UlasanAnime.com – The question of whether Aniplex USA’s special import business poses a threat to budget-conscious anime fans is a complex one, often fueled by speculation and concern within the community. While some fear that these releases signal a trend towards higher prices, a closer examination suggests a more nuanced business strategy at play.
The core of the concern stems from Aniplex USA’s practice of offering what are essentially Japanese releases, bundled with store-specific bonuses like translation booklets, often exclusively through retailers like RightStuf. This leads to the perception that consumers might eventually be forced to pay Japanese prices for these typically premium goods.
This line of thinking is frequently echoed by fans who spend a significant amount of time discussing and dissecting anime industry practices, particularly on forums. Their default reaction is often one of worry. However, it’s crucial to investigate whether these concerns hold any real merit.
It has been about a year since the controversial release of the first Kara no Kyoukai box set. Since then, Aniplex USA has introduced a few other similar SKUs, with the first Fate/Zero box set following the same pattern of an expensive, specialized release. These releases can be understood as low-risk experiments designed to gauge the size of the “import” market.
The “low-risk” aspect is key here. It means Aniplex isn’t investing heavily in terms of both finances and potential goodwill. By “import market,” the author refers not only to those savvy enough to navigate Japanese online retailers like Amazon Japan or HMV but also to consumers willing to spend a significant amount on deluxe editions, provided there’s sufficient guidance to meet their expectations as “normal” customers.
The gap between desirable merchandise and the average consumer’s ability to purchase it from Japan is indeed wide and deep. By undertaking the legwork for consumers, Aniplex appears to be aiming to organically grow sales of Japanese items without fundamentally altering their business model. Creating a translation booklet and adding subtitles to anime is relatively inexpensive and straightforward, especially in the current era. This is further amplified by the fact that many anime are already receiving timely subtitling through simulcast deals.
If we assume that an increasing number of titles will be treated in this manner—dubbed “weeaboo-glove” treatment for the sake of argument, as opposed to a more traditional approach—will this lead to more titles falling into this niche? Will more titles become exclusively “faux-import” items?
The answer to that is likely yes.
So, why does the author not believe this trend poses a danger to frugal anime fans? Primarily, it’s a failure to consider the Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA).
In a hypothetical scenario where Aniplex USA did not offer this “weeaboo-glove” treatment, titles like Kara no Kyoukai might be more akin to releases like Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere. They would be available for purchase, include subtitles, and likely wouldn’t generate significant controversy. However, once advertisements and promotional materials for these titles appear in the “American” market, the situation changes for some fans, who feel Aniplex has crossed a line.
These specialized releases are, in essence, experiments. When Aniplex and NISA entered the market after the anime bubble burst a few years ago, they explicitly stated their intention to explore different avenues to find profitable niches. This included exploring dubbing, television distribution, limited releases, and traditional releases.
From a business perspective, these “weeaboo-glove” imports are just another experiment. However, from the consumer’s viewpoint, there’s a perceived gap. By selling these items in this specific way, they become a “domestic” offering. Even if consumers can obtain the same speedy service from Amazon Japan for catalog items that they are willing to ship overseas, the inclusion of a translation booklet becomes a differentiating factor.
While those familiar with importing understand that such a booklet is merely a common store-specific bonus and not part of a grand conspiracy to inflate prices, not everyone possesses this knowledge. The concept of BATNA, or the best alternative, can be confusing. It highlights the difficulty some consumers face in recognizing alternative purchasing options, especially those unfamiliar with the intricacies of the overseas anime industry, leading to irrational concerns.
What Aniplex USA is doing is, in essence, an extension of their existing practices. The changes are relatively minor from their perspective but have a significant impact on a segment of buyers. The alternatives—either not buying what Aniplex USA offers or a scenario where Aniplex USA doesn’t provide this service—are arguably not better for consumers.
In the latter case, consumers might face a world with fewer choices, while prices remain the same, or a world with reduced industry participation, also with unchanged prices. This is because these elements already exist across various potential market scenarios.
