Why is anime very expensive [in Japan]

[bhl88]

Why is anime very expensive (I can't find a counterpart [Haruhi complete collection DVD in US] vs [Haruhi complete collection DVD in Japan], so I can't really compare the prices...)?

But as far as I know...

Haruhi complete collection Blu-Ray [Japan] = around $400 [8 blu-rays]
Haruhi complete collection DVD [US] (actually I know it's cheap... but if US released a complete collection of Blu-Rays... then it would probably be worth something like.... $180 or something...)

[Kamui4356]

Price fixing combined with things generally being expensive in Japan. When optical media first, that is to say CDs came out, the media companies tried setting inflated prices for it. In the US, this lead to a class action lawsuit which ended it. In Japan, though, there was no lawsuit. Companies there, the same companies that were sued in the US I might add, continued to set inflated prices on their optical media, at first CDs, but DVDs and BDs too when they came out.

Of course, even without the price fixing, anime would still be more expensive in Japan, just not by the same amount.

[Archon_Wing]

I'm more curious on how they can keep buying these things when they're so expensive. And the merchandise too... Where does all that money come from?

How can you afford these things?????

[Revan21]

As far as I know, the anime studios do not receive ANY money from the TV stations for broadcasting their shows (instead they are the ones paying the TV to air them).

So all their income is derived from the DVD/BD sales which is quite a risky investment b/c they don't see any money for three or four months, until the first volume of the series is released. And if a series does poorly at the sales it's a major loss for them and it definitely won't be renewed for additional seasons, no matter how many people watched it previously or how many fans does it have worldwide.

So the Japanese get to watch anime for free
but if you want to own and rewatch a series you have to pay double.

[cyth]

Well, they're probably as expensive because they want to make some actual money...

[MeoTwister5]

The standard of living in Japan is some of the highest in the world, so naturally retail prices look more expensive to an outsider.

[Bri]

It's simply supply and demand. The market for anime in Japan is very small. So the cost of production is spread over a small number of fans. If the anime producers would lower their prices they would earn less in total, as the extra number of DVD/BR sold would not cover the lost in come in price per DVD/BR. Note that only roughly 3000 or so units need to be sold for the anime to be profitable. For more info checkout the thread: http://forums.animesuki.com/showthre...ight=DVD+sales

Fortunately for us there are fans in Japan prepared to pay around 400-500 dollar per season. (The Haruhi set mentioned is fairly cheap, a full set of a new 25 episode series would cost double that amount).

As for who are these fans that can afford those prices? Mostly young adults who have quite a bit of disposable income. Probably living at home or in student housing and have no mortgages or kids yet. While it is a lot of money to spend on DVDs (especially compared to mainstream movies or TV-shows) it is not exceptionally expensive compared to other hobbies. For example Sports fans can easily spend similar amounts for season tickets, travel costs, pay-per-view and merchandising.

As for why US releases are cheaper: US firms buy a license from Japanese anime producers. Buying a license is a lot cheaper then actually having to produce the anime yourself so they don't have to charge as much per DVD to recoup the costs. To prevent Japanese fans importing American editions, releases are delayed by at least several months if not years.

[j0x]

Originally Posted by MeoTwister5

The standard of living in Japan is some of the highest in the world, so naturally retail prices look more expensive to an outsider.

i agree with this, how much is the cost of living and how much they earn a month are good factors to take into account, they may seem too costly but Japanese people earn a lot to balance it out, Japan is a first world country dont forget

Originally Posted by Bri

It's simply supply and demand. The market for anime in Japan is very small. So the cost of production is spread over a small number of fans. If the anime producers would lower their prices they would earn less in total, as the extra number of DVD/BR sold would not cover the lost in come in price per DVD/BR. Note that only roughly 3000 or so units need to be sold for the anime to be profitable. For more info checkout the thread: http://forums.animesuki.com/showthre...ight=DVD+sales

i do not think the market of anime on japan is small at all, anime takes like half or more of their TV airings, so the demand for it is big

and the break even point is 5000 units sold, so 3000 units sold is no way profitable for them, here is my evidence http://myanimelist.net/blog.php?eid=84494 and here is the main blog http://myanimelist.net/blog.php?eid=17532

