[TJR]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

I strongly disagree.

How much the property is valued by fans should definitely be reflected in how much money is invested in it.

If an animation studio adapted an extremely popular JRPG game into anime, and gave it a tinier budget than what they gave a relatively obscure 4Koma adaptation that they were doing at the very same time, you wouldn't see any just reason for criticism here?

You're misunderstanding my point. If your client gives you $5000 for a particular job, you don't spend $15,000 (which you may not even have on hand) just because you or others think it's deserved. Simultaneously, if a second client gives you $8,000 for another job, it's unwise to redirect that money to the first (beyond some minor fudging, which may be undetected or forgiven), unless you're looking to be sued or dropped from future business.

Regarding Little Busters, the studio gets its production fee from the committee, which is led by Warner Bros. They could throw in their own money by joining the committee as a major investor (as KyoAni does; from early on, they were already joining production committees), but the majority of studios don't have much money to risk. They live from contract to contract without profiting much from their productions.

Also, TJR, just why do you think this is one of the most heavily hyped otaku properties ever?

The TBS/KyoAni arrangement showed that a popular VN adapted well could pull down 20K sales, which is megahit status for DVD/Blu-Ray sales.

I've never denied the popularity of the visual novel. It's just that few companies benefit from an anime adaptation, which can affect the budget they scrape together.

There's the DVD distributor (Warner Bros.), and there's VisualArt's (no financing muscle there, unlike a leading manga/light novel publisher). Who else? Key wants to control the music, and I'm unaware of any new manga or LN spin-off in the works (which could drive increased investment from a publication house). There's a figure producer, but they sell loads of stuff every season without having to invest much on any individual show, so there's no driving a hard bargain.

It boils down to what may be a single company leading the charge, and everyone has limits in terms of cash flow and acceptable risk.

Oh? On just what basis are you making this claim? Do you think LB! will sell worse than Nichijou did?

Where KyoAni had a choice, they went with Chuunibyou (for which they're lead investor in collaboration with TBS/Pony Canyon......unlike the Kadokawa and Key stuff, this isn't a work-for-hire effort in which they make a show primarily to benefit a partner company), which is their own IP. Successfully establishing your own properties is any company's dream since you raise your brand profile and keep the lion's share of the profits.

Why not?

It's good for two seasons at most, and they don't own the property. That's short-term significance.