enjoy. Bravo. At the same time, one could easily debate that it's still illegal and stealing yes? I mean if you went to see a movie in the theaters and it was bad, you couldn't argue to get your money back right? It's the exact same thing. We have to *try* and be educated consumers.
At the same time, don't misunderstand, I actually do appreciate that you buy anime and support the industry and don't think it's
as bad[/b]. So yeah you're ok in my book 
.
Wabz0r wrote:However, it IS theft. You wouldn't take something in a store just because you can - it's wrong. So what makes that different from downloading(stealing) anime from the internet? Well the reality is, noone cares if you do. There wont be a swat team at your door the next day, there wont be any ISP shutting you down for a year. That's what makes you download things illeagally.
The only thing stopping you would be your consciousness (in my case eating me up from the inside ) and there's really not much to do about it, other than creating these large threads making people understand how harmful this is.
First off, excellent post. I agree wholeheartedly. It's too easy to get downloaded anime (or games, music, movies, etc.) that the only thing that keeps us from doing it is our own conscious. As you said, this is the reason we are discussing it in hopes that people understand our viewpoint and more importantly how harmful it is.
flammie wrote:I can understand if you watch the first couple of eps, and think its stupid and never watch it again, but if you end up watching the whole series, its unfair to the creators not to recieve any sort of compensation. The money helps pay for more/better quality anime in the future.
Exactly! Like I said to tsumiKi, I understand this viewpoint (although do not fully agree with). But like you said, if you watch the ENTIRE series, it's kind of moot point to argue "well I wouldn't have watched it anyway..." or something stupid like that. Like you said, you were willing to download it and spend your time watching it yes?
TsumiKi wrote:The problem is exposure. We're not getting any. I didn't know what manga was until 2 years ago. I hadn't seriously thought anime was for adults too until a few years ago. If corporations want to make money on anime, they have to invest in advertising, or yes, they will be having problems.
I disagree. We may not get mainstream advertising, but you must admit that there is a lot more exposure than say 10 years ago? I mean anime is in MTV videos, action figures and influencing almost every artform. Hell it's on primetime television (for kids) and so on.
Now although I SOMEWHAT agree on the pricing point, it still doesn't hurt to support them. I mean who knows, maybe it'll help them get that kick ass show or higher a better dub cast (which almost all dubs need) and so on. That's how the economy works and for someone to complain about an industry that they don't even support is kind of pointless. Perhaps if they did support it, the problem wouldn't exist.
In theory, if more people bought anime, prices SHOULD decrease. Again, supply and demand.