[darktruth]

Originally Posted by ckmox

i do not think the market of anime on japan is small at all, anime takes like half or more of their TV airings, so the demand for it is big

But don't forget most of them air at 1-3am when most of general audience would be sleeping, it'd mainly be the hardcore otakus who stay up that late to watch it while others who are interested would probably record it or rent the DVD/BD when it is later released.

[j0x]

Originally Posted by darktruth

But don't forget most of them air at 1-3am when most of general audience would be sleeping, it'd mainly be the hardcore otakus who stay up that late to watch it while others who are interested would probably record it or rent the DVD/BD when it is later released.

well if you look at the airing times from here -> http://animecalendar.net/ the morning and night shows are well balanced to me

[IronWarrior]

Originally Posted by Bri

It's simply supply and demand. The market for anime in Japan is very small.

Ha Ha, what planet are you living on! Thanks for the laugh.

[bayoab]

Originally Posted by ckmox

i do not think the market of anime on japan is small at all, anime takes like half or more of their TV airings, so the demand for it is big

Not even close. All anime currently fills approximately 80 slots out of 336* (*24x2x7x# of stations) in the largest markets (and even less in smaller markets) and about 1/4 of those are family related that aren't meant to sell DVDs.

and the break even point is 5000 units sold, so 3000 units sold is no way profitable for them, here is my evidence http://myanimelist.net/blog.php?eid=84494 and here is the main blog http://myanimelist.net/blog.php?eid=17532

That doesn't prove that 5000 is break even. I'm not even quite sure where the evidence is or how it proves it. 3000 units is known as the manabi line which is the supposed break even point.

Originally Posted by ckmox

well if you look at the airing times from here -> http://animecalendar.net/ the morning and night shows are well balanced to me

You are definitely misreading something here. The following is based on the average Tokyo schedule, not the current schedule so there may be a few exceptions: There are no morning blocks except on Saturday and Sunday. There are 2 evening blocks a day (~6:30pm on TV Tokyo/Fuji/TVAsahi), and everything else is late night. (I count 16/51 being daytime on last weeks rating table.)

Originally Posted by IronWarrior

Ha Ha, what planet are you living on! Thanks for the laugh.

And your evidence to the contrary is where?

[Bri]

Originally Posted by ckmox

i do not think the market of anime on japan is small at all, anime takes like half or more of their TV airings, so the demand for it is big

There is a big difference between people who watch something on TV (at very low cost) and those that are prepared to buy physical copies. Only the latter can be regarded as the market for anime DVDs. Anime that can be seen on late night television is just advertising for the sale of DVDs and merchandise. If we look at the actual sales figures, which for the most part are in the thousands, the market is very small.

Originally Posted by ckmox

and the break even point is 5000 units sold, so 3000 units sold is no way profitable for them, here is my evidence http://myanimelist.net/blog.php?eid=84494 and here is the main blog http://myanimelist.net/blog.php?eid=17532

What matters is that the break even point is in a few thousand units sold. Which is a very low number for any media, therefore the producers rely on a very small hardcore market. You can't give an exact number for the actual break even point. It will vary per anime, as it depends on the what the animation production company is paid by the production committee to produce the show, and the production companies actual production costs.

Originally Posted by ckmox

well if you look at the airing times from here -> http://animecalendar.net/ the morning and night shows are well balanced to me

The morning and daytime shows are mostly aimed at younger children. The late night shows are aimed at older teens and adults. Two completely different audiences. The kids material does not require DVD-sales to recoup costs as sponsors fully cover the production costs (the sponsors make their money from advertising). They don't play a large role in the anime DVD market.

