Anime Vice Anime/Manga News

 

Okay, time for my second panel of Anime Expo-- Nozomi Entertainment / Right Stuf Entertainment. We already know that they'll be announcing a new license, and I also had a little squishie of the President from ARIA thrown at me, so I know this'll be a good one. <3

Nozomi is starting a new line of Anime Value Collections particularly for slightly older shows, like His and Her Circumstances and Boogiepop Phantom. Now we're watching an Astro Boy trailer-- the original TV series, which they announced a while back. Man, it was classic.

Rental Magica trailer...the book to be included with the show is over a hundred pages. Wow.  Maria-sama ga Miteru fourth season trailer...president Shawne Kleckner notes that one of the reasons why it takes most companies so long to get anime out, if they're not simulcasting, is because the anime is done so last-second in Japan that it's better to wait for the DVD versions-- when the animators have gone back and reworked and finished the show to be shinier. Now we're on to ARIA...looks like they have ARIA Origination, including the episode 5.5 and the booklets as well. It'll be due out in 2010.

They're also going to do some ARIA lithographs, and it'll go like this: they'll put a survey out on RightStuf.com to poll which image they should use, and then they'll make it. If it sells well, they'll do it again for another image. And again and again until we all run out of money. Or something. That's in Fall 2009.

New license announcement: Antique Bakery, based on the popular manga by Fumi Yoshinaga! (No, it's NOT yaoi, for the eight millionth time.)

Interesting, they ARE moving into yaoi: they've picked up the anime adaptation of the BL title Junjou Romantica. THey have  both seasons AND they'll be doing merchandising for the show. Good times! I'm kind of exciteed about that one <3

Let's see, on the store front, they've changed the pricing structure for DVDs and manga, they have the savings program as always, and this year there's the Year of the Otaku ongoing theme as well.

Q&A: How do they decide what to license? It's based on what they can get that they think they can sell.

What is their strategy for the recession? I'd say they're in relatively good shape, since so much of the market is product goods and not DVDs, and guess what they sell? <3 Kleckner says that there's not much that can be done; people will buy or not buy.

Will they blu-ray The Third? They have hi-def masters so it's possible, ditto Junjo Romantica.

Streaming: they're in all the legit spots they can be, including some of their adult products. Did not know that. Must find. *drool*

Astro Boy sets-- they've taken out some of the features from the original. Does that include the Japanese episodes? Yes, everything on the extras disc has  been removed.

Girls' fitted tees? They have them, maybe  just not enough variety. Hmm.  Kleckner bets there'll be Junjou Romantica tees for women. Mwahaha.

Does having experience in retail and wholesale help when licensing? Yes, because you really know what's selling and what's not across the board. But they're a microcosm because they're not the "casual fan" retail.

I just asked MrBoobo's question about the Handley case as a producer and retailer of adult materials-- yes, definitely; he wishes they'd gone to trial and it does affect things. They've had to edit some content out-- a taboo to avoid a taboo, as it were. It does continue to affect what they license, and he knows that's true of other adult material licensors in the US.

Given the economy, how do they decide what to include in the booklets that come with DVD? Kleckner responds with: why do you buy a DVD? If you've watched Lost on TV, why do you buy the DVD? Probably because it has neat stuff you didn't see on TV. Kleckner says that their customers are usually collectors; they may have already watched it elsewhere, but he wants to give them a reason to buy the product besides the episodes themselves.

Are they trying to get more series on TV to increase revenues? The answer: um, sure. Are they going to follow FUNimation's business model on streaming releases? Kleckner notes that FUNimation is having problems with their streaming business model. Would he like to do it? Yes, but it'll require the Japanese owners to change some of their policies first.

Have they given up on trying to get rid of torrents of their products? Um, no.

Kuro asks if there's a price for the anime value packs? $39.99 for a 26-episode series. Compare that to even 3-4 years ago when a 26-ep series would run you a couple hundred. Not bad!

Since anime is so competitive-- alternative means besides DVD sales? How about the whole, like, online store, think I. They are a privately-held company and they're not looking at trying to get any external capital at this time. Someone wants to thank Kleckner for the Emma anime, which I so thoroughly agree with. If the ARIA lithographs do well, will they expand to other titles? If they have merch rights, perhaps, but they're very expensive to create, so we'll see; it'll depend on whether they sell for ARIA first.

Are they looking at CPM's licenses and other rescues? Answer: um, yes. They've released a bunch from A-18 (Central Park Media). Now he's getting thanked for ARIA. What is Kleckner going to call his children. "At the moment I'm going to call them non-existent, and that will hopefully be the case for some time."

What are his thoughts on fansubbing and the damage they're doing to the market? Well, let's see, we have...like, seven minutes left in the panel?...Kleckner says that fansubs in the '90s were what brought some of the product over for people to see in the first place, and he understands the concept. But in a mature market, how do you compete with free? It's also damaging to the original creators not to get revenue from the US. If we don't generate revenue by watching the product legitimately, they won't make more.

Comic Party re-release? Priced pretty competitively so probably not. Considering niche-ness of titles, does licensing for them get competitive? Yes, he's not the only guy bidding on some of these shows. Whoever makes the best offer wins. Why Iowa? Because it's Iowa! What's cooler than Iowa? Actually, Kleckner is from Iowa and that's where he wanted to be. It's also inexpensive. Good reasons, to be sure. It's also a central location, which is good for someone shipping materials everywhere. Plus his girlfriend is there, and if he left she might not stick around. D'awwwww!

Blu-Ray is still dependent on what masters they can get; none on the dock for this year. Rerelease 2003 Astro Boy? Sony has that one (it's available on the PSN, too). Economic downturn-- any easier to acquire properties? No. Unfortunately. Not at all, from the sound of it. Affiliate program: Amazon has had to deal with tax stuff on some of their affiliates in certain states and has, if I heard correctly, dropped them-- is Right Stuf dealing with that? They're certainly watching it.

Maria-sama is a better-selling title for them; what are the demographics of who's buying it? He has no way to measure it exactly; he has some limited access (presumably through RightStuf.com sales), but not significant. Isn't anime still popular in Japan as well? (actually, it's still a niche, at least compared to manga.) And their sales are way down, so they DO depend on foreign sales. Kleckner says we need to find a way to bring the material to the fans in the way that they want it (fast&free), but it will depend on the Japanese companies changing their business-- and they've been working on it for ten years.

Since the market is changing and a lot of brick & mortar stores aren't carrying as much, does that help Right Stuf's sales? They've been a recipient of the influx of people trying to find product, which helps them as a retailer. But he likes to look at the market outside of just what's good for Right Stuff / Shawne Kleckner...but yes, they've seen growth. And of course, they still can't serve people under the age of 18 who don't have a credit card (or a parent who's okay with it).

Last question: future release he's personally looking forward to? ARIA! And remastered Tylor!