Bobby Miller
Writer Website
From Discs to Digital Streaming: The Changing World of Anime Distribution
1,200 words
Anime has always been a niche market here in America. With its unique sense of humor and Japanese style of story-telling, anime rarely reaches mainstream viewers. The exceptions tend to be shows geared toward younger audiences, such as Pokémon. For those of us craving more mature entertainment, however, it can be difficult to get our hands on translated anime. For years, many anime could be acquired legally only through DVD box sets. People who were not afraid to pirate anime often relied on BitTorrent clients to get anime that were unavailable on DVD.
However, today, a number of websites offer anime streaming, sometimes for free. These are often available shortly after the anime is released in Japan, so they are not only less expensive than DVDs but also faster to produce. It is therefore likely that online streaming will dominate anime distribution in America while more traditional forms of distribution, such as DVD box sets, will fall by the wayside.
The Fall of DVDs
For a while, Bandai was one of the most prominent names in American anime distribution. The anime it brought overseas in DVD format included hits like Cowboy Bebop, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing and Lucky Star. Many of these titles are familiar to all anime fans.
However, on January 2, 2012, the company announced that it would no longer offer new DVD, Blu-ray, or manga (comic) releases, according to the Anime News Network. The site also notes that, just a year earlier, another licensing company named Tokyopop also ceased its anime distribution.
This should not be too surprising in light of how anime home video sales have plummeted in recent years. Specifically, between 2009 and 2010, there was a 35 percent drop in sales, according to the Anime News Network. “The physical anime business in North America has shrunk substantially over the last five years and shows no sign of returning to its former glory,” it writes. Although the economic recession might in part be responsible for this, such a huge drop must mean that there are other forces at work.
Credit: AnimeNewsNetwork.com
The Rise of Online Streaming
In recent years, it’s been easier than ever for anime fans to find their favorite shows online through legal services. Among them is the website Crunchyroll. At first, the website began as a place to pirate unlicensed anime, though it would remove a show from its site as soon as an official company obtained translation rights to it. However, in recent years, it has cleaned up its act. It is now funded by Venrock, which the website describes as a “leading venture capital firm,” and TV TOKYO, which airs many anime titles in Japan. Now, the site says with confidence, “Crunchyroll is your 100% legal source for anime and drama on the Internet since we work hard to obtain all of the proper licensing rights in order to provide these videos for your consumption.”
The website is easy to use. If you’re willing to tolerate advertisements, viewing the anime is free. By paying just $6.95 a month, though, you can watch as much anime as you want without being burdened by ads. Compare this to the cost of a DVD box set: those tend to be at least $20, and you’re only getting one anime with it. You can use Crunchyroll on your computer or through apps available on Xbox Live, iTunes, and other sources. Through these services, you have access to hundreds of anime, including hits like Naruto, Bleach and Shugo Chara!.
There are other places you can stream anime from, too. Amazon Prime, Hulu and Netflix offer anime in their collections. Some companies, such as FUNimation, post their anime on YouTube as well. Plus, the Anime News Network also streams a number of anime.
Really, it shouldn’t be all that surprising that anime is drifting away from DVD distribution and toward online distribution—just about all shows are doing the same. However, one obstacle anime has had to overcome is the ease by which it is pirated through fansubs.
Fansubs
Before anime began streaming online, only a select few shows would make it to our shores. What about all the anime that hadn’t been turned into a DVD box set? In such cases, people often turned to fansubs. A “fansub” is created when fans of a show decide to add subtitles to anime. Today, they are primarily distributed through BitTorrent clients.
Here, copyright laws enter a moral gray zone. On one hand, a number of anime titles are available in English only through fansubs because no official company has performed a translation. In this case, English viewers either access the fansubs or skip the anime altogether. It is therefore rare to see legal action taken against fansub groups, particularly when no official English alternative exists.
For some fansub users, an implicit “Law-Compliance Method” exists, according to Sean Leonard, instructor of Japanese animation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This Law-Compliance Method asserts that, if a series is officially licensed, the responsible thing to do is cease distributing the fansub and to purchase the legal version. However, the question exists as to how many people actually comply with this rule. Due to the lack of legal action taken against fansubbing, there is little preventing people from downloading the fansubs and then never purchasing the official versions through DVD, Blu-ray, or streaming. So, on one hand, fansubs allow anime fans in America to experience shows that they might otherwise never see. On the other hand, though, fansubs may ultimately cut into copyright holders’ profits if people refuse to buy legally licensed material to replace their fansubs.
Also, with the advent of official online streaming, many shows are licensed before the fansubs are even released. Crunchyroll usually has an episode subtitled within an hour or so of its original Japanese airing, making it available to American fans almost immediately. So if official streaming sites continue to grow, we may reach the point where all anime released is available here in legal form, rendering fansubs unquestionably illegal.
Will the Anime DVD Market Continue to Exist?
With streaming websites picking up hundreds of different anime, it may seem like the DVD market for anime will fade into nothingness. However, it is possible that it will still live on. For one thing, avid fans of a certain show would love to have a permanent version of it that they can call their own, and that’s something streaming websites cannot provide. Also, most streaming websites only offer anime with subtitles: rarely do they offer dubbed anime. Yet, many anime DVDs come complete with dubs. Plus, DVDs can offer bonus content such as interviews with the voice actors, audio commentary, and more, providing avid fans even more of what they want. So although anime DVDs may continue to decline in popularity, I believe there will still be a niche market for them. Websites such as Right Stuf, which sells anime and related merchandise, should be able to survive. Right Stuf could not be contacted to comment on its beliefs concerning the survival of DVD sales.
Online streaming, however, provides a convenient option for many people who would like to watch anime. It is often available shortly after the Japanese release, letting you stay up-to-date on the latest shows without having to wait for a DVD set to be released. This inexpensive option will only continue to rise in popularity as the years go by.
Bobby Miller originally wrote this article for the digital magazine Nvate in January of 2013. Due to its age, some of the information or links in the article may be outdated.