[j0x]

well those myanimelist links that says "The average anime's break even point is around 5,000 copies sold per volume." is from that sites news team member and he is japanese living in tokyo

and as for your other replies ill gather and wait for more evidence about them, but i consider your replies

[IronHeart762]

...its good to have Demonoid...

[TurkeyPotPie]

It's expensive because the producers have a very small market to sell to. Lowering the price doesn't increase revenue because the number of additional buyers that can be obtained isn't enough to offset the lower unit price. I think this is one of the things R1 companies found out (the hard way).

Originally Posted by Archon_Wing

I'm more curious on how they can keep buying these things when they're so expensive. And the merchandise too... Where does all that money come from?

Well the hikikomori/NEETs get it from their parents obviously, but if you have a good job and no dependents you can spend quite a bit of money on your hobbies. When I first got out of college and started making decent money in the mid-90s, I used to spend around $10k a year on anime and video games (those days are long gone). I had no other hobbies though, and that was during the boom-boom 90s Internet bubble. Someone coming into the job market now with a crushing recession and poor job prospects...yeah, I don't know where they get the money. And since Japan is ahead of the curve on this (two decades of malaise), I don't know how they sustain it either. I've read some people claim that there is actually a very small hardcore group (from tens of thousands to low hundreds of thousands) that sustains the anime industry in Japan. Even in a depression, some people are still making good money.

[Zeroryoko1974]

I think they make the prices high because they know otaku will still pay that high price

[bhl88]

In Japan, casual fans don't buy at all (well not everyone but still...)

It's $70 but only 2 episodes are in a DVD. In the US, $45 or something but with 4 episodes...

@Zero: But yeah, you are right... that's probably the reason why it's cheaper here... the otakus pay up more compared to outside Japan (and we get lower prices as a result....)

[TurkeyPotPie]

Originally Posted by bhl88

In Japan, casual fans don't buy at all (well not everyone but still...)

It's $70 but only 2 episodes are in a DVD. In the US, $45 or something but with 4 episodes...

The difference is more dramatic than that. $40-60 will usually buy a cour (12-13 episodes) for newer releases. $20-40 for catalog titles (one or two cour). There aren't too many releases now using the old singles approach (3-4 episodes for $30 or so). K-On is the one of the few that come to mind. Anime in the US is absurdly cheap now compared to Japan and the past R1 market. R1 licensees completely devalued their product chasing a mainstream market that doesn't exist. I think the Japanese companies can see this, and it is one reason they are so resistant to lowering their prices. There is a hardcore collecting group that will pay at the prices that exist now. Lowering the price isn't going to affect that group, but it won't attract enough "casual" fans that make up the difference.

That's one reason I found the Aniplex BD release of R.O.D. interesting. They're testing whether a hardcore enough market exists to support that style of release versus going with maximum cheapness to try to reach more buyers.

[Simon]

Originally Posted by Bri

What matters is that the break even point is in a few thousand units sold. Which is a very low number for any media, therefore the producers rely on a very small hardcore market.

Putting it in perspective, a break-even point of 3000 would be roughly one sale per 40,000 Japanese - in other words, 0.0025% of the population. It's disheartening that so many anime can't even manage that.

I guess that's why they rely on merchandise sales to make up the shortfall.

Originally Posted by bhl88

@Zero: But yeah, you are right... that's probably the reason why it's cheaper here... the otakus pay up more compared to outside Japan (and we get lower prices as a result....)

It works the other way too: grabbing random examples from Amazon JP's Blu-ray best seller list, the four-disc 146min Harry Potter SE is ¥3619 / US$43 while the two-disc 60min Madoka Magika V1 SE is ¥5390 / US$64.

I don't know what volume HP would outsell an otaku-o'clock anime by, but it must be huge - 100:1, maybe more? And because they've long since recouped their base production costs from markets outside Japan, even the per-unit profit is likely higher despite the lower retail price.