Just seen this at ANN
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/20 ... stributors
They just don't like us do they? :cry:
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/20 ... stributors
They just don't like us do they? :cry:
Shogakukan, Shueisha Buy 2 European Anime Distributors
- Thread starter Mohawk52
- Start date
beez_andrew
Great Teacher
Mohawk52 said:
It means a number of inconsequential things to be honest - I won't go into boring details here really but assuming all proceeds this means very little change except possibly my condolences to some colleagues over at Kaze (long story)!
Viz already have a UK subsidiary - it's called Manga Entertainment now
. So they recognize the value of the UK market - moreso they recognize the pitfalls of throwing themselves in here as opposed to what they do now.- Andrew,
Beez Entertainment
How so? What makes our market such a nettle to grasp comparied to France, and Germany, or any other European country?beez_andrew said:Mohawk52 said:
It means a number of inconsequential things to be honest - I won't go into boring details here really but assuming all proceeds this means very little change except possibly my condolences to some colleagues over at Kaze (long story)!
Viz already have a UK subsidiary - it's called Manga Entertainment now
- Andrew,
Beez Entertainment
Mohawk52 said:How so? What makes our market such a nettle to grasp comparied to France, and Germany, or any other European country?beez_andrew said:Mohawk52 said:
It means a number of inconsequential things to be honest - I won't go into boring details here really but assuming all proceeds this means very little change except possibly my condolences to some colleagues over at Kaze (long story)!
Viz already have a UK subsidiary - it's called Manga Entertainment now
- Andrew,
Beez Entertainment
It's not that our market is hard to grasp compared to France or Germany, it's just that Manga Entertainment aren't for sale. Viz have been looking to expand their presence in Europe for some time, but they've been doing this by working with the existing European anime companies rather than creating one of their own. In France and Germany they've done this by buying the number one anime companies in those countries. They can't do that in the UK, as the number one anime company is already owned by a major American media conglomerate who don't appear to be interested in selling, so Viz have done the next best thing and signed an exclusive distribution deal with them.
If Starz ever do sell Manga Ent, Viz will be the buyer. However, what Viz won't do is create a new anime studio of their own, nor will they buy any of the other UK anime companies. Doing either of these things will result in reduced sales and significantly lower market share for their titles, compared to what the Manga brand name and superior distribution can generate. They've seen what happened to Funimation's sales in the UK as a result of the Revelation deal, so they won't make the same mistake.
beez_andrew
Great Teacher
Mohawk52 said:How so? What makes our market such a nettle to grasp comparied to France, and Germany, or any other European country?beez_andrew said:It means a number of inconsequential things to be honest - I won't go into boring details here really but assuming all proceeds this means very little change except possibly my condolences to some colleagues over at Kaze (long story)!
Viz already have a UK subsidiary - it's called Manga Entertainment now
- Andrew,
Beez Entertainment
Effectively nothing - you'll note they didn't start Viz Media in FR or DE either - they bought two of the bigger labels. So unless Starz are willing to sell Manga Entertainment it's not practical as it is 80%-90% likely to go the same way Revelation Films did for the UK sadly.
So in short the best way in if you're doing it is to buy your way in and make use of the connections already there
.I was under the impression that the reason Revelation has tanked is because FUNimation pulled the feeder tube from their mouth, so to speak. Are you suggesting the same could happen to Manga UK? There are so few UK distributors that if either Viz, or FUNi pulled out of Manga, they would either have to go back to MVM, or Revelation, or start their own shop like your company did, or abandon the UK market altogether, God forbid.
chaos
The Boss
I'd say that the funi / rev deal failed for revelation ineptude to release.Mohawk52 said:
it seemed to me taht Rev didn't had the required throughput, logistics or partners to support a steady flow of releases.And ultimately, if you take 2 years to release something, it becomes increasingly difficult to market yoru series.
I dind't buy a few of their titles because of the slow pace of their releases. I was waiting for them to at least release all volumes of their singles before considering buying any and now, I won't buy from them, simply because over an year wait for a single to be released is a lack of commitment to fans.
Oh I agree that Rev didn't do itself any favours either, but still having said that AFAIK all of the titles that are left unfinished by Rev will remain that way, unless Manga do the kind thing and pick them up where Rev left off, and seeing as Manga are only pushing box sets at the moment, that isn't going to happen anytime soon, if at all. So basically, what I understand from Andrew is that there simply isn't a big enough UK player for the Japanese companies like these two to walk in and make an offer that can't be refused. I didn't hold them as that big a deal to be able to cock their noses so nonchalantly at us.chaos said:
Mohawk52 said:
There is a big enough player: namely Manga UK. The difference between them and these two companies is that Manga are owned by a company the same size as (if not larger than) the two Japanese companies combined. Whereas, Kaze and Anime Virtual are both independent companies, and a lot smaller.
Neither Shogakukan or Shueisha are big enough to make an offer that Starz Media (who own Manga) can't refuse. Particularly because Starz are themselves owned by a very large American media conglomerate called Liberty Media.
Besides, why would either Funi or Viz cut ties with Manga? They have by far the best distribution network of all the anime companies and bigger brand recognition than some Hollywood studios.
beez_andrew
Great Teacher
The below says exactly how I'd have replied there! Right now content is not a concern to Manga as they are in a strong position for licensing and financially they are being supported too just now so where is the benefit to either Starz or even Manga as a division looking to be sold ?
Effectively there is a good deal in place otherwise Viz could just pick the next biggest and offer to buy them out or such...
?Effectively there is a good deal in place otherwise Viz could just pick the next biggest and offer to buy them out or such...
Noratav said:
beez_andrew
Great Teacher
Mohawk52 said:
Being blunt really - give me one good reason why as fans (including myself here) we shouldn't be? Few people in the UK buy anime, a mere fraction of those who buy anime/manga in France or Germany. I have the figures side by side and can tell you that a set that is priced at 350 Euros for the complete City Hunter universe sells > 3,000 units in France. AFTER highly successful sales of many individual boxsets (equal sales numbers of each at minimum). How many would a company, regardless of size, be able to sell of a comparably popular title in terms of popularity sell in the UK for that price?
If you can come up with a series that would match the City Hunter set for that price and unit sales then there's a fair reason for an upgrade in class. Otherwise the fact that there's a lot of people who appreciate anime, does not merit an upgrade. No more than an appreciation of money increases a third world country's position in the world...
As it is - as Viz and the rest of the industry recognize the potential of the UK market so proportionately go out of their way to bring titles into the UK market without destabilizing things. The fact they are willing to trust a company to handle it on their own says a lot more than wanting to throw money at them to buy them too. Given the amount of titles hurled at the UK and the faith shown in it by many companies to bring the volume of titles in versus what I described above - feeling like a third world fan of anime and manga isn't really justified.
If anything by retaining the individual companies from the UK market you retain more ability to influence how releases come out too
.
chaos
The Boss
Add another one there.beez_andrew said:
It surprises me that the difference is this big. It's also worth to remember that UK's operational costs are smaller than french, as we use the american authoring, for our releases here.
From cons and all, I remember MVM guy mentioning shipping 300 / 400 of most shows. Considering those numbers and considering what I've heard from You and Hugh in the past, I do wonder how many naruto and bleach Manga ships usually....
Maybe in another generation we will have similar numbers, no? After all, I can't see the current generation buying City Hunter.