It appears, to the author, that those who object to Aniplex’s approach are largely unaware of the existing options for importing goods unless they meet a certain perceived threshold. While this might seem condescending, the author acknowledges that this “magical barrier” is real; if people aren’t even aware of what’s available for purchase, expecting them to understand the industry’s inner workings is unrealistic.
Here’s the real story behind some of these decisions.
Those closely following the industry are aware that Aniplex USA has been interested in Rakkyo (likely referring to a specific anime title) from the outset. It’s an ambitious and unique title, representing a highly popular property in Japan, thus justifying a relatively high asking price. The timing of its potential release was also unfortunate, coinciding with the global recession from 2007 to 2009, when the seven films were released.
This is compounded by the rocky history of Nasuverse products in America, with questionable sales from Geneon’s releases of Tsukihime (though an anime adaptation doesn’t exist) and Fate/Stay Night. Domestic licensees have little incentive to invest heavily, even in a quality title, due to the financial risks associated with even mediocre success, let alone failure.
This, the author believes, is the ultimate gap. From another perspective, one could interpret Aniplex USA’s release of Rakkyo as a recognition of the dedicated importers who have been instrumental in bringing anime to fans since the early days. During the LD/SVHS fansubbing era, these individuals provided the clean source material that could withstand multiple generations of tape dubbing.
This is as close to an explicit acknowledgment of this dedicated fanbase as it gets. However, the reality is more complex and perhaps less flattering. It’s no secret that the R1 (Region 1, North America) licensing industry has faced significant challenges.
US licensing costs have undergone a period of market adjustment, meaning licensing revenue has decreased due to declining demand. Consequently, overpriced titles are unlikely to be licensed, as the licensing costs need to be balanced. This mechanism likely involves companies like Funimation leaving certain items for smaller operations with lower overhead, such as Zombie ADV, to take on cheaper productions for smaller audiences.
While the author lacks specific details, this confluence of issues is a probable reason why Rakkyo has not yet been licensed domestically. The demand for Rakkyo has always been present, and with demand comes a price curve. It’s understood that the license still holds value overseas. When Aniplex found itself with this title (and others), they decided to try and capitalize on that value independently.
To achieve this, Aniplex appears to have gambled by targeting the higher end of the price curve, hoping that enough buyers would materialize to make it worthwhile. Simultaneously, they have left the majority of the R1 market open for a potential future licensee.
The reasoning is that if everyone had access to an expensive, deluxe Rakkyo box set, no one would opt for a cheaper release unless it was significantly less expensive. A $400 box set, in theory, provides considerable breathing room for a subsequent re-release in terms of pricing flexibility for the licensee.
Fate/Zero, the author posits, follows a similar narrative. It’s not coincidental that both are Nasuverse titles. Furthermore, the Kenshin releases were also high-profile but not exceptionally popular in the US, not to mention the somewhat complicated licensing situation surrounding them.
For brand-new intellectual properties (IPs), it’s unlikely this strategy will be employed because licensing prices have demonstrably decreased. This might also explain why Sentai Filmworks has picked up a number of titles recently.
Returning to the original question, there remains some room for doubt. In a world where anime demand and supply are depressed—fewer titles are licensed, and a higher percentage of newly licensed titles fall into the “cheaper, mass-retail” model like Fullmetal Alchemist or Bleach—the average out-of-pocket cost for American anime buyers would be lower.
In such a world, niche titles would likely become more expensive or cease to exist at a localized price. However, this scenario is, in essence, the current reality. Observing the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) for today’s anime titles on a per-title basis between Sentai Filmworks and Funimation, and noting the upward trend, it’s clear that Funimation has begun adopting strategies similar to Hollywood’s.
To reduce the price of these items, it remains a matter of speculation as to what methods would be most effective. This is why the author believes that the retailing of a select handful of Aniplex titles to importers, among all publishers, is unlikely to significantly alter the overall picture.
It’s not a novel approach and appears to be more of a response to current market conditions than a deliberate attempt to harm budget-conscious fans.
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